I sat in the center of a clearing, the sun was shining, the birds were singing. The flowers were blooming, it was a good day to be basking in the warm light. I could hear a woodpecker chip away at the trees not too far away from where I was sitting. I could feel the vibrations of the footsteps of some animals. I heard some rustling in the bushes to my left, then a snap of a branch followed afterward. My head snapped up and I quickly dove into some bushes to my right.

“Wh-who’s there?” Someone called, there was a hint of fear and curiosity in their voice. I watched silently as a brown Maine coon sulked into the clearing. I looked closer and noticed a leather necklace-like item with a small, gold plate hanging from the leather chain. Of course, a kittypet. 

I felt an eerie coldness behind me, I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. “You do know you can simply kill her, right? It can solve all your problems.”  I hissed and rolled my eyes at It’s comment, “Please, don’t tell me you are too weak and kind-hearted to kill a simple kittypet.” 

When I realized that I hissed a bit too loudly, it was too late. The kittypet looked towards the bushes I was hiding in and slowly approached me, “Hello? Can you help me-”

“What are you doing here?” I hissed, I still stayed in the bushes but I still stalked away from the gaze of the cat. Her gaze only followed my path, her sense of hearing is pretty strong, or she was simply picking up where the vibrations of my pawsteps were coming from.

“Really?” a deep growl stopped my train of thought, It was starting to become a pain in the neck, “You’re expecting this kittypet to know what you know? You’re dumber than you look!”  It hissed as the toxic feeling just crept closer and closer. I turned my attention back to the kittypet and she was dangerously close to me. 

The kittypet sighed, “Please, I just need to find my way back home.”

I narrowed my green eyes as I stepped out of the bushes and looked down at the cat, “And… why do you expect me to know where you live?”

The Maine coon cat stepped back a little, “Please… I just want to go home! Please don’t kill me!”

“Oooo, how interesting. It’s been such a long time since we had a puppet to play with! What do you think we should do?” It asked, creeping closer, the black and brown coat of fur It wore could be seen from the corners of my vision. 

“We don’t need to play with it. You may find it fun, but I don’t.”  I answered in my mind, It only growled and turned away from me.

“Fine, play nice-cat.” It hissed as they stalked up towards me, “But even if you are, why not you be nice to me? So why don’t do me a favor, and play one round with this kitty. It’s only fair if you play nice-cat with everyone, Leafcatcher.”

“I- I just thought you’d know the terrain here! You know where the twoleg dens are, right?” The Maine coon cat stammered.

“Hm… do I?” I sighed, “Tell you what, if you take off that necklace of yours, then I’ll tell you.”

I sat down as I watched the kittypet wiggle around and struggle to get the collar off. The figure behind me was giggling and laughing at the scene, It’s odd, brown eyes barely visible when they were squinting through them. The sun was starting to set when I finally heard a clink and a soft yet strong vibration through the earth. I looked over and saw that the collar was ripped off. My gaze shifted to the Maine coon as she was pacing out of a bramble bush. She must’ve used the thorns of the bushes to piece through the leather and rip it off.

It sighed as they finally calmed down, It floated towards me and smiled. The way they smiled at us was unsettling. “That was fun, wasn’t it? I’ll stop bugging you now, it’s starting to bore me.”

Not soon after, the brown-black dog disappeared into thin air.

“Well? Can I have the directions?” The maine coon asked, prancing up to me.

I looked up, the sun was setting. “I’ll tell you tomorrow morning, it’s getting late. You should probably sleep.”

The brown cat frowned and sat down, “Okay, but where do I sleep?”

“In here,” I said as I formed a dome made of leaves and vines. I then gestured to it, the kittypet glanced at me and slowly walked in. I leaped into the air and into the treetops, I used the branches of the trees to quickly make my way home.