[Phoenix]

[googlefont=Chathura]

echo in storm-dark sky

From his position against the side of the cave, he watched as the other members of the tribe went about their daily lives. Black fur mottled with gray kept him fairly hidden in the shadows, though avoiding detection was merely by consequence rather than intent. After all, he was fairly confident that there was no rule against relaxing in the cavern, and even if there had been – a possibility, for cats had done less and been more confusing – he would not have paid it much mind. Echo never understood the power that threats had over others. He understood consequences, of course, but that was simple cause and effect. To avoid doing something because someone might find out, even if they never would find out – that was strange. All one had to do was keep a secret, and he knew that wasn’t very hard.

Echo kept many secrets. He told no one about his dreams at night, how he flitted from one she-cat to the next like a butterfly from flower to flower until he reached her: the most beautiful rose in the garden. He could never resist her allure. Her sweet scent, her pretty reds, everything – it was all his. In his dreams, she belonged to him and gave him all the love and affection he was owed. And Echo took care of her, made sure she wanted for nothing – oh yes, of course he did. She was his, after all, and he looked after what was his. He doted on her like he imagined a mother – a proper mother – would her kitten: all love, all sweet, all soft. Sometimes there were other toms that tried to steal her away. He could hardly blame them, because he knew how special she was, but she was loyal. She always chose him.

It was only a matter of time until that dream would become a reality. Echo and Rose were simply meant to be. They were perfect together.

As a hunting party returned to the cavern, pale green eyes shifted to watch the activity, and his heart jolted when he recognized a beautiful ginger she-cat. My flower. Long-legged and gorgeous as always, she was the epitome of grace and elegance – but wait, she was talking! Ears pivoted and strained, and though he couldn’t make out what she was saying to the prey-hunter beside her, he hung onto every hint of her sweet voice that he managed to catch over the hustle and bustle of the cavern. Her mouth snapped shut, and she turned away, glancing once around the cave – his heart skipped a beat: had she looked right at him? – before leaving with her tail flicking lightly behind her. His breath caught in his throat – no one was following her. But she had looked straight at him and then left. Was this a sign? It had to be. Cats were mysterious creatures – she-cats especially – but this had to be her way of asking him to—

Before he knew it, Echo had pushed himself to his paws and began striding toward the exit, brushing past his tribe mates with brief, empty apologies and single-minded ambition. Blinking in the light of the day, he relaxed when he spied her down the path leading to the cave. She was still alone. A quick lick to his chest fur – his mother always said he looked like trouble, but he didn’t want Rose to think that – and he began making his way toward her.

And then he was there! Standing right next to her! And she was even more gorgeous up close – he could smell her lovely scent, and her green eyes had flecks of amber in them that reminded him of the sun. Oh, he loved her so much, and soon she would be all his; his thudding heart felt like it would thump right out of his chest. Only after a handful of silent moments had passed did he remember that he was expected to say something. After all, surely she wanted him here to do more than just stare at her. His mind blanked, jaws parted slightly as he tried to restart his brain. “H-Hi Rose.” Was his voice a little breathy? If it was, it was only because he was still trying to remember how words worked. He cleared his throat. “You wanted to talk to me?”

Prey-Hunter of the Tribe

BlooRey DVD | background image

Newleaf 24 VY 7 - Clouds continue to cover the sky and it remains overcast all day, but at least there's no scent of rain in the air.

[BlooRey DVD]

Tribe of Forgotten Waters, 64 Moons, Cave-Guard

A trilled bit of laughter, and a slow wave of her thick tail preceded her voice as the Cave Guard stepped back into the Tribe's home at the head of a returning hunting party. "Don't be silly~ Ensuring the safety of hunters is an absolute honor, not a drop of trouble at all!" She mewed, voice sickeningly sweet as she flashed a seemingly pleasant smile to the various members. Green eyes remained mostly closed as she beamed, rendering them practically unreadable as she glanced toward each of the patrol members, lingering briefly upon the petite white and black form of Song of Shadowed Stream.

