Tree Rescue [SHORT]
Neither of them knew how the kit had ended up in a tree well over triple their heights, but it had all the same.
“Hey- kit!” Dandelionskip called to them, tail flicking side to side in anxiety. A fall from this height would probably cause a lot of harm, if not outright kill the kitten. “If you can hear me, please stay still!”
A barely audible ‘okay’ could be heard, and the branches stopped shaking. Dandelionskip exhaled, carefully observing the situation.
“Withered, can you try to climb up and get the kit down?”
Witheredflame, despite missing many key indicators of what a cat usually expressed emotions with, clearly conveyed an energy of 'are you kidding right now?’.
“..sorry, I forgot.” Dandelionskip swallowed, he’d have to be the one to get the kit down it seemed. “Just… watch me, okay?”
This was… closer to a kit then he’d like to be. He tried very, very hard to purge that thought from his head as he scaled the rotten bark, avoiding catching his open chest wounds on the small thorns that wrapped around the tree.
“I’m coming up from behind you, so please don’t startle.” Dandelionskip told the kitten, who squeaked in response.
Finally, as he pulled himself onto the branch the kitten had gotten stuck on, a much graver side of the situation was revealed.
One, it was a dark kit, and one that had not been blessed. Two, due to problem one, the kit had no eyes, just empty sockets where they should go.
“O-okay, let’s see, what’s your name?” Dandelionskip breathed out, trying to avoid touching the kitten when it wasn’t needed. He didn’t want to pass whatever rot had followed his life onto them.
“’m Juniperkit.” They mewed, clinging to the branch. “Snapkit said we was just goin’ on an adventure, but he left me here.”
“Are you from the Daycare?”
Juniperkit nodded, continuing in a pitiful voice. “Yes, a-and I wanna go back now. I’m tired of this.”
Dandelionskip internally agreed, before snapping out of it. “Alright, then, I’m going to grab you by your neck, so please keep still.”
Juniperkit obeyed, staying still as a stone while Dandelionskip gently took their scruff in his teeth. Exhaling to relieve his nerves, he started to climb back down the tree.
All he could think about as he scaled down the thorny bark was how small Juniperkit was, how light their body hung from his mouth.
Was this how Vix had seen in him? She had nursed him, when he was even smaller, and yet… she had still done those horrible things.
He couldn't imagine doing anything do Juniperkit, so why had Vix decided to do things to him?
There had to have been something different about him, then.
In any case, his musing were cut short when his back paws hit the firmer ground, and he set Juniperkit down.
“They’re from the Daycare,” He told Witheredflame, who’s eyes lit up. “If you don’t mind returning them, I have…”
'things to do.’
It went unsaid, and it was a poor excuse anyways. He just… he was going to hurt this kit, this small innocent creature who had done nothing wrong. He knew it. He always ruined good, innocent things.
(that’s what Vix had said, right?)
Witheredflame shook his head, scratching shapes into the dirt and flicking his tail to communicate his thoughts.
'you saved the kid, you help bring them back.’
“I’m… not sure that’s a good idea-” Dandelionskip protested, before Witheredflame stuck his tail in his mouth.
'besides, we’d only have one eye, three ears, and one mouth between us. I need you to help.’
Oh, that made a lot of sense, despite how it made Dandelionskip’s fur crawl. He didn’t want to risk hurting Juniperkit but….
“Okay.” He relented. He hesitated for a heartbeat, before leaning down towards Juniperkit.
“Is it okay if I carry you? There’s some wet patches ahead.”
Juinperkit nodded, settling comfortably on Dandelionskip’s back.
It was… weird. Vix had let him do this, back before… everything.
Once again, Dandelionskip found himself wondering how anybody, much less a family member, could hurt something so small and fragile.
He banished that thought as Witheredflame started ahead, with Dandelionskip and Juniperkit padding behind him.