The Temple Cats — Catherine Soto

Lin Mei and her younger brother Bio Mei fled to the western deserts of China to escape the people who siezed their home and killed the rest of their family. When the caravan they were hiding in took shelter in an abandoned temple, they found two kittens and adopted them. Then their lives got really interesting...

This is a group of five stories first published in SWORD & SORCERESS 21-25. The individual titles are: Step by Step; Night Watches; Hope for the Dawn; Sages and Demons; and Winter in Khotan.