Two brothers united in tragedy (re-post)

The snow swirled in freezing flakes; Dego stared at his mother as she gasped for breath. She thrust a small bundle of fur at him “you must take your brother” she rasped.







Dego took a step back “what!” he exclaimed.







“Take him” his mother repeated, her sides heaved with every painfully drawn out breath and every rib showed beneath her pelt.







“But I can't” Dego stammered “”how could I ever look after him.”







“You must” his mother panted “he must survive or my death will be for nothing







“I have no milk” Dego fretted “I can't feed him, how can I keep him alive?”







“You must!” his mother repeated, she coughed violently gasping for breath “please.”







Dego swallowed back grief, leant forward and took his tiny brother in his jaws.







His mother fell back into the snow “you must survive Dego, you and your brother must survive” she shuttered and her eyes flickered “survive!” then her eyes closed she took one last breath and lay still.







Dego stared at his mother, grief racking through him. His mother, the cat who had given birth to him and raised him, the cat he ad tried so hard to protect was dead!. Dego closed his eyes 'I couldn't save you' he thought bitterly 'I did my best and it wasn't enough.' His tiny brother squirmed in his jaws 'If I can't even look after my mother how can I ever look after my little brother.?'

Dego stared down at his mother's body, the snow was settling on her cooling pelt. He placed his paw on her side, then closed his eyes in grief. His brother squirmed in his jaws, bringing him back to reality, he let out a faint squeak and kicked weakly in Dego's jaws. Dego turned away from his mother, his heart wrenching, but he knew he must save his brother or his mother's death would be for nothing. He began trudging through the thick snow, pushing the drifts aside and raising his head to keep his brother away from the deadly cold.



The snow soon came up to his belly and he had to let his brother's tiny tail trail the snow's surface, the tiny week old was shivering bitterly, his eyes tightly closed. How could Dego look after his little brother, he was so tiny, so helpless.



…...........................................................................................................................................................



Dego stopped, the snow swirling in his face. Something was terribly wrong, his brother was still and quiet, he wasn't even shivering. Dego placed his brother gently into the snow, the tiny bundle of fur was alarmingly still, he stuck his nose close to his brother but there wasn't even the faint rise and fall of his brother's side, and a horrible green mucus oozed from Diego's eyes and nose. “No!” Dego wailed “Diego, wake up, please, wake up” he nudged his brother but he did not stir “No! Please brother you can't die, please” Dego pleaded, he pressed his face into his brother's thin fur.







“Do you need help” a voice made Dego jump.







He spun around; a large, long pelted dog was standing a short distance away, watching the pair. Instantly Dego shot in front of his brother “Go Away!, leave us alone” he snarled “don't come any closer.”







“Easy” the dog woofed softly “I won't hurt you” she stared at Diego “your brother is sick isn't he?”







“It's none of your business, Go Away!” Dego hissed.







The dog started walking slowly and calmly towards them, Dego snarled and crouched over his brother's tiny body. The dog stopped a short distance away and eyed the space under Dego's belly “if your brother is sick, you must get him help” she pointed out gently.







Dego looked up at her “I will” he hissed “I'll find some cat that will look after him, now leave us alone.”







The dog gave him a long look “I won't” she replied sternly “I can't let your brother die, I can help you.”







Dego gave a disbelieving snort “how, by taking him away from me and raising him as your own?” he snarled.







The dog looked horrified “never!” she exclaimed “I would never do that, I only want to help, I can help both of you, I know where you can take him, please just listen to what I have to say.”







Dego narrowed his eyes “fine!” he snapped after a while.







The dog nodded briefly “I can take you and your brother where it's safe, and where your brother will be saved, but you must listen carefully for I know you will not agree with me at first.”



Dego just twitched an ear. The dog continued “you must take him to the humans” she told him.







At this Dego spun around with a snarl “what!” he snapped “I'm not taking my brother to those murderous traitors.”







The dog sighed “My name is Sasha, and perhaps I should have introduced myself sooner” she dipped her head to Dego “I live with humans at the edge of this forest” she tipped her head in the direction she had come “they look after me and they'll look after you.”







“Humans don't look after anyone!” Dego snarled “all they do is hunt and kill us, they killed my father” he paused and added in a venomous voice “that's why my mother died, my father protected her and they killed him in cold blood.”







“Not all humans are like that” Sasha growled softly “my humans have always been kind to me and they have saved many wild animals from those brutish humans you know, the hunters” she curled her lip in distaste “the destroyers.”







Dego stared at her for a moment, confused, “why should I believe you?” he snarled.







