Flowers Bloom (closed)

Stormpaw limped aimlessly away from the crowded streets, sticking to shadows as she avoided Twolegs. Since she'd met Spiderquill she'd opted to lay low and undercover in Twolegplace, and she was slowly starting to regret it. Twolegs were loud, and messy, and threw their garbage everywhere. They did make pretty good flat shrews, though. She'd managed to grab one and make a run for it the other day. The beige leaves weren't as tasty though, and the kill was definitely messy; there was odd smelling blood on top of it, along with a squishy yellow square.

Twolegs weren't entirely useless, she mused. In fact, she'd learned quite a bit of new things since leaving the Clans, and she was definitely better at surviving now. There were certain times of the day that Thunderpaths were busiest, and those were the times to avoid. Typically, when the sun is half past Sunhigh, half til Sundown.

They also had an herb Twoleg den. She'd seen it once or twice, and the floral scents reminded her of Daisybloom. It was here, in fact, that she currently was. This Twoleg path was empty for the most part, and Stormpaw stood on her hind legs, wobbling, and placed her forepaws on the clear rock. The rock was see through, and Stormpaw couldn't help but feel intrigued by the variety of herbs in flowers in the Twoleg den.

She was so enraptured by the florist shop, she hadn't heard the approach of the white molly.

Today was like most other winter days. Slightly cloudy, a soft breeze, and snow lingering on the ground from many days prior. Elsa herself didn't mind the snow too much, as it helped her blend in when hunting, but she had to admit that she didn't exactly enjoy freezing her paws off. At the moment she stood on top of a rather tall building, overlooking the other houses in the town. The wind blowing through her thin fur made her shiver, but strangely comforted her.

This morning, she decided, instead of doing her early rounds as she would normally do, she would instead take a nice walk around the town. She had been exploring for long enough that she knew most of it like the back of her paw, so she could easily navigate it- or at least she hoped so. Most of it she had seen had been from rooftop view, but how could seeing it from ground level be any different? With a soft shake of her head, she leaped from the rooftop, landing gracefully on the ground below. After shaking out her pristine fur, she began making her way through the town, making sure to avoid any people who were walking by on the streets. Perhaps she could still check on the other cats later in the day. She had gotten so used to seeing them that it felt odd not visiting them. Perhaps she would even be able to meet Dennis again.

As she walked along, she let her mind wander, but when she arrived at a place she recognized, she always broke her thoughts and focused on wherever she was. First, she passed the park, where, in the spring, the air would be rich with the aroma of flowers. Going there always made her happy, even when the scents of flowers were long gone. Next she passed her old house, but she didn't stay for long. Visiting there always made her feel bittersweet, a place she was happy to go, but she knew she'd feel homesick if she stayed too long. The last place she knew she wanted to walk by was the flower shop. The sweet scents of flowers lingered there all year long, and she could see the pretty flowers through the glass. It wasn't a place she would go too often, but somewhere she would sometimes visit if she was sad. Seeing the pretty colors always cheered her up.

As she walked down the path that lead to the flower shop, she spotted something- someone, rather. Someone new. Ears perking with curiosity, she slowed her pace and tried to be quieter, as to not startle the other cat. Inching closer, she soon saw that the cat was a grey she-cat, who seemed just as interested in the flowers as she was. Something told her that this cat wouldn't be aggressive, perhaps it was the fact that she'd never seen a mean cat appreciate flowers before. After a moment, she continued walking until she was next to the cat. Clearing her throat, she spoke. "Hello, i'm Elsa! Nice to meet you! I've never seen you around here before. What brings you here?"

Once a Clan cat, always a Clan cat.

When Elsa snuck up on her then introduced herself, Stormpaw just backed and bristled, hissing and unsheathing her claws on instinct, looking like a puffy gray cloud of fury. Her fangs were still sharp, and pristine as always. Her warrior training hadn't faltered after all these moons, it seemed, "State your purpose!" She barked out without thinking.

As if realizing this cat was no threat and she was in Twolegplace, not the forest, her posture loosened, and fur flattened out. Her claws sheathed halfway, but Stormpaw wasn't such a fool as to completely disarm herself in front of a stranger. "Uh, sorry. You spooked me." The gray tabby muttered sheepishly. She hadn't interacted with many other cats recently. "Uh, I'm Storm."

