Shelby sprang up from her nightmare, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Was the unspeakably large monster that was chasing her still rustling through the bushes? She could still hear it crashing through the undergrowth. Rustling faster, faster, closer, closer… oh.

The rustling was just Martha. Just Martha shoving two “I Found My Loving Home!” signs into her and her brother’s pet descriptions. Shelby watched as Martha slid the blue papers into the laminated plastic pockets.

Without warning a crushing weight landed on her back. Plunged back into her dream, Shelby twisted around, clamping her mouth shut on what she was convinced was the creature that haunted her nightmares.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeowch!” Shadow squeaked, peering down from his perch on top of Shelby’s back. Shelby shook him off. He landed in the litter box. Nipping off the small pellets, Shadow indignantly confronted Shelby.

“What”-NIP-“was that”-NIP-“for? I was”-NIP-“just having some”-NIP-“fun!”

Shelby laughed dryly, nose in the air. “Well, you ought not to jump on cats just minding their own business!” she sniffed haughtily. Oh, how obnoxious her wannabe-Ninja brother could be!

“I was just going to tell you to say your last goodbyes. Look.” Shadow flicked his tail toward the front of the cage. Carissa and Amelia were prancing around outside with an open pet carrier. Their mom was standing with a man whom Shelby assumed was their father. Both parents were listening to something that the twins’ elderly foster care woman Ann was telling them.

“Oh no!” Shelby gasped. “I’ve slept in!” She had meant to wake up early to say all of her goodbyes in a slow, somber air to her friends.

“Make it snappy. They’re coming this way!” Shadow warned. Shelby took a deep breath.

“Misty, I want you to know that I’ve greatly enjoyed listening to your stories. You have become a wonderfully trustworthy friend. Holly, teach Smudge some of your level-headedness. Smudge, teach Holly to be more feisty. Even each other out, though I love both of you as you are now. Ginger, please, never forget me! I love all of you so much! So, dear friends, goodbye!”

When Shelby finished her mantra, the mother was opening the cage. Carissa lifted her out, and Amelia took Shadow, who belted, “Look at me, Ninja warriors! I am flying! I am a worthy member of your-OOF!” Shadow was placed in the cage. Shelby rolled her eyes.

Cries of, “Good luck!” and “We won’t forget you!” drifted from the cages.

“Goodbye!” the siblings called back as they were escorted to the entrance of the store.

Shelby’s heart melted as a whimper escaped her throat. She realized she would never see her friends again. She never did.

At least, that’s what most stories would say.

🐾                                 🐾 🐾             

“Bleargh! Bleargh!” wailed something next to her. Shelby sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Must you make that preposterous noise every time we go over a minuscule mound?” Shadow had made that up and down retch every time the car went over a bump in the road.

“Why, yes, my primly proper sister, it seems rather fitting to a Ninja of my rank,” Shadow said in a British accent, quite obviously pretending to be Shelby.

Amelia and Carissa were situated on either side of the carrier, giggling when the two kittens mewed and going positively hysterical when Shadow made his “high-rank Ninja” noises.

Shelby rolled her eyes at Shadow.

“Just remember,” she muttered. “Yesterday, your name was Travis. Today, your name is Shadow. Nowhere does it affirm your alleged Ninja rank.”

“Well, obviously. I am an undercover spy, here to destroy all...um…” Shadow paused. “I’ll need to check in with the sensae to remember what my assignment is. Meanwhile, I’ll just settle for destroying the blanket that you’re sitting on.”

Shadow pounced on the blanket, only to remember too late that he was lying on the same blanket.

As Shadow untangled himself from the colorful towel, Shelby raised her eyebrows.

She had just about had it with her brother’s shenanigans. First, he had jumped on her in an excessive attempt to have “fun.” Then, he was idiotic enough to have his attack on Shelby backfire on him. Next, his obnoxious retching, and now an insulting imitation of her.

“If he pushes me any farther, I’m going to snap!” Shelby promised herself.

“Hey, Shelby!” Shadow chirruped. “Betcha can’t do this!”

He balanced on one hind leg, standing firm through bumps and turns.

“Please,” Shelby snorted. “I am far more content minding my own business, instead of acting a fool.”

Shadow smiled.

“I guess I win, then.” He stood on a hill where the blanket had bunched itself up, elevating himself slightly. “All hail the King! Ninja of highest standards! Defeator of annoying twin sisters everywhere!”

Shadow paraded around the cage, basking in his self-proclaimed glory. Shelby shot up faster than a cheetah on a springboard.

“I do think,” growled Shelby through tightly gritted teeth, “That I may be able to partake in this little...friendly competition.”

A smug smile tugged at Shadow’s lips, like he knew a secret, but refused to tell or even hint what it is.

“Then do it.”

Carefully, Shelby’s front paws rose slowly off the blanket in the carrier. She balanced delicately on her hind legs, preparing to focus all her weight on one paw and one paw only. This she did, raising herself to look Shadow square in the face. She returned his formerly challenging stare, which had been reduced to a disbelieving glower. Shelby opened her mouth, about to triumphantly declare her success.

“We are tied, Shad-oooooooh!” The car snapped around a tight curve, flipping Shelby over and onto the ground.

Shelby wasn’t the only one to fall over. Shadow also fell, though not because of the car. He was laughing too hard not to.

“Ha! I am the official winner! I have pleased the Ninjas with my skill and I am worthy of their ranks! I have defeated the challenger and her attempt to overthrow me! All hail! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!” he crowed.

Shelby could only see red. Her heart pounded in her ears as her senses felt only fury.

“First of all, Mister Wannabe-Bigshot, you challenged ME. Second, there are no Ninjas scouting you! Why would they want a blundering, cowardly, big-headed mouse on their side? They would be far better off leaving you wrapped around their fingers! Lastly, I have had enough! You have acted like a foolish kitten for too long! You always think that you’re better than everyone else! Well, I hate to break it to you, but there are other cats in this world, and it’s time you recognized that things do not revolve around you!”

Shadow looked at his claws coolly, evidently coming up with a comeback to Shelby’s scathing outburst.

“Shelby, you’re wrong. I do not think I’m the best cat in the world. But I am the best cat here,” Shadow smirked.

Shelby lunged at her brother, determined to wipe the arrogant snicker off his face. She barreled into him, sending him flying against the opposite wall. He sprang to his feet, wincing, but still glaring with malice and contempt. For a moment, Shelby was frightened. She had never seen her brother in such a state of anger. Then she remembered that it was Shadow she was dealing with.

“What is your problem?” Shadow hissed. “You’re so uptight and...and so...perfect all the time!”

The siblings faced each other, the fur on the back of their necks bristling. Shelby growled in the back of her throat.

“Well, if you want to earn respect from me, you should treat me with a little more...RESPECT!” On the last word, she leaped on top of Shadow, pinning him down with all her might.

For a moment, they were a blur of fur, teeth, and claws.

All of a sudden, the car came to a screeching halt, slamming the twins into the side of the cage.

“All right, kitties!” exclaimed Carissa. “Get ready to see your new home!”

“Bum ba-da bum bum bum baaaaaaaaa!” hollered the ever-excitable Amelia. She dashed over to a patterned, wooden door built into the side of the garage, knocking over a rack of tools and a bike in the process.

Shadow grimaced. Cats had remarkable hearing, and could easily detect a pin drop from across a room.

“Amelia, you know better! Cats can hear very well. You don’t need to shout,” the father admonished, picking up the tools and bike. “And try not to knock things over!”

A crash sounded from inside the door, where Amelia had disappeared. “That chair was broken when I found it!”

The mother rolled her eyes, sighing as she stepped out of the car. Her step livened as she approached the carrier, heaving it up by an unseen handle on top of the enclosure.

Not used to the sensation, Shadow stumbled around the cage.

“AGH, this is worse than the car!” he growled loudly.

“Really, Leo or Donnie or whichever turtle is your favorite? I thought you were the best at everything!” Shelby jeered from the corner that she had huddled in, insulted, after their fight.

Shadow felt a jab of annoyance.

“First, it is unnecessary to put down two legendary Ninjas! Second, just don’t accept the challenge if you can’t handle losing!” he snarled.

“I wouldn’t have in the first place if you hadn’t set me up as a fish to your bait! In other words, don’t be obnoxious!” shrieked Shelby.

Right as it looked like the fight would start right back up again, the creak of a door echoed in the two felines’ ears. In the midst of their arguing, neither had noticed that their glorious moment had already passed, swallowed by their arguing. The two hadn’t gotten a chance to see their home right when they had been brought in.

Trying to restore the suspense to the moment, the two cats peered eagerly through the bars, all thoughts of a competition forgotten.

Shelby gasped. “It looks almost like Ann’s house!”

Shadow nodded. “And so much bigger than that cage we’ve been living in for so long!”

“For once, I’m not going to argue!” Shelby muttered, half to Shadow and half to herself.

The carrier seemed too small and stuffy all of a sudden. Both cats shifted uncomfortably, tangled in the blanket.

Silence followed.

“Arf!”

The pair jumped.

“Was that a…?” Shadow’s eyes widened as his tail puffed up to twice its size.

“They couldn’t have a…” Shelby backed into a corner.

“Arf! Arf! Arf!” An enormous midnight black figure lumbered around the corner.

“They have a dog!” the twins declared loudly.

The thing trotted over, limping slightly, still making raspy cries of happiness that the family was home.

“Maggie!” the girls cried, rushing over to greet the first family pet. Shadow and Shelby exchanged glances before edging cautiously forward to examine the dog - Maggie - from the safety of the cage.

Suddenly, smelling the newcomers, Maggie whipped around and shoved her nose up to the bars of the cage.

“Meeeeep!” Shelby whined, scuttling to the back of the pet carrier in hopes of escaping. Maggie only went around to the other side.

“Mags,” Carissa trilled in a sing songy voice, “Meet the newest members of the Jameson family!” As an afterthought, she added, “I’m going to go sew them into my family tree!”

Amelia groaned. “Yes, I’m sure all of our future relatives would love to see a pixelated lump as their great-grandparents’ pet.”

Ignoring the dirty look Carissa gave Amelia, Maggie gave the carrier one last sniff, more curious that harmful, Shadow thought. Maggie clomped loudly over to the family and nudged them each in turn, as though asking, “Why have you brought these things to our home?”

“Maggie,” the father stage-whispered in that same annoying, sing songy tone, “Why don’t you go say hi to your new friends?”

