Tale Of A Deaf Cat

Nobody understood me. And I never understood anyone else. Not really. You can trust me on this, I literally didn't understand anyone. You may wonder why. Well, the answer's quite simple - I'm deaf. Ever since I was born, I couldn't hear a thing. I'm a white cat with blue eyes, you see. It's quite common for cats who look like me. I could see perfectly fine, even better than other cats. My sense of smell was definately better, though sometimes, I wish it wasn't. There were some pretty bad smelling dogs around my home once. And I could feel vibrations on the floor and the things all around me, if they were harsh enough.

Not being able to hear made my life difficult. I couldn't hear stories, about powerful heroes who brought down the evil minds of the alleys. I couldn't tell when my Mother asked me to follow her, or when my Father greeted me. I didn't know when my siblings wanted to play a game, or when a stray cat tried to talk to me. Not if I couldn't see them or smell them. Everyone thought I was a burden to the family. It was true. I was no help at all. An extra mouth to feed, an extra cat to care for, to guide and assist.

Even if I couldn't hear, I knew my name was Little River. One time, my Mother took me out of the alley, guided me over the large, dark, Rumbling-Beasts trails, through the swarm of Furless Two-Paws, and out of the town. She guided me into a forest (I know, it's strange for me to know proper names of places and things, but it's always been in my head... I'm not surw why). There, she sat down by a little river. She flicked her tail from me, to the river, and I worked it out.

My life changed a few seasons later. It was getting colder, and the few trees that were around town were losing their brightly coloured leaves. I had seen a group of cats trying to take over our alley, a battle which we won. My brother left the alley more often, and eventually left, to find a home with his Mate. My sister soon found a tom herself, who hung around our home. I was tired of the tom staring at me, like I had two heads, a tail coming out of my left ear and seven paws. I went for a walk in the night, enjoying the cool breeze against my long fur.

Suddenly, I was flat out against the floor. There was a cat stood on my back. I looked up, seeing cats who had attacked my home before. I knew it then. These cats weren't just joking with me. They weren't play-fighting with me, unlike what I had done with my siblings when I was no more than a ball of fluff. These cats meant to send a message to my family, and I was involved. I saw a strong tom raise his paw, his claws unsheathed. He was getting ready to give me a powerful blow, to end my life. I had given up by now. His paw came down...

And it was black. I couldn't see, not even my whiskers. There was no smell, nothing to taste. The only thing I could feel was a cold, hard surface under my paws. I still couldn't hear anything, but it was hard to know if it was because I was still deaf, even after I'd died, or if there was simply nothing to hear. Then, only then, I realised my back was hurting. Right where the enemy cats had struck me down. There was no pain when you'd already died, at least, I thought so.

Light filled my vision. I was in a warm bed, with a fire beside me. A Furless Two-Paw was sat beside me, her hand running through my silky fur. I could sense her affection towards me.

From that moment on, I lived in a warm home, with a human to look after me. I was fed, I was groomed, I was loved. I felt like I was important. I felt as if... I belonged. And I did. It was only with the human that I started to understand. I was born to be right here, with my human.

Birchy

This does relate to Warriors slightly, as the 'evil cats' who tried to kill Little River were evil Clan cats.