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The winds were cooling, the breeze from the seas, while remaining salty, was getting cooler. While mosses and feathers and other gathered things lined nests to keep them warm, the winds still made pelts fluff out and limbs shiver. Viper didn't shiver as she moved around in the sandstone-walled healer den, snagging a brightly colored herb off of a naturally formed shelf. She was used to this, her paws moving on their own as she sat in front of the brown and white tom that towered over her.
The goldenrod was sweet, tangy in her mouth. It was a bit strong, but nothing she couldn't handle, she was used to this. Her knowledge came from trial and error, eavesdropping on her family when one of her siblings had gotten hurt and her mother took her time to care for them. Never for her. She understood, she brought only bad luck for them. From storms to a famine to even a dog. Every curling, peach-colored mark called out to a memory of regret and grief.
She pushes the memories aside as she spits out the poultice into a paw, motioning with the other for Tallow to lean down.
"So, you said you're from a what again?" She asks, her good eye squinting to focus as she uses her left paw to smear the chewed-up herb onto his scratched cheek.
"I'm from a barn." He says, a chuckle lacing his tone, "I s'pose it's where my accent comes from." Viper could only nod her head. She never had heard such a dialect. He mixed words together, pronounced his "I"s longer rather than short, the tone he carried was gruff yet smooth at the same time. If she wasn't not attracted to toms, she could say that he would have an attractive voice.
"It's like.. a larger twoleg den, yet it doesn't house twolegs. There's huge beasts, the barn I lived in housed towering things called horses, their legs as thick as tree trunks and their eyes sideways, black as night and staring. For as intimidating as they were though, they were either skittish, or pretty calm. Heh, I knew a cat, Pumpkin, she made friends with this white horse and they were so close that the horse let her sleep on its back!" Viper let out a surprised hum as she finished, shaking her head.
"Some cats can amaze me with how hard-headed they can be." She scoffed, only to look up as Tallow let out a short laugh.
"Hah! Oh, no, Pumpkin was sharp as a talon, quick as lightning too. She wasn't hard-headed, she just saw friends in everyone, always saw the silver lining." The tom said, grinning as he left the surprised leader in the healers den. The idea that you could see something positive in anything.. it was a foreign idea to her. It left her slightly speechless. She recovered quickly though, letting out a breath and shaking her head as she exited the den. Her paws felt cool against the sand as she exited the tunnels, the winds from the sea blowing against her short fur and causing her to shiver.
Out in the small clearing in front of the camp but away from the shore was a torbie she was familiar with.. but not the two with her. Tallow approached the newcomers, just as they came into hearing distance of the ginger cat that was mid-story.
"..I had gotten really cold by then and Connie was, like, just barely hanging on! I got really tired, and then that's when I felt someone grabbing my scruff!" The tabby-marked cat turned to her friend, the ticked she-cat smiling bashfully.
"I-It was nothin'.. I mean, my colony lived by the sea, so we're.. kind of taught how to swim. I kind of freaked out at first because of her pet, but when it turned out she was harmless, we decided to stick together. And.. well, we're here!" Said the white-faced feline. As Viper and Tallow approached, the two perked up.
"Hi! You must be Viper right? I'm Grosbeak and this i—"
"SNAKE—!!" Yelled the head of the Wanderers, her fur fluffing out and her hackles rising. The smell of the reptile had reached her nostrils first before the sight, but she only thought it was the sea carrying scent. Her claws unsheathed, perceiving the obsidian-scaled animal as a threat around one of the newcomer's shoulders. It was only when Honeythorn scrambled to stand in front of the cat with the threat around his shoulders did she pause.
"WAIT— Wait! This is Corey's pet! She isn't wild!" She claimed, making Viper re-sheathe her claws hesitantly.
"A.. pet?" She asked, the brighter orange cat nodding his head. Lifting a paw, he let the reptilian curl around his leg, before placing his forehead with its own.
"Yeah! I've raised her since she was a hatchling. She's real nice!" He tried to soothe the black and white molly, the other chuckling nervously.
"Having a.. nice snake around here will probably be hard for me to get used to.. But not something to reject you from here." Viper assured, laying down to lick at her puffed fur. The group settled down as well, paws tucking underneath chests and tails curling around bodies. "So, apologies for the outburst, what are your names again?" She mewed, tilting her good eye towards their new members.
