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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:02:21 GMT -8
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:03:22 GMT -8
000 - Cypress Becomes CypressstarCypress stumbles into the clearing early in the morning, and breathes out a sigh of relief at the sight. He wanders a little more into it, and smells the air. There's no recent scents of any other cats in the area, and he truly feels he can relax for the first time in days.
His paws feel raw from how long he's been walking along the Thunderpath, and being able to rest, even just for a little while, feels like an absolute blessing. He swings his head around, trying to get a proper look at the clearing despite the lack of vision in his left eye.
The sight of the metal tracks and little buildings make his breath catch in his throat, and he almost bolts at the sight of them. However, being frozen in place for those few moments allow him to scent the air again, and he can physically feel the panic leave his body at the lack of any twoleg scent. It's clearly been abandoned.
Just like me, he can't help but think, before giving a small shake of his head.
Slowly Cypress makes his way forward, and it takes him a bit longer than he thought it would to get to the tracks. This place is a lot bigger than he thought it was, but that might also just be the lack of depth perception speaking.
The metal tracks are very large, and broken in a few places. It looked like there was two different tracks from further away, but it's clearer now that he's closer that it was once all one. Between the two clear parts are a few broken pieces scattered around, with plants grown over them to where it's not at all noticeable that they're there unless you're looking for them.
Near the larger patch of tracks are a few little metal things that kind of look like the weird plastic mouse that was connected to his old twoleg's portable light box. However, these ones seem to be gutted, and are large enough for a few cats to sleep in them. They're actually kind of nice.
Looking back up, Cypress mentally notes that there's three different buildings, and they all vary in size and shape.
Heaving out a sigh, he makes his way towards the smallest one. It only looks big enough to fit maybe one cat inside, and Cypress jumps up to the little door cautiously. There's a weird metal thing that's half way down, and he awkwardly shoulders it up higher so he can look into it better, but slips a little. Cypress lets out a fearful yowl as he almost falls face first into the booth, his claws that're dug into the wood just barely keeping him up.
Once he calms down enough to stand back up properly on the little ledge of the opening, and looks down into it. It actually looks pretty cosy, with some leaves down on the floor of it. There's also another little ledge about half way down that'll could make it easy to get back up.
Not to make any decisions yet, but Cypress is definitely making a mental note to claim this one as his home.
Jumping back down to the clearing, he begins making his way toward the largest building. It seems so large, and when he's standing at the entrance, Cypress can barely see anything within it.
Making his way inside, the first big thought Cypress gets is this is much bigger that I thought it was.
It practically seems to be going on for forever, and the path isn't even properly straight. It's a long, winding path, and there's lots of little rooms off to the sides. Most of them have broken down boxes and various twoleg things, and Cypress makes a mental note to try and find places to put them at a later time.
The largest room is bare of any boxes, and is covered in cobwebs. There's also, weirdly, a few plants growing inside, and when he approaches them, he sees a few holes in the floor of the building that allowed the plants to grow through on the inside. It's actually pretty cool.
After what feels like hours Cypress finally finds the other entrance of the building. He gives a small hiss and recoils at how bright it is outside, and squints his eyes against it. His eyes had gotten so used to the lack of light in the building, that the bright light of the sun has thrown him right off.
Rubbing at his eyes a little with the back of a paw, he then slowly begins making his way over to the last building.
He jumps up to the ledge on the side, and peeks into the building. This one has a similar metal thing across it, except it seems to be kind of broken. It's tilted, and has fallen down over one half. He bats at it a few times, but it doesn't seem to be budging. Hopefully it won't fall and crush him or lock him in. That'd really suck.
The inside is the same as the little booth, with lots of leaves and a few spider webs lining the inside. It'll definitely need to be cleaned out sometime, but that can always be done another time. There's also a lot of little ledges along the inside, where twolegs probably put things. Kind of like how his own twolegs used to collect weird shay things and put them on little shelves that they'd put into their home.
Jumping back down, Cypress finally makes his way towards the last thing in the clearing. Back towards the metal tracks, there's a long metal snake that lays there. Maybe more like some kind of bug, since it has little black legs up on the top. He crouches down near where he assumes the had would be, and finds it to be cleaned out kind of like the little metal mice. All of it's little parts seem to be the same, and so he backs away.
Cypress isn't willing to put up with whatever might possibly be inside this big metal snake's pieces.
So, with a small yawn, Cypress makes his way to the opposite side of the clearing from where he came in from. He walks for a bit, looking for something to hunt.
He tracks after a rabbit for a while, waiting for the perfect chance to pounce. When he finally does, he misses, and lets out a hiss as he moves to rush after it. However, his attention is stolen by the little pond he's managed to stumble across. It's rather small, and doesn't look like it's at all deep, but he still feels wary of it all the same.
He approaches it slowly, and dips a paw into it. The water seems a lot cleaner than it should be, practically crystalline as it perfectly reflects the sky above and now Cypress' face. However, once his paw hit the surface, it began rippling and shifting, and Cypress swears that there's another face next to his. He whips around, but there's no one there.
He looks back, and now there's even more reflections. There's many cats around the little pond, but all of them seem to be mostly transparent; the sky clearly seen through their faces. They seem to shine, and suddenly the sky seems so much darker. There's stars clearly reflected in the water, and they begin to move, swirling through the water too fast for Cypress to be able to catch with his eye, and then next thing he knows everything is black.
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Cypress stumbles to his feet, groggily whipping his head around to try and see where he is. It takes a few moments, but he soon remembers the weird pond. Looking around, it seems that he's absolutely nowhere near the pond.
"Relax. Everything is alright." comes a soft voice from behind, and Cypress turns around as quickly as his paws will take him. Standing before him is a large Javanese cat, with glowing orange eyes. She appears to be transparent, and her fur looks like it's made of starlight. It's quite beautiful, if he's being honest.
"Who are you?" Cypress demands, and simply gets a soft chuckle in response.
The molly comes closer, and Cypress instinctively takes a few steps back as she does. This makes her pause, and has a moment to be offended that she's rolling her eyes at him before she speaks up again.
"My name does not matter; do not concern yourself with it. I am just one of many who reside here in the Cirque de Étoile, and we've been waiting a long time for your arrival."
Suddenly, there's more cats than Cypress can possibly count. They seem to just appear out of nowhere, their forms all varying in transparency but all equally look made out of starlight as the first. It's overwhelming, and Cypress finds himself wishing he'd wake up.
A chuckle comes from his left, and he wildly whips his head in that direction in order to see who's laughing at him with his good eye.
"Always one for the dramatics, you are." his gaze is fond when Cypress finally sees him, and it's aimed at the cat that spoke before. This cat is is even bigger than she is, and from how fluffy he is Cypress is pretty sure he's a Norwegian Forest Cat. When the tom finally looks towards Cypress, he can't help but feel a bit warm and glances away, nose scrunching up as he does.
"We're Cirque de Étoile, and you're who's going to build a life in the ruins of that old twoleg amusement park."
Cypress looks up at that, eyes wide and startled. Him?
"I-I don't think I understand. Build a life here? Like, what--" he's cut off by a scoff to his right, and he glances at this other cat out of the corner of his good eye. She's a Maine Coon, and despite her soft appearance, her eyes are dark and glaring.
"Are you sure this is who's going to found KeyClan? He doesn't seem very capable." her tone makes it sound like Cypress is beneath her; like he's just some worthless piece of prey she wouldn't even consider eating. It makes him feel useless, makes him feel weak, and so he puffs out his chest and gives a small growl.
"I'll have you know I'm very capable, little miss sour puss." he turns his nose up at her, ignoring her offended snarl, and turns back to the Javanese cat. "Please, explain more? I don't really understand what you're saying here, but I'd like to."