Shelby vigorously shook her head. “No. No. No. No. No,” was all she repeated. Shadow couldn’t, though he tried, a slight “Mrrrp!” of amusement at the horror struck look on Shelby’s face. Unfortunately for Shadow, Shelby noticed.

She whirled to face Shadow. The look she gave him was more than annoyance. The pure fury in her glare made Shadow cower under the weight of his own choice.

“I suppose you can do better!” Shelby spat. Before Shadow could call upon his Sensae for help, Shelby knocked him backward with a strength Shadow had never before seen in his dainty sister. Within moments, Shadow found himself in a most unwelcome position: nose to nose with Maggie.

The bearlike dog’s eyes stretched to the size of Mars. She leaned in closer to the cage. Shadow tried to run, but Shelby had inconveniently positioned herself to block his escape routes. Maggie’s warm breath seared Shadow’s scruff. He dared to raise his head from the ground.

Maggie’s beetle-black eyes were sparkling, inches from his. She drew herself up, keeping eye contact with Shadow, but she still towered above him.

In a frantic moment, Shadow glimpsed Shelby’s arrogant smirk. Being her loyal, trustworthy brother, he knew one thing. He had to beat her at her own game. Shadow rose to fit the image of Smudge on a bad day, fluffing up his fur and hissing in (what he hoped was) a ferocious way.

“Easy there, youngster, don’t hurt yourself.”

All thoughts of an argument banished to the depths of their minds, the twins shot backwards, bouncing off the cage like ping pong balls. For once, Shadow was justified to bounce around like an idiot. The dog spoke Feline Tongue.

“You… know… speak… wha?” Shelby stammered, eventually realizing that a comprehensible sentence would never come out of her mouth.

Despite the wave of curious panic threatening to capsize Shadow’s emotions, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of triumph at Shelby’s complete bewilderment and surprise.

“Yes, I can speak Feline Tongue fluently,” Maggie confirmed. “I was raised by a family of foxes before being taken away by a pet shelter.”

At the word “fox,” Shelby uttered an almost silent whine. Shadow knew immediately why.

Back when the twins had lived with Ann, their foster owner, they were allowed into a fenced in backyard. Nothing was wrong. Ann always supervised them. One day, Ann was cooking something, she was out in the yard watching them. Suddenly, smoke rose from inside (there was no fire, Ann just left her casserole in the oven for too long). Ann screamed and ran in. The moment she was gone, a fox scaled the fence. He cornered the kittens and singled out Shelby. He chased her around for a while, until the cats in the nearby barn, Jenny, Snickers, and Bam-Bam, heard their cries and drove the fox off before Ann returned. If they hadn’t come to the rescue… Shadow could barely think.

Maggie broke into Shadow’s thoughts. “Although, the humans don’t know about the fox,” she rasped wisely. “Sometimes I wish they’d just wake up and smell the DoggieChow!” Shadow purred. He was beginning to grow fond of the old dog. She was sassy!

“Alright, that’s enough introduction!” chirruped the mom. “Why don’t we show the kitties their room?”

Shadow frowned. Their room? In truth, he thought they would have the entire run of the house. But a room was fine. A big room. With lots of toys.

“Behold, your room!” smiled Carissa. It was alright, Shadow thought, compared to the stuffy closet he had been given for the past 3 months of his life (PetSmart).

Two cat beds sat floppily in the adjacent left corner. A cat tree occupied the corner to the right of the door, and toys were scattered randomly across the room. A litter box was in a smaller section across from the door, and two bowls sat the closest to the door.

The moment they had been waiting for had finally arrived. Amelia’s hand crept to the latch of the carrier. Just to prolong the suspense, it seemed, she stopped to itch her nose.

“Come on!” Shadow hissed through gritted teeth. Finally, after what registered as an eternity in the mind of a ninja overlord such as Shadow, the latch clicked open and the cage door went with it.

FREEDOM!

Shadow didn’t stop to watch Shelby. He bolted, eager to explore. He must have batted every mouse at least twice before Carissa even shut the door.

The lock to the door clicked.

“Okay, you two have fun!” Amelia called back in. “We’ll come back and check on you soon!”

Fast forward an hour, and Shadow was lying on the floor flicking a mouse halfheartedly.

“I’m so bored!” he sighed.

“I am finding a lack of activity here as well. There must be something we could pass the time with,” Shelby agreed in her most annoying “analytical Harvard scholar” voice.

Shadow sighed again. “There is activity. Out there.”

He gestured to the door. Maggie was barking, and laughter echoed across the house. Shelby nodded.

“Let’s just go to bed,” she muttered, eyes already drooping.

Shadow scoffed indignantly. “We will not just go to bed! We will fight our way out! The ninjas shall not be contained!!! We must make ourselves-”

“Shadow, go to bed!”

Later that night, Shadow remained wide awake, listening to the excitement just outside the door. There were two options.

Option 1 was to sit in the room, like they expected. Keeping quiet, living in the room that they wanted him to be in with a world just out of a single two-inch-wide door.

Option 2 was complicated…

Even as the noise ended and the last lights clicked out, Shadow stayed, formulating a plan so great that no human would deny it. Shelby would be his servant. She’d help with the plan, but mostly just give him whatever he needed.

The grandfather clock downstairs began to chime. Shadow counted the bongs. One, two, three, four, all the way up to 12. It was the beginning of a new day.

And so it began.

Shelby sighed. She hadn’t the faintest clue why she was listening to her brother yammer away about his dumb escape plan. It really wasn’t worth her time.

Pretending she was listening intently and considering what he was saying very seriously, she let her thoughts wander to her dream last night. It had been the same dream she’d been having a lot lately. The creature, rustling through some bushes, growing closer and closer, growling slightly as it went. She always woke up before seeing who or what it was.

Shelby shook herself. It’s just a silly old dream! Don’t worry about it! Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of some kind of meaning, or purpose, or warning, perhaps?

Turning her attention back to the pointless plan that Shadow was spouting, Shelby forced herself to focus in.

“ … and then we’ll double back to Topeka and sneak on a midnight flight to Las Vegas…”

Shelby sprang up. “And just how do you expect to accomplish all this?” she asked coolly.

Shadow looked puzzled. “I just explained that. We’ll take a four week online course on unlocking your inner superpowers. Then, we’ll become foreboding, fire-setting hypnotists who burn stuff with their minds. We’ll melt the windows and fly to the Empire State Building!”

Shelby rolled her eyes, finding about 30 faults in that plan based on the summary alone. “Well, if we can fly using superpowers, then why not use those instead of an airplane? We definitely, positively would totally not get caught.

Shadow opened his mouth, cocked his head, and closed his mouth again. “Well… uh…” he stuttered. Shelby raised her eyebrows.

“I’m waiting,” she prompted, tapping her foot for effect. She smirked slightly as he squirmed and glanced at the door.

Seeming to reach an answer, Shadow grinned slyly. “Well, my dear sister, if you were a formidable ninja overlord like I am, you would understand that we prefer the most dangerous and risky operations!”

Shadow proceeded to demonstrate a series of agile flips in midair, thrusting his jaws out to snap shut on an invisible enemy. Shelby pricked her ears in interest. Quickly realizing her mistake, she relaxed.

Though she would never admit it, some of her brother’s tactics fascinated her. The way he moved with such grace and ease, slicing through the air with all of the power of a bolt of lightning.

“Mmm-hmm, right, Shadow,” Shelby sighed, putting as much disrespect and exasperation as she could muster into the phrase.

“That is no way to spoke to the Martial Arts King!” Shadow boomed. Shelby closed her eyes. She found it hard to believe that they were related. Maybe Shadow was an alien, and not in any way her embarrassing brother.

Opening her eyes again, Shelby reprimanded, “How about you become the LANGUAGE Arts King? You just said “spoke,” and the word is speak. Shelby tossed her head for added effect.

Out of nowhere, the silence was broken by a low noise, materializing and repeating from nothing, all around them. Both kittens glanced around nervously.

“Did you…hear something?” Shelby meowed, not bothering to keep the traces of fear out of her voice. Shadow leaped on top of the litter box.

“We ninjas feel no fear to noises of the abyss!” he grunted, puffing up his chest.

THUMP! THUMP!

Shadow shot into the litter box as a sanctuary, squeaking in fear. Typical.

THUMP! THUMP!

The door handle rattled. Shelby back away, ear pressed flat. She prepared to spring as the door launched open.

Maggie stood silhouetted in the doorway.

“Don’t kill us!” Shadow shrieked from the litter box.

“Easy there, young one,” Maggie rasped. “I’m here to break you out, not eat you.” Shadow slipped out from the litter box, covered in gray pellets.

“Oh.”

Maggie trotted inside. She nodded at Shadow. “I couldn’t help but overhear your escape plan. It was a really, really amazing plan,”-sarcasm noted-“but I think you could do better. I have an idea.”

“Wait…” Shadow raised an eyebrow at Maggie. “How did you manage to get the door open in the first place?”

Maggie smiled. “I have my ways.”

Shelby decided that she liked Maggie a lot. She was both wise and fun. Sort of like the awesome motorcycle-riding grandma that Shelby had seen on a TV show that Ann had put on for her once.

“Hey!” A shout of a familiar but not quite distinguishable voice echoed down the hallway. “The cats’ door is open!”

Faster than any of the three pets could react, the family of four was silhouetted in the doorway, somehow looking more like a threatening group of the undead rather than the kind, sweet family that had taken them in.

Maggie shot a quick glance at the twins. Shelby sensed the wheels turning faster than a table saw in her head.

“Act friendly towards me. Make sure they know that you’re not scared!” Maggie whispered. Both looked at Maggie like she had suddenly gone crazy.

“Just do it! If you want freedom, do it!”

The siblings followed her orders, gazing innocently up at their family with large, round eyes. The humans’ faces quickly melted from stern and confused to a look that only kittens can make people do.

Carissa stepped forward tentatively, and Shelby shrunk backwards. Despite the kindness of the humans, Shelby was still a bit apprehensive around them. Carissa stopped.

“Mom, Dad…” she speculated. “Didn’t we lock the cats in here because of Maggie? We thought that she would demolish their very existence, or whatever phrase Amelia used.”

Amelia stuck her tongue out at Carissa.

Unfazed, Carissa continued. “Wouldn’t it just be mean to keep them locked up in here if they get along fine with Maggie?”

“Well, you do have a point,” the mom conceded carefully.

“Hmmm…” the dad mused.

Shelby let out the sweetest, most pitiful mew she could manage. The dad smiled.

“Alright, then,” he concluded. “They are now free to roam.”

