[AbsurdJinx]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Obsidian wasn't used to cats really caring what happened to him. He'd always been a pawn; just standing by, not really doing much. He'd never had the chance to really do much. And unfortunately for him, because of that, his self-worth had gone down a lot in his mind. He wasn't really worth much more then the Dusk Syndicate. They might be a bloodthirsty band of outlaw-like cats, but he was ready to join them because he thought that was all he was good for. To go to someplace where a misfit would be able to belong. As long as he stayed out of the deadly ones' way? He would be fine. She didn't need to worry. The tom's yellow hues fixed themselves on Calia, for a moment he looked over her before turning his gaze back down to his own dark paws.
What did it matter whether he lived or died? Either way, nothing good was going to come of it. The tip of the ebony pelted feline's tail began to twitch-- in a way that was somewhat more violent then he would have preferred. Despite the feline being a little too worried and friendly for Obsidian's liking, he was still thankful that she had invited him to stay. Though if things continued along this path, he might just leave before he was prepared to. It was awfully nice here-- he could see why she stayed. But Obsidian was a wanderer, and he didn't stay in one place for long. Not over a week or so. The longest amount of time he had stayed in a place since leaving the 'softer life' behind was half a moon. Not too long, but he was happy to have done so.
It didn't matter that he had left staying in one place behind along with his previous life. He should have taken on a new name, too-- but he hadn't wanted to. Obsidian had found the thought of that...unpleasant. Who wanted a new name when their own was just fine? Hopefully no one, the tom thought with a snort. That was another thing about the Clans-- they changed their names! Who would want to do that? No, from what Obsidian had heard, the Dusk Syndicate was a much better place if he wanted to get away from something like that. They didn't change their names. And, while the tom wasn't a killer-- he was definitely a fighter.
At heart, anyways. He knew how to get things done, he knew how to fight, and he would certainly be able to defend himself. Against some ragtag outlaw, at least that was his hope. Ragtag outlaws. Was that who he was going to? A band of outlaws? Hopefully they were at least intelligent, if they were stupid Obsidian would most certainly not be going to them. But the Clans were worse. No, he would rather stay as a loner forever. Not here-- he could never stay here. At least in the Syndicate he wouldn't be getting attached. The cats there were the type he wouldn't want to associate himself with, and yet here he was-- about to go associate himself with these outlaws. Dangerous, dangerous cats. Was this just some sort of a stupid thing to do?
At Calia's half-chirping words, the tom looked up in something resembling surprise. Done? Now? A moment later he stepped into the nest himself, cautiously, testing it out. "Thank...you." The words felt odd, he hadn't really had to thank other cats before. And no one had thanked him for anything. So, naturally those words were foreign to him. But they felt good to say, like a sudden weight had been taken from his mind and body. He felt like he had done something that he'd been meaning to for a long time, but had never had the time before. Something special, unique...delicate, too. A mixture of things that made him feel at home.
Just moments after that, he heard the softest whisper of words as though they were just the sound of the wind blowing, or, if he was going to think like that; the sound of soft pawsteps entering his own territory, or the brush of fur against some object. The words were inaudible to him-- but from the way she was speaking, he had a pretty good guess. Not necessarily one that he liked very much, either. Careful? Of course I'll be careful! He wanted to scoff, but instead kept silent. He understood her worry. He was worried himself, but that didn't mean she needed to be. He'd just met the feline earlier that day, and now the sun was getting lower...
Soon it would be dark. And that would leave only a couple more days for Obsidian to stay with the ginger female. Not long enough to get attached at all. At her question about family, his eyes darkened and he was thankful she moved on. Because there had been no way he would answer that question. "Um-m... I'd say sparrow. Harder to catch for me, but it's worth it." He mewed with a definite nod. Obsidian could remember hunting sparrows, it had been fun...interesting...different, honestly. But it was the kind of different that made him feel wonderful. "What about you?" He found himself asking. No, no, no! Conversation leads to bonding. Bonding leads to friendship. And friendship leads to ties that you don't want to break. Don't ever let yourself do that again, Obsidian. He told himself sternly, his hues darkening slightly as he did so. It was true. All of it was true. And the one thing Obsidian didn't want were bonds that couldn't be broken. Or-- that wouldn't be broken.

