I couldn't believe this. After all this time away, I was stooping down to this low of a level.

After I left Avery and Riley in the basement, I ran towards the nearest gas station which was just under five kilometers away. I waited in the shadows near the girls washroom until a semi began pulling out of the parking lot in the direction of the city. I shifted into a little bird and flew up onto the roof of the truck as it pulled onto the highway. The wind ruffled my little feathers as I landed and I had an extremely hard time holding on. I shifted my little talons sharper and longer so I could hold on. I tucked my head forwards, my beak hidden in the ruffled feathers.

Once the truck slowed in the traffic from the city, I unhooked my talons from the roof and flew off, heading towards the darkest parts of an alley.

Once there, I knew I had to hide in plain sight, but decided to lay even lower than that. Out of all creatures I could have chosen, I became an alley cat. Vowing to myself that I wouldn't shift for the time being, I learned quickly how bad of a decision an alley cat was.

Within a week, I had already regretted my decision. Eating out of trash bins and sleeping on the cold hard ground was not a fun pass time. I could have changed my mind, but I knew that shifting often would only draw unwanted attention. I eventually got used to it and to being on the move during the night and hiding during the day.

It was dark out now. Traffic passed by the shadows I stayed in, lights hitting my small frame and giving me a shadow on the brick wall I was huddled up against for extra warmth.

Hunger drew me into the closest back alley where I knew there would be food. The place I resided in was just outside of the cities Chinatown, in the warehouse district. There were quite a few fast food joints scattered about this area, so lots of leftover food for me to eat. I spotted a green garbage bin and cringed, then padded over to it. I sat for a few seconds in front of it. I crouched and pushed my weight into the air as I leapt onto the edge of the bin and looked inside.

Rummaging through the trash in the dark with my front paws, I sat on the edge of the rusted bin in hopes of finding a decent meal. Pushing aside a large black bag, I found a half eaten piece of pizza. There were flies sitting on it and I gagged. My stomach growled lowly and I knew I had no choice. I hadn't eaten anything in two days, by choice of course. The past few bins I visited contained nothing but scraps and wrappings. I waved my paws over the piece of pizza, shooing the flies off of it. I picked it up in my paws and cringed; the scent of it alone was enough to upset my stomach.

"So gross." I hissed, and took a bite. I knew I had to eat it because I couldn't just shift and walk into a restaurant. I didn't have any money which meant even going into a restaurant would be a waste of time. The temptation to do so at this point was very intriguing; this had to be my lowest point.

A light flashed around the corner into the back alley and I jumped into the bin, landing atop a black bag. I sunk in slightly, feeling the mushy garbage through the plastic. The piece of pizza that sat on the edge of the garbage can slid off the other side and splatted on the ground. I sighed, knowing I would probably have to finish it later.

Suddenly, there were two voices and I peeked my head out slightly.

"The old man on the phone said he heard what sounded like a cat back here on the phone. Call the pound he did." A woman with a flashlight spoke, poking around. An idea hit me and I suddenly knew what I had to do. This was my chance to live in slightly better conditions and have consistent meals, even if they only consisted of cat food. It would be better than this at this point. I shifted into a younger white and black cat, and mewed loud enough for them to hear me. My body finished shrinking in the time it took the one human to find me.

"Hey, over here." The young man who accompanied the woman said, coming over to the trash bin. Two hands reached in and picked me up, holding me in the air like a prize. I flinched; it felt weird being picked up. I refused the urge to sink my claws into his hands, ignoring how badly I wanted to see his reaction. I hadn't had anyone pick me up in a very long time. Flashbacks of my parents smiling faces came into my head and then disappeared when the man spoke again.

"Awe, aren't you cute fella." he said, lifting me up higher to check if I was a male or female. I swatted at his hand and latched my claws into his arm and he winced. His reaction was unsatisfying, but at least it was a reaction. He grabbed my paw and pushed on the bottom pad, releasing my claws from his skin. They started walking towards a grey van that could have easily been a death trap. The tiny cuts on his arm bled slightly, and I knew for sure he was human.

My instinctive gut didn't have a bad feeling, so I decided to go with them.

"Sorry girl. Didn't mean to insult you." he said and handed me to the lady who opened the back of the van. She got inside and unhooked a latch to a cage, putting me inside of it carefully. She re-closed the little mesh door and looked inside at me. I sat down, wrapping my tail around so it sat on my front paws. I flicked it lightly upwards and stared at her as she watched me curiously.

"We're gunna take you somewhere safe now." the lady said and I meowed softly. She got out of the back of the van, closing the back doors.

Such a kind lady to a little cat. She must actually enjoy her job.

The lady got into the van again with the man, but I could no longer see them. The vehicle's engine roared to life and it began to move as they pulled out onto the road. The ride was a bit bumpy, but it was okay. The bottom of the cage floor was white and slippery so I had nothing to hold onto as they turned a corner. Besides myself, there were no other animals in the van.

I slid around in the cage, trying to grab onto anything I could. After a few attempts, I put a paw on the mesh door, hooking my claws into it so I wouldn't keep sliding into the walls of the cage every time the vehicle turned a corner.