As soon as they had gone, Maggie turned to the two astonished felines. Her eyes twinkled at their disbelief.

“I’ve seen a lot in my days, youngsters,” she laughed. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

As soon as Maggie finished talking, Shadow burst out of the room and down the staircase like a runner off the starting line. With a quick nod of acknowledgement and gratitude, Shelby promptly tailed her brother to make sure he didn’t get into too much trouble and end their new privilege.

Attempting to find him in the maze of rooms and halls, she caught a glimpse of a tail darting around a corner ahead of her. Out of breath, she finally caught up to him. He was staring with that stupid look of incomprehension.  He was staring out a huge 6 by 6 pane window.

“It’s…beautiful!” he gasped, with an air of one who had just discovered that cat treats existed. She padded up next to him, about to scoff and make a pointed comment about his confusion at something as boring as a window.

Then Shelby realized that Shadow, despite his odd fascination with windows (a story for another time), he had the brain cells to look out the window for once.

And he was right, for the first and last time.

The scenery outside the window was that of a great, lush beauty. Trees stood tall and majestic, towering mightily, with the gentle blossoms of spring giving them an air of being inviting rather than menacing. The grass was an indescribable shade of emerald, waving and rustling in the gentle breeze. A river flowed through it all, more on the side of a spring. About four or five feet across, it was clear enough to see the multi colored pebbles glimmering in the streambed. The river created a thin layer of satisfyingly undisturbed mud in which a tree had fallen to create a bridge across the sparkling river.

A slight weight on her back made her jump and shrink down. Amelia’s hand stroked her gently as Amelia let her gaze rest calmly on the landscape.

“Beautiful,” she whispered after a while. The word had barely escaped Amelia’s lips before she leapt backward, as if the bee hovering around one of the spring blossoms had suddenly reached up and stung her.

“MOM!” she shrieked, surprising both kittens. Amelia really had to learn to keep her voice down.

“What? What happened? What’s wrong?” Her mom came skidding into the kitchen, her makeup half off. The three at the window, human and cats, had to stifle giggles at the sight of her.

“I have an idea,” Amelia announced, blunt as usual. Her mom attempted to wipe off some of her makeup with an agitated force.

“First time for everything!” Carissa shouted down the stairs.

“Myeh.” Amelia made a noise in the back of her throat. “ANYway,” she said, raising her voice pointedly, “The cats look like they want to go outside. Well, maybe we could open the sliding screen door and have them look out the closed screen, just to let them feel the warm air…?” She ended her speech in a question.

The mom looked back and forth between Amelia, the cats, and the door.

“I’m doing strange things for these cats,”  she sighed, reaching for a nearby door handle. As she opened the door, a blast of peculiar warm yet cool air took Shelby by surprise. Instantly, the twins practically teleported to the wall of mesh behind the door, letting them see and feel the outside, but not go out.

Shelby and Shadow sat, mesmerized by the beauty. They sat until the sun dipped below the horizon, shrouding the world in darkness. Suddenly, six pinpricks of light loomed from the darkness. Eyes. Three pairs of eyes. Cats’ eyes.

Shadow’s eyes widened as the three frightening pairs of harsh reflection slunk from the darkness of the night. Blending in with the stars, but brighter, the eyes each met his in turn. Thankfully, Shelby made the first move. This was outside of his ninja job description.

“Who…who are you?” she stammered, trying to put on a brave face, while backing away.

“Who, us?” drawled a voice from the void of endless blackness.

“Oh, don’t be afraid!” peeped a very enthusiastic voice, much in contrast to the first.

“Just look at them, the poor dears! They look ill with fright!” the third and final voice meowed, speaking with the air of the motherly aunt who supplied you with all the treats you would ever need.

Beneath the fear, Shadow felt a slight flash of agitation at being spoken down to like that.

“I-I’m not s-s-scared of y-yo-you!” Shadow tried to hiss, but his voice shook so much that it turned into more of an angry hyperventilation.

Three chuckles of entirely different pitches and octaves floated airily from the darkness as their voices’ three owners finally began to take shape.

“Hello,” one of them said curiously, reaching out her nose to sniff them through the mesh. Shadow recognized her as the second voice. “My name is Jess. What’s yours?” she continued in a friendly tone.

“Hold up there, speedy. How do we know we can trust these cats? They might be imposters!” the cat with the first voice meowed. The third of the trio sighed.

“Nina, you were always a bit mistrusting. Besides, who would they be imposters for? Don’t mind her,” she added apologetically. “Nina always sees an enemy in the friendliest of kittens.”

The cat named Jess broke between them before Nina could spring at the third.

“Guys, we’re confusing them. Let’s start from the beginning.” She turned to Shadow and Shelby. “Hello. My name is Jess. I am the friendliest one of us three crazyheads!”

“You’re also the most airheaded,” Nina muttered.

“Let me correct myself,” Jess meowed through gritted teeth. “I am usually the friendliest of us all. And Nina is a rude little frog.”

The other four gasped at Jess’ language. The third cat glared at her.

“Jess! You know better!” she growled. “Now apologize!”

Jess lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Nina,” she meowed.  Catching sight of the twins staring at her, she straightened up. “Right. Now, this is my cousin Brenda.”

Brenda nodded. “Hello. I hope you do not find me intimidating. I try to be known as the logical yet musical one.” She turned to Nina. “And THIS little ray of sunshine…well, I’ll let her introduce herself.”

Brenda raised her eyebrows, waiting. Nina just rolled her eyes. Jess opened her mouth, about to say something. Brenda gave her a warning look and Jess closed her mouth again. Nina watched them with disgust. She scoffed and began to speak.

“My name is Nina and I am lucky enough to get landed with Jess as my older sister and Brenda as my cousin. Yipee. Somehow, when they wanted to start a super gang of travelers, I got roped in. We could be living in our old home, inside of that comfortable tree like normal strays, but no. So here I am, talking to two strangers like I’ve known them forever, thanks to my sister and cousin who think, just because they’re older, they have control over me. I see we are ending with sentences describing ourselves, so here: I’m the coolest one.” Nina ended with another eyeroll.

“Nice monologue,” Jess purred. “Though maybe you should have said something about your sarcastic side? The sarcastic one? Nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

Catching on, Brenda meowed mischievously, “What about the angry one?”

“The dark one?”

“The hippie?”

“The ugly one?”

“The dramatic one?”

“Voldemort?”

Nina shot a furious glare at her two slyly giggling relatives. “Ugh! Can’t you just leave me alone for once, you rude old grandmas?” she scowled, though Shadow could tell by the twitch in her ear that she was close to laughing herself.

“Grandmas?” Jess snorted, leaning on Brenda in the midst of her hysterics.

“Rude old grandmas!” Brenda mimicked, also bursting with laughter.

Nina began to smile, then laugh, then howl. Shadow and Shelby looked at each other. They burst out laughing.

In gales of laughter, he, Shelby, Nina, Jess, and Brenda nearly died from shrieking in an endless cacophony.

What seemed like hours later, the laughter finally died down and stopped, though huge, goofy grins were still plastered on each of the five cats’ faces.

“That was fun, Nova,” giggled Brenda.

Nina smiled. “Sure was, Beatbox,” she replied.

Shadow cleared his throat in confusion. “Hey, are we missing something?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah!” Jess meowed, a look of comprehension dawning on her face. “But so are we. We told you our names. What are yours?”

Shadow smiled. “My name is Shadow, and this is my sister, Shelby. We’re twins. I am a ninja overlord, and Shelby is my servant.” Shelby flicked his ear with her tail.

Jess half smiled in amusement. “Cool. ’Kay, now we’ll tell you what’s going on with the nicknames. We have code names for each other. I’m Jumper because of my hyper personality.

Jess stepped back, allowing space for Nina to step forward.

“I’m Nova,” she explained. “My nickname comes from my temper and explosive personality.”

Nina moved aside, leaving Brenda to take her place.

“I’m Beatbox,” Brenda meowed, rather proudly. “This is due to my musical prowess. Do re mi fa so la ti do!”

Shadow decided not to point out that her voice cracked on every syllable from “re” up.

Suddenly, the street lamp just visible from the door flashed twice, accompanied by a chorus of yowling cats. The trio’s ears pricked, turning simultaneously to the flashing light.

“That’s our cue!” Brenda smiled slyly.

“See you around!” piped Jess.

Nina just flicked her tail in somewhat of a goodbye.

“Bye!” Shadow called after their retreating figures.

He liked Jumper, Nova, and Beatbox.

🐾                                 🐾 🐾

Misty jolted awake, panicked. It was as she feared.

Though she had never told anyone, she had an odd sort of premonition power inside of her dreams when something was going terribly wrong. She was like a magnet. The only one who could fix the problems that gravitated to her. It was only used for the ones close to her.

Her recent dream involved Shadow and Shelby.

They were in danger. Grave danger.

Her dream had been odd. There was something rustling through the bushes, slinking through the undergrowth. She could smell its rank breath, reeking of blood. It wasn’t coming for her. It was coming for something behind her, but she couldn’t turn around. She heard their cries for help. The thing snarled. It leaped over Misty, too fast for her to see what it was. She was still unable to turn. She heard the snarls, mixed with the twins’ shrieks, mixed with a horrible ripping sound. Her body relaxed, and she was finally able to turn. What she saw frightened her. It was the twins, lying in a pool of blood. An image of herself, faded but there, lay next to them. Her faded replica rose slowly, dripping blood. Their eyes met, and her own eyes were full of regret. Her faded replica spoke.

“You could have been here. You chose yourself over them. Why? WHY? How could you? What choice could have been so great that you would desert them?” As she gazed into her own eyes, she froze in place again, unable to move. Her eyes were stuck, looking at her worst future.

Shadow and Shelby rose beside the faded version of her.

“Misty…” they meowed in unison. “Misty, help us. We need you.”

The wind began to blow. Lightning crackled all around them.

“Misty…” the twins repeated. “Misty. Misty.”

The entire world began calling her name. Still locked onto the eyes of herself, Misty watched as blood seeped around their paws. Rising higher and higher, it was soon level with her neck. The three in front of her rose onto a pile of bones. Misty was still frozen in place. She found that she could speak.

“Help. Help me!” she meowed.

The three gazed down on her from their perch, unharmed. Shadow and Shelby sat on either side of her replica.

“You could have prevented this,” the replica said. “You could have helped them. You made your choice.”

Misty realized that she was the source of the blood. She was drowning in what she had done.

“Please…I’m sorry. Help!” she gurgled as blood flooded her mouth.

