From the darkness rang a mew that penetrated even the drone of traffic and echoed through the empty alleyway. Beyond the faint light of the dark street, a figure was moving, quietly and swiftly as a strong smell of garbage filled his nose. His ears twisted with annoyance as he leaped onto a garbage bin, eyeing the darkness that was filled with the unknown in front of him.

   A dimmed light fell on his brown pelt as his yellow eyes shone in the dark like a laser, scanning through the crowd of people who were unaware of his presence. The dark rings of his fur twisted and shifted in the shadow as he stalked through his domain. Prodding a crushed can of cola, he raised his tail imperiously. A calming light bored onto the ground as he looked up, seeing an enormous eye staring at him in the dark from above, showing contempt and pride.

   He growled as his eyes flashed with anger, it must be another cat who wanted his territories. His ears twisted upwards as he was ready to give this cat a lesson. Fixing his gaze on the eye, he climbed swiftly and quietly up the pipe, springing onto a black pillar. His claws unsheathed as he let out a furious battle cry.

   He glanced at the yellow eye as his body bent slightly downwards. He aimed at the yellow eye as he leaped, throwing himself towards the yellow eye while stretching his short claws.

   CRUNCH!

   The air is suddenly rent by the sound of breaking glass as he slid down from the pillar, heart beating hard against his chest. The dimmed light vanished into nothing as he stared at the outline of the shattered glass, thoughts left him with an empty shell. Taking a deep breath, he spotted red on his brown and white paw.

   "I wonder how many times I have told you that it is just a lamppost, not a predator, Chipmunk," A light ginger tabby cat slinked through the cardboard debris to the back of the alley, eyes glancing him with a hint of laughter.

   She stared hard at him as he felt...unease. Seeing that Chipmunk shot her a confused glance, her eyes widen as she looked away.

   "Funny, I do not find the fact hilarious, Mama Cheese," Chipmunk replied with an eye roll, of course, he was busy licking his chest fur, then his bleeding paw. He did not really know what happens with the situation, and he decided that he had far more to care than these.

   The she-cat shot him a furious look, "Excuse me? Don't you dare to call me that! Call me Cheese-It, or I will not share my life as a daylight-warrior to you."

   "Sorry, but I do not really want to know either," Chipmunk stuck out his tongue as he wore an innocent smile while the she-cat gave her a death glance.

   Fleeing for his life, Chipmunk's paws barely touched the tarmac with all the grace of a sack of wet concrete as he set off for a run, with furious Cheese-It chasing after him. The inner city grew out of the cracked sidewalk like the jagged gap-toothed grin of an old man as he climbed up the steps that were made of hard rocks. He could hear the sound of the cars and the busy street filled with neon lights at night, white light blinding his vision. He could hear Cheese-It panting with the effort not far away. He did not turn back, as he knew his nightly adventure would be started soon.

   Lights glittered everywhere just liked another ocean of stars, huge and small buildings collided, tiny vehicles rushing along tangled lines of streets, creating twisting threads of light - they all intertwined together in a mess of dream.

   With each paw fall a jarring pain shot from his paw, it was all worth it as he traveled through the crowd of moving people and stopped under an old building that was stuck with colorful graffiti. The lamppost flickered eerily on the pavement as Chipmunk leaned against the concrete wall, taking deep breaths.

   Between the buildings ran a network of paths wide enough for two skinny people to pass. Chipmunk glanced carefully as he slipped into the dark, his fur stood straight as he was ready for any kind of danger. He felt like he was melting into the dark as cold shivers ran through his pelt.

   Where was Cheese-It?

   He should probably care about being discovered on his nightly adventure.

   He felt like living in a cage when the sun rose.

   He wanted to explore.

   So he should take his time.

   He felt his throat was torn apart as he shouted, "Rise? Surf? May?"

   Under the pale moonlight, one of the curtains was pulled as a silvery-white tom was revealed, "I am coming," Surf slid down from a pipe as he landed next to Chipmunk, who was trying to see under the blanket of darkness.

   "What about Rise? Rise!" Chipmunk mewed again as he winked at Surf. A pair of pale blue eyes shone from a dark corner, behind the garbage bin as a cat mewed quietly, "I can...come...?"

   "Sure!"

   A she-cat peeked from the corner timidly as she came near to the toms. She mewed quietly, "I don't really think May...can come, there's something happened..."

   "Okay then, pity that she has missed all the fun. Any suggestions where we should go to tonight?" Chipmunk mewed with a wink. He had slept through the day so he had enough energy for the night.

   "What about the peak? We have not explored there yet. My mother has told me about the peak and it sounded amazing!" Surf suggested as he purred excitedly.

   Chipmunk looked away as he tried to hide his envy, one of the scars that had not healed was aching with burning pain.

   He would really want a family, he wished he knew them.

   He wished that his family was a part of his life, but they were only a part of his dream.

   He wondered why he ended up like this.

   He stuffed all his thoughts into a box, keeping it shut tightly in his ocean of memories.

   "I hope we can reach it before midnight, we must hurry. Let's go." Chipmunk squeezed out a smile as he mowed.

   Three cats, setting on an adventure full of unknown...