Shade stood in the dead of night, his deep copper eyes, seeming more like crimson, glowing in the moonlight. At his side was a dead tree, hollowed out and thin branched. His claws were out-- As it is rare that they are ever in. His gaze scanned the area, alert for anyone or anything around him. He smirked. No cat dared to cross his path; Not after the death of Dark. Dark, the tom that killed his mother and tried to convince him that it was himself. But no, Shade wasn't one to be easily fooled. He saw right through Dark's trick, killing him that night. Not without a struggle, however. He had been young, very young, when the incident occurred, easily overpowered by an adult cat. But just as Dark was about to kill him, he struck back. His tail lashed as he recalled the death scream on the tom as his claws pierced his throat. The first kill he had ever made... He blinked as a tear came from his eye. What was this? He wasn't sad.. Was he? He looked down at his claws, which were covered in blood. His eyes widened, and he stumbled back, a gasp escaping the tom. He looked again, but the blood was gone. It was just his imagination. No... He thought. It wasn't. There used to be blood all over his claws. But he always washed them off, like washing the memories of the screams and cries of him enemies.
Do you dare... Cr{o}ss my path?
- toffee !
- Closed
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On the contrary, it seemed, for a cat was going to cross his path. Not really his metaphorical one at this moment, but his literal one was about to be crossed. By who? None other than Astro, loner who'd been kicked from the Elite for a murder of her own. She huffed, her claws digging into the ground and throwing dirt up with each step she took. The she-cats fiery orange eyes surveyed the area once before looking back down to the ground at her paws Her ears were swiveled forward , listening so that she didn't walk into anything. Just as well, her mouth was slightly open, taking in any scents nearby.
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The midnight-black tom flicked his ear. Was that a sound he just heard? The sound of ground being torn up, perhaps. He smirked. Maybe there was a fox nearby he could kill-- Foxes.. Horrible creatures. Nothing but red sacs of fur was fangs and claws. Cats on the other hand, well... He sighed, staring at his paws. Killing other cats was hard. They had souls, emotions, feelings... The terrified look on their face, the tears streaming from their eyes, their soft, scared pleas.. Stop... Stop... He thought, annoyed with himself at letting tears stream from his eyes. How many of those cats he killed could've been spared? None! They tried to kill you, taunted you about your past. Like Dark, they were all like Dark. He thought, unable to convince himself. Why did Dark have to ruin his life?
-
One of her finely tuned ears flicked to the side and she stopped mid-step. She took in the scents again and hissed to herself quietly. She put the paw that was still in the air on the ground and ducked to the ground. Why did another cat have to be here? She was hoping she wouldn't have to deal with anyone else for a while, and a long while at that. The blue tabby looked around at the land around her, was the cat even that close to her?
She didn't want to fight, no, she'd had enough of that. Odd for an ex-Elite cat, right? Well she'd seen things... Horrible things that she wanted to stop. It's why she murdered those cats, she couldn't help it. It was in her blood to kill after all, but she didn't like it. Yet at the same time she almost craved it, and that made her hate it that much more.
"Who's there?" She called. Maybe she'd been wrong, maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her. -
Shade jerked his head up from his paws. Yes, obviously it wasn't a fox making that noise. Unless, of course, it spoke cat. No, stupid. Foxes aren't that smart! Smirking slightly, he called back, "Your death, if you mess with me!" He knew how cold he must sound-- Hopefully that would keep him from socializing with this cat, whoever it was. After all, even if it came to a fight, he didn't want to kill this time. Maybe he'd just leave the cat a memory of his terror. Yeah, a memory. He'd never tried that before-- Maybe it'd make other cats avoid him? That's what he wanted. Solitude: His life in a nutshell. He wanted to keep it that way, and if that cat got in his way.. Well... His claws might have to step in again.
-
Astro let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "Know how many times I've heard that one in my lifetime? Heh. Try me."
Though, as stated before, she didn't want a fight, she knew what a challenge sounded like. And this she-cat wasn't one to reject a challenge. She dug her claws deep into the earth and let her fur puff out. Her whiskers twitched slightly, listening to the sounds around her. First off, she needed to find out how close this tom actually was. If he truly intended to fight her, she needed to be ready. -
Shade smirked. This cat thought she was tough. "I'm in no mood to fight. As long as you stay out of my way, there's no need for me to kill you." He called casually, eyeing the direction the voice came from with his dark copper eyes. He expected the she-cat to lost her temper and leap out at him-- His claws were out and eyes narrowed. Whichever direction she came from, he'd be ready. Just like he killed Dark, if she leaped from behind, his claws would flash back in an instant, not giving even a moment to scream.