"Run along now~" She purred, an idle wave of her paw shooing the she-cat that practically bounced from one paw to another. "You should get that prey of yours to its spot, hm?" On the surface, she was a flower. Soft petals, vibrant colors. A perfectly pleasant facade.

Beneath was a volcano. Magma boiled in her veins, impatience searing through her in the form of the invisible clench of her teeth as the insufferable whelp, the pathetic excuse of a Prey Hunter before her practically yowled her goodbye, as though volume was a concept she failed to comprehend. Incompetent. Unruly. Unfathomably annoying.

Oh what she would do for the opportunity to carve that flea-ridden piece of eagledung's tongue straight from her jaws while she begged for mercy. Let her try and shriek like the high winds without it. Came the venomous voice in her thoughts. Claws curled against the stone slightly, visible only to those who deigned to look down. But who could when she stood before them, honey sweet voice drawing whatever attention those nearby turned upon her.

When finally she was left to her own devices, when the possibility of blissful solitude seemed to extend itself to her, the ginger Cave Guard let her green eyed gaze flash over the insufferable denizens of the cave she was forced to call Tribemates before she pivoted on her paws and pushed back into the unsullied air of the outside world, tail waving in barely contained annoyance masked by false pleasantries.

She'd just found a place to seat herself. Had settled for a what felt little more than a fraction of a second, her mask dropping to twist her features in the poisonous contempt that leeched through every fiber of her being. And then a presence disrupted her peace. Forced her to slide the mask back into place and let that 'joy' drip over her like the first wet snowfall between two seasons. It took everything she possessed not to shudder beneath its weight, green gaze snapping toward the tom a little too quickly to be genuine.

A minutely fractured smile painted her features, her green eyes glinting with that venomous something hidden under her skin, the thick furred ginger she-cat contemplating the male before her briefly before picking out his name from the pile of other useless things she was forced to recall.

"Echo. What a lovely surprise~" Came that lilting voice, one that seemed to caress and choke all in one breath. "Me? I would think it were you who sought to talk to me, darling. Seeing as you've padded after me all this way, hm?~" The slightest lean of her body, bringing her a claw-strike closer. Tantalizing, yet not touching. Captivating, but oh-so-far out of his reach.

As she would always be.

Is it really a surprise if I'm playing with your mind? 
I'm a straight up villain.

Phoenix , ~ 530 Words, Your lady-love has arrived, Echo

[Phoenix]

[googlefont=Chathura]

echo in storm-dark sky

She knew his name! He could feel himself growing slightly faint before sense kicked in, berating him for his foolishness in a manner not unlike that of his mother. Of course she knew his name; they were Tribemates, and she had been around since before he was born. But still – the way it sounded when it rolled off her tongue, when it was carried to him by her dulcet tones – it sent shivers down his spine. All at once, he wanted her to say his name again and again until she had said it in every possible way, and even then he wanted her to never stop saying it. He wanted to hear it spoken breathlessly, the way he felt when he was choked with love for her, or perhaps spoken sweet and quiet, a whispered secret shared between lovers. He wanted to hear it spoken with longing, with admiration, with love. He would close his eyes, bask in her sweet scent, and let her lilting voice wash over him.

Echo. What a lovely surprise. The words echoed in his ears, reverberating in time with his racing pulse. What a lovely surprise. What a lovely surprise. She thought he was lovely. Did she know of his devotion – Did she share it, perhaps even return it? She must. She thought he was lovely, a lovely surprise. Surely that meant she did. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as love blossomed within him. Oh, he hadn’t even needed to woo her; his sweet flower already loved him, as she should. Rose was perfect.

He had to make sure she knew that he knew how she felt. He had to make sure he didn’t mess this up. Mirroring her actions as he leaned in a little closer himself – her presence was so overwhelming – Echo took a stabilizing breath before answering, pale green eyes earnest as they met green. “I always want to talk to you, Rose,” He said quickly, offering her a small smile. His heart was racing. She was all around him. “I think you’re lovely, too.” A pause. This was how cats did it, right? This was how he had seen toms tell she-cats that they cared for them. And then, almost as an afterthought but far too genuine to truly be one: “Darling.”

