Raising Braess

The daily life at Kubbeli Evler continued as the seasons passed since the arrival of Pluto and the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler. Sun was a natural leader of the group, because he had started life as a domesticated pet kitten. Sadly, he was later abandoned by his Ba family, and became like the rest, a typical stray cat fighting for survival. Fortunately, he was adopted and joined the dysfunctional family of Pluto and Luna under the watchful eye of Wicked. The seven cats of Kubbeli Evler. The stray abandoned kitten was taught the rules of the symphony of the street, and how to survive by his adopted mother and mentor Luna. Sun, the ginger and white male became the leader because he possessed no fear of Ba and their strange world, he didn’t feel trapped when exposed to the Ba world, he didn’t fight it, he knew their ways, especially their habits inside their private dwellings. He was aware of Ba and how they used their various machines. Sun was thoughtful and responsible, he listened to all the other cats, but more importantly Sun was the one cat that the other cats were swayed by his opinions and daily directions. He was the sail and the rudder of the group.

Sun’s relationship with Pluto was deferential, Pluto was the Moses type father figure of the entire group, but like any alpha male, Pluto was separate, cycling the group from a distance. Aloof and disconnected, he was often absent and led a separate secret life outside of the group of seven. Sun sought out Pluto for guidance, and the exodus from Capricorn was an example of Sun and the others being influenced by Pluto’s supreme guidance. Similar to Neptune, Pluto’s influential role in the story of the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler was the metaphorical hand in glove, influential yet hidden force beneath the surface of the entire group of stray cats.

The secret of the group and the role they played in the drama and conflict; their purpose in the bigger drama would be revealed with time.

Jupiter and Saturn were the largest cats in the group; they were black and white males and only had one objective in life; making sure their stomachs were always filled. They were the most easily influenced amongst the group, without too many strong opinions, other than the subject of food, hunting food, whether it was edible or not. For them life was simple, sleep; day or night, eat, and survive.

The other cats would always get irritated with Jupiter and Saturn for their selfishness. Fighting amongst the group was common, especially over scraps of food and territory.

Venus the female tabby cat with an extra layer coat of fur. It made her a cute looking member of the group, but she was always fighting and scraping with Jupiter and Saturn, over food, and over territory. The screams: anytime day or night sometimes sounded like cries from a hungry Ba baby. Other times deep growls could be heard, which oscillated from a deep sounding low pitch to high screeches, depending on the status of the sparring cats. Venus liked her comforts; she thought she owned the rights to some of the spots within the property of Kubbeli Evler. Comfortable laying places with 360-degree strategic views either at night, or during the cooler winter days under the warmth of the shy sun, or conversely the shady spots during the fiercely hot summer days. Territory was important in the world of symphony of the street, and worth a fight to protect. It became a close second to food and was worth the cause of many bloodlettings and scars.

Mars a black male, looked a lot like Pluto; was also a fighter for his perceived rights within the group. He was small like Moon, but many made the mistake of underestimating his size, and regretted it after losing a fight with Mars. As Mars was a ferocious fighter, bravehearted, and fought every battle as though it was his last.

Moon the female grey, and Mercury the male grey were the direct descendants of Pluto and Luna’s love making, Moon didn’t have any fight in her and was always under the care of her brother Mercury a lean skinny cat, who was the most adventurous, and artful in the group. Mercury was swift in speed, clever in mind, and was always the first to find out about changes in the group’s circumstances, and the events both inside and outside the group.

It was the combined resourcefulness, and streetwise intelligence of the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler, and both Pluto and Neptune watching from the sidelines that Braess the fox cub born one sad night from the vixen named Bella Renard; grew up to be a healthy male fox. Braess grew up thinking he was part dog and part cat. However, the newborn cub would have died shortly after his birth if it was not for the intervention and tangible support of the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler, and the life-saving suckling milk from the teats of Lady the dog.

Overall Braess upbringing was unusual, entirely unique, and most importantly unseen by the eyes of the mountain les yeux de la montagne, in the secret hiding place of Kubbeli Evler. Nonetheless, as Neptune predicted the secluded sheltering place of Kubbeli Evler would not last forever. It was only a matter of time before all the group would be discovered in their hidden sanctuary, and then the servant of the mountain Lycan and his gang would reap vengeance on the group.

No one was safe, it was a period of calm before the proverbial storm.

At first Braess thought he was a dog, feeding regularly with his siblings from the teats of Lady, and then once he was old enough to eat food away from the suckling mother, he transformed into thinking he was a cat. In both cases without a handy mirror to look at himself, his thought processes were entirely driven by the creatures around him. Laying and playing with the puppies shortly after his birth, and then later finding his place in the symphony of the streets with a group of stray cats. The last thought on his mind was that he was a wild fox.

In his early life of subterfuge, the biggest danger of discovery and the subsequent unthinkable consequences was the threat from Ba. Ba doesn’t necessarily care about the welfare of stray animals, they are normally indifferent, irresponsible and uncaring. In some instances, Ba are directly responsible for the stray animal’s abandonment, as the stray abandoned creatures are forced to evolve into feral animals or die. In most cases, Ba took these animals into a caring domesticated environment, and then suddenly for many reasons ejected them out onto the streets, into the wilderness to look after themselves. The more good-hearted Ba would set up shelters and dedicate their lives to finding homes for the stray animals, organizations were set up for the stray animals’ protection, but in normal circumstances the animals had to fend for themselves. Cats were the best equipped for the symphony of the streets, as domesticated animals cats possess an independent nature. They would never adapt or become as loyal and close to Ba as a dog. It was only the comfort of living inside a warm and cozy Ba home that created any type of loyalty and attachment to a Ba home, or a connection to a Ba person.

