Loners
i could only listen and never feel the distance
Posts: 11
Pronouns: he/him
Played By: rubykh
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Post by Moondust on Jan 17, 2023 20:29:24 GMT -6
It was a cold winter comin', and most seasons, Danny found himself homed in with the neighborhood cats to pass the blizzards by. This close to the mountains, the snow seemed to blow straight down from their pointed peaks in dense flurries. So much so that he could hardly comprehend how any cat could spent their life eternally outdoors! He was as much for freedom as the next feline, but you had to give some to get some, and that meant making some sacrifices so that you could actually survive to reap your independent rewards. Hardly known for his pride, he was more than happy to go make big eyes and cozy up to the first human in the nearby town for a nice fire to curl up by. Maybe even meet some nice company, chatting away between windows the way housecats had adapted their body language to best manage. Always the party goers, those domestic types.
But as of right now, well. He was running a bit behind schedule!
When the speckled tom went travelling here and there and everywhere, it wasn't as if he planned his route. That'd kill the spirit of the whole thing. Like he'd said, freedom was freedom, and that meant following the tug of your heart, not the plots of your paws. Wintering down was only one decision infringing on that roaming nature, but he always waited till the time felt right to do so. And it just hadn't felt right! Not until, uh. It turned out winter was approaching all too suddenly, and he was in no position to brave the blizzards where he was currently camping. As fun as it was to trot about clan borders and stick his nose where it didn't belong, the frigid night descending upon his moon-titled pelt did little to make the fun last. No, it was about time to get going. Somewhere warmer, somewhere softer.. If not a house, maybe he could hitch a ride down south, follow the birds in their migration until he hit a nice coast.
Or, that was his plan until he caught sight of something unusual.
A little brown tabby, trudging about the lonerlands like she'd lost it all and would keep marching till she dropped off a cliff. He knew the pace well; Without the stripes, he could mistake her for a big, confused rabbit, haring about the fields in a sickly daze before the nearest predator made quick work of it. Good thing I'm here, huh? And with the scent of clan marks still clinging to her pelt, no less. What a reckless thing. If there was one rule of wandering the unknown and unclaimed, it was to do so with dignity, lest you bait a particularly scrappy competitor into a sight-spar. Hmm.. Clan scent. Walking around like they either don't know a thing or are too used to security to tread light... That could only mean one thing. And, well. It was a curious thing, enough.
"Now, what's a lone Clannie doing out in the hills like this?" From the bush he'd been crouching in, hoping to break the day winds and make for travel at dusk, two big, green eyes blinked out towards Cherryfire. With the thick teal of his bandanna poking free from the branches, he may as well have been a freakish fusion of what appeared to be cat and vegetation. It was only shaded contours of his body, still tucked away into the leaves, that left him clearly identifiable as a regular stray. "Got yourself lost, kiddo?"
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Loners
Posts: 28
Pronouns: she/they
Played By: sunni
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Post by cherryfire on Jan 28, 2023 1:43:08 GMT -6
//i am so sorry this is so late!! work got busy
The sun rose too soon for Cherryfire. She had left behind SunClan territory and was now somewhere completely different. They had never felt so out of their element before. Back in SunClan, everything was the same. Same trees, bushes, the great river, the camp: everything. She had never had to learn to navigate. But this wasn't SunClan. This was somewhere strange and scary. The weight of Cherryfire's decision hadn't seemed so heavy before.
Cherryfire felt dizzy looking at it all. Hadn't she already been here? That rock looked so familiar... They're rocks, moron. They all look the same. Cherryfire was so in her own head that she hadn't noticed Danny approaching. She nearly jumped out of her pelt when he spoke.
A lone Clannie.
"I'm no 'Clannie'" she sharply retorted, backing away from the stranger. Her whiskers twitched, noticing his bandana. Was this a kittypet? "You stray too far from your twolegs?"
He asked if she was lost, and the former warrior huffed. "That's none of your business. I can handle myself, thank you." |
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Loners
i could only listen and never feel the distance
Posts: 11
Pronouns: he/him
Played By: rubykh
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Post by Moondust on Feb 13, 2023 19:26:21 GMT -6
With that sort of snappy reaction? Definitely a clan cat. While any normal kittypet may have been intimidated, or otherwise painfully curious and prodding, Danny was lax and lazy in the way he gave the warrior(?) another once-over. Searching for the truth in her statement, since she wasn't selling a word she said vocally. For someone who could handle themselves, they'd looked awfully aimless, just a short while ago. Now, he was no stranger to clumsy clan cats circling the hills like rabid animals, prey to their own failing instincts and declining recognition. He'd met a few in his time, like most other cats who regularly passed through the unclaimed land. And this? Wary stanced and defensive.. there was no way he was wrong. No, he had it pegged.
