The sun had begun to set behind the bustling port town of Citric, lighting the sky with dark oranges and golds. To the east, the horizon was dark with the promise of night over the calm sea with the occasional sail of a boat dotting the surface as their captains steered them in for the evening. Citric itself was large for a its type, starting at the shore and leading up into the soft rolling hills before it stopped. The town was made of several three- or four-floored apartment type buildings and blocks full of row homes. The actual port part was well developed, with shops and businesses who made a good living off the different products and people who came in on the ships. Currently the tide was in, pulling the water and fish right up to the docks and making it a prime time for any of the land-bound fishermen to set out with their buddies and their poles and enjoy the cool of the early spring weather. But not everyone that evening was a middle aged, pot bellied man, and one such of those people sat at the edge of a dock, pulling an empty fishing net out of the water. A uniquely marked cat sat on one of the poles, tilting his head back and forth as he watched the poor frustrated young woman. Well, now what are you going to do? Finlay asked to the brown haired girl as she sat, picking away at knots that had been tied into her net. "Shut up, Finlay!" the girl snapped, not even looking up at the cat. "Gah, you'd think by the way these were tied, the fish did them on purpose!" Dulcinea finally cried, throwing the net down in a heap on the dock. Most likely, he did, Finlay said smartly, his tail flicking back and forth behind his back. "Oh hush!" she snapped again. "Who asked you?" Finlay merely sighed, shaking his head before jumping from his perch. Come on, let's go home. We've still got some cornmeal biscuits from last night that you can eat...I'll find a mouse somewhere, he said, trying to sooth his friend. "You hate mice, and you know it," Dulcinea smirked, running her fingers over the cat's soft white back before climbing to her feet. After tossing the net into the trash with a muttered "now I'm gonna have to get a whole new one," Dulcinea and Finlay headed for home. Home happened to be a not-so-old, but very run down apartment house between the good and bad parts of town. The previous owner had been a senile woman in her late 80’s, who hated the sea but lived in a sea loving town. After she moved out, nobody cared enough about the building to rebuild it, so it was left to rot away on itself. But that didn’t matter to Dulcinea, Finlay, or the other multitude of Ilori cats who lived there. It was warmth, and shelter, and a place to sleep where they didn’t have to worry about the world outside. It was a clubhouse for the young ones, a nursery for their mothers, and the resting place of many old Citric mouse hunters who had lived out their entire existence in the mouse infested walls. Pushing away the board that hid the only human entrance to the building, Finlay trotted off towards the kitchen while Dulcinea stopped and admired the gathering of cats who had already slunk inside for the night. A blotchy brown tom whose boat was in port for the next few days sat on a chair with a russet queen, the two of them talking lover’s talk with tails entwined. Several other cats walked about, sat on the floor or in other chairs, talking or sleeping or doing whatever pleased them. More cats, including an older tabby named Aldan, moved about on the steps leading to the second floor where Dulcinea was sure still more of the felines enjoyed their time. Evening Dulcinea, Aldan said to her as he groomed his paws. “Hey there, Aldan...how did your day go?” Dulcinea responded as she started for the kitchen, laughing as a small gang of younger cats who had been tussling on the floor pounced at her feet and jumped up onto her shoulders, purring their hellos and how-are-yas. Uneventful, unfortunately... Suddenly, the tabby’s head snapped up to look out one of the windows. “What?” the girl asked, pausing to follow his gaze. The other cats did the same, shrugged their shoulders, and went back to their play. Not’ing... Aldan said, getting to his feet and nearly running across the room to slip out the door. I will be back soon... Dulcinea shrugged, and taking advantage of the gang not tripping her, stepped over a few more cats to the kitchen. Finlay sat on the counter, a bag of biscuits sitting next to him. His tail was twitching back and forth like the second hand of a clock, and he seemed a bit annoyed that it had taken Dulcinea so long to reach him. “Don’t look at me like that,” she scolded playfully, sitting down and opening the bag. Taking out one of the pieces of bread, she broke off a chunk and gave it to Finlay before eating the rest herself. What did the old cat want? Finlay asked, glancing up. Aldan was far from Finlay’s father, but the elder feline always seemed to spoil Finlay’s fun and keep him out of trouble. The younger cat tended to be angry with the older, but you could see behind his contempt that he respected and admired Aldan greatly. “I don’t know...he said hello, then took off.” He’s becoming senile, Finlay muttered over a mouthful. “Finlay, don’t talk about him like that.” Why not? That cat has caused me nothing but trouble since the day I hatched. “You’ve got it backwards, Finnie. You’ve been the cause of every single one of Aldan’s gray hairs since I can remember,” Dulcinea chuckled, thinking back to one of her favorite memories... Dulcinea had spent her entire life, which at the time of the memory had been almost 12 years, with the Ilori mother and her family. She often asked Cybele what happened to them, but the feline had never been sure as to the history of her real mother and father. All I can tell you is that there must have been something terribly wrong in their lives for them to leave you like they did, the calico offered with a shrug as they returned home from the docks one early afternoon. Cybele had found Dulcinea in a trash can at Citric’s orphanage one spring afternoon, crying from hunger and cold and wetness. She had just had her litter, and with a motherly instinct instilled deep in her she could not bring herself to leave te baby to die. She named her Dulcinea and raised her as best as a cat taking care of a human could, using the Ilori gift of telepathy to teach her to read and write, along with other things no human could ever understand. When the string had hatched, the new cats bonded well with their adopted sister, Finlay and Os especially. Os being the oldest and Finlay the youngest of the litter, they loved their human friend dearly and were never far from her side as she grew into a young human being. They stayed at the apartment for many, many years after their other siblings had gone into the world to be on their own, simply because they understood Dulcinea needed them there. However, Os never seemed to be truly happy in the place he was, and was antsy to get out and see new things. That was why they were coming from the docks that afternoon...Os had just left on a boat to see the world. Dulcinea still sniffled softly as she and Finlay trudged along behind Cybele, the mother cat stopping to look at her children. Come now...don’t be sad. Os is happy...you know he’s never liked it here. He has his father’s blood, he can’t stay in one place for long. Besides, he’ll be back some day... she purred comfortingly as she trotted over to Finlay and nuzzled him, slipping between Dulcinea’s legs. “I’m just gonna miss him so much...” Dulcinea whimpered, kneeling down to pet and hug Cybele. Finlay had sat upon his rump, his tail twitching angrily and the hair on his back ruffled. He growled deep in his throat, calling the attention of both his mother and human sister. Finlay, dear...don’t be angry at Os... It’s not fair! Why’d he leave? Why couldn’t he stay? I’m staying! I’m stuck here! It’s just not fair! the young cat blasted out in sudden anger, and took off. Dulcinea and Cybele sat blinking before Cybele jumped from the girl’s arms and took off after him a bit, calling out Finlay! Finlay, come back! But it was no use. Finlay had disappeared down the street. They searched until dark, when Cybele was finally forced o take a tired and scared Dulcinea home. They laid on the couch by the fire, worrying deeply about their lost family member when Aldan slipped in...followed by a very wet, very weak Finlay. After much scolding and crying and embracing, the cat and the girl were sent off to bed. Bit by bit, Dulcinea learned the basic details of what had happened that day: Finlay had gotten himself lost and Aldan had saved his life. Ever since, the older cat had looked out for the two, especially after Cybele had moved closer to the docks to live with Finlay's father. "Heheh." What are you laughing at? Finlay snapped, looking up from his dinner. "Nothing," Dulcinea said, still snickering. "Nothing at all." |
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| Text, Characters, and Ilori cats are (c) Jennifer, yr 2002 & Beyond. |