"I'm Grosbeak, she and they." The light-colored cat greeted. Viper blinked, not used to such an introduction. But, she wouldn't recant against a cat's usage of nouns.
"And, uh, I'm Connie— no wait, my name's Corey. The snake is Connie." The torbie tittered nervously, using a paw to pet the onyx scales of the sea-snake. "Uhm, she, he, and they, I suppose." They said, glancing at their friend, who smiled encouragingly. Viper nodded, opening her mouth to speak only to startle when something fell to her paws, on her blind side.
Looking up, she saw the smiling face of Tallow, well, as much of a smile as he could with freshkill in his jaws. Looking down, she found a crab at her paws, brown in color with darker spots speckling the hard shell. She looked up as the ex-barn cat dropped the same at Honeythorn's paws.
"You two have been working hard, and I haven't seen you eat, so.. I wanted to help." He said, rubbing at a leg with a forepaw at all the eyes on him before laying down. Viper smiled gently, warmed by his thoughtfulness.
"Thank you, Tallow. That's very kind." She appraised, smiling brighter as he mouthed a 'You're welcome' before he bit down into his own food with a quite sickly crunch. The remains of a bug was between his paws, and Viper saw Honeythorn visibly cringe. Tallow snickered, before looking up to the newcomers. The trace of a question traced his tongue before he was distracted by the sounds of a struggle. Not of a cat fighting, no, but.. of claws against harsh shell. Honeythorn growled as she attempted to find what was edible.
"How do you guys eat this?! I miss mice.." She complained, earning a snicker from Viper and Grosbeak, both having had experience with the hard-earned prey. The leader motioned for Honeythorn to watch as she demonstrated on her own crab.
"You hook your claws.. here," A set of claws hooked on an upper lip of the shell. "and here." The other paw sunk its claws in the "face" of the crustacean. "Then, with a little strength, you pull.." Viper tugged against the shell of the prey, hollow-sounding cracking coming from it until.. "..and you have the insides!" The crab popped open, just like the box it came from, Viper leaned down to sip from the soup of the insides, taking a paw to grab one of the claws. "These are more meaty, I usually take a stone and smash it open." She advised, but set it down to look up and around at the group, both members new and old.
"How about I take you hunting 'round the territory? I know you're better at hunting on land, so we could hunt whatever we come by, and if it's out of your experience, I can teach you!" She chirped, earning an eager nod from the older cat.
"That'd be great!" A look of focus, and some fidgeting later, and the food that the crab hid from Honeythorn earlier was revealed. She chirped happily to herself, and began to eat. Viper looked on happily, recalling what Tallow had said to her earlier.
Maybe.. Maybe not everything was as bad as she thought. Their group was still growing, and she still had a lot to learn about leading, but so far.. the cats here seemed kind, eager to help her. Not everything could be doom and gloom.
Sure, she was a blight, and her curse of awful luck lingered.. but maybe.. maybe things would change. Her scars always would hold awful memories.. but perhaps she could make new ones.
[1,509 Words]
The goldenrod was sweet, tangy in her mouth. It was a bit strong, but nothing she couldn't handle, she was used to this. Her knowledge came from trial and error, eavesdropping on her family when one of her siblings had gotten hurt and her mother took her time to care for them. Never for her. She understood, she brought only bad luck for them. From storms to a famine to even a dog. Every curling, peach-colored mark called out to a memory of regret and grief.
She pushes the memories aside as she spits out the poultice into a paw, motioning with the other for Tallow to lean down.
"So, you said you're from a what again?" She asks, her good eye squinting to focus as she uses her left paw to smear the chewed-up herb onto his scratched cheek.
"I'm from a barn." He says, a chuckle lacing his tone, "I s'pose it's where my accent comes from." Viper could only nod her head. She never had heard such a dialect. He mixed words together, pronounced his "I"s longer rather than short, the tone he carried was gruff yet smooth at the same time. If she wasn't not attracted to toms, she could say that he would have an attractive voice.
"It's like.. a larger twoleg den, yet it doesn't house twolegs. There's huge beasts, the barn I lived in housed towering things called horses, their legs as thick as tree trunks and their eyes sideways, black as night and staring. For as intimidating as they were though, they were either skittish, or pretty calm. Heh, I knew a cat, Pumpkin, she made friends with this white horse and they were so close that the horse let her sleep on its back!" Viper let out a surprised hum as she finished, shaking her head.
