Never Too Late (OPEN)

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The youngling stared at the fish swimming through the currents and twisting along the river. Her belly growled with hunger. After her mother had abandoned her, she had to fend for herself. She wasn't sure how to, really. Her small claws were barely developed, and she had barely lost her kit fur. She was still a bit unstable on her legs, and she feared for her life. The first sound she had heard was the small roar from the river, and for one as young as her, it was deafening. Her skin clung to her ribs, and she had already lost her kitfat. She was deprived of her mother's milk when she was young, and now she has had nothing to eat for a few days. She was on the brink of death.

The youngling's soft fur brushed against the damp grass, her exposed belly getting wet. She shivered fiercely, and mewed pitifully. She wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't sure if she would even survive another day. She had to do something, or that would be the end, before her life even began. Her deep blue eyes watched the fish dart passed. They were specked with gold, hinting the color they would be when she would get older. If she could get one fish, she would survive.

Her instincts told her nothing. Even if another cat passed her, what would they do? She was almost useless, mostly helpless, unworthy to any of them. She didn't even have a name. She waddled closer to the river, occasionally falling, until she was tinkering on the edge. She reared down and put a paw in the water, shivering as it felt like ice. She didn't enjoy the wetness, but she didn't remove the paw. Fish after fish swam by, unaware of the small lifeform. She unseathed her claws, but none of the fish swam close enough to even remotely touch.

She gave up, and backed away from the rush of the water. Exhausted, she collapsed onto the grass. She lay on her side, her eyes closed and paws spread out. Her long tail stopped moving and lay flat on the grass. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to breathe. The youngling lay there, shaded by the smallest purple flower. The flower was called a saffron, and it's petals were purple, with stems coming from the pollen that were a shade of deep red.

(Post moved from the board 'River.')

[root]

Root was tired, and she hardly knew where she was. All she knew was that the stranger told her that she should stay here if she wanted to thrive. But all the orphans here were mainly crazy he said. The youngling sighed, not knowing what to do. She was hungry. She didn't know how to hunt, so she often waited for someone else to leave behind remains.

It was wet where she ended up, no longer in the woods, but more of a river. As thirsty as she was, Root was not willing to drink. She did not know if she would fall in. She did not know how to swim.

Her green eyes then fell on another cat around her age. The tabby gasped and ran (more like tumbled) towards the stranger. 'I-is she d-dead?' she thought, realizing that the stranger was not really breathing. "You have to get up!" she yelled, trying to wake up the stranger.

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It seemed like forever. The silence pressed on as the youngling lay on the ground. When a stranger did come, she barely found the strength to open her eyes. Her eyes ever so slightly slid open, so she found herself looking at a pair of blurry paws. She coughed, and moved her head as to see the stranger's face. It was another youngling, about her age or older, that looked just as scrawny. She gave a glance, then let her head fall back to the earth. She let out a small sigh, and closed her eyes again. Her stomach growled once more, and she whinced in pain.

The stranger seemed very eager to try to get the youngling to move. She didn't understand why she had to, as she was so tired of running from nothing. She tried to say something as the cat yelled to get up, but it came out as a cut off word, more like a small, mournful squeak. Finally, something overcame her, and she turned onto her front paws and tried to push herself up. This gave a huge amount of effort, and she collapsed back down onto her throat, her nose touching the flower. She looked up and somehow, she remembered what it was called, maybe from her mother. She spoke one word, before closing her eyes again.

"Saffron."

[root]

Root backed up a bit, knowing that there was still some life in the stranger. The stranger looked worse than her. She wondered what happened to her and why she was in this condition. Probably the same circumstances as herself.

Root waited as the stranger tried to life herself up, only to fall back down. 'Can she not walk? What if she's hurt?' But no, Root remembered herself being like this too - being out of life. No will to live. 'Saffron.' Root was confused. Was she speaking to the flower?

"Root," she responded, thinking maybe it was just her name perhaps. The tabby carefully nudged her head underneath the weaker youngling's and tried to life her head up a bit. They were in such bad condition, but it was better for two to die together than alone, right?

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The youngling continued to stare at the flower, looking up and down at it. It was indeed a beautiful flower. She tried to move to nudge it with her nose, but all strength had left her. That was when the other stranger spoke. She simply said 'root.' The youngling was confused, not seeing any roots anywhere near them. She mustered some strength to turn back to the stranger and ask, "What?" The stranger stepped forward and lifted her chin up with her own head, and she took it as an act of kindness. She hadn't met any other cats than her mother, and kindness wasn't something she was usually in contact with. She tried with all her strength to stand, leaning a bit on the stranger, but trying to tough it out.

The youngling stood, half wobbly, on her four paws. It was hard to continue standing; she just wanted to collapse and lay on the ground forever, not caring if some birds started eating her alive. She then started to make a noise that she was half scared of. She didn't know she could even make a noise of such kind. She was purring. The youngling mustered the best smile she could, but it was halfhearted looking. Her eyes were a bit bloodshot from lack of sleep. Her rivs were visible through a thin coat of fur. At her age, normal cats would have nice, soft fur, but hers was brittle and corse, not having much fluf to it. It clung to her sides, drab and unhealthy. She was an awful sight, and she wasn't very happy about it.

The youngling didn't know much about things to say, or names, or conversations. She didn't know about gratitude. She didn't know about love or want. She only knew hatred and the instinct to survive. But now, she knew something else. She knew of kindness.

[root]

"My name. It's Root." It was a bit weird, saying it to someone other than her family.

