s p e a k _ t o _ m e

[innoko]

when all you got to keep is strong
move along, move along like I know you do

It was only spring, the weather not yet broiling, but it sure was hot in the bag in the backseat of a rusted-out sedan. The car traveled swiftly down an old, unused dirt track, perhaps an old farm road, bouncing violently over wash-outs and stones, constantly jostling the furry inhabitant of the burlap sack. The human driver of the car kept his eyes on the road, feeling too guilty to look down at the wriggling sack but not too guilty to be more responsible about his predicament. The cat had peed in the house, on his daughter's bed, and his wife said she had to go, so here they were. The track abruptly faded into a field, where the man turned the car around and began back toward the main road. Turning the wheel with one hand, he untied the knot at the top of the sack with his other hand, then picked up the bag and, without a second thought, flung it out the window and sped away, kicking up clouds of dust. The sack landed heavily in the tall grass beside the road and lay still for several minutes.

Gradually the bag began to stir and a wedge-shaped feline head poked out of the opening. The queen blinked a few times in the sunlight, glancing up the road to see the very end of the dust cloud drifting into the woods. 'Wh...where is this? What just happened?' The cat stepped slowly out of the bag, revealing a fine, long coat of thick black swirls over a silvery base and a very long, feathery tail. In fact, her name could have been a descriptive for her smoke-gray tail: Feather. She was only two, not very well-versed in surviving outside, but she was not a terrified as one might expect. She stood for a moment, looking around and up at the trees above, then let out a plaintive cry, "Maow!" like a lost kitten calling for its mother. Really, she was just confused. With a soft sigh, the queen turned and began toward the woods, after a moment reaching a narrow, worn path winding into the trees. She stopped, feeling a certain importance about the area, the stepped tufted toes onto the path, tail flicking. Where were the animals that had made this path?

and even when your hope is gone
move along, move along just to make it through

[rowan]

I do wanna TRY

A silver tabby tom sauntered down the road, feeling unusually cocky. No, not cocky. Thankful. There, that was more like it. He had a lot to be thankful for, after all. He wasn't hideously deformed - and was quite handsome if he did say so himself - and led a pretty good life. If he could, for one moment, forget about Dapple - something that was proving harder and harder to achieve with everything second he dawned on it. He sighed, the cocky posture evaporating into thin air. Maybe life wasn't so perfect after all. He smirked. Of course, it still could have been a hell of a lot worse. He had good friends on the street. Violet came to mind obviously. And Rose. But his mind kept straying back to Violet, the peppy little feline who captivated him when he was with her and not. She was just so...intriguing. Like an amusing scene or joke that you have tear yourself away from, knowing all the while that you really don't want to have to go.

Intoxicating? That was a word he might have used to describe her once upon a time. But it seemed too serious and passionate. With her, it was more light and fun. Refreshing. She was exactly what he needed and maybe he knew that too. But he couldn't allow anything to happen between them until he had severed everything with Dapple - which would mean finding her. Something that was proving to be increasingly difficult - far more than he would have imagined. After all, they'd both been together on the farm - how far could they have each gone. A terrifying thought struck him and his eyes widened - what if the humans hadn't abandoned Dapple in the same place as they'd done so to him? They could go far in their monster-like machines and if they'd headed in the opposite direction... Rowan squeezed his eyes tight shut and tried his hardest not to think about it.

His world flooded with light at he opened his eyes, startled by the sounded of a plaintive meow. Kitten-like almost but something about the voice sounded more mature. Frowning slightly he craned his neck to see further down the road and spied a silver tabby like himself. A she-cat. His frown quickly turned upside-down as he began to make his way over in a smooth gait, pausing when he reached her. She looked so scared and confused. Lost. He still remembered what it was like. "Hello there, miss," he said with a jaunty grin. "You doing alright? I'm Rowan. Rowan Brokendaze but just call me Rowan. And if there's anything you need, feel free to ask." He winked and then chuckled, feeling slightly foolish but enjoying his new role all the same.

