Through the Grapevine [Closed; Thunder]

With his mind no longer occupied by the hunt, and the certainty that he was safe, it was easy for his thoughts to drift away. The present situation was not a pleasant one to dwell on, however heavily it hung upon the tribe, and so, as was often the case now, his mind turned to earlier, easier, and above all brighter times. The cave was very much in sight, and yet as his paws carried him towards its embrace he was seeing, not its waiting opening, but the memory playing out before his eyes. He was still observing a leaf-bare night, but it was overlaid by a soft fall of phantom snow—and he was not alone. A brother pranced in front of him, delighted by the snowfall and the prize he bore, and somewhere beside him a rumbled laugh echoed from a second remembered form. It was a moment from seasons earlier, and Black half-smiled as it rolled across him; as he savoured the recalled joy—

And pausing as his ears flickered, alerting him to some half-heard sound and returning him to the present once more.

For a moment, he wondered if it were prey, and he stood still as the rocks around him as he strained to hear more. But it was nothing so small—he needed only a few short moments to discern that—so with a muffled sigh he pressed on once more. The noise had come from nearer the cave—almost certainly a cat—so though he was vaguely surprised to find another heading out so late he was, at least, prepared for their appearance – their sudden call. Only when he caught their words and their tone did he stop once more, recognising the challenge they bore.

He had been seen, but not recognised. Black hesitated a moment at that, aware how quickly such matters could turn…and needing a moment to place the voice besides. His distance from the tribe made it difficult, at times, to draw the right names from his mind—especially now, with everyone underfed: no one looking themselves—and for a brief uneasy stretch he had to let the silence reside. Then, thankfully, something fell into its rightful place, and a murmured “…Thunder Cloud,” made its escape around the prey in his jaws.

Just saying the name merely solidified the cat’s identity in his mind—not that he could profess to know the tom.

“You can relax,” he spoke quietly – and not just because of the precious scrawny burden he bore. He had no desire to wake their tribe-mates nor to antagonise the cat before him, and so his voice came low and soft: unconsciously soothing as he took a few steps forwards through the snow. “I’m no threat.”

To his silent relief, his quiet words proved enough to diffuse the situation, calming the other tom at once. It was as well, really, for he’d not missed how his counterpart had been holding himself: was half-certain that it would have taken a relatively small push to make the cat lash out with tooth and claw. Thunder Cloud was—if he remembered rightly—a fighter, after all, and over-guardedness at night was not out of the norm.

But it didn’t come to that, and Black relaxed as he saw the tension leave his counterpart’s form; as his sharp ears caught the words that followed on. It was no more than his own name, at first, but the recognition was enough to tell him that there was no need to worry a moment more. He padded still nearer at that, drawing within comfortable distance for quiet talk – and uttering a simple “no need for apology. I blend well with the dark.” as he paused once more.

The snows of leafbare were not kind to black cats…but the nights of every season were.

‘I came to do the same thing, but don’t seem to have quite as much skill as you.’

It was a simple phrase, but all the same it drew out a brief and startled huff of amusement: then a rebuttal of that very same claim. “These were luck, mostly—and I’m headed back to the cave."


Ooc: No need to apologise for that! I'm honestly more accustomed to posts without fancy tables than those with them anyway.

His dismissal of the tom’s apology brought quite the change, and Black tilted his head—just a little—as he spied that same shift. Only a moment before Thunder Cloud had seemed to be teetering on the brink of aggression, but now he was as cheerful and bright as could be, and only growing brighter. Black wasn’t too sure how to respond to that—he’d perhaps grown a little rusty at such interaction—so he kept quiet until a false frown spread across his counterpart’s face.

The red tom’s words stirred him immediately, then, and he shifted a little awkwardly as a second, more insistent compliment was thrown his way. There were any number of good hunters in the clan, and his catches had played heavy reliance on luck – and he couldn’t quite help but let a “you’re kind of just proving my point,” fall as Thunder Cloud’s praise found its end. It was true that he’d searched long and hard to find the right place, but ultimately it had been chance that had let him route his two catches from the otherwise empty snow-bound wastes. He could just as easily have chosen the wrong spot, after all – or been there too early or late.