This seems to please her, and the molly moves towards him again. This time, however, he doesn't step back. He watches as she approaches, going practically cross-eyed as she gets right up in his face.
"Your determination is admirable, Cypress. I shall give you the knowledge you seek, and help guide your paws as best I can along your journey." she touches her nose to his, and there's suddenly so many thoughts entering his mind. Thoughts of how Clans work, about how the Ringmaster will always be known with a '-star' added to the end of their name. He sees a vision of the clearing full of other cats, weaving in and out of the buildings and the metal mice to interact. They all seem so happy, and Cypress really hopes that this vision comes true.
Distantly, he hears the molly's voice once again. It sounds softer, more distant, but Cypress can't manage to open his eyes.
"It's time for you to wake up, young Cypressstar. You have a lot you need to do."
And then everything goes black once again.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:04:45 GMT -8
001 - Enter: Jingle Bell And Weasel
Humming a tune his twolegs used to listen to under his breath, Cypressstar sits atop the highest point of the metal tracks. His tail softly flicking around below. It's so freeing up here, where he could fall at any possible moment.
He looks down, and for a few dizzying moments images of tumbling down come to mind. It makes him feel small, and it's humbling.
Sighing softly, he gets up to his feet, and nimbly makes his way back down the tracks to the ground. He shivers a little at the sudden gust of wind that goes by, but is quick to shake it off as he heads towards the woods at the edge of the clearing. He really needs to start gathering some food, and should probably scope out his territory while he's at it.
Some leaves crumble under his paws as he walks under the trees, and it brings fond memories to mind. Memories of simpler times; of times when all he had to worry about was when his twolegs would come home from wherever it was they went to refill his food dish.
The memory quickly sours as the mental images shift and warp to cruelly remind him of how his twolegs one day just never came home. How his dish was never again filled despite him waiting for an entire week for their return. He fled the twoleg Clan after that, hissing and swiping at any twolegs foolish enough to try and approach him as he did.
He squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head a little to try and physically shake away the thought, but then there's a sudden noise of a twig snapping to his right and he lunges at it with a snarl.
A scared screech reaches his ears, and it sounds too feline for it to have been some foolish prey. It makes him freeze, and he stares down at the wide, terrified eyes of the kit under his paws with wide eyes of his own. They continue to stare at each other for a few moments, both breathing erratically as they struggle to realize what just happened.
Scrambling off of the poor thing, Cypressstar flattens his ears, eyes glancing away from the little molly for a second before looking back at her.
"Ah, sorry. I was caught up in my head. I didn't mean to attack you like that."
The molly is silent for a few more moments, and Cypressstar has the bitter thought of how that snarky Cirque de Étoile cat was right; that he wasn't the right cat to be Ringmaster.
That thought is quickly pushed aside when she finally speaks up. "Oh, no! No, it's quite alright. I shouldn't've been sneaking up on you to begin with, uh, sir! Though, I am a little shocked you didn't hear me coming. I mean," she stops talking for a moment, and reaches up a paw to bat at the little bells around her neck. And wow, yeah, Cypressstar absolutely should've heard her coming. They're pretty loud. "but it's okay! Everyone gets caught up with thinking sometimes! My mama used to do the same thing."
Cypressstar honestly doesn't hear the latter half of what she has to say, and instead is very much focused on the little bells. They're attached to a little silky string that's tied up around her neck, and it's clearly the work of twolegs. Is she also from the same twoleg Clan as him? Was she also abandoned like he was?
"Oh no, I wasn't abandoned, sir! I jumped out of the monster when we were on the hot black path, and then I couldn't figure out how to get home, and then I found you!" Ah, he said that all out loud, didn't he?
"You did, yes. Uh, I'm Jingle Bell! What's your name?"
Cypressstar sighs softly, ears flattening against his skull. Not having another cat to speak to for so long really isn't healthy, if his 'speaking out his thoughts' thing is anything to go by. "I'm Cypressstar. It's nice to meet you, Jingle Bell."
The little molly practically beams at his response, and her purr cuts off whatever she was trying to say next. It's adorable, and Cpyressstar awkwardly smiles back, before reaching out to gently bat against the bells around her neck.
"You'll need to take these off if you want to get any better at being able to sneak around." his tone is soft, practically teasing, and he gives a small laugh at her pout. Getting up to his paws, he turns back to the camp, his tail flicking behind him as he does as if he's beckoning her. "Come on now, I live around here. You're free to stay if you'd like." He really hopes, probably selfishly, that she will stick around instead of trying to find her family.
"Yeah! That'd be great!" Jingle Bell cheers, bouncing on her toes in a little circle around him in pure excitement. Cypressstar nods, and then they're off.
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It's a few days later when a small Abyssinian cat stumbles across the clearing of KeyClan. Her wide golden-amber eyes scan over all the metal and the buildings with curiosity, and in her excitement she doesn't notice that there's already two cats here.
Her dainty paws carry her over to the toppled over metal snake, and she curiously crouches down to crawl into the one that she naturally assumes is the head, rubbing herself against the smooth metal of its skull with a morbid fascination.
Crawling back out of it, she then freezes as she meets the strange orange gaze of the large cat in front of her. He looks very intimidating with his thick, fluffy coat, and she slowly begins moving back into the skull.
However, the tom simply sits. There's a rumble of laughter that comes from him, and it makes her flatten herself more against the ground with a pout.
"You're cruel, you know that?" she whines, finally realizing just who's in front of her. She's seen this tom in her dreams, and a pretty Javanese cat told her the other night that she was to seek him out and help him start a Clan. Which, by the way, was a wild dream.
"You're one to speak, sneaking into my home and walking around like you own the place. Just who are you, anyways?" his voice is a lot softer than Weasel had expected, and it soothes her nerves a little bit. But only a little! No tom would be buying her over with a stupid velvet voice like that.
"I'm Weasel, and you must be Cypressstar, yes?" as expected, her words don't even make her flinch. Guess the weird star cat in her dreams wasn't lying when she said he'd be expecting her. Then again, that probably also explained why he hadn't attacked her or anything yet. Sighing softly, Weasel makes her way out of the metal skull and then hops up on top of it, settling down with her tail draped over her paws as she looks down on him.
He doesn't even seem intimidated by this, and Weasel must admit she'd impressed. Her attention is easily brought away from him in a single moment, and her ears perk up at the sight of the little molly that's appearing around the big building nearby. "Oh, she didn't tell me you already had someone else here! What's your name, darling?" she questions, jumping off the metal snake to quickly approach the little molly.
It's clear she spooks the little Juggler, as she gives a squeak and scrambles past her towards Cypressstar to hide behind his bulky form. This makes Weasel pout a little bit, but then again she is a stranger, so it doesn't sting as much as it probably would otherwise.
"I don't know who this she it is you' mention, but Jinglepaw has been here just since yesterday." Weasel makes a mental note of his hesitation on her name, and remembers the words of the weird star lady cat about how in Clans cats usually go by specific naming schemes. This Jinglepaw was probably only recently named that, probably even just today, and Weasel decides quickly that she's not a fan of adding another part to her name.
"The strange star cat! She came to me in a dream and told me how to get here, and that I was supposed to help you with starting up this 'KeyClan' thing. Also, I'm not adding another part to my name like you two probably did. I doubt your dame's named you 'Cypressstar' and 'Jinglepaw', and those certainly aren't the kind of names a twoleg would give you either. And I will not be conforming to this weird naming thing."
She fully expected some kind of complaint. Anything from a whine of 'please' to a physical attack from the large cat before her. Instead, Cypressstar throws back in head in a laugh, and it startles her. Why is he laughing?
