Distance [Mintkit]

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] Azura's paws pounded the ground as she ran, her breath misting in the cold leaf-bare air. She did not shake with fear as the dog's barking sounded behind her. Aza did not have time for such foolishness; she was smarter than that, she was a survivor! She just ran. A monster pulled out in front of her and she screeched to a halt, tearing around the corner at top speed. The dog had gained on her in that split second and she could almost feel its hot breath on her heels. A crumbling wall loomed up in front of her and she scrambled up it. Suddenly safe, she stared down into the yellow eyes of the dog, which barked up at her. It no longer held the mindless terror of just moments ago. It had been a predator, turning her, Aza, into nothing more than a running bit of prey. Now she was safe. It was amazing what difference a little distance could make. She padded away across the top of the wall, restored once more to her queendom, the roofs of Twolegplace. This was her place; she knew nothing more than that as she leapt gracefully up from the wall onto a frost-covered roof, her claws fighting for a grip without having to think about it. Yes, this was her domain. She was not one of those people who loved the thrill of the fight, rising to fight a rival and defeating them. Aza had always been a realist, with no appreciation for concepts like glory, and such incidents did nothing for her confidence. But she was safe now, and she banished the whole episode from her mind with the calm, resigned acceptance that marked her out. Yes, Aza was a realist. Safe now, she jumped down from the roof, landing smoothly on top of a sleeping Twoleg monster, then leaping again to the floor. Raising her nose, she suddenly caught another scent, past the hot, dusty scents of the Twolegplace; a single thread, sweet upon the icy air, that she recognised with a gasp. It was DuskClan. She whipped around, searching for the scent. No Clan warrior would be around in Twolegplace, not unless they had lost their mind or their loyalty. It would have to be a young cat. Young and stupid, and not understanding about distance. Distance could change everything. In their Clan's territory, they would be powerful, valued as each cat was by their Clan; here, whoever they were, they were nothing. She sighed. Even she, the ultimate realist, couldn't ignore a young cat in danger. There was dogs, and monsters, and Twolegs, and rats in Twolegplace. Whilst she was fine with such things- she'd learnt how to work around them since she was a mewling kit- a Clan cat would not be. Twolegplace was not a friendly place; if you didn't know your way around it, it would destroy you utterly. Her paws pounded the ground once again as she ran after the scent. [/scrolly]

[Mintkit]

Mintkit was bored. Very bored.

That's why she had set out all this way: to explore. She was within a moon of freedom, but curiosity always wins. So here she was, at the place everyone called Twolegplace. Where she was not supposed to be.

Mintkit stared at the alien place, with creatures she had never seen before roaming about. Strange creatures with two legs, just as they say. A flutter of panic arose, but was quickly swallowed down when she remembered that this could possibly be the last time she would ever be able to come.

She had originally came looking for new herbs to experiment with, but that goal had been quickly wiped aside when she saw the foreign land. It would take forever going through all this stuff, and time was not on her side. It wouldn't be long before someone found her missing.

Mintkit was just about to take a step into Twolegplace when a cat jumped right in front of her.

(OOC: uum.... so did I screw anything up?)

[Azura]

(No, Mintkit, you did fine! In fact, that was really good, especially for an absolute beginner. Certainly nobody expects any more of you at this stage )

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] Aza skidded to a halt as she came face-to-face with the source of the scent. Her eyes widened in shock and mouth gaped before she snapped it shut, trying to stay calm and in control. She succeeded; it was, after all, something of a trademark of hers. That did not, however, mean that she wasn't really rather annoyed. "What sort of responsible Clan lets a kit your age out of the camp?" she snapped at the kit who faced her, then sighed, and said, "Don't answer that," no less sharply. She whipped around and surveyed the area. There were no immediate dangers, or at least, no really threatening ones; there were always dangers in Twolegplace. She had no idea what this kit thought she was doing, but it put her in a horribly awkward position. She hadn't eaten yet today, and was hungry; she needed to hunt. Aza was not usually the type to bow to sentimentality when hunting was calling. But at the same time, it was a kit. Even Aza, hard-hearted survivor, couldn't ignore a kit in trouble. And besides; she'd trespassed on DuskClan territory all too recently. Returning one of their precious kits might help them refrain from taking some sort of action against her. She sighed, her choice made. "You shouldn't be here," she told the kit firmly. "It's dangerous- dogs, monsters, rats, Twolegs. If you don't know your way around, you'll get lost and be crowfood within the week. What brought you here?" [/scrolly]

[Mintkit]

(heh... thanks I typed this up already but then lost it.. arg.)

