Tree f.a.l.l [Dandi]

[lucky]

Heather opened her sightless eyes, stifling a yawn. She perked her ears up, hungry yet again. Since Honey had been killed by the unknown musky smelling creature Heather had been on her own. Unable to find warmth or food, and discombobulated by her sudden solidarity Heather had been drifting for the past few days. Each sunrise the kitten had begun to walk,

She pulled herself slowly to her feet, listening for any telltale noises. She opened her mouth wide and breathed in, tasting the air. She could not discern the things she tasted, as was per usual these days, and sighed. Her light gray and brown striped stomach brushed the ground as she crouched and walked a few steps forward. When she met with no resistance she stood up to her full height and continued carefully. Her long dark striped tail flowed out behind her, helping her to keep her balance. The ground around her was cold and hard, and mainly flat, helping the small tabby kitten to maneuver successfully with out being able to see her surroundings.

She sped up slightly, and came face to face with a hard surface. She fell back onto her haunches and let out a small squeak. She stood again and slowly walked up to the unforgiving object. She pressed her nose into it. It was rough. It tasted woody and alive, the way plants tasted. She began to follow it around as it curved away from her. When she could no longer feel it she burst into a run again, hitting it with a sharp crack. She let out a cry as pain sprang into her nose. Along with the pain the sky seemed to fall onto the startled kitten. Strange slightly waxy things and hard thin cylinders fell upon Heather, unsettling her more.

Suddenly all the knowledge of her surroundings left her as something cool and coppery covered her small muzzle. With the flow of liquid and the pain she felt her sense of reality slipping. Her own cry of pain severed the last ties the blind kitten held with her environment. She dropped into the sea of fear she generally drifted in when she was unable to form even sketchy mental pictures. With this last break with reality Heather stopped stock still.

The gray-brown tabby kitten with the bloodied muzzle began to tremble, her sightless eyes wide. She let out another frightened squeal, hopping against hope that she would be found.

[dandelion]

The small black and white kitten trotted down the side of the road aimlessly, really just wandering for the sake of it. She'd been bored out of her wits this morning and so she'd decided to go explore, and step by step her paws had brought her here, to this old road where she'd met so many cats here before. Robin and that other tom, Chaser. And Reed, she reminded herself, quivering slightly. This was where you found Reed again. Her eyes narrowed and Dandi let out an irritated hiss. She wasn't going to start thinking about all of that again. It was beyond stupid that Reed had let it go so long without coming crawling back to her. Insulting eve. But she refused to let him get to her, even if it meant she had to live on the streets alone and hide from everyone the fact that she really missed her big brother.

Dandi lifted her chin up a bit, forcing a smile onto her face. What was she supposed to say if someone saw her and asked what was wrong? She gave a small shiver and scampered forward into the ditch, running through it and enjoying the feel of the warm grass underneath her paws. A butterfly fluttered by and Dandi ran after it, giggling as she reached with outstretched paws to bat at it with no success. But this game wasn't measured by whether she whether or not she got the butterfly. It was all about having fun, something that she found herself utterly unable to accomplish. She let out a frustrated mrrow and sat down, licking herself in an attempt to soothe her irritation. She needed more friends out here. Sure, there were lots of cats she knew that she considered friends but kittens her own age would have been fun too. That other girl kitten at the park had seemed nice but Dandi hadn't seen her since. She sighed.

She always had Robin. The thought cheered her up a bit and she perked up visibly. They always had lots of fun together, didn't they? Yes! She gave a small laugh and began to run again, shivering as she padded through the little tunnel. She could have gone up and over it but it seemed like a cool place to explore. The water soaked through the fur on her paws and Dandi let out a small yelp at it's coldness but then shushed herself. She wasn't a baby! The tiny she-cat gave a small giggle and scampered out of the tunnel quickly , shaking her paws to dry them a little bit. The sun could do the rest of the work. But she bent over anyways and licked at them until the fur was smoothed down a bit. She didn't want to look super messy, after all.

A squeal from up ahead startled Dandi and she lifted her head in alarm. As it sounded again, she began to run, trying to follow where she had heard the sound coming from. It had sounded like a kitten and it had sounded like whoever it was was in trouble. She bit her lip, wondering what she would find. She sniffed at the air quickly. She wasn't all that great at following scents but whoever it was must have been close because the kitten scent was strong. Dandi ran up out of the ditch, darting into the woods as she spied the kitten. She blinked at the blood on her muzzle, utterly confused. "Hello?" she said softly, biting her lip. "Are you okay? Can I do anything for you? I'm Dandi, by the way," she introduced herself, for once not rambling on some long explanation on why she'd been named such.

Her eyes darted to some bushes to her left and she ran over, tearing off some leaves and bringing them back to the kitten, dropping them at her feet. "Here, these leaves will help if you put them on your muzzle," she explained. "It might sting a bit but the juices will help and if you apply pressure it will help stop the bleeding," she rattled off with a small grin despite herself. She remembered vaguely her own mother telling her this when she'd got scratched up though she'd all but forgotten it until now, never thinking it would really come in handy. Dandi smiled at the other kitten, hoping that everything would now be okay. She seemed cute, younger than Dandi. About the age that Dandi had been when she'd become a stray, maybe a month or so older? She grinned again at the kitten, wondering if maybe she'd found a new friend after all.