"Of course, that's fine." Wait, what? "I don't really see any need to force Cirque de Étoile's strange naming rules, outside of being named Ringmaster. If you'd like to stay just Weasel, that's perfectly fine with me."
Jinglepaw nods from behind him, poking her head around just enough to be seen. "Yeah! My name was Jingle Bell, and Cypressstar gave me the choice of keeping my old name or changing to this! I thought it would be a fun kind of change, so I did, but it's super cool you want to keep your name!" she then bounds out from behind him to approach Weasel, and the older molly feels her chest swell with affection at the adorable little molly before her.
"Well, Jinglepaw, Cypressstar, Thank you so much." she's absolutely not tearing up, and will absolutely deny what these two liars have to say about it later.
It's good to be home, she thinks, as she finally feels herself relax.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:06:03 GMT -8
002 - New Challengers Approach
The wind shakes the little building where Cypressstar has made his home, and awakes the tom. He stretches out along the floor of leaves and moss, yawning loudly, before making his way up to the ledge about half way up and shoving open the little metal slider.
Glancing down, he watches curiously as Weasel shimmies her way out of the metal snake, before trotting her way out to the woods. It's strange, but it doesn't really bother him. After all, he can't micromanage everything the strange Tamer does.
Another bit of movement from the corner of his eye catches his attention, and he watches fondly as the little Juggler Jinglepaw makes her way out of the metal mouse she's been living in. It doesn't look particularly comfy, but he hasn't heard any complaints from her about it; so he's sure it's fine.
Jumping down from the ledge, he makes his way over to Jinglepaw, settling down near her to lick at his chest fur for a few moments while he waits for her to wake up a bit more.
"Good morning, Cypressstar! What're we doing today?" the young Juggler asks, practically vibrating with excitement now that she's awake enough to do so.
With a small hum, Cypressstar gets back to his feet, and heads towards the edge of the clearing. "We're going to train, young one.now come on. I'm not going to wait for you." It's an empty threat, but he can hear her scramble to follow him regardless and it makes him smile.
"What are we doing? Are we hunting again? Hunting is fun!" For a cat so small, her voice is certainly loud. Cypressstar is certain that if there was any prey around, that they wouldn't still be here.
"No. Last time we did that, we only caught a single mouse; and that was purely by chance. You need to learn to be quieter before I take you hunting again." It was only a few days ago, but that doesn't mean he's going to refrain from teasing the poor thing about it.
Jinglepaw pouts as she follows behind him, and they stop at a much smaller clearing. Cypressstar found this a while back, when he was out for a little walk by himself. It's a nice little area, and will make for a good place to train Jugglers. Obviously, when it's too cold in Leafbare they'll probably just train in camp, but for now it's still nice enough to come here.
Stopping in the middle of the clearing, he then turns to Jinglepaw. "I'm going to be teaching you how to fight today. Before I teach you how to hunt, I feel it will be good to teach you to defend yourself. Now, take a stance. Like this."
Cypressstar then crouches a little, balancing his weight between all his paws. He watches as Jinglepaw attempts to copy him, and gives her a few moments before lunging forward.
Yelping loudly, Jinglepaw scurries out of the way, completely abandoning her stance in a blind panic. This makes Cypressstar sigh, and he gets back into stance where he lands; Jinglepaw shakily copies it again after a few seconds.
"Alright, let's try this again. I want you to hold your ground, or at the very least try to roll out of the way instead of just running."
She nods, and so he lunges again.
It takes a few tries, but eventually she manages to hold her ground, snarling as she's knocked down and managing to kick him in the belly to get him off her. It's definite progress, but it's starting to get dark by now.
"You did good for today. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow" - Jinglepaw whines in complaint - "so make sure you get a full night's rest."
He then leads the way back to camp, listening as Jinglepaw seems to drag her paws as she follows.
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"Hello! Is there anybody there!"
Weasel, completely startled, ends up knocking her head off the inside of the metal snake's head where she sleeps, and gives out a sleepy whine. After a few moments of waiting for her ears to stop ringing, she remembers what it was that woke her up.
Who's voice was that?
Flattening down, she shimmies her way out of the metal skull she calls home, and gives a small yelp as she ends up practically nose to nose with a strange siamese cat. A quick glance to the side shows that there's actually two of them, and Weasel slowly gets herself all the way out into the open. It's absolutely awkward, since the she-cat doesn't move an inch to give her any wiggle room.
"Um, hello?" she questions, which makes the one standing in from of her finally react.
Blinking a few times in quick succession, the she-cat takes a few steps back to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other siamese with her, and narrows her eyes.
"You. Are you in charge? she demands, and Weasel frantically shakes her head. She nods, as if she was expecting that answer, before speaking again. "Then who is?"
Weasel perks up at that, and gets back to her feet and starts off towards the small building where Cypressstar lives. "Cypressstar is the Ringmaster here! We're a Clan. Do you know what Clans are? Oh, I'm Weasel by the way? What's your name?" Weasel talks practically a mile a minute, and it's clear she catches this stranger off guard.
"We do know what Clans are, yes." the tom responds, and wow his voice is much nicer than Weasel expected. He's a bit shorter than the she-cat and infinitely fluffier, and their voices sound a bit alike. Weasel wants to assume they're related in some way.
"I'm Syrinxecho, and this is Auletris. It's very nice to meet you, Weasel." he dips his head a little, and Weasel dips her back out of instinct. He's nice; she likes him.
There's a shrill sound of metal from above, and Weasel looks up to watch as Cypressstar shoulders the metal screen open to peer down at the trio. Auletris has her hackles raised, presumably from the sound of the metal, but otherwise she doesn't move.
"What's going on here? Who are you two?" He looks to be fully focused on the two siamese, and completely ignores Weasel. Which, rude.
Looking much calmer now, Auletris speaks up. "I am Auletris, and this is my brother, Syrinxecho. We've left our previous home, and have been travelling to find a new place to live. Would we be welcome here?" Auletris really knows how to cut right to the point, and Weasel would be absolutely lying if she said that wasn't mighty attractive.
Cypressstar blinks slowly as he takes this all in, before sighing softly and glancing to Weasel. She takes it as the sign it clearly is, and moves out of the way so he can jump down to join them.
"Alright you. Okay. Yeah, uh. Of course you can stay? I don't see why I'd kick you out. If I left her stay" - Weasel is fully offended by that, and gasps - "then I see no reason to turn down either of you."
It's visible how the tension leaves both of their shoulders, and Weasel is glad that they can relax a bit now.
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Cypressstar. We'll do our best to be worthy of your kindness." Syrinxecho answers for the both of them, and then they're up and heading off towards the largest building, Cypressstar leading the way.
Weasel isn't necessary for this, and so she makes her way out of camp. Might as well make the most of this day and hunt for some herbs.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:08:17 GMT -8
003 - I Forgot To Write The Rest But Here's Blaze?
Huffing softly, Cypressstar waits for Jinglepaw to finish grooming herself before taking her out to patrol their border. She's gotten so good at combat last moon, and while he's sure she's mastered hunting by the end of their training session yesterday, he isn't going to risk it just yet. They could always use a few more days of training to make sure it goes smoothly.
He dips his head to the Siamese siblings as they head out of the large building to the woods, no doubt on their way to go hunting themselves. They've fit in rather nicely among the group of misfits gathered here so far, and he's proud of call them members of his Clan.
"I'm ready now!" Jinglepaw claims, bounding up to him with her chest puffed out in pride. She's still so small, and Cypressstar is certain she won't be very big when she's fully grown. It makes him chuckle softly, but he refrains from explaining and instead heads off in the opposite direction from where Auletris and Syrinxecho went.
