pafp TOOK HIS WHILE LIKE NORTHERN SUMMER | loner near border

[persephone]

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- Soft yowls came from afar, ringing across the cold wind from the Horseplace border. They came from a chocolate calico molly, a cat with no Clan scent, who had fallen still after a few moments of struggling to tug herself out of a bramble bush. She was curious about the berries that grew on it, and naively went deeper into the bush to find more - only to be met with imprisonment within its branches, poking and prodding at her fur.

Persephone usually knew better than to stray too close to Clan territory, especially around these parts: but as a naturally curious feline, she felt compelled to explore anyway. The scent of the moorland cats was strong here, clashing with her own scent of lands distant and near combined. She knew that if she had to call for help, odds were she'd gain an unwanted audience of the boisterous moorland cats, but.. she wasn't familiar with brambles, and how they seemed to tug her long fur every which way - she'd need outside help to get her out.

The fresh scent coming from upwind caused her to stiffen and cease her yowls as she looked back over her shoulder, peering between the light-filtered gaps of the bush. Sure enough, between the branches and leaves she could just barely make out the shape of an incoming cat - alone, so far, by the looks of it, and heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe if she was friendly enough, the moorland cat wouldn't tear her up like she's heard so many stories of from others. "Thank the stars. I've found myself in.. quite the predicament." Persephone let out a sniff, signifying a brief moment of contempt and desperation mixed. "Look, I know you moor cats don't like my kind, but I need some help. It seems that.. no matter where I pull, I can't get my fur untangled from these cursed brambles!"

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── but when he walks in ⋅❁⋅ i am loved, i am loved ──┐‎

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  please wait for @SEDGEPOUNCE !
  

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  PERSEPHONE ✩ she/her, loner, fourteen moons.
  ⭃ a kind-hearted yet stern lilac calico molly with amber eyes.
  ⭃ mate to no one. mother to no one.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by ixora ↛ @.ixora on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[SEDGEPOUNCE]

Sedgepounce finds himself alone out in the moor, pursuing a dawdling meadowlark, when the whistling voices of the wind start to sound a lot more life-like than usual. It leads him close to the Horseplace, the proximity of which draws his body closer to the ground; wary. A cursory glance over the tall wheatgrass reveals no looming twolegs, so he looks down along the scent border and sees...a bush. A talking bush.

"Thank the stars!" It calls out to him.

Sedgepounce skirts closer. Through the tangled fronds of brambles, the evening sunlight reveals a small figure crouched within its frame. The scent that seeps through the leaves is sour with asphalt and smoke, muddled with the confusing mosaics of places that remind him of SkyClan. Not a SkyClan cat, though, and certainly no horseplace loner.

Someone that should've known better than to be caught here, definitely.

She sounds earnest. Her voice is light and young and burdened with exasperation. Sedgepounce warily pads closer, stopping close enough to reach out a paw and touch the bush—or to run away, should they decide to spring to life and attack him for his naivety. But after a few moments there's no such ambush, so he raises a claw to tug at one of the offending brambles.

"Hold on," he advises. Now that he's pretty sure this isn't some huge ploy to jump him, he's starting to think that this whole predicament is kind of funny. Bramble bushes—the bane of any young apprentice who doesn't know any better. They're rare around WindClan, so it's doubly bad luck that this stranger happened to be ensnared in one....both for the state of her fur, but also for the clan she's happened to be trapped next to. That part's less funny.

"I'll try to untangle some of these from your pelt. Try to pull your leg out from there....No—er, not that one. The...yeah, yeah, the left."

After some trial and error, they manage to work together to get Persephone free. She looks frazzled, to say the least, fur sticking up this way and that as they yank the final thorn from her flank. Now that her frame isn't obscured, Sedge can still see a few burrs stuck in the now sandy-splashed white of her fur. He cringes; hopes she didn't suffer too many scratches. For now she just seems happy to be untangled.

"Ha! Success. I'm glad you're free," he exclaims, face warmed with a smile. Then, like a switch is flipped, he grows serious—eyes no less friendly, yet words dense with purpose. "But you should go, and never come back here. Like—I mean it. Cats around here won't be half as friendly next time."

As he speaks, Sedgepounce spares a knowing look over his shoulder, tail lashing. He has to anticipate that someone will catch them here...or at the very least someone will hear about it, or find the lingering scent of a loner and suspect. That's fine. Someone will sneer at him for being a loner-lover, insult him and his loyalties. Maybe Snakehiss will try to push him around again. Sedgepounce can take some ribbing, whatever.

Persephone will be lucky to leave this place alive.​

 

[HARBINGERMOON]

☾ Harbinegrmoon had pulled himself from the tight spaces of the tunnels. Taking in the billowing air of the moors and the chilly leaf-bare air. Despite his plush appearance, the Tunneler's pelt held little insulation, causing him to shiver. I better head back in before I lose a paw. Just as he prepared to clean off the grime, the sound of distant talking made his ears twitch. Dropping his lower jaw, he curiously tasted the air. His expression changed from curiosity to hardened annoyance as his snout faced Horseplace. Another damned trespasser. Sighing audibly, he quickly shook his coat of any lingering dirt.

