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Post by Kaeldra on May 4, 2021 20:35:35 GMT
Lily || She-cat || 9 moons
Lily's patience was wearing thin. She'd finally, finally gotten her father to agree to give her fighting lessons; he had apparently met another forest cat a while ago that had given him reason to think it would be a good idea after all. She had wanted to bow at this stranger's paws, thanking him for changing her father's mind. But that had been over a moon ago, and she still hadn't had a single lesson! Thanks to that awful snowstorm, Noctus had wanted to postpone the training for better weather. Lily's poor littermates hadn't heard the end of it.
Now that the winds had calmed in the last half-moon or so, Lily had decided it was time. So what if it was still freezing, and snow was still piled on the ground? She wouldn't let that bother her. And if her dad wasn't going to show her where this "Flare" was, she would find him herself. She'd get a fighting lesson from him, then next time she'd bring all her siblings along too!
Lily pushed her way out of the cat flap with determination. She wasn't gonna let anything get in her way! She had to do everything she could to become the best warrior she could be. When she got to the edge of the forest, she scanned the trees, wondering which way would be best to try first. Flare apparently had a bright ginger pelt, so she hoped he would be easy to spot against the snow. Of course he wasn't here, so close to where the housefolk lived, so she picked a direction seemingly at random and started walking. The snow was still deep, and she had to lift her paws high to avoid dragging them through the drifts.
"If I were a forest cat, where would I be..." she murmured to herself. She tried to catch a trace of his scent, but she had no idea what his scent was! So she settled for wandering about, hoping she'd stumble across the cat she was looking for.
ulla
Here ya go! Up to you if you want Flare find her immediately, or if we wanna let her flounder a little bit more, hehehe. I left Noctus out for now in case Flare's brothers do show up, so in that case I'll be playing just two characters instead of three xD |
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Zesha
New Warrior
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Hi, I'm Zesha!
> Ciswoman
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> EST
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> Biromantic/demisexual
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Post by Zesha on May 11, 2021 17:46:53 GMT
 Zinnia • She-cat • 9 moons • Kittypet Over a moon ago, their father had promised Lily that he’d at last give her the lessons she had so desperately been begging for; and then the weather decided it didn’t like that idea. Those lessons were about the only thing Zinnia really remembered Lily talking about since then, and now that the weather was “better” she had a sneaking suspicion that her sister was going to go looking for their dad to get him to fulfill that promise.
This had to be the earliest Zinnia had been up in moons, lounging on the fence waiting to see if her sister was going to wander out in the cold. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but she didn’t want her sister to go alone.
Finally she saw something move in the snow. Her ears perked up and she gazed over to see her sister, the dark points on her body the only thing really standing out. Zinnia arched her back in a stretch before leaping down and bounding up to her sister, calling out, “Hey! Where you headed?”
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Riley
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Post by Riley on May 26, 2021 2:02:00 GMT
Flare would never be able to tell anybody what made him come to that part of the forest that day. Something inside him, perhaps instincts, perhaps something stronger, had urged his paws to head in the direction closer to Twolegplace. It wasn't that he AVOIDED the area, more that it was farther from his home than he usually went.
So when he came upon the two young she-cats, perhaps the same age as his siblings, Flare was surprised. They had the softness a typical kittypet would, with no definition to their muscles and no scars on their pelts. Of course considering their age it could just be that they hadn't been in any fights to GIVE them scars, and if that was true then the spirits must be watching over them, but this close to where the twolegs lived? He wouldn't take that bet for all the mice in the forest.
Impulsively he called out to them. "Hello there, you two." he meowed with a friendly blink. He kept his distance though, even as he approached. He didn't want to spook them into running away. "You're a far way from your homes, kittypets. Are you lost?"
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Post by Kaeldra on May 26, 2021 18:27:27 GMT
Lily || She-cat || 9 moons
Lily had barely taken two steps into the forest when a familiar voice made her jump. She whirled around to see her sister bounding through the snow to meet her, and her tail curled in excitement.
“Zinnia! Good timing. I’m going to go find Flare, that cat dad said would help teach us to fight. I’m tired of waiting!” She huffed in indignation before returning to her enthusiastic trudging. “You should come with me, it’ll be easier to find him if there’s two of us!”
