twolegplace CHAMP DE MARS | open

[MOMOWHISKER]

Before the rogues had chosen to descend upon his home, Momo had been given a choice: to shed the golden collar around his neck and join his friends in exile, or to let it tighten and return to safety. At that moment, he hadn't seen the starving kittens or coughing elders, he had seen himself, scolded upon his return, forbidden from ever leaving his nest again, his parent's disappointment stronger than any before. At that moment, Momo had saved his own skin. The decision had not felt good, his only solace was that he was not the only Daylight Warrior who had stayed behind. Some way or another, he had agreed to meet them at the midway point of the Twolegplace, far away from his own home to avoid prying eyes, far away enough from SkyClan to avoid aggressive rogues, unfortunately too close to everything else to avoid conversations with other passersby outside of his colony. A few had passed him already and Momo had regaled them with tales of how he was just a humble kittypet looking for some alone time - not the friendliest conversation he could make, but pleasant enough to avoid cuffed ears and piercing insults.

By the time the others had shown up, Momowhisker had to resist the urge to apologise to them tenfold. An uncomfortable silence filled the air, the huffing of monsters and their occasional sharp calls drowned out by it. There was a lot to talk about, but nowhere good to start. It would be up to him to try and StarClan, the words that came out of his pointed muzzle felt as if they'd passed through glass to be spoken. "Do you think they'll come back?" He asked, unsure of what answer he wanted to hear the most. To know they would never return meant never having to face his guilt ever again, to know they would return meant he could continue to do something with his life instead of just being the backup child in a purebred dynasty. "They have to try, right?" Momowhisker added on, if only for assurance.



​

 

[tiffany]

Tiffany and her brother, Anakin, recently moved into one of the neat houses on the row. Life prior to this was far simpler - a stretch if farmland with a tall red barn, of which she and her brother had more than enough freedom to race around. The two of them had it easy, hunting loose mice that thought to make their homes in hay, however she feels bored now that they seem to have it easier, and she hasn't any idea why.

Just one day they were backed into crates and relocated, unknowingly back to the town they were born in.

"Who has to come back?" The tortoiseshell perks up from her ledge, ears craning forward towards the sleek furred tom. Her tail twitches, signaling her brother to join her as she stands to interrupt the odd smelling many. Momo sports a collar, like her, however scents of woodland nettles and many more, muskier cats. She affords her brother a cursory glance, ears twitching before she looks back at the cats, "Y'all look like you've had to run from somethin'." Normally, she's avoidant of the neighbors. However her stagnant life as its become has pushed her from her shell, for better or for worse.

[ @ANAKIN mention :3 ]​

 

[MOMOWHISKER]

They thought it was the Daylight Warriors that had joined them atop the fence, having kept his wandering gaze on the dens and trees on the horizon - the stranger's voice was like scratching a chalkboard compared to those he was comfortable with. In shock, he leaped twice his height in the air and when he came back down, only his forepaws were able to catch the brick. Backpaws kicked and scrambled at the coarse-textured barrier until the Oriental was able to pull himself up, wide eyes settled on the two kittypets, and ears folded back while his lungs sought to recover lost breaths. Over and over he ran through what they'd said, trying to remember it through the pulsing in his skull - who were they? "Uuuuuuuuuuuuh...." Were they kittypets who'd been promised food should they get a confession out of him? Or were they independent from his parents, just looking to cause trouble for the sake of causing trouble? Tiffany continued before he could deduce their intentions and within an instant, he countered with an awkwardly endearing smile and a peal of laughter. "Me? Oh no no no I haven't run from anything. Life of a kittypet and all, not much to bother me other than kibble and getting my claws cut."

StarClan, perhaps it would've been better to leave with SkyClan, if it saved him having to lie about something so dear to him. Breathing in, Momo was aware of his own stench, the weird scent his Twolegs put on him mixed with the pine needles and wild cats of his second home. Foxdung. Quickly, he curled his lip in mock disgust. "But you know those clans that live out in the woods? Apparently they got kicked out of their territory by some other cats. Some of them haven't left me alone since fleeing to this place, asking for food and shelter and all that nonsense. As if my Twolegs would ever open their nests to them." He tried not to think about sneaking Plaguepaw into his nest as he spoke, or how each new word he spoke felt like a betrayal of the highest degree. All he could hope was that any SkyClanners who overheard him would understand his reasonings and that he could find penance through his actions in whatever was to come.