"It's about time." he lightly teases, which makes the young Juggler laugh as well as she trots at his side.
The patrol goes over pretty well. It's mostly quiet, with Cypressstar occasionally explaining things to Jinglepaw about how scenting the borders go, and there doesn't seem to be any signs of anyone or anything near the borders either.
That is, however, until there is suddenly a large tom standing before them. He has a hard face, and it makes Cypressstar's hackles rise as he moves himself in front of Jinglepaw.
It looks like the tom's eyes soften when he notices Jinglepaw, but he regards Cypressstar warily and with his head ducked.
The two toms stand there for a few more tense seconds, just staring one another down. Their staring contest is soon broken by Jinglepaw letting out a sneeze, and then suddenly the tom is taking steps back while crouching low and baring his teeth.
Cypressstar is thoroughly startled by this, and takes a step back as well, ears flattened.
"I, uh. I'm sorry?" his voice is soft and cautious, and it makes the other tom freeze again, his eyes darting between Jinglepaw and Cypressstar wildly.
"Hey! It's okay! Cypressstar isn't gonna hurt you or nothin'! Promise." Jinglepaw pipes up, and Cypressstar is so thankful for his tiny Juggler right now, because her words seemed to pull all the fight out of the stranger.
The tabby sighs softly and it's clear that the tension has left his body as he slumps down on the ground. He looks,,,, sad.
Cypressstar continues to hesitate, and can barely move as he watches Jinglepaw prance up to the stranger.
"Hey, are you a'right? Come on, you can come back to camp with us! You look like you could use some rest. What's your name?"
"Blaze. My name is Blaze. I." he pauses, taking a deep breath, before looking up at Jinglepaw with a soft expression. Whatever this cat's problem is, Cypressstar is confident that Jinglepaw and all her tiny determination will get to the bottom of it.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:09:04 GMT -8
004 - Enter: The Only Good Couple
Syrinxecho trots just behind his sister, and keeps glancing over his shoulder at the tabby behind him. Flareblitz has settled into the Clan nicely over the last moon, but he's still a bit wary of the other Acrobat. He seems to cross all the time. In fact, Syrinxecho is sure he's only seen the old tom soften when he was around Jinglepaw. Which, okay that's understandable the little Juggler is a ray of sunshine.
He then pauses, noticing from the corner of his eyes how Auletris freezes up in front of him. He trusts his sister's cues with ever fibre of his being, and he just hopes that Flareblitz also catches on.
In the distance, he then hears a voice.
"You didn't have to smile at me; your grin's the sweetest that I've ever seen~"
Syrinxecho scrunches up his nose a bit. The singer has a nice voice, and it's clear to hear even from here how much affection is seeped in his voice. However, that doesn't calm him at all, because it still means that there's strangers in the territory; two at least.
Auletris raises her head high, and makes a beeline towards the singing. Syrinxecho gives a small sigh, before trailing after her without a word. He can hear Flareblitz grumbling behind him, but pays him no mind now. After all, he's almost always grumbling about something or other.
"You didn't have to offer your hand~" the singer continues, before he suddenly cuts off with a soft gasp.
Syrinxecho hurries past the bush that Auletris is standing near, and gets his first look at the strangers. The larger brown tabby is standing protectively in front of the other cat, and Syrinxecho can't really make anything out about who they might be.
"Who are you." Auletris demands, and Syrinxecho can't help but roll his eyes a little. His sister is good and being a leader, but she has no social grace.
The one in front bristles a little, and glances back and forth between the two of them cautiously. "I'm Sprout, and this is my mate, Mist. Who are you?"
Auletris seems to relax a little, and Syrinxecho lets out another small sigh before he moves up past his sister. It's clear from the tone of Sprout's voice that he doesn't mean any kind of harm, and pairing that up with the singing from earlier. Well, it's obvious that he's just been too enamoured with his mate to have even noticed he entered within their borders.
"Please forgive my sister, she's just on edge because you're within our Clan's borders." he stats, and he can see the shock go over Sprout's face as the other tom begins sniffing at the air to make sure that what he says is true.
Sprout then winces, and his entire body seems to droop as he realizes that it's true.
"Oh. My bad, I'm so sorry. We'll, uh. We'll get going, then, I guess."
He then moves to turn around, and Syrinxecho rolls his eyes before speaking up again. "It's okay, you're not in trouble or anything. In fact, if you'd want, you can come back with us to camp? I'm sure Cypressstar would love it if you'd consider joining us?'
Feeling more than hearing Auletris hiss at the suggestion, he completely ignores her as he keeps watching the pair. They seem to have an entire conversation by just looking at one another, before Sprout turns back to him with such a happy expression that Syrinxecho feels like they're already friends, instead of strangers who've just met.
"Are you sure? We'd love that! Which way is it? What's it called? What are your names? Can we get those weird double name thingies that you Clan cats have? They always sound so neat!"
Syrinxecho gives a startled laugh, and turns around to start heading back to camp. He walks beside Sprout the entire time, answering all the questions that he throws at him. Mist trails just behind them, and every so often Sprout stops to circle back to check up on her and them come back up to ask more. It's cute, and Syrinxecho really hopes the pair of them stick around.
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Weasel hums softly to herself, tail flicking and waving behind her as she trots through the territory hunting for herbs. She'd met the two new cats a few days ago, and she absolutely adores them. Mist kept their original name, and has softly requested to be referred to as a neutral gender, instead of female.
Cypressstar seems to be struggling with it here and there, but Weasel took to it immediately.
Then there's the other one, Sprout. He'd stuck true to his wishes and took on a Clan name, and now goes by Grasswhistle. Weasel doesn't really understand why he chose such a weird name, but regardless she thinks it suits him. He's almost always around Mist, and either singing or whistling to them. It's super adorable, and Weasel almost walks right past the little patch of lavender while she's stuck in her thoughts about how a certain Siamese molly might react to those kind of things.
Regardless, she's happy that they seem to be planning on staying. She's caught on to how Flareblitz is a lot softer around Jinglepaw, and she really hopes that the kits Mist seems to be carrying can help crack him out of his shell even more.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:09:58 GMT -8
005 - A Drama Queen Approaches
Scowling in disgust, Mewlin lifts a dainty paw and gives it a harsh flick. The wet leaf doesn't budge, and she gives an offended snarl before flicking it even harder.
She hears a tired sigh come from behind her, but before she can snap at the alleycat she found while she was making her way down the road, he steps forward and reaches out to casually just knock the leaf off her paw.
It works, but that doesn't mean Mewlin isn't completely offended he would dare touch her without permission.
"Excuse me? Who gave you the right!" she demands, and he simply rolls his eyes before before trudging on past her, not caring whatsoever about whatever it is she's freaking out about.
Before she can go off on a rant about it, there's suddenly rustling to their left, and Mewlin whips around with a scandalised snarl as two tom cats appear from the bushes.
They both freeze at the sound of her snarl, and before they can do anything the alleycat - Steele, she thinks his name was - steps to them with what sounds like a relieved sigh. Which, rude?
"I have no idea who you are, but I am so glad you're here. I don't even care if you'e gonna kill us, I'd take that over her complaining any day."
His voice is rough and it sounds like he's forcing it to sound deeper somehow, but Mewlin shoves that thought aside to instead be thoroughly offended at what he said.
"Excuse me? You have been insufferable this entire journey! First you almost attack me on the Black Path, and now you claim death would be better than being in my presence? You're the worst cat I've ever met!" Mewlin finishes this off with a decisive sniff and sticks her head up in the air dramatically, and hears Steele sigh heavily.