Without waiting for an answer, she headed deeper into the trees, lifting her nose every so often to scent the air. It all smells the same! How does dad get around in this gross weather? But she refused to give up so easily. She would find Flare, even if it took her all day.
As luck would have it, though, they had only been walking for a short time when she heard a greeting called out from up ahead, and she looked up from where she was carefully placing her paws to catch a glimpse of a fluffy ginger pelt, startlingly bright against the snow. Bingo! After all, she didn’t know of any other ginger cats in the forest, so this had to be Flare! Right?
Lily raced ahead, stumbling a bit in the drifts. Skidding to a halt just a few tail-lengths from the tom, she began speaking faster than she could think.
“Hi! We’re not lost! Your name is Flare, right? Our dad told us about you, so we came to find you!” She paused to take a breath, then added “Wait, how did you know we're house cats-- er, kittypets?” Surely it wasn’t that obvious?
ulla
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Zesha
New Warrior
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Hi, I'm Zesha!
> Ciswoman
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> EST
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> Biromantic/demisexual
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Post by Zesha on May 28, 2021 16:14:55 GMT
Zinnia • She-cat • 9 moons • Kittypet Zinnia should have known that her sister would do this sooner or later, since their dad had taken “years” as far as Lily was concerned. Giving a shrug, she replied, “Sure, why not?” only to realize Lily hadn’t even bothered waiting for an answer. Not that that was anything new.
“Hey, wait up!” she called as she bounded after her sister, sometimes having to jump out of deeper areas of snow. She would really be glad when the snow was gone. She’d seen about enough of it, and the novelty wore off pretty quick.
The black she-cat had thought this would just be another of Lily’s adventures that didn’t really do much besides get them in trouble with their parents, but to her surprise they hadn’t been searching for long before a brilliant ginger tom showed up. She stared up at him, blinking slowly as she realized just how big this cat seemed compared to them.
Lily had bolted forward though, so Zinnia followed to make sure nothing happened to her sister. She didn’t know of any other orange cats around here but hey, they hadn’t really gotten to explore the woods too much so it could be possible. She let her sister take control of the talking; Lily always tended to be the leader of the group, and she was fine with that. If anything else needed to be said she could always jump in and add it.
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Jul 4, 2021 4:29:00 GMT
Flare almost jerked back in shock when one moment the kittypet was at the far side of the clearing and the next right in front of him. He blinked though at the burst of babble she let out. It took him a moment to decipher it, and his eyes widened when he did. Somehow she knew his name. Did Flare know any kittypets who could have been their father?
... No, but he did know a cat MATED to a kittypet. "Ah, you're some of Noctus's kits, then." he meowed, warmth infused in his voice. He'd been looking forward to meeting them next time he and Noctus met up, but it seemed as if some of his kits took the initiative. "Let me guess. Lily and Zinnia?" he purred, whiskers twitching. "From his stories of you lot, I'm assuming you lost patience and decided to seek me out yourselves."
Okay to be honest as much as his friend had told him of his children, Flare couldn't for the life of him remember which one was Lily and which was Zinnia. He knew Lily was the impatient one and so assumed it was the she-cat in front of him rather than the one sitting back, but he didn't want to say their names aloud until they confirmed who was who. "As for your question, your fur."
Flare turned sideways to show off his own pelt, which was thick and ruffled without care. "Kittypets, and I mean no offense when I say this, are usually more careful about how they look. Mine is thick and bushy for the season of leafbare, to keep myself warm, and I don't really wash it as often as my mother probably wishes I did."
He gave a jovial wink at the pair of them before sitting back properly. "Your pelts, on the other hand, are groomed. Fluffy. And, most importantly, unscarred. At this age most non-kittypet cats already have one or two scars, whether from fights or accidents. Your dad says he hasn't taught you to fight yet, so it makes sense you wouldn't have scars."
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Post by Kaeldra on Jul 4, 2021 22:09:07 GMT
Lily || She-cat || 9 moons
Lily’s eyes grew wide as the tom managed to correctly guess their names like it was nothing. Sure, her father had told his kits all about Flare, but somehow it hadn’t occurred to her that he might tell Flare about them.