Mintkit was in a tight situation.

All her instincts told her to run, but her mind told her to stay and think it out. So her muscles fought, twisting and bulging, unable to decide to run and spasmed on the spot.

Mintkit wasn't strong; she never was. She wouldn't be able to make it back to camp like this; the cat was right, of course. Twolegplace was dangerous... she just wasn't fully aware of how dangerous. Stories of kits running off are so often retold they're bland, and in those stories, not all the kits made it back alive.

So she started analyzing her options. She could stay with this cat, who didn't seem to be from the Higher Cats or another Clan. She could try to run back to DuskClan, but this cat looked like she would take Mintkit back to her clan anyways.

It didn't hurt to try. She knew Twolegplace from how she acted, cocky and all. Her chances of surviving would be much better with this new cat. And Mintkit was determined to get back to Duskclan, no matter what.

So she took a soft breath and whispered, "I was curious."

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] "You were curious," Aza snapped back. "And that gives you the right to get yourself killed?" She sighed; she had no idea why she was being so ratty with this kit. Maybe she just wasn't used to idiocy. Yes; that was it. Aza was a sane, sensible cat. So was everybody else in Twolegplace; here, you learned or you died. Aza wasn't used to the idiocy and naivety of Clan cats. Sigh. Aza studied the kit. She wasn't strong or particularly big. What she was was... well, fluffy and cute; but then again all kits were fluffy and cute, it was what kits were. Being a kit just entailed being fluffy and cute, it wasn't something you could get away from. Aza wondered if she'd ever been fluffy and cute... Get your thoughts back on track! she snapped at herself irritably. Turning on the spot, she worked out the best and quickest route out of Twolegplace... no, actually. Aza decided against that as she realised if she showed the kit a little more of Twolegplace, her curiosity would be satisfied, and she might come to realise it was a dangerous place for young cats; that way, Aza wouldn't have to deal with this sort of stupidity again. But how to show the kit a little of danger, without actually putting her in danger? The answer came to Aza in a flash; distance. "Okay," Aza told the kit, without waiting for an answer to her previous question. It had been rhetorical anyway. "I'll take you up on some of these roofs, where we're too high up for the Twolegs or dogs or monsters to get us. We'll take a nice winding route so you get to see some of Twolegplace, and then I'll... escort you back to DuskClan. Sound okay?" Again without waiting for a reply, Aza turned and scrambled up the nearest drainpipe, sitting at the top and looking down at the kit. "Come on!" [/scrolly]

[Mintkit]

Mintkit automatically reeled back slightly.

Everything screamed at her to not trust this cat. She was far too... nice for a rogue - at least, Mintkit sensed that she was a rogue. But.... she could either take her chances out in the wild... or follow this cat and hope that she gets back safely.

She took a deep breath and bounded after the cat, trying to get footholds on the drainpipe. Athletics had never been her strengths. How had the rogue done it? It takes Mintkit twenty times longer than her to get to the top.

The stare was on her back, and Mintkit diverted her gaze on the ground. After an awkward moment of silence, she asked quietly, "What's your name?"

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] "My name?" queried Aza, slightly irritably. This kit really was useless; she couldn't even climb a little drainpipe. She supposed it was something about Clan kits. All that honour made their brains go soft. The actual nature of the question - as opposed to the idiocy of the kit who asked it - finally filtered through to her brain, and Aza sighed. "Azura," she told the kit sharply. "My friends call me Aza, but you haven't earned that right yet. And yours will be something ending in kit, no doubt, I know how the Clans mess around with their names. Now stop asking pointless questions and come on!" Aza whipped around and started out across the rooftops. The roofs here were aligned in such a way that they could walk the entire length of the street, along the terrace, without needing to make a single jump. "Is this what you imagined when you escaped your camp?" Aza asked somewhat bitterly, not looking back to see if the kit was following. If she wasn't, that was her problem, not Aza's. Aza gestured with her nose towards the pallor of Twoleg smoke that covered the hot, red, dusty streets. Always that way; even leaf-bare brought no clean whiteness as it did elsewhere. The Twolegs turned even snow into brown, slicky mush. Aza wondered if it would snow this leaf-bare. She hoped not; it made the roofs slippery and its cold made her bones ache, for all its prettiness. She sat down for a moment by a chimney, then leapt to the top of it, scaling the weather-vane with ease. She sat atop it there, gazing at the view. "Is this what you came to see?" she asked the kit, casting her eyes over the maze of red and grey and black. It was difficult and dangerous and full of Twolegs. The kit wouldn't understand it, Aza knew; but she said it anyway. "To me, this is home." [/scrolly]

