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Post by twistedpaw on May 26, 2023 12:13:20 GMT -6
TWISTEDPAW - TOM - 10 MONTHS - SOLARCLAN Twisted was used to being on his own. While he couldn't necessarily say he prefered it, he had long since come to accept that it was just easier that way. Cats had been avoiding him for as long as he could remember, put off by the ugly scars that littered his body and the odd fascination with death and blood.
The larger he grew, the more eager others became to get away from him. His towering height brought strength, and no cat seemed eager to find out what that combined with his obsession with the macabre might result in. On the few occasions that Twisted was confronted by another, it was usually to be harassed or bullied, even chided by the adults for his oddness.
"Don't play with your food!"
"The bones are starting to scare the other apprentices!"
"Don't wait so long to make the killing bite!"
It annoyed the piss out of him, but he did his best to placate them- to a degree. Usually though, he just went off on his own to do his own thing, away from the prying eyes of others. If he wanted to take his time with a kill, if he wanted to make it messy, there was nobody to stop him or tell him it was wrong.
He just liked to kill. Liked the rush it gave him.
He was hunting, like usual, out in the flower fields where he was sure he'd find some birds or mice foraging among the colorful plants. Only there was another scent among the floral, something that didn't belong.
A fox.
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Post by skypaw on May 26, 2023 15:01:49 GMT -6
The idea had been to ge to the Oasis and enjoy some peace for a moment. Just watching the water trickle by in the shade of the magnolia trees, but of course nothing ever seemed to go to plan for them. They had been moving through the shadows of the thick trees with their head lowered and bright emerald eyes shone through dark tabby fur. A tail waved up in the air excitedly and then slowed down as this scent started to drift through the foliage. The lillies seemed to shrink back at the stench that coated the air and ears went from perking up to flattening against a rounded-shaped head. At first they didn't seem to put the pieces together and then slowly those glowing gree eyes filled with horror.
Crashing through the magnolia branches, dark fur a deep brown in the shadows of Lunarclans' home and eyes wild with a hunger that could be felt to the very center of their being. The young apprentice yelped loudly before taking off running. Rapid, foaming at the mouth, the fox gave chase in excitement at the prospect of a challenging piece of dinner. Brown and white paws pounded away against the moss-covered ground, the dirt cool to the touch, and hot breath knicked at their hind legs. Though as they sprinted for it up the side of a hill, the had to come to a screeching halt. Before them was a large cliff face that lead into the mountains of Borealisclan. It was too high to climb like a tree or outcrop, and the sound of the foxes hungry breaths itched at the inside of their ear.
Panic began to fill up in young Skypaws' chest as they realized they were trapped. There was no way to go up, they couldn't double back or go under anything- was this how it was gonna end? A fox taking their life? The brown and white tabby apprentice gave a choked sniffle and looked back over their shoulder after checking the cliff face once more. A desperation clawed at his stomach making him feel violently ill and they unsheathed their claws in preperation to at least go down fighting in a way. But as Skypaw closed their eyes- they braced their little body against the worst to come. Speech tagged: x || word count: x || notes: x
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Post by twistedpaw on May 26, 2023 18:49:55 GMT -6
TWISTEDPAW - TOM - 10 MONTHS - SOLARCLAN A low growl rumbled in the young toms throat at the stench, nose wrinkling in disgust. Twisted hated anything that even looked like a dog, and the idea that one was out there prowling the fields and meadows with him made him instantly uneasy. White claws flexed as he glanced around with sharp green eyes to try and catch sight of the thing, the open territory good for gaining sightlines.
Stillness held the area for a moment, but only for a moment.
Off in the distance he spotted movement as a cat suddenly began running across the meadow, and Twisted didn't have to guess why. On the heels of the tabby cat was a young fox, no doubt eager to get its teeth on it's first real catch. Its inexperience didn't make it any less dangerous though, and the bi-colored cat wasn't about to leave his unknown clanmates to their fate- he wasn't a fucking asshole, after all.
By the time Twistedpaw caught up, his clanmte had managed to pin themselves against the face of a cliff, the fox staring them down and ready to spring. He expected the brown and white tabby to hiss and puff up, to swipe their claws in warning at the creature, but instead they simply closed their eyes and shrunk down on themselves, as if to accept their fate.
