Down in the dumps

It wasn't weird for her and Snorri to be out together. Rather, they were inseparable. A lot of times they would be out together, sometimes simply walking around, sometimes with a purpose, like hunting. Or tease some kittypets. Or, her favourite thing to do, tease the dogs in the twolegs houses. They were locked up anyway and she was pretty sure that she could handle them if she must. That was what they were trained for anyway weren't they?? They were being trained to kill cats, dogs, whatever. As long as they would be good enough for the elite, right? Rain was pouring from the sky, but she didn't care. Snorri hated the rain, that much she knew. Snorri really, really hated rain or cold weather. But it was either finding shelter, or just walk back to the camp. Knowing her brother, he'd rather have the first one. As he wanted to get out of the rain as soon as possible probably. She looked at her brother and sighed softly as she looked around. Unless they wanted to take shelter in garbage cans, there wasn't a lot to hide from the rain. "Mrow?" She frowned at the sound, before stopping and looking at her brother. That didn't sound right. Like a lost kitten or something. They might be elite, but they weren't heartless. She had seen how twolegs had beaten cats, throwing them onto the street. That was how the elite had started after all. A group of cats that were thrown out of their house. "Did you hear that, Snorri?" She said with a frown on her face. Would Snorri even care? Probably not, it was still a mystery to her how she loved her brother so much.

Yup... Her brother was constantly complaining to her. What a surprise, not. She should've known from the start that her brother would start whining to her. Every other step her brother would be moaning in her ear how much he hated this and how cold it was. She knew better than to respond, because her brother was a stubborn mule. Like really, he was an ass, a donkey's ass. The fact the she still loved him was probably the greatest gift he had ever gotten. Otherwise he would've been all by his lonesome. The tom was a selfish cat, a little bit like her, but he was definitely worse. Everything that wasn't up to his standards was already something he would drop. It was a wonder itself that her brother still loved her. When she asked the tom is he heard the soft mrowl as well, the tom nodded, before sniffing the air. Rain would make it hard to recognize the scent, but it wasn't completely impossible for them to pick up the scent. 'It sounded as it came from around there.' the tom-cat said, pointing towards the fallen garbage cans. Why would a kittypet stay there instead of their warm home? An elite member wouldn't shelter in a freaking garbage can and rogues wouldn't even dare to come here. But before she could even try to speak with her brother about their plan, her brother already started to walk towards the other cat. "Snorri, you- Geez!" She muttered, sighing. Why was her brother such an idiot? Honestly, what did she do to deserve this tom? 'Oh, Sirgrún, you have to come and look," Her brother told her with an amused tone in his voice. She frowned deeply at the tone, mostly when her brother used that tone she had to prepare herself for looking at something disgusting. 'She's pretty.' This made her frown even deeper. She slowly walked over to the other tom and looked over to see a she-cat sitting in the garbage can. A younger cat, grimy, disgusted, skin and bones. "Stop it, you perv." She growled as she pushed him away from the garbage can with her paw, before she sat down in front of the younger she-cat. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?" She asked the in-badly-shape she-cat. She was barely skin and bones, probably starving to death as they spoke. "Tell me, little one, when was the last time you have eaten?" she said calmly to the she-cat, totally ignoring her idiot brother.