"Some cats can amaze me with how hard-headed they can be." She scoffed, only to look up as Tallow let out a short laugh.
"Hah! Oh, no, Pumpkin was sharp as a talon, quick as lightning too. She wasn't hard-headed, she just saw friends in everyone, always saw the silver lining." The tom said, grinning as he left the surprised leader in the healers den. The idea that you could see something positive in anything.. it was a foreign idea to her. It left her slightly speechless. She recovered quickly though, letting out a breath and shaking her head as she exited the den. Her paws felt cool against the sand as she exited the tunnels, the winds from the sea blowing against her short fur and causing her to shiver.
Out in the small clearing in front of the camp but away from the shore was a torbie she was familiar with.. but not the two with her. Tallow approached the newcomers, just as they came into hearing distance of the ginger cat that was mid-story.
"..I had gotten really cold by then and Connie was, like, just barely hanging on! I got really tired, and then that's when I felt someone grabbing my scruff!" The tabby-marked cat turned to her friend, the ticked she-cat smiling bashfully.
"I-It was nothin'.. I mean, my colony lived by the sea, so we're.. kind of taught how to swim. I kind of freaked out at first because of her pet, but when it turned out she was harmless, we decided to stick together. And.. well, we're here!" Said the white-faced feline. As Viper and Tallow approached, the two perked up.
"Hi! You must be Viper right? I'm Grosbeak and this i—"
"SNAKE—!!" Yelled the head of the Wanderers, her fur fluffing out and her hackles rising. The smell of the reptile had reached her nostrils first before the sight, but she only thought it was the sea carrying scent. Her claws unsheathed, perceiving the obsidian-scaled animal as a threat around one of the newcomer's shoulders. It was only when Honeythorn scrambled to stand in front of the cat with the threat around his shoulders did she pause.
"WAIT— Wait! This is Corey's pet! She isn't wild!" She claimed, making Viper re-sheathe her claws hesitantly.
"A.. pet?" She asked, the brighter orange cat nodding his head. Lifting a paw, he let the reptilian curl around his leg, before placing his forehead with its own.
"Yeah! I've raised her since she was a hatchling. She's real nice!" He tried to soothe the black and white molly, the other chuckling nervously.
"Having a.. nice snake around here will probably be hard for me to get used to.. But not something to reject you from here." Viper assured, laying down to lick at her puffed fur. The group settled down as well, paws tucking underneath chests and tails curling around bodies. "So, apologies for the outburst, what are your names again?" She mewed, tilting her good eye towards their new members.
"I'm Grosbeak, she and they." The light-colored cat greeted. Viper blinked, not used to such an introduction. But, she wouldn't recant against a cat's usage of nouns.
"And, uh, I'm Connie— no wait, my name's Corey. The snake is Connie." The torbie tittered nervously, using a paw to pet the onyx scales of the sea-snake. "Uhm, she, he, and they, I suppose." They said, glancing at their friend, who smiled encouragingly. Viper nodded, opening her mouth to speak only to startle when something fell to her paws, on her blind side.
Looking up, she saw the smiling face of Tallow, well, as much of a smile as he could with freshkill in his jaws. Looking down, she found a crab at her paws, brown in color with darker spots speckling the hard shell. She looked up as the ex-barn cat dropped the same at Honeythorn's paws.
"You two have been working hard, and I haven't seen you eat, so.. I wanted to help." He said, rubbing at a leg with a forepaw at all the eyes on him before laying down. Viper smiled gently, warmed by his thoughtfulness.
"Thank you, Tallow. That's very kind." She appraised, smiling brighter as he mouthed a 'You're welcome' before he bit down into his own food with a quite sickly crunch. The remains of a bug was between his paws, and Viper saw Honeythorn visibly cringe. Tallow snickered, before looking up to the newcomers. The trace of a question traced his tongue before he was distracted by the sounds of a struggle. Not of a cat fighting, no, but.. of claws against harsh shell. Honeythorn growled as she attempted to find what was edible.
"How do you guys eat this?! I miss mice.." She complained, earning a snicker from Viper and Grosbeak, both having had experience with the hard-earned prey. The leader motioned for Honeythorn to watch as she demonstrated on her own crab.
