Cold Nights (Open, jump-in's welcome)

Feather shivered as she walked outside. The cold air felt heavy on her long pelt, an unwelcome change from the warmth inside; though something so small wouldn't stop her. The young housecat padded through the thin layer of fluffy snow inside her housefolk's yard, wonder filling her eyes as she looked into the starry sky. Cloudless tonight. Perfect. She loved it when she could view the stars and try to draw shapes in them.

That was what the young housecat did for a while, staring at the sky and drawing triangles, squares, and if she was feeling creative, animals. Although fun, this didn't entertain her forever, and with a small 'thud', Feather perched on the fence that separated her house from the rest of the block.

As she didn't feel cold yet, the silvery she-cat decided to stay outside a while longer. Despite how chilly the weather was, Feather loved winter, and it wouldn't kill her to stick around a little longer. She smiled as yet another cold breeze whipped through her long fur, thoughts of others outside in the freezing cold night far away from her mind.

The housecat turned as she heard a voice. "Hmm?" Her eyes widened as the black cat seemed to glare at her. Feather would admit she couldn't fight well at all, and hoped this wouldn't end in a battle. Thankfully, though, he started up a conversation and she relaxed. "Oh. I was just looking for shapes in the sky." She laughed, breaking a smile as well. "I like to do that on clear nights. Have you ever tried it?"

"Well..." Hard question. Feather titled her head as she tried to find a way to explain it. "What I do is pretend I draw lines from the stars that look close together. I make triangles and squares and stuff." The silvery tabby cat glanced at the tom, hoping she had explained it decently well. Feather found stargazing a hard thing to describe.

A star... running across the sky? The housecat tilted her head at this. "That sounds... incredible, but I've never seen a star move." She admitted. It sounded wondrous, though, at least to Feather. She could almost picture it, a single speck of a star running in the night sky... though her mental picture was far from the real thing. Not that she could tell. "Hey, mister... what's your name? I'm Feather. Do you know when they'll be a moving star? I really want to see one now." The housecat seemed to avoid stopping for breathe. "It's okay if you haven't seen one, of course, but it sounds really cool and..." She trailed off, an energetic look in her eyes.

Feather nodded slowly. "I'll try staying up for a while." She purred, still trying to imagine a shooting star. How fast would it move? Would it be brighter, or alike to the other stars? Could it fall and hit something?... The young housecat still thought it sounded amazing. "Maybe not tonight, though. It's too cold to stay up all night, at least in my tastes."

... Hey, that reminded her of something. "... Hey, Sather, isn't it cold out there?" She motioned to the area outside the fence. "... I mean, it's obviously cold. But I've heard rumours that say it's cold enough to freeze cats to death! Is that true?"

"That's good to hear." Feather chuckled lightly. "I feel kinda bad for you wild cats when it's so cold out there, but at least you don't freeze." ... or did they? Not wanting to think about that right now, Feather did her best to push the thought away. Best try to change the subject. "Hey, Sather, could I ask you something else?... are their really cats who live in the forests and mountains?"

The young housecat thought on that for a moment. "... I don't get why anyone would want to do that." She said matter-of-factly. "There are foxes and wolves and badgers and... tigers out in the forest."... well, Feather had never actually seen any of those animals. Plus, there probably weren't many tigers, not that she knew that. The silvery cat shivered, from more then the cold. "There are even birds big enough to eat a cat! At least, Onyx said so..."

"Think they're the same cat?" Feather wondered. "The Onyx I know is the cat from next door. He's an outdoor cat, though, so he wanders around the block a lot and I don't see him very often." She didn't mind. Onyx, well... the two of them didn't get along. At all. "Oh, he's a black tabby cat with a green collar. Is he the same Onyx you know, Sather?"

Feather laughed as she pictured the black tabby trying to act tough again. "Don't tell him I said this; but Onyx is such a wimp. Let me guess, one blow and he darted off crying?" The housecat chuckled. He was always like that, and his owner always freaked out whenever he came home with a single scratch... well, she couldn't tell what she was saying, but tone of voice was universal.

Feather laughed. "I'm not surprised. I'm probably stronger then that wimp!" She had a gleeful expression as she said so. Onyx was that 'anything-you-can-do-I'll-do-better, even if I have no real reason to best you in the first place' guy. It felt good to finally have the upper hand on him. The housecat puffed out her chest proudly. "Hey, Sather, do you know any good tricks? Next time Onyx tells me stories of killer birds and tigers invading my house, I'm not standing for it!" The silvery cat seemed a tad too excited about this; she had a gleam in her eye as she imagined her revenge on that jerk...