pafp YES, TO ERR IS HUMAN ( SURPRISE + JOINING? )

[BLOODY MARY]

Prowling thing, a hulking mass of blood-streaked white. The opposite of seamless, maybe... She's full of edges to be sanded down. Her shoulder stick still needed trimming... Though not yet a forest-dweller, she hopes her catch today will be grand. In her mind's eye: dark stripes and a green gaze. Green as the forest that had made them. Green as the forests that'd swallow her up and spit her out again; rebirth into a wobbly-kneed fawn, or something like that... She lopped enough to fit image, she's fairly certain. She only needed that last bite of prey... It'd be warm around her tongue like that squirrel had been, and then she'd be welcomed with the most open of arms! If you can catch this, surely you can catch anything...

It isn't the first time the pines swallow her. She recognizes the path. Well- recognizes the gnaw of fence-posting into her skull, at least. Over or under, it depended on the day. Not long, before black-tar smog is behind her. There's no chance she can think them a myth as that aroma floods her nostrils. That of things with purpose... Little worker bees, toiling away till the day they die! Mary wants a pawful of honey; wants to sing their little songs... Maybe even dance their little dances, if they let her. She is a mere few steps past their border, and this is where she watches. She waits. It's her lucky day, she knows it! Look, a cinnamon-spiced thing prowling amongst the undergrowth, and it must be one of them with how very different it was from her... Tiny, though! More like that thing she'd killed the other day. So unlike that thing from moons ago... She withholds her snort of amusement. The shutter of narrowing eyelids is grease-slicked.

Oh. But she gets it then, a test! Of course they'd know her before she knows them. Obviously- Of course. Her eyes flare wide with the realization. They sent their smallest to give her the biggest slip. Well, she would impress them. She would impress them all!

They wouldn't know what hit them, not until the nettles are crackling underfoot and the wolf's maw is nearly upon them. Pouncing force slams into this little thing; barrels them over, pins them down. Easy- easy success! Why wasn't she a Clan cat already? Punched from the lungs is a triumphant bark of laughter. " HAH! " Spit soaks her subject, rains down in an autumn-shower. " Caught you! I caught you! Hoped to see one of you SkyClanners for-ever! " She beams, and the gleam of her fangs is enticing, surely? A bunch of killers, them. She could be just like them, if they wanted.

This thing, though- brown-and-white and dainty, isn't he? This thing would lose to her, easy. Her head tilts, doglike. Batty ears jostle alongside her. There are a few moments of narrowed-eyed concentration, and then. " ...Oh! You're no SkyClanner. " Despite this revelation, she makes no effort to move.

THEY SAY I CAN'T KEEP MYSELF FROM TRYING ⬪ 𝒜 𝐵𝐼𝒯𝐸 𝒪𝐹 𝐸𝒱𝐸𝑅𝒴𝒯𝐻𝐼𝒩𝒢 𝐼𝒩 𝒮𝐼𝒢𝐻𝒯 / ( 10 . 16 )

• OOC. Please wait for @EDMUND!

• 
  BLOODY MARY ⬪ KITTYPET. SHE - HER - HERS. 24 MOONS.
  

  A dog-like woman. Large, with bulk in some places, and only lean muscle in others. Elegant at some angles, acutely strange looking at others. Has a longer, wolfish muzzle and gleaming dog teeth near-always on display due to an overbite. Skull presses insistent against her skin. Eyes are almost too-large, and not all sunken in her skull. Has large, tufted ears. Polydactyl, with a curved spine and recently-chopped tail.

​

 

[EDMUND]

They remembered the hopeful look in Butterflytuft's eye as they kept their path forward, and that was what kept them going, really - pushed him past the fear. It felt good to help people, did it? That was why his Twoleg always had people coming around, or- well, used to, anyway. Their weird- uh, cute faces twisting into little smiles when they looked at the little pictures. Maybe they'd gotten it from her, then. So every time he got this boiling sort of thought that he was an idiot, they thought of how much they wanted to see Budkit, how much they wanted to hear her voice- how nice it had felt to make a difference instead of standing on the sidelines and watching.

The resolve had settled, then- their nose twitched, the scentline stretching forth, encircling. Yeah, and his paws felt like they were guided here ... like the little pictures, and flickering flames, always said.

That resolve was extinguished with impact.