“Wow, you’re right! I wanted to bring Bluebell and Basil too, but I wanted to make sure I could find you first,” she explained, sharing a look with Zinnia as if to say Forest cats are so cool, aren’t they? Then the tom mentioned her impatience in starting her lessons and scoffed. “Well, duh! He said we would get to learn how to fight and you’d be teaching us but that was forever ago! How am I gonna be a Clan leader one day if it keeps getting put off?”
She looked down at her fur, noticing for the first time just how soft and smooth hers and her sister’s was in comparison to Flare’s. Their mother always instilled in them the importance of making sure they were well groomed, but she thought it wasn’t such a big deal. After all, Noctus’ fur was never quite as sleek and pretty as their own, and he seemed to do just fine. At the mention of scars, Lily’s eyes glowed.
“I wonder if I’ll get a scar soon! Then I’ll look like a real forest cat,” she mewed. Sure, the prospect of getting into a real battle was a bit scary when she hardly knew anything about fighting, but she couldn’t wait until she was strong and powerful -- and had the scars to prove it!
ulla
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Zesha
New Warrior
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About Me
Hi, I'm Zesha!
> Ciswoman
> She/Her
> 30
> EST
> 11 Cats IRL
> Biromantic/demisexual
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Post by Zesha on Jul 6, 2021 17:04:23 GMT
 Zinnia • She-cat • 9 moons • Kittypet Zinnia had to admit, this tom was good at figuring out who they were. And picking up on the fact they were kittypets rather than battle-hardened warriors. Granted, after what he had mentioned, it did seem pretty obvious that they were house pets.
“I just happen to see Lily and followed her,” Zinnia said with a shrug, her usually go-with-the-flow attitude kicking in. She caught Lily’s look and she did think that this forest cat seemed pretty cool, though not as cool as the snow nipping at her toes. She was starting to wish Lily could have waited until the snow melted first at the very least.
Zinnia glanced down at her own fur for a moment. It wasn’t quite as pristine as Lily’s, but it was still kept well enough that she didn’t look like an “alley cat” as some felines called it. It also looked more groomed than Flare’s. Their mother would probably have pinned him down and washed him half to death by now if he were her kit.
“Ooh, you’d look so cool with a scar!” she exclaimed, looking at her sister and trying to imagine it. “Mr. Flare, you’ve got to teach us how to fight!”
Kaeldra Riley |
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Riley
Head of Advertising
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Post by Riley on Jul 17, 2021 3:56:20 GMT
At first Flare puffed up, proud to have impressed these young cats. Then they went on about scars and oh wow, suddenly Flare understood Noctus's worries one hundred percent. "No. Absolutely not." he growled, bristling. He didn't want to scare them but they needed to understand. "I agreed to train you to defend yourselves. Not go around and picking fights. Scars aren't something you want to strive for. They just mean you weren't fast enough."
He turned so they could see his shoulder, the one with the three scars in it. "You see these? I got these from foxes. I nearly DIED from them. And the only reason I didn't was because your father was there." He lashed his tail through the air behind him, stirring up the snow in his agitation. "You two need to understand. Fighting isn't cool, and looking for trouble doesn't make you brave. It makes you a bully, and a lot of cats don't like bullies, especially in the wild. Some cat looks at you, trying to be big and bad and hot stuff, and they think, maybe you need to have your head deflated. Maybe they'd be doing you a service in cutting you down a size. Or maybe they just enjoy cutting, who knows?"
Flare shrugged, annoyed at himself for going on a tangent. "My point is. Fighting is only to be used in defense of yourself or others, NOT to get a cool scar. And if that's your goal then you can turn right back around to your cozy kittypet life and not look for me again."
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Post by Kaeldra on Sept 14, 2021 2:53:45 GMT
Lily || She-cat || 9 moons
It took all of two heartbeats for Flare to go from relaxed and cheerful to growling, ears flat against his head in anger. Lily took a shocked step back, her fur fluffing up and eyes going impossibly wider. He wouldn’t hurt them, would he?
