Quite frankly, it was insulting to call Jeremy Snugglemuffin’s home crate anything other than a kingdom, for it was quite definitely his to rule over in the shelter. As if he would understand that in this realm he was effectively a stray placed into a shelter. No, that concept was utterly foreign to the creature sitting in the caged shelter. He was content to be in a place where he could sleep nearly continuously and be brought food on the regular. Imagine having to be lesser and actually hunt for his food. Not Jeremy. While he wished for someone to come around more frequently to offer scratches underneath his chin, Jeremy was perfectly content to stay in this home.

Humans would come in and visit every now and again. Some days those were the highlights. The Humans would reach through the bars, fingers outstretched and wiggling, and if Jeremy so felt like it, he would also reach out and find himself brushing up against those fingers. Especially under his chin, after all, that was the golden place to scratch. Eventually, one of those humans selected him to be moved to a new home, but being forced into a much smaller cage was not something that Jeremy was comfortable with. As soon as the ridiculous human found the cage and opened the door, Jeremy made his way outside, refusing to engage with such an awful creature.

He wandered for a while, working to evade the humans that wanted to place him back in the restraints, having grown accustomed to the freedom that he had. Sure, Jeremy missed the fact that meals were just given to him, but otherwise, he relished his lazy days under the sun.

Eventually, having made his way to Ghana by stowing away on various trucks, planes and ships, Jeremy was lounging near the docks, looking for his next ship to adventure on. There was a decently sized ship that had just a few humans on board, one that wasn’t quite as large as the others. Not quite a kitten, but somewhere in that zone. That was the next place where Jeremy would venture, the next ship that he would sit with and just ride the waves.

It took them a few days, honestly, to figure out that he was on board. When he showed up, they were a little shocked, but seeing as they were in the middle of the ocean, they, fortunately, did not just cast Jeremy off into the ocean. Instead, they kept trying to find things to feed him. Pathetic things, too. No, Jeremy was content to fish for himself from the ocean. Great big tuna that would suddenly appear on the deck (at least, according to the human), and Jeremy would slowly consume it, then walk away without a care.

He learned, over time, that the name of the human that intrigued him the most was Kiwi. Spending plenty of time in Kiwi’s room, and bed, as well as just a constant by her side, Jeremy had claimed this human. They stopped trying to give him any kind of food, especially the cat food that they had purchased from the stores along the way. Jeremy was content, too, to fish for his own meals and lounge with this family of humans. It wasn’t so much that they allowed him to stick around, as he said, you are now my family.

After some time, they made their way to the shore, and Jeremy continued to venture everywhere with Kiwi. Never in a small cat carrier. It was as though the family knew that he was going to make his own choices for how to travel. While he didn’t always enjoy venturing to the ice rink with Kiwi, it was slightly too cold for his tastes, Jeremy never missed a practice or a game.

One day, while chasing a feathered toy on the bench, Jeremy jumped on the wall separating the benches from the ice. He, however, wasn’t the most graceful of creatures at times. Instead of just landing appropriately, Jeremy fell onto the ice, and found himself sliding halfway across. It was cold on his toe beans, and he really wasn’t a fan of how it felt, but he also genuinely enjoyed gliding along the ice seamlessly. It was one of the few things on Earth that reminded him of being out in space. Jeremy didn’t want to let that feeling go. Working to figure out how to actually move on the ice was something else entirely, and Jeremy found himself spending tons of time just sliding everywhere.

With the help of Kiwi, Jeremy gained a set of cat shaped boots to be able to use on the ice. After practice, you could often catch Jeremy chasing around the puck on the ice, and catching it before kicking it off in a new direction with his back paws. While it might seem strange to some, that Jeremy was a part of hockey practice after that, he genuinely wanted to learn the sport and be able to share some time with his beloved Kiwi. He didn’t know what to expect as he declared himself eligible for the SMJHL. Quite frankly, it was something that most humans didn’t expect, which is on par for humans. While he was excited about the many offers that came his way as the season was wrapping up for the SMJHL teams, he knew that there was only one place that he could call home to end the season.

It was a slight shock to leave Kiwi to move to Ottawa for the time-being. While Jeremy knew that Kiwi had also grown and was ready to enter the SMJHL as well, it was still odd to be away from her. Even more, it was odd to not be playing with her. Not that he was complaining. Jeremy’s teammates on Ottawa had been more than welcoming, and even though he knew he might not last until next season with the team, drafts are certainly unpredictable, he found it nice to have this camaraderie that he had felt with Kiwi after so long. The season was coming to a quick end, and Jeremy was looking forward to the potential of seeing Kiwi on the ice. But even if she wasn’t able to find a home, Jeremy knew that Kiwi would be there, cheering him on game after game. It wasn’t pretty, and he certainly was out of his depth when it came to his teammates, but Jeremy was thrilled to be a part of the league moving forward.

At nights, no one really knew where he would end up. There were a few who thought he was just living in the ice arena and snacking on whatever creatures he found. A few others swore that they saw the cat spending his millions on a penthouse apartment, and even still others believed that he was just living on the streets. Jeremy certainly wasn’t going to tell them the truth, at least not yet. On top of the fact that it was hard enough to communicate with humans, he just needed to maintain a little bit of mystery surrounding himself.