Lonely City

Eventually, the cave had opened up to a city. A large one, that spanned high into the caverns, though the sky was nowhere to be found. That didn’t mean the cold hadn’t made its way into the cavern, however, which made Sunfish shiver.

“It’s abandoned,” Soleil commented as the group stepped paw into the place. “Nobody’s here.”

“Nary a soul is left,” Crow hummed.

Sure enough, they couldn’t find anyone. It was as if life had been snuffed out entirely one day, where everyone left without a trace. Sunfish sniffed thoughtfully - certainly those who lived here before were giants, or some sort… perhaps they could be interesting objects of study, if they found any survivors.

“What do we do now?” Sunfish finally asked after a while of searching the city. “It’s like we’re wasting our time, going through the motions of hunting for something we don’t know where it is.”

“If my wings could carry me, I could check,” Crow stated simply. “Alas, my wings were broken long ago.”

“I think I hear something,” Soleil became alert, and stepped forward some, Sunfish having to back away to avoid the larger cat.

“What is it?” Sunfish asked.

“A struggle,” Soleil stated simply before starting to walk in a direction. Crow followed soon after, leaving Sunfish baffled as he took a moment to process that.

“Hey - wait a minute!” He gasped before running after, slowing down as he caught up. “A struggle? So someone else is here after all?”

“Someone else, likely attacked,” Crow confirmed.

“So… multiple organisms, likely,” Sunfish sighed. “Wonderful…”

They trekked through the city, crawling under or jumping over various obstacles before they came upon quite the sight - signs of a struggle on the ground, as well as a few tattered pieces of cloth.

“So there WAS someone else here!” Sunfish proclaimed.

“Yes. Though not anymore,” Crow said.

“There might be others nearby still,” Soleil looked around as he spoke. “Let us keep a look out.”

Slowly, the trio started to move back towards the city, only to find a familiar face there.

“Goldie?” Sunfish asked, stunned that she was there.

Goldie looked to the group, also stunned. “More cats from home! Oh, I’m so glad to see you guys here!”

“What happened?” Soleil asked.

“We landed here after running out of fuel,” Goldie explained. “After that, we went exploring, found here, and now Moonbeam’s gone!”

“That isn’t good,” Sunfish said. “I didn’t know you guys also had a fuel issue. I would’ve sworn Tally filled us up all the way, too…”

“Could you keep an eye out for her? I’m having some problems finding her myself…” Goldie sighed. “I would really appreciate it.”

Crow opened his mouth to respond, but Sunfish cut him off. “Of course we can. In fact, we’re going right now.”

Goldie walked away, and Sunfish herded the other two off to the side, speaking quickly and quietly. “Look, we can’t tell her what we saw.”

“Why not?” Soleil questioned. “Certainly she must be informed about Moonbeam’s fate.”

“No, we can’t tell her. It’ll cause a big mess, and besides, Moonbeam might be fine! I know those were her scraps of scarf on the ground, but everything will be fine. We just have to look around, is all.”

Soleil didn’t look convinced and Crow didn’t look bothered either way. A wonderful team moving forward, it seemed…

Sunfish sighed, but before he could go any further, a horrible crashing sound interrupted him. He jumped back, fur puffed out, staring at the direction that it came from. The other two were on guard as well, he knew, as he felt them tense up beside him, ready to defend the smaller cat from harm.

Then the washing machine sauntered into view.

A washing machine. An entire washing machine, leaving behind a trail of electrical components just casually. Sunfish felt more baffled than he had this entire time, even moreso than the strange bear peppers they had encountered.

“It has a face,” Soleil noticed, straightening back up.

“So it does. Perhaps it knows the way to go,” Crow commented.

“We are not asking a washing machine for directions.”

“It knows the area better than we do.”

“Its wings could carry it further if we gave it some assistance, Soleil.”

“We are not putting a washing machine on Soleil’s back.”

For a moment, the three of them bickered about the washing machine, even to the point the machine rattled on away without them noticing. About what to do, where to go, what path to take, and all of that stuff.

So much so to the point they didn’t notice the shadow that fell over them. It was Crow that first noticed, and his wings stiffened, causing the other two to turn and look at what he was looking at.

“... You,” Crow spoke up. “It’s you.”