That in mind, he wasn't perturbed by the jab sent his way. Kittypet this, kittypet that. Did all these guys use the same insult? Well, Danny happened to know some perfectly nice housecats. A gentle cock of his head preceded his next words, speckled face smooth and unbothered as he kept pushing. "..You sure 'bout that?" As bad as he'd had it with these colony cats, he'd feel mighty guilty if he left a perfectly innocent feline to freeze to death in the coming cold, far from familiar hunting grounds. The toughest part was navigating that trademark pride, carried on the haughty snouts of every Sunclanner he'd ever encountered and thensome.
"Where you come from's no business of mine. I don't get bothered by those sort of things." Minding the distance they'd put between them, his tail swept to the side to gesture vaguely towards the sparse woodland backing him. "But if you were heading this way, it's a bit of a deadzone. If I were you, I'd either march back the way you came, or risk your luck hunting solo where the mountain birds might spot you. 'Cause let me tell you.. not a sniff of mouse in there. Kind of a tough place to take care of yourself, huh?" Even he'd been on his way out, with how dry the burrows had been running. No sensible traveller was camping out 'round these parts. The only reason he'd been caught up late was that mischievous kit he'd run into, in dire need of escort. The pains of being a nice guy. And here he was, enduring the same pains without so much as an appreciative word in turn! What a shame. Nobody knew their manners, 'round these parts.
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Loners
Posts: 28
Pronouns: she/they
Played By: sunni
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Post by cherryfire on Feb 13, 2023 22:36:01 GMT -6
What was this tom's deal? She huffed when he looked her over, so clearly determined to be right about her being a Clan cat. Not long ago he would've been right about that. But that didn't matter to them now. Cherryfire was on their own, and they weren't going to put up with this nonsense. "Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure." The response was rude, much ruder than she usually was, but today was not the day to pick on Cherrfire. Even if they deserved it, they felt like one more mis-step in their escape plan would cause them to blow up. Cherryfire would've been content to flee the conversation right there, but Danny kept talking, insisting she came back where she came from. That was going to happen in a million years. Not with Rabbitstar and Pansystar at the head of the celestial Clans. Those two morons were only going to get innocent cats killed. Like Shallowpaw. "I don't intend on sticking around here," she meowed, whiskers twitching with annoyance. "I'd like to get as far away from here as possible as quickly as possible." Looking around, Cherryfire began to consider he had a point. It was a wide expanse of nothing. Hills with little cover. What kind of moron runs away to unfamiliar territory in the middle of leaf-bare anyway? "Say, hypothetically, if I wanted to be as far away from the Clans, without dying on the way, which direction should I go?" |
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Loners
i could only listen and never feel the distance
Posts: 11
Pronouns: he/him
Played By: rubykh
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Post by Moondust on Feb 21, 2023 22:45:19 GMT -6
Biting back an automatic chide towards the ruder language, the kind of talkin' he never would've gotten away with back in his homeland, Danny couldn't help but give another moment's pause. Getting away as quickly as possible, huh? Either this was a surefire case of exile, or something bad had happened to the clans itself. That little part of him still stuck in the past gave a wiggle of concern, a worm at the center of his ripe, peachy worldview. On some other day, he may have tried to probe for gossip, get an idea of what sort of event could cause a loyalty loon like a clan cat to run rogue. There was a bite in the air that was dangerous for the inexperienced traveller, which.. probably made it all the more urgent to prioritize instruction, first.
The only issue was the nature of the instructions.
"Well.." Slow but not without intention, he turned his muzzle southbound, towards the deeper field that intersected Sunclan's grasslands and the woodland he'd just finished scouting. It was still open land, but.. "If I were headin' free- which I am, coincidentally- I'd follow the hills thataways. Better than tryin' your luck in the mountains. My plan was to hug the forest for coverage, but a night's jaunt along the fields will take you to some much nicer woodland. Much bigger place than the bushes we got back here. Only problem for you is, I'm headin' the same way. Goin' far, and all." Not like he was all that keen on playing escort a second time this season, either. But fate swung how it swung.
"Recently," He added, moreso to himself now in the upward drift of his gaze. "Quite a few of your type were goin' up north, nearer the cliffsides. Can't say that's very far from clan grounds, though. So opposite's perfect, huh?" Maybe a tidbit of info could glean some in turn. A tradeoff always got some cats chattin'.
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Loners
Posts: 28
Pronouns: she/they
Played By: sunni
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Post by cherryfire on Feb 22, 2023 12:20:03 GMT -6
Cherryfire listened to his instructions. It didn't take a fool to figure out that the mountains wouldn't be the best place this time of year. Not to mention that SunClan's camp backed up to the base of the mountain range. She'd certainly be spotted by them.
Danny mentioned the forest, and Cherryfire nodded. "Forets doesn't sound like a bad idea." Though she raised an eyebrow at the idea that Danny was heading there as well. "What a coincidence." Cherryfire wasn't in love with the idea of spending any more time with this smug, know it all tom. But he wasn't exactly wrong when he assumed she was lost. Pride will get you killed, Cherryfire.
"You said it's a night's walk? Well, I guess we're walking. Unless you wanna stick around here yourself." |
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