Recollection

Echo  padded out into the grass, relishing in the feeling of the warm, early-morning sunlight on her fur. She stretched, some of the taller strands tickling her ears and nose.

She sat down near the fence to give herself a thorough grooming. The sun was just peeking out from above the horizon, turning the sky a hundred different shades of rose and orange and yellow, chasing away the stars until they would reappear the following night. A soft breeze rustled the leaves on the trees, and only a few cars littered the streets.

*You just can't beat mornings like this*. Echo thought with a happy sigh.

When she was about halfway finished grooming, the sound of many shrill voices broke into her thoughts. Echo turned her head mid-lick to see her four nieces and nephews barreling towards her like a band of tiny missiles. She let out a squeak of surprise as they slammed into her, knocking her to the ground in a pile of striped fur and flailing limbs.

"Morning Auntie Echo!" Zoe, the youngest of the bunch mewed, tugging gently on her ear with sharp kitten teeth.

"Will you tell us a story?" Another, this time the second youngest, Jay asked, pawing at her tail.

Echo groaned as she fought to sit up under the wave of kits, writhing slightly under their surprisingly powerful grip.

"Okay, okay. Get off you great lumps!" She shouted, her voice rippling with gentle laughter. "You kits are gonna wake the whole shelter!"

The quartet scrambled off of her with mrows of amusement, sitting down infront of her as they waited for her to get up, their tiny tails lashing.

Echo hauled herself to her paws. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the frantic meows of a familiar voice.

"Kits?! Kits, where are you?" Alaska called as she crawled out of the tunnels from underneath a litter box, her icy blue eyes blinking in the harsh daylight of the surface world before she noticed her litter sitting with her sister. Shaking her head to clear it, she hurried over to them.

"What are you doing up here?" She breathed, trying to sound stern, but she couldn't keep a note of relief out of her tone as she nuzzled her kits. "I told you to stay downstairs while I checked on something." She scolded, drawing her tongue over Kiki's ear.

"But we wanted a story!" The tiny scrap protested, trying to scramble out of her Mother's grip, but Alaska held fast.

"Yeah." AJ agreed, playing with Alaska's tail, crouching as he tried to pounce on it. "And we got bored down there. The tunnels are no fun."

Alaska let out an exasperated sigh, turning a 'help me' glance to her sister. But Echo could se her eyes were full of affection and warmth  as she gazed down at her kits.

"I'd be happy to watch them for a while." Echo offered, biting back a yawn. "You sound busy, and if you leave them in the tunnels sooner or later they'll get bored again and get under every cat's paws." Her whiskers twitched in amusement.

"Would you?" Alaska nodded her thanks and turned back to her litter, gathering them with a sweep of her tail. "Now kits." She said sternly, eyeing them with her piercing blue gaze. "You must do everything Echo tells you, and I'll be back for you later this evening. Understood?"

"Yes mama." Chorused the kits, their eyes wide with faux innocence. "We'll be good."

Planting a lick on each of their heads, Alaska made her leave, disappearing into the tunnels again.

The four waited a few moments to ensure their mother was gone before showering Echo with questions, their voices raised in shrill mews.

"Tell us a story, Auntie Echo." Zoe requested, looking up at the older cat with her big, bright green eyes.

"Pleeeaassee?!" Her brothers and sister mewed, baring their teeth in huge smiles.

Echo let out a soft peal of laughter. "Alright, alright. I suppose I conjure up something."  She laid down, easing her steadily growing belly to the side so she could be more comfortable. The kits did the same, Zoe crawling to lay between her forelegs while the other three made themselves comfortable in the grass near her.

"Hmm." Echo frowned in thought. "Why don't I tell, you about my kit hood? Your Mother's and mine?"

The four nodded eagerly, their eyes wide.

"Alright then. Where to start..."

"At the beginning, silly!" Kiki piped up, causing the others to giggle, including Echo.

The silver-and-white tabby closed her eyes, calling up every memory she could of that bittersweet time. The happy ones. The sad ones. The ones where she merely sat and thought.

"I don't really remember much of the beginning..." The striped she-cat mewed, keeping her eyes closed and letting her thoughts swirl. "Although, if their was one distinguishing feature, it would be the darkness. Yes, that's it. The darkness and the warmth.

Your mom was the oldest of the litter. She was a good sister, always looking out for us, my brother and me. I remember one time whe-"

"Wait a minute." Jay interrupted, a confused look etched into his face. "Us? You mean there were more than just you and mom?"

