Closed The Colony and i've got arrogance down to a science [private]

This tag is specifically for The Colony prior to the clans forming. It can still be used for any backwritten plots!
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AND I AM SORRY MY CONSCIENCE CALLED IN SICK AGAIN


OOC- all opinions are IC only!! Wolf is NOT a nice cat. Trigger Warnings for mentions of violence, death, and murder!! @Petal

There were many lessons life had taught the chimera, most of them harsh, but all of them useful when it came to survival. And one of those golden rules he'd been following since he was just a kit was the law of opportunity. When it presented itself, you took it and you didn't feel bad about it afterwards.

And so, when the mottled tom had left camp to hunt that day, walking his usual path toward the border where the lands just beyond were teeming with leafbare prey, he'd considered his options carefully. For here was an opportunity he might not be afforded again.

Petal was a shecat he'd often seen in camp, lazing about and expecting others to bring her a free meal. He couldn't imagine what she was doing all the way out here with nobody to wait on her hand and foot, but he had his suspicions. She didn't seem like the sort who was independent enough to go hunt the far lands and return. Abandoning the clan, then?

It was an idea he'd thrown around himself quite a bit, and it would have been hypocritical of him to spite her for that alone. Luckily though, she was also guilty of the biggest offense there was in his eyes- being useless. In the race for survival, there was no room for a cat that wouldn't contribute, for a shecat who just sat around all day expecting everyone else to take care of her. What good would her kits be, when they grew up to mimic her?

Useless. And as he slipped from the shadows to quietly join her on the trail, he felt no guilt for what he intended to do.

"Bit late for a walk, isn't it?" he asked, stepping onto the trail in front of her, blocking her path. "Shouldn't you be in camp, in a nice warm nest?" That someone else built for you? he thought darkly, wondering how many of the colonies resources had gone to cats like this one. Was she even a cat in his eyes? Or just some annoying thing taking up the space and air the rest of them needed?

loner/future shadowclan - male - a large, monochrome chimera with mismatched eyes and several scars
 

It was finally time.

Petal had come to the Colony a few moons back—mostly out of curiosity, rather than an innate need or desperation like other cats. She had a warm Twoleg nest she could return to if she wanted, after all, but she just couldn't shake the marvel of it: a group of cats, helping each other just because they happened to be part of the same group. Or at least, that's what she'd interpreted out of the strange rumors other kittypets were spreading. Was it really true?

Petal had learned directly that yes, it was—they caught prey for each other, they taught each other, they cared for each other. It was utterly bizarre, difficult to wrap her head around, but she loved it—not having to wait for a meal, being able to chatter up a storm to someone who could actually understand her, her well-being cared for just because she was there, part of this strange group. It was almost like a dream.

But all dreams end someday—coldly, cruelly, like the harsh weather of leaf-bare. As soon as the chill had settled in, the warmth of Petal's time here had practically vanished. Prey was incredibly scarce, other cats seemed too irritable to chat (for good reason, she noted plainly), and no one was too concerned over her when they had their own mouths to feed. And so, it was time. She was going to leave—return back to the warmth and comfort of her Twolegs, away from this strange group and strange land that had suddenly turned as bitter as the winds.

Petal was nearing the border when a dark shape suddenly cut her off, huge and imposing. She jolted away in surprise, looking up and easily recognizing Wolf; his mismatched eyes glinted in the moonlight, glaring down at her in suspicion. She was able to swallow down her scoff, but she couldn't quite stop her tail from twitching in obvious irritation, the fur along her spine prickling. Of course it would be Wolf—she could always sense his distaste for her from miles away. Why here, why now, when I'm so close to leaving?

"I suppose," Petal meowed back, forcing her fur to lie back down flat. "But I was feeling a little restless and couldn't sleep. Am I not allowed to take a walk?" There was an edge to her voice no matter how hard she tried to hide it, and she mentally berated herself for it, but—just this one interaction. Get him to leave you alone, and you're home free.


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