​

 

[Plaguepaw]

Turquoise eyes brighten at the sight of Momowhisker perched upon a brick laid wall. It was thanks to the daylight warrior that he had a belly full of precious nutrition, no longer feeling the idle ache of stomach pangs piercing his gut. As he treads forward to meet up with the tom, Plaguepaw's forked tail lifts, preparing to wave in greeting until he overheard another voice. A lighter tone, a molly asking some kind of question. His gait slows, grinding to a halt in the midst of his listening. Still concealed by the underbrush he watches and witnesses the disgusted curl of the pampered tom's lip. Momowhisker's reply was one he was not prepared for. But, the tom warned him, didn't he? Flashes of a conversation formally held came racing back to his mind. "We can't be friends, or they'll be no food..."

The warning was there, he even agreed to it. So how come every spoken word seemed to stab a new hole into his heart. The friendly stance of his split tail dropped, thudding upon the forest floor lifelessly. A sense of betrayal began to wind its way through his being and childish anger is quick to join the mix, leaving his pelt to prickle ever so slightly. "Keep your food and your twolegs, they're not needed." Plaguepaw snapped from his hiding place, his maw speaking quicker than he even realized. He couldn't begin to understand the complexity of Momowhisker's situation, of living between two worlds, and in this moment he wasn't keen on learning.

Stepping out from his little hovel the scarred apprentice fixed the daylight warrior with a scowl. To most cats Plaguepaw would have looked like nothing short of a mutated monster. With an overbearingly tall gaunt frame, twin tails, burn scars, and now healing wounds he was certainly not easy on the eyes. "Clan cats are resourceful. We...I don't need your help." Not anymore. He would figure it out on his own. Glancing at the molly perched on the brick beside him he continued on. "Skyclan will get its land back, those cats were just lucky." Oh, how he wished Doom or Falconpaw were here. Heck, every Cherrypaw in all her annoyance would do at a time like this. ​

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ skyclan apprentice / seven moons old / he/him ┈┈┈┈​

 

[ANAKIN]

( tags ) Anakin sauntered over lazily from where he had been sprawled out in the sun, the massive blue smoke and white tom coming to stand beside his sister. It wasn't often that she was the one between them to start up a chit-chat with a bunch of strangers, but the boredom must've started getting to her head enough that The Ice Queen let herself thaw just a bit. Like her, Anakin was restless here in the fenced and orderly confines of their new home—he missed the earthy smell of hay and the freedom to spend all day hunting on the ranch and in the bits of woodlands surrounding it. He didn't know how the housecats around here kept themselves from going crazy with how dull it was every day.

"Yo chillll," Anakin said, not entirely understanding.... well, anything the strange cats were talking about, but wanting to avoid getting stuck in the middle of a big argument. "We've got no bones to pick with any wood cats or kittypet cats or sky cats or nothin'," he swept a warm amber gaze to size up the nervous-looking cat on the brick, "So don't worry your pretty lil' head about it." The guy was definitely bullshitting them in one way or another—he looked like he wanted to run away face-first into a hole ground-squirrel-style—but he was easy enough on the eyes that Anakin brushed past it without concern, offering him a lazy, lopsided grin.

Anakin's relaxed friendliness didn't wan when he turned to the young cat with the wicked scars and generally creepy look, amber eyes instead gleaming with interest. "Little Dude, ya said someone came and took your land n' shit? What a fuckin' bummer bro," He offered his condolences in the sincerest way he knew how, though his laidback smile never dropped into anything remotely serious-looking. The large blue cat would then give a pointed glance back toward his sister, an unspoken question in his eyes. You think we've found ourselves something to do?

"Ya'know, me and my sister are new 'round here... But back at our old place on the ranch we used to chase off plenty'a things that stomped around our turf." He offered this information casually, as he was just continuing their small talk, but the implication remained there. They didn't need any help, but would they reject the offer if it was given? Of course, chasing opossums out of the garbage was different from fighting a buncha other cats, but Anakin missed the feeling of fur tearing under his claws enough that he would chase after anything that gave him the same satisfaction.

"SPEECH"

​

 

[MOMOWHISKER]

He had never had claws rake at his belly, but Momo imagined that this was what it felt like: guts twisting, sharp pains, a sensation of despair that came with the possibility of death. Plaguepaw wouldn't kill him, all the same, the kinship of a shared home between them had died and the Oriental's ears fell back in shame. 'They might tell my mum or dad, they might tell my mum or dad,' the repeated phrase did little to quell the Daylight Warrior's emotions, suddenly, he wasn't sure if it was worse to disappoint his parents or his clan more. "Well that's..." With a wounded puppy tone and large eyes seeking forgiveness, the lynx point did not know how to say 'please let me explain' without tipping the strangers off to his predicament. Before he had the chance to consider the right words, the other cat spoke up and Momowhisker took a deep, calming breath. Anakin's involvement didn't necessarily stop an argument, but it did postpone it, giving him a chance to think about how to make it up to the scraggly apprentice, for that, his tensed muscles eased. He returned Anakin's smile, softer than a Twoleg's bedding, expression only faltering when the blue cat looked away from him.

