Blossom braced herself as the ground rumbled and shook. The sound of thunder filled her ears, making her flinch. When will this stop? It seemed to go on forever, the loud roar as high buildings swayed and weakened.

Eventually, the roaring died down, leaving Blossom staring down at the stone. She was standing in a small alley. Blossom let out a sigh, lifting her head. She took in the tall buildings and the sound of panicked humans. Shiny cars were rushing loudly down the street. Blossom's heart beat frantically. Calm down, she thought. It's not going to happen for a while now.

Blossom padded forwards cautiously, pricking her ears for danger. Cats had been under a lot of stress lately, and stress could change others dramatically. Now the city-dwelling cats were more likely to attack her, a lonely alley cat.

As she peered out from the corner of the alley, Blossom thought about the recent tremor. It had been worse than the others. But then again, they had all gradually become more and more violent, not to mention more frequent.

Worry gnawed at her, and she glanced up at the sky. The sun had reached its peak, and was sinking down in the sky. Blossom's heart skipped a beat as the earth rumbled again. But this time it was only a gentle tremor.

She studied the humans. They seemed to be fleeing the colossal city. Blossom frowned, wondering why they would leave their homes. Perhaps they knew that the rumbling earth would only become more violent. She shuddered, stepping back into her dark alley, keeping her gaze fixed on the bright cars that prowled by as she backed up.

If the humans couldn't stop this, what could? Maybe the world was going to shake until it crumbled into tiny shards. Fear rose up inside Blossom. Although there was nothing special to her life, she didn't want it to end. Not like this…

Her cream-coloured ears flattened as another cat hurried past the entrance of the alley. It paused, turning, as it caught her scent. Blossom let out a hiss, unsheathing her claws. The cat's eyes flashed.

"Blossom!" it called. She recognised the cat instantly. It was her kittenhood friend, Patch.

"Oh, it's just you," she meowed, straightening up. Patch turned and trotted up to her, and she slid her claws away. Blossom felt the familiar sense of comfort as she looked at one of her only friends. Patch had always been there for her when she was younger.

He still looked the same, with his chocolate-brown fur and the snowy white patch around his left eye. His green eyes still held that friendliness and care that they always had.

"What do you think of the tremors?" he asked worriedly. Blossom didn't look at him as she answered, keeping her gaze fixed on the cars passing by.

"I'm worried, as is every other cat in the city. And the humans, quite possibly their dogs too," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

"You don't fool me, Bloss," Patch meowed gently. "It's true, we're all worried. And after this, I'm not sure that anything will be the same again."

Blossom shook her head, feeling a strange tingle as he used her nickname. No one used her nickname, not anymore. "We can only hope for the best," she meowed, finally fixing her bright green gaze on him.

Patch nodded. "I'd best be off," he whispered. "Take care." Blossom dipped her head in farewell, watching him trot out of the alley. She sighed, wondering what to do.

Blossom padded to the back of the alley. It was a dead end, of course, so that she couldn't be taken by surprise from the back. She lay down, curling her tail over her nose. Hoping for a peaceful, uninterrupted sleep, she let herself drift off.

-o0o-

Blossom raised her head, blinking sleepily. She pricked her ears, trying to get her bearings. As she gazed out of the alley entrance, she noticed that there weren't as many cars leaving before. But she could still hear humans.

Blossom noticed with slight alarm that the ground was trembling again; rumbling as if something massive was approaching. Normally, the tremors only happened once each day, as they had for the past quarter moon. But today, there had been two. She decided to stay where she was, as it was unlikely that the alley would collapse if the tremor became more violent.

Fear rose again inside her, making her fur prickle and her tail lash. Blossom knew that eventually, the tremors would become even more destructive. They might even manage to topple a human building, one of the structures that looked like it touched the sky.

The ground was only rumbling slightly, as if the earth was shivering. The sun was lowering towards the horizon, turning the sky colourful shades of pink, amber and red. The tall human buildings were silhouetted against the sunset, looming in front of her. As Blossom gazed up at them, she couldn't imagine them crumbling to the ground.

The tremor still hadn't stopped. They didn't normally go for this long, and Blossom was worrying. She realized that it was only becoming more violent. Normally at this time of the evening, the human buildings lit up, unnatural light streaming from the tall windows. But on this fateful night, they were as dark as night.

The ground began to shake violently. Blossom knew that this was it, this was the big one. She quickly rose to her paws and stumbled to the back of the alley. She pressed against it, hoping that she would be safe. A roaring noise filled her ears, and she flattened them to her head. Blossom turned to look out of the alley entrance.

She watched fearfully as the sky-touchers swayed, outlined against the fiery sunset. Little rocks seemed to be jumping on the ground. Nothing bad seemed to have happened yet.

That was when she heard it; thunderous crash, seemingly right behind her. Blossom jumped backwards from the wall, and backed away, keeping her green gaze fixed on the alley wall.

The wails of distressed humans filled the air. Blossom remembered in horror that she had been able to see a distant sky-toucher rising behind the alley. There was nothing there now.

