Old Cat, Old Tricks

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

"Don't turn your back on me." Those short words cut sharply into her and raised the proud, cold fury inside her. Who was he to speak so, as if he were the earth and the sky? What right had he to set himself so high in his own estimation? Her eyes narrowed to angry slits but she kept her pace even and her steps light. Her soft white tail twitched once before she could stop the irritated reaction, but she stilled it quickly. Ravensoul was a fascinating study; most days she enjoyed watching him, guessing at his next act or word, forseeing his reactions. He was maddening, infuriating; but he was also intriguing. But only on good days, and today, early though it was, was already most emphatically not a good day.

She tried to sort out the dream she'd had, that strange tangle of darkness on the edge of her consciousness. It had been a shadow, creeping ever closer. A cold wind blowing. The sound of cats screaming in agony. It had been the rivers freezing and the grass dying and the flame growing ever colder. It had been death in cold eyes, a sadistic whisper, and sharp claws. It had been blood and terror and dark blackness. She tried not to shudder or cringe at the terror that had taken her with the shadowy dream. The trees, always so friendly, seemed menacing today. Every shadow made her eyes dart towards it, anticipating some danger; something dark and frightening that she could not quite see.

Ravensoul was behind her. She tried to ignore him. He was angry now; his pride had been nudged and he had too much pride for even a slight nudge to go unnoticed. She sighed, irritated, and let her tail twitch again. A bird in a tree trilled and another one, a ways behind them, answered. It was a beautiful morning everywhere - except in her mind.

[Smokeleaf]

But in SootClan, every beautiful morning went by unnoticed, and today's was no different. Still, even through the hot fury of his boiling blood, Ravensoul could tell when such an event took place, and they weren't very common. Jadedtail should have been prancing around by now. And even if he had ruined it for her, she would have said something. Instead her only sign of irritation was the slight flick of her tail. Why wasn't she saying something? Was she so stupid that she couldn't even tell hatred from irritation, something Ravensoul had known his whole life? Finally fed up with being ignored, the leader blurted out, "What are you thinking about?"
It was the most un-Ravensoul-ish thing he'd ever said. It wasn't insulting, demeaning, or even the least bit cruel in its intentions. A random passer-by could have sworn it was honest-to-goodness caring, with even a trace of innocence. Even Ravensoul himself was surprised, but he couldn't take it back now. Besides, he wanted to know, and he always got what he wanted.

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

She could sense his presence behind her, annoyed, angry, hateful; it was like a dark cloud following her. Like the shadow that overtook your dreaming, something in her mind said. She twitched one ear, shaking the thought away. Ravensoul was nothing like the dark malevolence in her dream. He was nothing so great or so menacing.

"What are you thinking?" The question nearly caused her to pause mid-step. Since when had Ravensoul ever cared what she thought, or what ideas swam through her mind? He had never cared. The few times she had candidly shared what she thought, he had rebuffed her, mocked her, punished her. Why should he want to know anything now? She did not answer. Another few steps. Her mind was spinning, trying to fabricate some reply or other. Ignoring him would be worse right now; having made a sharp cut to his pride - deliberately or not - to ignore him now would be to anger him further. But to say anything of the dark evil that overtook the clan in her dream - that would be suicide. He would cut her to pieces. Ravensoul did not believe in dreams; not the dreams of a she-cat, at any rate.

"You are too arrogant," she said, and then caught her breath. She had not meant to say that aloud. If anything would make Ravensoul angry, personal criticism - personal criticism from a she-cat, especially - would trigger his wrath. She kept walking, forcing her muscles to remain steady as her insides trembled with anticipation of his response. Most days she would take what he gave and somehow her spirit would come out on top, still smiling. Today she thought she might break under his rage.

[Smokeleaf]

"You are too arrogant."
Ravensoul was caught by surprise. Sure, the she-cat obviously hated him, but he couldn't remember a time where she had outright criticized him... He froze in his pawsteps, just watching her walk on by, but for once, he wasn't angry. He was... what was he? He hadn't felt this before. It stung like a scratch from an enemy warrior, a scratch not only in his perfect form but in his pride. And he wanted to know why the she-cat felt this way... Suddenly, he bolted out in front of her, stopping right in her path, and snarled, "What do you mean by that?"

