36Death is strange.
The dying is slow- you can feel it the entire time, working its way through you as you shut down. It's terrifying the entire time, up until it's not. Drowning, I would have to say, is not one of the best ways to go.
At least death itself is sudden.
What comes after is not.
You feel gradual warmth as you shift in and out of consciousness. Things that feel like they're missing slowly start to reappear. You move, but everything seems like it's in the wrong place. What was once a surplus of space begins to lessen. The pushing starts.
And I was reborn.
And it was nasty.
The first clue that I wasn't reborn as a human was that no one was holding me. No arms supporting my head or body, just a small plop as I fell to the ground.
The second was the tongue. It didn't feel like a towel or hand- it was too singular, and pressed too well.
My body was strange, shaped wrong. I didn't know what I was yet, only that I wasn't human. Sound was muffled, and I couldn't open my eyes- I was helpless and weak. I didn't like it, and decided I would do my best to never be this way again.
I wouldn't know I was a cat until after about a week after I was born and my eyes opened- It was still blurry, but at least I could make out my new mother's basic shape. I had 2 littermates, both larger than me- I could tell I was the runt. Because of their size, they tended to be fed first, and I got whatever was left. There was plenty, due to it being the beginning of summer and mom being well fed, so I never starved- I was just smaller.
Mom was a pretty light grey, with green eyes. Both of my siblings looked like her, with blue eyes- one darker than the other. I, however, ended up being a little grey and white tabby, with the same chilled eyes I had as a human. Mom taught us how to hunt and care for ourselves, and by the age of approximately 5 months, we were each on our own.
Days after wandering away from my mother's territory, I found a town.
A human town.
While I was with my mother I had tried to make words with my mouth. It worked somewhat, but I didn't have the lung capacity or mouth fluidity to say certain words. I could talk, but I sounded like a small, breathy gargoyle.
I walked right up to a lady in a military uniform. I knew, the greatest likelihood of me going home was with someone in charge.
"Mam, ay nee el." She looked down and saw me. Surprisingly, she didn't freak out about a cat talking. In fact, she seemed more annoyed than anything.
She started muttering in a different language. It sounded like a bizarre mix of spanish, japanese, and english. She pushed me away with her foot. I felt like crying.
I ended up searching all around, but no one spoke straight english. I did, however, find the date on a newspaper- It was October 22, 2009. Years before I died. Even if I did go home, I would still be there- and who knows what would happen. I could change something, and something worse could happen. I decided to stay where I was- for now.
That still brought up the subject of what I was going to do. I couldn't become a pet- any attachments would have to be broken when I went home. There was a mountain nearby, and I knew (thanks to reading Warriors as a child) how to survive as a cat there. Most normal cats would avoid stoney mountain areas. It was getting cold- I would have to choose a territory sometime. It was decided, then- I was headed to the mountain.
Living on a mountain sucked.
Thank goodness there weren't really any predatory birds up there, or at least ones big enough to eat cats. But the elevation was kicking my butt, and it seemed like nothing else wanted to live up there with me. It was cold, so prey was even more scarce. Thank goodness I found a rabbit- I would have starved otherwise.
I looked at the rabbit from behind a bush. It looked old, and scrawny; but it would last me a couple days if I caught it. We were standing in the mouth of a large cave, covered in vines. This area was very lush, and I wouldn't be surprised if I found other prey here.
I crept forward, trying to get within hunting distance when suddenly-
Something moved.
The rabbit, startled, ran away from the movement and straight into me. Terrified, it ran in the opposite direction; further into the cave. I chased after it- it looked like it was about to turn, so I pounced before it could, and overshot it.
My foreleg clipped the rabbit's hind leg and we tumbled- straight into the gaping hole the rabbit was trying to avoid.
The fall wasn't too long before we hit some flowers that broke the fall. I had already adjusted to land on my feet, so I wasn't concerned. The rabbit, however, broke its neck. I ate it, and I felt better- way better. Better than I had felt in a while, but I didn't think much of it.
Until I looked around.
I was in some sort of purple structure, with some greek pillars supporting the ceiling. There was an archway at the end of the hallway that I walked down. It looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't place why, not until I walked through. The room ahead was dark, but there was a patch of grass, bathed in light, right in the center. 'No, it couldn't be.' Could it?
I heard a sfft sound and a large yellow flower with a face popped out of the ground.
It could.
"Howdy, I'm Flowey!" It said. "Flowey the–"
It was.
He looked at me.
I looked at him.
And he looked at me.
And I cursed Weird Al Yankovic.
"You- you're not human." His face sunk, and grew more demonic. "Is this some sort of joke?" His attack pellets appeared. His face returned to normal, "You're like me, aren't you? Well, you'll probably work just fine."
A/N: I am not an experienced writer, so feedback would be much appreciated. This story will mostly be adventure in the beginning, fluff in the middle, and an actual story at the end. Updates will probably be slow, but I hope you all enjoy this thing I made.