Chapter Thirteen
Blooming Dusk

Flowerkit slunk around the corner, keeping as close to the twoleg den as he could. He wanted to be as invisible as possible until he learned more about this strange world of the twolegplace.

All of the attention back with the band had been making him nervous, and cats had been asking him questions that he didn't want to answer -- especially questions about where he had come from, and his name. So after reassuring a slightly concerned Romeo that he could find his way back to them later, Flowerkit had slipped away to find some peace and quiet where he could think about everything that had happened.

He looked up, searching for high ground that he could access. He'd liked being on the roof of the first twoleg den that he had come across. It had seemed safely removed from the dangers of the ground. He had traveled to the housing area, but as far as he could see, there weren't any low roofs that he jump to. He eyed the nearest fence uncertainly. It was made of wood and was low enough that he could jump up to, so maybe that would do.

Flowerkit sprung to the top of the fence, and after quickly scanning the yard it contained for any dangers, he sat down facing the opposite way. Rows of fenced-in yards stretched in front of him. There was a slight chill to the air, but it was peaceful. He was safe for the moment. Flowerkit closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting all of the tension in his muscles slowly melt away.

So here he was, in a strange new place, being sheltered by strangers until the snow season (what he assumed was the kittypet word for leaf-bare) came and passed. He seemed so far from Ashenbird and the rest of ThunderClan. Flowerkit missed his mother terribly. He wanted to go back. Had escaping from Mosskit and the others been worth it?

Flowerkit's claws scraped the top of the fence. The thought of the other ThunderClan kits still sent spikes of anger shooting through him. He wanted to get back at them, make them pay for all of the pain and misery they had put him through. He wanted to be strong enough to take revenge, to not have to run away from his problems or hide behind the bigger cats. Maybe by the time snow season was over... He could go back. Return to his clan and to Ashenbird. If the last few days were anything to go by, Flowerkit would grow stronger anyways, probably faster than the other kits who were still being babied in the nursery. Or were they? Maybe Mosskit and Acornkit were apprentices by now.

Flowerkit sighed. If he was honest with himself, he just wanted a few days to rest and not have to fight dogs or foxes or other cats for his survival. He wondered if the cats of the band really would accept him, or if he would have to fight to stay there, too.

He'd been mulling over these thoughts for a few good, long minutes when a quiet voice broke into his reflections.

"Hello."

Flowerkit's head jerked sideways and his muscles tensed, ready to run. He relaxed slightly when he saw that it was just a young she-cat, only barely bigger than himself. Her fur was a pale gray with white underfur, and her eyes were a kind shade of light green. A thin band of yellow material was fastened around her neck. The she-cat leapt lightly up to stand beside him on the fence.

"Er... hi," Flowerkit meowed warily.

The young she-cat smiled at him. "I've never seen you around before. Are you new here?"

"Yeah, kinda," Flowerkit responded. He still didn't know what she wanted. "Um... Why are you here?"

"Well, this is my house," she answered with an amused purr, flicking her tail to gesture at the twoleg den behind them.

Flowerkit jumped up. "Oh! Sorry--I can leave."

"No, it's okay!" the gray and white kitten said compassionately, motioning for him to stay. "I'm Mitzy. What's your name?"

Flowerkit cautiously sat back down. This was his least favorite question. "I... I don't have one."

Mitzy tilted her head. "That's silly," she accused. "Everyone has a name."

"Well, okay. My name's Flowerkit. But don't call me that."

"Why not? I like it. It's a cute name."

He stifled a growl. "Yeah, well, I hate it!"

Mitzy frowned and sat down, curling her tail around her paws. "What part don't you like? Flower or Kit?"

"I hate both," the black tom informed her.

"Well then, what do I call you?"

Flowerkit hissed. "I don't care. Call me whatever you want. Just not that."

Mitzy's eyes brightened. Apparently she was really going to come up with something else to call him. "Well, your fur is really dark. What about Blackie?"

"That," Flowerkit said, tail lashing, "might actually be even stupider than Flowerkit."

Hurt showed in Mitzy's eyes for a brief heartbeat, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. "Okay... Let's see, what else is dark?" Her gaze drifted sideways as she thought, then suddenly her whole face lit up with an idea. "Ooh! I know! Can I call you Dusk?"

"Sure, whatever," Flowerkit huffed with a dismissive flick of his tail, although he was secretly pleased. Dusk didn't sound half-bad; it might actually be cool.

Mitzy beamed. "Well then, nice to meet you, Dusk. So what brings you to my fence?"

Flowerkit paused to consider his answer before replying. "I just wanted to find somewhere quiet to think, I guess. Get used to the twolegplace."

"So you are new!" Mitzy concluded triumphantly. "I knew it! No one around here has fur that messy."

