Chapter 14

The den was a bit dark and cold, a gravel-dirt mix of a flat roof, and hard dirt floors with walls curving upward, as far as I could see from far away. Sphynxia was the first to walk into it, letting out a trill of happiness as she sat down next to the entrance and awaited everyone else to enter. Windy was the next to go in, stopping and sniffing around the den as she stood in the middle of it.

I quickly followed her, running like a cow, excited to see what was inside the new den.

I had to make the best of it.

Everyone else seemed dark and sad, and I didn't blame them.

This day sucked.

But I wanted to brighten the mood, at least slightly. And if it didn't work, that was alright. As long as my sister was happy with it, that was all that mattered. It would help cheer me up, too. I trekked into the den, sniffing around as well as I heard Zach and Sally slowly walking in behind me. The dirt beneath my paws was dry and hard--- like it was once muddy but got shone on by the sun so much and it was so dry that it would be hard to make it into mud again.

I sniffed the roof above me, seeing a mix of dirt and gravel. I stood on my paw tips, butting my head against it to test it. It felt pleasant as I rubbed my ears against the hard rock. It stayed in place, not moving as I rubbed my head against it. I purred, satisfied. I lay down where Sphynxia lay, my tail brushing against Sphynxia's. Windy sat down next to me, beginning to clean her right paw pad.

Zach gently led Sally inside, as she tiredly looked around the den, her eyes slowly darting across the room.

She was tired, but she seemed... better. From the cold, but she probably would have sinus problems because of the mud she breathed in, even if she was better. "This place is cool!" She meowed, weakly smiling as she looked at the roof in wonder. I smiled as well, feeling peaceful at the sight of my sister being happy. Zach led her to the other corner of the room, and helped her to lay down as well. She slowly curled into a ball, licking the outside of her thigh dry, as she was still a bit wet from being washed off in the stream.

"Want me to go hunting, guys?" Sphynxia asked, looking around at all the other cats in the den but stopped, looking into my eyes.

I blinked in awe, looking back into her eyes. I felt a heatwave wash over me, the peacefulness and tranquility of the den filled me with awe. I felt content and happy, staring into the beautiful she-cat's eyes. We held the gaze for a few moments, before she purred as Zach mewed, "Sure. Don't get too cold, though!" He said, snuggling next to Sally as he looked at Sphynxia's hairless pelt. It would make sense that she would get cold easily without fur...

Still, something inside me got angry and defensive about that comment. I quickly shook off the feeling and watched as she ran out of the den, smiling to find us some prey. I got to thinking again. If she was going to be cold because she had no fur... I wanted to find us some bedding. Like... cattail fluff, or Lamb's Ear plant, something to help keep her warm when it begins snowing. I got up and peeked out of the den, trying to see where the sun was in the sky.

It was very cloudy, and the sun barely shone, but I could see some light shining in the middle of the sky. It's midday, then. I turned around to tell my denmates where I was going. "I'm gonna go find us some stuff to sleep on, like those beds I made at the old den." "Can I come too?" Windy shot up, looking at me with a smile. I nodded, giving her a quick smile back. "Of course, let's go." We trotted out of the den, while I looked around, trying to get used to the new surroundings.

We are going to be living here for a long time now... I might as well try to get used to it. we bounded the small stream that was just beside a bridge, held up by rocks. There was a small hole at the bottom where the water could flow through to the other side. I trotted along the side of the stream, looking for cattails, while Windy picked at the grass. "What are you doing?" I asked her, gazing in front of me, still not seeing any cattails.

"Don't we make nests out of grass? I mean - I know you guys don't, but when I and Zach lived together, we would copy the birds and make big nests out of grass and twigs to sleep in. Maybe we can add some grass? To mine at least?" I thought for a moment. That was pretty smart, but it had no insulation because it had no fluffy stuff or leaves inside it. "Sure," I purred. "I can't find any cattails to use for fluff. Do you know what a lamb's ear plant is?" "Yeah... doesn't it cure colds and infections?"

"Yes, but they're also great for making beds. There wasn't any at the old den, but I remember when we lived in the alleyway, a bunch was growing in the cracks in the cement, and we would pick the leaves and sleep on them sometimes. They smell spicy, though." "Oh," she mewed, sitting down. "Do you think we could mix them up together?" The she-cat asked, and I could see the gears turning in her head as she looked like she was coming up with something.

What was she thinking?

I wondered. "What do you mean?" I asked, eager to hear what she had to say. "We could make large nests just like I used to, but instead we use your plants and stuff to replace the grass? Like... Lamb's Ear held together in a nest with mud?" I smiled slightly. That was a better idea, I suppose... "Alright. I'll try to find us some Lamb's Ear and leaves as well to insulate it all. You find... Mud and feathers?" I came up with the idea of putting feathers in the nests on the spot.

I mean, it would be fluffy... The feathers from the birds we catch won't go to waste anymore! Oh wait, it would be better to catch a bird than to try to find feathers. We'd get more out of it, along with some food to eat. "Uh-- actually, nix that. Get some mud and hunt down some birds if you can. We'd get more feathers that way, as well as food to fill our bellies." "Kay." Windy trotted off, as I scouted around for Lamb's Ear.

Let's see... maybe there's some Panda plant around here... those are fuzzy too.

Later

I found one Panda plant, next to the stream. It gave me about eight leaves, which were extra fluffy. I found a Lamb's ear sprout, which only had one leaf, but I found a lot of ferns, which are also great for beds.

As I collected leaves, it began to rain again. Great. I swiped more into a pile, cross that I was getting my pelt all wet. Again. After it just dried off. I had a pretty big pile of leaves --- about my size. They were all dried-up leaves from the trees, as the time when all the leaves turn brown and fall to the ground was approaching. I still wonder what we should call it... I looked up and blinked as I saw Windy padding up in front of me. She had a dove and a small robin in her mouth, dropping them carefully beside me.

She blinked and looked up at me, her tail swishing happily. "Good job!" I purred, glancing at her soaked fur. "Where's the mud?" I asked, watching as the sky became covered with clouds. "We can get some from outside the den. We need to move this stuff into it first before we think about carrying mud!" I scooped up some leaves in my jaws, then ran over to the pile of ferns and other plants, somehow fitting them into my mouth too.

We both began to carry the things we collected back to the den, and I squinted my eyes at the taste of the dry, crunchy, dusty tree leaves in my mouth. We finally padded into the den, our fur soaked. Zach looked at us, curled up next to Sally, who was asleep. "We'll have a nest made for her soon," I whispered, feeling bad my poor sister had nothing to lay on other than rock-solid mud. I placed down the mix of leaves, my mouth tired from being open.

"Are you going to eat the birds to get the feathers?" I asked Windy, anticipating their arrival. "We'll only need one for now. I'll eat just one." Windy pawed the other bird aside, beginning to eat the other one as she lay on the den floor. I shrugged and quickly set off to work, wanting to get this finished as soon as possible. We were going to need mud if we were going to make a nest stay together... I ran outside. I scooped up as much as I could with one paw, hobbling back to the den as I was off balance.

Eventually, we finally finished all the nests. Zach's was the biggest, as he was quite a large cat. The nests were pretty comfortable and we all settled in for the night. We were all content with the results of our hard work. We had created a safe and cozy home for our little family.

If that's even what it was...

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'm ready... we're ready.