Number 13 in the Vader's Cat series. (Formerly called Vader and Cat but we decided we liked Vader's Cat better.)

In order they are:

Cracking the Armor
Another Disturbing Crack
Completely Cracked...and the Cat Came Back
Cracking the Death Star
Cracking Imperial Center, or: Cat Goes to Coruscant
Pruneface Cracks, or: Cat vs. Palpatine
Cracking the Dark Lord
Crack to Nature
Cracking His Confidence
A Fleet Full of Crack(pots)
Carbonite Cracks, or: Cat vs. Fett
Farmboy Cracks, or: Cat vs. Skywalker
Cloud City Cracks, or: Cat vs...Cat?

Cloud City Cracks, or: Cat vs….Cat?

When Vader's Cat regained his footing, he realized that he was alone. He prowled the strange place that he had fallen into, sniffing and batting at strange metal objects with his paws. Vader was somewhere above him, and the cat was determined to get back to him. He could find no way back, though, and he was forced to press onward, moving through a dark tunnel and into the room beyond it.

There, his hackles rose. He smelled something strange. Something…he had never smelled before. He peered over his shoulder and considered going back, but there was no way to Vader through the tunnel. Cautiously, he crept further into the room. As he did so, he noticed that the odd scent was strongest coming from a dark corner of the room just in front of him. He veered away, searching for a door that might lead him back to Vader. Then, an animal appeared, melting out the shadows to stare at him with large, bright purple eyes that had slitted pupils. The cat took a step back, unsure what to make of the being. It was a tad smaller than he was, thinner, and had white, matted fur, delicate looking pointed ears that had little gossamer threads attached to them that drifted down and touched the sides of its face. It approached him slowly, sniffed at him, and then rubbed down the length of his body, purring loudly.

"Meow…" it greeted him in a low, sultry tone.

Vader's Cat stood still. He had rarely been in the presence of anything female, and he had never seen another feline. His would-be paramour continued her advances, even caressing him with a long, graceful tail. After a few moments, the cat took a step back. The female followed and he swiped a claw at her in warning.

She froze, and her demeanor shifted to one of menace. Both animals crouched and hissed at one another. Vader's Cat sprang forward, lunging for the insane creature in front of him, determined to be done with her quickly so that he could continue his quest to find Vader.

What followed was an epic and harrowing struggle worthy of any lightsaber battle. The female proved to be a cunning and vicious adversary, and though Vader's Cat had the advantage in size and strength, she had much more experience with this kind of wrangling. Once he recovered his equilibrium, the two felines utterly destroyed the reactor room. Fur flew. Teeth and claws drew blood. There was enough yowling, crashing, and springing from place to place as equipment fell and panels tore lose that the racket could be heard all throughout the city. Panicked citizens of Cloud City assumed that the Empire had taken over the city and begun torturing prisoners.

Finally, something crashed into the large round window in the center of the room, and a terrible wind began to pull both animals out toward the reactor shaft. Vader's Cat dug his considerable claws into the instrument panel that he was standing on, but the wind was relentless, sucking him toward the terrible space outside.

"Mrrrrrrrrrowwww…!" he screamed, desperately hoping that Vader might hear and come to save him.

Vader did, indeed, hear. But unfortunately for the Cat—and for Luke— the Sith Lord did not have his impeccable sense of timing.

A note to the readers of my SW fics: I haven't forgotten about you! My migraines are still not cooperating, and time crunches are limiting my fic-writing time. There will be more in the upcoming weeks/months, I promise.