It wasn't like her brother would listen to her otherwise. He never listened to her anyway. He never had as well. If only he would listen to her one day he would actually get friends or something close to that. Buddies? Maybe. She should hit him for real one time, but on the other paw, he was still her brother. And she still cared for him like he still cared for her. At least, that was what she hoped. She was already done with his antics and pushed him away from the younger she-cat. He was a perv, with his weird comments. Sometimes it disgusted her, but this time, she could let it slide. When this little one would be fixed up she would definitely be a pretty girl, but right now? She was disgusting. Coaked with dirt. 'Hey!' The tom exclaimed, to which she just rolled her eyes. Drama queen to the max, that was what her brother was. Mister drama queen. 'Of course I didn't touch her. What do you think of me?' her brother snorted, obviously irritated, but when wasn't he irritated? He already was irritated because of the weather, wasn't he? The younger she-cat looked confused at her and her brother. When you saw the two of them in the blink of an eye, they weren't different at all. But then you see the details, like the red spot above Snorri's eye and their eye colours. Then you knew which one of the two you had in front of you. "I had some human scraps from a can like this three sunrises ago Mis.." the kitty softly said, to which her mouth almost fell open. Three? How was she even still standing? "If this is your can I can leave it if you want.." She said, shuffling around on her paws, definitely nervous. 'Clearly not for days, just look at her, Sigrún,' Her brother said annoyed. Of course mister had to speak about it. She could see that, but if she managed to eat today, she wouldn't bother. Which had not been the case. Three sunrises, even when the kitty had a home? She must be a stray now. 'She could use a mouse or two,' her brother said, poking into the ribs of the other cat. She took a deep breath and glared for a second to her brother. The she-cat recoiled and hissed at Snorri. She rolled with her eyes and sighed deeply. Why was her brother such an idiot? "Calm down. Snorri back off. You're scaring her." she almost barked at her brother. Geez, how much did he want to scare her? "This is not our can. But we can provide some prey for you to eat." She calmly said to the she-cat. "My name is Sigrún, that idiot over there is Snorri."

Even she herself wondered a lot of times why she was even bothering to tend to her brother. They were so different, but in the end they wanted the same. They wanted to become good members of the elite. It was that simple. But this little girl right in front of them? Maybe Snorri couldn’t see her potential, but Sigrún could see her potential. And that was the whole reason she wanted to get this young she-cat to the elite. She was dumped by her owners, for who knows what kind of reason, but she had seen cats like these. The features were all there. She had heard stories of these cats, who would become as large as dogs. She had seen them in the houses of the twolegs. Cobra would be proud of her to bring this she-cat to the elite. She was young, still influenceable and with the two of them saving her—she would be indebted to them. It was the perfect scenario. Worst case she would be the worst member. ’I’m not scaring her!’ The tom-cat said irritated to her, before pointing his attention to the she-cat. ’I’m not, am I?’ She’d rather not even try to scare the young she-cat. ”No,” The she-cat said, slightly defensive. Oh how much she wanted to strangle her brother sometimes.

But she promised the she-cat food. She was thrown away by her twolegs, literally. Because she lived in a freaking dumpster now. They could offer her shelter, a way to learn how to survive. That should be more than interesting for the weak she-cat in front of her. ”Food? Oh! Are you sure?” the voice of the she-cat sounded a little bit excited, she should be. Not eating for three days was not that good for a young cat. ”My name is.. My name is Wyvern!” She nodded, just to let the other she-cat know that she understood, but she couldn’t respond, because her brother was already whispering in her ear. ’Can we provide? We can’t help every stray, Sigrún,’ She had to refrain herself from rolling with her eyes. She smiled towards the she-cat. ”Don’t worry, you’ll soon be alright.” She calmly said to the she-cat. ”Excuse us for a second, Wyvern. I have to talk to my brother for a bit.” She told Wyvern, before turning around and with a whip of her head she pointed for her brother to come a bit with her.

”Listen. I know we can’t save every damn stray and I don’t intend to.” She growled softly, so Wyvern couldn’t her. Her back towards the other she-cat so she couldn’t even see her face expressions. ”But listen to me. I’ve seen her kind. She shows all the features of the big cats from the house on the corner with the chickens. Remember those huge cats in the house?” She said with glowing greenish eyes towards her brother. If she would become a good Elite member, they would be praised for getting her in the elite. ”What if the Elite had such a big cat? She’s dumped by her twolegs. She had nowhere to go. She has been neglected by other cats as well.” A smirk started to form on her face and she slowly licked her lips. Couldn’t he see that? ”She has potential. She would be indebted to us. Wouldn’t you like it if she would follow you around?” He would definitely like that, right? They wouldn’t even have to do a lot. ”Cobra would be so pleased.” She purred softly to her brother.

Snorri looked very pleased with himself when the she-cat had told him she wasn’t scared of him. But he was wearing over his eyes or something, because even a kitten could see that she was just trying to come off strong instead of being weak. But fine, if her brother would be pleased with this, fine. She if she cared. ’Told you so,’ Her brother teased her, to which she rolled with her eyes. Her brother was an ass and that would, sadly, never change. He should be grateful that she was there, otherwise he would’ve gotten his ass whooped, multiple times. Especially with that attitude of his. Good thing this idiot brother had a smart big sister who was looking out for him.