Flowerkit bared his teeth. "Why does everyone keep saying that? There's nothing wrong with my pelt!"

"It's filthy," Mitzy countered.

"Grooming is a kittypet thing to do," Flowerkit grumbled. At least, that was what Jake had told him.

"No, it's what any respectable cat does," Mitzy protested. "Here, let me help you." Before Flowerkit could react, she had moved towards him and was licking his shoulder.

Flowerkit stiffened and jerked back. "What are you doing?"

"Grooming you," the gray kitten responded in a scolding tone of voice. "Sit still." She continued lapping at his fur, trying to clean it.

"No, stop it," Flowerkit complained, but Mitzy ignored him, and finally the black tom relented and let the she-kit groom his fur. The act reminded him a bit of Ashenbird, when she would wash him every evening before they went to sleep, and he gradually relaxed under Mitzy's attentions.

"What's that thing around your neck for?" Flowerkit asked eventually, while Mitzy was dutifully washing his forehead. The she-kit paused in her grooming to look down at it.

"It's my collar," she replied. "It shows that I have a living."

Flowerkit straightened up. "What does that mean? I heard some of the other cats mention livings. What is that?"

"It's what the street cats call having a house and twolegs taking care of you," Mitzy answered. "From what I know, at lot of cats consider it to be an insult to their independence--although that doesn't stop them from taking food from twolegs." She giggled.

The two kits chatted for a while longer, talking about the twolegplace and the quirkiness of the cats that lived there. Flowerkit ended up telling her a bit about his home, too. Mitzy seemed to like the idea of clans where everyone took care of each other.

The sun was starting to go down when Flowerkit stood and stretched. "I should probably get going," he meowed. "I don't want to try finding my way around in the dark."

"Okay," Mitzy replied with an amiable smile. "Come back soon, Dusk."

Flowerkit promised he would, then leapt down from the fence and started his way back. Before he turned the corner, he glanced back at Mitzy, but the gray and white kitten was gone from the fence top. Flowerkit shook his head and kept going.

It didn't take him long to get back to the band's alleyway. Munchie, the white and ginger she-cat, was still lounging at the top of the wall, and Flowerkit wondered if she was acting as a lookout or guard for the band, or if she just really liked that wall. He flicked his tail in greeting at her, but she ignored him, so Flowerkit just shrugged and continued on.

Inside, Romeo and Ham Sandwich were waiting for him. "You're back," Romeo stated with his commonplace smile. "I was hoping you could find your way back easily enough, and it seems I was right." He motioned to himself and Ham with his tail-tip. "We're heading back to our homes now, if you'll be alright staying here with the band."

A thread of worry touched his thoughts, but Flowerkit ignored it. He nodded to Romeo. "Sure, no problem. Thanks for bringing me here."

"Anytime," Romeo replied cheerfully. "We'll see you again sooner or later. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask." With that, the dark blue tom padded off. Ham Sandwich blinked his wide red eyes at Flowerkit one last time, his expression still unreadable, and then he too was gone, leaving Flowerkit alone with the band.

Flowerkit stood watching the exit for a few long heartbeats, struggling to ignore the worry that was quickly rising in him. Would he be safe here? He suddenly very much wanted to bury his nose into Ashenbird's fur and not look up ever again. But his mother wasn't here. Flowerkit took a deep breath, squashed his anxiety into a little ball that settled at the pit of his stomach, and then turned around to face the cats he would be staying with for the winter.

Only Wink was watching him. The elderly she-cat's eyes sparkled with some emotion - amusement? curiosity? Flowerkit couldn't tell.

"Missing home?" she asked in a kind rumble.

"No," Flowerkit lied. He shuffled his paws and glanced around. "How many cats live here?" There were only about ten in the shelter at the moment, not nearly as many as there had been when he'd first entered.

Wink shrugged and flipped her tail. "Eh, I dunno. Lots come and go."

Flowerkit was thinking of a good reply when a somewhat familiar voice hailed him from behind.

"Aha! I see our forest friend has returned. Welcome back, young tom."

Flowerkit turned to see M.C. Catnip grinning at him. "Hi, M.C," he greeted.

"Greetings," the brown and lilac tom replied. "Well, my tiny new companion, if we are to be spending the snow season together, I must have something to call you. What's your name, young friend?"

Flowerkit was having second thoughts about spending leaf-bare with this talkative tom, but he only hesitated for a moment before answering. "Call me Dusk." Mitzy's name for him would work well here.

Catnip's teeth glinted in the dusty light of the setting sun coming in through the windows. "Excellent. Dusk, my new friend, you must come with me to meet the rest of the band."

"Uh- alright," Flowerkit sighed. He hoped the rest of these alley cats weren't as annoying as M.C. Catnip.