Wait a second. Elsa... She'd heard that name before.. Of course! Spiderquill mentioned her! She knew Daisyblo-- oh. Oh no. She knew Daisybloom. "I'm just... A wandering stranger, I suppose. I don't really have anywhere to go." Especially not back to ThunderClan. Her blue eyes narrowed skeptically, "What are you doing here?"

Jumping back, Elsa panicked, debating whether or not she should run. She hadn't expected the she-cat to react so harshly. Slowly she backed away, eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and fear. The other cat had thankfully started to calm down, but the loner still decided to sit in a way in which she could quickly run. Still on edge, she decided she would stay and talk to the she-cat. She seemed as though she had been through a lot, maybe she could use a friend? The way she had quickly calmed down convinced her that her intentions probably weren't bad. "Nice to meet you, Storm." She said with a bright smile. Storm was a pretty name in her opinion, she admired names that weren't housepet names, names that were inspired by nature.

Wrapping her tail around her paws, she listened to her response, feeling rather surprised when the question was thrown back at her. "Oh, well, i live here in the town- not in the town exactly, but near the edge where it meets the treeline. Most days i just stay on the rooftops, but i thought that today i would take a walk. Who'd have thought the streets could look so different from ground level?" A small giggle escaped her maw as she took a glance around. Although she liked to think the town could be a nice place, she couldn't help but notice how much rubbish littered the streets. Perhaps that's why she favored the forest.

Stormpaw blinked, confused by several words Elsa used. Town? That must be a word for Twolegplace, she reasoned, however... The next stumped her. Rooftop. What in the name of Finchstar was a rooftop? "A roo..ooftop?  What is that?" The gray tabby inquired, honestly very confused. "and the... Streets? Is that what you called it? What is a 'street'?"

Stormpaw couldn't hide the small smirk along her maw as she chuckled, "You know some strange words!" Something about this cat was... Comforting. Like Dacedream. Yeah, she was similar to Dace. A cat who was similar to Dacedream couldn't possibly be bad, and so she fully sheathed her claws. Elsa wouldn't harm her, she was sure of it. Perhaps she could let her guard down for once.



....but not too down.

Elsa let out a small chuckle at Storm's confusion. "You really are new around here. A rooftop would be the top of a house, or the roof of a house, rather. I've heard many terms used for houses, perhaps you would recognize a twoleg den or housefolk den?" It was interesting to talk to Storm, the only time she had come across another cat who had gotten this confused at her terms was when she had encountered a clan cat.

After a moment or two, she continued on explaining. "You mentioned streets? I don't know any other terms for those. Streets are those long, flat areas of black, smelly rock between buildings- i mean houses- i mean twoleg dens." She joined in laughing with Storm, although her laughter was directed at her own awful attempt at explaining what a street was. "I'm sorry, i don't come across cats who don't know what these are too often. Say, do you by chance know what clans are? They're the only other cats i know who have never heard the term house." It would really be something if Storm knew the clans, although it wouldn't be super surprising, considering how she called herself a traveler. Most cats who were owned by housefolk didn't dare venture into the forest due to the false rumors about the clans, so didn't really know anyone who knew them.

Ah.

She'd let her guard down too soon.

Almost immediately, Elsa asked about the Clans. Am I that obvious? Alarm prickled through her pelt, and she tried (in vain) to hide the unease and fear in her eyes. Her paws shifted anxiously and she adverted her gaze away from Elsa's. "Uhm, Clans? Wh-what are those? Haha- never heard of them, nope, doesn't bring back aaannyy memories at all." She stumbled through the sentence, acutely aware of the fact she was lying through her teeth. And was failing miserably.

Maybe she could change the topic. "So, Uhm, you know a lot about Twolegplace. Do you live with... Housefolk?" Clan cats called them Twolegs. She could still salvage this. She hoped. In all honesty, she was rather lonely, and some part of her former self desperately missed conversation with others.