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

He was angry. Of course. Ravensoul was always angry. She had to stop as he crouched snarling in front of her, eyes flashing.

"What do you mean by that?" Again, she had hit his pride. Outright criticism was not tolerated by the cruel leader. He had earned his place, and he would not accept any slight to his person. He was too arrogant, though; she could not make herself think any different. She was sure Ravensoul thought that the sun and moon rose and fell by his presence. She wondered if he ever considered the fact that SootClan had been getting along perfectly well before he had come along. She was fairly certain that the idea of its continuing to do so after his passing had never never occurred to him. If it had, she was sure he had pushed it asside as impossible. SootClan, continue without his presence? Impossible. She almost wanted to laugh at the thought. He was too proud, too conceited. Too easily offended.

A wave of exhaustion rolled over her and she wondered why he couldn't leave her alone today. Most days he nearly ignored her presence, and she couldn't remember his ever asking her how she felt or what she was thinking or what she meant. He didn't care; her feelings, thoughts, opinions - they made no difference to him. He had no need and no desire to hear about them. Why need he bother with her today? Couldn't he let her go do a border patrol in peaceful solitude? She wanted to ignore his question, to refuse to answer it. She had made a very straightforward statement; he was too arrogant. It was clear and impossible to misunderstand. Why should he ask for her to enlighten him? Could he not simply take out his rage, his wounded pride, and have done with it? Looking back into his angry eyes, she sighed again, slightly. She would have to answer; he would not let her ignore him today. Not after having offended his pride and criticised his personality. But she was not going to any trouble to be friendly about it. She was tired and her normally sunny mood was black as the midnight shadows.

"I should think I was clear and concice," she mewed softly, her voice low and almost cold.

[Smokeleaf]

Now he was really bristling. How dare the she-cat talk back to him? She was the arrogant one! His muscles tightened beneath his already-tense pelt and his tail lashed back and forth, back and forth, timing like a metronome. His ears folded back and he felt himself crouching, lower, lower, and he suddenly wondered if he was going to strike...
And then it was over. With one last flick of the tail, he straightened and proceeded his patrol.
"Come on, mousebrain," he meowed. "We're wasting time."
He didn't even know it, but that was the first time he'd ever taken credit for something he didn't like, and the first time he'd ever taken credit with someone else. "We." That was a word he didn't use. But he used it today. Something was seriously wrong with the cosmos, and it might just make itself known during their patrol.

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

ooc;; hahaha I'm enjoying this one... We work well together.

bic::
She knew he was going to pounce. His body low against the earth, his tail lashing, his eyes glowing with anger; she knew the next moment he would be springing through the air swifter than she could prepare for, and then his claws would tear into her pelt, draw her blood, rip her flesh. She could imagine the maniacal shine in his eyes as he released his anger on her. And all for the sake of his pride. It was really too much.

And then he was walking again, as if nothing had happened, and he said, "Come on, mousebrain. We're wasting time." That was unusual. Speaking to her so mildly after the anger she knew she had just seen - it simply didn't happen. Ravensoul did not reign in his anger; he never needed to. He was the leader and could take out his anger on whichever cat he wanted. And he did not call cats "mousebrain." It wasn't a dignified retort, she supposed; perhaps he thought it sounded too much like apprentices' chatter. He found crueller ways to hurt those whom he disliked. And "we're wasting time" was not his usual way of handling things. Wasting time to get to a border patrol that he didn't really need to send her on in the first place, much less go along on himself. Oughtn't he to have said, "you are wasting time"? Wouldn't that have suited his conceit so much better? She didn't know. She didn't know what to say or what to answer, but her heart felt a little lighter in one way and a little heavier in another. She was used to understanding her caustic mate. She did not like the feeling of uncertainty that came along with this sort of exchange.

She set off again, walking a little quicker this time, occasionally flicking her ears toward sounds in the the trees. Ravensoul would have to start the next altercation. Didn't he always?

