- Oct 19, 2024
- 4
- 0
- 1
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Nereus did not know the twoleg language at all, really, but something in that sound woke him from his slumber. It was a primal sort of feeling, one the Maine Coon tom was smart enough to admit everyone felt some days or others: fear. He looked around and realized there was quite a good reason for this, given the library was on fire. He laid there numbly for a moment, processing all the things going on around him and more importantly the fact that his home was crumbling.
From his place on the counter he tried to simply force his thoughts into order: The orange stuff is fire, and I need to leave here before the exit doors are blocked. Where is my human?Just then, a bookshelf fell to the floor and scared him badly enough that he raced outside of the library doors directly beside him, the whole situation just a bit too stressful. At that point, the blaring trucks arrived and more humans got out and began running to deal with the library so Nereus got out of their way.
From his spot on the concrete sidewalk he watched as the hose people tried to fight the fire unsuccessfully and realized it was no use. From what he knew about how fire spread, there was simply too much extra fuel in the building for the blaze to go down easily. Suddenly, he noticed his owner being carried out of some rubble by more hose people and dashed forward to observe, exhaling a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding as he noted his owner was burned but alive.
A white-worker then approached him and he ran, having no idea of their intentions with him. To them, he could seem like nothing more than a stray cat. His owner was probably fine but from the looks of it would be taken away for a while by them. At least, that's what happened to other people when he'd seen bad stuff happens while walking around.
That was one or two weeks ago, and when Nereus had returned to the house it had a sign in front of it that said something. A new bunch of humans and one in a suit were speaking. Why were they so interested in his owner's house. Finally, Nereus assumed the worst and sat there for a moment. His owner had been a constant his entire life and was now no longer here. He grit his teeth and watched as a couple tears fell from his eyes and landed on the sidewalk.
Useless tears.
He now had nobody, and that meant finding a way to survive on his own. Luckily, that was the easy part. The truth was, Nereus knew his tears upon the stone would dry and disappear. The world and his own needs would move on without his heart, and that presented an issue for his moping. With that thought at the forefront of his mind as a coping mechanism, he simply walked away and began trying to forget.
Days later…
Nereus was not used to experiencing the cold of the night but had begun to just kind of ignore it, his fluffy coat making the chill more brisk than anything.The most important thing he could do now was to find some sorta place to sleep. It wasn't as though he was some kind of dainty little cat who could easily charm their way into a new family given his size and he didn't want to do that anyway.
As an act of last respects, His kittypet life died when his owner did, so that was the end of that train of thought. Instead he spotted an alleyway and stepped a paw inside the darkness. He had always avoided alleyways before, but for someone unfamiliar with the ins and outs of being a stray, it now ironically seemed to be the safest hiding spot. Going further in, he spotted a sad but only slightly soggy cardboard box flipped over on its side.
Luckily, when he went closer it proved itself livable with only a small amount of contortion required. Nothing like home, but beggars (or their equivalents) were not known to be choosy. With his abode secured, he laid down and waited for his eyes to adapt further to the darkness. "Mouse dung. He would probably have thought this was quite a story, my adventures so far. Hopefully it'll work like that, at least." He muttered to himself in an attempt not to go crazy from the sheer truth of it all.
From his place on the counter he tried to simply force his thoughts into order: The orange stuff is fire, and I need to leave here before the exit doors are blocked. Where is my human?Just then, a bookshelf fell to the floor and scared him badly enough that he raced outside of the library doors directly beside him, the whole situation just a bit too stressful. At that point, the blaring trucks arrived and more humans got out and began running to deal with the library so Nereus got out of their way.
From his spot on the concrete sidewalk he watched as the hose people tried to fight the fire unsuccessfully and realized it was no use. From what he knew about how fire spread, there was simply too much extra fuel in the building for the blaze to go down easily. Suddenly, he noticed his owner being carried out of some rubble by more hose people and dashed forward to observe, exhaling a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding as he noted his owner was burned but alive.
A white-worker then approached him and he ran, having no idea of their intentions with him. To them, he could seem like nothing more than a stray cat. His owner was probably fine but from the looks of it would be taken away for a while by them. At least, that's what happened to other people when he'd seen bad stuff happens while walking around.
That was one or two weeks ago, and when Nereus had returned to the house it had a sign in front of it that said something. A new bunch of humans and one in a suit were speaking. Why were they so interested in his owner's house. Finally, Nereus assumed the worst and sat there for a moment. His owner had been a constant his entire life and was now no longer here. He grit his teeth and watched as a couple tears fell from his eyes and landed on the sidewalk.
Useless tears.
He now had nobody, and that meant finding a way to survive on his own. Luckily, that was the easy part. The truth was, Nereus knew his tears upon the stone would dry and disappear. The world and his own needs would move on without his heart, and that presented an issue for his moping. With that thought at the forefront of his mind as a coping mechanism, he simply walked away and began trying to forget.
Days later…
Nereus was not used to experiencing the cold of the night but had begun to just kind of ignore it, his fluffy coat making the chill more brisk than anything.The most important thing he could do now was to find some sorta place to sleep. It wasn't as though he was some kind of dainty little cat who could easily charm their way into a new family given his size and he didn't want to do that anyway.
As an act of last respects, His kittypet life died when his owner did, so that was the end of that train of thought. Instead he spotted an alleyway and stepped a paw inside the darkness. He had always avoided alleyways before, but for someone unfamiliar with the ins and outs of being a stray, it now ironically seemed to be the safest hiding spot. Going further in, he spotted a sad but only slightly soggy cardboard box flipped over on its side.
Luckily, when he went closer it proved itself livable with only a small amount of contortion required. Nothing like home, but beggars (or their equivalents) were not known to be choosy. With his abode secured, he laid down and waited for his eyes to adapt further to the darkness. "Mouse dung. He would probably have thought this was quite a story, my adventures so far. Hopefully it'll work like that, at least." He muttered to himself in an attempt not to go crazy from the sheer truth of it all.