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Post by Lilystream on May 7, 2013 21:29:52 GMT -5
Dragonfly looked around. She hoped her parents were at least here. She nervously walked foward. She wasn't sure where she was going, and nobody was here. "Mom? Dad?" She called. Dragonfly sighed sadly, and padded on.
The loneliness was getting to Dragonfly. Even if she was free, she wanted someone to share it with. Joining a clan was out of the option. They were confined to their camp, and she couldn't handle that. There didn't seem to be any other loners, so she couldn't look for friends. She decided to keep looking for her parents. She treaded on.
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Post by Leopardstorm on May 11, 2013 22:47:43 GMT -5
To be honest, Clove had even less of an idea of where she was at than usual. Sure, she was always determined to go exploring someplace new instead of going back to land she had already passed through, but normally she could find some sort of cat that knew what to expect of the territory beyond there. The time she met another cat that was friendly enough to speak to her had been a few weeks ago, and he had never gone past the tree line. That was all fine and good at the time, especially since it took her another day and a half to get there, but this forest was HUGE. There were parts of it that would make a rather nice territory, but there was precious little of it that was claimed. Her first encounter with marked territory had ended with a large molly immediately chasing her out without even saying anything, and with that encounter in mind she hurried past any trees that were scented. Soon enough, there wasn't any signs of cats living in this forest left, although after that last encounter she didn't feel too disappointed. The sooner she found the end of these trees, the better.
Well, actually, the trees were nice. She had to hunt for food on her own, and that was always hard and annoying, but it was easier in the sort of terrain that she grew up in. At least she wasn't starving, thanks to that. Not only that, but she felt safer up in the branches. Take right now, for example. About half a day ago, she thought she smelled the faint scent of fox. Even though it was following a different path than her, she still immediately climbed up the nearest tree and started traveling by jumping from branch to branch. She never bothered to descend, considering that she could move just fine up here, even if the going was a bit slower. It was actually rather relaxing up here, not having to worry about potential threats when she could just climb over them.
These thoughts immediately flew out of her head the second she heard a voice. Predators were different from cats, since cats could actually climb up after her, but cats were also potentially allies/sources of food. By the sound of it, this cat was a molly, probably young, and... looking for her parents? Deeming it safe enough, Clove proceeded forward with caution, creeping through the trees until she saw a grey... housecat? What was a housecat doing out here? Did she escape or something? From Clove's experience, housecats that still had their collars on normally kept to more populated areas, in hopes of either finding new housefolk or a cat that knew how to remove collars. As the housecat passed underneath her, she decided that engaging her in conversation couldn't hurt.
"'Lo?" Clove called, keeping close to the tree and thus partially out of sight, just in case.
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Post by Lilystream on May 13, 2013 7:25:22 GMT -5
Dragonfly jumped at the sound of another cat, and she looked around to see where it came from. She looked up and saw a faint brown and white figure. Probably a cat. "Oh, hi," she said. "Who are you? I'm Dragonfly." She was relieved that another cat was here, but nervous if he/she would be friendly.
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Post by Leopardstorm on May 14, 2013 18:18:57 GMT -5
Relieved that this housecat did not seem to be aggressive, Clove walked further out onto her branch. She smiled down at Dragonfly. "Nice ta meet ya, Dragonfly. I'm Clove. What's a housecat like you doin' all the way out here?"
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Post by Lilystream on May 15, 2013 7:21:29 GMT -5
"Oh, I'm not a housecat anymore. I ran away." Dragonfly said. She tugged at her collar. "I can't get this off, so I guess I'm stuck with it." She smiled back.
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Post by Leopardstorm on May 15, 2013 20:02:35 GMT -5
"Ah," Clove said. "Here, let me see if I can help ya with that." She jumped down to a lower branch, and from there to the ground in front of Dragonfly. Moving slowly so as to not seem threatening, she sniffed at the housecat's neck, examining the collar as closely as she could. "Have ya tried to get it off with somecat else's help before?"
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Post by Lilystream on May 16, 2013 7:28:14 GMT -5
"Well, I haven't seen anyone here besides you. So no. I haven't." Dragonfly said. She wasn't intimidated by Clove; she seemed friendly enough. Besides, her owners clipped her claws so she couldn't fight.
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Post by Leopardstorm on May 18, 2013 11:01:03 GMT -5
"So no one lives 'round here? Shame." Clove lowered her head to the buckle of Dragonfly's collar. "Hold still for a second." She bit down hard on the buckle and pulled back. Most of the housecat collars she had seen came off easily enough with a bit of pressure on the buckle. By the looks of it, this collar was probably different, but there was no sense in not trying.
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Post by Lilystream on May 18, 2013 11:49:12 GMT -5
Ooc: I forgot what kittypets called humans, so I'm just saying Upwalker.
Ic:
"Um, I wouldn't do that," Dragonfly said. "I think this is made so that only Upwalkers can open it. I tried to take it off once by putting the buckle on a tree branch and trying to run away, but it didn't work."
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Post by Leopardstorm on May 18, 2013 12:28:27 GMT -5
ooc// Kittypets use housefolk and workfolk.
bic//
Clove gave the collar one last tug, then let go with a huff. "Well, it never hurts ta try. But if it stays on when ya or I go for the buckle, then it's gonna stay on if it gets caught on somethin'. We need ta get it off ya, pronto." She raised her head and looked around. "Do ya know where we can find somethin' sharp? I might be able ta get it off myself, but I'd rather not try if I don' have ta."
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Post by Lilystream on May 19, 2013 9:13:21 GMT -5
Ooc: Ok, thanks.