(OOC: Don't feel insulted - this is how Aza treats everybody. XD Also apologies for short post, I got to go)

[Mintkit]

Mintkit scrambled after Azura, challenging herself, drawing out the most of her strengths. By the time she had stopped, she felt like she couldn't walk a single step more.

"Is this what you came to see?"

Mintkit stared at Twolegplace. Smoke along the grey skies, dull colors bleached into the background. Nothing like the clans' camp - the clans!

She was about to blurt it out, so furious at herself for forgetting them; DuskClan moves camp very often, and...

"To me, this is home."

Azura's words startled Mintkit. Home... in this bland place? It must take a cat an enormous amount of courage and perseverance to stay at a place like this. Dusty and dangerous, with death right around the corner...

Panic arose in Mintkit's body. No, if she couldn't get back home, back to DuskClan, then... would she be condemned to this kind of life?

No, she thinks. I have to get back before they leave again... unless... unless...

She couldn't talk. She couldn't speak. But when the bigger cat turned towards Mintkit, she could've sworn that Azura knew exactly what she was thinking about.

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] Aza finally remembered that the kit who followed her wasn't the greatest at looking after herself in Twolegplace. She glanced back, sighing as she saw the kit looked completely exhausted. At Aza's words the kit seemed to become scared. She frowned; what now? Should she just take the kit straight home? She'd planned to take her over a monster den, or a garden with a dog - just to ensure she didn't come back for a while - but if she was going to act like this the whole time, then she could forget the whole idea. Aza reviewed her earlier words, trying to deduce the source of the kit's fear. Suddenly, she realised what was on the kit's mind. She turned towards Mintkit. "You probably won't get back before they move camp," she told the kit casually. "But it's easy enough. They move it so their enemies can't find it; but they'll be happy to tell us the new location so long as we don't intend them any harm. With you by my side, I doubt they'll treat me as an enemy," Aza continued, although she added on the end, "though you might end up with quite a scolding, for wasting my time as well as for sneaking off to Twolegplace." All they would have to do would find a patrol or a wandering hunter and ask them where the camp was; they'd be fine, though Aza suspected they'd take Mintkit and leave Aza at the border. "We can leave now if you want," she suggested. [/scrolly]

[Mintkit]

"We can leave now if you want," Azura told Mintkit. A flood of relief washed through her; she's going back home. She'll be in for a scolding, but she'll be alive. In one piece.

A weak kit surviving Twolegplace.

"Yes," she whispered, unsure of what to say. She had never been the sociable type, never been the type to say more than five words in a sentence. She looked at Azura cautiously. They hadn't been through much together, but it felt like a lot.... being surrounded by smoke and dust and ash, your only company being a cat... Mintkit wondered when was the last time Azura had met another cat.

They stay that way, eyes unblinking at each other, sensing Twolegplace out of their peripheral vision, staying perfectly still. And then Mintkit quietly whispers, "Thank you."

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] The kit seemed to be relieved as Aza told her she could go home. "Yes," she whispered. Aza sighed quietly. Well, at least the kit was eager to go home. That showed some sense. The kit looked at Aza rather cautiously and Aza twitched an ear irritatedly. "I suppose you think I should be asking your name?" Aza asked as she turned again, leading the small kit over the roofs to an easy way out of Twolegplace. She planned the route in her head; she hoped the kit could manage Twoleg washing lines. Apart from that, there wasn't too much in between here and the edge of Twolegplace. Then it'd be simplicity itself to take the kit home; Aza knew the way perfectly well to DuskClan territory. She'd been, more than once. Lately she'd been visiting more than usual, staring over the border, hoping for a glimpse of... him... Stop it, Aza! "The truth is, your names change so much, it's really not worth my trouble," Aza told the kit casually, continuing as if the pause had never existed. "Besides, the chances of you meeting me again are very slim." And here, Aza let her anger show under the calm surface, just for a second. "You are, after all, not coming back here under any circumstances, at least not until you're much older. I have enough on my mind without stupid Clan kits wandering into what I consider my territory. Am I understood?" Aza let the kit see her anger for a few moments more, then dropped it, sliding once again into her role as concerned loner shepherding a Clan kit out of Twolegplace. "Here there's a Twoleg washing line. Just balance along to the next roof. It's not hard," Aza told the kit, skipping over and sitting on the next roof, turning to watch the kit. No Twolegplace cat would have the slightest trouble walking along a washing line; but Aza suspected the kit would not be quite so happy about it. It was, after all, a Clan kit. [/scrolly]

(OOC: Just as a tip, watch your tense switching... you're slipping a little between past and present.)

