The city was swathed in night. Billowing clouds of smog blotted out the stars, and dozens upon dozens of buildings towered up towards the sky, jutting towards the distant skyline like great spirals of stone. It was something about the sheer enormity of it all that filled onlookers with a sense of awe, and in most cases, the dreaded feeling of insignificance that came with it. And yet, there was something about that dread that made it so much more spectacular. Perhaps it was the way that the lanterns cast watery light across paved roads, or the way shadows danced across the walls as if they were one living, breathing creature. 

At night, the city was alive. It was a place of danger and hope, adventure and failure, enemies and less violent enemies. For Hero, there had yet to come a day when the place had not instilled those very feelings of reverence, and the city was as much a home to him as any home he'd ever had.

When he leapt from the edge of a tall building, or strolled along the narrow walls and shafts that spanned between the great stone structures, he couldn't help but feel an exhilaration that could compare to nothing else. And when he returned to his residence after the night had ended, with the pads of his paws scraped from the asphalt and his heart racing with excitement and vigor, he knew that he belonged in this place.

It was the following morning, after a night that more or less followed that same sequence of circumstances, that Hero awoke to the sound of frenzied yowls. He'd been leisurely napping on the windowsill of his partner's workshop, where the sunlight filtered in from a gap between the two buildings that stood adjacent to the window. He yawned, blinked, and stared around the room for quite some time. The yowls started up again soon after he'd gotten into a sitting position, and his ears swiveled toward the source of the sound. Hero hopped down from the windowsill and padded across the hardwood floor, past the chassis of multiple odd devices that lay at random intervals about the room. A steady ticking echoed from the dozens of clocks that lined the walls, though the monotonous sound had quickly become comforting to him, and he often found himself unable to sleep without it.

The screeching only continued after he'd pushed his way through the door, which had been left ajar to accommodate his leave. He observed his that his food bowl was empty as he exited the workshop, and made a mental note to himself to grab something to eat upon his return to the workshop. The thought was quickly forgotten, as his pace soon quickened as his curiosity grew; he leapt onto the counter, stepping out through an open window and out into the morning air. A warm breeze ruffled his fur, though he didn't slow, nimbly jumping down onto an iron fence and balancing easily on the cool surface. The yowling was certainly cat-like, and as he continued towards the sound, he pondered all of the possibly exciting events that could be occurring in the world beyond the workshop. Focusing on his foot work, he noticed than an uneasy silence seemed to descend when he dropped down onto the metal surface of a storage unit with an audible thump, a couple of pebbles skittering down the side. With a few more steps he had reached the ground, and padded forward into the alleyway. The overhanging stone structures soon blocked out most of the visible sunlight, and Hero held his head a bit higher as a shudder ran down his spine. 

"I didn't do anything!" Came a sudden cry, and Hero nearly jumped at the sound, fur standing on end. His ears swiveled toward the source of the noise, and he hopped up onto a pile of overturned trash containers, which piled up against a large stone wall. Standing on his back legs, he peered over the edge of the wall, tail lashing in anticipation. Without exposing himself too much to whatever lay on the other side, he glimpsed the form of scrawny brown cat backed up against the other side of the wall, ears hugging his skull in cowardice. 

Another cat soon emerged from the darkness, with a second at their heels, and Hero glimpsed several more skulking in the shadows. He ducked a bit lower so as not to be seen, he watched the scene unfold with quiet enthrallment. "Didn't do anything?" Came the drawling response, and Hero's fascination rapidly died down as he recognized the low-pitched tone. "You've done plenty, Alabaster."

The scrawny tom tried to stutter back response, then clamped his mouth shut, trembling as he felt his tail brush against the wall. "You scared, kittypet?" Came a sneer from shadows, and without warning a spotted she-cat leaped forward, pinning the tom to the ground. She leaned closer to his face, and Hero could see the wild fear in his eyes. "You should be." Her claws pierced the tom's skin, who whimpered in pain, screwing his eyes tightly shut.

This wasn't good. Blood rushing in his ears, Hero slowly lowered himself back onto the trash container. He couldn't fight off that many cats if they came after him, and he hadn't been able to determine exactly how many there were. Without making so much as a sound, he quietly crept down from his vantage point, mapping out the safest course back to the workshop in his head. 

"D'you smell that?" Hero's heart skipped a beat, and he froze mid-step. His eyes scanned the alley for a smoke vent, or anything that could hide his scent. "Smells like kittypet," The cat concluded from the other side of the wall, and he heard a muffled sigh of relief from the scrawny tom. 

"There's a kittypet right in front of you, mouse-brain," Came the jeering response.

