Poem: "The City of Kittens"
This poem is spillover from the September 6, 2022 bonus fishbowl. It fills the "Smith and Tinker" square in my 9-1-22 card for the Land of Oz Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with Dreamwidth user Fuzzyred. It belongs to the Big One thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"The City of Kittens"
[Summer 2016]
After the Great Shaking
at the end of the spring,
Rain City was in ruins and
most of the humans had
died or moved away.
Amongst the rubble,
many cats and kittens
had survived, though.
The older cats were
easily able to walk away
and find a better place,
but for the little kittens
that was a long, long walk
so most of them stayed put.
Two of these kittens were
siblings with particular gifts,
fishcats descended from
great and wise explorers,
so they decided to make
a place for themselves.
Smith was a white female
with pale yellow-grey eyes
and polydactyl thumbs at
the sides of both forepaws.
She liked to make things,
especially from metal.
Her brother Tinker was
a brown tabby who had
bright green eyes and
dewclaw thumbs he could
use by curling his paws.
He liked manipulating things
the humans had left, especially
simple tools and machines.
Smith and Tinker settled
in the remains of a building
that still had three walls
and a roof in one place,
plus a bit of yard outside.
In the ruins it was easy
to scrounge for whatever
things they needed.
Smith found wire and
ribbon of metal, with which
she could fasten things
together, and which
made marvelous toys.
She made a bit of fence
around the yard to mark
their shared territory and
keep out the wild dogs
that prowled the ruins.
They discovered that
it was easier to move
things up the steps if
they pushed a flat board
over the staircase first.
A wedge was good for
knocking off bits of things.
A long stick shoved into
the crack of a door could
be used to open it up, and
the same stick pushed under
something heavy could lift it.
Tinker was the one who
figured out that the funny lever
which humans so often carried --
the kind with a sharp end and
a dull end -- could be used
to poke holes in cans or
pry caps off bottles.
So they could hunt
for canned food, now,
if they wanted it.
Fresh mouse was
better, but not always
available, and food in
cans would stay good.
Because Smith and Tinker
had thumbs, and were smarter
than average cats, soon they
had quite a nice place to live
with warm beds and fun toys and
high perches to survey the world.
Others came to join them, and
the pride grew powerful enough
that they no longer had to worry
about the wild dog packs at all.
It wasn't hard to roll rocks up
a board to rest on top of the fence,
where they could be pushed down
onto any dog that dared to approach.
The City of Men may have fallen,
but the City of Kittens rose to replace it.
* * *
Notes:
Smith -- She is a white kitten with yellow-grey eyes. She is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. Smarter than average cats, she is polydactyl with opposable thumbs at the sides of both front paws. She is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Graceful and observant, Smith has a knack for making things, especially from metal. However, she is fussy about hygiene and her white coat is hard to keep clean.
Origin: She was born with her superpowers.
Uniform: None. She goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Graceful, Good (+2) Making Things, Good (+2) Observant
Poor (-2) Hard to Keep Clean
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To make life better.
Tinker -- He is a brown tabby kitten with green eyes. He is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. He is smarter than average cats with dewclaws large enough to serve as opposable thumbs on both front paws. He is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Tinker is fast on his feet and adept at manipulating things left by humans, especially simple tools or machines. His coat gives him good camouflage to hide from predators or prey. However, his whiskers are shorter than average, which can make it hard for him to gauge spaces well.
Origin: He was born with his superpowers.
Uniform: None. He goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Camouflage, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Mechanical Intelligence
Poor (-2) Short Whiskers
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To figure out how things work.
* * *
Local-America recognizes two polydactyl breeds, American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. Terramagne-America recognizes more including:
-- American Shorthair Polydactyl is similar to American Polydactyl but distinguished from other polydactyl breeds, some of which have long hair.
-- Bigfoot Cats allow registry of any polydactyl cat, rather like the National Pinto Horse registry based on color
-- Hemingway Cats were established by Ernest Hemingway and adapted to Florida's hot wet climate with a short thin coat.
-- Maine Coon Polydactyl is a subset of the long-haired Maine Coon breed.
-- Mitten Kittens are a long-haired breed similar to Ragdoll.
-- Skookumcats are a big hairy breed with a long coarse rain-shedding coat, developed for the Pacific Northwest.
-- Vermont Shag Carpet Cats are a landrace rather than a breed, often though not always longhaired and polydactyl.
Polydactyl cats should not be confused with thumbcats (supercats based on having opposable thumbs regardless of how many digits they have), handcats (supercats with anything from longer toes and thumbs to fully functional hands), or shipcats (cats with Super-Intellect, sometimes Telepathy, Extended Lifespan, or other superpowers), although cats can qualify for more than one of these categories.
Fishcats are descendants with thumbcat, handcat, and/or shipcat ancestry; they tend to be more intelligent with larger brains, and they often have opposable thumbs, longer toes, functional hands, and/or extra digits. Various people have breeding colonies of fishcats or their relatives, but there isn't an established breed yet.
Simple machines can be combined into more complex machines. Cats can operate some of these, as demonstrated in "Mrrrp the Magnificient and the Re-invention of the Lever."
