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Post by Solaris on Apr 17, 2023 0:45:35 GMT
Prey 1, 2021 | Zesha “No,” said Blade, quietly and gently. Em gazed into Rosemont’s innocent and naive eyes. “They’re gone, but you’ll always remember them in your heart. So, complicated at this seems, maybe they’re still with you—even if they aren’t standing by you.”
From the top of the pile, Blade had a view of the street. Of course, the tall dens on either side of the alleyway locked up eir periphery, but em could see monsters passing by, pigeons waddling on the concrete, and even a flash of fur that indicated another cat. With the only viable path being the one straight forward, em had the advantage if anyone were to try an ambush. Plus, em had a whole pile of things to hide in. There was no need to worry.
Em peered down at Rosemont, and called out to the base of the pile. “It took a few seasons or so. You can’t forget that my father was also the one who started the hoard.”
Blade picked up the stuffed mouse, placed precariously at the top, and showed it to her. “Meet Mouse! Mouse has gone through a few hardships, but we’ve been together through and through. He was there when I lost my eye actually.”
The pile was a disorganized mess to the stray eye, but it was meticulously organized into defined, if arbitrary, categories. For example, the most frequent and important trinkets were belonged to the top. At the bottom were all of the more dusty and dirty objects, or at least, the ones that were the least interesting to Blade. The middle was a nebulous region of medium-value items. They were sorted differently from the other two categories, mainly by function or by color (if em didn’t know what the items did). Toys went here, twoleg tools went there, kittypet items here, light-colored unexplainable objects in this section, and dark-colored unexplained objects in that section.
“If something catches your eye, you can take! If there’s something you want but can’t reach or can’t see, I can always fish it to you.”
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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 May 13, 2023 18:04:12 GMT
rosemont • she/her • 6 moons • kittypet • bioPrey Moon, Day 1. Morning. Solaris Rosemont was silent, taking Blade’s words to heart. She hadn’t known of anyone who had died before, so she herself did not know or understand the pain of losing someone, but it sounded very lonely to be unable to see or talk to them. She didn’t fully understand what em meant by them possibly still being with you, though. There was so much stuff. She had never seen as much as this in one place. “You and your father are quite the treasure hunters,” she gasped as she finally made it to the top of the pile, stopping to catch her breath. From up here she could see the same things that Blade did, though perhaps a bit better on the peripheral side of things since she had two eyes. She saw some strange things pass by the alley on the dark path—she’d later find out they were called monsters—and the pigeons that waddled around on the sidewalk pecking at things every now and again. They had quite a good vantage point from up here, and she wondered just how often Blade came and sat up here just to overlook the area. “Hello Mouse!” she chirped as she looked at the stuffed mouse. It looked a bit worn, but it had held up decently enough. Suddenly Rosemont shifted her paws and looked down at them, asking sheepishly, “What happened, the day you lost your eye? I know you said you lost your eye to another cat.”There was a lot to look at, and she wasn’t entirely sure what a lot of the things were, so she didn’t know what to take. It was hard to even comprehend how much treasure—or junk, as some would call this—that Blade and eir father had collected over time.
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Post by Solaris on Jun 3, 2023 3:18:27 GMT
Prey 1, 2021 | Zesha “Ah, easy now,” said Blade, leaning over to Rosemont, eir tail wrapping around her chest like a protective band. Em led her to the center of the peak, where the trinkets were the most stable. “Keep your body steady and centered, watch where your paws go, and don’t go diving in through the pile. Unless you know what you’re doing, of course!”
Every now and again, Blade smiled at the pile’s glorious size, admiring the efforts of seasons of treasure hunting, and remembering the gift eir father left behind. Unfortunately, his scent was long gone. Washed away by the rains of time. It was sad; the pile once smelled like earth and stench and the scent of eir father. Now, there was only the stench. Not that em complained, though visitors often did. Em smiled even more warmly at Rosemont, glad the smell hadn’t chased her off. Em was certain the smell would stick on to her clean, kittypet fur.
The smell was like that. It became a part of Blade’s pelt.
Em idly rolled the stuffed mouse between eir two paws in a comforting rhythm, the way branches swayed in gentle breezes. Mouse used to have a squeak, but now it only murmured. Em pressed eir nose against Mouse’s dirtied fur.
Aptly, Blade fixed eir piercing blue eye on Rosemont. Eir whiskers twitched, amused. The question always came, sooner or late. It was only a natural a young cat like Rosemont would be curious enough to ask. The memory wasn’t a haunting one, the way em heard other cats’ stories about their battle scars. In fact, eir eye sparkled. If there was ever an adventurous tale Blade would share to a new friend, it was this one. Em shuffled eir paws and flexed eir shoulders. Stories were best told through acting.
