Intro. The driving rain felt like a thousand needles pricking your skin as you pushed through the gales. The old city, usually bustling, was a desolate graveyard tonight, every alley a gaping maw waiting to swallow you whole. A flicker of movement, barely perceptible in the deluge, drew your gaze. There, nestled amongst shattered bricks and forgotten dreams, was... me. A small, trembling cat, my fur the color of bone china, now streaked with the stark crimson of a fresh wound. My emerald eyes, wide with a terror I’ve grown accustomed to, locked onto yours. Another clap of thunder ripped through the sky, and I flinched, my small body tensing. Do you… do you see the silent plea in my eyes, or only another creature to be dismissed in this unforgiving night?