[Smokeleaf]

ooc: I like it, too. Especially since you're such a great writer. (= Except Ravensoul's reconciling a bit too quickly. I pictured more interaction with other cats before he softened up. And battle sequences. The like.
I can't think of anything in character to say at the moment. Bad me. (=

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

ooc;; if we could get a few more characters in the clan and get some sort of SOMETHING happening it would be nicer... I wonder if we should put this on hold for a bit, until the plot actually starts, and see what happens? I mean, this is fascinating and all but if everything happens before anyone else shows up, I'll be sad. =(

[Smokeleaf]

ooc: Eventually we have to find Fang. Maybe I'll create another cat, which I'd really hate to do, especially since I'm a major procrastinator and still have to finish Rowanfur and already have about 6 other cats. )=

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

ooc;; K what if we just ask Molteh to switch and attack Soot instead of Ember? And I had an idea; on my other site, from time to time the leaders will put up a rule that they won't accept any more cat's under a certain heading until they have more under a different one. Like, if there are too many toms in FallsClan, they'll say they won't accept any tom bios until things even out. What if we could do something like that on here? (Oops; maybe this belongs in the Admin area; oh well.) Like, not accept any more bios in certain clans that have lots of bios, until there are more in certain other clans? (Cough-SootClan-cough)

[Smokeleaf]

ooc: Problem is ALL of the fiery Clans have the same problem we do; ours just happens to be the most active. And I think Molten has already switched, she's just in a different thread, so we're going to have to hop around a bit. And I STIIIILL don't know what to write. There's only so many ways you can say "I love you, I HATE YOU, I love you, MOUSEBRAIN!!!"

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

ooc;; Quite so. And I've always been in favour of ditching all these complicated sub-boards so that we can all just post on the same thread under one clan. Lighty said she might come up with a cat to attack us randomly. What if we just say that we won't accept any more cats in ANY clans until the fiery clans have enough cats? And .......agh. I don't know. All our ideas are good, but we need to put them into practice. All those things we said in the suggestions and the admin boards need to be USED not just talked about. --stalks off to take out anger on helpless victims--

[Smokeleaf]

After a few moments, he began to thrash his tail uncomfortably. Silence was only fun when he was the one starting it. When other cats didn't reply, well! Wasn't that rude?
He glanced down at his paws as he walked, avoiding fallen leaves and twigs and other sorts of frond. He didn't like silence; not like this. Why wasn't she saying anything? Why wasn't she calling him a mousebrain back, or fox dung, or some equally offensive term? Did she think she was too good for that?
Stupid she-cat, he mused, thinks she's better than me.
He would have called her on it. He really would have. But it wasn't his responsibility to speak for her. She wanted more freedom, then fine! But when he gave it to her, what did she do? Act like it was nothing at all! And... really, breaking silences was not something he was fond of doing. It was a weakness, cracking under such petty pressure. And Ravensoul was anything but weak.


ooc: YAY I POSTED!!!! It's not very good, but it's something. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes - "I'm cannot move or speak for fear that it will all vanish like a broken silence" - or something like that. (=

[[[ShAdYCaUStI]]]

ooc;; ooh I like that quote; it would go really well on a siggie, with the right cat.... I might have to borrow it from you at some point. =) Well here we go. Probably gonna be a SHORT post because I'm short on time, so it might actually be an UNFINISHED post. GOSH we need some action. Woah- change of plans. The whole post is written except that I'm going to go post a bio right now - for the cat Jaded runs over; whenever it's approved I'll post the rest. You can post in between if you want. At least then it'll be three cats instead of just two!


bic::
He was frustrated, she could tell; lashing his tail and probably fuming and burning inside. Oh well; he was never happy. Not really. She glanced up at the trees and listened to the sudden seven-note call of a bird somewhere away to the sunset side. The shadow of a hawk passed over her, and her mind went back to the shadow in her dream - her nightmare. Something dark was coming; something sinister that would eat them all. It would consume them as a cat did a vole, and they had no hope.

Just a dream, she told herself irritably, annoyed with her own fearful belief; but she could not stop the sense of foreboding that filled her spirit. Ravensoul might be as frustrated, angry, bitter, and hateful as he liked. It made no difference; the shadow would overcome all of them. They would be lost, in the swirling black abyss that opened beneath them, where all was cold and empty and darkness pressed into their minds. They would open their eyes and the blackness would take them out; if they opened their mouths, the frigid shadows would enter them and they would be eaten from the inside by the void.

Her mind was too taken with the shades of her nightmare; she did not see the cat until she nearly bowled him over; she drew up sharply.

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