Death wasn't something that bothered Twistedpaw like it did other cats. Maybe if he wasn't so removed from everyone he'd manage to care a little more when bad things happened to other cats, but usually- at best- disapointment was all he could manage to muster for them. Of course, that didn't mean Twistedpaw went around wishing for bad things to befall those around him- not the nice ones, at least.
A low yowl rang out as he slammed into the fox from behind, sending both he and the small vulpine tumbling in the grass. Twisted was quick to find his feet though, promptly putting himself between them and Skypaw with bristling black and white fur and hateful green eyes.
"You picked the wrong clan, mutt!" he hissed, claws flashing out to hook into the foxes ear, ripping a tear in it.
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Post by skypaw on May 26, 2023 19:28:07 GMT -6
Death wasn't something they were afraid of like most cats. They had been at the hands of the stars above more times than they could count and each time they thought it would be their last breath- but fate always had a weird way of working. There wasn't teeth that shredded at fur, there wasn't hot breath that reaked of death, nor claws that could shred bark. No instead there was a yelp as the fox was bowled into by some large force and Skypaw peaked open their eyes in time to see this massive cat. He stood a head taller than the brown tabby cat, was a mixture of white and dark grey with hate flaring in deep green eyes. Then this cat lunged for the fox once more, tearing at its ear with a vicious strike.
Skypaw seemed to break from their stance on their own and bounded forward with their claws out stretched. Fighting wasn't the strongest of skills that the young apprentice had, but they tried their best in swiping at the creatures' muzzle and with the force of two cats now- it took of soon after. Bolting down the path and towards the mountain range, where it promptly disappeared from view. Now it knew better than to mess with cats on the meadows and valleys side of things.
Emerald hues brightened slightly in the light of the sun as they looked over to the other cat. Their curious gaze blinked a few times and they recongized who this cat was, "Twistedpaw? I didn't expect to see you out here," They chirped happily as if their life just hadn't been on the line minutes ago. Speech tagged: x || word count: x || notes: x
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Post by twistedpaw on May 27, 2023 10:24:07 GMT -6
TWISTEDPAW - TOM - 10 MONTHS - SOLARCLAN He was a little relieved when Skypaw suddenly joined him in the attack. As young as the fox looked, two sets of claws were always better than one, and it only seemed to take a minute for the fox to realize that as well, the thing turning and bolting off in the direction of the mountains. For a moment Twisted stood and watched it go, but his attention was slowly pulled back to the cat beside him when they spoke.
Their immediately cheerful disposition was a little offputting, but then again it wasn't like Twisted had much right to talk when he was the walking definition of the word himself.
"Oh, uh- I just came out here to do some hunting." he explained, sounding a little awkward as he shuffled on large paws.
Maybe it was because he'd spent so long being avoided by others, but it always felt a little wrong somehow whenever he was spoken to or made the center of attention, and even now he felt himself tempted to look around to make sure that Skypaw was actually speaking to him and not some hidden third cat he'd failed to notice.
"What about you, though- are you okay? That fox got pretty close to you." he asked, half in an attempt to take the attention off of himself and half because he was still a little baffled how the other apprentice had gone to terrified to cheerful in the span on few seconds.
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Post by skypaw on May 28, 2023 11:19:53 GMT -6
Those emerald hues of Skypaws' looked up at Twistedpaw as he spoke and tilted their head to the side curiously, out hunting? Thats what they had been up too before the whole fox thing, but that was besides the point. Skypaw then blinked a few times at being asked if he was okay and he looked down at his chest fur for a moment as if to inspect if he was indeed alright. "Yeah I think I'm okay," They concluded after a moment and shrugged their shoulders, "Physically? Probably will live to see tomorrow, but mentally? Probably not going to leave camp alone for a while," The brown and white tabby smiled a bit cheekily and laughed at himself before trotting away from Twistedpaw.
Skypaw was always one to just dump info on others' for no reason at all. They where rather off putting sometimes when it came to socialization as when was too much information? When wasn't enough information? How did one have small talk? Small talk was boring and uninteresting as they could carless about favorite color or prey. He wanted to know others' dreams, their thoughts on the other clans, their thoughts on Starclan, and so forth. Stuff like that that actually mattered and made a cat who they where in the long run. Skypaws' mother, Brambleheart, was the same way but she was seen as the local 'crazy cat'. So suppose it didn't matter all that much what she said, but Skypaw looked up to their mother like no tomorrow.
