Tiny Fissures

Onyx

Chocola and Vanilla felt nervous as Cacao led them deeper into the woods. It was just light enough now for them to be able to see where they were going, but everything was coated in a deep, dark blue. Every shadow seemed to stare at them and twitch.
Chocola felt the hairs on her neck stand up when she saw the skull of some small animal lying on the ground near their path. "Cacao, do you know where we're going?" Chocola sighed when the only answer she got was a lazy thumbs up. Vanilla turned to Chocola with sleepy eyes, "Do you at least know if it'll be too much longer Cacao? I'm so-" Vanilla let out an enormous yawn and all three got a good giggle. Chocola knew what she meant, they had worked all day the day before and Vanilla had barely gotten any sleep before Chocola made the spur of the moment decision to leave.
Cacao reached back behind her and touched Vanillas arm while continuing on her way. Definitely not an answer, but Vanilla was to sleepy to fight it. Either way they would have to keep going, long time or no. Vanilla wasn't about to sleep on this forest floor, and there was still that creeping fear in the back of the two cats minds that if they paused they'd be instantly snatched up and brought back to the patisserie. That thought prodded them on and on, keeping their sleepy feet stepping.

After what felt like a lifetime, but in reality was about forty or so minutes, Cacao looked back at the two cat girls and pointed forward. The sun was just coming up, coating everything in a slight haze. In front of them through the light fog they could see a small break in the trees and the wall of a what seemed to be a small shed. Chocola twitched with a
mix of excitement and nerves while Vanilla have a small sigh of relief. No matter what was in this shed at least it would be a break from walking in these spooky woods.
As they neared the shed Chocola and Vanilla slowed. If Cacao fell into trouble they would rush in to help, but as long as Cacao seemed to know what she was doing they were content to hide just behind the line of trees that surrounded the clearing.
Cacao marched twards the shed as if she did it every day. Chocola and Vanilla looked twards each other, honestly she could have done it every day before Cacao came to La Soleil. She never told any of them about her time as a stray. Looking back they watched as Cacao strode up to the side of the metal shed and gave it three short beats before backing up and looking twards the roof. Chocola and Vanilla grabbed onto each other.
From the roof, they watched as a round cat girl slowly rose from the roof and rubbed her eyes. She had thick, short, inky black hair and dark skin. She had on a thick black sweater. From where they were looking she looked a bit dirty, but sleeping on a roof will probably do that to you.
The cat girl let out one enormous yawn and stretched, but jumped when she looked down and saw one very lanky Cacao standing on the ground. "Well look at that," she said so fondly, "You're all grown now!" Vanilla and Chocola slowly stepped out from behind their tree defense, and the cat girl shrunk back a bit, giving them a small wave. "And you've got friends, that's nice, I'm glad you weren't all on your own at least" The charcoal cat girl very carefully slid down the roof and plopped onto the ground. She gave herself a quick dust off and once over before standing there looking at the three cats.
Stepping up to the cat girl, Chocola got a good look at the rest of her outfit. Big black boots and black pants of some kind, this kitty was fully blacked out! Sticking out her hand Chocola introduced herself, "Hi!! My name is Chocola," she turned to flick her sister with her tail, "This is Vanilla," Vanilla raised her hand and gave out a very soft "hi", "and this is Cacao, but you two seem to know each other already!!"
The cat looked at Chocola's hand for a bit before grabbing into it. She didn't have Chocola a handshake though, she more just sort of gripped it. "My name is Hazelnut," she said quickly and looked over to Cacao, "and I don't really know her, I just met her once. I was worried about her, a little kitten roaming about on their own? I offered to take her to someplace safe, but she escaped me." Hazelnut gave Chocola a somber look, "I've thought about her a lot. It's so nice to see her safe. And so grown too!" The cat girl reached over to Cacao and gave her a happy little scratch, Cacao happily leaned into the touch.
Hazelnut have a soft laugh and turned back to the other two, setting them with a firm look. "So, what's three cat girls like you doing out in these woods? Coming to strange sheds?" Chocola have a small laugh and turned to Vanilla, who simply smiled and gave her a small nod. "Well," Chocola began, "We used to live at a patisserie, but I think our owners are being bad, and so we left because I didn't want Cacao to get hurt. But we didn't know where to go, so we just followed Cacao, and now we're here!" Hazelnut had a small smile on her face, "Just being bad, huh? As if owners aren't inherently bad. Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up though." Chocola didn't entirely understand what Hazelnut meant by that, but was happy to be fixed up, as she put it.
All three cats shuffled behind Hazelnut as she gestured them to follow her. Leading them to the door of the shed, she opened it to reveal a shed absolutely stuffed with books. "On Wednesdays I go out and collect as many books as possible, and on Thursdays I look through those books for useful ones. I don't know how to read very well, but I can at least get the gist of what they mean," Hazelnut led them to a clear spot on the floor which held a blanket, some pillows, and a small stuffed bag. "Then I go back home on Fridays. You guys get some rest in here while I go find my partner, you'll come back home with us."
Chocola reached out to her before she could leave, "Thanks helping us," She produced her sunniest smile, "but when you mean go back home, are we going to your owners house?" Hazelnut have her a little snort, "Absolutely not." And she was off.
The three cats stood there in silence for a bit. They were alone, in a strange forest shed. Chocola felt a bit strange. But Vanilla simply gave a big long stretch and strided over to curl into the mass of blankets. Cacao took her place next to Vanilla, and Chocola slotted in behind her. Chocola supposed that if the cat girl were to not come back, and instead report them, at least they wouldn't be sleepy when they were grabbed.

Chocola wasn't sure how long they slept, but as she pried her eyes open she could hear noisy footsteps approach the door of the shed. Instead of getting up, she closed her eyes again and pretended to sleep. The door creaked open, so slowly.