Her replica stood, silhouetted by a bolt of lightning. “THERE ARE NO APOLOGIES!” she shouted. “LIFE DOES NOT OFFER SECOND CHANCES. CHOOSE WISELY, MISTY!”

The thing that scared Misty most was that, as she drowned in blood, she felt no regret.

“Choose, Misty. Choose wisely. Or you will not be dreaming of this moment any longer.”

That was when Misty woke up.

She knew then what she had to do. Protect them. Protect Shadow and Shelby at any cost.

She had to find them first. She would rally the PetSmart cats and go. Find them. Save them from whatever was coming.

But as Misty formulated her plan, she feared one question that she pushed out of her head. The question was so shameful she could not bear to think it.

Am I doing this for Shadow and Shelby, or so I don’t die myself?

Was this her choice? What was to come?

She pushed the barricade of thoughts out of her head and woke the others. She steeled in her head one motive: save them, whatever the reason.

Or else.

“Open the door, please!” Shelby meowed crossly. That was the last straw. She had been trying to get the family to open the door for the past 15 minutes, getting more and more of, “No, I can’t feed you right now,” and, “I’ll play with you soon…just let me finish baking these cookies that I haven’t even started yet.” It was driving her insane!

“No luck?” Shadow pranced up to Shelby, who sighed in resignation.

“Nope. But at least I’ve been doing more than you have about it!” she added angrily. “You’re over there, playing with that stupid thing they gave you! All it takes is a feather, and you go into a state of hypnosis! Honestly, Shadow!”

Shadow turned his head away and looked down, probably because, Shelby guessed, her knew her words had truth to them.

“I’m sorry!” Shadow sounded so desperate, and for a moment, Shelby felt bad for snapping at him. “It’s just so soft!” he continued. “And when you paw it, the feather-you’re not listening, are you?”

Shelby yawned. “Not in the slightest, Shadow.”

Shadow nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

All of a sudden, a gust of wind nearly blew the trees in half outside as the sky got increasingly darker. Perfect time to feel the breeze in my fur! Shelby thought excitedly.

“Hey, mom!” Amelia ran into the kitchen. “There’s a tornado watch in our area!”

Her mom looked up. “Gather your sister and father, and we’ll meet downstairs.”

Amelia groaned. “But it’s just a watch! A warning is when things get real! I want to watch it out the window!”

Her mom placed a hand on her hip. “Amelia, things could ‘get real’ at any moment. Get to the basement. NOW.”

Shadow looked back and forth between them, confused. He turned to Shelby.

“A tomato watch? So people just sit around and watch tomatoes rot? The red vegetable thing?” he asked. Shelby groaned.

“First of all, a tomato is considered a fruit. Second of all, a tornado watch is when conditions happen to be right for a dangerous weather phenomenon to occur.”

Shadow watched the family disappear into the basement. He sighed. “Now how are we supposed to get the door open?”

Out of nowhere, a thought popped into Shelby’s head

“Follow me!” she commanded. Shadow immediately obeyed. Racing through the house, Shelby called the name of the friend she was looking for.

“Maggie!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Mag-GIE!”

The dog finally loped up the stairs, looking slightly disgruntled and impatient.

“What is it, youngsters? What is so important that you need to wake me from my well-earned nap?”

Shelby suddenly felt a bit small. “Um…w-well…we w-were just w-w-w-ondering h-how you m-managed to…to get the door open on the day you let us out?” She tensed, waiting for the dog to reprimand her. Much to her surprise, Maggie just laughed.

“Up to your old tricks again, eh, youngster?” she chuckled. “Well, let me tell ya, help ya along…see, all you need to do is get those tongs over there on the counter…see ’em? Then…this part’ll probably take botha ya…you’ll need to get them so that they are clamped on the handle of the door you’re tryna open, see, and just twist and pull back. Good luck with your trick, whatever it is this time!” Maggie limped away. “Off to study seismology!” she called over her shoulder.

A sly grin spread across Shelby’s face. “Shadow, if no one will open the door for us, we’ll do it ourselves.”

“Nice, sister. This is the trickiest I’ve seen you yet. I have trained you well, young Jedi.” Shadow mock bowed to Shelby, who rolled her eyes.

“You know, you are in serious danger of floating away, you’re so full of hot air,” Shelby meowed. “Just help me with this.”

Together, the two maneuvered the tongs so that they clamped around the handle. Twist…come on…a little farther…back…yes! The door flew open. Shelby sprang forward, expecting to stop at the mesh. The only problem was, the mesh was nowhere to be found.

“What are you doing?” came a screech from outside. It was the trio of travelers, Jess, Nina, and Brenda. Jess had spoken. “Don’t you know there’s a tornado warning?”

A flash of panic hit Shelby. “I thought it was just a watch!” she howled. They had to scream over the torrents of rain and wind that were ambushing the house.

“They changed it when a tornado was sighted around here somewhere! Not sure exactly where, but get back inside!” Nina hollered.

Shelby abruptly realized something. “What are you going to do? You live outside!”

Brenda stepped forward. “We’ll be fine! Go!”

Shelby turned, trusting her friends, but a sudden gust of wind flung the door shut totally.

“We’re trapped!” Shadow shrieked.

“Follow us!” Jess could barely be heard above the wind.

Before the group could even cross the lawn, the river that had previously been a picture of beauty and elegance flooded the lawn with dirty, muddy sludge that was so different from the sparkling, clear water from before.

It was Shelby who first noticed the flash flood bearing down on them.  

“Run!” she hollered. She didn’t care what the others were doing. She was just running. Just getting away. Peering behind her, Shelby saw that the water was, thankfully, getting farther away. Shadow was not so lucky. He was bobbing up and down in the rapid current, yowling.

“Shadow!” yelled Shelby, not that anyone could hear her. She flung herself into the waves, desperate to save her brother. She felt his fur underwater, and grabbed and pulled. He resurfaced, gasping, but they were being carried father downstream.

Shelby closed her eyes, knowing she couldn’t fight the rampaging, rushing water. The water swirled and churned all around her. She let it take her.

There was nothing else to do.

Shadow blinked. For a moment he forgot what had happened. But all too soon, that moment passed. Everything rushed back in a chaotic jumble, much like the river carrying him away.

The tornado.

But now, there was no hint of a tornado whatsoever. In fact, things seemed uncharacteristically quiet.

The sky was clear, and puffy clouds drifted lazily across the canvas of robin’s egg blue. The odd copse of oak and pine trees still stood proud and tall.

That meant his house would be right over…not that way…to the left? No…the house had vanished. Blinking the last fog of bleary sleep out of his eyes, Shadow really began to survey the surrounding area. There were small but crucial differences that would definitely change Shadow’s path home.

For one, the field he was in was constructed of yellow stalks of high grass, not the puny pieces of green grass in his family’s lawn.

Second, the trees, instead of being a sparse spattering of trees whose topmost branches just barely touched each other and seemed to go on forever, were a dense cluster of two or three trees deep that seemed to sit on top of each other.

Surveying his surroundings, Shadow tried to work out the best thing to do. Suddenly, he heard a weak groan echo through the stalks behind him. Whipping around, he sprinted through the long grasses to find a small clearing, where Brenda was crouched protectively over a wheezing Jess.

As Shadow rustled toward them, Brenda turned and tensed, ready to spring at a potential attacker. She stopped when she saw who it was.

“Oh, come here, dear!” Brenda simpered. “I’m so glad you’re alright! You must be exhausted. I saw how hard that river pushed you around. Why, if Shelby hadn’t saved you…”

The rest of Brenda’s words were drowned out. All Shadow heard was a sucking, rushing noise in his head. Unable to process the question that was burning in his mind, he freed it to hang in the air, unanswered.

“And where is Shelby?”

Brenda, instead of answering, looked down at Jess, who had managed to somehow struggle into a sitting position.

“We don’t know,” Jess meowed bluntly. “I think they’re dead.”

Shadow stumbled, and Brenda caught him.

“They’re not dead,” she said reassuringly, glaring at Jess. “Jess has an overactive imagination.”

Just that possibility…imagined by Jess or not, it was still there. Thinking that his sister could be dead…his know-it-all, logical, obnoxious, unique, amazing sister. The one who made sure he was not dead from performing his ninja tasks. The one who always had a plan. He needed her. He wouldn’t be able to survive without her.

Shadow silently vowed that, whatever happened, he would find Shelby. He loved his sister, and whatever fight they got into they would always need each other. Twins, after all, were two halves to one fantastic whole.

“Shadow? Shadow? Are you alright?” Brenda’s voice finally punctured his clouded thoughts.

Jess opened her mouth. Brenda glared. “Jess, I do not want to hear another word out of you. You have done enough damage.”

“But it’s important!” Jess whined.

“Fine. What?” Brenda pursed her lips and spoke tartly.

“How is Shadow going to get home?” Shadow sighed and flopped on the ground. Brenda stared at Jess with hopelessness.

“We don’t really know, now, do we,” Brenda answered. “I explored this place while you were asleep. I’ve never been here before, or anywhere close to here.”

A rush of panic engulfed Shadow. “Someone pinch me. I must be dreaming,” he muttered.

“Cats can’t pinch. We don’t have thumbs,” Jess meowed dismissively.

Shadow smacked his forehead. Jess was a lost cause. Too literal.

“Well, we really have no choice but to keep moving!” Brenda said in an attempt to be optimistic.

Shadow frowned. “Which way?”

Jess shook her head. “We’ll have to guess and hope we chose right. Or, of course, there’s the option of just…giving up.”

Brenda nodded. “Yeah. Let’s just wait here.”

Shadow raised his eyebrows. “Like that?” he meowed. “You’re giving up like that?”

Jess looked up from the position she had settled into. “What else is there to do?”

Shadow’s frown deepened. “This from the travelers who have explored further than anyone I know? Miles of land? Lots of guessing?”

“This is different,” Jess snapped.

“Why? How? You always find your way then, what about now?”

“Open your eyes!” Jess yelled. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, we lost our only source of direction, and both of our sisters are missing!” Her voice cracked on the last few words.

It was then that Shadow realized that Jess missed Nina with the same pain he missed Shelby.

“You miss Nina,” he meowed, softening his tone. Jess looked away and nodded, unable to meet his eyes.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ll find them. We just need to keep going!”

Jess nodded, and Shadow ran the tip of his tail over her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. She glanced up, and some form of understanding passed between them.

“Okay. Thank you,” Jess smiled. “You’re a real friend, Shadow.”

“BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Both cats glanced behind them in surprise.