Ic:
"Well, there's plenty of tree bark around, but it might break." Dragonfly said. "My housefolk clipped my claws so I can't use it. Can you use your claws?"
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Post by Leopardstorm on May 24, 2013 15:25:00 GMT -5
"Yeah, but they probably won' be very effective. Maybe I can tear it with my teeth?" She glanced at the collar again, frowning in thought. "A stick probably won' work... There's gotta be a sharp rock or somethin' somewhere 'round here..." She took a few steps in the direction that she was heading. Back in the city there had been lots of sharp things that cats could use to cut off unwanted collars, but here there was significantly less debris. Even the forest she had been born next to had more rocks than this place. Clove supposed that she could tear the collar by herself, but that would take a while, and would probably be less than comfortable for Dragonfly. She suddenly flinched as a thought struck her and the loner turned back around. "Oh! But I'm doin' this for ya! If ya want, I can try ta use my claws. Shouldn' be too hard, so long as you don' mind my claws an' teeth comin' near ya."
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Post by Lilystream on May 24, 2013 20:47:42 GMT -5
"That's ok. If I get hurt, it's an accident. So, should we start?" Dragonfly sat down, ready for her to try. She was beginning to like this Clove. It was a while-well, more than a while- since she ever saw anyone who was friendly. Maybe she could be her friend. Dragonfly realized she never had any friends...just her parents...
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Post by Leopardstorm on Jun 1, 2013 10:50:44 GMT -5
"If ya're sure..." Clove sat down next to Dragonfly. "Hold still and duck your head a bit, then. This won' be fun." Carefully she bit down on the collar at a spot that looked a bit weaker than the rest of the material. Putting on paw on the other cat, she started tugging hard on it, both out and up. At the same time she worked on chewing at it, trying to weaken the material as best as she could. First she would focus on trying to pull it off of Dragonfly, but if that didn't work, then she'd have to tear it. She shifted a bit, moving to a better position to try and remove the collar. At least the former housecat was being patient with her. If she still didn't mind her too much after they (hopefully) got the collar off, it would be nice to talk to her some more. If there wasn't anyone else in the area, then it wasn't like she would have many options for company in the near future anyway.
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Post by Lilystream on Jun 1, 2013 12:03:48 GMT -5
Dragonfly WAS uncomfortable, but she'd experienced worse. At least this will get her somewhere. She didn't want other cats thinking she was a housecat. No, she was better than that. Dragonfly was free. She was a free cat now. She wouldn't be confined to a small, cramped house and be forced to catch filthy, disgusting mice just so she could get by. Now, she could hunt on her own and do what she wanted. She could go anywhere she wanted without being punished.
Ooc: When I wrote, "She was a free cat now," the first thought that came to my mind was, "Dobby is a free elf!"
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Post by Leopardstorm on Jun 2, 2013 19:59:08 GMT -5
ooc// And now that's all I can think when I read this post. xP
And I'm probably taking artistic licence with this, but I can't find any better way to get a collar to snap, so...
bic//
At this point, Clove obviously wasn't going to pull the collar off of Dragonfly's head. Instead, she was pushing on Dragonfly as hard as she could with her front paws while leaning back as far as she was able with the collar in her mouth. Her best bet was to try and tear it, but this was her first time doing it with only her teeth. In general, her experience with collars was rather limited, but especially ones that didn't come off easily. There weren't many housecats with those kinds of collars anymore. Her only chance of winning against this challenge was to use brute force, no matter how hard it was. Hopefully the collar would snap before it started choking Dragonfly, but she wasn't feeling too picky on how it gone done.
With a muffled growl around the collar, she doubled her efforts, pulling as hard as she could until finally...!
Clove tumbled backwards as the collar snapped, suddenly losing her balance after her support for leaning backwards disappeared.
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Post by Lilystream on Jun 2, 2013 20:31:13 GMT -5
Dragonfly fell over when the collar snapped. She got up and felt her sore neck with her tail. She almost burst into laughter. She was free! Free! Dragonfly was giddy with excitement. She ran over to Clove and helped her up. "It's off!" she cried. "It's off! Thank you, Clove! Oh, I'm so happy!" She ran around in circles, ranting on about how her collar is off.
Ooc: Dragonfly's very hyper today...
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Post by Leopardstorm on Jun 4, 2013 17:20:56 GMT -5
Clove couldn't help but grin as she saw Dragonfly's happiness. This was probably the most excited she had ever seen a cat get over the removal of her collar. "No problem," she finally said. "I'm just glad ta see ya free now." After giving the now official loner run a few more circles, Clove stood up. "Anyways, I'm gettin' kinda hungry. Do ya know any place where we can catch ourselves somethin' to eat?"
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Post by Lilystream on Jun 4, 2013 17:49:30 GMT -5
Dragonfly stopped. "Oh. Well, I did see a barn nearby with some mice. Do you want to go there?" she asked. She was kind of hungry too, she realized. She hasn't eaten since this morning. Well, with what's happened today, I guess that could be an excuse for not eating, she thought.
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Post by Leopardstorm on Jun 17, 2013 14:26:51 GMT -5
So there was a barn nearby. That was good to know, although Clove had to question why no cat would have claimed it. Barns were prime hunting spots, and they provided good shelter. If there were going to be any other cats in the area, she would most likely find them there. Even if it happened to be abandoned, it was still worth taking a look at. She hadn't eaten since yesterday at least, and she wasn't in the mood to go and try to find something to hunt in this forest. Prey wasn't THAT plentiful here. "Ya know, that sounds like a great idea," Clove said after her moment of thought. "Lead the way, then."
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