Edmund cried out in protest, sliding hard against the ground- odd eyes squeezed shut, and he flailed soft paws about, words falling over themselves as he said "Begone, demon! Out out out out out!" and kicked and screamed and -

Right, just a cat. They should be expecting this sort of thing by now, shouldn't they? But this one didn't smell lke SkyClan, and danced on his body where she had them pinned- oh, she was so much bigger than him. He trembled beneath grey eyes, pupils locked with hers- Hoped, she said- and he trembled a little beneath her hold, winced. "I'm not," they confirmed. "And .... serves you right, taunting the spirits like that! Tempted fate, you did."

And still, he was supine. A soft face crumpled into the grumpiest expression they could manage. "Look, I haven't done nowt to you, so will you get off?"​

penned by pin ❤​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

It was a scene he'd witnessed before. A rogue pinning down a kittypet, a look of resignation on the pinned one's face; danger. Misunderstanding was ripe in the face of deja vu, all Silversmoke could hear was the stranger's scream over and over again, replaying in his ears and scarcely drowned out by the thu-thump of blood. The three scars upon his back burn at the memory as he burst through the foliage, teeth flashing and black claws threatening to catch upon the earth. With an almighty charge, he attempted to ram into Bloody Mary's side, claws swiping the air a whisker length away from her face in a deliberate attempt to get her to move away The tufted points of his ears touched the back of his skull and, if he was partway successful, he would attempt to position himself between stranger and foe.

'A twoleg will come. A twoleg will come and take me away again.' He squared his paws, certain that the scent of kittypet on the air only came from the cat behind him, certain that if it wafted from Mary's direction, then it was another no-fur peering through the treeline at him. He did not know if that accelerated his breathing or the anger he felt for Edmund that someone would attack him. "Leave him be," Silversmoke snarled, lashing his tail.
​

 

[BLOODY MARY]

This thing- this thing's funny! Maybe the funniest thing she's ever met, and she hasn't met many. Doesn't this bode wonderfully for her? This cat's like a wiggly worm. Yeah, accidental, this catch, but she regrets it none! How dull would her life, her world, her everything be if not for this: Prey that cries bloody murder, the funny twist of jelly limbs. She might cry, it's so funny; and maybe her tears would burn right through him! Howling laughter causes any ruckus that his squealing doesn't. " Demon? " She takes their words, takes their funny accent, too; though they barrel through jagged, pointed stones rather than the sandy beaches of his voice. She threatens to choke on her own voice. Without a hinge, she's tempted to use this mouse as leverage, letting claws peel past him the same way her laughter did. She's kind, though! Real kind. She get's privacy... And... the scandal... Yeah, this thing ought to keep its guts to itself.

Pack mentality, or something like that. It makes her want to scream, too. " Out out out! " Togetherness washes upon her like a sigh. It's what she wants; what she's here for. It's disappointing when they calm, but, ooh, wicked words give another corpse to root through. " You cold? Shakin' an awful lot. " The spirits, he says. Hoh, pardon her... Pardon Them... " Silly spirits, if they care about maggotspeak. " With a smile, she tips her head. She wasn't gonna argue their existence. They're both real lucky to even have the mind to argue with.

He needs a chance to ponder this, she thinks. Or maybe she doesn't think anything at all. Maybe she's just havin' a good time. Was that worth capital punishment? There's a ghost of acknowledgement maybe, the lifting of overlarge ears. " I like you, guy! " Maybe guy doesn't like her. Not her job, really, to fix herself for the flies.

But then there's this crashing, echo of her own steps from mere moments ago. Her turn's a bit sluggish, she supposes. This thing's fast! Huge! Pallid eyes stretch wide in enthrall. This is what she's looking for. Looking for did not equate to ready for, though. Ever-unsteady, she's bowled over without ceremony. Unfortunate- she'd hardly even gotten a bite of that other guy... but she'd be getting distracted if she did, then supposed.

The demon— why couldn't she be it?— tumbles to her paws. She tips- sways- ugh, her tail! He took it. His people took it, she hopes he knows. She snorts, scrunches her nose, feeling as if its been knocked out of place. " Honest mistake. Heh- swear it. You... " She glimpses him in full, scar-crossed, wolf-bladed, broad-shouldered. That snarl could curdle blood. She snickers, delighted. " You're what I want. "

Her crouch is unlearned, but it could get the job done, she thinks! If she thinks wrong— if this brute punctures her skull and that's that— well, she'll have enjoyed herself! " If I kill ya, can I come to your SkyClan? Yeah? " That's what they were all about. Killin' and stuff.

