Captured

If you had asked Sunwatcher what had been on their list of things they  wanted to do, being captured and turned into a kittypet was not one of  them.

They’d been exploring, trying to find more territory for  the clan in this strange new land, when they’d accidentally stumbled  into a two-leg trap. They’d smelled prey, not paying close attention to  the slight “off” scent of the prey or the strange silver contraption  that within moments they found themself trapped in.

Stupid,  stupid Sunwatcher. They really should have smelled the two-leg on, well,  everything. They banged their head on the side of the cold, silver  wall, their sheer irritation swelling up within them. How could they  have been so dumb? And after all that they’d been through with Moonfire  and Eclipseheart too. If they’d only… only!

And then a two-leg  clomp-clomped its way over to the silver box and picked it up, and  Sunwatcher along with it. It made some noises, what Sunwatcher had heard  previously as those strange two-leg noises. It had a soft voice, but  that didn’t make them feel any better.

“Hey! What do you think  you’re doing?” hissed Sunwatcher at the two-leg, fluffing up their fur  to glare at the one that had caught them.

The two-leg shook it’s  head and called over to another one. Within moments, Sunwatcher felt  something prick their shoulder and everything began to blur until  finally, they were asleep.

They honestly didn’t know how long it  was until they woke up in a weirdly soft nest, surrounded by the smells  of two-legs and kittypets. They ached, and a cursory self examination  revealed that they had probably been taken to the cutter, and there was a  collar around their neck. They couldn’t see it, but it was there.

An older tom padded up to their, a fat, fluffy, old black tom with a too wide grin.

“Hey  there, newcomer, and welcome to Sanders’ Home for Stray  Rehabilitation!” he said cheerfully. “I’m Cosmo, and I’ll be your guide  for today.”

Sunwatcher recoiled. “Excuse me?!?” they hissed, long fluffy fur fluffing up even higher, and they growled. “Rehabilitation? Why am I here? Where is my family?!?”

Cosmo  sighed, his cheerful demeanor slumping into a tired one. “And I get  stuck with the stubborn one,” he said dully. “Well, miss -”

“I’m not a molly!”

“Sorry, sir -”

“Better, but neither is preferred.”

“Fine,  cat,” Cosmo said, tired of all this, “there’s a huge problem with  having all these wild cats outside. There’s many dangers, and here you  can be safe and find a new home with humans. What’s your name, by the  way?”

“What in StarClan’s name is a human?” Sandya said, suspiciously.

“Pink  fleshy thing, also comes in brown, with a strange tuft of fur on their  heads,” said Cosmo, sighing. “Come on, let’s get this over with, cat.”

“My name is Sunwatcher!”

“Your collar says Sandya.”

“I really don’t care!”

***************************

That night, Sunwatcher cried themself to sleep, shoulders shaking as they buried their face in their paws.

They’d  been stolen from their home and paraded around like some kittypet.  Their family wasn’t here. Moonfire and Eclipseheart probably had no idea  where they were, and to be honest, they didn’t want them to find them.  It wasn’t fair. They didn’t want their lovers to suffer the same fate.

When they awoke, Sunwatcher found the black tom - Cosmo - from yesterday hovering over them anxiously.

“Hey there!” he said awkwardly. “Sorry if we got off to a bad start.”

Sunwatcher’s fangs bared, glinting in the light as they stared daggers at this tom. “I. Don’t. Want. Your. Pity.”

Cosmo recoiled, yellow eyes going wide. “Geez, chill out for a moment, will you?”

“Chill  out? Chill out?!? I was just taken from everything I know and love to  become a filthy kittypet, do you think I’m just going to ‘chill out’  like it’s no big deal?” Sunwatcher bared their fangs, grief and fury  radiating off of them like a wildfire.

“I -”

“Just leave me alone!”

And  with that, Sunwatcher ran off, ignoring the distressed cries of a tom  who was more than likely just trying to help. Their breaths were heavy,  and their voice was all choked up.

They lept up, climbing the  strange two-leg trees until they found themself by a window. They  pressed their face against it, desperately hoping to see something that  they recognized. It was no use. There were only the massive two-leg dens  and paved thunderpaths and trees that looked more artificial than not.

There was no sign of their old forest home anywhere! If they left, where would they go? Could they leave?

Their shoulders hunched, and they curled up, shaking softly with heaving sobs until once again they fell asleep…

And  were awoken by the touch of a two-leg. Startled, Sunwatcher clawed at  the hand and zipped away, panic in their gaze. Cosmo was bad enough! Now  there were two-legs manhandling them? What kind of torture was this?

They  ran away, far away, ignoring the pained cries of the stupid,  fox-hearted two-leg who’d taken them away from their home, their lovers,  their family!

Their belly rumbled, and in that same instant,  they smelled something that smelled an awfully lot like some odd sort of  prey. Similar to the one that had trapped them, which made them  nervous, but honestly, they were hungry.

They followed the scent  of the food to a little red bowl. It wasn’t exactly what they wanted. It  didn’t even look like prey at all. But still, it was edible. And  Sunwatcher wanted something to eat very badly.

They scarfed down  the food, glaring at another cat who’d come too close, before running  off. There had to be somewhere where they could hide.

And there was, thankfully. Lots and lots of dark corners.

******************

Days passed. Then weeks. And finally moons. No one came for them.

Sunwatcher,  who slowly had begun to accept the name Sandya since no one seemed to  let them have their own name, had been waiting by the windows forever.  Everyone had learned to leave them alone.

Every night they dreamed about their loves. Every night they cried and cried. And every day they waited.

The  anger wore off after time. Sandya found themself withdrawing even more  from the kittypets who seemed to only want to spread happiness and cheer  and never listened to how much they wanted to go home. It was hard for  them to become interested in anything, even listening to their own  growling stomach.

The two-legs took them to the cutter, who tried  to inject them with something. They didn’t know what it was for. They  didn’t care. It didn’t work, whatever it was.

Ah. This mental fog that they lived in was depression.

They  figured they had to tolerate Cosmo, at some point. Sandya never truly  liked him in any way, shape, or form, and he kept persisting. But hey.  As long as they were decently nice to him, they were able to not get  their ears clawed off by one of the other grumpy cats.

They could keep existing. It wouldn’t be pleasant. But they would be.