The Hunter (Open)

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

OOC: Yeah and we'll see what happens to Essence.

BIC: Gaara smiled and licked his mate's ear.

"They're beautiful, healthy kits. It doesn't matter if they have strange markings. We shall love them all the same, right?" he meowed, purring.

But I cannot help but think...

What? What can you not help?

They will leave us.

That is our destiny.

I hope they go when they are old enough.

But you do not believe that to be the case.

I wonder if Birdie would feel bad if they were taken... I'd feel horrible. Would she hate me?

I don't know. Would she?

Why do I keep hearing voices somewhere? They're soft but...

I'll get louder. Don't worry, father. I'll get louder.

[Brambleclaw]

Birdie smiled.
"You certainly are right." She was happy that he understood that his fantasies were just dreams. Nothing to fear. She looked down at Essence, and then up at Gaara, and smiled. Essence was the only kitten of the litter that did not make Birdie's heart ache. She would be a good kit.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Essence sat in the middle of a swath of blackness. A river ran in a strange circle around her paws, big enough to make jumping difficult but not impossible and ever running in a perfect shining circle. The kit looked much older, with strong shoulders and a lean flank, as well as a long, beautiful face with soft, luminescent eyes. The water of the river was crystaline in appearance, and every now and then a black shape quite like a stone would move gently along with the current. The rocks made little waves within the stirring water, their many different colors shimmering and luring her eye. But Essence ignored most of the stones, only reaching to dip her paw into the water when she saw the stone she wanted. She pulled it out of the water and wrapped herself around it, carressing it gently with her nose-tip. She could hear them. The voice was familiar, strong, and bright. Essence closed her eyes and stroked the stone gently with her left paw. My brothers make you hurt mother...? I am glad that for now I do not pain you. Her eyes slowly opened and she gently brushed the stone back into the river, watching it float away and then come back again with the current. Each stone a different color. Each stone a different thought. Each stone a different memory.

[Brambleclaw]

Startled Heron sat with one cat to her right, a lean tom whom she did not recognize. He had a calico coat and sparkling blue eyes, and he looked proud and regal. But she felt unhappy, even at the site of the great tom. Like something was wrong. She watched him as his eyes locked onto something and he ran. It was only then that she noticed five others behind her, two of them very young. She frowned, realizing they were probably only kittens. With a sigh, she looked ahead. A looming wall was visible. What could she do? She suddenly had a memory. Each cat was very special. The regal tom was very strong and fierce, a beautiful golden she-cat was telepathic. Then there was a white and a white-and-brown cat, she-kit and tom, both young and looking somewhat scared. They were most special, and the she-kit was blind. She smiled, looking at the proud she-cat who stood defiant against all odds, almost invisible on the backdrop. And Startled Heron realized she did not know what to do...

The monster raced full-speed toward him and his friends. He stood proud and strong, a firm stance as if he might face the monster. Green, glistening darkly, and he felt a sudden lurch of fear. She had already told him it was to be feared.
"Cars kill." She had said softly as he left her, and he wasn't sure if it was a car or a monster any more. But whatever it was it was coming on strong. He hissed venomously, beckoning the others get out of the road. It came closer, closer. And then it was no longer a green monster, but a terrifying.... He gasped. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. No.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Essence sensed some confusion in the atmosphere. She turned and looked deeply into the river that swirled in a circle around her. She fished into it for memories, thoughts, feeilngs, but found now. Her eyes wandered and she looked through one of the thoughts at a face. Another of the Salinka. She thought. She reached through her father's thought towards the kit, reaching so desperately to comfort him.

"It's Ok, Startled Heron. You are safe." She said earnestly, but she could not quite reach his mind. Salinka were unaffected by other Chosen. It was all Essence could do to try.

[Brambleclaw]

[[You said he, but Startled Heron is a girl. Fell is the only boy.]]

