Chapter Text
It felt like a dream, getting to wake up in your own bed, getting made your favorite breakfast by the best cook in the world, just getting to take a shower in the comfort of your own home felt heavenly. Cats really do take these three simple things for granted, Wild didn’t realize that until it was all gone, sure Juniper tried to make sure she was being taken care of but…..it just wasn’t home. This whole week was probably one of the best weeks of her life, she never felt this close to her family before, sure she was then but now….it felt painful being separated from them, it was like being stabbed and it would cause her anxiety when they had to leave for work or school, Wild had a theory on why she felt this way….it was separation anxiety, usually only pets develop this from what she understood but it seems with how she was feeling she has developed this too.
She decided to mention it to her dad on the day she promised Prowl they would hang out “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? Come on I think I might be able to fix this” Coonluck led his daughter into his room where she leaned against the doorframe while he dug around his closet for something. She wasn’t sure what it was but once he found it he presented it to her “A scarf? But it’s not cold out” she said it like it was obvious “It’s not for winter, it’s my comfort scarf. I don’t use it so much these days but back when me and Juniper were younger I used to have a lot of anxiety and stress, I would wear this constantly making sure it had the scent of my loved ones on it before I went out. I wouldn’t say now that I’ve grown out of using it, I just know how to manage myself better now is all. Anyways I want you to use it for as long as you need to, it should smell like me and Juniper since it was in our closet and all” he smiled warmly at his daughter and despite the doubt in her eyes she took the scarf and put it on, she didn’t expect anything to really help but the softness and strong scents of her parents took her separation anxiety away completely….at least for now “See? It helps” he must have seen her relax more “Now your ready to go hang out with your friends, do be safe out there Wild, don’t make me worry by getting herself in trouble okay?” She nodded but she didn’t feel ready, she hadn’t left the house since she got home and now…she had to walk out that door.
She left her parents bedroom and went downstairs before she texted Prowl that she was ready, Wild was sort of just staring at the front door, she hadn’t realized how long she had been pausing until she got a text back five minutes later, why was this so hard. She took deep breaths before she forced herself outside, the scarf close to her face which was probably the only reason she had the strength to leave the house. Prowl was waiting on the steps, her ears perked up when her friend came outside “Hey….you sure you don’t just want to hang here?” She noticed Storms new accessory and wondered why she was wearing that “If I don’t leave today then I’m never going to leave the house period” she had a point but she should still allow herself more time to adjust “If your sure” Prowl muttered, Storm walked to the street before saying “I’m not” to her, so far she was doing good but in the back of her mind it told her to run….run back inside and never come back out. Home was safe, home was good but life was outside the home and she was determined to get her life back.
She started walking, Prowl followed and eventually though at a slow pace they arrived at the hide out, Storm kept having to take a break because her anxiety would spike and she would have to try to calm herself down but now she was here. Prowl unlocked the door letting her friend go in first, her and Gloom had been keeping the place clean while Panics been away, they even started making the bathroom a proper bathroom. If only Panic could see it now….but the poor bobcat was still fighting for her life, at first it looked like she might be in the clear but then a infection took hold sending her back into the danger zone, it scared her girlfriend and the cats that had come to know her. “As you can see we got a functioning bathroom now, it’s got a bathroom rug, a shower curtain, some bath towels though they kind of don’t match but thats okay! They work for now, we got fur soaps for the shower and a few things for under the sink that we managed to get” Storm could tell that Prowl had used putting this bathroom together as a way to cope, a way to distract herself from what was happening with Panic “Of course I want to change out these holiday soaps for something better and maybe we can find like…some art or something to put on this one bare wall but like that comes later. I ran out of allowance and I wouldn’t allow Wailing to pay for anything but snacks, I don’t want to be indebted to her anyways and besides I can handle one small room by myself” Prowl sounded proud of what she had accomplished “You know none of us would be indebted to Wailing, she buys things because she cares about her friends, she doesn’t do it so cats owe her.” Honestly Prowl should know that by now but in all honesty nobody’s heads were currently on straight right now. “Yeah well….” The she cat couldn’t come up with an excuse to not accept Wailings help to pay for something…..she just….didn’t want to, perhaps she felt it meant more if she was the one who payed for things “Wailing only gets like what….a $500 allowance or something? If she spent it all on us she would be broke in less than a week so lets not go there” I guess that was the excuse she was going with here “Anyways! To the living room” she practically pushed Wild over there, there in the other room was all there friends watching a movie on that old tv “I got the whole gang here, I thought we could you know…all hang out together and watch movies, Aurora brought over a game from her house so there’s that option too” there was a pause in the room but Storm could only smile “A movie and a game sounds good…” Gloom welcomed her over, it felt like walking back in time, to a time before she had been taken away for so long….she couldn’t imagine being in that place for longer though but yet cats got sentenced to stay in that place for years…she honestly got off easy in comparison to most.