"Come on then," the band cat said with an encouraging flick of his tail, and he bounded off towards the closest group of cats. Flowerkit reluctantly followed.

There were four in the group they approached, sitting in a circle with their heads bowed together as though deep in discussion. Flowerkit caught a few words one was saying before M.C. interrupted them.

"...spitty she-cats drove them away again-"

"Hello!" M.C. called cheerfully, barging his way into the center of the group with a look in his eyes that showed he knew he was being rude but didn't care. Flowerkit saw irritation flicker in the unfamiliar cats' faces, but it was quickly replaced by curiosity when they saw the kitten standing uncertainly at the fringes of the group.

"You'rethatnewcat," a very thin cream tom meowed, his green eyes widening. His whole body seemed to be vibrating slightly. "IsawyoucomeinwithHamandRomeoandIsawCatnipattackyou. Isittrueyou'restayingforthesnowseason?" He said this all very fast, the words tumbling over one another, and it took Flowerkit a moment to figure out what he'd said.

"Yeah, I'm staying," Flowerkit answered with a nod.

"We'll see about that," a chubby black tom muttered grumpily.

"Dusk, meet Dumpling, Mozart, Pookie, and Chicken Noodle," M.C. Catnip said brusquely, gesturing to each cat as he named them. "Gentletoms, this is our new young companion Dusk."

The fast-talking cream tom, Chicken Noodle, nodded very intensely with much shaking of his head, while Dumpling just looked grumpy, and Mozart, a thick-furred gray tom with a tuft of fur sticking straight up on his head, just widened his eyes and stared almost fearfully at Flowerkit.

Pookie was the only one who didn't seem interested. He was a very young, light gray tom, and his yellow eyes were cast sorrowfully downwards. He was lying down with his tail curled around him and his forepaws close together. Even M.C. noticed how dejected he looked and asked about it.

"What's got you down, Pooks?"

The young pale-furred tom shifted his mournful gaze to meet M.C. Catnip's bold amber one. "I'm worried about Honey," he said in a very small voice. "She said she was having trouble with the spitties in her neighborhood, and I haven't seen her for almost a week now..."

M.C. brushed aside the concern with a flip of his tail. "Honey's probably just gone and locked herself up inside her living. Those she-cats wouldn't bother with a reputable housecat like her." Pookie, however, didn't seem reassured.

Flowerkit opened his mouth to ask what the "spitties" were, but he too got brushed aside by Catnip as the energetic tom nudged him onward. "Come on, my friend, we've more cats to meet," he said loudly.

"SeeyoulaterDusk," Chicken Noodle called after him, waving his tail frantically. Flowerkit flicked his tail in return and felt he had no choice but to continue following M.C. Catnip.

They'd barely gone more than a few pawsteps when they were cut off by a tall dark tom who stared coldly down at Flowerkit. "Pagoda," Catnip greeted cheerfully.

Flowerkit's eyes widened with recognition and he gave a little gasp. "I know you! You're the one who saved me from that dog!"

The black cat -- Pagoda -- narrowed his eyes distastefully. "I was hoping not to run into you again. Don't tell me you're staying here?"

"I am, actually," Flowerkit retorted, feeling defiant in the face of those cold yellow eyes.

"You two know each other already, I see! Excellent, excellent," M.C. purred, seeming oblivious to the tension between the two.

Pagoda just scoffed and turned his back on them. "Just stay out of my way," he warned Flowerkit over his shoulder. "You should have gone home while you had the chance, forest cat."

Flowerkit glared after him. For some reason Pagoda reminded him of that ShadowClan queen who had been so rude to him, and yet Flowerkit couldn't help admiring this tom's lean form and commanding aura. Perhaps it had something to do with Pagoda having saved his life.

"Good to see you're making friends already," M.C. commented with a benign smile, and Flowerkit stared. He couldn't detect any trace of sarcasm in M.C.'s voice, but surely he wasn't that dim-witted?

Flowerkit had no time to puzzle it out, because a moment later Catnip was sweeping him onwards to meet more cats. He introduced "Dusk" to Fez, a thin Siamese she-cat with large green eyes and, Flowerkit noticed, extremely small paws, Max, the large, friendly orange tom who had been so outspoken when Flowerkit was first brought to the band (and who insisted on talking to them while he lied on his back with his paws in the air), and Snickers, an ugly hairless cat with skin that hung on his body in rolls.

M.C. also mentioned the names of done of the other members and visitors of the band, along with descriptions of the cats so that Flowerkit could recognize them when he met them, but after the first few Flowerkit stopped trying to remember. Finally it seemed that Catnip had named every cat who had ever been in the building, and thankfully left Flowerkit to his own devices.

Flowerkit jumped up on top of one of the boxes stacked haphazardly against the walls and sank down, letting sleep wash over him after yet another exhausting day.