Snorri wasn’t so keen on sharing everything, especially food. But she had a plan, something to do with this she-cat that could mean the start of a very good time at the elite. The elite would be so grateful to them. Maybe they would even receive a tooth of a dog as their thanks, that they could keep until they would get a collar to put it on. But to be fair, by the time this Wyvern cat would be use to the elite, they would have gotten their collar already. So she wasn’t scared to admit that it would take a while, but when she would be useful for the elite… Cobra would praise them for bringing her in. ’Yeah, she does a bit. But how can you be sure?’ her brother muttered under his breath, to which the corners of her mouth started to come up a bit. ”Don’t you see the muzzle? The huge ears? She has that blood. And if not, we don’t get any problems. Worst case scenario she gets kicked out.” She told her brother calmly. It wasn’t like because they brought her there that they would suffer the consequences. That was for the she-cat herself. ’But I like the sound of that,’ her brother mewed ominously, to which she grinned to her brother. See? Always listen to your sister, because she had the best ideas. It wouldn’t hurt them in any way, they only had to share some food with her. That was all. ’She would be our pup,’ her brother said amusingly. She nodded and a sly grin came on her face. She knew her brother would like the sound of her words. It was just a shame that he wasn’t able to think about it himself, that would be a far better combination. But fine, luckily she had inherited the brains. ’I agree. Let’s do it. Let’s take her home.’ Home. To the elite. She would have a home again, one that wouldn’t leave her. If she had to leave she would only be able to leave in one way: death.

Snorri was the first one who turned around back to Wyvern, but Sigrún followed quickly. She had a calm smile on her face, but she knew the look on Snorri’s face. He could honestly make it or break this all. ’So Wyvern, are you hungry?’ she could just hear the amusement in her brothers voice. Other would just catch a glimpse of it, but him being her brother, she just knew. ’Because we could take you somewhere where you could eat. And where you could learn to hunt for yourself. Would you like that?’ Good, her brother was doing a great job so far. As long as they wouldn’t say things like killing other cats, they would be okay. They would be totally fine. ”You.. You could? I could eat?” The she-cat mewed at her brothers words, while she just sat down and watched the two of them interact. She shouldn’t do everything right? She already had the idea, so her brother could do more than just talk. ”Oh yes, please sir, miss, please..” It was a little more desperate, but she liked how the words sounded. Oh, she could beg some more, but not now. Another time maybe. She stood up again and walked towards the she-cat, before sitting down closer to her. ”We would be more than happy to help you, little one.” She said with a warm voice to the young she-cat, before looking at Snorri. ”Snorri, could you catch something for her? You’re such a good hunter, you probably have more luck than I would have.” She said with a soft smile on her face, but her eyes who were pointed directly at her brother spoke more than a thousand words. Better get to it. ”And in the meantime we’ll get you cleaned up, how does that sound little one? You’ll feel much better after a good bath.” She told the she cat with a soft smile on her face. It was a matter of bonding right now, a matter of getting the little kitten to trust them. And she didn’t trust Snorri with the task of doing that. Plus, this kitten had been abandoned, she couldn’t abandon her to hunt, she would lose the trust in them completely. Besides, her brother needed some time alone anyway in her eyes.  

She knew that Snorri would rather come into the bin and stay there, poking around with the smaller she-cat. But in her eyes it would actually be better for him to stay away from the smaller cat for a bit, Sigrún wanted to know what exactly she was dealing with here and—she didn’t trust Snorri to ask the important questions. For a moment she thought her brother was going against her, which wouldn’t be a surprise as it was still raining and the tom-cat despised rain, but the tom-cat seemed to understand that this was important for them to do. She could play the warm she-cat she had been playing so far and for him to suddenly change—no that would be way too suspicious, even if they promised her food and shelter. She was quite glad that she could stay in the bin, she didn’t mind the rain at all, but if she was given a choice she would rather stay in a dry place of course. ’Of course, I’d be happy to do that,’ For her ears his voice sounded obviously forced, but she couldn’t been happier with the words he was saying. For the untrained ears or for cats who didn’t know her brother, it could be quite hard to spot that he was forcing this out of his mouth. Which was honestly already a win, Snorri wasn’t quite the tom-cat that would swallow his pride. But because of the bigger price she had promised to him he would swallow it down. And for that, she was proud. They wouldn’t want to bicker in front of this she-cat would they? Snorri turned around, ready to leave in the rain. ’See you in a minute,’ her brother told them, before walking off. ”Thank you,” Wyvern meowed towards her brother, to which Sigrún just calmly smiled.

