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In the shopping district, the people grumbled about the local gang who had just trashed everything they were selling. Rotten fruit and vegetables were everywhere, the stink of the meat was as bad if not worse than the stink of the people, and the curses were flying high. So it was that the fish monger pirate who ran one of three rotten fish stalls in the area didn’t notice the two pairs of glowing eyes focused on him until it was too late. Instead, he was too busy worrying about his horrid smelling produce to worry about anything else… that, and his disgust for the ‘mongrels’ that had just trashed his store yet again.
A flick of a dark tipped tail and the next thing the pirate knew was that a mass of dull brown and orange was on his back and pawing at his head and shoulders. The beast’s claws were out slightly which meant that each swipe – although light enough to not cause death – still hurt and was definitely going to scar later on. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a dark figure dash in beside him, pick up some of the biggest fish he had in its mouth, then dash away as quickly and as quietly as it had arrived.
Then there was no more pressure on his back and the only thing he saw as the pirate got back onto his feet was the disappearance of an orange tipped tail.
“ Ye'll pay fer that ye sneaky pests! Next time I see ye, th' both o' ye'll be on yer way t’ Davy Jones’ locker!” The pirate’s threat rang through the district as the two four-legged thieves hurried away with their prizes.
A few minutes later, on the top of an abandoned roof in whatever sunlight was managing to penetrate the barrier which surrounded the island, a dark brown cat with faint spots marking his legs, head, tail and lower back yawned and shook out his short, scruffy excuse for a mane. With one look to his brother, he allowed his head to fall to the roof with a thud and a mischievous grin on his face. The day had turned out alright so far and his stomach was somewhat thankful for it.
His brother, the tawny coated cat beside him, was still eating his stolen fish, getting slime all over his dull brown and orange patterning. The stripes and rosettes were similar to his own except for the fact that the younger of the brothers seemed to have more markings that his older brother. Their faces, though, were what really gave them away. The darker brother had a single rosette in the middle of his forehead as well as two stripes under each eye much like their father. The lighter of the two had only one stripe under each eye as well as a crescent with a spike coming from the centre in the same place as his brother’s rosette.
“ Mum’s going to freak when you show up wearing fish slime, you know that, right Chunli?” The darker brother said, flicking his ear slightly to ward off a fly.
“ Probably. But not as bad as Dad when he finds out that you didn’t do anything… again.” Came the reply.
“ I stole the fish!”
“ To Dad, stealing fish is nothing. You know what he’s like.”
“ ‘If you really want to take something, take someone’s life.’” Both brothers growled to each other, easily replicating their father’s voice.
“ To make matters worse, Babu and Bibi agree with him. So please don’t remind me of the last time we saw them.” The brown brother grumbled.
Unfortunately, an evil glint shined in Chunli’s eyes as he snapped up the head of his fish. “ You mean the time when Babu pulled you aside and practically roared out ‘How do you expect to learn anything when you go off sun bathing, Baka! Ugh! I’m surrounded by idiots!”
“ I just told you not to repeat that. My shoulder still hurts from when he took a swipe at it. And that was what, weeks ago?”
“ Around then, yeah.”