THEY SAY I CAN'T KEEP MYSELF FROM TRYING ⬪ 𝒜 𝐵𝐼𝒯𝐸 𝒪𝐹 𝐸𝒱𝐸𝑅𝒴𝒯𝐻𝐼𝒩𝒢 𝐼𝒩 𝒮𝐼𝒢𝐻𝒯 / ( 10 . 15 )

• OOC.

• 
  BLOODY MARY ⬪ KITTYPET. SHE - HER - HERS. 24 MOONS.
  

  A dog-like woman. Large, with bulk in some places, and only lean muscle in others. Elegant at some angles, acutely strange looking at others. Has a longer, wolfish muzzle and gleaming dog teeth near-always on display due to an overbite. Skull presses insistent against her skin. Eyes are almost too - large, and not all sunken in her skull. Has large, tufted ears. Polydactyl, with a curved spine and recently-chopped tail.

​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

Yowls echoing between the trees and the faint scent of kittypet is a familiar scene. Doeblaze swishes her tail against @cloudypaw~'s flank and plunges forward through the sparse drifts of leaves and wide swathes of vacant ground. Well, this is a damn mess, is the first thought that registers when she skids to a momentary stop, chuffing a plume of air out from her parted jaws, but less of a mess than it could've been. Namely, she had been concerned with finding splatters of brilliant crimson and another vacancy in their ranks. Instead, she's greeted by a three-cat circus comprised of Silversmoke and two strangers.

The first thing she realizes is that this is quickly barreling towards a problem of a situation. The second is that it is now officially her job to guide it elsewhere, as if it were a wayward kit.

" Break it up, break it up. " Admittedly, there is not much left to be broken up, except the tumbling brute's sloppy crouch. Have Dawnglare and Mallowlark sent their regards from the stars? she wonders, nose rumpling, as she strides towards the tableau. Aiming to gather what little authority she's been awarded into her chest (an effort somewhat defeated by stature), she assesses Bloody Mary in one glance like the snap of green bark. " That'd not be a good idea if you're fixing to join. Actually, it's one of very few things you could do to ensure you don't. "

Shooting the white-furred devil another pointed glare, she rolls her claws in and out of the needle-litter underpaw as if communicating her tension into the earth. " That's to say, no, don't kill him. Unless you want— " a momentary pause to guesstimate, " —forty-odd sets of claws raining hell on you. " Words are all well and good, but an eagle eye keeps the aggressor in her peripheral, lest her warning prove ineffective and she decides to strike regardless.

" And you are? Both of you, actually, names please. " Finally, having finished her handling of Bloody Mary (at least for the moment, this once seems practically falling over herself to be a problem), she steps to the other stranger, the newly-freed initial target. Cinnamon and white and soft-faced in a way that would be endearing were they not an outsider. Aiming a glance at Silversmoke that borders on the apologetic, as if sorry to usurp his control over the situation, she poses the question to both of them. " Were you both looking to join us? "

OOC : —

✦

​

 

[EDMUND]

Oh, god- she wouldn't gerroff him! Edmund's eyes stained in fear. Was this how it was all going to end, then? Or- maybe he just wasn't meant for this life, something like this- she copied him, squawking alongside him. Soft features stayed scrunched into plush annoyance- she wasn't listening to him at all, laughing along like- like the spirits were some sort of game! "They do care," he told her, bristling. Was she making fun of his voice, as well? Great, he'd been in SkyClan for five minutes and he'd already made his first enemy...

I like you, guy, she said. Edmund froze, stopped their shaking, and looked at her blankly. For a few moments he was completely lost for words- and just when they'd built it up in their head enough that they might offer her their name, someone came blazing out of the bushes and barrelled right into her!

Edmund scrabbled to their feet. "Bloody nora- hey, hang on, hang on!" he shouted- to apparently no avail, because his attacker got to her feet, wolfishly panting, grey eyes flashing for more - or something like that. Completely bemused still, Edmund could do nothing but stutter in place. Had he done something awfully wrong, ending up here in this manner? Hadn't, uh, asked for the right blessing before he'd left the house? But he'd pressed his nose to the same little picture as always...

