|
Post by airjordanz on Jul 5, 2022 4:07:16 GMT
After everything, could Patch say whether he regretted his choices up to this point?
A glance cast over his shoulder at the other cats; they were hungry, they were lean, and they were tired. But they were loyal. Rat, if only because of their connection to Death's mother, and Shirley because of her naivety... it almost caused an ache in his chest. The piebald tom flicked his tail when he caught scent of something rank up ahead. He couldn't have been the only one, but he made it clear they were stopping here.
"Remember the twoleg trash heaps in the alleys?" he whispered in a low tone in case there was a dog. Though the lumbering giants were often powerful and swift, they wouldn't smell them over the rot. And they certainly wouldn't hear them if he could help it. "I believe we've found one. This is where we stop for today. There's either twoleg prey scraps or carrion we can pick from..." Hopefully.
His torn ear angled halfheartedly to the direction of the forest, his good one leading the way to the Carrionplace. "If nothing else, there will be shelter."
|
|
|
Post by Solaris on Jul 5, 2022 4:54:34 GMT
R A T He/him | 59 Moons | Rogue He checked around the perimeter of the Carrionplace, holding a breath so as to wincing at the rancid stench that filled his nose. He caught a familiar trace of twoleg, underneath all of the stronger stenches. It was faint, but still recent enough to cause concern. He padded back to the other cats.
“We’d better be careful. There’s still twoleg scent lingering around here, somewhat recent. They might return. I don’t want to risk it,” he grunted. Though he was used to the presence of twolegs, coming from twolegplace, he couldn’t say he was comfortable around them. There were too many risk with them; they could either kill or capture you. He wasn’t about to test fate.
“I think the bedding we have now is good enough. We can make better nests later, if need be,” he said, nodding at Patch. The piles of twoleg scrap offered a wide variety of sleeping arrangements, it seemed.
“Another issue we should address is who will take patrol for tonight. We need take as many precautions as we can.” Scaling up one of the piles, he leaped up on top of the monster’s corpse, and looked around. There was a clear enough view of their surroundings up where he was. “A lookout can jump on top and get a good view of the Carrionplace’s border. I think it’s sufficient.”
|
|
Riley
Head of Advertising
347 Posts
|
Post by Riley on Jul 9, 2022 8:06:02 GMT
Everything ached. From the tips of her ears to her tail to her toes, Shirley was sore. Her stomach was empty too, emptier than it'd been since she was a kit scavenging around. Every little while it gave a little twinge, a twist to remind her there was nothing in it. Despite her soreness and her hunger and the frothing anger that sat inside her, Shirley said nothing. She kept her head down and plodded on, trailing after Patch and Rat and the others.
How could they? How DARE they? After everything Patch had done for them, how dare the other street cats turn on him? It wasn't like Stone had been doing much work at the end, old as he was! Patch had already been running things anyway, long before his bid to take over. They ALL should have been on his side, instead of turning on him as they had.
A growl started to rumble in Shirley's throat, but she swallowed it down and shook her head. It wouldn't do to dwell on it. They'd have their revenge someday, once they were fed and rested and got their strength up. Shirley was abruptly ripped from her thoughts when a scent invaded her nose, and she had to cough to drive out the stench. She'd never been fond of twoleg rubbish, but she couldn't think of a single sane cat who would be.
Regardless of her personal feelings, Patch had called for a halt. "Thank the ancients. I thought my paws were about to fall off." she meowed from her place in the back. She kept her voice on the same level Patch and Rat had, following their lead as she always had. "I hope there aren't many rats though. They somehow always smell worse than the trash."
airjordanz Solaris
|
|
|
Post by airjordanz on Jul 31, 2022 4:11:34 GMT
It wasn't the time to joke, as much as Patch would've loved to snark at Shirley's drama. Instead, he nodded in response to Rat. "Rest wherever you can, I suppose. But at the first sign of dogs, we have to run." Then he took the first cautious steps into the Carrionplace. This one felt different from the Twolegplace's smaller piles of refuse. It was less freshly-stocked, judging by smell alone. It also appeared as though nobody was here. No cats waiting in ambush, no stragglers trying to get a meal. They were probably too smart for that in comparison to the desperate exiles.
The first thing he noticed was a pile of shredded, somewhat musty pelts and some tough monster paws. They'd likely been torn off by an enemy monster at some point... or by a twoleg. Their relationship to those things was confusing at best, but he was aware that monsters did not run well without paws. That was why the ones lurking in the back did not scare him. They looked rusted and dead, not sleeping. Patch padded over to the pelts first. "This could make good nesting," he mewed, pawing at it. "Well, decent enough bedding. If it doesn't rain, we can just sit on them as they are. It'll save time and energy that way..."