Then his words started to sink in, and Lily gazed in awe at the three scars marring the orange tom’s shoulder. They were clearly healing, but the skin was still puckered and Lily imagined they had been painful to receive. She vaguely remembered her father telling her that a friend of his had gotten into trouble with some foxes and that’s why he hadn’t visited for a few days, but he hadn’t gone into details. Now Lily could understand why. Hearing about how his friend nearly had his pelt torn off by a fox would have given her nightmares for a moon. Seeing the aftermath wasn’t much better.
Then Flare seemed to relax, the rush of anger having been blown off by his rant. Lily looked to her sister, unsure of what to say next.
“Please teach us,” she finally settled on, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. Her whiskers still trembled slightly from the shock of his reprimand, and she stared at her paws as they scuffed the snow in front of her. She felt like wailing aloud; she had waited so long and tried so hard to get her father to agree to this training, and now she had messed it up before they had even started!
ulla
I live! Apologies for the ten year wait on this one ;; |
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Zesha
New Warrior
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About Me
Hi, I'm Zesha!
> Ciswoman
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> 30
> EST
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> Biromantic/demisexual
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Post by Zesha on Sept 15, 2021 1:17:48 GMT
Zinnia • She-cat • 11 moons • Kittypet Zinnia’s yellow eyes grew wide and her fur fluffed up to twice its usual size, but instead of staying behind her sister she came to step up next to her. She had no idea if this strange orange tom cat would dare hurt either of them, but if he went for her sister she was at least going to swipe her claws at him for good measure. For once, her usually calm demeanor seemed wild and scared, claws ready to unsheath at the first sign of danger.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lily was fearful, too. Flare had gone from seeming like a nice cat to having a fiery temper. Perhaps that was where he got his name.
The words began to reach her ears and she came to realize that, while she had no idea what a fox actually looked like, the aftermath they had left on Flare’s shoulder was enough to give her the impression they were large enough to cause trouble. The marks certainly looked like they stung more than any of the injuries either her or her sister had ever endured, most of which were just from play fighting when they were young kittens. She couldn’t imagine what those fox’s teeth had felt like plunging into Flare’s shoulder. Zinnia silently thanked her father for being there at the right time to help.
As his voice started to ebb back into a less frightful and angry tone, she cautiously allowed her fur to lie flat. It seemed that what danger there might be had passed. What he said had certainly made sense to her. She wasn’t sure if it had to Lily; for once the talkative she-cat seemed at a bit of a loss for words. She placed her tail across her sister’s flank, giving her a soft look before turning her gaze to Flare. It took a moment for her to search for the right words to say, as she didn’t want him to get riled up again and start another rant.
“We’re sorry for offending you,” she said, trying to keep her voice from cracking with nerves. “That wasn’t our intention. I think we understand now just how dangerous things can be, at least a little bit. But if they are so dangerous… please teach us, so that we may defend ourselves and those we love. We want to understand the life our dad lives out here, and one day he might need us to help him.”
She cast her eyes down after that, unsure what would happen next. Flare could easily cuff them around the ears and tell them to go home, making their original journey pointless, but some little shred of hope lay in her heart that he might still teach them something at the very least. |
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Sept 25, 2021 2:18:16 GMT
As much as Flare didn't want it to, guilt started to fill his belly when both she-kits backed up, eyes wide and pelts fluffed out. He... Well he can't say he hadn't MEANT to scare them, because he had. But maybe he could have toned it down a bit... At least he'd gotten the message through, though? Lily asked again for him to teach them, and Zinnia followed it up by understanding why they needed to take it seriously.
He looked between them before sighing and nodding. "Okay. As long as you realize this is serious and not for fun. Being too slow could mean life or death for yourself and your loved ones." Flare looked around around them before sighing heavily. He turned and flicked his tail for them to follow him. "This way. There's a hollow around here that's filled with sand. Should make for easy landings when you eventually mess up."
Flare led the way, not saying anything but keeping his ears pricked, both for conversation between the littermates and possible dangers. The last thing he wanted was for them to face foxes before they were ready, and he wasn't sure where the ones from that day had gone. Finally he leaped lightly into the hollow and looked back up to them. "Alright, who wants to go first? I need to assess your instincts so I know what I'm working with."