So Braess was kept out of sight from Ba at Kubbeli Evler site. It was only at night that he would venture outside, often in the company of the cats of Kubbeli Evler. There were so many places to hide Braess, unused dog kennels, the cats knew every nook and cranny of the site, and more importantly the escape route if they were ever detected. It was this crafty feline awareness, and honed alert system of the cats that kept Braess continually out of sight of Ba. Thus, Braess grew up not only with his natural wild instinct and nature intact, but with the added teachings from a bunch of stray cats.

Braess would join the seven cats on their exploration outside of Kubbeli Evler, the well-trodden paths of the four-legged animals, across fields, farmland, as well as other properties. Braess became aware of the routes, and the escape routes, under fences, through water pipes, and disused Ba structures. He learnt about the places where rubbish was dumped, and how to find small rodents in the surrounding area. He also understood the signs and smells of both worlds of stray and wild animals.

Braess' favourite place was the neighbouring farm, where Yarrak the boss chicken, Yasli the old cow, Dag the farm dog, and Kaz the goose who thought he was a guard dog lived together. He could easily live on the farm he thought. Unfortunately, it was not a mutual feeling shared from the farm and its animal. The farm animals were introduced to Braess by the cats as a member of their feline group. They introduced Braess as part of the dysfunctional family, visiting the farm with no ulterior motive other than sociable friendliness.

“Treat Braess like one of us!” The seven cats of Kubbeli Evler would say repeatedly to the farm animals.

Nonetheless, the farm animals were always suspicious and guarded when Braess the fox appeared. They all thought and said to themselves that once a fox; always a fox in nature, Yarrak would often bite the legs of Braess as a warning. “You leave those eggs alone!”. It was an uneasy untrusting acceptance by the farm animals.

Naturally, Braess would steal eggs every time he visited the farm. The cats were not capable of carrying the eggs away in their mouths as Braess often did. With his protruding canine jaw Braess was the natural predator for carrying away stolen eggs from the farm and bringing it back to Kubbeli Evler for a shared meal.

This was one of the many advantages of adopting Braess by the stray group of cats.

One of the other advantages was on the occasions when the group were traveling along the animal tracks and they came head-to-head with Yaban, the wild pigs. The stray group of cats no longer needed to flee. Now that Braess was a fully grown fox, the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler had an animal within their group that could face the Yaban. The tables had turned, and it was the Yaban that turned and ran back to their homes in the higher remote regions of the mountain. No longer did the seven cats of Kubbeli defer their place at the rubbish bins foraging amongst the leftovers. No more hiding in the bushes until the Yaban had finished their inspection of the Ba garbage. This was an event, a distant memory from the past now that Braess the fox had joined their group.

Braess the fox's relationship with all the cats was unique. He had known them since his birth, even with those sightless black eyes, he remembered their smell as the first scent he had ever experienced. It wasn’t only a general scent of all the feral cats; he grew up knowing the scent of each of the seven as an individual one. An intimate familiar smell. The mixture of smells and scents of seven cats of Kubbeli Evler and Lady and her pups, these were smells and memories all bundled into one feeling. As Braess grew closer to the seven cats, the individual smell evolved into a unique relationship with each cat. With Jupiter and Saturn there was a kindred spirit for food. Both Jupiter and Saturn understood Braess possessed with his outward pointing muzzle and jaws a food transport and foraging system, which opened up another world of possibilities of finding and removing food that they could later share. They quickly became the three amigos, and all three became inseparable.

Braess' relationship with Sun was full of respect. Sun became a father figure in Braess’s life. However, with Venus and Mars, there was no less comradery, as Braess had obtained from both scars to his muzzle, when he crossed the line a few times as a playful cub and received a fearful swipe from both cats with their razor-sharp claws. Braess discovered quickly the need for distance with both Venus and Mars, and to respect their privacy. Braess was the most affectionate with Mercury and Moon; the two grey cats, his secret favourite, was the small loving Moon, who he would often play with, and they licked each other often with playfulness and with tender love and affection. Braess felt particularly protective towards Moon, the female grey cat.

The raising of Braess was unique in the world, and it created in Braess compassion, consideration for stray animals. Braess could never remove his natural coat of wildness, but he did learn from his younger days being raised by the seven cats of Kubbeli Evler an empathy for this special group of cats, as well as those on the periphery, such his surrogate mother Lady the dog, Pluto and Neptune, and the animals from the neighbouring farm. Normally, a wild fox was the cause of fear, or trepidation for both the stray animals and the farm animals, they lived in parallel worlds. The fox in the wild, only choosing to enter the farming world or the world of the stray animal as the head of the food chain, as a predator. The raising of Braess by the seven cats of Kubbeli would have a profound impact in the pending conflict.

The secret raising of Braess in these unusual circumstances was an extraordinary and unique event. As Neptune would foretell, as it was designed for a purpose.

* Ba - fictitious name used by animals for human beings and their world,