Eight: An Old Face

Cats in general, though almost always misanthropes in the way of humans, are generally not unkind to other cats. In fact, it is not unheard of street cats to have one or more familiar acquaintances, despite human generalizations about our common demeanor towards them being applied to all other forms of life.
I, for instance, have one friend who has been my mentor from the beginning, guiding me to the gullible spots in town for food and so forth. He has been one I could count on. Grifick, as he is commonly known, looks not unlike me; medium-long black fur, and a subtle, lion-like mane. The only real difference between us is our eye color: my eyes are a deep ocean blue, his a fiery orange. He wears also a small tear in his left ear, a battle scar. We often stop to talk whenever our paths intersect.
One night, while dozing on Sea Eyes' bed, I awoke to the sound of shaking metal -- the fire escape. I looked out the window, already on my feet. Soon, a pair of noctilucent eyes the color of an eerie turquoise appeared in the dark void outside the window. I prepared to fight, arching my back, fluffing my fur, waiting to growl my formidable warning. And then Grifick jumped in through the open window. My low rumble quickly transformed into a surprised "hrrmm". How in the world did he find me here? My inner street warrior smacked its forehead; my habits of watching for followers had waned. Perhaps he tailed me and waited for night.
He dispensed with our usual warm greeting, and it dawned on me that he was quite winded. "You know," he panted, "it's a long climb up here. How do you do it?"
"Simple scavenging, however perhaps a bit too desperate, but food is an excellent motivator when you are faced with a formidable obstacle."
"Yeah, well, I'm not sure whether or not that's a good thing. I've always prided myself in being able to locate the most convenient food, no matter how hard to find. Speaking of which, how did you land yourself in a place like this?"
"It's a long story. The most important question right now is what in the world are you doing here? How did you find me?"
"I haven't bumped into you in a while, so I got curious. When I spotted you, I tried to catch up, but you were in a hurry. I saw you climb up the fire escape, and I waited for an opportune moment."
"Well, fine," I said, still skeptical, despite him being a good friend. "I hope you know that the kitchen is closed 24/7 to all tourists."
"Of course. I'm not as uncivilized as most youngsters out there, I thought you knew that."
"Naturally. But even the closest of relationships can be torn apart by bare necessities."
"Understood, but it will never come to that. Hey, you look like you're nearing that time of the month. I hope you don't plan on bleeding all over this poor girl's bedroom."
"Of course not. But I can't just take off for a few days; she'll think I've ditched her."
"A necessary cost. Come on, you can crash at my place for a few nights."

Needless to say, I always find him hard to refuse. He had a place in an alley next to a restaurant, and made space for me while I scoped out an inconspicuous place to make my monthly mess. But as our time together wore on, I realized that he was more to me than a mentor; he was my best friend and companion.