COLOUR OF SUNRISE | kittypet

[BELPHEGOR]

Being out in the forest again was a pain in his tail, the ultimate betrayal of common sense done in the name of someone who couldn't decide whether they liked or hated him. Loose foliage stuck to strands of black and red fur like magnets as Belphegor crossed them, eliciting eye rolls and disappointed stares from the tom whenever he noticed a new passenger upon his pelt. Any sense of adventure and learning had died an untimely death a quarter-moon ago, leaving behind only a budding sense that something would go wrong if he was forced to stay with the pines for too long. As the scents of the Twolegplace and the colony began to intertwine, Belphegor reclined upon his haunches, then, onto his belly, letting the sun settle onto his dappled pelt. It wasn't necessarily safe to relax, not after what happened last time, but the Kittypet couldn't help it - it was tiring work running from one side of the Twolegplace to the other, not to mention, he had no idea how long SkyClan would take to arrive.

He realised, even after talking to one of their warriors, just how little he truly knew about the group. Sure, there were kittypet-fighters and a strange entity in the stars, but their inner workings, such as how each cat was decided for each job, was lost on the tortoiseshell. He craned his head upwards, a lapse of excitement hitting his green eyes as he considered asking them about the mundane, albeit interesting things - then, he remembered his promise, and sunk back into the grass between his paws. "Ugh... Let's get this over with, me..." he complained quietly. "Cats of SkyClan! I... I really can't be bothered to shout this..." Who knew if someone would be listening in, close enough to hear the news he brought? Or, if it would reach thin air and Belphegor would be forced to repeat himself to a bunch of very unhappy wildcats.

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

MY WORLDS ON FIRE, HOW 'BOUT YOURS?
THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT AND I NEVER GET BORED."​

---

Johnny could relate to the frustration and exhaustion that came with trekking back and forth from one end of twolegplace to the other. It was something he had found himself doing on the daily since the disappearance of a certain silver clanmate; arriving at camp late and leaving early, all in the name of finding answers. He’d even stepped back from the rank of lead warrior in order to dedicate more time to his search, sticking during the days solely to train his apprentice and to hunt for the clan. Truthfully, he’d become a bit of a menace to many of the stray and kittypets there in twolegplace, stalking the streets and questioning every cat he saw, cornering anyone who might fit the description of the one he was searching for.

It was a bit of a miracle in itself that Johnny was even in the territory to begin with, but maybe he was due for a bit of luck.

He was only one of the cats in his patrol, only one of the many to hear the call of the unfamiliar voice sounding from up ahead, but their pawsteps all seemed to hasten a bit upon realising their border was being occupied by someone. He gestured for Sangriapaw to stay close, but he wasn’t sure how reliably his orders would be received. She.. hadn’t taken him stepping down well- at all. He could feel the shift in their dynamic and mourned the loss of trust between them, but he was still determined to make her into a great warrior- even if it hurt a little to know his status in the clan had meant so much to her.

Black and ginger fur.

Every nerve in his body seemed to fire at once as he saw them through the trees, as if screaming ’there! they’re right there!’, but it was a premature celebration he was well used to being disappointed by. How many tortoiseshell cats had he chased down already just to catch a whiff of their fur for comparison? And each time he was left feeling nothing but a sobering disappointment.

And yet, his paws were no less eager to close the distance on this one as they’d been the others, and it was only with his remaining threads of willpower that he managed to hold back from sprinting the last few yards through the trees to pin the other down, ensuring they couldn’t change their mind and run off. Well, that and the fact that the stranger was calling out for them, meaning he hoped to run into a patrol.

And they could certainly talk to whoever they wanted. Ask their questions, join the bloody clan for all he cared- but there were other cats with Johnnyflame who could focus on exchanging those pleasantries with them. As for the bobtail, well, he had questions of his own. And so while his clanmates gathered round to see what the kittypet wanted with them, Johnny stepped through the crowd and tried to lean into the newcomers space, muzzle outstretched to try and catch the scent clinging to their fur.

After they passed his little test he might afford them some of his usual Skyclan hospitality.

OOC- not an aggressive action necessarily, but he is definitely going to try and get in @BELPHEGOR s space to sniff them. aaaand apprentice tag @SANGRIAPAW
[/i]

---

​

 

[BELPHEGOR]

Belphegor, truly, did not know what he was getting himself into. The show was something he'd perhaps been prepared for, but not the actors, and the first one was proving to be quite the performer. He looked to the others, waiting to see if they wanted to question him, then, he turned back towards Johnnyflame, who moved closer and closer to him until he was confident the chimera had never heard of the words 'personal' and 'space' in his life. Then, as if to prove a point, the other sniffed him, a complete and utter stranger - perhaps normal for most cats, but Johnny seemed utterly insisted about it. His head reclined like a turtle trying to recoil into its shell, his brow contorting upwards. Jade eyes glossed over the other's scars and his ears shifted forward, confident he had come to an understanding.