“Oh, don’t mind me!” Brenda sniffed. “I get a little emotional sometimes.”

Smirking, Jess meowed playfully, “You? No!” Shadow couldn’t help but crack a smile a Brenda’s melodramatic sobbing. Jess, still smiling sarcastically, rolled her eyes.

“Well, we should be going!” Shadow meowed with finality. “We won’t be reunited by just sitting here!”

Jess smiled wider. “Of course not!”

All in a line, Shadow in the middle, Jess on the left, and Brenda on the right, the three set off to find their lost kin.

“Ha! So…so then…Shadow…he says…‘I love tomatoes! They are an awesome vegetable!’” Shelby giggled, breathless with laughter.

“I mean, really!” Nina chuckled, also practically dying with laughter. “Jess also thinks that tomatoes are vegetables! Honestly! Do they even know the definition of fruit?”

Shelby hadn’t realized how much she enjoyed being in Nina’s company until they had been separated from their siblings. It turned out that Nina wasn’t as tough and ruthless as she tried to seem. As soon as the twosome had found each other and searched for their relatives, coming up with nothing, Nina had wailed in despair and crumpled to the ground. But they had reached the conclusion to keep moving. There really was no other option.

“I don’t think Shadow knows what a definition is,” Shelby snorted. Nina squealed with laughter.

“I know! It drives me bonkers when my so intellectually gifted relatives reverse the simplest of things! Jess once called a chair…she called it…CORN ON THE COB!”

The fast friends doubled over laughing. Shelby rolled on the ground while Nina stumbled around dramatically. This continued for a good while, and eventually, the sun began to set.

“Well, now where do we go?” Nina asked, glancing around as if waiting for something.

Shelby cocked her head, puzzled. “What do you mean?” she asked Nina.

“I’ve been following the place where the sun rises. There’s no way to do that if there’s no sun,” Nina replied worriedly.

Shelby slowly, disbelievingly began to grasp the severity of the situation. “So you’re telling me,” Shelby began slowly, thoughtfully, “that we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no idea where we are, we lost my brother, your sister, and your cousin, who we need to find before we can start searching for home, and you follow a giant ball of fire to the nonexistent four corners of the earth?” Shelby’s voice began to rise. “Here I was, thinking the expert traveler had a real plan, and now I find out that you were leading us in one of a million random directions, which is probably leading us to instantaneous death? Nina, I thought you to be much smarter than that!”

Nina narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Your Royal Highness, if I was actually doing something to help! Who insisted on taking up half an hour of our precious time by examining a clump of grass that was allegedly tainted with a trace of Shadow’s scent, but turned out to be a rabbit’s burrow? Not me, and there are only two of us here. Can your oh-so-competent brain do the math, or must I do it for you, like everything else?”

Shelby stepped forward and hissed. “If you want to keep both eyes, you will not talk down to me like that. I know a lot more than you do, so maybe you should actually listen to me and my instructions instead of being your moody self, Nova!”

Nina rose to face her. “That’s it! I swear, you’re sounding just like…like…”

Their scowls turned to sadness. Both recognized that their irrational fury had been sparked by pain instead of true anger.

Nina spoke first. “I’m so sorry!” she wailed. “It’s so hard! I’ve never been without Jess before, and I do love her, despite how annoying she can be! Same goes for Brenda! Oh, Shelby, will I ever get over it?”

Shelby chose her words carefully. “You won’t have to get over it. We’ll find them.”

Nina looked up at her woefully. “How?”

“By letting them come to you!” A familiar voice drifted from the grass around them. Shadow, in all his annoyingness, padded casually up to them as if they were mere friends who had gone shopping and seen each other at the store. Jess and Brenda were close behind him.

“I knew you loved us, Nina,” Jess laughed.

Nina glanced around uncertainly. “I was…kidding,” she meowed lamely.

Shadow shook his head and looked at Shelby. “Nice to see you, sis.”

🐾                                 🐾 🐾

A groan sounded as Misty peered out over the landscape. It fanned out into an elaborate sprawl of canvas painted with homes, towns, and forest. Too many paths to take.

“How much farther?” Misty glanced behind her at the bedraggled group of cats that trudged in her wake. Upon receiving her vision of Shadow and Shelby, Misty had instantly rounded up the PetSmart cats to help save them. She’d told them of her visions. They had all been skeptical at first, but eventually agreed to go with her to help their friends. She didn’t know how many cats she’d need.

Together, Misty, Ginger, Holly, Smudge, Eve, and Merry (the two cats who had replaced Shadow and Shelby) had trekked across the land to find the sought-out siblings. It was Merry that had squeaked the cry. Merry and Eve were little more than kittens.

Ginger licked Merry between the ears. “Don’t worry, little one. It’s not much farther.”

Misty twitched her ear. She was glad to see Ginger getting on so well with the kittens, as his grumpiness often rendered him unapproachable.

“Misty?” Holly approached the group’s elected leader. “May I have a word with you?”

Misty nodded, stepping aside with Holly on her tail.

“What is it?” Misty asked. Holly took a deep breath.

“How do you know that your vision wasn’t just a dream?” Misty looked out across the splendid view once more.

“A vision…that feels different. You know it. You…you are it. You breathe it. You live it. That was a vision. I know it. And I know we’re getting close.”

Shadow bounded forward. He meowed happily as he faced his sister once more.

“I thought I’d never see you again!” he meowed truthfully, beginning to choke on his own happiness.

As cousin, sister, and brother met sister and sister, the group finally whole again, all feelings of fear and sadness were washed away in their tide of joy. The relief and delight hung in the air, much like a lightbulb being clicked on.

The friends decided to settle down and listen to each other’s stories on either end of what Jess affectionately referred to as, “The Great Separation That Really Messed Up Our Plans And Tomatoes Stink.” Each time she said that, Nina would indignantly correct “tomato” to “tornado.” Then the sisters would get into a squabble that always ended in the same way: Brenda tried and failed to break up the argument, eventually having to mention Carter Catson (the famous movie star. Yes, the Carter Catson). The four girls would a) giggle, b) sigh dramatically, c) fake pass out, or d) all of the above. It was usually all of the above. Shelby, Jess, Nina, and Brenda had to form the biggest fan club in the history of fan clubs.

Finally reverting the conversation back to the discussion, Shadow, Jess, and Brenda agreed to tell their tale first.

“It was terrible!” Jess squealed dramatically. Shadow could tell that she was prepared to act out every moment of her highly dramatized and exaggerated tall tale. “We were bashed around by a terrible, merciless wave! We gasped for breath, struggling just to survive! Shadow and Brenda were nearly paralyzed with fear, but I was brave. I surged forward, grasping both of them with a deep breath. I nearly died of suffocation, but I made it to shore, saving the day, emerging a victorious savior of-”

Shadow rose to his paws. “Nice try, Jess, but no one believes that. I should probably tell the story.” Nina hid a snicker.

Striding to the center of the circle, Shadow began to tell an accurate version of the story. He told of how he blacked out in the middle of nowhere, how he and Brenda had taken care of Jess when she was sick (“That’s irrelevant! Moving on!” Jess said loudly), and coming to the conclusion to keep moving.

“And now, here we are,” Shadow concluded. Nina and Shelby were the perfect audience, gasping at just the right times, screaming when things got frightening, and sighing in relief when the frightening thing ended. Nina might have gone overboard, seeing as, by the end of the story, she was hiding behind Shelby with her eyes wide.

Catching sight of Nina, Brenda comforted, “Relax, dear. It wasn’t that much of a journey.”

Jess, still disgruntled from having her tall tale put to an end, muttered moodily, “Well, that’s not exactly how it happened.” She earned herself twice the sighs and eyerolls.

Nina rose to her paws, preparing to tell her and Shelby’s side of the story. “Alright. Now I, unlike my sister over there, will tell what happened to us.”

Jess shot up indignantly. “Well, uh, it takes one to know one!” she sputtered.

Nina gave her a funny look. “That…that doesn’t make sense. Sit down, Jess. It won’t do any good.” Jess plopped down with a pointed sniff.

Shelby and Nina co-told their story, getting pretty much the same reaction they gave. Almost as soon as they had finished, Jess stood back up.

“I have an idea!” she announced.

“What would that be?” Brenda rose beside her.

Jess smiled triumphantly. “We should make Shadow and Shelby code names! They are, after all, technically a part of our travelling group now.”

Nina’s eyes sparkled. “That’s a great idea! Would you like to have code names?” She turned to the twins.

They didn’t have to look at each other to know what they would say.

“YES!”

Nina drew herself up. “Excellent. Now let our group of advisors convene to brainstorm your names.”

Shadow and Shelby glanced at each other excitedly as the three others went off in a clump to discuss their names secretly.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they turned back around.

“Face us,” Nina ordered. The twins obeyed. “Now sit back. Good. We shall now give you your code names.”

Jess, on Nina’s right, spoke next. “Shelby. Your code name will be Smarty, owing to your educated and logical personality. Do you accept this name?”

Shelby nodded. “Yes.”

Brenda, to Nina’s left, looked Shadow in the eye. “Shadow. Your code name will be Sensae, due to your ninja powers. Do you accept this name?”

Shadow’s stomach jumped with excitement. “Yes! Finally, my rank has been promoted! I am now a sensae! Fear me!”

Nina smiled. “Welcome to the club, guys!”

Shadow proceeded to voice a thought that had been eating at him for a while. It wasn’t very related to the topic, he knew. It just needed to be addressed. “Not to end the celebration early, but I have a very pressing matter on my mind.” He attempted to sound as formal as possible to soften the blow.

“What’s that, Shadow?” Jess cocked her head.

Shadow sucked air into his mouth and held it there. “Well, we found each other, yes? But now that we’re together, which way do we go to get home?”

Silence greeted his words.

“I got it!” Jess startled everyone. “What do explorers look for on their way back from journeys? Landmarks! What’s a landmark that runs right by our home?”

Shadow’s eyes widened as his ears pricked. “The river! Jess, that’s brilliant!”

Nina spun in an excited circle. “Sis, why can’t you come up with ideas like this more often?”

She grinned innocently as Jess sniffed, “My head is made of more than just air, you know!”

Shadow called the friends into a huddle. “Right,” he said in a low and serious voice. “Who knows something about finding rivers in the middle of nowhere?”

Brenda raised a paw. “Rivers are usually found running by copse of trees,” she meowed mechanically. Shadow looked around the grassy meadow. Any trees on the flat terrain would stick out like a sore thumb.