[lucky]

Through her haze of fear and confusion Heather did not notice the approach of the second cat until she head the voice. Generally, even with her vague mental pictures and little experience in their use, she could scent or hear any change in her environment, even if she was unsure of the cause or the like. Having never gained her sight she had developed her other senses to a magnificent level. Though she was only a novice at relating the things her overdeveloped senses; those of taste, touch, and hearing, told her into the strange pale mental pictures her mind created, she was almost always made aware of any change to her environment by those very same senses.

But the blow to her primary sensory organ, her nose, had knocked out her knowledge of her environment. Being unable to use her nose, only smelling blood, was to Heather as suddenly being blind would be to an average cat. Add to that the leaves and sticks falling on the kitten from her bump to the tree, and what one is left with a confused, disoriented, terrified kitten. The utter loss of sensory information threw the little cat into the literal and figurative dark. She lost all sense of her position and the existence or lack thereof of the rest of the world. For these reasons the second cat was not noticed by the first until she spoke.

When Heather heard the second cat’s voice she automatically zeroed in on the sound. She did not listen to the words, though her quick mind processed them subconsciously. With this point established the kitten found an anchor with which to base the rest of her world. A few seconds passed, allowing Heather to situate herself. Her mental picture encased the ground and sky, and the second cat. This was all she could elicit from her senses without the use of her sensitive nose. She knew nothing about the cat’s size, gender, or personality; things she could usually figure out based on cent and feeling.

With this done the kitten focused on what the second cat had said. She allowed her mind to relate what the cat had said. She had introduced herself, moved away, and retuned, placing something that rustled in front of the frightened kitten. Dandi. Leaves. The kitten understood that much. She opened her mouth to respond, but felt something drip into her maw. Blood. With that she quickly reached in front of her with a paw and tried to pick up the leaves. She couldn’t quite manage it, but her sensitive paw did show her mental image where the objects were.

She, most likely unexpectedly to her new companion, threw her nose into the leaves on the ground. With the motion the wounded part of her anatomy sent a new jab of pain to her confused mind. She squeaked, and then felt the pain recede to be replaced with a dull sting. Just like she said, it stings. Slowly the bleeding seemed to stop, and Heather inclined her ears to the second cat. Finally taking everything she said into consideration Heather responded, her nose still on the ground in the pile of leaves. ”I’m Heather. Thank you for the leaves.” She whispered, chagrinned.

Her voice was barely audible, but still contained the musical lilt it always seemed to possess. The small brown and gray kitten realized her body was shaking, and her voice followed suit. She still could not tell much about her environment, and the new cat was a mystery to her without her nose. Her ears swiveled constantly, picking up small noises and helping her pain the picture of the environment she had landed in. She was also still terrified; afraid of what this new cat was planning to do with her.

[dandelion]

((OOC: So sorry for taking so long to reply!))

Dani's eyes narrowed as she studied the kitten in front of her. She seemed... jumpy. Shy in the extreme almost. No, not shy. Just... scared? But that was understandable. Maybe she'd just been abandoned. They were right by a road after all. The poor thing was probably confused and frightened out of her mind. Dandi blinked, startled when the younger she-cat thrust her face into the leaves suddenly. Uh, okay... I guess that works too. She smiled a quick smile at the other kitten, wanting to seem reassuring. It seemed to sting, she noted, but at least that meant that it was working. Right? Wasn't that what her mother had always told her? Something along those lines anyway. She felt a sense of relief that she'd been able to help the other kitten - a sense of pride too which made her giggle slightly.

She frowned as the other kitten introduced herself, whispering so slightly. Was she afraid... of her? Dandi blinked. "Hi, Heather, then," she replied easily with a laugh and a smile, wanting to seem easygoing and nonthreatening. That was weird though if Heather was afraid of her. Dandi couldn't remember being afraid of many cats she'd met on the streets - certainly no other kittens! "Not a problem," she replied, dipping her head slightly. "I just remembered something my mom once did for me," she explained, shifting her weight on her paws. She didn't want Heather to get the impression that she was some healer extraordinaire. Though there were worse names to be called... she smirked.

"Are you okay?" she blurted suddenly, then ducked her head to give her chest a few quick licks in excuse. When she lifted her head, her expression was the perfect mix of apologetic yet still smiling. "Sorry. You just seem really scared. And I mean, if it's me you're scared of, I guess, I mean, you don't have to be." She gave a quiet laugh. "I mean, I'm not going to hurt you or anything! I just thought that maybe you'd want to do something - once your nose feels better. Maybe explore or play a game?" she suggested, eagerness creeping into her voice. It would be fun to play with the other kitten, even if Heather seemed much younger than herself. "How old are you?" she asked with sudden interest, tilting her head to the side in question.

She seemed a bit young to be all by herself on the streets, Dandi thought. But then again, she wasn't one to talk. She'd only been two months when she'd ran away. But something in this other kitten suggested young kitten-ish... behavior? It was probably just case she was scared that she seemed so helpless - the kind of state Dandi would have attributed to young kittens who played around always under their mother's watch. But then again, it was entirely possible that Heather had run away like she had or been separated from her mother for some reason. She hadn't necessarily chosen to be here - her terror seemed to suggest otherwise, Dandi thought. Poor thing. She flashed a quick grin.

---

Admin's Note on November 1st: This thread is being archived due to inactivity. We'll say that:

-Dandi and Heather talked a little bit
-Dandi explained a bit about life on the street
-They became friends with each other