Storm felt comforted and calm being around all her friends….well all her friends from school that is….she had friends elsewhere that weren’t here but that was okay. Her friends were like a second family for her so she didn’t feel as much anxiety being away from the house for now. A movie about a board game coming to life was currently playing on the tv screen while Viper set up the board game, Aurora had brought over the game clue for them to play, Storm doesn’t recall ever playing this game but so far she found it fun once they actually got to playing. When it wasn’t her turn her mind wandered, remembered, she looked at Gloom “Hey Gloom, I’ve been meaning to ask what was up with the baby room in your house? You’re kind of too young to have kids?” The question surprised Gloom enough that he dropped the pretzel bag he had been eating out of, the tom looked at her but she had asked the question innocently and now everybody else was staring. Part of him didn’t want to say but he felt the pressure so reluctantly he told the tale….he said how he had a set of twins with his high-school sweetheart, they planned to move in together but then tragedy struck and she was taken away permanently from him, he was a single father but his family had turned on him. One day his sister broke into his house with some men and took his kits away, she betrayed him and no matter what the police couldn’t do anything because she was good at covering her tracks, he signed that the reason he got hurt was because he got too close to locating his children’s whereabouts, so his sister must have sent her men after him….probably to finish him off but he survived. This story shocked everyone, it wasn’t something they were expecting ‘But now I know where they are being kept’ he signed more confidently ‘and I plan to get them back’ but how he was going to keep them safe he didn’t know…..
“Gloom, why didn’t you tell us sooner? We could have helped!” Snare meowed, how could there friend keep this big of a secret from them ‘I didn’t want you in harms way, just look at what nearly happened to me. Look let’s just relax okay? Storms home, Panics in the hospital, you all need to stay safe. I’ll go by myself’ he signed it with energy and a serious look like he didn’t want any arguments but unfortunately he got them “No” Viper hissed “You’re not doing this by yourself” Aurora nodded “yeah we’re going with you! If not all of us then some of us will!” Gloom shook his head no frustratedly but he couldn’t talk them down, Prowl stayed the most quiet but then Storm spoke up “if something happened to you then we couldn’t live with ourselves don’t you get that?!” She said it way more strongly, she was practically yelling, an outburst that even she hadn’t expected. After a moment of realizing she sat back down and held her scarf closer to her face, neither her nor Prowl were in any condition to go on a rescue mission but she wanted to be there! But…..emotionally….she had a difficult time just leaving the house, there was no way she could go to a dangerous location, not like this…not in this state. The whole room went quiet “I’ll call some friends, they can be of some help here, if I can’t be there or Prowl then they will go in our place. Even if you keep saying no Gloom we will just follow you there” she said her peace and Gloom didn’t like it but he had no choice now in the matter. ‘You guys are making a mistake but….clearly I can’t stop you’ he looked away his arms crossed now, he was done talking, all anybody could hear was the movie playing in the background, a friendly hang out turned into the next big dangerous adventure, even good friends kept secrets from one another.
Storm went home after a while, her mind swirled with anxiety, she laid on the couch curling up with her phone while Juniper helped Coonluck with dinner, Wild scrolled through her phone until she found Caramels number and there her fingers started typing, she sent a long message explaining the situation.
[Storm: So you willing to help in a rescue mission?
Caramel: it’s dangerous, theres a few factors I need to know about but I know Breeze would already agree to help, we will bring Piranha with us, he’s proven to have some skills.
Storm: So you’ll do it?
Caramel: Yeah, just text me Glooms number and I’ll talk about details with him.
Storm: Thank you, this means a lot to me.
Caramel: I know, thats why I’m doing it]
Wild smiled a little bit before putting down her phone once Glooms number had been sent to her friend, her world felt like it was running around in circles….like a mouse trying to find the cheese in a maze when there is only obstacles on all sides. She didn’t even know when this rescue mission was going to be taken place, she was completely in the dark and….she didn’t like it.
