10. History

Cactus had been born to a pair of loners in a large territory that had more prey than they could ever eat, but perhaps just as many dangers. Cactus was only five moons and barely weaned when their sire was felled by a large vicious dog that had escaped its confines and found its way to the only home Cactus had ever known. Before their eyes and that of their mothers, the horrible beast broke their sires neck and tossed him around like a plaything. Cactus's mother, worried for her kits pushed Cactus and their two littermates back into the hollow of a tree. They were trapped their until night befell them and the dog was caught by a twoleg.

Then a moon later, a great large eagle swooped down and stole one of Cactus's littermates away. Their mother then decided it was time to leave, for the home they'd long known was no longer safe. Cactus went with some reluctance and watched in horror as their mother allowed a twoleg to touch them with one of their great big paws. Not wanting anything to do with that, Cactus turned tail and headed back the way they'd come; leaving their mother and littermate to the life of a kittypet.

Many moons passed and few other cats passed through. None stayed very long, if they even survived with the lands being so full of danger. There just weren't enough cats to fight against the other creatures, or enough to look out for cat eating birds when crossing over terrain that offered little in the way of shelter.

And then, one fine morning, six new cats approached the lands Cactus claimed as home, though they could not possibly defend it all. If only some brave spirits were willing to live there, they would share. 

Hill, Valley, Muskeg, and Gravel had lived the life of kittypets from the beginning of their days. It was a life each knew well. That was until the great tragedy which befell their housefolks dens. It had been a harsh winter with several feet of snow accumulated. Then one hot day, the snow melted – too swift. There was a flood, made worse by the days following thunderstorm.
For three days and three nights the rain continued with few moments where not a single drop of rain fell. Though it was not long before the rain picked back up.

They were lucky to survive, but were carried far away from their homes as they clung to whatever floating debris they could.


Spring and Prairie, had been born in separate barns on different farms. They found each other when their caretaker brought them to their current shelter. However their caretaker had been gone a long while. And then someone showed up and tried to trap them both. They skedaddled as far away as they could. The farm where they lived was no longer safe. The two had been mates until then, but even before that they'd started to bicker, and it got worse living away from the farm.



Now Cactus, they were a bit older than any of the other cats that showed up on their turf. There hadn't been another cat there in seasons. But the land was large and they were lonely. Their attention was upon one of the farm cats. With the new arrivals Cactus showed them the different parts of the lands.



Hill and Valley did not wish to be far from each other, but wanted their own space, to be in charge. Cactus then showed the pair the valley surrounded on three directions by hills. It was then that Cactus gave them their new loner names of Valley and Hill.



Next, Cactus showed Muskeg and Gravel other lands. Where the valley turned into swampland and then the gravelly land that curved around said swamp in two directions. The offspring wished to be out of the shadow of their parent, and yet still be close enough to them should there be a need. Thus one of them took on the swamp/bog/muskeg as their new home while the other took the gravely/rocky land as theirs. It was then that Cactus gave them each their new loner names of Muskeg and Gravel, connecting them to their home turf.



Cactus next showed Prairie and Spring two different lands. The prairie was on the other side of the hills. Ergo the prairie touched the valley and the hills. The spring, however was on the other side of the gravelly landform. The two locations as far away from each other as possible. Although they may imagine Cactus did it so that they could be as far from each other as possible without potential territory disputes, Cactus had an entirely different reason – a rather personal one as they had fallen for one among them. And yet the two, who had been mates during their days on the farm they'd left, each took the lands that had been shown to them. Thus Cactus gave them their new names of Spring and Prairie.



As for Cactus, they took the landform that was made of mostly small brush, cacti, and sand.