-
"Yeah... Kill me." Astro snorted again, rolling her eyes AGAIN. "I'm from the Elite, kid, you don't faze me..."
She shook her head and moved towards where the voice came from. She kicked a rock in its direction, but then sat down and licked the dirt from her claws. She was only all talk at this point, but she could and would fight if she needed to. This tom really was ticking her off, though, what with his all-that attitude and all. -
Shade grinned. "The Elite, eh? You think That's gonna intimidate me? I've killed badgers with two swipes of my claws." He narrowed his eyes as the she-cat called him 'kid'. "You don't know who you're talking to, do you? I wouldn't expect and Elite outcast like you to hear of me." His claws were deep in the soil in front of him. "But whoever you see me as, I'm not 'kid'. Regardless of my age, I know I'm smarter than any Elite." He mewed, eyeing the direction of the she-cats voice with a cold stare.
-
"Outcast? Oohh seems like you know everything, right? I've more cats that are badger sized than you know how to count. Your voice is quite familiar though, what was it.... Shade? Oh I've heard of you. I haven't been an Elite cat for moons now, I know a lot more than you think. Do not doubt my abilities" Astro yawned. "If you are no "kid" or "kit" you would know not to act like one. The words you utter are of no concern to me."
-
Shade let out a laugh through his clenched teeth. "Ah, so you've heard of me? I must be pretty popular then..." He clawed the ground in front of him. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to sink his claws into the irritating she-cat-- But he held back. She sounded like a worthy opponent, and killing her would be hard. Not to mention consumption of precious traveling time.
-
"I'd hardly call you popular...." Astro shrugged. She then stood and walked into the trees toward him, a smirk on her face. The grey and white she-cat flicked her tail as she moved. Her fiery eyes surveyed everything as she listened for the tom. She stopped to where she was a tail length away, but then climbed a tree to remain a bit... Hidden. She moved to a lower branch that hung over him and let her tail fall over the side.
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Bump
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ooc: Whoops, sorry. xD My cousins were over so I've been pretty inactive.
Shade smirked. "Say what you will-- You'd think differently if you saw some of the cats I've dealt with." He meowed to the air, bracing himself. He knew this cat was close-- He didn't know where, but he was prepared, wherever she was. This was surely different-- Usually the cats he faced were paralyzed with fear, or ready for a fight, which they lost, of course. But this cat-- She was just trying to make him angry. Lucky for him, that had happened many times before, so it didn't work on him. He flattened his ears. Was this cat just here to annoy him, or was she leading up to a fight? Whichever one it was, he was ready.
-
{{It's fine, ahah}}
Astro rolled her eyes, "I see. And should this frighten, or annoy me?"
She flicked her tail, it's end twitching slightly. Her yellow eyes looked around the tree she was sitting in before looking back down to the tom below. She was surprised, wondering if he actually couldn't tell where she was. Her grey pelt now looked like a cloudy shade of ash, shadows shifting as the wind blew through the tree. -
"Maybe." He meowed to the she-cat. He didn't really know what to say anymore. This cat was just trying to fry his nerves, and what was he to do? No amount of this would make him get really angry. What was he here for?
"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, his tail twitching in annoyance. This cat wasn't important-- So why was he talking to her? He could've left ages ago.
-
"Can't a rogue go as she pleases? You're going where you please and these lands are free to roam. . ." She said simply, eyes filling with boredom and a slight sense of melancholy. She missed being able to sleep in the same place every night, sure, but having this freedom eased the urges to go back. "I should ask you the same thing, hmm?
-
A irritated sigh escaped the tom. "Point taken, she-cat." He mewed, his claws scraping on the ground below his paws. "Hey-- How come your not in one of those clans I keep hearing about?" He asked causally, his tail flicking. Every cat he met seemed to want to be in one of those-- The ones who didn't get in his way, that is.
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"Because clanners are wimps bound down by a stupid code," She shrugged, laying her head down on her paws. Her opinion was her own but it was the one most cats outside of the clans believed. She'd rather live alone than depend on clanners for anything in her lifetime. "Plus, why wouldn't I want to live free? Who wouldn't want to?"
-
Shade lashed his tail. "True, true." He mewed, looking up at the moon. "But clanner's are stuck in their ways-- Only a few ever doubt their silly code and go free like we do." He smirked. "Huh, they don't know what their missing." Secretly, though, he wondered what kept them from going free themselves. It's not like they were scared-- He'd seen a few clan cats before, and they weren't scared at all. They were determined. What kept them stuck to their code, anyway?