The cold woke Sappy. Her eyes still shut, she shivered and pressed closer to Scritch, imagining they were in their bed. Why is the house so cold today? Did the housefolk leave a window open? As she grew consciousness, a chill of alarm shot through her. I'm not in our bed. It's prickly and cold under me! Her eyes snapped open.

A veil of soft leaves and branches shivered before her in a breeze. Beyond them lay the road, and several huge houses. It was morning. It only took a few moments for Sappy to remember where she was, and the devastating events of last night.

I knocked over the candle. Sappy thought guiltily. I started the fire, and we almost died... We left the house and spent the night under this bush. She looked beside her. 

Scritch lay asleep on his side, an expression of pain fixed on his charred face as he breathed slowly. Part of her didn't want to wake him, and let him sleep off the pain. But they needed to decide what to do.

She shifted onto her paws into a crouch and touched her nose to her brother's cheek. "Scritch," She whispered. The black kit moaned in response and opened his burnt eyelids only slightly, peering up at her with yellow slits. 

He's in so much pain! Sappy's heart broke, and she wanted to wail in despair at his condition. I need to be strong for him. He needs me. Her voice shook as she mewed. "We need to go find help."

"Help...?" Scritch blinked slowly, as if having difficulty processing her words. "F-for what?"

"For you... Your face." Sappy meowed quietly. "How do you feel?"

Scritch lifted his head slowly. "Hurts..." He sighed and let his head thump to the ground again. He mumbled something into the grass.

"What?" Sappy leaned closer, pricking her ears.

"Are you okay?" He repeated in a raspy mew.

Me? You're the one whose face is scorched! Sappy's ears flattened miserably. It should have been me instead. Poor Scritch! "I'm okay," She said quietly, though as she spoke and thought about this, she became aware of the pain in her pads. Lifting one black paw to examine it, she saw that her pads were bright red and tender. I must have burnt them while running through the flames.

"We can't go home... Can we?" Scritch whispered, staring up at her through glazed eyes. "They... They won't forgive us."

Sappy shut her eyes, her heart sinking. He's right. How could our housefolk ever look at us the same way? They could have died in the fire, too! "We'll find a new place to call home, Scritch." She tried to sound brave. "I promise."

As Scritch let out a low whimper, Sappy rose to her paws, wincing as she stood on her burnt pads. "Can you get up?" She asked.

"I think so..." Scritch trembled as he slowly sat, then stumbled into a standing position. "W-where will we go?"

Sappy hesitated, suddenly overwhelmed by the question. I've never been outside before! The world is so big and scary... I don't even know which places are safe! But Scritch needed her. She needed to find him help.

"Let's go to one of the other houses." She decided, though unsure of herself. "Other housefolk must live in those. Or maybe other animals?"

"Other animals?" Scritch stumbled forward and nearly fell.

Sappy hurried to his side and allowed him to lean on her shoulder as they slowly walked toward the road. "Yes. Like the barking and flying ones."

"C-can they talk?" Scritch wondered.

"They must." When they reached the road, a monster roared passed them. Both kits immediately shrank back, frightened. They're huge! They didn't look as big from the window!

"I-I don't want to cross it." Scritch swallowed. "Let's stay on this side."

Sappy couldn't agree more. She felt nervous and vulnerable out in the open world, with no roof over her head or walls keeping her safe. The two of them walked unsteadily down the sidewalk and up a driveway.

"Wait here," She told Scritch, and he sat hunched over as she nervously headed up the steps and onto the porch. Could there be housefolk in there? She hesitated, then raised a paw and scratched her claws at the doorframe. She drew back warily and waited. Nothing. She let out a high pitched meow and listened for a response. Nothing.

"Maybe no one is home." Scritch sighed.

Sappy waited a few moments longer before her tail drooped. But as she returned to her brother, she tried to be confident. "There are lots of other houses," She pointed out. "Let's try them."

***

Sappy and Scritch spent the whole morning padding up and down the road and visiting houses. Most of the time, the door did not open. Whether someone inside could not hear Sappy or simply ignored her, she did not know. 

