The HABIT's House

"It would be a shame, shes strong and healthy, but Asher is more important. He's the one with the power that will surpass me in the long, long future. Pure blood doesn't make the race dog run faster, mixed breeds are often the winners" he said as he opened the door and padded out, but before the door closed, he called out, "Watch Michael, too!"

"Okay, will do." She replied as the door closed. "Michael!" She shouted, trying to figure out where he was. She suddenly looked towards Firebrand and asked, "Did he ever eat?"

Firebrand simply nodded. Michael came running in from the kitchen, his paws soaked and leaving small bloody paw prints as he went, a smudge of scarlet on his muzzle. He slipped on the tile and skidded across the ground, up to Vaermina.

"Woah, slow down, tiger." she smiled as Michael came sliding up to her. "Are you doing okay? Do you need anything? Are you. Settling in okay?" she asked.

"Yeah! The black things are so cool!" He said cheerily, and pointed his tail to an empty corner "They can't talk, but it's like I can hear them in my mind!"

Vaermina personally had not yet been brave enough to walk into a dark corner of this house, but had no doubt that there was something there. "Well it's nice that you're exploring." she said. "Would you like to meet the new addition to the house?" she asked, referring to Asher.

Michael just now realized, there were two small kits. "Woah! Kits!" He gasped and went over. "Yeah!! What are their names? One looks like Mr.H!" He exclaimed. Asher opened his eyes slowly, looking at Michael with his big, dual-colored eyes curiously. "What? His eyes opened? But he's really--" Emerald followed her brother's 'eye opening' experience, tilting her head as she looked at Michael. "Wow!!" Michael gawked

"I wouldn't bother getting too attached to the she-kit, she'll be gone by tomorrow one way or another." She said grimly. "But the male is Mr. H's son. His name is Asher, the female is Emerald."

"Hey, Asher!" Michael smiled warmly. The white Tom crouched and wiggled his haunches, jumping at Michael suddenly. "Raaawr!!" The kit squealed as he attacked Michael's legs with little swipes of his paws. Michael laughed, before yelling, "YOU GOT MEEEE!!" And dramatically falling over. Asher let out a little yowl of victory, and scrambled into Michael's side

Vaermina smiled and let out a small laugh as she watched Michael and Asher play. Though she couldn't help but think about HABIT. It was amazing how he had hardly been gone for five minutes and she already missed him.

"Heheh! Mommy!! I'm gonna get you next!" Asher said and pounced over to Vaermina, leaping and crashing into her legs. He wrapped his forelegs around a paw and nipped it softly, growling

"Oh no!" she shouted as Asher crashed into her legs. She fell over and forward, pretending to have had them taken out from under her. "You're too strong for me!" she said, using her extra claw to gently scratch underneath his chin while he nipped at her paw.

He giggled. "A-Asher..." He slowly said his name, eyes sparking now. He turned to Michael. "Mich...ael...." He said with a swish of his tail. He then turned to Firebrand, who hauntingly tilted his head, beady eyes boring into the kit eerily. "S-Scary!!" He squeaked

Vaermina didn't bother containing the squeal this time. Asher had said his name! And Michael's! He was turning out to be extremely advanced for his age. This kit was going to be something special. She laughed as the small tom called Firebrand scary. "Don't worry little one, Firebrand won't hurt you. You should never judge a cat by his appearance."

Firebrand only crouched down in front of the kit and chuckled. "Yeah, I know. But do you want to know something special?" He said softly to the kit, and in return, Asher nodded his head eagerly. "There is a bad creature, that did this to me, forced me to be scary. He did this to a lot of other poor cats too, and now their lives are gone, and their sole purpose is to serve the very cat who did that to them. But, when you'r grown, and when you're strong, we are going to take him down" he said, his unmovable grin seeming to show how he felt for once. Asher listened with wide eyes

Vaermina sat in silence as Firebrand explained Slendercat to Asher. She waited until he was finished and said, "You are going to play a very important role in taking this thing down, so he doesn't hurt any more cats like Uncle Firebrand. You're safe inside this house."

Asher smiled with a giggle. "Ok, Mommy!" He purred warmly, bumping his head against her leg in affection.

Vaermina wasn't Asher's birth mother, but that didn't mean that she couldn't treat him like a son. What was the harm in letting him believe that she was? Sure, Sorrow might get butthurt, but who cared. He was going to be living here anyway. She smiled warmly at him, and bent over to groom his fur, making what had previously been sticking up lay down again.

Asher allowed her to groom him, smelling a scent on his fur that he couldn't pin out. It was weird, it was a cat but..whoever it was smelled WEIRD! He wrinkled his nose. It smelled of...like...blood and milk, but had a musky tinge of dust and another Tom. He sneezed in his confusion

Vaermina had no idea that Asher had noticed the smell, but she did and wrinkled her nose. The scent would go away with time, just like her scorched belly fur.

"What IS that?" His high-pitched mew voiced his confusion, looking up at her. "It smells weird but... It's like I've smelled it a lot before!" He exclaimed. But, like any kit, her rasping tongue distracted him from the scent thankfully. Awkward questions that could only be answered with lies were to come, that was to be expected. Something like Asher and Emerald's kit-napping was going to have many flaws. What will Asher think when he finds out his sister was taken away? How was HABIT going to cover that up and make it sound noble? Trust is everything, and if Asher didn't trust HABIT or Vaermina, things could turn for the worse quick.

Vaermina didn't answer his question, she just continued grooming Asher's pelt. She didn't like to lie to the kit, but that's what it was going to come down to eventually. She just hoped that HABIT had a good enough answer.

Emerald looked around while shaking. This was not her home. This shecat was not her mother. Her mother smelled of warmth and milk and her father smelled of blood and dust. It wasn't like the white Tom with scary blue eyes didn't smell like blood, it's just that his scent smelled of blood and a lingering hint of fear that wasn't his own. She made a soft whimper-type sound, burying her head in her paws

Vaermina heard what sounded like a whimper come from the she-kit that at a few feet from her. She slowly stood up and walked over to the kit. She bent down and whispered in it's ear, "Dont worry, you'll be home soon little one, I'm sure your parents won't let you stay here overnight with Mr.H."

Emerald heard, and decided to just stay quiet. She stared in this position, not moving and not wanting to. "What's wrong with her?" Asher asked innocently