Open don't be shy, crocodile! [ intro ]

[smudge]

when things are big
that should be small

.

Smudge liked to creep off by herself whenever one of the older mousers wasn't keeping an eye on her. To be honest, she couldn't help it. While the barn was warm, with all its occupants it often felt stuffy to her. The yard outside was a little better, but right now there were other kits playing out there, and the former stray still didn't know them very well. Deciding not to join today, much like she had yesterday, and possibly also the day before that... she instead skulked off on tiptoe, away from the main thoroughfare of the barn and toward the fence.

She was sniffing around when something curious caught her eye. A tuft of fur. It blew in the breeze, poking out from behind a heap of twoleg junk covered by a tarp. She got a little closer, staring at it - at how soft and cottony looking it was. It almost seemed a bit like it could belong to a rabbit. A rabbit hiding behind the heap, with just its fluffy rear sticking out... a rabbit that hadn't noticed her yet.

Belly rumbling, the patchy molly snuck over. She used the bulky tarp as cover so her prey wouldn't see her creeping up on it. With every mouse-length she gained, she felt more and more sure. By the time she'd gotten close enough to pounce, she was convinced. Yes. It was definitely a rabbit.

She sprang.

The clump of fur didn't suddenly shoot out from under her paws in a flurry, like most of the prey in her hunts. Breaking into a toothy grin, she almost couldn't believe it. She'd gotten it!

Trying not to let her excitement get the better of her, she levered weight onto her forepaws to make sure she pinned it down properly. It felt soft and just a little solid under them, mostly fur. Something was confusing though. Instead of trying to escape, it lay more limply in her grasp than she thought it would. She was fairly big for her age, even if she was skinny, but even a smallish rabbit should still be hard for her to hold on to, shouldn't it? Also, why was its tail so long?

Smudge glanced up. She locked gazes then with the cat (not rabbit) she'd just pounced on, eyes going round.

Frozen like that, the kit stared at them - wondering if maybe, possibly, she could turn into dust somehow and simply blow away - forgetting her claws were still fixed in the end of their tail.

five moons

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former stray

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patchy tortie

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bio

 

[Dandelion]

DANDELION
██████████

WHEN WE WALKED IN FIELDS OF GOLD ━━━━━━━━━━━

Finding a good place to nap where the wandering barn kits couldn't trample him in his sleep was difficult - he could go up to the loft where he and his siblings slept together but those little varmints were learning to climb now and even the high places weren't safe anymore from nosy kittens shuffling around and getting into everything. There were plenty of places to rest if you were willing to crawl under something, the dark and damp shadows and musty dirt smell kept the kits from being too adventurous but then you missed out on some prime sunbathing time. The fields were gold and shimmering and the fiery ball above them was in just the perfect position to cast this side of the barn in a nice warm glow and he wasn't about to lose excellent napping conditions by crawling under the porch. Dandelion had found a spot a little out of the way behind an old broken down tractor draped in tarp, hidden from big curious kitten eyes and facing the field where he caught the direct slope of the sunshine rays over his chocolate and cream colored pelt. It was not a full sleep but a gentle doze, a content hum escaping him as he splayed out on his side belly to the sun and tail lazily thumping the ground up and down. One brown ear swiveled at the gentle and almost inaudible sound of tiny paws and he wanted to sigh at the realization he'd been found out - yet they weren't making a gun for him immediately. Another shuffle, even more quiet, and he realized with some amusement he was being hunted. Dandelion's nose twitched as he swallowed down a chuckle, felt the impact of a small furred form colliding with his haunches and he slowly lifted his head to peer back at the tiny mite. Ah, the new kitten. He'd seen her brought in, but hadn't given it much thought. Cats came and went from the barn frequently and he only really bothered remembering names if they stuck around, he was terrible with names.

His mismatched eyes gleamed with an amused mirth, meadow green and wheat gold eyeing the kitten with his ever present lopsided smile; "Ye done did gave me a fright there, lil miss." His tail twitched playfully under her paw, the earthen appendage flicking up and down as it wriggled decisively. "Thought ah was bein' jumped by one of them there wild wood cats!" Dandelion didn't believe that, not really, but the kit's wide eyes made him want to give her a bit of a confidence boost even with the mistaken identity of her hunting efforts. Smudge is fortunate she chose such passive and laidback prey, he imagines if she had jumped on Cold the dark tabby would've gotten snippy and scared her something fierce.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ You can tell the sun in his jealous sky.

Dandelion

— Future WindClanner (Barncat)
— He/Him
"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
— Chocolate mink w/one green eye & one gold eye.
#feb43a

 

[peony]

Much like Smudge, Peony favors the freedom of the hills — though he doubts she knows they share that mindset. The two of them hadn't really spoken before, and if it all depends on strictly Peony, they never will. They must be around the same age, and here due to similar fates. There is no obvious caretaker trailing after the tuxedo. Peony assumes she just finds comfort in numbers.

He doesn't mean for their paths to meet today. It is merely his desire to keep himself in shape and his eyes fixated on opportunities that takes him further from the barn, and Smudge- well, she is either practicing her hunting moves, or entirely convinced that a cat tail is similar to prey. His muzzle wrinkles at the Twoleg clutter; anything coming from them is disgusting, if you ask him. They could at least keep their trash away from the sun-kissed fields. Peony stays near as curiosity gets the better of him, and amusement grabs him when Smudge finds success... in catching Dandelion.

Peony disregards the comment about wild wood cats; the rumor about their existence goes around constantly, but he can't really take it seriously. Just sounds like a big group of cats. By that definition, everybody back home could be deemed wild wood cats, too... just maybe renamed to wild barn cats.

Dandelion is that outside force that leads Peony to actually talk to Smudge.

"Pretty good hunting technique there,"

he says in lieu of a hello, finally revealing himself to the pair. Then, his eyes travel down, right where sharp claws still fasten themselves in cotton-soft fur.

"You're... very persistent."