They had started up the driveway to one house when a vicious barking broke out from the backyard. The barking creature frightened the kits so badly, they didn't dare get any closer.

At two houses, housefolk opened the door, but the first shooed the kittens away, and the other screamed in horror at the sight of Scritch.

The sun was high in the sky now. Sappy didn't know how far they'd traveled, or where they were. Every corner they turned, they discovered more roads and more rows of houses. Her pads were sore from walking, her tail dragging behind her. 

Scritch moved slower and slower until he gave into his exhaustion and groaned, plopping onto a lawn. "I can't walk anymore!" He wailed. "I feel awful!"

"We have to!" Sappy protested, crouching beside him. "We need to find a home."

Suddenly, her brother's ears pricked. "Look!" He gasped.

She turned her head and froze. On the other side of the lawn near a fenced porch stood one of the strange flying things. It was dark gray with a red chest, and beady eyes. It hopped forward in the grass and paused, studying the ground.

The flying thing! Maybe It can help us! Sappy immediately crept toward it slowly and nervously. "H-hello!"

The creature did not respond, but flicked it's head in her direction.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you!" She tried to hide the fear in her voice as she met it's beady gaze. "Please, me and my brother need help."

The flying creature stared at her a moment longer, then turned and flapped away into the air.

"Wait, come back!" Sappy cried and ran forward a few paces. She stopped at the end of the lawn and stared up helplessly as the animal disappeared into the trees.

Sappy sighed and closed her eyes. What did I say to upset it?

"Were you... Talking to that bird?"

The sound sent a bolt of shock through her body, and she froze. That wasn't Scritch's voice. She found the courage to spin around, and her eyes widened in amazement.

A cat!

A golden brown tabby tom sat on the porch a little ways from her, his head tilted as he watched her. He was much bigger than her, a fully grown cat. He looked plump and thick furred, and wore a red collar, like Scritch.

Sappy couldn't take her eyes off him. Another cat! There really are others! I thought Scritch and I were the only ones! She jerked her head toward her brother, who was staring at the tom in just as much shock.

"Well?" The cat twitched his tail.

Sappy's voice cracked. "W-what?" 

"You were talking to a bird." The tom's whiskers twitched in amusement. "You know birds don't talk, right?"

"Bird...?" Scritch stumbled to Sappy's side and stared at the cat. "Is that what that flying thing is called?"

The golden tabby blinked. "Yes...? Haven't you-" He broke off, his yellow eyes widening. "Oh my whiskers! What happened to your face?" He hopped down the steps to meet them.

Scritch lowered his head in embarrassment, trying to hide his face with his paw.

Sappy tried to shake off the shock of not being the only cat in the world. They sought out for help. And this cat could help them! "We were in a fire," She explained anxiously. "Scritch was burnt very badly. Please, we need help."

The tom's eyes lit with sympathy. "You poor kits!" He returned his gaze to Scritch, who was still covering his face with his arm. "Let me see," He prompted gently.

"Let him, Scritch," She urged anxiously. "He can help you."

The kit hesitated and slowly lowered his paw, looking up at the cat miserably.

"My, my..." He leaned forward and sniffed at Scritch's face. "You're lucky you weren't blinded! You're very brave."

"So can you help him?" Sappy asked hopefully.

The cat frowned. "I once burned my pads walking across the stove when I was a dumb kit. The vet gave me ointment, and when my housefolk put it on my paws, I felt much better."

Sappy didn't know what many of those words meant. "Can you give some 'ointment' to Scritch?"

"Oh, no." He looked embarrassed. "My housefolk threw it out when my paws were better." He paused. "But cool water helped too." He waved his tail. "There's a little pond in the backyard. Come on."

Sappy and Scritch followed the stranger along the side of the house and into the backyard. She was immediately awestruck by how colorful it was. Most of the yard was taken up by a garden of pretty pink, blue, yellow, and red flowers. In the center lay a little pond, lined with flat stones.

The golden tabby crouched beside the water and motioned with his tail for Scritch to join him. "Lay down facing the water," He instructed. "I'll gently splash it onto your face."

