avenues [C]

Fish
T1 Rogue | Rogue | he/him

It'd been a few weeks now since Grub, despite his apparent frustration, took them away from that wretched box. While it took most of that period, Fish finally accepted the life he now had. He wasn't accustomed, he wasn't comfortable, but he accepted it. There was no way he would be able to find Ma again without begging Grub to take him, but that seemed just as unlikely as finding his own way there. There wasn't anywhere else for him to go, either: he could leave, but neither he nor his littermates could feed themselves yet. He couldn't stand the thought of being hungry for so long. Even here, with several grown-ups looking after them, and several more shifting in and out, eating wasn't a guarantee somedays. At any rate, even if he didn't care about going hungry, Fish didn't know where to go. He could just wander, but... would he be able to find his way back? What if he started to miss his siblings? What if something happened to him?

But as accustomed--or resigned--as he was, he was growing curious. As unhospitable as Fish found it, the outside world and all the strange things living in it were pretty interesting. From there, curiosity bred boredom, which was proving to be a rather dangerous thing. It led to Fish talking himself into corners that agitated others more than it provided any entertainment. Weaver was too sick to play (or do much of anything, really), and Fish could never tell if the others actually wanted to do anything with him. He could accept Maggot being hard to read, but he should've been able to understand his blood relatives. They never said as they did, and it felt like most of them spoke backwards. They were... elusive. Fish wasn't in the mood for causing trouble with any of them today.

But, there was one cat he could turn to in hopes of satiating him: Grub. Fish was well aware he could frustrate and annoy his father, and that possibility itched in his ears, but he'd run out of options. That, and Grub was the only one that could answer all of the questions that'd started to pop up at once.

Spotting him under an overhang, Fish immediately rerouted his stroll to scuttle over. It looked like Grub was only just waking up from a nap, but he didn't care how bleary-eyed Grub would be. This was too important to wait for both eyes to open. Sliding to a halt just before collision, Fish rose shakily onto his hind legs so he could thump his tiny forepaws into his father's shoulder with all the weight in his tiny body (an action that was as much a fall as it was intentional). "Grub!" He chirped, trying to shake the much larger tom's shoulder. "Pop! I've got questions." Short tail wagging, Fish went on without waiting for approval. "What's a fish and why'd you name me after one? They live in water, right? Why don't we see any in the puddles or the- the- creeks?" Fish blinked, his green eyes round and eager. "Do rivers have them? I've heard that word. How about riv... Rivered Clan? You and Ajex have said that before, right, Grub? Can we go check?"

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Fish
T1 Rogue | Rogue | he/him

Grub sounded none too happy to be bothered. There was alright; he never sounded happy to be bothered. No one did. Fish wasn't ever happy to be bothered, either, but this wasn't bothering! This was what he was supposed to do, right? Ask his dad questions? And dad was supposed to answer--and he did! However begrudging he was, Grub was usually pretty good about answering the slew of questions that came at him. Ma never did that, even if her house was a lot nicer and warmer than this cold, stony place. He could stay warm by wiggling beneath the pile of his siblings; he couldn't goad Ma into entertaining him, no matter how hard or often he tried. He would take this to the alternative any day.

The paw on his head was heavy enough to force Fish to relent and drop onto his haunches, even though Grub didn't put any weight behind it. Even though his neck squished into his shoulders, Fish angled himself so he could keep his big eyes on his father. So... Grub just liked fish, whatever they were. That answer made him feel warm inside, because it must have meant Grub liked him, but it was so short. Wasn't there more to it? Did he look like a fish, or smell like one? Sound like one? Or was Grub going to tell him they were the first thing that came to mind? Now that would have been dreadful to hear, knowing there was no thought put into his name at all. But if it was the truth, Fish wanted to hear it regardless. The fine points of his name were quickly set aside, though. He wouldn't forget the line of thought entirely, but there was only so much room in his active thoughts and Grub had just given him something far more exciting to think about: a trip outside. A trip to the fabled, forbidden Clans. A learning opportunity--several at once!

A happy trill loosed from Fish's throat and he wiggled out from under Grub's paw, leaving it to thump softly against the earth. Hurriedly scrambling back to his perch pushing at Grub's shoulder, he asked, "You know how to fish?" voice all reverence. "You can take me there? Where the fish are? To Rivered Clan?!" He was quickly starting up again, with no sign of relenting. If anything, his energy was only getting worse: Fish decided simply pushing on Grub's shoulder wasn't enough. He clambered up the foreleg, tiny claws flexing where he almost lost his grip, until he could stand wobbily between Grub's shoulderblades and try jostling him from there. "Then we have to! We have to go now! You're not busy, right? You're just laying down so you can't be busy. Why does Rivered Clan... hoard? Hoard all the fish? Can't we just ask for them? They wouldn't let us starve if we were, right? Wait, wait-- don't answer." He smiled wide, all pointy little teeth and pushing his eyes into a squint. "If we go, I can ask a Clan cat myself. Right? If we run into one, at least. It doesn't matter-- you'll really teach me to fish?"

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