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It had been a casual enough affair originally. Messilika and Mitorrien had begun to yowl at the exact same moment in an alley one night. Their duet had soared up to the smoggy heavens above London and that had begun it all.

By the time Messilika had felt the kittens beginning to grow within her, they had found themselves to be oddly compatible. Two children of the winter months, both knew what it was to have to hunt and prowl in the cold, while there were housecats snug and warm behind frosted panes of glass. It became a game for them to use their claws to the utmost, letting the cold air in on the humans and the pampered pussys who allowed themselves to be denigrated as pets.

But with the kittens on the way, their plans took a turn for the grandoise.

Already Mittorien and Messilika had two whole blocks at their mercy. The humans had tried everything, but the clever cats had foiled every attempt of theirs to keep their artificial heat from fading away. If two cats could control two blocks like that...what could more cats do?

It helped that Messilika was sure there were a good number of kittens within. Enough to expand their territory, create a tribe and recruit others. Of course in order to recruit, there would have to be food, because no cat did anything that wouldn't benefit themselves first and foremost. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Mitorrien paused in his contemplation on raising an army of cats to look over on Messilika and the kittens. Five of them. It was fairly uncommon to see such a large litter, and the two of them had such big plans for all five, it would be delightful. The white cat's mouth worked in a nasty grin as he thought of the misfortune they all would bring. Why, in time and with enough recruits, they could rule the city from its alleyways!

The only male in the group, Mitorrien sauntered over to where his mate and their kittens lay curled up and sleeping. He wrapped his body around the kittens to give them further protection against the warmth and slipped into slumber with one eye open, just in case.

STORAGE! Inatarni's past.

Wandering through the night, following her father's skeletal markings in the darkness, this was one of her oldest memories. For as long as she could remember, Inatarni and her father had slunk through the night, staying no more than a few days in any one location. Her father taught her everything she needed to know - how to get into trashbins, and then how to find the good scraps of food buried within. How to fight dirty in order to claim those same scraps from other street cats that were just as hungry. How to take what was rightfully hers and keep it.

That's all Ina had known of life - indeed, all she'd expected of it! - until the day she lost her father.

It could have happened to any kitten. They'd been crossing a street late at night and a huge car had come out of nowhere. When the bright headlights had shone on her, Ina had frozen like a rabbit, unsure of where to go. The car swerved around her and when the kitten recovered her scattered wits in the sudden darkness, her father was nowhere around.

Okay, that wasn't so bad. He'd taught her long ago where to look to find a hidey hole to curl up in, and as she was a tiny kitten, she could look for a much smaller one than usual. Yes, that was exactly what she'd do.

The long alleyway was dark, though glimmers of reflected light showed her where others both like herself and older were lurking. Ina did her best to stalk down the cobblestones as if she ruled them, trying to show no weakness. She'd never realized until now how much she relied on her father and his inherent attitude for protection. The kitten felt naked without that.

She felt the eyes watching her, gauging her and judging her as she finally found and curled up in a hidey hole barely big enough for her. A quick (but thorough) wash with her tongue, and she was asleep.


When she woke up, Ina learned the hard way that it was very different to take what she wanted from other cats when her father was just around the corner, and when she was on her own. For the first time in a long time, she lost. She lost several times before she finally managed to win herself a moldy sandwich for breakfast.

The day followed the pattern of the morning, and Ina found life to be much more difficult than she had ever found it before. She quickly learned the difference between being a kitten and being a kitten with a big scary father nearby. Unfortunately, that didn't change her situation much. Neither did the next, or the day after that, or the day after that. As the weather turned towards winter, Ina grew more accustomed to being on her own. She also grew wetter and more miserable. She continued roaming, never staying too long in one hidey hole. She grew numb and cold, and so focused on survival that the other cats around her barely made an impression if they didn't directly affect her life.

Until the day a half-rotted fish fell squarely in front of her. Ina had learned and learned well: she pounced on the treat and defoured it, only looking up when the last scales were a fond memory in her mouth. A big tomcat sat there, watching her with an expression she couldn't decipher on his face. The kitten eyed him suspiciously. She knew he had to have provided the bounty...but what did he want with her? That was how it worked. You did something for someone, they owed you. She'd already been tricked in that way enough times since losing her father to have caught on by now...but this tom was different. He didn't look at her the same way. He wasn't calculating what she would have to do for him. And that was just...wrong.

He was just sitting there, watching her. Watching her watching him. And finally Ina couldn't stand it anymore. "What do you want?" she hissed, tail lashing with the force of her anger. The tom just cocked his head, and smiled, as if she somehow amused him.

"Has your life been so hard," he asked softly, "that you don't even recognize a bit of kindness?" Ina watched the older cat suspiciously as he took a slow, careful step towards her. "An' what's that supposed to be," she spat, "some kinda payment plan?"

The tom looked shocked. "No, not at all!" he exclaimed. "It's..." he stammered, stopped, then started again. "It's when you do something for someone else, without expecting anything in return."

Ina raised an eyebrow at the tom. "Yeah, right. Well, uh, thanks," she told him, and turned and left. Halfway down the alley she growled, and turned around. Sure enough, the tom was still sitting there, watching her with that sad, smiling expression still on his face. The kitten snarled to herself and continued down to the mouth of the alley. She stopped on the edge, hissing in frustration, and turned around to see that he was still sitting there. Groaning, she stalked back to the tom.

He smiled at her. "Why don't you come with me? I've got a nice pad. You can stay as long as you need to." The tom started walking, leaving the kitten to follow or not as she chose. It really was no choice at all - it wasn't likely that she'd find anything better wandering around.


It took time, and lots of it, for Makarni to tame Ina from a feral kitten into a more even-tempered young cat, but the tomcat was patient if nothing else, and he genuinely wanted to help her. It was a long time before Ina could bring herself to believe that, however. Makarni didn't push her though, letting her learn and grow at her own pace until the day came when she solicited him for a wash in those hard to reach places.

That was a turning point, and there was no mistake. After that day, Ina learned how so much of what her father (now a fading memory of white markings in the black night) had taught was wrong. Makarni kept to a strict honor code, and he wanted Ina to at least understand it, even if she didn't live by it. The young cat surprised herself one day by realizing, she did want to live by Makarni's code - and make him proud of her. He had supplanted her own father as her primary role model in life, and had turned her completely around. She sometimes reflected on the creature she'd been: cold and lonely, unable to trust anyone at all. It was a lifestyle she could no longer understand.