"Well, uh, we're? Not going to kill you?" The large kind of reddish-black tom says, and Mewlin decides immediately that she doesn't trust the sound of his voice.
"Are you two on your own?" The fluffy Siamese questions, and Mewlin doesn't move from her dramatic position, but at the thoughtful hum she hears she assumes Steele nodded. Traitor.
"Well, we. Uh, we're from a Clan, actually. We're not going to kill you, that's? Really mean? I'm Synrinxecho, and this is Cypressstar. If you want, you could come with us? Even if just to, like, rest on your journey?"
Mewlin cracks open an eye to look over at them, and notes with slight offence how Steele seems to sag completely, as if all the stress in his body had just disappeared.
"Alright, well. Come with us, then. What are your names?"
Cypressstar begins walking back the way he and Syrinxecho came from, and Steele is quick to follow him. Mewlin thinks it's stupid, but she simply gives a derisive sniff and trails after them as well.
"I'm Steele, and the drama queen back there is Mewlin. I met her when I was wandering, and she refused to leave me alone since."
Mewlin snarls at him, and he simply gives a laugh in response. It's a nice laugh, almost sounds like one of the nice instruments her twolegs used to play. She hasn't heard Steele laugh once over the last few days they'd been travelling, and she's a little shocked that it's such a pleasant sound.
Shoving that all out of her mind, Mewlin follows after the three toms in front of her, and finds herself lost in thought. She really hopes that wherever they're going to be staying is clean.
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It's mostly quiet, at the KeyClan camp, when a honey smooth voice suddenly flows through the camp.
"Oh, Turpentine erase me whole. I don't want to live my life alone. I was waiting for you all my life~"
It's a fairly regular sound, Grasswhistle's serenading. If you listen closely you can hear Mist quietly humming along with him, or sometimes they sing the chorus with him. Their voices twining together as their words overlap.
The affection practically oozes from the sound. Or at least, it does most days.
Today, if you were to listen closely, you wouldn't hear Mist humming or singing along. Instead, you'd hear their muffled sobs. It would be clear that Grasswhistle's singing, today, is being used as a way to cover up the sound of Mist's sadness; a way to protect his mate's privacy over whatever it is that's upsetting them.
"Set me free, my, honeybee~" he carries on, and if you were to be listening extra close, you'd hear the way Mist's voice hitches and seems to choke, before their cries are even more muffled.
If you'd been close enough to see what was happening, you'd find Mist's face pressed firmly to Grasswhistle's side, while the tom leaned back against the inner wall of the Magician's building with his eyes full of love as he sung to his crying mate.
You'd see the way Mist's sides rose and fell frantically with how they were unable to catch their breath properly.
However, no one dares jump up to the opening of the Magician's den unless they strictly need one of the pair for something. They simply enjoy the sweet sound of Grasswhistle's singing, and don't focus enough to recognize the reason behind the lack of Mist's voice joining in.
They allow the pair their time to themselves, and it's really all they could ask for.
"Hello, goodbye, 'twas nice to know you, how I find myself without you. That I'll never know~"
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When Auletris turns around at the clearing of Weasel's throat, the Tamer is suddenly struck with the realization that she has no idea what to say to the other molly.
They stare at one another for a few moments, before the Acrobat rolls her eyes and snaps out a simple "what"
Weasel suddenly snaps back into focus, and her ears perk up as she looks Auletris in the eyes and beams.
"Are you tired?" she questions cheerfully, and at Auletris' confused look, she gleefully finishes her thought with "because you've been running through my mind all day!"
There's a tense moment where neither of them say anything, before Auletris' lip curls in distaste and she rolls her eyes.
"You're an idiot, I sincerely hope you realize this as a fact." she simply states, and Weasel feels her entire body deflate. She thought that was a pretty good one!
Pouting, Weasel sits down where she is, her tail curling over her paws as she looks up at the Siamese. She's still not getting any other response, and because of it her pout gets more pronounced.
Auletris inhales deeply, and then suddenly turns around and marches off. It makes Weasel want to yell after her, makes her want to chase her down and try some other stupid line, but Weasel knows when to give people space. It's obvious that was a stupid one, and she's going to think extra hard to make her next attempt a success. Maybe she could ask Syrinxecho for some kind of tips as to what Auletris finds funny?
Actually, that's a brilliant idea, and Weasel quickly scrambles to her paws and take soff lik a bullet to the large building where the Acrobats live. Oh, this is gonna be purrfect.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:11:12 GMT -8
006 - Is That A Plot I Smell?No matter how far back he tries to remember, he can't seem to remember having a name. He's been called lots of strange things by twolegs, and even by the other loners he's hang out with.
Tubbs. Sunny. Chicken.
He's never been able to give an answer when anyone asks him his name. He'll make something up, sometimes, but then someone else will show up and call him by something else, and then the illusion is shattered.
Socks. Storm. Dagger.
So here he stands, before this strange cat who calls himself Cypressstar, finding himself at a loss for words.
"What's your name?"
Cypressstar's voice is soft, and it soothes some of his worries. It makes him feel calm and relaxed, and he feels he can truly trust this stranger. However, the question is making him almost panic.
worthlessemptysearchinghatred
"I-"
SCREAMINGLOCO
"I don't, have one. I guess."
This makes Cypressstar frown, and he flinches back on instinct. He's scared of how Cypressstar will react. After all, everyone has a name, don't they? Even if they don't have one that their parents gave them, everyone at least has a name that they can choose for themselves. A name they can be comfortable with.
He doesn't.
Cypressstar smiles at him, and it throws him off. Why is this stranger smiling at him like it was an answer he expected? Why isn't he casting him out, or calling him a liar?
"You can choose a name, if you'd like? I was just Cypress before coming here, and others have changed or picked their own names as well. Jinglepaw used to be Jingle Bell. Flareblitz was Blaze, Grasswhistle was Sprout, and Steelwing was Steele. You don't have to go by the name you used to have; you're welcome to go by whatever you want, here."
He can feel the tears tracking wet marks down his cheeks, but he can't seem to make them stop. He shakes his head, almost frantically, and feels almost sick at the pitying look on Cypressstar's face. He doesn't deserve such kindness for being so stubborn.
"No, I. I've never had a name."
Cypressstar simply nods, and it takes everything in him to not start crying even harder, to not let his shoulders shake with the force of his silent sobs.
"If you'd like, I can give you a name? You can keep it, it'll be yours."
Cypressstar's words make him choke a little and sudden his sobs are no longer silent. He curls over himself, pressing the top of his head to the ground with enough force to grind his teeth together as he tries to get his tears under control.
He tries to nod, and for a few moments he thinks Cypressstar can't tell, but then he's speaking up again.
"How about Cottonspore?"
My name is Revenge and I'm here to save my name.
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Weasel hums happily to herself as she begins trotting back to camp, the freshly picked feverfew and mint wrapped in leaves held safely between her teeth. It's been a really nice day, a really nice moon so far, really. Everyone seems happy, an so Weasel is happy. She was really hoping to find something that could be helpful for when Mist finally kits, but oh well.
She's so happily caught up in her thoughts, that she doesn't notice the stranger approaching her until they quite literally walk into her.
Yelping in surprise, Weasel drops the bundle of herbs from her jaws and takes a few steps back. The strange tom winces, and Weasel watched with an absent fascination as he gets the herbs back into a nice little pile so it will be easy for her to pick back up.
There's a movement between his front paws, and Weasel's attention immediately snaps to the little kit that's there. She's batting at his paws as he works on gathering up the herbs, and Weasel lets out a soft "cute" without thinking about it.