He trailed off, looking past the fencing. A habit from his time living as a feral cat in the Twolegplace. When he was sure nothing was there, he continued. "Or we can nip off the shreds and move them somewhere else. The monster corpses might work... they seem like they've been dead for a long time." His nose scrunched at the thought. "I will never understand how twolegs tolerate monster innards while they're alive."
Once things were agreed upon, he began to drag a smaller pelt down the enormous mound of junk. It seemed like the kind a twoleg might slip on or huddle under, which meant it would be fine for a cat. After all, if it had served twolegs well, it could still serve another purpose. As he went through, getting a pelt or chunks large enough for each cat, he scanned the area in the peripheries of his vision. Wait... that shining thing with all the scratches. The clear box-thing. Twolegs would let those sit outside to collect water or protect precious things from rain damage.
"Over there. It's like the brown boxes, but rain-proof. That can fit one or two of us. Whoever needs it most."
|
|
|
Post by Solaris on Jul 31, 2022 5:05:20 GMT
R A T He/him | 59 Moons | Rogue He checked around the perimeter of the Carrionplace, holding a breath so as to wincing at the rancid stench that filled his nose. He caught a familiar trace of twoleg, underneath all of the stronger stenches. It was faint, but still recent enough to cause concern. He padded back to the other cats.
“We’d better be careful. There’s still twoleg scent lingering around here, somewhat recent. They might return. I don’t want to risk it,” he grunted. Though he was used to the presence of twolegs, coming from twolegplace, he couldn’t say he was comfortable around them. There were too many risk with them; they could either kill or capture you. He wasn’t about to test fate.
“I think the bedding we have now is good enough. We can make better nests later, if need be,” he said, nodding at Patch. The piles of twoleg scrap offered a wide variety of sleeping arrangements, it seemed.
“Another issue we should address is who will take patrol for tonight. We need take as many precautions as we can.” Scaling up one of the piles, he leaped up on top of the monster’s corpse, and looked around. There was a clear enough view of their surroundings up where he was. “A lookout can jump on top and get a good view of the Carrionplace’s border. I think it’s sufficient.”
|
|
Riley
Head of Advertising
347 Posts
|
Post by Riley on Aug 10, 2022 7:40:25 GMT
Shirley followed obediently into the twoleg dump, feeling her lip curl instinctively at the stench. Ugh, so gross. Gross gross gross. She could have sworn she felt her paws sinking into muck and slime, and it took all of her strength to refrain from gagging. She'd always been prissier than the rest of the gang, so it didn't surprise her one bit that nobody else seemed to be as disgusted as her.
Patch and Rat seemed to split up duties between them without even talking about it, Patch fetching bedding for the cats under his care while Rat did a security check around the perimeter. But as much as Shirley just wanted to lay down and sleep where she stood, her rumbling belly wouldn't let her. So while the toms were doing there thing, Shirley went off to search for food.
She'd never been much of a hunter, and had always relied on her wits to trick get food from twolegs. Neither was an option here, so she was forced to, ugh, dig through the rubbish in search of food. The stench of rot blocked out everything, but eventually she found something. Chicken! A thick chunk of it. Shirley's mouth watered, but she swallowed it down and gingerly picked up the chicken, doing her best to not let it touch her tongue or she'd find herself gobbling it up herself with nothing for the rest.
Returning to where the gang had assembled, she dropped it and called to the other cats, "I found some food! Not a lot, but something for tonight at least."
[/div] airjordanz Solaris
|
|
|
Post by airjordanz on Aug 22, 2022 17:59:27 GMT
When Rat came back to the main meeting area, Patch pulled one last chunk of bedding and approached the other cat. He seemed to listen to the warning with great interest. A concerned, steely look overtook his features. "We only need to stay here a night at the least. Maybe more, but as long as we hide, those stupid things won't catch us. If you want, we can leave once we've rested."
Patch's tone implied he wasn't about to be challenged over one cat's superstition. "Then let's get these piles into shape," Patch nodded, beginning to arrange the nest material in separate twoleg boxes. As much as he cared about his ilk, he did not want to share a nest. "Where is Shirley?"
Then Shirley returned with food, seeming proud of herself. She was a more recent addition to their gang, previously rather sheltered, so he couldn't be too angry with her. Rather, he was proud. "Good work. I'll have to work with you on hunting when we move on, but for now..." he paused, looking to where Rat took a perch on the corpse of a monster. "We can do shifts if no one wants to volunteer. Otherwise, I can do tonight. Still, until then, there's a lot we need to talk about."