When Storm's mood shifted from somewhat happy to unease, Elsa got alarmed. "Oh! you don't have to answer if you don-" She was cut off by Storm's words, which seemed panicked and rushed. It surprised her to receive such an answer. "Oh... alright then." It was obvious to her that Storm was lying, but surely she she had a reason to, right? Besides, if she wanted to tell her the truth, she would.

Shrugging it off and moving on, she answered the question Storm asked her, making sure to watch what she said this time. "I don't live with Housefolk anymore, but i grew up with a few." She let out a soft sigh, thinking fondly about her old housefolk. "I lived there with my family and two old housefolk, they often had some younger ones over. They were pleasant but often picked me up, which i didn't like. I can't remember how old i was when i left, but it was while i was quite young." Every now and then she would think back on her days with her housefolk, she still sometimes felt homesick, but she wouldn't trade her current life for anything. "Do you have any experience with housefolk?" Surely that wouldn't upset Storm- or at least she hoped.

It worked! Or atleast, Stormpaw thought it worked. Elsa seemed to believe her, so all was well. So, it seemed her companion had been a kittypet once. Interesting. "Me? With, uh, housefolk?" The word felt odd on her tongue, she didn't even know what a house was! "Never! I value my freedom too much for that. Why did you leave your.. Housefolk, Elsa? Did they name you Elsa, or did your parents? Don't you get rather lonely?" Stormpaw asked, rather curious, although she realized the last question was a bit hypocritical. The conversation had been, mostly, pleasant, but the gray molly wouldn't let her guard slip so easily again. Then an idea hit her. The flat shrews! It had been the tastiest shrew she'd ever tasted, and she wanted another, or at least to know where to find them.

"Elsa! You lived with Housefolk, do you know where they get the flat shrews from? They put them between two beige leaves and a squishy yellow square. Do you know where I can find them? I snatched one from a Housefolk the other day, the male was standing by a... Heating rock, I think, he was holding a metal stick, and so I just grabbed it off of the white circular rock and ran. It was really good."

The gray tabby hoped Elsa did know; she hadn't eaten since dawn that morning and she was hungry. "We can even share one, if you'd like. I'm sure we could find and catch a couple of them."

"Well... I left my housefolk for a few reasons." Elsa often got asked this question when the conversation about how she used to live with housefolk popped up, so she didn't feel as sad as she used to when she thought about them. She had spent most of her kithood with them, it was normal to feel at least a bit upset when looking back on them, right? "I don't remember it well, but i remember looking out at the treeline every day and wondering what laid beyond. I was bored of living inside of a house, and once i had heard that there were cats who lived in the forest, i made up my mind. I left and haven't looked back since... although i have had my doubts." She said the words while thinking about how many times she had approached the door of the house, thinking about heading back to see her family. Every single time she forced herself away and back to her den.

Addressing the second question she had to take a moment to recall what her mother had told her. "I think... I think my housefolk named me Elsa, actually. My mother told me she hadn't named me, and i've never heard any cat have a name like it. Sometimes i would hear it come through the big colorful light boxes she kept in her house though, i wonder if that had something to do with it." To be honest, she'd never really questioned where her name came from, she hadn't expected to be asked such a question. Maybe it was something she could ask other cats in the future.

After recalling the last question, she didn't need to take time to think about her answer. She herself thought of it often- or at least used to. "Honestly it does get kinda lonely out here. I used to have a cat who i would spend a lot of time with, but i haven't seen her in so long, i think she may have travelled somewhere or something." She paused for a moment, letting her sadness show. Willow was a cat that missed dearly, if only she could have known for sure where she had gone. Clearing her throat, she continued, trying to lighten the mood. "But recently i've been talking to many more cats! There's you, and i've also been talking to this tom named Dennis recently. He's a bit odd, but he's so pleasant to talk to!" A smile spread across her face at how many friends she had now. She really was lucky, there were some cats in the town who had nobody to talk to.

Pleased that Storm had changed the subject, she listened with curiosity as she tried to describe housefolk food. A flat shrew? A heating rock? "I think i know what the heating rock is, if i remember correctly it's called a grill or something like that. Are you talking about burgers?" Confusion riddled her expression as she looked at Storm. It seemed like that's what she was talking about. "I prefer mice over housefolk foods, but when i'm down on my luck while hunting i resort to snatching their food. I think you're talking about a burger." She let out a small giggle. "But i like 'flat shrew' better. We should totally go find one! I think i know a place..." She thought of how there was a specific housefolk who would often cook flat shrews from within his garden fence, they could easily snatch some from there.