He didn’t get much change to elaborate on those same points, however. His counterpart had already focused in on his other words, and suddenly he found himself faced with a genuine frown; another shift from the attitude held mere heartbeats before. Thunder Cloud was apparently as changeable as the weather—rather apt, given his name—and Black was quieted by the shift – and the question that came so quickly in its wake. For a moment he hesitated, their proximity to the camp making company seem unnecessary, and the question itself seeming a little unusual, to him, besides. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d travelled with anyone other than his siblings or his one-time mentor, and he’d largely been avoiding the company of non-kin for moons. It was simply easier. Let him avoid more awkward situations.

But at the same time it was a reasonable request, and Black couldn’t see any true harm in accepting it, even if the company of others had grown, for the most part, uncomfortable. It was for that reason that he finally gave a shallow nod to the other tom, backing it with a simple “I suppose.”

Ooc: Sounds good!

Changeable as the weather indeed. To Black’s surprise, Thunder Cloud’s apparent disappointment dissolved as soon as he gave his answer—perhaps even before that—and his acceptance was greeted was a short over-eager cry. It half-startled the tom, being so loud in the quiet night—so unexpected, too—and he was momentarily glad that his counterpart had already turned away from his form. That movement—his slightly premature start for the cave—masked Black’s own jump from his view, and thus allowed him to save a little face.

This encounter was awkward enough without him embarrassing himself. Blackest Shadow of the Night simply wasn’t used to the company of his tribe-mates, and he was glad for the brief space his counterpart’s quick start happened to toss his way. It gave him a moment to collect himself—partially adjust to the change—and when he finally stirred his own paws he was perhaps a little readier to deal with his energetic companion’s frame. Perhaps.

Or perhaps not. In truth he wasn’t entirely sure, and he quickly began to feel a little…overwhelmed as the other tom’s chatter spilled across the previously silent night. It made quite the difference from what had become his norm, but since Black had no mind to interject and there wasn’t room for response it was relatively easy simply to let him talk. It wasn’t as if there was any harm in it, over-eager though it was—and he had to admit that it was technically good to see some lingering cheer within their darkened world—

‘—something different than you’re doing now?’

“…Ah—” Black wrinkled his nose at his own pathetic response; cast within his mind for the rest of the talk: the start of the question Thunder Cloud had launched. He was ashamed to realise that he’d partially lost track of what the other cat had been saying, and that left him trying to formulate an answer from fragmented talk.

“…No. I don’t think so.”

His response was a little lame, built as it was on only fragments of his counterpart’s chatter, but it seemed to do the job. Thunder Cloud appeared to be satisfied by it, at least, and he was soon chattering on as cheerfully as before: oblivious to Black’s momentary confusion and pause. There was something to be thankful for, in that, and Black was indeed thankful – not to mention much more attentive to these newest words. He might have gotten away with his lack of attention before, but he doubted he’d be so a second time…and he’d no wish to be so rude.

Thankfully, it wasn’t exactly uninteresting talk: merely of a volume greater than the norm. That small fact—the interest of it—made it a little easier for him to track the words the flowed around his form, and as he listened to the cascade he began to piece together what he had missed before. He would never know the full picture, of course, but at least he could have a better idea of what it was Thunder Cloud talked.

“There’s a certain logic to that,” he interjected quietly, a little unsure whether the response would even be heard: uncertain, too, whether it mattered at all. At least he was making an attempt, right? And he had to admit that there was some sense in what the tom said, for most cats were indeed limited to one or other world; never given a true chance to try their paw elsewhere. It was almost sad, in a way, to think that some of their tribe might have left their full potential undiscovered simply through choosing the wrong course.

“I am not sure I would want to be a guard, noble though the job is—”

His words were more self-directed musing than anything else, but they petered off as Thunder Cloud turned abruptly to face him, forcing him to still his paws. That movement and the tom’s question quickly distracted from his own thoughts, and for a moment he was quiet once more, head quirked at the puzzle of this newest change. But there was really only one answer to give, and he soon spoke up anew, a trace of bewilderment in his voice. “There was a meeting?”