>>Mistrust<< {Open}

[storm]

The market was bustling with activity. Market stands had their merchandise displayed to seem as extravagant as possible in the little room each shop owner had. All sorts of goods were available for the humans - clothes, accessories, food, tools . . . colour occupied every corner of the Shire market.

Humans were each the epitome of unique and fascinating. One woman was in a tan skirt suit and black heels, with a thin, gold-chained necklace adorning her neck. She was talking impossibly fast on a black-berry cell phone, an urgent tone to her voice. Hanging up on the person on the other end, she huffed angrily before viciously thrusting a few tomatoes into a plastic bag, and then handed it to the man behind the stand and yanked our her wallet.

Not far off, two little children with blue eyes and dark, fine brown hair were running about, their worried mother close on their heels. She reached out and snatched the back of the little girl's dress, and made a near grab at her son's shoulder. He stopped, though, as his innocent mind told him not to continue on without his twin sister. As his mother approached, his face took on a sombre expression, and unlike most young children, the twins took their scolding in silence.

At a stand governed by handmade jewelry, a woman with light brown hair past her waist was situated. She had a very odd appearance. Her skirt was long, with the look of orange and yellow tye-dye. Random odds and ends glinted off from different parts of the skirt - she had sewn them on herself! Her shirt was fairly shapeless - a dark blue, red and pink tye-dye, with white streaks from wear on it. Multiple necklaces with objects such as shells and thimbles made clinking sounds, the kind that reminds one of wind chimes being blown by a gentle breeze. She wore no makeup, but did have the faint glossy image of chapstick on her lips.

Across the market, a couple walked hand-in-hand towards teh parking lot exit. They jumped into an old, deep purple Toyota Tacoma, and then drove off. A blue SUV parked right where they had been only seconds before. A man, in his early forties, jumped out wearing worn blue jeans and an underarmor shirt. TH white logo of his shirt contrasted noticeably against the navy blue of the t-shirt. Weaving his way through the crowd, he made his way over to a floral stand, and immediately purchased a dozen roses - six white and six red.

Near the far end, maybe thirty, thirty five feet from the floral stand, was a man selling fish. You could buy said fish pre-cleaned and skinned or not. Around this stand was a common place to find cats wandering about. Once and a while, if the fisherman was feeling kind, he would cut a fish into scraps and put it on the ground (away from the stand) for the hungry strays to come and devour. After, the street cats would come and weave between his legs and claw at the stained white apron, begging for another piece. Or course, the more cunning cats would just steal a meal or two when the man's back was turned.

Though the majority of felines were prowling about the meat stands, one or two were slinking around the market. One of these was a silver tortoiseshell by the name of Phantom Leafsong. Her grey eyes glinted in the partially covered sun overhead, and she blinked them lazily. She leapt up onto the top of two benches that were back to back. Observing her surroundings, she meandered back the way she had come, to an empty stand. THe merchant who rented it had left minutes before and the overhang provided adequate shade for Phantom's needs. It was a hot day, and she liked cool temperatures more than over-warmth.

It was odd, she thought as she watched, because having lost her memory it was familiar and yet a whole new experience to see feline behavior. She learned something new all the time . . . for example, apparently cats like fish. not that she would know - if she'd ever even had fish, she wasn't aware of it. Ah, well, she decided, may as well get some sleep.

With that, Phantom curled up and was asleep in minutes.

[havenfrozenpool]

It was hard swerving in and out of human bustling, the albino cat knew from expeirience. He glared his ruby eyes up at every human that passed him, unaware of the possible threat just beneath them. Maybe they should start looking up and down rather then ahead. 'Surprises could be lurking anywhere' Haven smerked and continued to evade.

A lean lady almost waled right over the tom, urgent to solve the problem on the other sde of her cellular, Haven snarled in response. "Hey Watch it!" the tom knew well that humans were not as advanced to actually understand the animals they supposedly love so much, but when aggrivated you could find the dumbest things to do. Just like talking to humans.

Pulling to the side of the sidewalk, where the traffic wasn't so heavy, the albino sat softly on his rump and started to lick his chest. Ruby orbs scanned the surrounding area, he saw only a few cats slinking around in the sun. It was indeed a hot and humid day. The kind of days Haven hated. Winter and a nice breeze was what he wished for. But this winter had a hot day which made Haven fume. Wrinkling his nose, the stinging stench of fish. 'Bleh!! What kind of sane animal would-' Haven's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden realization that humans and his own kind would eat such a nasty creature.

Practically gagging at the smell, Haven got up and continued to waltz down the sidewalk, looking for decent shade. A few of the shops were closing down so Haven had a few to choose from. One in particular caught his eye and it also had another cat. A she-cat. Haven furrowed his brow and chuckled. Haven then gingerly made his way over and pounced onto the stand and laid about a tail length away from the sleeping, silver she-cat. 'Smart cat. She picked a nice spot...' He yawned and curled up into a tight, white ball of fur and drifted off into sleep.

