Your Heart, My Hurt.

Chapter 1. A Change.

"C'mon, Stinkchael!" Bear's teasing voice would meow, jumping in front of me. I felt weak compared to him. His large muscles, his long silky brown fur. A collar with spikes around his neck.

We are all house cats. Well, I'm hardly a housecat. My housefolk seemed to jump ten paws in the air when they saw me. They wanted Lucy and Charlie to have kits so they could have more cats. They did not want me. After all, who would? They gave every one of my siblings a pretty collar that seemed to match their personality. But me? I had to make do. If I didn't have a collar, wouldn't I seem more like an outsider? I found a yellowish-gold bandana, and convinced my aunt Jasper to help tie it around my neck. Jasper seemed to hate me the least. She still disliked me, of course. But she was the nicest about my appearance.

"I've told you before, Bear! That's not my name and you know it!" I hissed back, trying to seem tall in front of the large tom.

"I 'dunno. Seems like it fits." Damsel would chuckle, throwing her face in front of mine in an almost playful manner. Mostly threatening though. Nope. Just threatening. Purely threatening.

"Oh, knock it off you two." Chloe would sigh, flicking her tail as she hung from a scratching post, "Can't you see the poor baby's had enough?"

I didn't realise I was trembling. Why am I so weak? I should be used to the bullying, the teasing. It happens every day of my life! So why am I still so scared?

"Ugh. Fine." Bear would growl, backing away to go do his own business, instead of invading my own.

"Maybe try to wash all that green off your pelt next time. It'd be much easier to look at you that way." Damsel would chuckle, backing up and looking perfect and prissy. The perfect daughter that my parents wanted from all their children. Unfortunately, I could never be that case.

I let out a dreadful sigh. At least the teasing would be over for today. Whether she could realise it or not, Chloe just helped me out quite a bit, even if it was in malicious intent.

"Thanks." I'd meow to Chloe. She only responded with a hiss as she turned her back to me. Yeah. I should have expected that. 

So what do I do now? That's a question I often think about. Should I see if there's any food left in the bowl? I hardly get any, my siblings always try to eat it all so I can't. Probably a reason for why I'm skinny and weak. I'm often malnourished.

I begin sneaking my way towards our food bowl. How I'd do anything just for a singular, rabbit dropping shaped pellet. Just anything to keep me alive.

"Oh, thank goodness." I'd whisper quietly, seeing that there was a small portion of food left. It tasted awful. Worse than it looked. But I couldn't argue. I need this food, or else I may pass away just now. I was skinny enough already. No point in looking like a twig.

A sudden shot of pain went through me. I almost choked on the pellets, coughing. 

"Nice try, tiny." Bear would growl as I saw his claws digging into my tail. "I was savin' that for later."

"Why does it even matter to you? Why can't I just eat!?" I hissed back, "You all never let me have food! Just this once!" I begged.

"Nice. Try." He would repeat, his brown muzzle close my greenish-red one.

"All I want is food." I meowed desperately, "₵₳₦'₮ ɎØɄ JɄ₴₮ ⱠɆ₳VɆ ₥Ɇ ₳ⱠØ₦Ɇ ₣ØⱤ ₮ØĐ₳Ɏ?"

That's when the most unexpected thing happened. Bear let out a huff, growling to himself as if he were lost in thought. His amber eyes would dart around, looking for something to cling onto, almost.

"Fine." He'd hiss, stepping away, "You're getting boring to make fun of anyway." He'd flick his tail, walking away from me.

What..? Did Bear just listen to me? This is unexpected. It felt almost as if I were controlling him. But at the same time, he walked away with the same gruff personality. Maybe he had a change of heart. Maybe my siblings were actually starting to like me! Maybe they could convince my parents that I'm likeable too! Were things finally going to turn around for me? Was I more than just an ugly green cat with even worse features? If that is the case, I hope that it will all go smoothly after all.