Then Saffron started to purr and Root was a bit frightened, but managed to give a slight smile. Smiling was good, right? Just like how it was better to be around someone else instead of being by yourself. 'Maybe the stranger was wrong. Maybe orphans can be good.' She wanted to meet the scarred stranger again, and introduce him to Saffron. Maybe the three of them would all meet together someday.

The tabby flicked her ear and looked at the dark gray she-cat. "Your name. it's Saffron, right?"

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The youngling stared at the other cat as she told her that root was indeed her name. Root, but what was her name? She guessed she didn't have one. She felt odd and empty, suddenly. She faintly felt unloved. As the other asked if Saffron was her name, she simply shrigged it off, knowing she didn't have a name. Then, thinking twice about it, she nodded.

(sorry very short i need to go to bed)

[root]

Root noticed that the youngling was quiet, and seemed a bit lost? But then she nodded. So Saffron it was. Once again, the tabby smiled.

"Where did you come from Saffron?"

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The youngling had figured out a name to call herself. It felt strange, different, to have something to go by. She now had an identity, and wasn't just that 'one cat' in the woods. Root seemed happy about it. The other youngling even smiled at her. Smiling, that was also new. It felt weird to move the muscles in her lips that way. Saffron had never done it before. Saffron... Root had basically named her the flower that she almost died under, the flower were she was found. She glanced back at the flower, its petals glowing against the green grass, and faintly smiled at it.

Root then asked her a question, one she had been asking herself over and over again. Where are you from? She had no family, no friends, nowhere to go. All she knew was that she had gone a far distance from where she started. She remembered her mother's heartbroken smile when she was born. So there was a faint memory of goodness from her mother. She remembered her mother's name, Sympathy. What an oxymoron. Her mother was anything but sympathetic. That fox-hearted cat left her for dead in the cold, right next to a badger set. She had told her to get lost and never come back. Her mother had even hissed at her and called her fluff-brained when she mewled and tried to follow. She remembered the white foam, it was wet, and clung to her fur in the worst way.

She turned her attention onto Root, an apologetic look in her eyes. She didn't want to talk about her mother, or the cruelness she had endured. She didn't understand why she was sent away. Saffron simply said, "I don't know." She looked into Root's eyes, asking the same question Root had asked her.

[root]

It took a while for Saffron to respond, but Root kept an eye out for any bugs or anything she might be ale to kill for a meal. Since they were still young, they didn't need a full rabbit or something to munch on. They just needed to get by. By the time that Saffron opened her mouth, Root did not expect the answer that she heard: 'I don't know.'

'How does she not know? That's sort of weird.' The tabby sighed and crouched beside the younger cat.

"My dadda did not like us. . . he said that we were too small for him. . . My mama. . . she told me to watch Twig, Dirt, and Leaf,. . . I was the big sister. . ." The youngling tried to remember. Someone had to know other than herself.

"But. . . Twig and Leaf died and then mama got sick and went out to hunt. . . She told me to watch Dirt. But she didn't come home. . . Dirt and I got hungry and he disappeared into a hole. . . I couldn't get him out, but he said he would find a way out. . ."

She sighed, not able to take it anymore. She didn't want to think about it anymore for now. Not when it was still too fresh.

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Saffron listened intently to Root's story, noting it was very sad, like hers. Maybe she should tell someone, but what would she tell them, that her mother was a monster? She didn't really know what to say. She looked up at Root, pity in her eyes. "I'm sorry..." she mewed, thinking over what to say to Root. She decided she would tell her a summarized story. "My mother wasn't very kind to me. I don't have a dad, because my mom was never mates with him. I don't have any siblings, either. I was a rare birth, with no littermates. My mother was very unusual, she seemed happy at my birth, but later abandoned me and told me to never search for her again, because I was too naive to understand. She hissed at me and told me I was worthless. She never scratched me but once, when I was trying to follow her home. It didn't turn into a scar, but sometimes I can still feel the burn."

After telling Root her story, Saffron felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She looked at her paws, waiting for a response from the other youngling.

[root]

'I'm sorry.' That was all Root really wanted to hear. That she was all alone. That she was lost. That she did not even know if Dirt was still alive. In response, Saffron herself told her own background. She found it a bit unusual that Saffron was the only kitten, but maybe it was better that she did not know her father. At least then Saffron would not feel weak. But then, the mention of the mother was brought up. Root curled her mouth at the description; it was sort of like her dadda, but not.

"If we find your mama, we'll prove to her that you're not worthless!" Root was upset, and she wanted to help Saffron out. It was terrible enough to be abandoned, and the youngling thought it would serve the dark gray youngling some justice if they were to see each other again. Even if it was to prove a point.


"I know you did not have brothers and sisters with your mama, but we can be sisters, right? I'll promise to take care of you if you promise me too." It was hard enough being alone.

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Saffron listened to Root's response, giving a half sarcastic sigh. She did notice Root's emotion, which was upset. She clearly wanted to help Saffron, and she was very thankful for that, but Saffron truly believed that they could never find her mom, much less prove she wasn't the worst child ever. Next, Root suggested they could be like sisters. From Root's story, Saffron wasn't surprised she wanted another sister to watch over, and Saffron was totally okay with a big sis. She nodded, smiling.

"I never had a sister, I don't know what it's like. I would like to try to be in a family." Saffron gave Root a warm smile, happy she could say she had someone for family.

[root]

Root was glad that Saffron agreed to her suggestion. So she would be Saffron's sister, and finally Root felt like she belonged to something again. She knew that she had to help Saffron grow, but first, they really had to find food for the half-malnourished cats.