Light boxes.. Twolegs had weird names for things, and even weirder things in general. What did a... Light Box do? Monsters had a purpose; they carried twolegs to places (in their bellies, which was quite odd) and what other purpose could a burger (she had to agree with Elsa, flat shrew sounded better) have other than food? Light boxes didn't sound edible, especially if they made funny noises and knew Elsa's name. That furthered her point of twolegs being weird, she supposed. Perhaps Light Boxes watched the twolegs to make sure the Monsters didn't get hungry and eat them.

Hmm.... What did Monsters eat. Maybe they ate flat shrews, too. "A bur..ger.. What a weird word! Twolegs are full of silly words, aren't they? Grill.. How do they know what they're talking about by just saying grill? Heating Rock is much more descriptive." She laughed, feeling something skin to how Dacedream made her feel. A warmth... A warmth she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Well, Elsa, lead the way! We're catching flat shrews today." Stormpaw mewed mischievously, unknowingly putting her walls down, for the first time in a very long time.

Elsa profusely nodded her head in agreement. "Heating rock is a much better name. I don't know why housefo- i mean, twolegs make up such complicated names." She playfully rolled her eyes, whiskers twitching with amusement. The moment Storm suggested stealing food, her ears perked up, clearly excited. "Okay, follow me!" Without wasting a heartbeat she turned the other direction, walking down the empty path. She again thought about the twoleg who often cooked flat shrews as she walked down the empty path, trying to remember the quickest way there that would keep them hidden from twolegs. She personally didn't mind twolegs too much, the ones in town had gotten used to her, even laying out food for her sometimes. Storm didn't seem to enjoy their presence though, so she would rather just avoid them.

Leading Storm down narrow paths and dark alleys, they soon arrived to a part of the twolegplace where tall fences encased houses and their gardens, each house tucked into a neat row. Every house looked the same, but she had been there often enough remember which twoleg lived where. She approached a box that leaned onto the fence, jumping onto it before facing Storm. "C'mon, we're almost there!" She jumped from the box onto the fence, precariously wobbling on it before balancing and finding her footing. "It's not as hard as it looks, i promise." She reassured, waving her tail back and forth to keep her balance. Lifting her gaze she looked to the distance, soon spotting the pale smoke which signaled that the twoleg was indeed making flat shrews today. She walked toward it, looking over her shoulder every now and then to see how Storm was doing. "Not much further now..." She muttered quietly, as if she were talking to herself. Within a few moments they arrived.

The smell of cooked meat filled the air as she quickly dropped down onto the other side of the fence into a bush, making sure that they wouldn't be seen. She hid within the depths of the bush, beckoning Storm with a flick of her tail. "This twoleg walks back and forth from the heating rock to move the flat shrews to that wood thing over there." She paused to creep forward and gesture to the wooden thing that stood on four thin legs. "So we should attack when it has it's back turned. We can both grab a flat shew when it's at the heating rock again, okay?" She whispered, watching the twoleg with narrowed eyes. "On the count of three. One....." The twoleg placed the flat shrew down on the tall wooden thing. "Two....." It turned back to face it's heating rock, clearly unaware of their presence. "Three!" She raced from the bush, kicking up dirt behind her as she leaped onto the wooden thing, snatching a flat shrew between her jaws. In her panic, Elsa had managed to knock over some clear things that held water in them. The twoleg was immediately alerted and began making loud noises and running in their direction. "Stform, tah fensh!" She shouted, words muffled by the flat shrew. She gestured toward the fence so that Storm could understand before leaping onto it, hanging on by her front paws. She dug her claws into the wood and used her hind legs to push herself up and over the fence, making it safely to the other side. The flat shrew fell from her mouth as she sat down to catch her breath. She could still hear the twoleg yelling from the other side of the fence, and for a moment she was worried that it would follow them. "We did great!" Her eyes sparkled as she turned her head to Storm. "And now, we may reward ourselves with flat shrews." She opened her mouth and dug into the flat shrew, surprised at the many layers it had. It'd been a while since she had eaten a flat shrew, and she had to admit that they tasted pretty good.

