the smell of adventure {pumpkin}

[bliss]

x - - - Flaunt my stuff, i'll show you what I got !

Excitement. Anxiety of the unknown. Adventure waiting out there...somewhere. These emotions, contradicting, sparked through his very core. Nothing could and would stop him from the start-off to his expedition. Like every good explorer, a meal would be a practical decision before the start. Famished with deep gurgles rumbling through his belly, the lean tabby apprentice slunk up to the prey pile, tip-toeing on his paws with each delicate step. He was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, though his odd, sneaky behavior was suspicious enough. The low, guttural sounds emitted once more, and Echopaw shot a dark look at his stomach, as if the organ had a mind of its own.

"Oh shut up, will you? I'm getting food right now," the tom muttered to himself and gazed back up at the pile. His pale maize eyes scanned this way and that, surveying each piece of game. The apprentice settled for a nice plump mouse which he hastily nitpicked out of the pile to devour. Of course, he was no mousebrain; he had checked to make sure the elders and queens had eaten before his own meal. Pearl fangs sunk into the juicy meat and Echopaw took rapid bites, letting out content noises in approval. His stomach had settled well for the delicious feast as the carcass of the mouse, with meager bits of food left, was all that remained. Echopaw let out a blissful sigh and cleaned his petite paws before running his tongue over his chest fur. He hadn't bothered to clean the rest of himself as the call of adventure was waiting. Besides, he was going to get dirty anyway.

A satisfying meal to satiate himself, all that was left was to head off into the wild! Paws urged to flee from camp, but the apprentice casually padded out, subtly slipping through a few brushes. Eyes glanced back, hoping that no one had suspected such a thing, and with a satisfied grin, he let his paws roam free. Nimble feet slipped this way and that, guiding the wiry tom around thick roots of trees. He leaped, sprinted, pranced, whatever else he could do on his paws, startling the forest to life. Birds flapped above him, nested in the trees, calling in alarm as the grass and leaves crunched under him. In such fervor and anticipation, the tom let out a delighted laugh, alarming the game that roamed about.

He was free. Freedom gripped in his claws and he had no intention of letting go of his temporary joy.

Echopaw padded across the vast land of his clan. Trees were scattered with thick brushes and undergrowth, hiding prey, but the tom could easily smell them out. Not one to brag (who was he kidding?) but he had an acute sense of smell. Eventually as he got tired of his short bursts of energy which he wasted by running, the apprentice ended up crossing borders of TempestClan. Scents were new, lingering with faded smells of unknown creatures that lurked by. Everything seemed so...foreign to him now. A rather foul smell that Echopaw recognized immediately drifted in the air, and as he continued to go forward, the scent only grew stronger. Scrunching his face, the tom batted his paw over his nose, frowning.

"Ugh. Kittypets." Something as trivial as the stench of a kittypet couldn't and wouldn't stop him from his journey. But it was until a rather startling realization dawned upon the tom as he looked around his settings and found nothing of the sort to be familiar. At all.

Great StarClan, was he lost?! Oh no, this great tom couldn't have been lost! No, it was just a...a detour. Right. Just a detour.

"What a fine way to start a journey," Echopaw grumbled sarcastically and swatted himself over the ear, imagining it as a cuff that he usually was so acquainted with.

[LYNX ♥]

