Here, Kitty Kitty (tag: Bast) Most of the time, Cernunnos lived--quite happily, to be frank--in Tennessee. But when Spring and Summer hit, when everything in the world was green and growing, and there were baby animals teeming all over the planet, sometimes his hooves got itchy. And he'd go out on a trek to visit a few of the other cities where he liked to spend his time, or just... you know, wander.
Today was a wandering day. He'd parked himself for a few days in California, roamed the state parks, even helped a bear through a breech birth deep in the woods. He'd visited a handful of animal shelters and dropped off anonymous donations, and then had stopped by an open-air market for lunch. A fresh salad in a light balsamic vinaigrette and two shiny apples had been a delicious meal, and then he'd stopped at a regular grocery store for some much needed supplies.
He'd ended up with about thirty cans of Fancy Feast, thirty of 9-Lives, two twenty-pound bags of dry Meow Mix cat and kitten kibble, two gallons of milk, twenty four bottles of fresh water--he really didn't trust the wells and water taps around his house--and twelve cans of tuna fish.
As soon as he opened his front door, a great cacophony of meowing met him. "Okay, okay... somebody had kittens!" he called out, smiling. Sure enough, the Siamese he'd taken in, Daisy Mae, had had a litter of four kittens. "Okay, Daisy Mae, that means it's time to take you and the little ones into the vet," he said, carrying the bags of food and water into the kitchen.
He didn't much care for tuna fish himself, but he knew that his kids did, and those cans were the first ones unpacked. Cernunnos frowned at the dry kibble that had somehow gotten into the water dish, and took it to the sink to be thrown out.
That gave him the chance to check on his outdoor kids. He had a big wooden fence, with a line of angled shingles throwing shade and keeping the cats from jumping up and getting out. But it did let them roam the yard freely, and he could see most of the regulars.
And there was a new kid, sitting on the ledge of the deck and staring into the house like it knew what it was looking for. He couldn't help checking the new addition out; she seemed to be healthy, her coat looked to be in good shape, and she didn't look to be starved. That meant to him she'd just been put out, maybe in the last week to few days, or dropped off here by someone who knew he didn't say no. "Hey there, girl."
All cats were girls until proven otherwise. After re-filling the water dish from one of the bottles, he put it down on the floor. He had a friend in the area who came in and checked food and water every day, but Cernunnos would rather do it himself. Sometimes, he thought he might just ought to go ahead and call this house a shelter.
Food and fish went down next, including kitten kibble for Daisy's offspring, and then he headed outside. "Hey, girls and boys," he called out, ignoring the new arrival for a moment. He'd have to see if she was friendly before he approached her. "How are we doing today? Still keeping my back yard mouse-free?" Each cat came up and twined around his ankles, some of them asking for pets and strokes, which they received. "Ready for supper?"