Jess’s brow furrowed. “Wait here,” was all she said before darting away across the plains. The other four waited for five, ten, fifteen minutes before Nina finally said something.

“Should I go make sure she’s not dead?” She glanced around worriedly.

“I think you should,” Brenda confirmed, also looking worried. “But which way did she go?”

Just then, Jess finally reappeared. Nina shrieked. “Where did you go? I thought I lost you again!”

Instead of answering, Jess smiled. Her eyes betrayed triumph. “I found it! The river’s this way!”

The four friends stared, openmouthed, at Jess’s declaration.

“You…you did what now?” Nina gaped.

Brenda chuckled. “I guess Jess saves the day again!” Shadow and Shelby just exchanged appalled looks.

Now it was Jess’s turn to roll her eyes. “You have so little faith in me. Just come on.”

As they followed her, Jess explained how she found the river. “Remember that little dense forest that we ended up next to?” She was speaking to Shadow and Brenda, who both nodded.

Shelby spoke up. “We did, too!”

Nina nodded. “Oh, yeah!” Shelby thought she seemed slightly embarrassed at not being the one to think of it first.

Jess smiled. “That was next to the river! We’re just retracing our steps!”

Soon, a silhouette of a forest appeared on the horizon. As it solidified, a low rumbling vibrated through the earth beneath them, gradually strengthening to a deafening roar. Shadow jerked his head as a drop of water plopped on his nose, going cross-eyed trying to look at it. Brenda flattened her ears. Jess squinted to try to see over the bank that separated them from the river. Nina tried to dodge the barrage of water droplets that somehow found their way to her specifically, failing miserably. It was all Shelby could do not to go deaf with the roaring of the river.

The five slowly advanced through the trees, up over the hill by the river, and came face to face with the tumbling, raging, sloshing, deadly force of nature.

Shelby gasped, in awe of the angry current that somehow brought peace to her. The river was radiant, grand. She must go to it, feel it, know it, be it. It must consume her. Her friend…

“Shelby, what are you doing?” Shadow’s voice echoed from somewhere behind her. Shelby realized that she was poised to leap into the river for no apparent reason. She glanced back sheepishly.

“Uh…practice jump…heh heh,” she stammered.

Nina raised her eyebrows. “Practice for what?”

“Practice for when Shadow falls into the river and I’ve got to save him,” she said, thinking quickly. “Just kidding. Which way now?” Shelby turned her attention back to the homeward trek.

Nina jerked her muzzle to the West. “The river flows East. That’s the direction it would have carried us when the flood hit,” she reasoned.

Jess smiled. “Okay then! West it is!” she quipped, back to her blissfully oblivious La-La-land.

Shelby staggered. A weight pushed down on her, crushing every emotion and thought out of her. Nothing had room inside of her. It was all being pushed out. But there was a thought. One thing that Shelby could focus on. But before she could grasp it, the moment disappeared as fast as it came. Everything came flooding back. The weight disappeared. Shelby could breathe again.

As her vision returned to normal, Nina and Shadow’s concerned faces swam into view. Nina nosed Shelby up from her position crouched on the wet ground.

“What happened? Seriously, are you okay?” Nina’s eyes were wide, and her voice shook when she spoke. “We can stop if you need to rest for a bit. It won’t hurt.”

Shelby shook her head. “I’m fine, really. Don’t worry about it.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Ooooo-kaaaaaay…” He paused. “Well, then. Which way are we headed again?”

Jess gestured West with a flourish. “A-thataway!”  The river led them through an oddly quiet meadow lined with saplings.

“Oooooo!” Jess breathed. “Look! It’s a pretty little butterfly!” She pranced over to the butterfly. It perched lightly on her nose. Jess, being Jess, went crosseyed and fell over.

“OW! It bit me!” she yelped.

Brenda glanced over her shoulder. “Butterflies don’t bite.”

“Oh.”

The butterfly landed on a nearby flower and stretched out its wings. The pattern looked like eyes. The eyes seemed to follow Shelby. She gulped and walked a little bit faster as a chill went up her spine.

The river escorted the group into a different forest. Shelby didn’t like the forest. The leafy branches cut off most of the sunlight, and the moss was too cold and springy under her paws. The silence was only broken by an occasional bird chirping, and every time, Shelby thought the chirps ended too abruptly. Shelby didn’t want to know who or what was ending them.

The friends drew closer together, as if the presence in the forest was sucking the warmth from the air. Water splashed up the bank and landed on Shelby. She shivered. Jess’s teeth chattered behind her. Shelby stopped walking.

A pattern appeared in her mind. An orchestra of sound. The river. Jess’s teeth. Her friend’s pawsteps. The wind.

Splash-splash chatter step howl.

Splash-splash chatter step howl.

Splash-splash chatter step howl.

The pattern got louder, repeating itself, over and over. With each beat, more thoughts and ideas left Shelby. It was all just the drumming pattern. Everything was being pushed out, just like before. Again, one idea focused in, something Shelby had known all along, but had denied. Almost…almost…

With a gasp, Shelby knew what she was thinking. Everything fell away, and she skittered backward in fright. Right into the river.

A blast of icy pain smacked Shelby as the river flew up to meet her.

“Shelby!” Nina ran up and down the bank.

With a mighty splash, Brenda was beside her. Brenda grabbed her by the scruff and scrabbled up to a slab of stone just barely peeking up out of the river. Only Brenda could have noticed it with her keen eye.

Shelby sputtered and coughed while Brenda ran her tail gently down Shelby’s spine, making her shiver and crouch lower. She barely noticed the cold of the water, or her damp fur. She just had to warn her friends.

In that moment, she knew what was coming, something that her abstract dream had warned her of. It had been important after all. Those moments, when she felt something…this was it. What she’d feared ever since she had been chased as a kitten.

Gathering all of her strength, she leapt back to shore, barely clearing the gap. Brenda followed quickly, righting Shelby as she stumbled.

“Listen!” Shelby could only pant in out of breath fragments. “Danger…got to…to run…hurry…away…danger…”

The others stared at Shelby like she’d lost it. The urgent look in her eyes seemed to jolt Nina to realize that Shelby was perfectly sane and in a panic.

“Shelby,” she meowed softly, “What is it?”

Rustle, rustle. The bushes began to move. Shelby gasped.

“Too late!” she rasped.

The wind howled. Rain started to pour from clouds Shelby hadn’t even noticed. Thunder doubled with the river, making the world roar twice as loud and shake twice as much. Birds took to the sky.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

It was her dream. Shelby was encased in fear. No one else knew what it was, but she did. She knew what was coming.

She was dreaming…but in real life. Her dream. It was happening.

But it was a nightmare.

And she couldn’t wake up.

She’d finally cracked.

As Shadow watched his sister stand there shivering and dripping, eyes bloodshot, screaming about danger and despair, he knew she’d gone crazy from the cold or something. Nina evidently didn’t think so. Maybe her trek with Shelby had given them ninja telepathy. Ninja overlord telepathy. Cool.

“Too late!” The cry from Shelby resonated through the forest, sending an eerie echo that seemed to make the bushes flutter. Shadow’s gaze lingered for a moment before he realized that they really were moving. One look at Shelby told him that she had been anticipating this.

Shadow realized he had seen that look on Shelby before. One other time. When they were kittens. When Shelby had her first brush with death.

With a chilling snarl, the fox leapt from the bush, flanked by four others. The first one was clearly the leader. While all five foxes were extremely tough and mean-looking, this one in particular fit the description.

He was lean and wiry, setting his paws down with a kind of threatening grace. His teeth were bared, and one of them was chipped. There was a nick in his ear. The most noticeable (and terrifying) feature, however, was a long, jagged scar running from the leader’s left ear (the one without the nick) to his chin. The scar was caked with deep red, dried blood, which was almost the color of his owner’s hair. Shadow ached for home more than ever.

The foxes circled the group, surrounding them, forcing them back into a small clump. Shadow flashed back to the time when he (then Travis) and Shelby had played roundup with their barn cat friends, Jenny, Snickers, and Bam Bam. The twins had still been owned by Ann, their foster owner. When they were allowed outside, they would sometimes sneak away to go play with them. Roundup was a game with one “cat” and four “mice.” The cat would try to round up the mice. Shadow reminisced about his old friends.

Snickers was a pretty calico, and hated the fact that she was. Cats usually stereotyped calicos as “dumb calicos,” which was unfair to Snickers, who was anything but. She took care of the chores in their old, abandoned barn, and still managed to find time to improve their home in any way possible. Expanding the loft, patching holes in the roof, devising mice-catching tactics, you name it.

Bam Bam was the one who used the mice-catching tactics. He was the barn’s main Catcher, and rightfully so. He was a large orange tom. He was a bit heavier, but used it to his advantage in Catching. He used his weight to disguise himself as a dumb, fat house cat, then pounced on the mice after they had been lulled into a false sense of security. He was also the father of Jenny’s kittens, who had not been born before Shadow and Shelby were taken to PetSmart.

Jenny was a swirly black cat with white and gray marble swirls worked into an ombre. Before she was pregnant, she was a thin, lithe cat. Shadow remembered talking to Jenny once about her kittens.

“I’m thinking of naming them after that one holiday…I forget what it’s called. The one that makes humans put up those big, sweet-smelling pine trees. Then they hang little glistening orbs on the branches, and put a star from the night sky on top,” Jenny had murmured. “It’s special, just like they will be.”

The lead fox growled loudly, jolting Shadow from his train of thought.

“Why you come?” The fox’s voice was scratchy and menacing. “This our land. We claim. Not for small…edible house cats.”

Shadow gulped. “How does he know our language?” he hissed out of the corner of his mouth to Brenda.

“Foxes are genetically related to cats,” she whispered back. Shadow shuddered to think that he could have ended up as one of these cruel, heartless monsters.

Jess stepped forward and squared up to the leader. “We’re not scared of a bunch of…of reckless gang members who couldn’t hurt a blade of grass in they tried!” While Shadow admired her courage, it was evident that the foxes could hurt much more than a blade of grass.

The lead fox drew himself up so that he towered high above Jess. “Let’s play the pretend. You be grass blade,” he scowled. He raised a claw, about to swipe down on Jess’s nose. She squeaked, closed her eyes, and braced herself.

“Wait!” Nina shrieked. The fox froze and looked at her impatiently. “Please don’t hurt her! Please! We’ll do whatever you want! Just please, leave her alone!” she begged.

The fox licked his lips. “Anything?” His eyes glimmered, thoughtful. The four other foxes chuckled and moved in closer, isolating Jess from the group.