Sasha looked up and met his eyes “Because I was once like you” Sasha growled softly “wild and young. But I was shot by a hunter when my family was part of a horrific hunting attack, they killed everyone....” she paused and swished her tail angrily “my mother, my father, my brothers and sisters, they killed them all in cold blood” her voice shook “I only just managed to get out alive, I hid from them, from the hunters, got as far away as I could. For days I lay there, getting weaker and weaker......dying, it was on the forth day that they came, the humans. I...I don't remember much of that day, but I remember they picked me up, so gently, so...caring, I didn't even snarl at them or try to bite them, somehow I knew they would not hurt me, somehow I knew they had come to save me, and they did.”







Dego stared at her as she finished her story stunned into silence, somehow he knew she was telling the truth. Every muscle on her body told him that she was not lying. “they would really help my brother, they can save him.”







Sasha nodded “of-course” she promised “they will help both of you” she cast another look under Dego's belly at his tiny brother's body “please come back with me you know he won't survive the night, you have to trust me.”







Dego slid his eyes down to his tiny brother, lying in the cold snow underneath his belly, Diego was so tiny and so fragile. He had promised to save his brother from his mother's fate, but now Diego lay unmoving beneath him, cold and alone. Dego closed his eyes, he couldn't let his brother die, not a cruel cold death like this when he never knew life. When he opened his eyes again his face was wet with tears “alright” he whispered, he stepped away from his brother “I'll come with you.”







Sasha wagged her tail “thankyou” she said solemnly, as Dego bent to pick up his brother she stepped up to him “let me take him” when Dego just looked up at her she added “i won't hurt him I promise.” Dego said nothing just stepped aside, seeming completely lost. Sasha nodded to him and gently took the tiny kitten into her mouth “come we must hurry, your brother is close to death” she spun around and raced back in the direction she had come, towards the humans.







Dego followed her, this went against every bone in his body, against everything his mother had ever taught him. But for some reason, he trusted Sasha like his own mother, and if he wanted to save his brother, it was his only choice.

Dego followed Sasha through the cold forest; he kept close to her, keeping an eye on his tiny brother, who was clamped firmly in Sasha’s jaws.



“Is he going to be alright?” Dego asked “is he dead”



“No!” Sasha managed to mumble though her mouthful of fur “but we must get him back quickly”



“What’s wrong with him” Dego asked.



“He’s got a sickness called, Cat Flu” she told him “I’ve seen cats come in with it before, but my human can make him better.”



“I hope so” Dego fretted “if he dies then I will have lost everything.”



“I won’t let him die” Sasha hissed.

................................................................................................................................................................

Before long Dego saw a human house up ahead, it stood alone in the cold forest.



Dego followed Sasha to the human’s door. Sasha lifted a paw and scratched at the door, after a few moments the door open and a female human appeared.



She let out s small noise when she saw Diego clamped in Sasha’s jaws. She knelt down and took him from Sasha. Dego tensed and curled his lips into a snarl. But the human only cradled his brother to her chest and wrapped him in her jacket, she then turned and disappeared. Sasha signalled for Dego to follow her into the house.



Dego backed away, unwilling to enter the house.



“Come on, it’s safe I promise” Sasha called “it’s warm, and your brother is inside.



Dego followed reluctantly, looking around for danger. Sasha was right, inside, was warm and cosy. The human closed the door softly behind them. Then she walked over to a flat surface raised above the ground and picked up a strange white thing that reminded Dego of his own pelt. She wrapped the thing around his brother, then placed him gently on the surface. She turned a knob in the wall of the house and suddenly water came rushing out. Dego jumped back “what’s that” he hissed.



“It’s a sink” Sasha told him “humans use it to wash things; it’s like a very small river.”



Soon the sink was full of steaming water, the human turned the knob again and the water stopped. She turned too Diego and unwrapped him from the white pelt. Then she placed him gently in the ‘sink’.



Dego turned to Sasha “what is she doing to my brother” he hissed.



“She’s only giving him a bath” Sasha explained “it will warm him up, and stimulate him into waking up.”



No sooner than she said it, than Diego let out a small squeak. Instantly Dego leapt onto the flat surface and peered into the sink. His brother was curled into a ball, kneading his small paws into the bottom of the sink.



The human took Diego out and wrapped him in the white pelt again, rubbing him to dry his thin fur. Once he was dry, she discarded the wet white pelt and wrapped him in a dry clean one. She held him out to Dego to show him his brother was alright.



Dego sniffed his brother, he smelled clean and warm. Another human appeared, Dego jumped down and scrambled behind the flat surface, so the human wouldn’t find him.

Through the gap, he watched the other human hand something to the female and then leave. Dego crept out of his hiding place. The object was long and thin, and contained some sort of white liquid. The end reminded him of his mother’s teat.



The woman placed the opening up to Diego’s mouth and dripped a tiny amount onto his lips. Almost instantly his tiny tongue flicked out and licked the drops up hungrily. Then he grabbed the end in his mouth and began sucking.



“What is she giving him” Dego growled “what is she doing?”



“She’s giving him milk” Sasha told him gently “like you would get from your mother, it will help him get stronger and it has a special medicine in it to help him get better.



