BAMBOO BONES / OPEN, VISITOR? kinda

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/ UH my muse ran away from me oops, please don't feel like you have to match this!! The last paragraph is the only one that matters.

The boy had separated himself from Roguecub, after a while. While he was good company, there were places that Perseus needed to be. He thinks so, at least. Marauder's not the type of person to hang around the places filled with sunshine. Not without him around, that was, and he very obviously appreciated that, but now he was gone and even though he'd always wanted to be brave, he was scared. The caracal had always been a weird sort of protective shadow, dark and rough around the edges but sort of like a blanket. You hid under your blankets when you thought the monsters might get you, right? The monsters were all around him, now, and Perseus didn't have anything to hide under. The clouded leopard is still limping a little bit, though he'd done his best to push it aside when traveling with the HawkClanner. He didn't like being slowed down and Percy was too proud to enjoy being an inconvenience to anyone. (Had he been an inconvenience to Marauder? Was he still looking? Did he miss him? He keeps telling himself that he probably does, because even if he was mean to everyone else, he wasn't to him. But he's still scared.)

Once upon a time, he'd made a promise to himself to never think about his family again, because he wouldn't see them again, but he keeps thinking about whether or not his mom would be proud of him right now, and he doesn't think that she would be. That's okay, though. That's okay, because maybe Marauder would be proud of him instead. (He just wants people to smile, was that so bad?) Now he just has to see him again, and maybe there's something at the border that sparks a bit of hope, because it reminds him of dyed fur and a red jacket and a tongue sharp enough to draw blood even without his teeth. The child sits down, watching the world with eyes that had once been a steady kitten-blue, now muddied with change. They'll be brown, soon. Like his mom's, and dad's, and grandma's. Not Marauder's, though.

It takes a moment of contemplation and tension for Perseus to take a seat, trying to keep his heart from beating too hard at the idea of people finding him here. It's not even the adults that worry him anymore. After the hunger games thing, he was more concerned with people his age. Though the wounds are bandaged now, he can still feel the bite mark on his hip, and the various cuts on his sides, and the raw ache every time he takes a step. Maybe he'd be lucky and there wouldn't be any other kids. This was easier when Roguecub was with him. It reminded him of the people that had sided with him in the hunger games; kept him safe. He likes to be independent, but maybe some part of him will always need a little bit of protecting. Maybe some part of him would always be soft. "Hello?" The child squirms a bit, muscular tail swishing behind him as his paws clench and relax in the dirt. "I'm looking for someone. Sorta. I just — I need to find. Someone."
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He swallows hard when Koda approaches, feeling the urge to shift farther away from the calico. She's not a danger, but there's not much of anything in her eyes. Even when people were being a jerk to him, there was something, but she doesn't care, and she doesn't not care, and really, Perseus doesn't know what to think about that. But maybe she'll know where Marauder was, even if she wasn't as nice as the people in HawkClan had been. They didn't know, after all. They'd offered him a place to sleep, allowed him to use some of their supplies. They were... Nice, that was all. It's okay if these ones aren't, though — he'd been around Marauder long enough that he can just stick his tongue out at anyone that's being too mean. "His name's Marauder. He's kinda mean but only sometimes and he likes being sarcastic, and his ears're —" The boy raises a paw to draw tufts above his own ears. It feels silly that he can feel tears started to well up in his eyes, he doesn't even remember the last time he'd cried about anything like this. "He wears a jacket? And maybe a bracelet?" That only makes the urge to cry worse, and Perseus sucks in a shaky breath. There's no point in getting upset now; that won't help find him.
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