Username: Aresthehomo
Cat Name: Shadow (ShadowScape)
Gender: Gender flux (typically uses he/him to make it simple)
Rank: Warrior
Clan: The WildingsAge: 8 years old
Prompt: The alley reeked of stale grease and despair. A single, flickering streetlight cast long, skeletal shadows across the cracked asphalt. It was here, amidst the overflowing bins and forgotten newspapers, that a black cat whom was nameless lay, his once-proud body twisted in agony. He was missing a leg, the stump raw and bleeding, a grim reminder of the night the world had spun into a dizzying, blinding chaos. A car, a screech of tires, a sickening thud – and then, nothing.
He had been a stray, a survivor, but the crash had left him vulnerable, exposed. He had managed to crawl into this alley, seeking the meager shelter of a cardboard box, but the pain was relentless, the hunger gnawing at his insides.
One cold, misty morning, a woman named Sarah, a kind soul with a heart full of compassion, discovered him. He was weak, whimpering, his once gorgeous black fur matted with grime and blood. She scooped him up, cradling him close, his body a shivering, fragile thing.
At her home, she cleaned his wounds, fed him milk, and wrapped his stump with bandages. He was wary at first, his dark eyes filled with distrust, but Sarah’s gentle touch and soothing voice slowly chipped away at his fear. He learned to trust her, to curl up on her lap, a purr rumbling deep in his chest.
He was named Shadow, for the black color strewn across his coat. He healed slowly, but surely, his missing leg becoming a part of him, a new reality he learned to navigate. He loved the warmth of the sun on his fur, the soft scratch behind his ears, the comforting scent of Sarah's home.
But Shadow was a cat, a creature of instinct, and the call of the wild was strong. One night, when the moon hung low and the shadows were long, he slipped out of the open window. The familiar scent of the alley, the freedom of the night, drew him in. He fled and eventually would find the clan of cats he'd later call home.
The missing leg of his will always feel like a hindrance, but he has become one with it and learned to comfortably survive on it. It's apart of him now, and he believes it just makes him prove how strong he really is.
(In case curious; he does miss Sarah deeply. It's why he continues to keep the bow she put on him before he ran away. He just doesn't go back to her because he prefers the freedom of the forest more.)