Echo nodded, slightly surprised he hadn't already known that. Or perhaps he had. Jay was the forgetful sort after all.

"We had a brother." She repeated to the kittens. "Frisk was his name if I remember correctly. He was the youngest, just a little ball of fluff. But he was fast." She paused, her voice growing softer. "My he was fast. He could beat anyone at a race, even older cats." She shook her head as though to clear it.

"What happened to him?" Kiki asked quietly, shuffling her forepaws on the grass.

Echo shrugged her gently striped shoulders, her eyes wide with loss. "I don't know. He wandered off when he was three months old, shortly after your mom left with out father to be a street cat." She paused again, allowing herself to chuckle. "Your mom always was a feisty one. She spent most of her time with your grandfather, Greg. He taught her how to hunt and live the life of a street cat."

"What about you?" Zoe prompted. "Did you learn how to be a street cat too?"

"Sometimes." She admitted, swishing her plumy tail. "I was more of an adventurer in my youth. A wanderer." She blinked and added. "I suppose you could say I had a yearn for travel. Didn't like to be stuck somewhere. I needed to be free."

AJ nodded, understanding. In truth the little tom was somewhat of an adventurer himself.

"Anyway." Echo continued, trying to shake off her heartache. " Your mom and our father eventually went off to do their own thing, but I stayed at the house where we were born with our mother." She looked away, her water-blue eyes glittering with an emotion that may have been guilt. Or shame. "For awhile at least. A few months or so after your mom left, I did too. Took to the wild and lived on the outskirts of the city."

"So you were a wild cat?" Kiki rose to her paws and took a step forward, her green eyes round with wonder. "Did you meet other cats? Were they friendly? Did you fight?"

Echo looked slightly taken aback at the sudden storm of questions. "Uh, yes, not particularly, and occasionally. I mostly ran or hid when I could, but sometimes I had no other choice."

"Woah." Kiki sat back down, her eyes hardening with the glint of determination.   Echo couldn't help but wonder what was going through the little she-cat's head.

"So how'd you end up here?" Jay asked, sweeping his tail to indicate the entire shelter. "At the shelter, I mean."

"Oh." Echo rolled her eyes. "That's another story entirely. It also happened to be how I became acquainted with a certain snarky Siamese you may be familiar with."

"You mean uncle Squeak?" Zoe prompted.

"Mmhm." Echo nodded. "I was looking for food in an alley, somewhere over on the otherside of town." She waved her tail in the direction. "Squeak was there too. Long story short we became, um.." She cleared her throat before adding. "Acquainted and he showed me the pound. When I discovered your mother was not only here, but already a member of the exalted Kennel Kittens I rejoiced. So anyway, I just kinda hung around for awhile and was eventually made an official member by your father."

"What else?" Jay asked, bouncing slightly on his paws.

Echo shrugged. "That's pretty much it, little one." She mewed. "Why don't you go play over on the other side of the clearing?" she continued, seeing the disappointed looks on her brethren's faces. She motioned with a paw toward the long, spindly things that rested over there, offering shelter for the cats through a few box or cone like hollows scattered apon it. She had since learned these were called 'cat trees', but it didn't make them any less strange-looking.

"I heard Tiny buried some chicken scraps over there."

At that, Kiki, AJ and Jay scrambled off with mews of delight, leaving only Zoe laying between Echo's paws.

"Aren't you gonna go with your brothers and sister?" She asked, looking down at the gray kit.

"I have another question, first." She replied, her brown eyes boring into Echo's own blue. "How did you know what you wanted to do? After you joined the team, I mean. Your job."

Echo took a moment to think before answering. "I don't really know." She admitted. "I've always been fond of kits and I guess I just kinda went with it. I honestly don't know why."

"Oh." Zoe looked a bit put out by the answer, as if it wasn't the one she wanted. "I hope I'll be able to decide what I wanna do when I get older." She mused, stretching out first one hind leg, then the other. "And that I'll have someone good to teach me."

Echo planted a lick on her niece's ear. "I'm sure you will." She assured. "Your mentor will be someone brave and patient and wise."

Zoe brightened at that, then scrambled off to join her siblings as they played. Echo watched her go, but before she had gotten very far she suddenly stopped and spun around, a wide smile on her face.

"I hope my mentor's you!" She squeaked, and then raced off again.

Echo laughed.