Startled Heron continued to see painful dreams where all she could do was watch and run from danger. Why she was with the group of cats was a mystery, but she was virtually useless. She felt horrible watching as they were put before danger and only barely survived. The little tom, as she soon learned, was named Barley. His sister was Ivy. Then there was a tom named Fell, and a she-cat named Essence. And then Scarab and a she-cat who was still a mystery to her.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

OOC: whoops! sorries

BIC: Essence gave up trying to reach her sister. It's hopeless. Her mind is closed to me. Essence thought, retreating from the river's cold water and curling onto the small patch of blackness that seperated her from the worlds of so many others around her. She began searching through her father's memories, learning of places and cats she had never met or heard of. She learned words and meanings as he had when he was a kit. Many of his memories focused on a she-cat that Essence learned had been his mother. She was beautiful, and looked much like Essence, with pale ginger fur and kind eyes that Essence liked very much. She listened to the wise cat's lessons, and then the memories faded together and Essence withdrew her paw with a startled hiss when more painful memories flooded into her vision. She did not want to see her father killing those cats... She did not want to see his mother dead. But she had seen. Essence trembled with the weight of her abilities. I must be careful... for there are secrets in some places that no cat must ever learn. I have been given the gift to learn those secrets, but now I realize that it is very dangerous to use it. She thought, staring blankly into the waters of the river. She closed her eyes and sighed, allowing the black world to fade away. Only her spirit lingered there, a faint outline of her as an older, wiser cat. She felt herself spread from her mind into her limbs, and her limbs warmed after the chill of abandonment. Essence felt a strange aching in her stomach that she had not noticed while she had retreated from herself. She crawled forward slowly, reaching with her mind as well as her limbs, and began to suckle contentedly at her mother's side. She purred and began to kneed her mother's belly, feeling content. She dwelt on the happy feelings of her mother while she fed, and some of her father's pride seeped into her soul as well. Essence felt content, though her heart was heavy. One day I will leave all of this behind... She imagined walking alongside her brother and sister, her face turned to the wind and her spirit just as free. She closed her eyes and allowed her purring to continue. I guess it won't be so bad... She thought as she lulled her mind into a calm state of peace.

[Brambleclaw]

Fell was in a world of memories of past, future, and some present. He saw a beautiful she-cat in a field ahead, and there was something coming. It came fast and hard, on heavy paws of a deadly black. It had a striped face, which was prominent and stuck out like a branch. Its eyes glistened with a dark hate, and he realized that the she-cat was scared. She was a beautiful brown with green eyes, and he remembered her name. He loved her, and she loved him back. Her name was... Stalkflower, was it not? She was not like Fell or the others, and somehow it put her in danger. He was strong, brave, fast, and could kill very easily. But he could only kill a cat that wasn't special, and she wasn't special. He felt his vision turn half-way red, and he realized if he did he could kill her. She shouted at him something, and he didn't understand what. But his urge to protect those like him was stronger than his urge to protect her, and he lose vision in what was like a sticky-hot sea of blood. It was almost as if he was on auto-pilot, because he didn't see or hear anything but a painful shriek. Wasn't it a badger? Whatever the dog-thing was, it was dead within moments. And he continued to plow through its body with his claws, sharp as razors, and teeth, sharp as knives. He slowly gained his vision and hearing again, and his senses increased to their normal state. But blood from the badger was not the only blood to coat his paws. Sticky red blood seeped out from the broken body of Stalkflower, who sighed softly. Even through death, a beautiful peace and happiness crossed her features and her small heart stopped beating. Fell gasped in horror, but said nothing. Turning to his friends, he kept his gaze to the ground and started the long walk back. He was a killer.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Essence paused, turning slightly with a strangely grave expression on her small face. Her kin were suffering. She could not see the future as well as the past and present, but she could see some things as she retreated into her mind and plucked at a few stones in the river. She could see seven cats, closely knit by the threads of destiny. She could see two sad blue eyes, and her brother and sister standing a little ways off. She could see others, too, but nothing about them struck her as very odd. All of the kits were strong looking, and she wondered if they were related. They did look somewhat similar. She closed her eyes and allowed the vision to cease. Whatever her siblings were seeing, she wanted no part of it. She emerged once more from her dark world and spread herself through her already-chilling limbs, reaching out feebly and touching the warm pelt of her brother, Fell. She pressed herself against him, purring and soaking in the warmth of his body. She was so cold...

