The cat got closer, and Nuka began to recognize her scent.

  "Hey, calm down, it's just me." She meowed pointedly.

  Sarafina stepped forward and hissed at the she-cat, and Nuka beckoned her back with the flick of her tail. "Blue?"

  "I guess you didn't recognize me...I was almost chopped liver!" The she-cat stepped into the moonlight, and confirmed Nuka's question.

  "What are you doing here?" Nuka asked.

  "Well, when my humans found out that I released you, they were mad. I heard them talking yesterday, and they said that they were going to take me to the Cutters!"

  "The Cutters?"

  "It's a horrible place where white-pelted humans sting cats and put them to sleep. When I heard them talking about taking me there, I knew I had to find you."

  "What can I do?" Nuka asked, tipping her head towards the she-cat.

  "I want to stay with you, here, in the barn. I've been watching you with your family, and I feel as though this is the place that I want to live. I know that you don't know me that well, but I really need your help."

  Nuka sat down, and her kits remained silent. She pondered the situation ahead of her carefully. She didn't know Blue well, although she doubted the she-cat would cause trouble. But what if the humans came back after her? Would Nuka really be able to fight another war?

  "Mohadi wouldn't have turned me down, would he?"

  Sarafina's eyes widened. She glanced at her mother and looked for her reaction, but Nuka remained silent. The tip of her tail twitched, and at the moment, it was the only move she made.

  Nuka's glare softened. "Mohadi would have quickly accepted you."

  Blue's eyes brightened. "So, I get to stay with you then?"

  Nuka smiled. "I owe you my life, Blue. If it hadn't been for you, I would still be in that cage. You can stay with me as long as you like."

  Lisa growled bitterly. "She scared away the prey, mother. What'll we do now? We have nothing to eat in honor of Mohadi."

  Nuka rolled her eyes. "Prey is no matter. I'm sure Carmel and the kits will have collected plenty of mice by the time we get back home."

  Lisa shrugged, and began to walk home. The rest of the group followed, with Nuka and Blue lingering silently behind them. "Please excuse my daughters. They've lost their father, and he was very close to them. They mean nothing by their remarks."

  Blue smiled. "It's no problem. I can't imagine what it must be like to loose someone like that."

  Her reply struck Nuka hard, and she pondered silently, until she saw Lisa's tail twitch. "Do you smell that?"

  Nuka paused, sat down, and took a wiff of the air. Suddenly, without warning, a thick, smokey odor hit her nose. It didn't take her long to identify the smell, and immediately her fur stood on-end. She thought back to her kits, alone in the barn, surrounded by the hay.

   "The barn! It's caught fire!" Louise shouted as she peeked out from the thicket of bushes and trees. Nuka darted out past her daughter and came to a stop in front of the barn. Lisa's nose had served her right. The entirety of the barn had caught flames, and not a kit was in sight.

  Blue stopped beside Nuka, and glanced from side-to-side. "We have to get them out!"

  Nuka nodded, and Blue disappeared among the flames. Nuka waited for what seemed hours, and she looked around for Blue. She saw the she-cat's pelt against the orange flames, and jumped in after her.

  Once she hit the floor, she heard a mewl from the corner of the barn. Blue stood there, searching for a way out of the flames, so that she could find the lost kits.

  "Have you seen them?" Nuka shouted. Blue nodded a 'yes' and leapt up onto a ladder that was slowly catching fire. When she finally made it to the top, Nuka noticed that the bottom of her back left paw was scorched. "Please be okay," she muttered to herself.

  She lost sight of Blue for a moment, then, the she-cat's head popped out from the crumbling loft of the barn. She nodded a 'no,' and Nuka's heart dropped as she mouthed, 'They're gone.'

  Nuka waited for the she-cat to leap down. The barn was crumbling fast, and Nuka was unsure of their survival. Finally, the she-cat leapt down, and landed directly in front of Nuka.

  "I'm sorry, Nuka. They're...they're dead, Nuka. I'm- I'm sorry."

  Nuka squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. She began to navigate her way from the barn, until she found a spot that the fire had not touched. Once they escaped, Nuka could hear the sound of her daughters screaming her name.

  She coughed violently as she walked towards them. Fresh tears could be seen in her eyes, and she stumbled a little, until Lisa stood next to her and lifted some of her weight.

  "They're dead, aren't they?" She asked solemnly. Nuka nodded, and Louise began to cry.

  "We have no home..."

  Each of the cats silently trudged away from the place of death and grief, and went away to who-knows-where. Tears continued to fall from Nuka's eyes, but she said nothing. Lisa had a mental breakdown, and had lost her usual ability to maintain her composure. Sarafina was silent, frozenfaced, and hardly moved. Louise followed her mother cautiously, with tears in her own eyes. Blue kept her distance, and never said a word.

  Finally, they came to the Thunderpath at the edge of the Twolegplace.