[innoko]

when all you got to keep is strong
move along, move along like I know you do

The other cat's scent hit Feather's soft nose before she spotted him, and she turned where she was standing, back sloping and long tail sweeping up around her small frame. She took in his silver-and-black coat--very similar to her own but with narrower stripes--and kittenish face without realizing the slightly shocked look on her own face. But when he spoke to her she shook her head lightly and the bewilderment faded from her delicately marked visage. He asked if she was doing alright and she made a mental checklist: freshly abandoned, check; little survival experience, check; raised as a housecat, check; no friends out here in the wilderness, check. But, at least she hadn't broken a leg or hip being unceremoniously tossed out of a moving car; that was a plus. And she was quite healthy and a fast learner, also good. Nor was she alone anymore, with this silver tabby tom approaching; perhaps all was not lost. That was how Feather viewed the world: even if the negatives outweighed the positives, she found it hard not to hope.

She stood a little taller, tail waving out behind her, brushing against the grass. He gave his name, so she thought it only fitting that she offer hers as well, even ticking off her previous aliases in a playful tone, "I'm Feather Cinderfrost, once called Jinxie and once called Fluffy, but you can call me Feather." She spoke her first name softly and in a loud whisper, even her voice reflecting the nature of the object. Or maybe she was just trying to make it sound sultry. She sat down on the path, a friendly smile on her lips, stretching her neck and nodding her head a little as she sniffed the air and took in his scent. After a moment's thought, she asked, "So, is this your territory?" She didn't know a lot about strays, but she did recall some of the half-feral cats at her last 'home' viciously guarding specific parts of the yard: Nettle in the garden; Thorn in the oak grove; Spider under the toolshed. This cat didn't seem like any of them, but she still didn't want to be trespassing on her first day in her new life.

and even when your hope is gone
move along, move along just to make it through

[rowan]

_I'm going ^{out of} my [ M I N D ]

The she-cat seemed surprised to see him standing there and Rowan felt a moment of uncharacteristic self-consciousness before the shocked look faded away from her expression and he was able to toss a charming grin in her direction, sauntering closer. She was a cute little thing, he noted. She bore the same markings as he did - tabby stripes on silver - but her stripes seemed thicker, softer and more smoothly faded into the brilliant silver that flashed in the sunlight as she shook her head slowly. Rowan smiled gently at her. It was hard being abandoned and it was the first moment like this one that stung the most:the confusion and the terror for what was going to happen to you. But she seemed alright. Her startled exterior was starting to disappear and she seemed energetic as she gathered her bearings. Of course, he could sense the slight discomfort that hung on new strays. Not discomfort but a sense of not-gotten-used-to-all-this-yet.

One brow arched up of its own accord at the sound of her sweet voice. "Feather Cinderfrost," he repeated with a nod. It seemed to fit this she-cat though he had no clue why and was in no mind to explain this rationale even to himself. "I was called many things," he said with a laugh. "There were always a bunch of humans on the farm and the ones that didn't live there always came up for new names for me. Max. Jerry. Tommy. Cliff. Sugar." He wrinkled his nose. "Humans seem to have a hard time distinguishing gender - at least the little ones do. The ones that mattered - the ones that were always there and fed me," he joked, "- they called me Rocky." He gave a casual shrug. "It was close." He couldn't help a small grin from shoving its way onto his face as he clamped his jaws shut to prevent him from rambling. He hoped he was scaring the poor thing too badly with this babble of nonsense.

"So, is this your territory?" He blinked at the question before letting out a small but friendly laugh. "Hmm? No, course not. I don't really have any 'territory'. S'pose you could say I'm a 'rover' or whatnot. Most of the cats around here seem pretty easygoing with stuff like territory. They kinda roam around and stay in different spots for little bits but stick to a general area. So far I haven't run into any trespassing troubles." He laughed again, even though his mind was reminding him that he needed to stop the rambling. "Actually there was this one tom..." he started, thinking of Calypso. His brow furrowed. "Nah, he was just a grouch - he didn't think I was on 'his' land. He just plain disliked me - thought I was a fool or something," Rowan scoffed, as if such a thing were impossible. But he couldn't resist a chuckle and a wink, wondering how Feather was taking him in. He put on an offended air. "The nerve!" He laughed again. But really now, he told himself. You need to shut up and let her get in some words too. He blushed slightly, biting his lip as a mischievous grin made its entrance into the conversation.