[Brambleclaw]

Birdie purred as she admired her suckling kits. The beauties were her kits, she and he true love Gaara's kits. They were special, she knew, but she did no know how. She looked up at her mateband sighed softly.
"Do any look like they are from your family?" Birdie had never known her own family, and she wondered which of the kits got their beauty from her side.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Gaara blinked and looked down at the kits. He paused for a moment and nodded.

"Essence and Fell." He meowed softly. He felt as if someone where watching him, listening to him... he wondered who. Who are you remembering? A voice asked him. Your mother? It persisted. He blinked and thought how strange it was, hearing these strange voices... he wondered who they belonged to.

[Brambleclaw]

Birdie nodded, wondering who Startled Heron looked like in her family. And then she remembered who with a shudder. That was a past so far back, yet so prominent, that even just thinking it made her want to cry out in pain. And if she thought about it, she realized that Fell looked like a very familiar, ancient face... Birdie suddenly heard a rustle outside.
"Can you see what it is?" She asked Gaara nervously.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Gaara brushed his muzzle against hers gently and turned towards the tunnel.

"I'll go check it out." he meowed, padding outside.

OOC: I have no idea what to expect so I'll leave it for you there *shrugs*

[Brambleclaw]

Memories kept drawing the dainty she-cat forward to find her long-lost friend. Her coat was a beautiful calico, and her eyes soft and sparkling. She was a sweet cat, only twelve moons and very lovable. But she sought Birdie for emotional reasons that tied to sad memories. She wanted to make sure that the golden she-cat was doing well. She deserved it.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

OOC: Well Ok then

BIC: Gaara blinked in surprise when he saw a cat standing before the entrance to their den. He felt the fur along his hackles rise, but his bloodlust was calmed a little by her peacable stance.

"What do you want?" He asked, staring at her with confusion and hesitation in his turqoise eyes.

[Brambleclaw]

"To see Bird Flower." She meowed in a soft, friendly tone that was tainted was adolescence. "I'm Foalan. Bird Flower?" Foalan walked calmly past Gaara and ino the den. Birdie looked up, her eyes filled with shock and sadness.
"Hello, Bird Flower." Foalan said with a smile, looking sadly at the kits.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Gaara was startled by the calm of the she-cat, and he had no idea... It must be Birdie. He thought, turning around and following the she-cat. He saw his mate's expression and slunk to the den behind her, watching Foalan closely. He didn't trust her, and he was prepared to defend his mate and his kits. Just you try and stop me. He thought, crouching and curling his tail around his forepaws, his eyes on the intruder.

[Brambleclaw]

Birdie tried to smile, but looked much too nervous. Foalan blinked at the kits and smiled.
"You rather have them?" She asked sadly, looking strangely hurt. Birdie die not respond. She had no need to.
"Flower Moon, how are your sisters?" Birdie asked with a soft, faint smile.
"Well. We go by new names now." She replied with a very strange smile. Birdie nodded, turning to her mate.
"We must talk." She said to Gaara sadly.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Gaara blinked and nodded. He didn't know what was going on, or who this "Flower Moon" or "Foalan" or whatever was. He supposed she must have known Birdie somehow. Birdie will probably explain it all to me. He thought. Probably. That strange voice replied. He sighed and turned to Birdie.

"I'm listening." He said gently. He saw out of the corner of his eye one of his kits - Essence - moving slightly. But then she stilled and remained that way. She looked almost dead, she was so still...

[Brambleclaw]

Birdie swallowed, nodding.
"When I was twelve moons I was a kittypet. A show cat. My, I was grand. Then my twolegs force-bred me, and my ability to refuse was stripped from me..." Birdie looked up sadly. "The tomcat's show name was Falling Moon. I had three daughters. Flower Moon, Little Runner, and Chickweed. Those were their shownames." Birdie couldn't meet her mate's gaze.