Calia was truly surprised at hearing the words `thank you`. Though they appeared to come so painfully... but it was progress, and she would take it. She's nursed cats who looked and acted worse than Obsidian, cats with matted pelts and an abundance of scars, some of which were unbelievable; cats with lost eyes or limbs, cats who refused to talk to her, cats who stole all her items.. Cats who didn't thank her. She expected Obsidian to be one of those cats, she had not been looking for a `thank you`, yet she earned one. For once, Calia has wrongly judged a cat.

Often, she could figure out a cat within a heartbeat. For example, one of the cats who refused to speak to her - lets call him Tom. When Tom had first arrived at her home, he had a bushy, ragged pelt. He clearly hadn't washed in ages. He was missing patches of fur, and his tail had been simply a stub. He walked with a limp, and jagged, ugly scars painted his body. She greeted him, but he didn't respond. Calia, being one of the most sweetest, selfless characters on Earth, invited him to stay for as long as needed. He didn't respond. She didn't see him the rest of the day, so she figured he'd continued his journey. But at night, when she padded beneath the bridge to settle into her nest, she saw Tom curled in it. She was too kind to wake him and she was too selfless to make him move into the ratty nest. She spent the night in the uncomfortable nest, too tired to freshen it up. And when Calia woke up, Tom had been gone. Not a single word. However, unimaginably, Calia didn't mind, she did not regret Tom's presence. After all, she was one of the most sweetest, selfless souls the world would ever know.

She tied the last stalk into her nest, and sat back to proudly observe her work. She hadn't cast a single glance at Obsidian; instead, she listened. Her ears would spin and twitch at every sound, but she reached out for specifically Obsidian's voice. She wasn't one to be rude, she would listen to every syllable - even if she disagreed or felt the temptation to interrupt. Yeah, that's right, Calia has urges, urges to interrupt. Not an angel anymore, huh? Yeah... That's what I thought.

She, once more, felt surprise. Calia had seriously screwed up on figuring Obsidian out. She hadn't expected him to ask about her. She figured she would've asked him the question, he would've answered, and then she would've answered her own question. But, no, now she would answer Obsidian's question. She mentally squealed in delight at his slow progress.

Sparrow's were rather tasty, Calia had to admit, but she preferred the flesh of a water vole. Her first experience eating a bird wasn't too great. She had caught it, plucked it of its feathers, and then went to eat it. First of all, she struggled to pull the feathers off. She just couldn't get them all off, and most of them decided to get tangled in her long, ginger pelt. Anyway, she took a bite, but something tasted different. However, it was first bite of a bird, of course it would taste different compared to the many rodents she had eaten. Long story short, Calia ended up choking on a feather. Now, she sorta fears birds.

``I prefer a water vole, honestly. I think they're delicious!`` Calia made her way to the end of the pool of water, the frozen-over pond. She hadn't broke the ice yet, like she had planned to do when they returned from gathering plants. ``Plus, there's so many of them around here! We mainly have rodents - at least, I've never seen many birds. Of course, I don't really look for the birds... Hah, I'm rambling again, forgive me.`` As she spoke nonsense, she had crouched beside the pool and brought her paw upwards. With a quick flash of her ginger paw, she had broken the thin layer of ice blanketing their source of water. And then she figured she'd best go over the garden once again.

Calia lapped at the water a few times before returning to her fresh nest where she prepared to curl up. ``I figured I'd just go over this again - The pond there, the ice is thick and covers the entire pool, but I've broken that part. Sometimes, that part will freeze over, but when it does, the ice is rather thin and delicate. I tend to break it in the morning, but sometimes it freezes over during the day, and that's where I break it at night as well. If you're ever up before me, or it's frozen over and its, say, noon, feel free to break it. And right here -`` She stretches her tail out, letting her tail-tip rest on a certain patch of messy earth. The patch is just beyond the tall grass that surrounds her nest. ``I bury the prey here. Though, actually, I sorta bury prey everywhere, but this is my main pile. I dig the prey up often, so it doesn't attract maggots and to prevent the ground from freezing. I only have a scrawny shrew in here, though, but I'll go hunting tomorrow. And I know the twoleg concerns you. Don't worry, he isn't here too often, and he never stays too long. I highly doubt the twoleg will be here while your staying here. He was here just a few sunrises ago, and his visits are normally weeks apart.`` She paused, forcing her tired brain to work as she thought if there was anything else she should tell him, but her brain came up empty. ``I think that's it.``