Prologue
A black cat was laying lazily in a barn on a stack of hay, their long slim tail was dangling off to the side. Their eyes were pressed closed gently and light streamed in from a window just above them. A purr rumbled softly in their throat as the sunlight bathed their pelt in heat and turned it a warm brownish colour. Their purr caused a slight vibration to eminate from their throat and chest and run down their body.
The cat's ears twitched at the sound of tiny claws scrambling against the wooden floor. They reluctantly opened their eyes and allowed their amber gaze to sweep the barn floor. Their nose twitched at the warm scent of prey that lingered within the barn, it was impossible to distinguish which of the mixture of warm prey scents were fresh and which were older. They all jumbled together in a confusing mess and even though the cat had lived here their entire life they had great trouble trying to detangle the mixture of scents.
While they would have loved to keep laying in the sun they had a job to do. The humans allowed them to stay around as long as they kept the mice out of the barn. So after a few moments the black cat would reluctantly get to their paws and leapt down from the stack of hay. Their paws landed against the wooden floor with a soft thud and they would shake out their pelt before stalking towards the centre of the barn. Eventually a quick flash of movement caught their eye and caused them to snap their head towards a bale of hay nestled in the corner of the barn. The black cat's sharp gaze caught the brown pelt of a mouse as it munched on a seed beside the bale of hay.
Without a moment of hesitation the black cat dropped into a crouch and drew themselves forwards. Their muscles were tensed and their whiskers twitched as they closed in on their prey. They would freeze with one paw midair as the mouse stopped munching on a seed and straightened up. For a moment their heart skipped a beat as they thought the mouse had sensed them. But to their relief after a moment the mouse returned it's attention to the seed grasped within it's front paws. The black cat closed in the remaining distance until they were within pouncing range. A wave of excitement over catching the mouse rippled through their body as they got ready to pounce. That was until the sound of frantic pawsteps filled the quiet barn along with an energetic voice.
"Hey Noir! Guess what!" An excited voice would ring into the barn as a small brown tabby tom tumbled forwards. His pelt was fuzzy and kitten-like and his eyes were piercing yellow. He had a brown pelt with darker stripes that swirled across his sides and a creme underbelly and paws. The tom's face was covered in delicate darker brown tabby markings and his muzzle was creme coloured much like his belly.
The noise of the small kitten-like brown tom's pawsteps as well as his loud and excited voice startled the mouse and caused it to dart out of sight. Noir growled under their breath in frustration and straightened their posture. With an annoyed flick of their tail they whipped around to face the small cat. An obvious look of annoyance and displeasure plastered onto their face. Their claws were partially unsheathed and dug slightly into the wooden floor.
"Brownie! I thought I told you not to barge into the barn like that anymore! Thanks to you I lost my kill!" Noir would hiss in annoyance to the smaller cat, their black pelt bristling slightly. They were obviously both annoyed and angry at the smaller cat for scaring away their prey.
Brownie flattened his ears at the larger cat's scolding and lowered his posture towards the ground. "Sorry..." Was all that escaped their mouth as his gaze dropped and focused on the ground inbetween his creme coloured paws, his tone had quickly turned from excited to ashamed.
Noir just sighed and shook their head softly at the smaller brown cat. "Whatever, what's done is done. Not like you can just go back in time and undo it." Their voice still held a level of annoyance and anger to it but it seemed to be slowly diminishing. The black cat would turn away from the smaller brown cat and begin to make their way back towards the stack of hay they were laying on before. "Now did you come here for a reason or just to scare my mouse away?" Noir would inquire, a hint of curiosity becoming apparent in their tone.
Brownie perked up as the larger cat dismissed his behavior and proceeded to ask if they came here for a reason. "Oh yeah! I came to tell you about a new molly that's living here now!" The small tom's tone quickly returned to being excited and bubbly as he bounded over to walk beside Noir.
Noir turned their gaze to Brownie who was now walking stride by stride beside them, as they heard the small tom say a new molly was around they perked up slightly. "A new molly huh? Well since you didn't bring them to the barn I'm guessing they're a house cat no?" The black cat would say house cat in a slightly mocking tone. Once they reached the stack of hay they would leap up and climb up onto the top of the stack. The black cat would then proceed to lay back down in their spot in a ray of sunshine.
"Yep! They're a pretty one as well! Maybe you'll swoon them over with you charming personality!" Brownie would tease as he watched the larger cat easily make their way to the top of the tall stack of hay. The small tom knew he couldn't make it up there nearly as easily. So instead he glanced towards a ladder towards the left of the stack of hay. "Mind if I join you?" He would ask as he returned his gaze to Noir.
Noir just huffed at the brown tom's teasing, they weren't looking for a mate and honestly preferred being without one. Admittedly Noir wasn't ever really one for romance and was happy enough living the life they were currently living, without all the messy and confusing things that came with a romantic relationship. They would watch as Brownie glanced towards the ladder. As the tom asked if he could join them up here they would shrug. "Eh not like I own this barn so go ahead." Noir would say dismissively.
Brownie who was obviously glad that Noir was allowing him up would smile widely up at the black cat before bounding over to the ladder. He would quickly make his way up the ladder which lead him towards a ledge that ran around the perimeter of the barn. The ledge was just large enough for a human to traverse and was home to extra hay bales that weren't being stored below. Brownie would clamber onto this ledge and trot over to above the stack of hay that Noir was laying on. The small brown cat would drop down from the ledge that was about a meter or two above the top of the stack of hay.
"Well now that you've joined me why don't you tell me about this new molly that's moved in? I doubt I'll see her much being a barn cat and all but it would be good to get to know something about her. Not like I have anything better to do anyways." Noir would say as they sprawled out lazily in the warm sunlight as Brownie landed beside them. A small smile formed on their maw as they listened to the smaller brown cat begin to ramble on about this new molly and everything he knew about her. Noir enjoyed listening to Brownie when he got lost in conversation like this, it was entertaining to say the least and being a more subdued and quiet cat himself it was nice to have some noise in the otherwise eerily silent barn.