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Post by Kaeldra on Sept 25, 2021 7:06:39 GMT
Lily || She-cat || 9 moons
Lily turned and smiled at her sister, thankful that she was able to keep her head and articulate her thoughts when Lily herself couldn’t. If she had come out here alone like she had planned, Flare probably would have chased her back to Twolegplace by now.
“That’s right,” she agreed, not wanting to seem like she was only riding on the coattails of what Zinnia had said. “Dad always tells us such great stories about his adventures as a forest cat and we just want to understand what it’s like for ourselves!” Lily added hopefully, imagining herself protecting her loved ones from evil foxes; she had never seen one herself but if Flare’s injury was anything to go by they must be horrid things.
The orange tom seemed to think it over for a moment, then gave in with an exhale. Next thing she knew, they were moving, and Lily could feel the excitement beginning to thrum in her paws again. She shared an anxious glance with Zinnia, but didn’t say anything, too lost in her thoughts of being a fierce warrior. Maybe if she and Zinnia had been there when the foxes attacked, Flare wouldn’t have gotten hurt so badly! She pretended she was on a mission with her Clan to defeat invaders, pausing for only a moment before leaping down to join Flare in the sandy hollow. She landed awkwardly, spraying sand up around her and wobbling on her paws, but managed to keep her balance.
The ring of trees surrounding the hollow had kept the soft dip in the ground dry and snow free, thankfully. Lily looked around in curiosity. She hadn’t found this spot when she was out exploring on her own. Then her attention snapped back to Flare as he invited one of them to show off their skills first.
“Oh, me! I’ll go first!” She hopped excitedly in place, tail waving erratically.
ulla
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Zesha
New Warrior
176 Posts
About Me
Hi, I'm Zesha!
> Ciswoman
> She/Her
> 30
> EST
> 11 Cats IRL
> Biromantic/demisexual
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Post by Zesha on Sept 26, 2021 16:37:43 GMT
Zinnia • She-cat • 9 moons • Kittypet Flare was obviously not aware that despite the fact this would be hard work, the two young she-cats would still probably view this as fun. It was exciting, something different, an adventure! Still, Zinnia would try to act seriously instead of like a child. She knew how important this was to Lily, and any slip-ups could anger Flare into not teaching them.
As they padded under the trees, the snow crunching gently under their feet, Zinnia began to wonder about the foxes that had been mentioned earlier. “Flare? What do foxes look like?” From the damage they had caused she didn’t want to meet with one just yet, but it was important to know what they looked like to stay away from them.
After a bit of walking, they came to an area where the trees were thicker and the snow began to subside more, and finally vanish where a sandy hollow lay. She shook out each of her black paws to get any remnants of snow off before following Lily over to the hollow. Carefully, she climbed down the side and settled with her tail around her paws at the bottom. She was perfectly fine with letting her sister go first; it would give her time to watch Flare and maybe pick up something from him before he even started training them. |
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Sept 30, 2021 3:17:05 GMT
Flare ignored Zinnia's actually very good question until they got to the sandy hollow. He didn't want to waste the breath answering it when he could do just as well at the hollow he had in mind. When they got there, he finally deigned to look at the black she-cat as she followed her sister who followed him into the hollow. "To answer your question, Zinnia. Foxes look like an unholy mix of a cat and a dog. They're about twice the size of you guys, making them a little bigger than me. They have red fur and narrow muzzles and fluffy tails. Like, REALLY fluffy tails. The kind of fluffy tails that, if a fox wouldn't bite me the moment it saw me, I'd want to curl up on it and take a nap."
He chuckled at himself at the mental image of him actually curling up on top of a fox tail before shaking himself and looking directly at Lily. "So here's how it's going to go. You're going to attack me so I can assess your battle stance. Then I'm going to attack you, to get a feel for your reflexes and responses. Then, to give you a break, Zinnia and I will do the same thing. Then you're BOTH going to attack me, so I can see how well you work together. All of this with claws sheathed."
Flare gave them both the stink eye, making sure they knew he meant business, before he sank down into his own battle crouch. Jay had trained it into him so often he could do it now without even thinking. "Begin."
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