The two people made small talk as they drove to the animal pound. I made a plan on the way of what type of family I wanted to take me home. I could infiltrate a home and could low key stay there and stay fed everyday, even if it was nasty cat food. My eventual plan was to sneak into the fridge and consume the pet owner's food.

As much as I like being alone in an alley eating out of a garbage can, free and clean food was way more appealing.

The van came to a stop, and I slid forwards in the cage into the mesh door. I remained where I was, claws hooked in the front cage panel. The woman came to the cage, unlocking it. She gently grabbed me, unhooking my paw from the mesh. She hoped out of the van; I was safely cradled in her arms as she took me inside with her.

The building was large from the outside, dark grey brick walls and glass doors. A long glass window facing the street. We were parked at the side of the building, heading towards an Employee's Only door.

She walked me into the building and wandered down a few brightly lit hallways. The interior bricks were a pale white, reflecting the lights from above. Turning down another hallway, we reached another door. The lady backed into it, using her back to push it open. Another bright room, lined with cages full of cats meowing and hissing as we passed by their little cells. Through that room, we entered another one and went into a room with a woman in a lab coat and a silver table. I assumed she was the resident veterinarian.

The lady put me down and the vet came over and checked me over. I shifted slightly, knowing I would need some sort of vaccination insignia on my inner ear or she would have to give me all the regulated shots, because I didn't have any of them. I was not in the mood for needles today. Or any day.

The vet nodded to the lady and sighed. She examined my body, feeling for bumps and lumps on my sides. She hoisted me into a metal container floating above a table and weighed me. Ten pounds on the nose.

"Surprisingly healthy," she noted aloud as she filled out a checklist on a clipboard. Her next task was looking inside my ears for a chip or a coded tag. I hoped the one on my ear was good enough to pass.

"Another abandoned house cat." The vet said as she went over to a drawer, pulling out a small vile. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't have to get all the shots again. I looked at the vet, wondering what she was doing.

She pulled out a needle from another drawer and I hissed backing up. There was no way I'd let her stick whatever that is into me. What if this was all a trap?

The lady from the van put both hands on my back and held me down. I hissed again, struggling slightly. The vet stuck the needle in my leg and I almost yelped, pulling back so the needle was no longer in me. I meowed, looking up at the lady holding me in place, starting to panic. The vet sighed, heading to the front of me. Readying myself to shift and get the hell out of here, the lady calmed me down, scratching the back of my neck. It was a soothing feeling, something I wasn't used to.

"Don't worry, kitty. It's just a vitamin shot. You'll be fine." She said as the vet poked my right arm. I believed her, but was still uncertain of the vet. The lady scooped me up, bringing me back into the room we passed by. My front leg felt like it was on fire; I never was one for flue vaccinations or shots of any kind. Not that I was against them, it was just I preferred not getting needles myself.

The lady opened a metal cage and placed me inside.

It was empty, except for a bowl of solid cat food and water, and a place in the corner with old news papers to relieve myself. The lady brought a blanket and put it inside the cage.

"This is so your stay will be comfy. But don't worry, you won't be here too long." She said, then closed the cage door and walked out of the room.

The cats were all silent for a moment, until they started to speak to each other. At first, all I heard was meowing until I shifted my inner ear drum to understand them. It was a trick I had learned from a tiny female forest fairy. They were a common creature, but she had a few special abilities unlike her kind. She communicated with all the animals in the area to stay informed of the happenings in her forest. This fairy was about the size on a snow pea shell and as thin as my finger. She taught me the little trick when we met at a regular council meeting.

Finally, with the right adjustments and concentration, I could understand what the cats were saying.

"This food is too greasy." One cat meowed sourly to another.

"Then starve." The other hissed back to him and smiled a toothy smile. I moved to the edge of the cage, pulling my food bowl along with me. I sat at the edge of the cage, looking out at the cats around me as I popped a piece of dry food into my mouth. Chicken flavored, but not actually that bad. Maybe I could get used to this. I was on the second level of cages, which meant there was one cage below me and another above.

"How long have you been here?" I questioned to the cat across from me. She was an orange and black coated cat and half of her one ear was missing. I assumed it was due to a fight with another alley cat, but it could have also been frozen off in the winter.

I reached into my bowl of food and popped another piece in my mouth. Biting into the little food chunk, I realized the other cat was not wrong. It was full of grease, but it wasn't horrible.

"Four days. If I'm not adopted tomorrow, I won't be here anymore." She said sadly, and I frowned. She'd be put down, but I doubted her knowing that. It was a sad fact about these places, but it's so that other animals can live too. It's kind of like the survival of the fittest, or most attractive animals.

"Where did they pick you up from?" One asked from below me.

"Back alley somewhere. It had a big trash can where I had been eating." I said and the cat chuckled, a meowy chuckle of sort.

"Ahh.. That was the life." The cat below me said, yawning. I took four more pieces of the cat food and ate them quickly, filling my stomach. I pushed the bowl back into place next to the water and took a quick swig. Curling up in a circle on the blanket, I pawed it closer to me so I could have something to rest my head on. I fixed it to my liking, placing my head on top of the heap I created and closing my eyes. The shot from earlier was making me groggy. It no longer stung, but sleep was starting to pull me under against my own will power.

"Night everyone." I meowed out and fell asleep, comfortably.