"Okay..." Scritch lay beside the pond, watching it nervously. "What if I fall in?"

The cat purred. "Even if you do, it isn't deep at all. Don't worry."

Scritch closed his eyes, and Sappy sat, watching as the tom flicked his paw into the water, gently splashing it at the kit's face.

Scritch flinched at first, then relaxed, sighing. "That feels good."

Sappy relaxed too, relieved to see that her brother was in less discomfort. I'm so glad we found this cat!  She studied him, reminding herself how odd it was to see another of their species. He was so much bigger than they were. Is that how big we'll be someday? His voice was deeper, his fur thicker and less soft.

The tom noticed her staring and looked amused. "Haven't you seen another cat before?"

She shook her head. "Me and Scritch thought we were the only ones."

The cat laughed. "Oh, no! There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of us!"

"Really?" Her eyes widened. "All in these houses?"

"No, no," He purred. "Not all. There are cats who live out on the streets, in the forest. Everywhere."

Cats live outside willingly?? Sappy couldn't believe her ears. That's crazy!

"What are your names?" The tom asked.

"I'm Sappy," She introduced herself. "And my brother is Scritch."

The tom's whiskers twitched. "Those are unusual names," He purred. "But I like them."

"What's your name?" Sappy prompted, wondering what name wasn't unusual.

The golden tabby cat pulled his paw from the pond and shook it dry before sitting up. "My name is Chester." He turned his head. "How are you feeling, Scritch?"

"Much better." Scritch sighed and sat up, his face sleek with water. "Thank you."

Chester nodded, though he looked concerned. "Why are you out here all alone? Where is your mother?"

"Mother?" Sappy frowned and exchanged a puzzled look with Scritch. "We don't have a mother."

"Of course you do. Everyone has a mother."

Scritch shrugged. "If we did, we never knew her. We only remember the housefolk."

"I suppose that's the way it is for most kits adopted at a young age." Chester looked sympathetic.

Sappy hesitated. We need a new home. And Chester seems very nice! This house looked very different and much smaller than the one they knew. But it could still be a home. "Chester... Me and Scritch need a place to stay." She stared up at him. "Please, would your housefolk take us in?"

Chester's yellow eyes widened, and Sappy hoped he was considering it. But his answer came very quickly, and not the one she wanted to hear. "No. I'm sorry, but my housefolk only want one cat." He shifted his paws awkwardly. "I had a mate during the winter who was expecting my kits. I wanted her to stay here with me, but my housefolk rejected her."

"Oh..." Sappy's tail drooped. "I guess they would reject us, too." Scritch looked at his paws, clearly just as disappointed.

"I'm so sorry." Chester's eyes shone with guilt. "If I could control their minds, I'd let you stay." He tried to sound more positive. "But I'm sure you'll find a nice home of your own."

They sat in awkward silence for a long moment. Sappy stared at her paws. I miss our warm bed, our toy mice, our cushion... I miss home. But we can never go back home.

At last, Chester broke the silence. "You can spend the night here in the yard if you'd like. In the morning, you can keep looking for new housefolk."

"Thank you," Scritch meowed.

***

It was night now. After Chester bid them good night and went inside, Sappy and Scritch settled in the garden under a shrub for the night. They were exhausted. I've never walked so much in my life!

They'd been laying there for a while when suddenly, Scritch sighed. "I don't want to keep trekking up and down roads, Sappy. I don't want to face more dogs or angry housefolk throwing things at me, or screaming at the sight of me."

Sappy's heart sank. "Scritch-"

"Chester said there are cats that live outside." Scritch stared across the yard, as though imagining the cats beyond the fences. "Maybe... Maybe we can do that."

Sappy stared at him in disbelief. "You're joking!" When Scritch didn't reply, she sighed. "We'll talk about it tomorrow." She pressed her flank against his and rested her chin on her paws.

As crickets chirped softly in the night, Sappy thought about Scritch's idea. It scared her, but excited her at the same time. Maybe he's right. Maybe we don't belong in a house anymore...