Nina’s eyes dimmed. “Well…uh…” she stammered. “What I meant by anything…I didn’t really mean…as long as it’s within reason…”

The fox shrugged and moved his attention back to Jess.

“Okay! Okay! Anything!” Nina pleaded. The leader set his paw down and shoved Jess back into the circle. The foxes closed in. Shadow prepared for the worst.

All of a sudden, the foxes stopped moving. They all seemed to have prepared for this moment. Like they knew exactly what Nina would do.

“We make you deal,” the fox rasped in his broken feline tongue. “Meet here in three sunrises. For battle. You try run, we find and kill. Winners of battle claim land.”

Brenda’s eyes got big. “No…no. You have it all wrong. We don’t want the land. We just want to…to move…on…”

The fox advanced on Brenda. She hissed softly and scuffled backward. The lead fox drew himself up.

“Three sunrises. Or death.”

With that, the foxes melted back into the shadows. The group stood there for a while after, stunned. Shadow spoke first.

“What now?”

Foxes. It was always their fault. They always had to sneak up like that. Shelby’s fear had nearly paralyzed her when her friends needed her logic and persuasion. She could have bargained, but no. That stupid attack when she was a kitten had to hold her back.

Thinking of the attack sent shivers up her spine, and she meowed in fear quietly.

Nina glanced at her. “You okay, Shelby?”

Shelby didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. None of them were okay. As Shelby looked around at her comrades, she knew how afraid they all were. Brenda stared at the point where the foxes disappeared, and Jess crouched low to the ground, shaking. Shadow and Nina both had their ears pressed back, and were so tense they could have gone into battle at any minute. Shelby could only imagine how she looked.

The group stayed silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. Shelby glanced around. “You heard him. Three sunrises. That’s all we have,” she meowed quietly, still unwilling to accept the future.

Jess jumped. “We…we don’t have to do that, right? We don’t have to fight?” she meowed.

In one strange moment, Shelby could see Jess as a kitten. Crouched down, wide eyes - clueless eyes, but so innocent. When the moment passed, Jess stared up at her, almost crouched to the point of lying down, and Shelby felt a fierce surge of protectiveness. For Jess, for Shadow, and for everyone looking back at her. She would do anything for them. Even fight to the death.

“No, Jess. We don’t. We’ll run. Get away! Go! Now!” she barked orders, determined to protect them all.

“Stop!” A fierce growling echoed off the trees. “You run, we find. Kill. You can run so you choose, but we make sure you have no hiding.”

The five stopped dead. Nina raised her muzzle tentatively. “Where are you?” she called into the gloom. Shelby was shocked at how calm Nina’s voice was. It was like a diver slicing through a cold and still lake of silence.

The fox took a moment to respond. “Everywhere.” His voice was louder than before, and lingered a moment before the echo died off completely.

“Right,” Nina muttered. “That really helps.”

Shadow shot up, his usual clueless self. “Hey, that’s not fair!” he whined. “Even ninja overlords know not to spy for battle strategies! That’s disrespectful to the Sensae title!”

His words were met with silence. Shelby saw the retort rising in him before it happened. She started to speak, to warn him, but it was too late.

“You’re just a bunch of cowards!” he shouted.

The reaction was instantaneous. Growls and shrieks filled the clearing. The five backed together as brief shadows flicked across the trees. A cloud covered the sun. The foxes yipped and growled as the leader’s voice rose above the cacophony.

“When the final battle comes, the one you call Shadow will be the first to go!”

🐾                                 🐾 🐾

Misty shot up from her dream with a shriek. All of the other cats bolted up, except for Ginger, who rolled over lazily with a “GGZNORK?”

Misty breathed heavily, eyes wide. She surveyed the group watching her with half annoyance and half concern. They had grown in size.

Along with Holly, Ginger, Smudge, Merry, Eve, and herself, Misty had picked up three barn cats, a stray, and two rather snobby persians.

The stray’s name was Ollie. He was blind in one eye, but was still a good hunter and had a fantastic sense of smell.

The persians were twins, like Shadow and Shelby. Toto and Cheeto were their names. Misty only took them along because both could fight like all the power of foxes, and she knew them when they were kittens.

The three barn cats were her favorites. They all had a unique and useful skill, and all three were very nice cats. They were even letting them stay in their barn, which was where the group was then. Their names were-

“What was that about? You interrupted my be-eau-ty sleep!” Cheeto sniffed obnoxiously, her interjection cutting into Misty’s thoughts. Misty rolled her eyes.

“Give it up, Cheeto! You were awake talking to Toto all night,” she meowed. Cheeto gasped dramatically.

“I most certainly-!”

Eve cut her off. “Miss Misty, what scared you?” She blinked up at Misty. Misty smiled. The adorable young twins had taken to calling her “Miss Misty.”

Nosing Eve back, she meowed gently, “That’s not for little ears.” Addressing the group, Misty straightened up. “We need to go. Right now. Shadow and Shelby have met their first obstacle. I don’t know what’s coming, but they will meet their second obstacle in three sunrises. We must reach them by then.”

She moved to the exit. “Ollie, get Ginger up, would you?” Leaving the barn, Misty called the remaining cats into a huddle. Soon after, Ollie and Ginger emerged and joined them, Ollie with a fresh scratch on his nose.

“We can’t afford to worry about the little things, now more than ever. We need a plan. I have one. Smudge, Toto, and Cheeto,” she said, turning to the three, “you will head protection. Fend off any and all attackers until we can get reinforcements.”

“Will do, Misty,” Smudge said, nodding.

Misty continued. “Ginger and Holly, you will be in charge of building the bedding quickly so we can rest and go.”

“Do I have to?” Ginger whined.

“Listen to your leader,” Holly hissed.

“Merry and Eve, you will work with me as Catchers. And that leaves…” She turned to the barn cats. “Since you all have talents in all those areas, do whatever you feel comfortable doing. Okay?”

Jenny, Snickers, and Bam Bam nodded.

As the fox’s rant died away, Shadow kicked himself for his foolishness.

Why did he call them cowards? Why couldn’t he have been like Shelby, and stopped and thought? But for once, no one scolded him for making a mistake.

“Shadow!” Shelby yelled. Or not. “What the heck? Why would you say that? That was so stupid! I don’t want to lose you forever this time!”

Shadow lowered his head. “I’m sorry. He was just making me so mad! I didn’t stop to think.”

Brenda raised an eyebrow. “That’s respectable. But you need to learn not to lose your temper like that! It will only hurt you more.”

“We can’t think about that right now. We need to work out a strategy,” Nina interjected.

Shelby nodded. “Nina’s right. We can’t dwell on things. We need to move on. There are more important things to focus on.”

With that, the five grouped together to discuss battle strategy.

“But whisper,” Jess pointed out. “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean that they’re not there.”

“Okay, does anyone have previous experience with battle?” Nina asked in a hushed tone.

They all remained silent for too long, until Shelby finally stood. The group looked at her in surprise. Shadow gave her a puzzled look. As far as he knew, she had never raised a claw to anything.

“Oh, I don’t know anything,” she muttered, dismissing the group’s collective first question. “But Shadow does!”

All eyes swiveled to Shadow. He stood up uncertainly. “Um…I do?”

Shelby smiled encouragingly. “Sure you do, Sensae! Remember when we first got to our room at home, you were jumping all over the place pretending to fight other cats.”

Shadow nodded. “But those were moves intended for cats. Not gigantic, unbeatable foxes.”

Brenda rose. “Show them to us. We’ll modify them!” she whispered enthusiastically.

“Okay…” Shadow poised for his first move. “So the first thing I’ll have you do is crouch down with your legs bunched in.”

He went around correcting their stances. “Good, Nina. Be sure to wrap your tail around your hind legs. Less space for the enemy to scratch. Brenda, crouch down lower. This isn’t going to work if you don’t. Perfect, Shelby! Jess…what are you doing?” Jess had somehow wrapped her tail all around her legs and fallen flat on her face with her legs stuck beneath her.

“Juft chiwin,” Jess meowed, muffled by the ground. He helped her up with some difficulty. “Whew! Thanks! I could have DIED!”

“Right,” he meowed dismissively. “Try again.”

The same thing happened. After helping her up the second time he decided to do some one on one coaching.

“Okay, Jess, you can stop for now. I’ll show the rest of you how to practice it, then you’ll try it on each other while I coach each cat individually,” he said decisively. “Jess, you’re up first.”

He showed them the move. It went like this: first, the cat would crouch down as their attacker ran at them. At the last second, they would switch their weight and jump. They would quickly roll back toward the attacker and hit them from behind, going for the face. It was an agility move.

“Alright. Now go practice on your own while I work with Jess.”

Jess trotted over, smiling happily. “Okay, Sensae, I’m ready to work!” she chirruped.

A bit put off by her careless attitude, Shadow faltered, and then remembered it was Jess he was dealing with. “Okay. Now show me what you’re doing to crouch.”

She ducked, and this time flipped and rolled over. Shadow shook his head.

“Umm…no. You’re going face first. Try going haunches first,” he explained, nosing her through the steps,

“Ohhhhhhhhhh, okay!” Jess smiled as she finally crouched down without any casualties.

“Good,” Shadow narrated. “Now balance your weight.” Jess began to fall over. He caught her just in time.

“Jess!” he exclaimed, agitated. “What are you trying to do?” She stopped and turned.

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s happening! It’s hard for me to think that I’m ever going to actually need this!” she sulked. Shadow suddenly had an idea.

“Jess, this is ridiculous. Only the dumbest cats would mess this up!” he roared.

Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry, Sensae…should that even be your name? You are a horrible teacher!” she shrieked.

Shadow pretended to get offended. “Excuse me, but no student of mine will speak this way to me!”

He leapt at her. Surprised, she ducked and flipped out of the way. Before he could turn to defend himself, she whipped around and smacked his nose.

Jess backed off and started yelling. “That was so uncalled for! You don’t just attack cats like that! I wasn’t ready! You could have - WHAT are you smiling about?”

Shadow was, indeed, smiling happily. “Congratulations, Jess!”

Jess furrowed her brow, puzzled. “Congratulations? What did I…OHHHH!” She caught on, amazed. “So that’s when I’ll have to use that move!”

Shadow nodded. “Now go practice with the others. Nina, come on over!”

The rest of the practices went mostly smoothly. The only problem was when Brenda wrenched her claw, but Jess knew a lot about medicines and remedies and was able to find the plant for the job.

