Chapter Text
Her eyes open to another foggy, colorless sky. And are those triangular clouds? Whatever they are, they’re dark and rain will probably fall from them nonetheless. When facing up into the vastness above as you adjust back into consciousness, it’s easy to forget you’re living in a cardboard box. But this kitty still needs a home, and said box will have to do for now.
Thus begins the daily routine: peek up into the streets and prepare for a stranger to come her way with pleading eyes. An act she definitely doesn’t need to play up, but…
Oh, someone’s coming already. If it’s this early, then this person could be it!
A round, pale-skinned man with stubby legs and beady eyes is approaching; just one of many inhabitants of Negative Space from no discerning species. Just another collection of shapes for a body and a sullen, hazy stare. But that doesn’t matter to her. As long as one of them can give her a loving home, she’ll be happy. And make them happy too, right?
So she sets her paws atop the pressed line, keeping the outer flap between her and this man down. There’s not much of a sound, but it’s enough to catch his attention. Perfect timing for her to poke her head up. But the man seems mostly surprised that something is in the box at all. The natural charm isn’t doing anything once again, so it’s time to use the begging eyes.
This passerby gets less and less impressed with each second that the kitten’s eyes grow wider and shine brighter with a light that’s barely there.
“...Mwrow?”
Now there’s a full scowl and furrowed brows on his face to go with the unimpressed eyes.
“Filthy cat.”
He kicks the box fairly far for a man with legs his size, sending it back a good few feet and nearly launching the kitten out of it, and continues on his way.
Alright, so that didn’t work. And maybe it never will. But dammit, she has to keep trying. There’s got to be a chance that someone around here will adopt her, but if not, then another part of town for sure! And if that man was the only person who’d come by today, then that’d be an even better reason to move the box to another sidewalk. It’s quite overdue, anyway. Looking at the same set of floating, partially broken buildings is getting old, even for the patience she has.
But what’s this? The sound of more people approaching? Hurry, stand the box back up and get in!
The conversation about some fourth person nears its end as she watches three more mysteriously-shaped people walking so fast, that they’re already halfway past her box. Not the expected sight in Negative Space, but there’s as many speedsters as there are slowpokes.
Time to jump right into the cry for help. But she considers it more of a hello.
“Meow!”
The trio of “friends” stare down at this kitty with a head and paws peering from a box with the words “Looking 4 a Home” written across the front, hoping a more eager approach with not-as-desperate eyes (yet) will do some good. But instead, they laugh.
“Look at that thing!” one of them loudly says, “It’s like a pink experiment gone wrong!”
“Or a runaway rabid pet,” another chimes in with his low voice.
“More like freak from tha pound!” the third one jeers nasally, “What’sa mattah, did the dogcatchas spank ya a litt’l too hard?”
Have they never seen a cat before? But more importantly, why were they so mean? But their next laughing fit continues until the boy in the middle gives the box a legless kick that somehow sends the kitty crashing into the end of the alleyway. She thought too soon.
“Waddaya say, boys?” the bully on the right asks as they approach her again, armed with a hammer and baseball bats, “Should we put this thing outta its misery?”
As the other two agree, the stray kitty struggles to stand up in a rush. She shouldn’t hurt this badly!
After all, she’s insulted all the time; but whether she’s called a fleabag, a lousy slob, or an overgrown rat with pointy ears… it hurts every single time. And dying at the hands of three heartless kids was too much to even think about. But it was about to happen if she didn’t act fast. And with nowhere to run as the bully to her left swung his toy-sized hammer up, she didn’t want to take any chances.
But BAM!
Her focus wasn’t quick enough to avoid a more devastating impact than imagined from that hammer. Despite its silly double-edged shape, the steel pressed against her skull twice as hard as the bricks after that kick.
“Nice swing, Jimmy!”
“Well you gonna help or what?” he replies with that threateningly low voice.
The boy in the middle doesn’t bother answering. He just bludgeons the cat right in her chest, releasing an agonizing cry from her throat. She begins to sob as he lifts the bat and Jimmy nods accordingly.
“That’s more like it.”
“Now give me some room! You two can’t ‘ave all tha fun.”
But as this young man swings his bat, aiming for the stray’s upper body to splatter her guts all over the walls, she grabs onto the bat with red arms.
The would-be killers collectively stare down at the stray kitty, realizing her whole body has turned red and her tail is on fire. But she isn’t screaming anymore. She’s standing on her back paws with gritted teeth and smoke coming out of her nose with each sharp pant.
“Wh… what’s goin’ on with this thing!?”
“It really is some kind of experiment!”
“Nah man, this is a monster.”
“So what are you waiting for, Mike!? Swing harder!!”
But as the bat is pulled away, the stray roars a terrible battle cry and pounces onto Mike’s face, scratching away as he screams in immense pain.
“T-THE CLAWS!! THE CLAWS ARE BURNIN’ HOT!! MY FACE IS MELTING AAAAAAAHH!!!”
The other two boys are too scared to move, but as he stumbles towards the nearest store windows, the screaming draws attention from inside and across the street, so they run for help. But the stray won’t let them get away.
She leaps onto Jimmy’s face to just… scream. It’s enough to turn him pale white and fall backwards onto the sidewalk. And before the last boy can get away, she tackles him and scratches his legs and torso. All while the first bully reaches out to him as other people help take him away and watch the fire spread.
“C-Clyde… tell Jimmy’s sistah it was me sendin' 'er those creepy notes.”
“You WHAT!?”
But sitting up in disgust was the worst mistake Clyde could’ve made. The stray kitty claws at him some more, unaware of how close she still is to Jimmy. Especially her still-fiery tail.
“Oh my God, is that kid on fire!?”
Clyde and the stray turn to face a barely-conscious Jimmy coming back to his senses out of agonizing pain and fear. The surrounding shopkeepers and morning strollers panic by running in circles or hiding until one brave soul returns to the scene with a fire extinguisher. But it’s not just the kid that’s on fire, remember?
More surrounding stores are falling victim to the sparks and smoke that released from deep within the kitten. From just one short burst, the whole block is up in arms as their buildings succumb to a blazing catastrophe. The kitten returns to her normal colors, begging with her big, blue eyes for mercy. But it’s no use. They throw things or try catching her. They want her dead, so all she can do is run.
And to think, this was all without her horn.
But how could she realize she’s capable of something this bad!? And even if someone in Negative Space was forgiving enough, how can she be sure she won’t lose control like that again, even if it was in self-defense?
Well, maybe the answer’s as simple as it always seemed: bring joy back into the world.
Any rational thought in her head ends with giving up like the rest of Negative Space was born to do, but she was never like that. The flickering light of hope within her just won’t die, and even while running for her life from a disappearing crowd, she has to keep her head up. And if she can’t find a home, the least she can do is find the source of happiness the world is missing. She can’t remember why, but it must've been there before.
She just has to keep running. Chasing that dream while however many people are still chasing her.
The flame might be gone, but the fire remains.