[innoko]

when all you got to keep is strong
move along, move along like I know you do

Contrary to Rowan's worries, Feather was not at all frightened or taken aback by his rambling. In fact, she just smiled and nodded, flopping her tail around as he spoke; he was more or less giving her permission to ramble when her turn to speak finally came. The sound of his voice made her feel infinitely better and less alone--even if he was just a passing acquaintance, he made her abrupt introduction to life as a stray a lot easier. She chuckled softly when he wrinkled his nose, presomably at being known as "Sugar," and dipped her head shyly when he winked a few moments later when joking about another cat. Then he laughed and grew silent, and Feather shited her weight a little before speaking.

"Well, I'm glad the cats around here aren't too defensive. The last place I lived had a few unfriendly cats outside, and they made it so that you just couldn't go some places without a fight," she explained, knowing that he was probably not interested in hearing about a bunch of mean cats he would never know. But she was long-winded by nature, and continued, "One lived under the toolshed, and another in the garden... I hope I don't meet many more cats like them." Her voice lowered to a playful whisper, eyes widening, at her last few words. Then she perked up again, almost instantly, and smiled widely at Rowan, "But you're not like them." She swept her tail tightly around her forepaws in a gesture like a human hugging themselves by crossing their arms over their chest, and looked curisously around the area. Looking back to Rowan with a warm smile, she asked curiously, "So, where do you live?" She was used to having a stable, static home area, and did not yet realize that many strays spent their lives wandering nomadically.

and even when your hope is gone
move along, move along just to make it through

[rowan]

It was nice to realize that even when everything seemed to be bearing down on him and Rowan had no clue what he was supposed to do, casual conversations could still ensue easily from him. It made sense but it was also quite...reassuring. He liked it. Of course, the fact that the she-cat he was speaking with was a very cute one might have helped spur the words to fall so freely from his mouth - the metaphor of a waterfall spilling down floods of water came to his mind - but nonetheless and whatever the reason, it was comforting. He grinned at Feather. "Ooh, that's too bad, Jinxie," he said with a smirk at the use of her old name. He couldn't help it. It was such an adorable name.

"Nah, besides that one prat, I haven't run into any troubles at all. But I've only been out her some months or so." He grinned. It was a good area, he realized. He had never really thought it over that much before. Rowan supposed it had been one of those things he had taken for granted. He'd always been safe with the humans and he'd been stupid enough to reason that the streets wouldn't be much different. No, not stupid. Occupied with thoughts - of Dapple. No, it was definitely a good place to live and roam - it could have been much worse. He made a sympathetic frown in Feather-Jinxie's direction. "I hope so too," he said sincerely with a small grin. "And if you do just let me know and I'll go scare 'em straight out of town." He laughed, knowing very well that he was slightly smaller and less muscular than most males. But he didn't care. If anyone picked a fight with his new friend, they'd be picking a fight with him. "And I'm very pleased to hear that." His grin widened but he blinked at her next question.

"Well, I suppose you could just say 'around'. I mean, I don't really have a set 'home' like I did when I was a pet but I stay around this little neighborhood in general - sometimes go a bit near the woods. But I've never been in them yet," he confessed, feeling at the same time that it was slightly strange that he hadn't. There was that night with Storm... but then, they'd only been in the park - just outside the woods. Close but not enough. Or as others might say: so close but yet so far.

---

Admin's Edit on August 25th: This thread is being locked and archived since Innoko (who plays Feather) is still on an inactivity hiatus and will be for an undetermined amount of time. If she wishes to continue when she returns, we can do that but for now we'll say that:
+They chat
+Become friends
+Rowan explains his life as a stray to Feather so she feels a bit more comfortable