Dego jumped onto the flat surface again, next to where the human was feeding his brother, who was greedily suckling the milk. The human smiled at him, the other human appeared again and handed her another object. The woman took it and placed it in front of Dego. This time it was a hollow tree like dish, filled with delicious smelling chunks. Dego bent down and sniffed it, his mouth watered.



The woman tapped the bowl with her finger “eat it it’s yours” she told him.



Dego tipped his head to one side, he didn’t understand what the human was telling him.



Dego eyed it suspiciously “what is it” he asked.



“It’s salmon” Sasha told him “it’s delicious, you should try it” she licked her lips “it’s safe I promise.



Dego sniffed it again and then bent his head and nibbled on a piece. The flavour was dazzling, he gulped down the rest in a few famished mouthfuls.



The woman laughed and said something else “you like it do you?”. Then she picked up something in her free hand and poured out more salmon. Dego licked his lips and ate the rest more slowly, purring contently as he savoured the taste.



Once he had finished the woman placed the empty milk container, on the flat surface. Diego had sucked it dry, she wiped the milk from his mouth. Then she turned around and walked into another room and over to some more soft looking white pelts that looked like a nest. She gently placed Diego onto the pelts. Dego jumped down and followed, he sniffed the pelts “what are they?” he asked Sasha as she came up beside him.



“They’re called blankets” she told him “they’re warm and soft. He sniffed them again and then jumped into them. Sasha was right; the blankets were warm and cosy. He curled up beside his brother, tucking him gently under his belly. He closed his eyes, the humans had saved his brother’s life, maybe they weren’t that bad after all.

Dego jumped as his brother squealed beside him. He opened his eyes, his brother was flailing his tiny paws in the air, letting out surprisingly loud squeaks. Dego knew that Diego was hungry again and needed more milk. Diego turned around and tried to suckle from Dego.



Dego jumped away “no, I’m not your mum” he exclaimed.



Suddenly the human lights turned on and the women that had fed Diego earlier appeared, yawning. She grabbed the milk container from the raised flat surface and disappeared again. She returned a few minutes later with a full container of milk. She knelt down beside the bed and picked Diego gently up into her arms, cradling him to her chest. Diego protested at first, squirming and letting out protesting squeaks, then he smelt the milk and felt around with his paws until he found the teat end of the container, he grabbed it in his paws and pulled it into his mouth, where he began sucking, kneading the end of the container with his paws. Dego watched closely, keeping an eye on his brother. The women said something in her strange speech and reached her hand out to Dego. He hissed and scrambled back, sliding out his claws. She pulled back her hand with a sigh and shook her head. Diego had finished his milk already; the women wiped the milk from his face again and placed him back at Dego’s side. Instantly Dego nudged him into his belly, Diego snuggled close and a moment later let out tiny snores. Dego licked him gently to clean him, as he had seen his mother do countless times. Once his brother was clean Dego curled his body around his brother and closed his eyes.



His brother woke up several more times during the night, each time Dego got used to the human coming and feeding his brother and he trusted her not to harm him.



Dawn was lightening the room when Dego got up and stretched, yawning widely. Diego was still asleep, curled into a tiny ball in the ruffled blankets. Dego decided to go find Sasha; he had seen her disappear with the women the night before into the other room. He cautiously crept into the room he had seen Sasha go into, this room was long and narrow with no other rooms until it opened out at the other end. Keeping close to the wall Dego trotted along the corridor. When he reached the opening at the other end he saw some strange blockular objects stretching up in steps, like the rocks by the river in the forest. He could smell Sasha was up there, so he crept forward and sniffed the first step. He looked up, the room above was filled with Sasha’s scent, she was definitely in there.



With a quick look around, Dego darted up the steps into the room above. The room wasn’t as large as the one he had slept in but in the middle was a huge soft looking boulder; Sasha’s scent was wafting down from above. Dego jumped up onto the soft boulder, it was covered in more ‘blankets’ only these were softer than ever. Without thinking Dego crouched down and rubbed his face into the blankets, purring.

He jumped as the blankets moved and looked up, the women was staring at him, laughing, she put out her hand, smiling.



“It’s alright, she won’t hurt you” Sasha’s voice made him jump, he hadn’t seen her sleeping beside him “she wants to pat you, it’s not as bad as it sounds” she let her tongue loll out, especially when she rubs your belly.”



Still uncertain but willing to trust Sasha, Dego crept forward slowly, until he was close enough for the women to touch him. He flinched back as he felt her hand touch his cheek but forced himself to move forward again. The women patted his head, Sasha was right it did feel good, he purred and moved closer. The women laughed and scratched under his ear. Dego purred even louder and rolled onto his back, exposing his belly, the women laughed again and began scratching his belly, it was heaven. Dego closed his eyes and purred as loud as he could. If staying with the humans would save his brother then Dego would stay here forever.