What kind of day would this turn out to be...

[spot]

Ah, the Shire Market. A beautiful place to spend the day, surrounded by easy to get food and nice shady spots to nap in. This was the type of place that Marigold liked to be in; a place where there wasn't any worries, just an easy life. It was like a small paradise away from it all. But didn't every place, even a paradise, have something wrong with it? After all, there might be paradise, but there was never a perfect one.

A silver femme treaded across the cobblestones of the market, seeming to not notice the pain from the her pawpads as they scraped across rough stone. In fact, the cat looked quite dazed, seeming to not care where she was heading. Occasionally she stop would look up, a hurt and confused expression in her gilded gaze, before she would continue her meandering walk, her eyes fastened to the stony earth. It was quite clear that this cat wasn't in the best of moods, but if asked she would just look through you and walk on, prefering to keep her problems to herself. If she suffered from pain, it was completely her problem, no one else's. She wouldn't allow anyone to heal her heart. And why? She'd probably break their heart in the process. What was the use? Leaping onto the stands, Marigold ignored the shouts of their owners, but continued walking.

Everywhere the she cat went, she kept her eyes open for a certain black tom. She had over-reacted to his comments and had torn his heart only a short while ago, and the pain was still with her. This seemed to be the only thing that the femme was capable of doing; breaking hearts. What a great talent. Pull yourself together! The pestering voice in her head scolded her. Are you going to feel bad about things that you can't stop? No. You shouldn't, anyways. For once, she listened to her mind, too tired to fight back. It made sense- she didn't mean to be there at that certain time and that certain place. It just...happened...

Thump. Marigold looked around confused. What just happened? Only a few moments ago she had been on her feet walking and now she was sprawled on the stand in a heap. Only when her vision focused could she see the white ball of fur lying on the stand. Standing up, she muttered "Sorry.." to the tom before getting ready to leave. But, it hit her. Where was she? In her dazed state she hadn't paid attention to any of her surroundings, and now she was lost. Sighing, she went back into the shade and sat down. She'd find her way around after her head cleared up a bit more.

[storm]

It was useless. She had tried many times to sleep, to escape the unease of the mysterious world. With about as much experience as a kit, she was frightened easily. Sleep had been an attempt to get away from the outside, but it only brought memories of the last moment that she remembered - the trauma of it was enough to make her shift, roll sideways in frustration. She had lived this moment multiple times, once for real and many times in her dreams, but it only got more discouraging - she would never be who she once was.

Water, water everywhere! It obscured the young she-cats vision, and she struggled against the current. The box that had contained her only moments ago swept by, and as it did she let out a desperate yowl for her sisters. The water was sweeping her under, and then back up again at different intervals, and in panic she turned to look for land somewhere to go. It came with no warning, the rock.

Thump.

Phantom jolted up, to see that she was no longer alone. A white cat was curled up not very far from her, asleep. And another cat, colour undecipherable, was hidden in the shade, eyes staring. Phantom glanced in the direction that the staring cat was looking, but she could not find anything there. Sighing, she sat down. Though she did not want to send them away - it wasn't her stand, after all, it was a little unnerving having two strangers right there. Annoyance flashed through her momentarily, before she spoke. "Um, who are you?"

-->Sorry that it's really short, I don't feel very well right now but I wanted to get this done.

[havenfrozenpool]

Before Haven knew it, he had a she-cat on both sides. Shaking the small nap he had just experienced out of his eyes, he sat up. Stretching his long, lean forearms out and shaking off the heat of the hot day, he looked around. Peering at the young, silver spotted she-cat through his ruby eyes, "Well well well that's fine. Long naps aren't my thing anyway."Haven snickered and started to lick his chest. The sun was setting slowly on the far off horizon, past all the stands, bustling people, past Nenwood. Haven didn't care though, because his sun was still up somewhere inside the woods with his beautiful mate, Amber.

The sun cast such a beautiful glow that the market didn't look so grotesque anymore. Haven's orbs flashed a brilliant red as he turned to the spotted she-cat. She sat in the shade with such confusion, Haven couldn't help but cock his head. "Are you lost, love?" He was about to get up and walk toward the dazed femme when the other she-cat startled him from behind. "Um, who are you?"

[/i] the other she-cat's smooth yet irritated voice came from behind him and he spun around in a hurry. Her grey eyes caught the sunlight aswell and her gaze sent a quick shiver down the albino's spine.

