The Cats Across the Border

[Vitalspark]

Flame
23 moons | She/Her | Member of small group in the mountains

The Atari. The very name of those vicious monsters made Flame feel sick from disgust. Of course she’d still be angry at them, for years they’d been trying to wipe out her small group, and with each attack got ever closer to achieving that goal. Their most recent was devastating, just seven cats of what was once a large and strong group survived to keep their memory alive. Those Atari cats were nothing but murderous bullies. Until recently there seemed to be very little hope of ever overcoming this, the Atari had decimated them, and now it seemed like they would never recover, but then a strange group of cats showed up out of nowhere, a group who could take on and maybe even destroy the mighty Atari! Flame knew she was being a little unrealistic with that hope, in truth she was very often unrealistic with her hopes, but surely that’s what was needed: hope, because without it, what else did they have? Whoever these cats were, surely they couldn’t be worse than the Atari.

"I'm going to ask these cats to help us." Flame declared, stamping her paw down on the ground. No one could talk her down from this now. "Any cat who wishes to join me is more than welcome to." She said, turning away and marching angrily towards the border, thoughts swirling in her head of the Atari facing justice for everything they’ve done. They won’t know what hit them, Flame thought to herself with a chuckle. After a bit of observation, she came to understand that these cats regularly patrolled their borders, so she just hoped this would be the right time for one of their cats to be patrolling.

Getting closer to the border, she spotted the silhouette of a cat. There was no dreaded stench of the Atari, this was a unique and vaguely familiar scent which she recognised only as belonging to this strange group of cats. One of them was here! A few paw steps forward and she could tell this cat had black and orange fur. "They must be out patrolling…" Flame whispered to herself. Hmm, maybe it'd be better if this cat was to see her approaching, that way they wouldn’t be startled by her suddenly appearing which could turn into a fight, the last thing she wanted was to be on bad terms with these cats.

"Uh, hey?" Flame said to get the other cat's attention. "You're from the new group that just came here not long ago, right? I vaguely recognise your scent." Taking a few steps forward again, she continued. "I came here to ask for your group's help with…a little problem we've been facing." That was a huge understatement, but immediately bombarding this cat with stories of the Atari’s treatment of her group would maybe make this new group hesitant to help them.


@occultation

[squidz]

« HAWKEYE »

lithe, stone-gray tabby tom with deep bluish eyes; one side blinded with a scar

[ small mountain group | ex-atari, ex-claw of the crown | stoic, wise, cautious ]

—

Hawkeye had been sitting off to the side on his own, his wiry body slightly hunched as he dwelled on their situation. To think, many moons ago — it felt like a lifetime ago, really — he’d been the Claw of the Crown of the group that was now actively killing him and his remaining allies. He glanced dejectedly at the deep, clean-cut slash through his shoulder — a pinkened, permanent reminder of days long gone. Days that he might as well forget.

But it was hard to forget the place you were raised… and even harder to forget betrayal.

His ears perked up when Flame called, tilting his head towards her. Asking these newcomers for help, hm? He wanted to scoff at first — as if any other cats would take pity on them. After all, going against the Atari… they may as well accept defeat now.

Still, he couldn’t deny his curiosity. Something was compelling him to step forward, quietly offering to join alongside Flame for her silly request. For one, he was wary of this potential group that smelled of strange waters and the forests down below their mountain home. Besides that, he’d been ready to claw off any ears that dared threaten his little group. They’d already been through enough… if he had to, he’d jump in and do something. Whether it be claws or words, he was ready for it. It wasn't like he had much to lose nowadays; most things had been taken from him a long time ago. He'd really been left with the group he'd bonded with once he'd fled the Atari... and now look were that was. Merely six others left, excluding him.

Nothing lasts.

Padding alongside Flame (and whomever else may join them), the lithe tom slunk naturally through the mountain passes, his calloused paw pads traversing the harsh stone and uneven ground as if it were second nature. He was particularly smooth, his intensive upbringing as a renowned Atari Trapper adding to his agility. How long ago those times felt now…

He crouched curiously beside his group members as they spotted a lone black-and-orange cat… he seemed to carry himself well. And on his own? Must be a cat of some importance, Hawkeye supposed. Either that or he had feathers for brains, thinking he was fine out here on his own. His whiskers twitched in curiosity, not quite knowing how to place these newcomers.

When Flame suddenly stepped forward to speak, Hawkeye suppressed a wince — he had wanted to scope out this cat more, get a good read before they jumped in. But not wanting to leave his fellow group member hanging, he slunk a few pawsteps away from Flame, following this black-and-orange stranger with his dark eyes in a cool stare.

Hawkeye was incredibly skeptical that this cat would pay them any mind — their group seemed to have enough issues. And helping Hawkeye’s ragtag group of survivors? That’s all they were at this point, really, reduced to rubble by the Atari’s cruelty.

His claws scraped against the stone beneath him, not afraid to show this newcomer that he wouldn’t hesitate to act if he tried anything. But the tom said nothing for now, simply resting his heavy gaze upon this stranger. He wouldn’t speak… not yet. He simply wanted to observe… ever holding watchful eyes, as the hawks of his namesake.

first hawk post let's gooo
[ @Seamrog - Flame | @occultation - Fadingstar ]