The quake toppled a sky-toucher already! Blossom thought, horrified. Shaking her pelt, she tried to walk back to the alley wall. But she was knocked onto her side by the quaking earth. And it was a good thing. The dead end, the wall that Blossom had thought was so secure, crumbled downwards in a rain of stone and bricks.

She let out a cry, struggling to her paws and backing away. That wall had protected her for two years, and a simple movement of the earth had sent it crumbling down. Blossom began to panic, racing out onto the street. She let out a wild yowl as a car came tearing towards her.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she stumbled onto the other side of the road. Blossom's fur ruffled as the car sped past. She opened her eyes; then started to stumble along the path. There were trees lining the road; shaking dangerously. She was terrified.

The city is being destroyed. I have lived in it all of my life, and now it's tumbling down. She looked around, trying to find a safe place and stay on her paws as she was violently jostled. One of the sky-touchers she was looking at before the quake began was swaying perilously. In shock, Blossom watched as it leaned to the side, seemingly hanging there. Then there was an uproarious crash.

The building cracked in two; and fell to the ground in pieces of rubble. Blossom started to shake. Humans were running around wildly, and she could see cats panicking too. The peaceful city was in chaos, and the sun was spilling blood red rays across the scene.

Something barrelled into her, sending her tumbling onto the ground. Blossom turned with a hiss, to see a small grey tabby looking bewildered, staring at her with wide blue eyes.

"Go!" Blossom hissed, baring her fangs. The tabby let out a squeak and scrambled to his paws, pelting away along the cracking footpath. Blossom just stood there, miserably watching her world come crashing down.

-o0o-

The loud roar had died down slightly. Blossom was cowering on the footpath, with her paws over her ears. She could just hear the faint meows of terrified cats nearby. Blossom raised her head, looking around. The city had been reduced to debris. Plumes of dust and smoke rose from the places where there used to be magnificent structures.

The sun had disappeared for the night, and Blossom wouldn't be surprised if it didn't rise again after what it had just witnessed. How does it keep going? Blossom wondered miserably. I know that I wouldn't, not if I had seen such things.

She wasn't sure how long it had been, but the thundering roar had finally stopped. Blossom could stand up without the fear of being toppled like a sky-toucher. The question had been bugging her since the earthquake started.

What do I do now?

She didn't have a home, and she was all alone. Blossom didn't have anyone to care for her while she mentally recovered from the horrific experience. Except… Patch!

Blossom was fragile. Not in the physical way, no, she could fight off three cats at once. Or so she liked to think. But it was in the mental way that she was fragile. It was hard for her to recover when something bad happened, harder than normal cats found it.

And now her mind had managed to think of something. She had to find Patch. He would take care of her, he would help her.

Blossom padded wearily down the street, gazing around at the aftermath of the earthquake. She still couldn't believe what had happened to the city as she took in the piles of debris. The smell of death hung heavily in the air as the moonlight shone down. She felt numb, and tried to think of something to take her stunned mind off the current situation.

I don't know how the moon does it either, Blossom thought, wondering if Patch had gone this way. She scented the air, trying to distinguish his scent. I mean, it must be so horrible to watch death at work every day. I think I'd be more like the moon, cold and dim instead of warm and bright.

She caught a faint trace of Patch's fading scent. Blossom sped up her pace, hurrying along the cracked path. There were wide cracks in the road too. Desperation rose inside her as she started to run. Something felt wrong, more wrong than the ruined city.

Blossom wondered how Patch's scent was still distinguishable through the dust and death. But she didn't really care; it was just another thing for her mind to think of.

Her heart lifted as she saw a familiar human house ahead. Patch had moved into the abandoned building when humans had moved out around a year ago. But Blossom's joy was tainted as she saw that the house was in ruins. Half of the roof had caved in, bringing down some of the walls too.

"Patch?" she whispered. She realized that he wouldn't be able to hear her yet, so she trotted closer. She called his name. There was no reply, only the faint noise from burning houses and panicking humans in the background.

"Patch," Blossom meowed more firmly. "Stop playing around, it's not funny." A shiver ran down her spine. What if he's not playing around?

She nosed her way into the rubble. Patch's scent was stronger here. He's in this building, Blossom thought as she squeezed through a gap in the wall. She gazed around nervously, her fur fluffing up. She hadn't been in a human dwelling for around a year.

Blossom took in the shattered decorations on the floor, wincing as a sharp piece of glass grazed her pad. Where is he?

Her gaze brushed past the caved in roof, where moonlight was spiling through the gap. But her head snapped back when she saw his body.

"Patch!" she yowled desperately. "Patch!" Blossom darted over to his motionless body. "Wake up!" She placed her paws on his shoulders as his back was to her, shaking him roughly. Terror flooded through her. It looked like he had been hit by a falling piece of the roof. Blossom grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him away from the mess.

Her blood ran cold and her heart froze when she saw his glazed green eyes staring sightlessly into the distance.