They both snap their heads up to meet her eyes; the tom looking amused and the kit looking quite spooked.
"I'm so sorry for surprising you like that, miss. I was trying to call out to you, but you seemed deaf to the world, so it was the only thing I could think of." the stranger informs her, and Weasel melts a little bit at how nice his voice is. Why can't everyone in KeyClan be as nice in both personality and voice as this guy?
Shaking her head, Weasel beams at him as she takes a few steps forward so she can recollect her herbs off the ground easily. "Ah, sorry about that! I'm Weasel! Who're you two?"
The kit then bounds forward, her little chest puffed forward as she looks up at Weasel with the happiest look in her eyes Weasel has ever seen.
"I'm Wishkit! An' this is my daddy, Swiftwind! You don't have a Clan name, but you smell like a Clan. Do you live around here?" The little kit has fully left Swiftwind now, and is winding around between Weasel's paws as she talks, like she's trying to figure out Weasel's whole life story by sniffing at her paws. It's actually pretty cute, if she's being honest.
"I am, yeah! KeyClan is just a bit further this way. Are you guys from a Clan?"
Swiftwind seems to droop a little bit, before he perks up just as fast as he seemed to crash. "Used to be, yeah. Just the two of us now, though! Not sure where all the others wound up." his gaze is soft and fond when he looks at his daughter, and if Weasel wasn't so gay she'd probably have fallen for him right then and there.
"Well, I mean, you're welcome to come with? You can talk to Cypressstar about maybe staying!" Weasel happily tells him, before picking back up her bundle of herbs and heading towards camp, hearing them trot after her and feeling her chest swell with pride. She really hopes they stay.
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Auletris sighs heavily as he leaps up to the entrance to the Magician's den. Her face is as deadpan as it could possibly be as she stares down at the two already in here, and feels her eye twitch.
Mist looks up at her with a pleading expression, and honestly if it weren't for that she'd've jumped right back down and left without a second thought. As it is, she gives a heavy sigh, and makes her way down to try and help Mist survive today's Mewlin Attack.
"Auletris! About time you got here, Mist's been a horrible conversational companion thus far. You're much better at having opinions and caring about things."
Mewlin is facing towards Auletris, and so she misses the way Mist's lips curl up in a silent snarl at her words. However, Auletris can see Mist perfectly fine, and it takes a lot of effort to not burst into laughter at it.
"I'm sure they're just tired, you drama queen. They are pregnant, remember. I'm sure Mist's just tired." she claims, and feels her heart flutter a little at how thankful for it Mist looks. She'd be hard pressed to admit it, but Auletris sincerely loves Mist. Not in the same way Grasswhistle does, of course; more like they're her older sibling.
Mewlin sniffs derisively at that, but doesn't offer any other complaints, and so Auletris takes this as a win.
Settling down next to Mist, Auletris props her head up on the Magician's back to look up at Mewlin when she finally turns back around to be able to look at them while holding conversation.
"So, what's this meeting about, again?" Auletris asks, her tone portraying how bored she is already, and it's like she opened the floodgates.
"Everything! It's so cold here; how do you live out in the wild without any kind of central heating? My twolegs would be having a heart attack if they knew the cruel living conditions of this place. Also, I found a spider in my fur this morning. A SPIDER! It was horrible, and Steelwing just laughed at me! He laughed! He's so rude, it's ridiculous."
She keeps going off, switching as fluidly from one complaint to another as a frog moves from water to land. The thought almost makes Auletris laugh, and she inconspicuously tilts her head to press her muzzle into Mist's fur. She's absolutely certain that the Magician can tell she's trying not to laugh by the way she's breathing, but as long as Mewlin doesn't figure it out, then she doesn't really care.
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It's darker than Cypressstar remembers, when he wakes up. He looks around, not bothering to get up yet, and notes with a tired hum that the Pool of Stars is nowhere to be found; just like the last time he came here.
It wasn't as scary, getting to Cirque de Étoile, as it was the first time. He remembers the visions of someone being behind him, and how much fear he felt, and gives a small shiver. Yeah, no, this was much easier.
"Hello again, Cypressstar."
The voice is familiar at this point, and he pushes himself up to a sitting position to greet the Javanese molly from the last time. He dips his head to her, and her eyes flash a sickly orange for a few moments before she nods back at him and settles down beside him.
"KeyClan is growing well, under your leadership. I knew you'd get the hang of it." her voice is quiet and soft, and Cypressstar can't suppress the shiver that goes down his spine from it. She sounds proud, but she also sounds angry, in some way.
"I. Yeah. I haven't appointed a Trapeze Artist yet, because there's so many good candidates. But I'm glad that I haven't failed, like that sour puss claimed I would."
He, of course, is referring to the very rude Maine Coon he also met that first day. She might as well had told him to her face that she wanted him to fail, and he honestly was a little bit hoping to be able to rub it in her face personally, with this visit.
The Javanese molly nods, and knocks her shoulder against his gently. He notes that she hasn't looked back at him since she's sat down, but he doesn't let it get to him. She's probably been dead a long time, and he doesn't really expect dead cats to have the best manners.
"You should, and hopefully soon. By the end of next moon, at least. I fear something happening, and I don't want you to be at all unprepared."
Cypressstar scrunches up his nose, but when the turns his head to ask her what that means, she's no longer beside him. He feels cold, despite there not being any kind of wind, and when he looks back up there's suddenly a dark, crumbling building in front of him.
Frowning, Cypressstar takes a few steps towards it. It's so strange, and he swears that nothing like this could possibly exist in Cirque de Étoile. It's quiet, eerily so, and he's honestly scared to even think of calling out into the darkness.
"Hello?"
Of course, that doesn't stop him from doing it anyways.
All of a sudden, it suddenly gets even quieter. He didn't think it was at all possible, but it somehow does. It's like he's lost all sense of hearing, and he's not at all afraid to admit that he's completely terrified right now.
Suddenly there's a shape coming out of the shadows, and Cypressstar screams.
He can vaguely tell that it's a Scottish Fold cat, and he thinks he hears her say something right before he slips out of this strange dream and back into the real world.
"Come back soon, Cypressstar; the fun's just beginning."
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Fox frowns as she stumbles into a strange clearing, and shakes herself almost violently. She's really hoping that all the leaves and cobwebs she walked into will just be shaken off, but she mostly doubts that's going to happen.
"Hey, who're you?" comes a voice from her left, and Fox whips around to be able to see the stranger with her eye. The other molly seems about her age, but she could also just be a bit small.
"I'm Fox. Where am I?" she questions, her voice soft and curious. She looks around the clearing a bit, and squints her eye at the strange weird metal path to the sky and the twoleg buildings. It smells overwhelmingly of cats here, so she's pretty sure there aren't any twolegs, but the sight of the buildings and metal are still making her a bit uncomfortable.
"Nice to meet you, Fox! I'm Jinglepaw, and this is KeyClan!"
Before Fox can open her mouth to say anything else, there's suddenly another voice, from behind her, and she gives a startled yelp before turning and backing up, trying in vain to keep them both in her line of sight.
"Jinglepaw, who's th- whoa, whoa, it's okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
She doesn't exactly trust this large, strange tom, but seeing how Jinglepaw's face practically lights up, Fox thinks she can at least trust him to not kill and eat her insides. She shivers at the very thought.
"I'm-"
"Fox! "A baby."
Jinglepaw and the new stranger talk at the same time, and Fox's face scrunches up in confusion. She isn't a baby, what is he talking about?
Jinglepaw, on the other hand, is currently now rolling on the floor, laughing heavily as the tom scuffs a paw on the ground in embarrassment.