Now, back to the main topic. She wanted to clean this little rascal before taking her to the elite. She couldn’t go there all grimy and dirty.  Skinny cats wasn’t that weird to see in the elite, especially in this period of the year. Some cats were really bad at hunting and had to beg other cats, or fight other cats, for some prey. If you were really lucky your friends or family would give you some prey to eat. But it was mostly one for themselves. ”I would love to miss.. But I cleaned myself before and I got really filthy again from the bin.. I would not want to waste your efforts..” the smaller she-cat told her, before giving herself a couple of licks over her chest. Well, she didn’t think that she would still live in the dumpsters after they helped her didn’t she? Sigrún looked at the she-cat with empathy, played empathy but hell the she-cat wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. ”Don’t worry, after you’ve eaten we’ll take you to a safe place.” She said with a soft, warm purr in her chest, before licking the top of the younger she-cats head, slowly starting to clean her. ”You won’t be having to live in the dumpsters anymore. We live in a good place, loads of other cats. A nice, soft nest to lay in.” She told her with warm words in between licks. Anything to get this cat to come with them back to the elite. ”Snorri and I learned how to survive there, other cats will help you to survive there.” She continued, before slowly moving to the back of the neck of the younger female. It tasted absolutely disgusting, but fine, as long as they got rewarded in the end it would be fine. She could withstand this.    

A safe place for her to live, that should be one of the best deals Wyvern must’ve ever heard in her life. She knew that she and Snorri should provide for her until she could hunt herself, but she trusted in her plan. She knew that Wyvern could become one of the most fearsome cats the elite had ever known. And if she would become that, Snorri and Sigrún were on the first row. Wyvern would always be indebted to them for the chance she had gotten thanks to them. Most cats would’ve left her to die, same goes for the twolegs that lived here. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been so dirty and skinny. ”A safe place..” The she-cat whispered, to which Sigrún purred loudly as she kept grooming the she-cat. It was kind of like she was getting accepted within their family or something like that. But for a different reason. She hoped that Snorri would leave her be, as she knew the tom-cat could make some stupid remarks. But, so far, so good. As long as she wouldn’t leave the elite as she entered, she would be perfectly fine. Cobra would approve of her as well. Wyvern curled up against her and started purring softly. Now, that was what she had wanted to achieve. The small she-cat was definitely starting to trust her, which meant that she won the lottery. Stuff her mouth with some food, clean her fur a bit more, and she would be ready to go to the elite. To learn to hunt and fight. How to kill. ”I want to go there..” Wyvern whispered quietly to her. Sigrún smiled warmly and nodded. ”We’ll take you there.” She promised Wyvern, before placing her tail around the small she-cat.

She already saw Snorri walking towards them. Good. Snorri nodded as a sign of greeting and she smiled calmly at the tom. ”Welcome back, brother.” She told him with a soft smile on her face. This was all a façade, one that would fall gradually as they would enter the elite. Where Wyvern would get to know the real her. The mice were placed in front of Wyvern and even she was quite jealous of the fat mice that Snorri had caught. Her brother was actually capable of doing some things, even if it was against his better judgement. She grinned at her brother as he started to smile to Wyvern. This were things that they were able to do together. Recruit. And Cobra would see the potential within them. ’Eat as much as you want. I can always catch more,’ Her brother told the small she-cat, nosing the prey towards the small she-cat. Wyvern dove onto the mice and Sig watched with fulfilment at the small she-cat, before looking at her brother again and slowly nodding. A sign that she wanted to come with them. That they had sealed the deal. When she started to sob Sigrún looked back at the young she-cat, ”Thank you so much..” Croaked the she-cat. Sig placed her tail over the small she-cat and smiled at her. ”It’s not a problem, Wyvern.” She told her softly. ”That’s what family does.” She said, before glancing over to Snorri.