"Uh mm well the name's Haven. Haven Frozenpool at your service." The albino recuperated and dipped his head politely. Moving backwards, he sat in a spot where he could get a good view of the both of the she-cats. Sitting up straight, he watched the two distraught faes and couldn't help but ask, "What's got your days so uncomfortable ladies?." He spoke like a gentlemen, with respect to the she-cats. He was interreted in what would get two she-cats at the same time so down. Haven sniffed the air in confusion, 'Was it something in the air? Were all the she-cats depressed today? Would Amber be depressed too? shoot!' Haven thought.

He coughed just to fill the silence and waited for a response from either the annoyed one or the confused one. The bustling behind him was started to die down as the humans were packing up and getting ready to go home, to there soft beds, sweet families, while these cats had to search constantly for a secure place to sleep. Sighing, he eyed the two she-cats, the sun making his sensitive skin all the more translucent.


[/blockquote]

[spot]

Marigold sighed, not registering to what the white tom was saying. "Blah blah blah blabbity..." Was all that she heard, nothing else. Maybe every so often she'd pick up a word, a syllable, a letter, a sound. But mostly, nothing. One thing was clear, however; that silver tortoiseshell wasn't the most happiest to see her stumbling in, ruining her opportunity for sleeping. The femme stared into the other's eyes before quickly looking away, shocked at the eerie, almost ghostly silver. "blah blah lost, blah?" The tom kept talking to her, but this time she happened to pick up a word. "Lost?" She croaked, her voice rusty from lack of use. "No, I'm not lost. Just tired, that's all." She said weakly, smiling slightly and staring into the tom's unusual pink eyes. "Blah, who are you?" Said the tortoiseshell femme in a manner quite rude, but the femme ignored it, instead prefering to not get on another cat's nerves. "My name's..Marigold....Marigold Silktree.."Her sentences filled with pauses. No, she was not one for forgetting her name, just remembering the last time she had told her name to anyone else. That 'anyone else' had been Osprey and Opal. Life's cruel, don't you think? She wanted to say, but that wouldn't come out so well. Even as the ruby-eyed tom asked what the trouble was, Marigold shook her head, refusing to dish out her problems onto a platter and feed it to them. This was food that she would keep for herself, to eat slowly and learn. But when she was almost done, soon another serving would come out that needed to be eaten. It was a never-ending dinner course, but the food was never satisfying, and the bill never came.

[storm]

I'm sorry it's taken so long, but I was away and only able to check the posts most of last week.

On one hand, the white tom seemed fine with the fact that she had been kind of rude, and then on the other hand, the gold-eyed silver she-cat seemed . . . distant. When you looked right into her eyes, it was like she wasn't there. It was a little unnerving, to be honest. "Well well well that's fine. Long naps aren't my thing anyway."

[/i] the tom laughed. Phantom looked around, confused, before deciding that she must have missed something. "Uh mm well the name's Haven. Haven Frozenpool at your service."[/i] Haven dipped his head in a polite nod, and then scooted backwards and sat. Phantom turned to the other cat expectantly.

"My name's . . . Marigold . . . Marigold Silktree . . ."[/i] For a moment there, Phantom wasn't even sure that the she-cat knew her own name! She shook her head. It was a pretty name, though. The sun was slowly sinking, and it lit up everyones eyes and pelts - excluding the white tom. His pelt was turning almost sheer. His eyes were an eerie red colour, though they fascinating at the same time. The other she-cat's pelt was practically glowing silvery-white, and her eyes would have been lit up had they not (somewhere along the way) acquired a dead look to them.

I'm . . ." she paused. Was it custom to tell strangers your names? Maybe Marigold and Haven already knew each other - they figured that if she, Phantom, meant them any trouble they could easily take her down. They could, too, a little voice in her head pointed out. You have no memories, and therefore no experience. But, then again, she couldn't just start her sentence and not finish it. The two would think she was insane. Although that wasn't entirely implausible. "Phantom. My name is Phantom Leafsong."

For a moment there was an awkward silence. At least it was awkward from Phantom's perspective. "What's got your days so uncomfortable ladies?"[/i] It was an innocent question, but Phantom was wary. You could really never be too cautious, right? But then there was a small chance she'd do very well in her new life should she make enemy's as opposed to friends. One could never be too cautious, and one could never have too many friends.

"Um, well, about that . . ." Curse the shyness! Now that she was awake, and therefore coherent, the I'm-not-one-for-social-situations part of her was slowly becoming dominant, and the need to run away and hide in a corner was making itself painfully present. "See, I was just a little irritated. I'm sorry - it wasn't your fault I woke up. In fact, I was having a bad dream and it's good that I woke up. Sorry for being so rude." She ducked her head not only in shame, but in fear to see their expressions.
[/blockquote]

[havenfrozenpool]

Post Coming Soon!!! Low on Muse =C