The Cat
#3 of Zont
The Cat
"It never ends. Each generation learns the horrors of war anew. They build their monuments to teach the next generation so it will never happen again. Then the next generation comes along and marches off to learn it all over again."
Patty and Zelda had come across this ruined town by accident. It had been a large town, and it might even have qualified as a city once. Now it stood abandon, whatever had destroyed it no longer apparent.
For Zelda that never seemed to matter. Destruction always upset her. It got her thinking of war, and lives lost or ruined. Patty thought this ironic since Zelda may have been Zont's most successful military leader.
"We know each other too well. I can see your thoughts written all over that pinto face of yours." Zelda sighed and looked away from her friend. "I have more to answer for than others." Zelda looked back at her friend for a brief moment and away again. "No I'll not tell you. In all the ways that count you already know, and the details won't help you, but the telling of them will hurt me."
Patty didn't say a thing. From the complete lack of charred wood she knew this was more likely the result of an earthquake than an attack. As the two of them walked through the ruins Zelda's thousand yard stare saw everything, but looked at nothing.
Patty spotted a young cat sitting in the remains of a window in what once might have been a large home. Removing a bit of the seasoning meet from her pack she casually approached the cat. For its part the cat watched her with suspicion, but hunger and the smell of the meat kept it in place. With a little effort Patty caught the cat and fed it until it relaxed. When she caught up to Zelda, Patty simply and gently pressed the cat into her friend's chest. Without thinking about it Zelda reached up to cradle the cat ageist her breast. Fifty yards further down the road the cat quietly purring and half asleep in her arms Zelda looked to her friend and said."Thank you."