Storm followed Elsa. There was something about the kind she-cat that made her want to trust her completely, to let down her defensive barriers, to tell her the full truth of her history, and remain with her. It was... Odd. She'd never quite felt this way about any cat, save maybe Dacedream... Yet, it wasn't... Bad. It was almost... Relieving? She'd... Been alone for a while now. The last positive interaction she'd had was with Dennis... And she'd been foolish enough to go drag him back to the Clans.

Blinking, she realized by the smell in the air that they'd arrived. Shaking her head clear of her thoughts, she nodded as Elsa spoke. Wait for the Twoleg to turn his back to the flat shrews and approach the Heating Rock. "Right." She mewed simply, though it definitely brought tears to Stormy's eyes, and she watched, waiting for the perfect moment to leap.

"Three!"

In perfect harmony with Elsa, as if they'd done this countless times together, they leapt off the fence, and dashed towards the wooden Twoleg item, where the flat shrews were sitting unguarded. Her paws knocked over clear ice cylinders that contained water, and she saw what looked to be a container of flat shrew blood from the corner of her eye. Twolegs are gross!

Fangs pierced through beige leaves as she got a hold of the flat shrew, making sure she wouldn't drop it during their escape. It didn't take long for the Twoleg to realize they were there, and she followed Elsa to the fence, clawing up it with her backlegs, leaving plenty of scratch marks that hadn't been there previously. The sheer thrill of the 'hunt' left her with plenty of excess adrenaline, and she laughed, launching herself clear of the fence. "Elsa! We did it! Oh moons, that was exhilarating!" She purred, thoroughly thrilled with herself.

Settling down on her haunches, a soft rumble in her throat, she chomped down on the burger, noticing that the twolegs had made a much cleaner kill this time; there wasn't all the blood on top of the yellow square this time. Maybe that's what the blood container was for, to clean the kill. Twolegs were very clumsy with their fleshy paws, so it made sense. Yes, she decided, that made sense. The blood container was used to clean the flat shrews.

Stormpaw's heart was beating wildly, but not in a bad way. In a good way, actually. It was racing with bliss and... Joy? Surprise flickered in her subconscious. She... Hadn't felt that for quite some time, actually. It... It was nice, if a little unusual. Looking up, she realized it was halfway past sunhigh. Finishing her flat shrew in ravenous gulps, licking her lips, she turned to face Elsa. "I should probably head back to my den now. It was nice to meet you, Elsa! I had fun. Let's meet up and talk some more, okay?" The gray tabby mewed, almost surprising herself with how happy her voice sounded as compared to before.

With a flick of her tail, and a nod, she promised to her again before the next half moon, and then turned and trotted back to the direction of her makeshift den, her injured foot dragging ever so slightly.

The white she-cat lifted her head from the half-eaten flat shrew that lay torn open in front of her. Her eyes widened with shock when she saw how quickly Storm had eaten hers. She swore she's never seen another cat eat so ravenously. "You really must have been hungry." She said slowly, swiping her tongue over her nose to lick off what she quickly discovered to be a dab of shrew blood.  She raised her ears when Storm spoke to her, the joy and exhilaration she felt moments prior melting away. Even so, the way Storm spoke, the tone in her voice somehow made her feel better. It was as if the tabby's voice alone told her that it would be fine that she had to go, simply because she sounded happy.

Realizing that she had been silent, she lifted her head to call out an answer. "Oh- I hope to see you again soon! Make sure you stay safe!" She finished speaking just as the other she-cat disappeared into the twolegplace, but she made sure that her voice was loud enough for Storm to hear. She wanted nothing more than for Storm to stay safe. Of course, she felt that way about many cats, but for some reason she felt a stronger connection to Storm. It wasn't as if she went out stealing flat shrews with any other cat, though. Softly shaking her head, she finished the rest of the flat shrew as quickly as she could, trying to be rid of it before a dog came after it's smell. With a quick stretch and a wide yawn, she hopped back onto the wooden fence and hurried back to her den.