"Hey- mate, you don't need to hurt her, she wasn't- ripping my head off or anything," he stuttered. Why was the first thought smashing into stuff? Couldn't they just talk? Him and the stranger had been having a perfectly nice conversation before she'd been knocked right off him ...

Okay, maybe not perfectly nice. But it was a conversation.

They shook themself off, regarding for a couple startled moments the other SkyClanner that had wandered over. "Um, name's Edmund," he mumbled, giving an awkward but genuine smile. "I don't know her, though. Um- I wanted to... be one of those daylight warrior blokes." Oh, god, it was awful. Right disaster.​

penned by pin ❤​

 

[BLOODY MARY]

Eh... It's ignorant, what he says. Easy wish for a worthless thing like him to have— 'cause wouldn't an ant like to think whatever scraps its given is given on purpose? Nice thought, that there is something above you, and that something is benevolent. Kind. Oh, so powerful, and yet apparently care about the little guy's feelings. They weren't even a rib; hardly a toe-bone. Tip of claw, maybe, shed to dust before anyone would even see 'em.

Yeah. Real wistful, this guy. It'd have him killed one day, she bets- but she liked him plenty while he was alive! It was true, that two-toned head of his was still whole and brimming. Lucky them, that her nose wasn't only for show. She'd whiffed his twoleg-scent a few moments before she could get to the meat. This wildcat's head was much bigger, though... Impossible to cut clean in one swipe, probably. She glimpses the flesh of his neck, that of his belly... Could she flip him over, like this? Admittedly, she was likely to tumble before he did.

Rustle in the reeds, crash of sound. More wild cats, she hopes! Yes- witnesses to the tearing of this throat. She'd impress them good- impress her good. A double take, then. One doe-eye, the other scabbed over. She was small the way Mary's kitty-friend was. Not dainty like them, though. Strong. The wolf glimpses it in deerish haunches, and she's aching for a bite. It wasn't about the size, then... It was the muscle; now easily it'd slip off the brazed bone... Attention is torn between the two of them, now. Wildcats they both were, and so she needed mind them both. That drawl of hers perks the hound's ears. Bloody Mary is inclined to listen. More than.

Apparently, this one need not prove its own worth. " Eh? " Who knew a glare could feel so pointed with one lonely eye? Her grin grows sharper beneath that scrutiny. Bloody Mary is keen. Keener than most think. She spots the steady rhythm of those claws. Was she itching- itching for some blood? She's sure she could spare her some. Generous, that's her.

Forty odd sets of claws... Interest shifts her whiskers, her ears, her eyes... An exhilarated breath steams hot from from her nostrils. Torn apart good is what she would be. A thing like her is not fool enough to think otherwise. Only a little stupid, this one. Raining down hellfire... " Called me demon, he did... " Beastly shoulders shake. She's so excited, it's hard to see anything but their eyes. " Make me your forty-one, puh-lease. " Was she their Leader? If not, maybe she should be.

A name. Her name. Hers is a mouthful. Not flattering, either. " I want somethin' ripe. Uh- A wildcat name. Like... Mealeater. " Yeah, that's her. Edmund is her guy's name, apparently. " What're they saying? Warrior. We'll do it together, yeah! Edmund? " Lucky her! the luckiest! " I kill good. Killed you guys somethin' before... Couldn't remember where. I did, though. A squirrel- hehe. "

THEY SAY I CAN'T KEEP MYSELF FROM TRYING ⬪ 𝒜 𝐵𝐼𝒯𝐸 𝒪𝐹 𝐸𝒱𝐸𝑅𝒴𝒯𝐻𝐼𝒩𝒢 𝐼𝒩 𝒮𝐼𝒢𝐻𝒯 / ( 10 . 15 )

• OOC.

• 
  BLOODY MARY ⬪ KITTYPET. SHE - HER - HERS. 24 MOONS.
  

  A dog-like woman. Large, with bulk in some places, and only lean muscle in others. Elegant at some angles, acutely strange looking at others. Has a longer, wolfish muzzle and gleaming dog teeth near-always on display due to an overbite. Skull presses insistent against her skin. Eyes are almost too - large, and not all sunken in her skull. Has large, tufted ears. Polydactyl, with a curved spine and recently-chopped tail.

​