"Sorry that, that was rude of me. I'm Cypressstar, it's very nice to meet you, B-Fox."
Fox's eye narrows at hearing him almost call her a baby, again, but she doesn't comment on it.
"Alright, well, what is this, KeyClan? What does that mean?"
It feels like a mistake, asking this, because soon after she's being dragged around the whole clearing, in and out of buildings, and across the weird metal path. Cypressstar and Jinglepaw seem to talk nonstop, practically tripping over one another's words as they show her around. She's got half a mind to ask if they're related, but she also feels like that's maybe rude, and keeps the question to herself despite her curiosity.
It's almost dark by the time they finally finish, and Fox is pretty much dead on her paws. She's guided over to the weird metal mouse on it's side that Jinglepaw apparently lives in, and is quick to curl into a corner of it and is asleep almost instantly.
However, not before she hears one more thing.
"I hope she stays. I wanna call her Babypaw."
The sound of Jinglepaw's laughter lulls her to sleep, and if her dreams are full of cats cheering the name 'Babypaw', then no one needs to know.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:12:34 GMT -8
007 - Plot Paused For BABIES
Humming a happy little tune under his breath, Grasswhistle excitedly makes his way to the strange little building that Mist and their new kits live in. He originally tried to sleep there with them, but it was made very clear very fast that that wasn’t the best plan.
Weasel had chased him out yesterday because he had gotten in the Tamer’s way, and he’s really hoping she isn’t there when he gets there. Mist wanted to name the kits today, and even though Grasswhistle will brave the Tamer’s glare to be there, he would really prefer if he didn’t have to.
Hopping up onto the ledge, he feels as if his heart swells ten times in size as he looks down at his beautiful mate and their tiny kittens. They’re mewling and squirming around on the soft floor near Mist’s belly, and Grasswhistle could probably die right now and be happy about it, because it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen.
Luckily, Weasel doesn’t seem to be anywhere around, and Grasswhistle carefully makes his way down to settle himself at Mist’s back, and he places his chin on their shoulder to just watch the little bundles of fur and feeling like his heart is going to beat right out of his chest.
Mist gives an adorable little noise in greeting, and Grasswhistle can’t help himself from nuzzling into their neck and purring so loudly he wouldn’t be shocked that the entire camp could somehow hear it.
”Did you think of any names?”
Mist’s voice is soft and Grasswhistle almost misses their question, but it makes him puff up a bit to hear his mate ask his opinion before giving their own. So, he pulls away from his nuzzling to look down at the little kits.
He can’t really tell them apart yet, since they all seem to look so similar, but there are some clear variations in size.
There’s this really tiny and extra thin little tom, who Grasswhistle is pretty sure is the runt. However, he seems to move faster than all the other kits, and honestly Grasswhistle doesn’t think he’s ever seen the little guy stop moving.
One of the little mollys is just a big wider than the runt, but just as small in height. She seems to have almost floppy ears, which is completely adorable, and even though all the kits seem to have sad little faces right now, hers seems almost sadder somehow.
There’s a little pair of two that look even more identical than all the others. They seem to stick close together, and Grasswhistle thinks that’s adorable.
There’s another molly, and she appears to be the largest of the litter. He’s also fairly certain she was the last born, and he gives a small wince at imagining how much it must’ve hurt Mist to bring that little girl into the world. He’s fairly certain he won’t be able to convince them to have another litter any time soon.
The last kid looks just the same as most of the others, and if almost any of the other kits had been the exact same size, he’s pretty sure they’d also be completely identical, like the other pair. This last one is a little tom, and Grasswhistle is just so in love with all of them that he has to stop himself from crying a little bit.
”I, uh, I was thinking maybe Pepper? For one? And maybe something like Energy for that runt there. He’s making me feel tired just looking at him.” His comment makes Mist give a little laugh, and Grasswhistle beams at the sound.
Pepper was his late sister’s name, and he’s completely sure Mist picked up on it immediately. He had felt them tense up after he said the name, and that’s why he had barrelled on to Energy. It wasn’t even a proper thought in his head; he had just rambled a little to make the atmosphere less tense.
Mist hums softly and leans back a little, and Grasswhistle shifts to keep them both in a comfortable position as they look down at the kits.
”Energizer, instead of Energy. The two that look the most alike, how about Claw and Fang?” Mist’s voice is soft, but Grasswhistle knows that they’re set on those names.
He gives a soft hum as a response, and now there’s only two kittens left.
”You should name one Pollen.”
Grasswhistle flinches back at Weasel’s voice, and looks up at the Tamer guiltily. She just rolls her eyes at him before making her way down to the floor, and he slowly places his chin back down on Mist’s shoulder. He can feel them laughing, and wisely chooses not to comment on it.
He blocks out most of what they talk about - it’s not information meant for him anyways, and there’s no way he’d remember it regardless - and next thing he knows he’s being woken up by a tiny paw shoving into his mouth.
Recoiling back, Grasswhistle blinks a few times as he glances down at the little kitten. They’re face down on Mist’s flank where his head just was, and he hears Mist softly scolding the kitten - Shadow, if he heard right - telling her off for bothering her father.
Just hearing Mist call him their father makes his fur stand on end, and so he curls back around his beloved mate, and he feels Shadow curl up under his chin just before he falls back asleep.
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Post by obnixious on Apr 6, 2020 21:13:30 GMT -8
008 - The Good And The Bad
Cypressstar looks down at his Clan from the little perch of his den. The metal slider is closed behind him, and he stares out over those congregated below.
There’s Syrinxecho and Auletris, who have been his loyal Acrobats since the beginning. There’s the one eyed Babypaw, looking up at him with awe. Off to the back is Grasswhistle and Mist, their little kittens tumbling across their paws, and Flareblitz and Weasel both sitting nearby to keep the kittens over with their parents. There’s even Lilyfrost, the new Magician that he and his patrol found just a few days prior, sitting on Weasel’s other side - away from the kittens - trying to look like she doesn’t want to be here, but with her gaze clearly full of wonder for what’s about to happen.
He’s starting to feel a little nervous, but a quick glance down to where Jinglepaw is, and it feels like all his nerves are washed away in an instant,
”Cats of KeyClan, I welcome you to our first official meeting!”
He pauses for effect, and can’t help but feel warm at the way younger cats cheer. He notes that Mewlin looks especially displeased by this, and he just barely stops himself from laughing at her for it.
”I’m sure we all know why I’ve gathered you here today by now, but in case you don’t; today, there are a few changes in ranks for those among us! First of all, young Wishkit, may you step forward?”
Cypressstar gracefully jumps down from his ledge (something he only learned how to do after living here for 5 moons) and waits as the little kitten weaves her way through the Acrobats to join him up at the front.
When she’s finally up there, she looks up at him with so much hope and excitement that Cypressstar almost wants to cry. He still doesn’t believe that he deserves these kinds of looks, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to earn that kind of respect.
”Wishkit, when you and your father joined our Clan, and I was so proud to know that he chose this Clan to help in raising you. I’ve watched you grow these last few moons with so much pride, and I’m honoured to finally name you a Juggler. From this day forth, you shall be known as Wishpaw!”
He pauses again here, and looks up to see Swiftwind cheering the loudest for his daughter. Cypressstar smiles, before turning his head and locking eyes with another Acrobat.
”Auletris, could you step forward?”
The siamese stands up from where she was pressed up against her brother, and comes up to stand proudly before Cypressstar, next to Wishkit, and he’s suddenly struck with the urge to tear up again.
”Auletris, you’ve been such a big help to KeyClan; you and your brother both. You’ve helped me build this Clan from the bottom up, and you’ve always made sure to keep me on track. I hope that you keep up that diligence, and pass on all your knowledge to this young Juggler.”
