She stumbled through the remains of the house, coughing at the smoke, it filled her lungs, her eyes, and tears not purely of irritation were spilling down her face. Her blonde hair had long since taken on a grey color from soot collecting on it. She decided it fit with her present mood.

How exactly was one supposed to feel when everything you had ever known was just burned? When the last thing you remember was your father shoving your mother into the cellar with you. When the last thing you see is your mothers loving eyes as she shields you from an explosion. When the last thing you hear, are screams.

How exactly are you supposed to feel, when you’re the only survivor?

Her foot caught on something, and when she looked down, it appeared to be only a burnt pile of rags. Something about its shape was odd, though. Almost…fetal like…

Oh no.

She knelt down, and looked away for the briefest moment before turning her head to what was now the identifiable body of a kitten. Probably barely two months old.

Something in the background crashes down, a support beam, perhaps. But she doesn’t care. All she can focus on now is the fact that where there is one kitten there is a litter. And a mother.

She moved a little to the left, cautiously moving ashes – her hands getting as stained gray as her hair – until she connects with something soft. Another body. Another innocent little kitten. And she looses it. She could take everything else. Death happens. Her parents weren’t meant to live forever.

But the little kitten was the last call. The last hope she had been relying on. The last –

Her breakdown is interrupted by a mewling noise. That was definitely out of the ordinary. But it meant hope; she could hope again, that she wasn’t the only one left. Quickly though gently she searched the surrounding area, until she moved one piece of wood that looked like it had peeled from the walling.

There, lay her dead cat. The one that had been disappearing for days on end.

“Oh, I get it now. You...”

She heard the soft mewling noise again, and then the body of her cat shifted. Something underneath?

With tears blurring her vision, she gently, reverently, moved the body ever so slightly – she saw the tip of a head. It moved. It was alive! It was alive!

She wasn’t alone; she was going to be ok. So was the kitten. Everything was alright. The cat knew what she had gone through, she wasn’t alone. It was all ok. It was all ok. It was all ok.

In her happiness, she quickly moved the body of her cat, and picked up the kitten, it fit perfectly in her hands. She held it close to herself, and it nuzzled into the crook of her arm. Everything about it was alright, except for the slight ash covering on its fur. It made it the same color as her hands, her hair, and her mind.

It was fine because of the mothers sacrifice.

“You and I are alike, little kitten. Alike in so many ways.”

--

In just two days time, a traveler came through the village.

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

Solemnly he went through the center of the little village, looking at the burnt hollow remains of the ghost town. In the main square, he saw a body. But it didn’t look burnt – with hope he rushed towards the body, jumping off his horse.

It was a little girl, maybe eleven, maybe twelve. It was hard to tell because of her condition, and pose. Her hair was a dull gray, and when he touched her to check for a pulse, she was cold. Cold like one dead, yet she had a pulse.

The traveler was elated. He quickly went back to his saddle bags and retrieved a blanket; he knelt down beside her, and held her limp body up while he wrapped it in the blanket. Holding the little girl to his chest for warmth.

In a few minutes her body started to respond and show signs of wakefulness.

“Hey? Hey, can you hear me? Nod if you can.” She nodded.

“W-wh…o?” her voice broke, and came out scratchy, but he still understood her question. “I am just a traveler, came through hoping for supplies and found…this. Are you from this village?”

She nodded.

“I’m going to take you away from here, alright? Just a little ways out where we wont disturb…the dead, and when you are feeling better we will see to their rights, ok?”

Again, another nod.

“Can you open your eyes?”

She did, and he was startled, they were the same grey as the sky as the buildings as her hair as her hands. The same grey. And sightless. They looked blank, and he started again when she spoke calmly, closing her eyes.

“I can’t see anymore…My name is Luxis.”

“…Hello Luxis, I’m sure it’s just something the trauma triggered. It’ll come back,” he could tell she didn’t want it to, but he couldn’t imagine being in her position, so he tried to comfort her with that.

He picked her up, then, and her left arm came out from the blanket wrapped around her. Her muscles relaxed completely so that her body fell limply into his arms, and dropped something from her free hand.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Luxis.”

What he couldn’t know was that the kitten had died.