The piebald tom looked to his cats. "The twolegplace was our home for so long. We can try to take it back, but we would probably all die. Yet... cats used to live in these wild lands. You've all heard the stories of the warriors, haven't you? Cats who hunted, lived, and died out here? I haven't seen a single one, but..." he trailed off, looking to the sky. "... it means we have a chance. We could live somewhere out here, too. It'll be hard, but it means no more fighting strays in alleyways or running from dogs on the daily."
Of course, he was forced to shake his head. "Maybe I'm delusional. But we've already come so far."
|
|
|
Post by Solaris on Aug 23, 2022 1:24:52 GMT
R A T He/him | 59 Moons | Rogue Rat’s gaze lingered on Patch a moment after he finished speaking. Then he nodded firmly at his leader, conceding his challenge to Patch’s decision with a tail flick against the top of the monster. It caused a loud clink. “Very well. We stay here for a day, and not a day more.”
He stayed on top of the monster’s corpse, watching Patch assemble the nests. His ears pricked at the mention of Shirley. He blinked, realizing that she wasn’t present. “Shirley? She was here with us a moment ago.”
He lifted his head up, attempting to locate the younger cat.
Sure enough, Shirley returned to their camp, carrying along a chicken in her jaws. Rat eyed the chicken with a wide gaze and a salivating mouth. Seeing such a plump piece of food made him realize how hungry he actually was. As if in a trance, he leaped down from the monster, eager to dig into the chunk of meat. When Patch started speaking, he shook off the feeling to listen. He held back a snort, acknowledging that it would probably ruin the mood Patch was setting. Talk of the “warriors” always rose his skepticism. But when it came to whether he thought the clans existed, Rat found himself uncertain. He never lived in this land, how should he know? Whether warriors lived here or not didn’t matter. They were living here now.
“We could live here, regardless of whether those ‘warriors’ lived here too. We don’t need nursery tales to believe we can survive. Fox knows the cats back at twolegplace wanted us dead, but we’re here anyway, aren’t we?”
|
|
Riley
Head of Advertising
347 Posts
|
Post by Riley on Aug 31, 2022 2:36:37 GMT
Shirley puffed up at Patch's praise. It wasn't so much that praise from him was RARE, as it was praise from him had to be earned. So to have it now meant she'd done something RIGHT. She listened with perked ears to him and Rat discuss setting up guard shifts. As useful as she wanted to be, Shirley knew herself well enough to know she'd fall asleep if she offered to take one, and she wouldn't put her friends at risk because she was tired!
She did have to tilt her head though at the mention of 'warriors'. While Shirley HAD heard of them, she didn't know much about them. She looked at Rat when he spoke up too, and piped up with a grin, purely for the sake of contributing to the conversation, "The best revenge is a life lived well, or so I've heard! While I'd like to go back one day and claw all of their scummy mange-ridden faces," and here her grin dropped into a scowl, and she pawed at the ground with unsheathed claws, before making herself grin again, "it wouldn't be worth possibly getting ourselves killed. We're vastly superior, obviously, but the traitors have numbers on their side. So good riddance to rotten prey, I say!"
Once again, Shirley scratched at the ground, but this time she did it with her back paws, like she was burying dirt. Then she plopped down and tilted her head in confusion. "But, uh, I do have ONE question... Can somebody tell me more about the warriors you two are talking about? This is only like the second time I'm hearing about them and I'd like to know more."
airjordanz Solaris
|
|
|
Post by phantomstars on Sept 10, 2022 2:45:18 GMT
PhantomStarss Date| @solarisJinx had gotten lost. She wouldn't admit it, but she was. A mouse dangled from her mouth, tail swaying in the slight breeze. Perhaps this would be something to compensate for her getting lost. She looked at the large trees, it was like a maze of endless oak trees. Rather than the occasional rock. sniffing to try and find the small group. Nothing. Her best chance was to walk in the direction that they were going. Or maybe it was the other? She stopped and thought about. She shaked her head continuing her march forwards.
After what felt like a Moons worth of walking. The smell of trash over loaded her senses, two-leg trash. It certainly wasn't the best, but maybe her group took a rest there? She quickly and quietly hurried over
"-only like the second time I'm hearing about them and I'd like to know more."
She heard the trail end of somebody's sentence, it sounded like Shirley. Jinx peaked her head around the corner. There some were. Most of her group. She walked over calmly.
She walked over to patch, with her infamous calm strut. Like nothing has happened, Mouse in her mouth.
"I am sorry for my late arrival, my leader"
She started, with a little bow of her head.
"I brought our group some food, it is not much however." She dropped the mouse at the toms feet. Choosing to stay quiet afterwards. Perhaps she wasn't the only one to get lost, with the simple task of walking forwards. [/a][/i][/div]
|
|