"Oh... you're that weirdo I've heard so much about..." Strange, none of his outdoor napmates had mentioned he was from SkyClan, they'd all thought he was a rogue, consumed in body and spirit by rabies. Johnnyflame's mouth did not froth, his eyes did not seem wild (well... subjectively), but Belphegor didn't know if he could consider himself safe. The other was acting utterly bizarre, even without a medical condition behind it. Raising a dappled paw, Belph aimed to press it into Johnny's face and slowly push the other away. "It's none of my business whether you think chasing every stranger you see is a good idea, but don't make me run. My constitution suffers in the sun, I'd be boring." As if to prove a point, or because he seriously couldn't be bothered, Belphegor didn't move from his lying down position.

"And if I have to run, then I can't tell you about your warrior. Silversmoke, the tom with the scar on his eye?" He didn't know if SkyClan was big enough for one disappearance to be a big deal - it wasn't like the spotted tabby had been clear on whether or not he'd be missed, just that he missed the pine forest.

​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

Doeblaze is a late arrival to the scene, towing @PRIMROSE. and @cloudypaw~ behind her, a little breathless from having just imparted a climbing lesson upon the two—conveniently, the sound of a strange mew mingling with Johnnyflame's had been just in earshot. The mixed scent drifting on the wind confirms her suspicions; pine's familiar spice mixes with the distinctive artificial smell of Twolegplace, spurring her sturdy limbs to move ever quicker beneath her, loping towards the border—her mind whirs frantically, wondering if the stench of Twolegs will, once again, bring tragedy with it.

Thankfully, the only sight when she breaks from between two solid pine - trunks is that of a familiar faux - torbie pelt speaking in what seemed like relative peace with a tricolor stranger. The warrior lets a horse - like huff loose from her nose, not particularly eager to undergo the familiar ordeal of interrogating a joiner, hoping Johnnyflame's already covered the bases as she draws near. She appriases Belphegor with a slitted jade eye similar in hue to his own, and seemingly doesn't find too much to be impressed with as he laments his apparent distaste for running, because her lashes drape low and her limbs still in something akin to relaxation . . .

. . . and then animate anew at the words he breathes next. " Silversmoke? You saw him? " she mews, abrupt in hoarse tones, taking a half - step forward, though not quite so close as Johnnyflame. A tom with a scar on his eye . . . yeah, that sounds like him. There's no lost love between her and the tabby lead warrior, but he's a Clanmate like any other, and if this stranger has news, any news at all, about what in the fresh hell happened to him—well, she's obliged to ferret it out by any means necessary, not that this cat seems like too much of a challenge. On the other paw, if he's just screwing with them . . . she probably won't have to do anything at all, for Johnnyflame'd doubtlessly rip him limb from tortoiseshell limb.

" Where is he? Is he alright? " she all but demands, seaglass eye gleaming like a brand of green fire as her pupil narrows to a near - slit. Maybe it's all the tragedy of late, or plain old stress, but her temper's been chewing through its increasingly short leash often as of late, as evidenced by the twitch in her grimly set jaw. " We're not going to chase you, so tell us what you know. "

OOC : —

♥︎

​

 

[SANGRIAPAW]

✧ This… sucks.

Sangriapaw trudges along behind her mentor, the frown marking her face seemingly permanent by now. She can’t believe he just… just quit like that. Like a lazy kittypet who runs home on their own when a clanmate disappears. But she’d thought Johnnyflame was different from what SkyClanners like Silversmoke and Chrysaliswing say about daylight warriors. He was a lead warrior, well-respected, and that kept Sangriapaw safe from the worst of the mean names. Now, he’s nothing. He’s nobody. If she wasn’t already halfway through her apprenticeship, the girl would have considered asking for a whole new mentor. And she still might, if his late arrivals and early walks home don’t change. More than anything, she’s disappointed. She’d put her mentor on too high a pedestal, and now he’s fallen and Sangriapaw doesn’t know how to mend broken bones—or broken trust.

And now, there’s a stranger at the border and Johnnyflame motions for her to stay close, and something in her rebels against the tom’s order. Why should she listen to him, when he’s so eager to leave SkyClan and go searching for Silversmoke instead? What if he just wants to get rid of her, but can’t because he’s stuck as her mentor? Green eyes narrow, but she obeys, taking each pawstep a trudging half-step behind her mentor’s in a more subtle act of rebellion. It isn’t until Johnnyflame presses himself into the other cat’s space that Sangriapaw allows herself to step in. The dappled stranger attempts to push the lead—no, ex-lead—warrior’s face away, and for a moment her lip curls to bare her teeth, but then he’s talking about Silversmoke and Sangriapaw doesn’t think he’s much of a threat.

Doeblaze draws near as well, grilling the cat for information, and the cinnamon torbie’s muzzle draws into a smile. "Yeah, we don’t wanna chase ya," she adds, tipping her head toward the lilac-striped warrior as she explains, "we just wanna know if Silversmoke’s okay."