Can openers come in many styles, of which the church key is basically a lever with a sharp end for puncturing cans and a dull end for prying off bottle caps.
"The City of Kittens"
[Summer 2016]
After the Great Shaking
at the end of the spring,
Rain City was in ruins and
most of the humans had
died or moved away.
Amongst the rubble,
many cats and kittens
had survived, though.
The older cats were
easily able to walk away
and find a better place,
but for the little kittens
that was a long, long walk
so most of them stayed put.
Two of these kittens were
siblings with particular gifts,
fishcats descended from
great and wise explorers,
so they decided to make
a place for themselves.
Smith was a white female
with pale yellow-grey eyes
and polydactyl thumbs at
the sides of both forepaws.
She liked to make things,
especially from metal.
Her brother Tinker was
a brown tabby who had
bright green eyes and
dewclaw thumbs he could
use by curling his paws.
He liked manipulating things
the humans had left, especially
simple tools and machines.
Smith and Tinker settled
in the remains of a building
that still had three walls
and a roof in one place,
plus a bit of yard outside.
In the ruins it was easy
to scrounge for whatever
things they needed.
Smith found wire and
ribbon of metal, with which
she could fasten things
together, and which
made marvelous toys.
She made a bit of fence
around the yard to mark
their shared territory and
keep out the wild dogs
that prowled the ruins.
They discovered that
it was easier to move
things up the steps if
they pushed a flat board
over the staircase first.
A wedge was good for
knocking off bits of things.
A long stick shoved into
the crack of a door could
be used to open it up, and
the same stick pushed under
something heavy could lift it.
Tinker was the one who
figured out that the funny lever
which humans so often carried --
the kind with a sharp end and
a dull end -- could be used
to poke holes in cans or
pry caps off bottles.
So they could hunt
for canned food, now,
if they wanted it.
Fresh mouse was
better, but not always
available, and food in
cans would stay good.
Because Smith and Tinker
had thumbs, and were smarter
than average cats, soon they
had quite a nice place to live
with warm beds and fun toys and
high perches to survey the world.
Others came to join them, and
the pride grew powerful enough
that they no longer had to worry
about the wild dog packs at all.
It wasn't hard to roll rocks up
a board to rest on top of the fence,
where they could be pushed down
onto any dog that dared to approach.
The City of Men may have fallen,
but the City of Kittens rose to replace it.
* * *
Notes:
Smith -- She is a white kitten with yellow-grey eyes. She is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. Smarter than average cats, she is polydactyl with opposable thumbs at the sides of both front paws. She is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Graceful and observant, Smith has a knack for making things, especially from metal. However, she is fussy about hygiene and her white coat is hard to keep clean.
Origin: She was born with her superpowers.
Uniform: None. She goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Graceful, Good (+2) Making Things, Good (+2) Observant
Poor (-2) Hard to Keep Clean
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To make life better.
Tinker -- He is a brown tabby kitten with green eyes. He is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. He is smarter than average cats with dewclaws large enough to serve as opposable thumbs on both front paws. He is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Tinker is fast on his feet and adept at manipulating things left by humans, especially simple tools or machines. His coat gives him good camouflage to hide from predators or prey. However, his whiskers are shorter than average, which can make it hard for him to gauge spaces well.
Origin: He was born with his superpowers.
Uniform: None. He goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Camouflage, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Mechanical Intelligence
Poor (-2) Short Whiskers
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To figure out how things work.
* * *
Local-America recognizes two polydactyl breeds, American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. Terramagne-America recognizes more including:
-- American Shorthair Polydactyl is similar to American Polydactyl but distinguished from other polydactyl breeds, some of which have long hair.
-- Bigfoot Cats allow registry of any polydactyl cat, rather like the National Pinto Horse registry based on color
-- Hemingway Cats were established by Ernest Hemingway and adapted to Florida's hot wet climate with a short thin coat.
-- Maine Coon Polydactyl is a subset of the long-haired Maine Coon breed.
-- Mitten Kittens are a long-haired breed similar to Ragdoll.
-- Skookumcats are a big hairy breed with a long coarse rain-shedding coat, developed for the Pacific Northwest.
-- Vermont Shag Carpet Cats are a landrace rather than a breed, often though not always longhaired and polydactyl.
Polydactyl cats should not be confused with thumbcats (supercats based on having opposable thumbs regardless of how many digits they have), handcats (supercats with anything from longer toes and thumbs to fully functional hands), or shipcats (cats with Super-Intellect, sometimes Telepathy, Extended Lifespan, or other superpowers), although cats can qualify for more than one of these categories.
Fishcats are descendants with thumbcat, handcat, and/or shipcat ancestry; they tend to be more intelligent with larger brains, and they often have opposable thumbs, longer toes, functional hands, and/or extra digits. Various people have breeding colonies of fishcats or their relatives, but there isn't an established breed yet.
Simple machines can be combined into more complex machines. Cats can operate some of these, as demonstrated in "Mrrrp the Magnificient and the Re-invention of the Lever."
Can openers come in many styles, of which the church key is basically a lever with a sharp end for puncturing cans and a dull end for prying off bottle caps.