"Gee, Zero, I hadn't noticed," The spotted she-cat spat.

Hero picked his way around anything that would make too much noise, frantically searching for something he remember having hidden in a pile of papers beside an air tunnel. Finally, he glimpsed the parcel wedged between the tunnel and the wall, and gently removed it. He unwrapped it hastily, and grinned in alleviation as the sunlight gleamed off the object's surface.

The first cat groaned. "Both of you, shut up," A male cat growled, and suddenly, the voices went silent. A gust of wind blew some of the paper scraps down the alley, and Hero glanced around at the eerily lit stones. His mind was racing. He knew this place like the back of his paw, but there was nowhere he could get to in time. This could be his only chance-

"Hey!" Some cat exclaimed, and he could feel their glare on the back of his neck. Hero stared at the object between his paws for a moment, and his ear twitched slightly as he looked over his shoulder, smiling calmly at the black tom cat perched on the wall. The tom's smirk suddenly melted away, and his eyes widened in recognition. "It's the finder!"

"It's the what?" This seemed to have caught the attention of the remaining cats, as a spotted she-cat hopped up onto the wall beside him, hissing in disbelief.

Hero chuckled uneasily. "Tags, Bravo," He addressed the two cats on top of the wall, flexing his claws and taking a step backwards. "Long time no see, huh?"

Tags narrowed her eyes, bristling with anger. "Not long enough," She snarled. There was a muffled screech of pain from the other side of the wall, and the scrawny cat's whimpered faded into silence. Hero winced, but spun around as he heard a scraping sound, and found himself standing uncomfortably close to a fluffy white tom who had been soundlessly perched on top of a wide metal pole that spanned the alleyway.

"He's got a Timekeeper," The white tom remarked in a dull tone, though his eyes were trained on the object inquisitively.

"Actually, it's called a watch, but I appreciate your trying," Hero quipped, pawing at the metal band that lay between his paws. The tom bristled, but Hero whirled around before he could make a retort. One of the containers clattered to the ground under the sheer size of the cat who descended from the wall next, and Hero could barely keep from collapsing himself. His legs had gone weak. "Well this... this has really been a very pleasant chat, and I certainly would like to continue it some other time, but you all look very busy, and I really should be getting back-"

"Let's flay him to ribbons," Tags purred, flashing a malevolent grin in Hero's direction. 

"Let's not do that," Hero began, aware that all four cats were slowly making their way towards him form different directions. There wasn't an escape. He was going to have to make one. "What if we work something else out? You're all intelligent cats, capable of making... rational decisions. How about I give you this Timekeeper, and... you don't kill me?" 

Tags pretended to think it over for a moment, and then shrugged. "Or, you know, we could take it from you, and then kill you anyway."

"Yeh, that sounds much easier," Bravo agreed, "Don't it, Thug?"

The giant cat stayed completely silent, and Hero waited with bated breath, though he'd already pretty much predicted the outcome. "Kill 'im." 

"Come on guys, we just talked about this," Hero mitigated, as all four cats began to circle closer to him. He took a few more steps back as he realized Bravo was distressingly close to his face, and the odd-looking black tom rested a paw on the surface of the watch that Hero had unwittingly backed away from. "Oh, I... I wouldn't do that if I were you." Hero warned, but Bravo only grinned and leaned down towards it.

"'S that so, kittypet?" Bravo scoffed, then gripped the watch between his teeth and yanked it from where it lay. There was a brief pause as a quiet click echoed around the buildings, and Bravo halted in realization. A steady creaking sounded about them, and an alarming amount of stones and debris suddenly cascaded off the side of a sloped piece of metal. Bravo gave a startled cry, and leapt back just as a large stone shattered where he had just been standing. The alley was filled with emphatic caterwauls as a raucous broke out among the cats, and in a flurry of movement Hero grabbed the watch, still with a thin piece of wire tied around the clasp, and fled from the alley. He vaulted over the nearby metal fence and sped off through the buildings, racing away as fast as his legs could carry him.

He heart the pounding of paw steps behind him as he ran, as Tags yowled threats from behind him. "Better run, kittypet!" She shrieked, words laced with fury. "Finder power ain't gonna help you now!"He didn't slow down, sprinting down the narrow pass between the buildings with a speed he didn't know he had. He vaguely remembered having set up that trap moons ago for this very purpose, though in hindsight, he should have accounted for unavoidable chase scene that followed. 

That, and the inevitable consequences that came with it.

A/N: Frost here with the first chapter of our new serious story! I'd love to hear any theories or guesses as to this story might go, and comment on how you liked this first chapter.

~Frost