It didn’t feel like enough. Should he tell her that he would gladly pad after her for the rest of his life? Should he tell her that he would gladly bring her eagles every day for the rest of his life? Or that he loved everything about her, from the way she curled up atop her bedding as she slept to the way she so carefully sat and inspected her claws, tail curled daintily around her paws with its tip always flicking? But no – he remembered that the last time he had admitted such observations to another cat, it had ended poorly. Echo did not want to scare Rose away – not that he thought she could really be scared, she was so brave and strong – so he held his tongue and simply willed his love into her heart.

She would understand, of course. They had a special connection, the two of them.

“You were all alone,” He began. Show her how thoughtful you are. She-cats liked thoughtful toms, he knew. “I could keep you company, if you’re… lonely.” And she-cats who went off on their own liked it when their mates followed them, so Echo offered the same even though he and Rose weren’t mates – yet.

Prey-Hunter of the Tribe

BlooRey DVD | background image

[BlooRey DVD]

Tribe of Forgotten Waters, 64 Moons, Cave-Guard

That same trill of laughter, like a songbird's call in the early morning air, spilled from her jaws as Echo admitted he always wanted to talk to her. It was picture perfect, music to the ears. Anyone would have thought her a she-cat enthralled by the honey-sweet words of a tom. A tom inching ever closer to her, leaning into her as if she possessed some sort of gravitational pull, beckoning him. Come closer. Which he would, of course, because he always wanted to talk to her.

Always. Skies above, she thought she'd have to put a little effort into trapping such a fool of a tom. Yet he proved to be even more inept than she'd thought. He'd already ingested her venom, thinking it the sweetest nectar of an innocent flower. Were all Prey Hunters this unfathomably stupid? A large tom, with an ego that rivalled the moon's berth suddenly crossed her mind.

Well, she supposed Cave Guards weren't exactly immune to idiocy, either.

The miniscule twitch of an ear as he returned her pet name showed the turbulent waters hidden in the confines of her mind. But such a tiny detail was easily overlooked as the wind gusted forth, ruffling fur and disturbing any semblance of peace there might have been in the mountain air.

He thought her lonely. Lonely. As if she didn't positively thrive when she was separated from the everyday and overwhelming inanity of Tribe life. From her doe-eyed 'sister', to the loud-mouthed insanity of Song, the constant yowls and shrieks of idiotic young kits, to the naïve folly of the tom at her side.

If she could toss them all to the mercy of the mountain cliffs, she would in a heartbeat. In fact, why hadn't she done that to begin? Was there anyone she even deigned to tolerate in this sky-forsaken cave? No name jumped to her tongue as she made the smallest effort to find one. Other than some flicker of entertainment she occasionally pulled from playing some poor fool, Rose really couldn't identify anything or anyone useful from among the throngs of cats who called themselves the Tribe.

Green eyes flicked to her Prey Hunter companion, long furred tail curling slightly as it settled over her ruddy paws. "How incredibly thoughtful of you, Echo~" She purred, her voice softer than down feathers as she picked the perfect smile to adorn her ginger maw. "I'll admit, I came to escape the echoing of voices all over the cavern walls." One paw lifted as she ducked her head just so, daintily touching her paw to her forehead. "I've had... Such a headache this morning, it's truly awful~ I hoped the fresh air would do me good, but I've yet to have..." A moment of silence. Came the snarling end of the sentence in her mind.

On the surface, she flinched, as though a lancing pain in her head caused her to do so. The corner of her mouth hidden from him twitched in a self-satisfied smirk, the dark ginger she-cat keenly aware of her talent for acting. "Any luck with getting this headache from leaving me be." That, and anyone else. The voice sneered, the Cave Guard forced to stifle the accompanying indignant snort. "I should visit Skyteller, I know... But I couldn't fathom to bother him for something as silly as a headache. You understand, don't you, Echo darling?~"

How long before she drowned him in the honey-sweet venom of her soul? Oh, this could be fun.

Is it really a surprise if I'm playing with your mind? 
I'm a straight up villain.

Phoenix , ~ 580 Words,