Once satisfied, the ebony cat made his way over to the border, only to suddenly slow his roll. A familiar frame appeared and then slipped just out of sight. Carefully, he dropped low and inched closer, catching the discussion's later half. Dismay lit up the warrior's maw and, decidedly, he broke from his crouch. Stepping to the lip of the hill, he called aloud, his outline visible above the littered bramble. "Getting friendly with outsiders, are we?" A growl bubbled from the depths of the inky tom's chest at the unforgiving site. His pumpkin gaze glowering with irritation and malice. Akin to a cat preparing to hunt, he slunk down and to the side of Sedgepounce.

Offering his clanmate a disapproving shake of their rounded head. "Seems like someone needs to go back to training like a paw'. We do not make nice with those that wander carelessly into our territory." Looking to Persephone his lips peeled back revealing sharp pearly whites. His tone switched to a deeper and harsher grit as he snapped his teeth audibly. "Care to explain why you've trespassed or do you wish to face my claws?" Harbingermoon's nails extended impatiently as he took a step closer to the she-cat. Bulbous tail lashing and back fur raised high with hostility.​

 

[persephone]

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- With the help of the moorland stranger, Persephone was finally free - not without some scratches and a ruffled pelt, of course, but free nonetheless. Before being advised to leave, she was taking a moment to swipe her tongue over the worst of it, hoping that her first impression here wouldn't be that of mangled fur and poor decisions. She was usually well-kept, with soft silky fur, and much wiser about her decisions - but there were times she couldn't contain a wilder side.

"I'm glad I'm free, too.. and might I say, grateful that you ran into me." She finished her brief grooming, until she looked at least somewhat presentable, and regarded the warrior with some curiosity. "I was not met with kindness last time I strayed so close to a Clan border. What's your name?"

When his demeaner switched to something more serious, Persephone's did as well, hers to something of disappointment and annoyance. He meant well, and his words made sense, but Persephone wished they didn't. She liked meeting new cats, and enjoyed the presence of most - why did all the good ones have to be locked behind a wall of grouches? She opened her mouth to reply, to explain away the concern, when (inevitably) a new cat came along, seemingly out of nowhere - was he sneaking? Startled, Persephone turned her gaze to the white and black tom-cat, noting the difference in personality almost immediately. Friendly with outsiders? And what of it? she would have liked to inquire, having no knowledge of the importance of Clan loyalty - but she held her tongue. This was not her fight, yet.

Of course, as soon as Harbringermoon included her, she was compelled to defend. "Trespassed? I'm barely over your scent marker." She couldn't help but snort in response, coupled with an increasingly annoyed eye roll, neither of which may not have been a wide decision. She wasn't easily intimidated by strangers, leaving her quite susceptible to harm - this time, though, the calico took a step back, keeping her gaze steady on the tunneler, keeping her guard up. "'Face your claws'? Why are you all so eager to fight all the time?" Another contempt sniff, and the molly eventually started to back away, but not without an expectant glance towards Sedgepounce. Would he give his name after all? Would he stand up for himself? She'd wait and see, but wouldn't overstay her welcome - wounds and scars did not do well for her pristine look. With her legs tense, she was prepared to dart at the soonest physical threat.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── but when he walks in ⋅❁⋅ i am loved, i am loved ──┐‎

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• 

• 
  PERSEPHONE ✩ she/her, loner, fourteen moons.
  ⭃ a kind-hearted yet stern lilac calico molly with amber eyes.
  ⭃ mate to no one. mother to no one.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by ixora ↛ @.ixora on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[Bluepool]

Bluepool was not the friendliest of faces when it came to strangers. She had run into her fare share of cats who had two-faces, cats that lured you into a false sense of security, made you think you could trust them, that they were friendly, but then the next thing you knew they were trying to steal prey, they were inviting themselves onto the territory and helping themselves to whatever they liked because why shouldn't they? The borders were not guarded jealously and therefor it was free game right? This loner would quickly learn that this was not the case.

When she spots the scene ahead of her her first instinct is to act and she dives forward, teeth bared in a viscous snarl and claws out, aiming to sink them into the she-cats flesh if she can, a clear indication. Leave or I'll shred you to pieces. She would deal with Sedgepounce later, once this cat was gone because Harbingermoon was right, as loathe as she was to admit it. They could not afford to be friendly to strangers and he would have to learn. "Leave!" she spits at the she-cat "Leave and if I see your face again I'll turn you into crow food." she did not care what the reason for her being here was, she was ready for blood.

// IC opinions sorry for her! apprentice tag @FEATHERPAW

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