“Alright,” Shadow said, striding importantly in front of the group. “That was your first agility move. Now I’m going to teach you a defense into attack move.” He stopped in front of Shelby. “I’m going to run at you. Do the move we just practiced, and I’ll defend against it.”

The other cats backed away, giving Shelby space. Hissing, Shadow rasped, “I dumb fox. I attack you because you stupid house cat.”

He jumped at her. She crouched and rolled, but before she could get in the attack from behind, he smacked her with his back legs, just winding her enough to make time to turn around.

“A simple kick with the back legs will disable cats from attacking you just long enough for you to get the upper hand,” he explained, while Shelby trudged back to her place in line.

“It hurts,” she muttered. Shadow glanced over.

“Sorry about that, but it will hurt a lot more when a fox does it. That’s why we practice,” he said, sympathetic but steely.

He paired up cats to work on it. “Nina and Shelby, you’ll practice together. Nina will attack first. Brenda, rest your claw for a little bit. Jess, you’ll be with me.”

As he squared up to Jess, she leaned away. “Can I attack first? That blow looks like it hurts,” she meowed uncertainly.

Shadow nodded. “I know the move. You are always going to be attacking, so you can practice it.” Jess relaxed.

“Whew. Okay,” she said, facing him. “Here we go.”

She ran at him. He ducked and rolled. He turned, expecting Jess to be there attacking him, but she was lying on the ground face up swiping her paws through the air.

“Help me!” she squealed. “I fell over!”

Shadow, exasperated, nosed her up less than gently. “Jess, what happened?” he asked. “What did you do?”

She looked up at him sadly. “Sorry. I was running, and I tried to turn, but I slipped!” she blustered.

He pursed his lips. “Jess, the ground isn’t even slippery. Dig your claws in, like this.” He showed her the right way to turn. She tried, and ended up on top of Shadow. “Geroff me!” he yelled into the ground. Jess scrambled up.

“Sorry!” she squeaked apologetically. “I can’t do this! I can’t fight! It’s not who I am!” With that, she whisked around (perfecting the turn) and sprinted into the trees.

“Jess!” he called after her. “Jess, wait!”

“You heard her. It’s not who she is,” Nina said, appearing at his shoulder. “I’ve never known Jess to be a fighter. She always believed in peace.”

Shadow jumped. “I didn’t see you there, Nina! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Nina didn’t take her eyes off Jess’s retreating tail until it was invisible through the trees. She turned to Shadow. “Sorry. But in all seriousness, put yourself in her shoes. She just randomly got plopped into the middle of a hot mess that she had no say in. A peaceful cat, suddenly slammed into a battle that she never wanted in the first place. With foxes, of all things! Shadow, foxes are the toughest creatures alive! She’s scared. She’s never done this before.”

Shadow suddenly felt bad. “I contributed to this battle. None of this ever would have happened if Shelby and I hadn’t opened the door during that tornado. It’s my fault! I never even thought that some cats might not want to do this. I just automatically thought that they had resolved to. Jess, apparently, hasn’t.”

Nina nodded. “Don’t feel bad. But you should go talk to her. Find out what she really wants.”

Shadow smiled. “Thanks, Nina. I will.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Nina reminded him. “We still have a whole battle to get through.”

Shadow shook himself. “Right. See you soon.” He ran into the woods, following Jess’s scent.

“Jess! Jess! Where are you? I need to talk to you!” he called into the woods. The trees moved slightly, though there was no wind. Shadow walked a little bit faster, feeling something was watching him. “Jess!” he yelled again.

Then he saw her sitting on a log, watching the sun set. He thought she looked too sad for her.

“Jess!” he yelled. “Oh, thank goodness I found you! I was so worried you got taken by the foxes!”

She just looked at him. She didn’t say anything. He frowned and sat down next to her. They sat in silence for a while, until Shadow decided to break the eerie quiet.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I was trying to make you do something you didn’t want to do. I know you don’t want to fight, and that’s why you weren’t getting it,” he said quietly.

She turned to him. “Do you mean that?” she asked softly.

He nodded before the question was even out of her mouth. “Yes. And I’m not going to make you fight.”

Jess looked at him in surprise. “But we need everyone to fight! What use will I be? I still want to help, even if I don’t want to fight!” she reasoned emphatically.

Shadow acknowledged her reasoning with a slight nod. “And you will. You know a lot about healing herbs and stuff, don’t you?”

Jess’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Yes, I do! Oh, Shadow, that’s brilliant!” she exclaimed, ecstatic.

Shadow smiled. “You will take care of the injured cats, and get them ready to go back into battle.”

“Thanks, Shadow!” Jess squealed. “This means a lot to me!” A flock of birds took to the sky, squawking. The tree underneath them started to move.

“You’re welcome. But we gotta get out of here!” he whispered urgently. “I think they’re coming!”

Jess on his heels, he ran as fast as he could. Jess caught up to him.

“Shadow, we’re going the wrong way!” she puffed. “The clearing is the other way! We need to turn a-AH!” Jess started as the pair skidded to a halt. A drop stretched down into another, well-protected clearing. The foxes paced just beneath the frightened friends.

The bushes suddenly rustled behind them. Whatever was chasing them had caught up. Terrified, they backed up as far as they could while still staying out of sight of the foxes. From the depths of the forest, out jumped a fearsome - it was a rabbit.

Jess still squealed, anticipating something worse. Shadow clamped his tail over her mouth, but it was too late. Peeking back into the clearing, the foxes had all stopped and were scanning the top of the cliff suspiciously. Shadow knew it was only a matter of time.

Motioning for Jess not to make a sound, they backed up slowly. Unfortunately, Shadow’s ear brushed an unforeseen bush, triggering a chain reaction of rustling.

The foxes’ gazes immediately snapped to their general area. The leader approached a bit closer, lips curling into a sneer.

“We hear,” he said, voice like nails on a chalkboard. “No more spy. Cover blown. Show yourselves now, no death penalty. Refuse, we find and kill.”

Shadow looked at Jess. Neither of them did a thing. The leader set a paw on the base of the steep rock wall. He began to climb. The other foxes followed. From above, they looked like a machine, each setting their paws down where the one before them did. The leader was the beginning of the machine.

Jess, watching with wide eyes, looked at Shadow urgently. “What do we do?” she mouthed. Still motioning for her not to make a sound, Shadow whipped his head around, looking for a way out. He noticed a small hole, possibly a rabbit’s burrow, hidden underneath the bush he had brushed against. He pointed at it, and Jess nodded.

Uncharacteristically quiet, Jess crept to the hole and forced her way inside. Just as silent, Shadow followed her. He was still watching the foxes, though they couldn’t see him. As the five from the clearing reached the top, more foxes emerged from the dens below. Countless foxes, numbers of them. Shadow was glad Jess couldn’t see them, or she’d give their hiding spot away for sure. The leader looked back down at the foxes in the clearing.

“Stay,” he ordered the others dismissively. The five up top began to search. They rustled bushes, snapping their jaws at possible intruders. Shadow was surprised they couldn’t find him and Jess just based on the beating of his heart.

“Here,” one of the foxes said. He had picked up their old scent trail on the opposite side of the small clearing where Jess and Shadow had stood moments before. The leader paused, coming to further investigate.

He drew himself up. “Go,” he commanded, and the five whisked away through the bushes.

Shadow stayed hidden a moment longer, sniffing the air to make sure they really had gone. When he was sure that they were no longer nearby, he wiggled out from the hole, Jess close behind him. He saw the fear on her face as she saw the other foxes for the first time. Careful to stay out of sight of them, they crept along slowly for a good distance. When they were finally out of range of the foxes, they broke into a sprint back to the camp.

The spooked friends finally reached home just as the sun’s last rays disappeared. Brenda and Shelby sat, hunched over, while Nina paced. As soon as she saw them, Nina came sprinting over, both furious and relieved.

“Where have you been? We were worried sick! Wait - what’s wrong?” Nina stopped when she saw their breathless, terrorized faces.

Shadow tried to catch his breath enough to explain. “More,” he panted. “More…foxes.”

In a flash, Brenda was beside him. “What do you mean?” she questioned. “There are more? How many? Can we take them? How do you know?”

Shadow straightened, finally beginning to calm down. Jess looked to panic stricken to answer, so he took the lead, starting at the beginning. “While Jess and I were out talking, we decided that she would not be fighting. But she will still be contributing to this battle. With her knowledge of herbs, she will be taking care of the injured. If there’s anyone left to cure.”

Nina gasped and opened her mouth, evidently to ask questions, but Shadow held up his tail to stop her. “I’ll answer all your questions in a minute. Just hear me out first. While Jess and I were out, we came across the foxes’ camp. We tried to remain hidden, but they sensed us. They called up the cliff we were on to try to get us to show ourselves, but we didn’t do anything. Then they started to climb. At first it was just the five we met in the clearing, and then more started to come out of their dens. Thank goodness the leader ordered for them to stay, or we would have been dead. We hid in an old rabbit’s burrow. Eventually, they picked up our scent trail from when we came. When we were sure they were gone, we left and came back here.”

The group stayed completely quiet while they all processed this new, menacing information. Eventually Brenda decided to break the tense, suffocating silence.

“Well, we can use this to our advantage, right?” She smiled painfully in an act of fake optimism. “We know that foxes are bad at following scent trails! So, we could hide and they wouldn’t be able to follow us. They are also climbers, so we would know not to use trees as our hiding spots. Multitude is metaphorically outnumbered by the wit of another!”

Shadow shook his head. “We’ll process this in the morning. Let’s go to bed.”

Nina wrinkled her nose. Grimacing, she agreed. “Yeah. It’s not smart to figure out the logistics of a battle while fatigued.”

Jess nodded sickly, and muttered, “Whatever that means, I agree. I’m so tired.”

Shelby looked around. “Where are we going to sleep?”

Brenda smiled. “Way ahead of you there!” Pulling back a branch, she revealed a small area with perfectly round, feather-lined nests.

Shadow grinned at Brenda. “Oh, what would we do without you?” he smiled.

The cats made their way over to the bedding area. The nests were arranged in a circular pattern. Nina took the nest farthest from the entrance. Brenda and Jess took the nests on either side of her. Shadow took the nest next to Jess’s and Shelby’s.

Curling up in his nest, Shadow couldn’t repress a feeling of impending doom. No matter what Brenda said, no matter what knowledge they had against the foxes, it wouldn’t be enough. This battle wasn’t fair. The foxes orchestrated it, just to get five measly victims that didn’t even pose a threat.

How could they do this alone?