"You hook your claws.. here," A set of claws hooked on an upper lip of the shell. "and here." The other paw sunk its claws in the "face" of the crustacean. "Then, with a little strength, you pull.." Viper tugged against the shell of the prey, hollow-sounding cracking coming from it until.. "..and you have the insides!" The crab popped open, just like the box it came from, Viper leaned down to sip from the soup of the insides, taking a paw to grab one of the claws. "These are more meaty, I usually take a stone and smash it open." She advised, but set it down to look up and around at the group, both members new and old.
"How about I take you hunting 'round the territory? I know you're better at hunting on land, so we could hunt whatever we come by, and if it's out of your experience, I can teach you!" She chirped, earning an eager nod from the older cat.
"That'd be great!" A look of focus, and some fidgeting later, and the food that the crab hid from Honeythorn earlier was revealed. She chirped happily to herself, and began to eat. Viper looked on happily, recalling what Tallow had said to her earlier.
Maybe.. Maybe not everything was as bad as she thought. Their group was still growing, and she still had a lot to learn about leading, but so far.. the cats here seemed kind, eager to help her. Not everything could be doom and gloom.
Sure, she was a blight, and her curse of awful luck lingered.. but maybe.. maybe things would change. Her scars always would hold awful memories.. but perhaps she could make new ones.
[1,509 Words]
Opted into Death?: N
notes; Well! Months later and I finally have a new response! Now we're getting into the meaty stuff.. the actual lore slash plot I have planned that dictates around Viper! This gal comes from a very-not-happy background, and due to this she cares more about what others feel instead of herself! In fact, she constantly puts herself down, blames herself for things that were out of control that had her gain her scars, due to the way her family had the same to her! Soon, she'll meet someone that'll flip that view stRAIGHT ON IT'S HEAD!!! For now, she's thinkin... maybe good, maybe bad, but she thinkin...
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Cat 1: Viper [Founder and Leader of Wanderers of the Bay | Black solid with high white, blue eyes]
she/her | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 2: Tallow [Fisher for Wanderers of the Bay | Cinnamon mackerel tabby with mid white, blue and amber eyes]
he/they | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 3: Honeythorn [Hunter for Wanderers of the Bay | Black barred ticked torbie, amber eyes]
she/her | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 4: Corey [Hunter for Wanderers of the Bay | cinnamon-red broken candleflame torbie with mid white, blue and green eyes]
she/he/they | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 5: Grosbeak [Fisher for Wanderers of the Bay | Cinnamon sunshine barless ticked tabby with low topaz white, blue eyes]
she/they | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Inventory: common myo x1
Stardust [SD]: 50
Status: N/A
she/her | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 2: Tallow [Fisher for Wanderers of the Bay | Cinnamon mackerel tabby with mid white, blue and amber eyes]
he/they | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 3: Honeythorn [Hunter for Wanderers of the Bay | Black barred ticked torbie, amber eyes]
she/her | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 4: Corey [Hunter for Wanderers of the Bay | cinnamon-red broken candleflame torbie with mid white, blue and green eyes]
she/he/they | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Cat 5: Grosbeak [Fisher for Wanderers of the Bay | Cinnamon sunshine barless ticked tabby with low topaz white, blue eyes]
she/they | hunger: 0% | health: 100% ♡ | illness: N
Inventory: common myo x1
Stardust [SD]: 50
Status: N/A
-- level 1
experience: 166/200
-- active quests:
quest #1 (linked)
items in inventory used wrote:
1x Goldenrod, 2x Crab [2fp for Viper and Honeythorn], 1x Bug [1fp for Tallow]
inventory wrote:
scraps, bugs | 1 FP | x1, x1 [3fp]
crab, sand fleas, mouse | 2 FP | x2, x0, x0 [8fp]
minnow, mussel, clam | 3 FP | x0, x0, x1 [3fp]
seagull, tern | 4 FP | x0, x0 [0fp]
vulture, crane | 5 FP | x0, x0 [0fp]
hawkweed, goldenrod, lungwort, alderbark, willowbark | x1, x1, x1, x2, x2
coltsfoot, dock, chamomile, stinging nettle | x0, x1, x1, x1
deathberry, water hemlock | x1, x1
