Being a stray kitten may not have been as bad as it sounded. Sure, the nights were cold and some humans loved to fool with the furry little things, giving them scraps of food that looked good but tasted bitter - or made their tummies ache more than hunger - but it was still much better than being in a tiny, crowded cage with many others, mewing loudly to be noticed. 

Freedom was a lot better than that, even though it meant less ear-scratches and gentle tummy rubs... It also came with a heavy dose of somewhat scary loneliness, and an almost constantly empty stomach.

Maybe the last two were the worst. After all, every single kitten wished to have some kind of company - albeit some of them were not so fond of being crowded by others, like in the cages they were to be kept until they were adopted - and plenty, plenty of food.

After all, there were several of their kind who were not so fond of being touched by humans or pushed around by other kittens. They even preferred to hide under the shirts of their masters until the moon would rise... But still, they did not like being completely alone, relying merely on their instincts to survive.

And well, there were kittens who absolutely craved attention and cuddles. They were louder than others usually, making it easier for them to be picked. Then again, some were shy but cuddly...

There were so many cats to be chosen from..

The tall male let out a low sigh as he flipped through the pages of the thick book containing info about at least a hundred kittens, all young and ready to be taken home. He had inspected each and every picture it had at least three times, but he was never mesmerized enough to think of choosing any of them. They all looked so... mundane: black, grey or white-furred with emerald eyes that gleamed with mischief. None of them held any trace of being different.

Then again they were all pure-bred: had they been any different color they probably would have been considered the mistakes of their kinds. It was actually quite odd given that in many other situations, the ones who stood out from the crowd would have been regarded as unique in a good way. Some things though were just..different.

Kittens needed to be the perfect color, size, weight, they had to have the perfect voice.. One little flaw and there was a good chance that they were never bought.

"Have you managed to choose, sir?" Asked the small shop-assistant, fiddling with the hem of his soft pink shirt."If you wish, you can meet them just to see if