[EN] Broken

The streets were quiet at night. There were some parts where humans would still linger but cats knew to avoid those places at night. A lanky, shabby looking tabby sat on a rooftop looking out to what lay in front of him. The moon shone bright as the sky was clear tonight. His body felt tired and so did his mind, but he somehow could not fall asleep even if he tried. Sitting on top of rooftops staring at the sky was something he did often nowadays. It was the only thing he could do after an entire day of trying to keep his mind from wandering into directions it shouldn't go.

Eventually, as even the noise from the humans in the distance faded he decided to go down. He wandered slowly back towards the door that was slightly ajar and pushed himself through. He quickly descended the flights of stairs until he found himself back in a dimly lit hallway with a light that flickered every now and again. The strong smell of urine and other strange things was very much present in the tiny space so Vulture made no point to linger as he pushed jumped through a broken window. He landed between some bushes. He quickly pushed himself out of the shrubbery and ran across the street towards the alleyways he knew so well. It was sometimes hard to imagine for him how he had spend so much time away from this place for so long. It has been his place of comfort when he had been alone in the early days of his rogue life. Now that he was alone again, he found himself at ease again.

Vulture stopped when he heard human voices coming from above. He looked up to an open window that was too far for him to reach. The humans were loud and made a huge ruckus. The tabby cat was just about to ignore it when he saw something flying out of the window. He managed to jump away just in time before it would have hit him. It fell apart in a thousand pieces that flew in every direction. Vulture had sought cover behind a few crates and saw a few pieces of, whatever it was that they had thrown at him, fly past him like bullets. He quickly flattened his bristling hairs and peeked around the corner. The voices had stopped and the object lay broken on the ground. He turned around when he heard footfalls. A human passed the alleyway he was hiding in. He looked agitated, judging by the way he walked. After a few quiet moments passed Vulture began feeling brave enough to check out what had just fallen from the window. He approached it cautiously. It didn't move and it was surrounded by reflecting, sharp looking things. The material reminded him of the thing that humans had in front of their windows. He peeked curiously at the large object. It was a square with small humans in it. The humans didn't move though. He frowned before his eye fell of a piece of reflective glass. He looked down and saw his reflection. He was skinnier than normal. His fur was dull and looked like it hadn't been groomed properly in a while. Pieces of fur randomly poked out in every direction. The thing that caught his attention however wasn't his pitiful appearance, but his eyes. They were the same shade of green that they always were and yet they felt like they belonged to a total stranger. Cloudy eyes that seemed beyond sad. Broken almost.

Vulture adjusted his gaze and began to walk again. That was a reminder he didn't want right now. When he turned a corner and meant to exit the alley he saw something big move. Instantly he froze. A large animal rose up from behind a trash can. It smelled foul and had a heavy breath and Vulture knew right away what he had just encountered. He also was aware that the dog had not yet seen or smelled him. Very slowly he began to back away. The dog sniffed the air and let out a huff. A little quicker now Vulture began backing away, his mind going over his mental map of the streets for the best possible escape route. Just as he was about to turn around fully, the dog turned his head towards him. His heartbeat sounded loudly in his ears as he made eye contact with the beast- and the dog began to growl.

;; broken / lund
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3bfRBassAQ