“You know I was saying that there are some nasty cats out there? Be real careful, kiddo, if you ever meet one out on the streets. Your best bet is to run and not fight back,” cautioned Blade, though there was a levity into eir voice. “But on that day, I was looking for treasure and trinkets. The typical routine: prod around scrapbins, scout out dusty and forgotten corners, enter dark alleyways. That day, I chose to enter an alleyway. Now, I was still fresh treasure hunter, trying to get up and about on my feet. I scored a few here and there, but I never was quite that successful. Until…
A brow was raised, and em leaned over to Rosemont for dramatic effect.
“…that day. I saw an alleway brimming with knickknacks galore! Piles and piles o’ that stuff on either side. ‘Twas a beautiful sight to behold, like I found a trove full of fresh-kill and food. My eye caught a small, scrappy-looking critter. Mouse.
Em nudged Mouse affectionately.
“At the time, the best part about the alley was how quiet it was. Not a soul in there but me, I can tell you. I really thought there wasn’t anyone there with how echo-y the place was. But as I padded to my prize, I had this awful sensation that someone was following me from elsewhere. I spun around, and sure enough, there was Big Nasty. A real spooker, she was, and a bad attitude too. Smelled like she ate a nest of maggots. He marched up to me with his patrol of cats and demanded I pay some sort o’ retribution ‘cause I was stealing his prey.
“I hissed no at his face, and so, there we were. We were caught up in this rough brawl, claw against claw, teeth against teeth. He slashed my eye out, and I tore off his ear. I’d say it was an even match, but then he got all angry and glaring like a roaring hound, and I ran for my life. With Mouse in tow.”
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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 Jun 28, 2023 21:21:59 GMT
rosemont • she/her • 6 moons • kittypet • bioPrey Moon, Day 1. Morning. Solaris Rosemont felt a sense of relief when Blade wrapped eir tail around her, helping guide her up the mountain of treasures. She thought this pile had to at least be as tall as the couch in her twoleg’s nest, but that may have been a slight exaggeration. Her paws met with various trinkets as she finally made it to the top, perching next to Blade as she settled in. The world looked even bigger from up there. She looked below her, where the pile towered under her. There was no scent of another cat; just Blade and some odd stench that clung to the mountain. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant smell, but it wasn’t enough to run her off. It would need to be a lot worse to have her run for home, her curiosity too much for her to escape the chance for adventure. The scent was already permeating her fur and it was likely her twoleg would give her a bath once she got home, but it was worth meeting a new friend and sharing in this wonderful trip to the trinket pile. Her gaze fell on Mouse, watching as Blade played with it. It was honestly soothing just to see em roll it around with eir paws, the gentle sound it made almost musical to her ears. Just by the way Blade held it, she could tell that this toy mouse was very special. As she asked her question, Blade straightened up and flexed their shoulders. It seemed that whatever had happened to eir eye, it was quite the story. Eagerly, she got herself comfortable on the pile of things and gazed up at Blade with round, blue eyes. She could see the sparkle in eir remaining eye, sending a feeling of giddiness through her as she prepared herself for the story. She nodded as em spoke of the nasty cats. Even though she didn’t want to run away from them, she knew that she had no chance of beating them until she got some sort of battle training. Vaguely she wondered if Blade might be willing to teach her some moves, but for now she’d keep the question in her head. It was rude to interrupt a story. “Ew!” she squealed when Blade said the cat smelled like she had eaten a nest of maggots. She couldn’t help it. That sounded gross! When em finished eir story, she blinked her eyes, which had grown wide at the telling of how eir eye had been scratched out. “Wow! So Mouse has a very special place in your heart. I hope I never meet any cats like that. It wouldn’t be fair for them to fight me when I’m so small, but… they wouldn’t care, would they?”She glanced down a moment before looking back up. “Do you think you can teach me some moves in case I have to fight? Or should I just try to find a way to run? I’m small but I’m quick.”
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Post by Solaris on Jul 24, 2023 6:12:40 GMT
Prey 1, 2021 | Zesha Blade beamed at Rosemont, proudly picking up Mouse and then carefully laying it on its rightful place at the top of the pile, where it could sit above the world. Gaze lingering on Mouse for a moment, em gave a satisfied mew and leaped down to the base with practiced gracefulness. Em called out a warning to eir friend, “Careful on the way down! Watch where your paws go, you could slip on a scrap if you’re not careful!”
Em exhaled smoothly, and peered down the alleyway, remembering how scared em was when em fought off those cats. Em nodded at Rosemont, surprised at her insight. “It doesn’t matter if you’re big or small, young or old, they’re just looking for someone to pick on. In most cases, you’re better off running to increase your chances of survival.”
“But…” It did not escape eir notice that the alleyway closed into a dead end, all possibilities of escape being blocked by a brick twoleg den. “There are instances where you’re trapped. Cornered. And sometimes you have to fight back, even when it seems like the odds are stacked against ya.”
The sun reached its peak in the sky. Had that much time passed already?
“I can teach you how to fight another time perhaps. You should go back to your housefolk, I don’t want to keep you from them for too long,” said Blade, gesturing in direction of her home. “Come on, I’ll take you back.”
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