Momowhisker listened intently, confident his heart was about to erupt from his chest with how strongly it pushed against his ribs. Incredulously, he blinked at Anakin's choice of language: losing one's home and not knowing whether your family was dead or alive was a little bit more than a 'bummer', surely. The slightly off-centre smile, the seeming indifference to their plight despite his words saying otherwise, the lack of prying, it could only mean one thing. 'Oh thank StarClan, he's a mousebrain.' Narrow pupils momentarily shot back to Tiffany, wondering if she would question anything, unable to find his answer before the other spoke up once more... with a story? Their head tilted towards him, unsure of what that had to do with the current conversation, but politely grinning all the same. Enthusiasm returned to Momo's uncertain tone, not at the idea of chasing, but of exploring something like a ranch. He'd only heard of them in passing, a haven of mice, free food for any cat fast enough to deliver a killing bite. It made him where in StarClan's name the strangers had come from. "Wow, really? That's... nice. Are you on about cats or like, foxes and things?"


​

 

[tiffany]

Tiffany doesn't waver, even as Momo stammers and struggles to hold himself upright. Even if her life was all mice and hay before, she can tell a nervous Nelly from a cat worth their dirt. She almost abandons her rare sense of curiosity, however Anakin braces it against the brick, his relaxed nature urging the point tom to calm down. Opposites, they seem to be, yet she would do anything for her brother. Kill, even, though she knows so little about how real that terror could be. Their residence on the farm hardly bid them more than rodents and the stray opossum, after all. Tiffany huffs and rolls her eyes, finding this a waste of time but lingering for her brother - not to mention, the strange cat chatters on nervously, and seems to bring out -

By God, what is that?

Tiffany's eyes widen at the cryptid that is Plaguepaw - though it only takes a moment for them to narrow once again. He spits something at the shaky cat on the brick, clearly angry with the statements that came prior to his arrival. Or was he hiding there this whole time? She supposes the thick pine scent clinging to Momo must've clogged her nose, because surely a beast like the apprentice must have a horrible odor about him. Regardless, his insistance that the forest cats will be fine only solidifies what Momo said prior - that the land beyond their neat housing is filled with colonies of felines. Unwelcome ones, she notes, and she shares the glance with Anakin. Her expression is still moderately deadpan, but she offers her brother the slightest dip of her head; a silent agreement.

He speaks for them both going forward, making an offering in oh-too-many words. She's never detested the tom's wordy nature, however for a moment she wishes they could be straight to the point with their boredom - and, evidently, with Momo, who seems all too eager for storytime. The she-cat rolls her eyes and shifts to jump down from the wall - "Does it matter?" she huffs before descending, making sure that her fluffy tail fluffs itself in his face as she goes. Upon landing she eyes Plaguepaw warily, gaze still scrutinizing the bone-thin apprentice. After a moment, she shares only the slightest smirk with him.

"Alright, kiddo. Your... sky-cats or whatever could use some extra paws, 'm sure," she nods towards the undergrowth, "Lead the way, then. Before we change our minds, too." Tiffany turns her gaze upwards towards Anakin and Momo, figuring her brother will join her as soon as he's done regailing the other tom with stories of ruefully chasing skunks in their youth. ​

 

[Plaguepaw]

A woeful tone and large puppy dog eyes is all the apprentice received within the wake of his verbal wrath towards Momowhisker. His own gaze narrows, whiskers trembling as the older tom fumbles over his words and fails to apologize. But Anakin swoops in, unintentionally acting as the daylight warrior's saving grace as he whisks Plaguepaw's attention away immediately. The scowl painted upon his visage slowly melts and in its stead comes wide eyed wonder. His gaze drifts between the easy going tom and the pretty molly by his side. He did not see former barn cats, but tough warriors longing for a task. Starclan has blessed him this day. He could only imagine how much praise he would receive for bringing back reinforcements to help take back their home. With a lofty grin he pictured it clear as day, cats flocking to him and calling him a hero.

It was not until the molly jumped down from her perch and landed before him did his daydream burst, dissipating as he began to focus again. Under her scrutinizing gaze he straightened himself a little more, hoping to look more like a tough, strong forest cat. The last thing he wanted was for them to change their minds. "R-right, of course!" His words come out a stuttering mess, but his forked tail beckons them forth all the same. "Skyclan is this way, quick follow me." Twisting on his heels the boy lurched forward, pushing himself into a sprint where he could draw a clear path to the pines. ​

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ skyclan apprentice / seven moons old / he/him ┈┈┈┈​