Auletris nods when he finishes speaking, before leaning down to gently touch her nose to Wishpaw’s. The two share a moment where they just lock eyes, before Auletris lifts her head back up.
”May Cirque de Étoile bless your training.”
The two nod at him, before heading back into the crowd. Auletris sits back next to Syrinxecho, and it’s clear how the larger tom nudges his sister with excitement. Wishpaw moves further into the crowd, sitting down next to her father. Swiftwind’s purring with so much pride that Cypressstar can hear it from here.
”Next, could I get Jinglepaw up here?”
His tone is soft, and when he locks eyes with Weasel, he knows that everyone picked up on it. Regardless, he watches as his own Juggler makes her way through the crowd, pushing away from where she was sitting with Babypaw, and narrowly avoiding stomping on Poisonfang’s tail.
When she’s standing there in front of him, Cypressstar almost finally sheds a tear. This young molly has come so far over the moons they’ve spent together, and he’d honestly be hard pressed to see her as anything other than a daughter at this point.
”Jinglepaw, you came to this Clan as Jingle Bell, and then became Jinglepaw, and I was honoured to train you for all these moons. You’ve shaped up to be a wonderful young molly, and you’ve always done your best to become the very best that you can be. I admire that, and I’m excited to see what you do with yourself as an Acrobat. From now on, you will be known as Jinglebee. Something similar enough to your birth name, but with enough of a change to make it original; to show that you’re now free to be whoever you want to be, to let go of your past."
When he’s done talking, he’s not all that surprised to see that Jinglebee is crying. He reaches out to gently press his forehead to hers, and can feel the way she shudders at her next inhale.
When he pulls away, Jinglebee is beaming at him despite all the tears rushing down her face. She whispers a small ”thank you” before she turns and weaves her way back into the crowd, and collapses at Babypaw’s side before pressing her face into the Juggler’s neck.
Smiling, Cypressstar looks back over the crowd.
”Swiftwind, can you come up here?”
The older tom gives a quick lick to the top of Wishpaw’s head, and then he’s making his way up to stand in front of Cypressstar, and even just from the way he holds himself as he walks, Cypressstar knows he’s made the right decision.
”Swiftwind, you’ve only been part of KeyClan for a few moons, but already you’ve managed to show me how dedicated you are to helping this Clan, and making a future for both yourself and your daughter here with us. I’d like to ask you to be the Trapeze Artist for this Clan. To walk along that fine line where you have to make the right decisions to keep everything working and not fall while doing it. I’d be honoured, if you’d agree to be my second in command to help KeyClan running smoothly.”
Swiftwind gives a kind laugh, and Cypressstar beams at the sound. He’d talked it over with Auletris over the last few days, because he’d been originally planning on giving the position to her. She talked him into considering Swiftwind for it, and he’s glad he let her do that. He can already tell that Swiftwind was the right decision, and he’s glad to have this tom in his Clan.
They briefly touch noses, and then Cypressstar turns and jumps back up to his ledge. Looking back down at the Clan, Cypressstar curls his tail around his paws before lifting his head high.
”May Cirque de Étoile smile upon these rank changes, and continue to watch over us! This meeting is now over!”
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It’s been a relatively quiet morning. Or, well, as quiet as it can be with 6 tiny kittens that wake up at dawn trying to play while also trying not to wake anyone up.
So, no, it’s not actually that quiet.
Lilyfrost huffs softly, and lifts her head from where she had it tucked under a paw. All the kits go silent, and she gives a small laugh before getting up to her paws and climbing out of the den. She’ll leave them to Mist, and maybe if she sees Grasswhistle she’ll get the tom to go in there and entertain his kits so the poor Magician can sleep in a bit longer.
However, as soon as Lilyfrost is perched up on the ledge of the opening to the den, her lip curls back in a quiet snarl.
Looking around, her gaze finally settles on the owner of the scent wafting through the air. The ginger tabby stands there next to Cypressstar, her face all soft and kind looking as she - presumably - thanks him for letting her join, and Lilyfrost bites back a growl before jumping down and making her way over.
”Hello, Carrie. Didn’t think I’d see you again.”
Carrie doesn’t so much as flinch, but Cypressstar on the other hand is shocked into silence. His gaze flickers between the two, but before he can say anything, Carrie is turning to her and speaking.
”Why, if it isn’t Lily!” the molly purrs, and Lilyfrost can feel every hair on her body standing on end.
”It’s Lilyfrost, now.” she cooly responds, and she almost preens at the twitch of one of Carrie’s eyes. She didn’t know the other molly for long when they first met, but Lilyfrost vividly remembers how much she butted heads with her. Honestly, she’s pretty sure it’s the reason why Carrie was eventually asked to leave.
”Oh, is that right? Well, I’ve also been given a Clan name from Cypressstar, here. He’s so generous, letting strangers like us into his Clan without question. I’m Calendulaclaw now. I know, quite a mouthful when compared to Carrie, isn’t it?” Her eyes are sharp, and Lilyfrost is confident that she didn’t give any physical indicators that show she’s shocked. After all, she already expected that Carrie - sorry, Calendulaclaw - was here as a new member of the Clan. So she’s already got one up on the molly.
”Ah, you know each other?”
Cypressstar’s voice, on the other hand, startles Lilyfrost. She honestly forgot the Ringmaster was still here.
She turns to him with a smile, and gives a nod. ”Oh, yes! I met Calendulaclaw back when I was a Loner. She came across my mate and I once, and stayed with us for a little while before setting off again. It’s been a while, and so I was a bit shocked to see her here.”
Calendulaclaw says something else, probably backing up Lilyfrost’s story, but she’s heard enough at this point. Quietly saying her goodbyes, Lilyfrost heads past them to the fresh-kill pile, ready to wash the taste of Calendulaclaw’s scent from her mouth.
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It’s dark when Cypressstar wakes up. Or, he assumes he wakes up, but after looking around, it’s clear that he’s in a dream again. He tries to back up, and is met with what feels like a solid wall.
Looking behind him, he feels his breath catch in his chest at all the eyes looking down at him from the windows. He slowly turns his whole body, and after a few moments of him just panting, someone steps out of the strange building,
It’s the same Scottish Fold he saw before, and he shivers involuntarily. He tries to take a step back, but his legs don’t appear to be working.
”Welcome back, Cypressstar. I knew I’d be seeing you again.”
Their voice is shrill, and yet oddly soothing. Like the voice wants him to trust it, but every fibre of his being is screaming otherwise. This makes the strange cat grin, and Cypressstar wishes he’d really woken up back in his nest.
”You’re building up KeyClan, right? I know you’ve been asking those from the Stars to bring you cats, but how about I help out? I could send you a few strong, brave ca--”
”No."
His voice takes even him by surprise, and the Scottish Fold’s mouth snaps shut. It makes him shiver, and Cypressstar slowly begins unsheathing and sheathing his claws, hoping the sensation will somehow wake him up and help him escape this strange place.
Cypressstar can’t bring himself to look up, but it feels like the amount of eyes watching him has doubled. Maybe even tripled, if he’s being honest.
”Now now, is that any way to treat someone that’s just trying to help out?” The Scottish Fold asks, and suddenly the silence explodes into laughter. Cypressstar can finally move his limbs, and he uses this ability to crouch down and slap his paws over his ears, and shutting his eyes as tightly closed as possible as he begins praying for something to wake him up.
He can tell the stranger is still speaking, and they’re louder and more angry sounding now, but he can’t focus on anything other than the deafening laughter coming from all around.
And then suddenly.
It stops.
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