[Mintkit]

(OOC: oops... sorreh, keep forgetting this isn't THG... )

Mintkit stared at the washing line, and then at Azura again. Confused and meddled by her sudden mood swing, Mintkit stayed there, squirming. After thirty seconds of silence, she cautiously bound onto the washing line.

It was hard at first, trying not to fall, seeing how the line was bouncy and much thinner than the twigs and branches at home - not that she ever climbed those. But the line was short, and Mintkit shuddered at the other obstacles to come. She had never been the athletic type, and crossing the line seemed to take forever.

Finally, on the other side, Mintkit stared Azura down. "My name is Mintkit," she said quietly, and held her gaze.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that, she thought. But it's too late now.

[Azura]

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[scrolly:h(223),w(400),sy][atrb=background,http://i.imm.io/8qA6.png] Aza watched the kit closely as she stared at the washing line and then at Aza again. The scruffy Twolegplace cat met her gaze calmly, watching to see how she'd handle the line. If I have to go back over and carry her across, DuskClan will never hear the end of it. Thirty seconds passed. Aza was just about to contemptuously ask the kit if she wanted her to carry her when she stepped out onto the washing line. Aza flicked an ear and watched her progress. She was slow at first and slightly wobbly, and took much longer doing it than any Twolegplace cat would; but, Aza supposed, it wasn't bad for a Clan kit. Not that Aza had watched that many Clan kits cross washing lines, but, oh, who cared? Aza was about to turn and continue leading the way out of Twolegplace when she realised the kit was staring at her. "My name is Mintkit," she said quietly, and held her gaze. Aza reconsidered fast. The kit - Mintkit, was it? - had guts and confidence. She frowned, thinking for a few seconds, then nodded. "I'll remember that, Mintkit," she replied, equally quietly. "Maybe if you ever come back, I'll remember it's you and find a dog to eat you." That was Aza's idea of humour. "And maybe if I end up dragged into DuskClan camp for some offence against the warrior code, you'll remember my name too." With that she turned again and bounded on, beckoning with her tail. "Come on! It's not far now," Aza called back over her shoulder. She bounded down onto a wall, padded along it and jumped down onto rough tarmac. She took a few steps and felt soft grass tickling her paws. A frond tickled her nose and she sneezed hard. Cats are meant for Twolegplaces, not this cold, open grassy greenness, Aza mused quietly. Yes, Twolegplace is hard, but it's where cats should live. This is too... weird. She sighed under her breath. From here, Mintkit could probably find her own way. Even so... Aza felt a strange desire to escort her all the way back to DuskClan territory. No, that wasn't that strange. She pounced on the feeling inside her head and tore it apart, hunting down its cause. It was all too obvious. Aza wanted to escort Mintkit all the way home so that maybe, just maybe, she'd get a glimpse of Sparksetter. Oh, spirits, this was hopeless! [/scrolly]

[Mintkit]

Azura bounded off so quickly so quickly that Mintkit barely reacted before seeing the tawny cat jump down to the street. She looked down at her mangled fur, coated with dust and dirt, and sighed.

This is going to be a long day...

"Come on, it's not far now!" she heard Azura call. Mintkit peered down and saw Azura pawing the grass that grows on the roads. Saw her sneeze and wince.

Mintkit shuffled towards the wall. It seemingly took forever to get down to the road, and by that time Mintkit was too scared to look up and see Azura's reaction. All she could do was to follow the grass and trudge forwards, hearing the footsteps leading the way.

As she went, she made a vow to never come back to Twolegplace again.

[Azura]

They make their way back to DuskClan territory

- - End thread - -

(OOC: Now for me to go and start that DuC terra thread... )

[Mintkit]

(OOC: That was the funniest ending I've ever seen. "They make their way back to DuskClan territory." *falls over laughing*)