✧ gliding down the rainbow

• ooc: —
• 
  SANGRIAPAW ❯❯ she/her, daylight apprentice of skyclan
  ⭃ wild-furred cinnamon torbie with white spotting and vibrant leaf-green eyes. bold, bright, and curious.
  ⭃ daughter of fantastream & figfeather ; sister to coffeepaw
  ⭃ mentored by johnnyflame
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ⭃ penned by foxlore

​

​

 

[Johnnyflame]

MY WORLDS ON FIRE, HOW 'BOUT YOURS?
THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT AND I NEVER GET BORED."​

---

He stuttered on his own breath as the strangers' smell hit him, checking every box and setting off every alarm. This was it. This was it. The missing link that he’d been tearing twolegplace apart for was finally standing right in front of him, lying on their border, talking to him as casually as the day was warm- which was very. He barely took in their acknowledgment of who he was, muscles going taut as he fought the urge to just lunge at tortoiseshell cat in a fit of desperate rage.

"And if I have to run, then I can't tell you about your warrior. Silversmoke, the tom with the scar on his eye?"

The snarl that ripped it’s way out of his throat was nothing short of feral, pupils narrowing to furious pinpricks at the others words. ”Don’t fuck with me, kittypet!”

His fur was bristling, fangs half-bared in a promise of bloodshed at the mere mention of the stranger running from them after letting that name fall from his mouth. There was nothing in this world that would let this cat from his sight now, and if he made the very poor mistake of trying to run, Johnny would make sure he never made it to the first line of fences.

”I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I recognize your scent- you’re the other cat; you were here the day he disappeared!” A statement. An accusation. A condemnation.

And that was all Johnny needed to make this cat his enemy until he proved himself otherwise.

Despite his obvious fury and the storm of threats looming over him like dark clouds, the bobtail made no move to attack. He let the other keep what meager space they’d gained with their outstretched paw in his face, but he gave no more and no less. His self-control was paper thin, held together only by the insinuation that this stranger was going to comply with them. In the back of his mind he was aware of the facts- they they’d come of their own free will, that they were willingly offering information, that they knew Silversmoke by name.

But the anger that raged in the forefront refused to be soothed by any of it. What had taken this cat so long to come forward if they were truly a friend? That alone was enough to keep it burning.

Doeblaze and Sangriapaw were with him, trying to assure the stranger all would be well and there would be no chase, but Johnny refused to make any such promise, their words a barely registered static swept up in the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

”Is he-” he cut himself off, the word dead yanked back from the tip of his tongue. ”Tell me where he is! You have to know!” a plea wrapped in demand. Even if it was just a body somewhere they hadn’t looked yet, Johnny had to see it for himself, had to know with complete certainty that there was no getting them back.

[/i]

---

​

 

[BELPHEGOR]

He regarded Doeblaze with a similar interest as a small-talk making stranger, awkward in greeting, indifferent in approach. Silversmoke's life was not his business, whether these creatures were good for him or not, it was not up for the kittypet to decide, but, when the other asked if he'd seen him, he couldn't help but retort, "Worse, I live with him." The whole dynamic in the household had shifted since his owner, the bleeding heart, had insisted about taking care of his saviour. He could appreciate the tom for what he'd done, but being his roommate was another thing entirely - the worst thing. If the spotted tabby wasn't panicking, he was hissing, and if he wasn't hissing, he was spouting things about honour and duty as if trying to convince him SkyClan was the best thing in the forest. It was as if others couldn't have a different lifestyle, an utterly annoying stubbornness that could only lead to arguments in the future.

Still, when a second feline asked about him, it became clear that Silversmoke was perhaps more valued than he realised. "He's fine, he's—" Don't fuck with me, kittypet! Surprise was subtle in Belphegor's jade eyes, a slight widening, a shifting of pupils, all the same, he shifted his head quickly in Johnnyflame's direction, a bristle running over his tawny fur. Was he a rogue? It almost seemed like, the way he was acting. Belphegor rose to his paws, head bowed low in submission. He really didn't want to get into a fight, nor an argument, one was dangerous, the other way too much work. Accusations that he was there the day he 'disappeared' caused his ears to flatten. "He didn't vanish, he was taken." A blink, a pause, a consideration. 'I suppose it is the same thing to them.'

"I wasn't there intentionally. I just wanted to check out the forest, see what all the fuss was about. I didn't know rogues ventured this far out and a few of them decided I must be one of you. You know, on the accounts of my dashing fur and phenomenal work ethic." His brows raised in his sarcasm, a smile threatening to twitch upon his muzzle until he was reminded of the aggression coming from the other... and decided against it. "Anyways, Silversmoke saved my life, but there was a whole misunderstanding between me and my Twoleg and my Twoleg and... he lives with me now. For a bit."

Injuries on his spine would likely scar him for life, but the apathetic tom felt twinges of fear that revealing such information would result in another outburst from the roguelike stranger. He looked to the others for assistance, before swallowing a lump in his throat. "He wants to leave, and I want him to leave. I think together, we can figure out a way to get him out but... and I mean no disrespect, I don't want wildcats sniffing around my home. My owner would probably try adopting all of you, and he's been hurt enough as it is by the one he did manage to rescue." A tawny paw brushed over a tawny paw, trying to emulate where his Twoleg had been scratched and bitten to bits by Silversmoke.

"Anyways, I'm here because he wanted me to tell you he will find a way home. And to tell a Johnnyflame, whatever one of those is, that he is sorry. That'll be all from me." So long as they gave him permission to leave.
​