"How has your hunting been going? Catch anything good?" Ah yes more small talk, but something told him that he couldn't just question their morals right off the bat.
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Post by twistedpaw on May 28, 2023 12:27:12 GMT -6
TWISTEDPAW - TOM - 10 MONTHS - SOLARCLAN "Fair enough." he replied with an amused huff, knowing well enough the effects of staring down a near-death experience. There was a reason he hated dogs, after all.
Twisted had grown up around other cats, but not with the sense of community that thrived within Solarclan. There'd been no ally to come rushing to his aid back then, and he wore the scars to show it. That month had been the most miserable of his life, body sore and mangled, unable to take what it needed from the other colony cats.
As the other began to walk away, Twited thought that was the end of things. It was far longer and more civil than any talk he'd had with a colony cat, so he supposed that was a win. To his surprise though, Skypaw turned back to speak again, asking him how his hunt was.
Slowly, Twisted followed after them.
"Nah. I was just starting when I smelled the fox. Then I caught sight of you running and figured I should help." he replied. "I doubt there's any prey around now though, with all that fox stench around.
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Post by skypaw on May 28, 2023 15:22:26 GMT -6
Little white paws danced across the long grass of Solarclans' territory and smiled a bit as Twistedpaw begun to speak to him again despite that the ditzy tabby had started to walk away. Watching the dark furred tomcat with a curious light to those green eyes of his, "Oh I am sorry for that then, I hadn't mean to cause a stir or anything," They apologized quickly with a shake of their head. Skypaw was too out hunting himself when things were awry but that was his own fault of not being focused on what was at paw than what was around him. The young apprentice then looked back to the white-marked tom, "Mind if I join ya? I do sorta owe you for saving my life basically," They purred in amusement with a wave of their wrapped tabby tail.
Skypaw didn't know much about Twistedpaw. He was a rather loner like cat who didn't seem all that interested in talking to others. He had just come to the clan about a month or so ago now and didn't seem to be settling in well. It saddened him a little bit as he wished to help the other be more social, but one can't force a horse to drink when it did not want too.
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Post by twistedpaw on May 28, 2023 21:25:08 GMT -6
TWISTEDPAW - TOM - 10 MONTHS - SOLARCLAN "It's not your fault- I doubt you asked the fox to chase you." he replied, quick to divert the blame. "And, uh, sure. I'm probably just gonna wander around until the prey comes back though- nothing all that interesting."
It was the first time another cat had asked him to do anything with them, and Twisted felt a little spark of eagerness take hold. He'd be a liar if he said he hadn't been watching the Solarclanners and wishing he could prorperly join them in clanlife, but he had no clue how to initiate somthing like that with strangers, and even if he did know how, he probably wouldn't anyways. It was... too nerve racking.
It was laughable, really, how much that kind of stuff was able to affect him. He was big and capable for his age, a strong cat with a smart head on their shoulders. It should have been nothing to him to speak to these cats and befriend them, and yet for some reason the tom felt his stomach churn with anxiety every time he was met with a new face.
This was much easier he found, one on one with Skypaw, the other initiating the attempt to socialize.
"What kind of stuff do you usually do for fun? Maybe we could do that while we wait?" he tried, figuring it was a far safer bet to do something Skypaw wanted to do rather than himself. Maybe that would help make him seem more likeable to the other cat?
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Post by skypaw on May 29, 2023 6:23:52 GMT -6
Fur bristled slightly with contained excitement, something they liked to do? Skypaw hummed in thought as they tried to think of something that would both enjoy doing, something silly and light hearted after nearly staring down the face of death. Skypaw wasn't ready to head back to camp just yet and there was so much more to do out here in the forest, fox be damned! The young brown and white tabby tilted their head to the side almost curiously before looking back to Twistedpaw for a moment.
Skypaw then swatted at a broad shoulder with a brown furred paw, "Tag you're it!" The crowed before taking off into the forest.
Even though the meadows and fields where open and expanse, it took a real expert to slip through the flowers and not disturb them. The long grass provided enough cover that Skypaw could slow down as they pelted from the black and white tomcat with a giddy laugh that followed, chest heaving at the sudden burst of exercise.
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