Ohh, yes. The though was a silent one, but the loud, two-leg monster-like purrs were quite the opposite, and she could hear them echoed in the tall, furless creature's laugh. Her long, ivory whickers pressed involentarily forward into a rather smug, satisfied expression which warped across her broad, youthful visage as she rocked back and forth with the force of her two-leg's long, nimble fingers digging gently into the thick fur along the nape of her neck - oh, now moving along her jaw. Pumpkin inclined her head, smirking gratefully as the human roughly scratched at her chin, an itch that could so rarely be scratched by herself. Oh, how did the mangy wildcats survive? Life without the bowls of thick cream, nibbles of exotic bird meat and constant showering of affection would be complete and utter hell! Still, the young feline grew bored of her human's fawning, and snapped playfully at the finger that had been to eager to pat and caress her. The two-leg tapped it - with more force than necessary - upon the blue-gray bridge of her nose and stood up, looming over the little cat, "Hey!" She meowed indignantly, lashing her plume-like tail once, twice. No no no, retaliation simply wouldn't do.
Pumpkin blinked her large, round eyes and stood, grappling at the soft carpet underpaw when she stretched her long body, then pranced out of reach from the two-leg. Her silken gray frame careened along the tile flooring as she ran, but with her feather-light gait and some ten moons of practice, she hadn't any trouble regaining her balance and delicately dashing through the open sliding door into the yard. Her home was beautiful, even by feline terms. A small, obsidian pond occupied one corner of the yard, where small fish that matched the color of her eyes splashed about - difficult to catch, but a delight to watch! The young female laughed at the thought. Oh fish! She loved them. Little evergreens and shrubbery were placed along the tall wooden fence, and the entire area was studded with rainbow-hued flowers which lined the small walkway, winding through the yard.
Pumpkin followed this now, her small blue paws padding softly upon the bricks and moss, a pleased - if mischievious - grin danced across her features while her orange gaze flickered happily. Yes! Into the forest she would go! Perhaps even catch a mouse, and present it to her two-legs in the evening, for they would be so pleased, as per usual. Though Pumpkin didn't often admit to other cats, she liked when her pets were happy. In fact, she simply liked when everyone was happy. Up she bounded, darting gracefully between two little pines onto the fence, where she precariusly teetered, then gained balance and promptly ran along on her tip-toes. The forest was in veiw, as always, and she gazed longingly after it. She could always look forward to the harsh wilderness, where predators could leap out and attack her at any moment! The thrill of it sent a shiver rippling along her spine, and her tail lashed as result while she departed from the fence and dashed along the grassy field all of the way and into the birch grove.
Suddenly, that scent hit her, as it always did, on this day the little kittypet sensed it so much stronger than ever before. The scent of frogs and dead grass mixed with a nasty odor that reminded her of the one evening that a skunk had passed through her two-legs' garden. Perhaps... She pondered to herself, squinting into the brush-filled woodland, where inanimate objects seems to leap out at her with ever tenative step she took into its clutches. Perhaps she had company! "Hello?" Pumpkin called, rather loudly, into the trees while dragging out the last vowel into a rather comical holler. "What a fine way to start a journey." Pumpkin gasped allowed, starting at the sound of a feline voice very, very close to her location in the grassy woods. Instead of being frightened, or even cautious, the young she-cat simply pushed quickly through the bushes and emerged into the sun-dappled clearing, where she found herself face-to-face with another cat, surely no older than herself! "Well hi there, kitty-cat!" She purred rather dazedly, taking in his rugged appearance with amusement on her maw.

[bliss]

x - - - Flaunt my stuff, i'll show you what I got !


Ears pricked in alarm at a sudden noise utterly close by him, which he was certain was a cat. The tom tensed, soft yellow eyes gleaming in anxiety and fear. Oh StarClan, please don't let it be some blood-thirsty cat who would come and claw his ears off! But then again, the voice he heard didn't belong to a twisted psychotic cat. Well cross of rogues in his list! That only left kittypets for him and Echopaw furrowed his brows, glaring.

"O-hooo no! I'm not letting some fat, mousebrained kittypet claw my fur off!" He paused. "....Not that I would let them!" His claws unsheathed between his toes and he dug through the mossy ground, pawing at it in irritation. The sable stripes and hazelnut fur along his back bristled, prickling along the spine as he heard rustles.

"Well hi there, kitty-cat!" Echopaw yowled in surprise and scrambled back, his paws stepping over who knew where, except when he felt a sharp pain in the regions lower of him, the tom knew instantly that he had foolishly tread on his own tail...which made him topple slightly over his side.

What a great first impression.

Heart slowly descended down to its usual pace and he hastily scrambled back up, sticking his chest out and acting as if he had not made a fool of himself. The apprentice took a first good look at the cat that had...slightly startled him out of his fur. No scaring of the sort.

The cat in front of him was well...he hated to admit it, but sort of pretty. Sort of. He was instantly captivated by her eyes and the tom grew silent for a moment, just simply staring. Oh wait, this was a kittypet! The tom jumped back, knocked out of his stupor and he let out a menacing hiss, lips drawn back to show his glinting teeth. His matted pelt was fluffed up around all edges of his body, his slightly stinging tail drawn up high. But the foul stench, a much greater predator, invaded his senses, making his eyes tear up at the edges just a tad bit. Echopaw couldn't handle it any more as he let out a groan and dropped his head to the ground, smothering his nose with his paws; claws quickly retracted.

"Great StarClan, what did you eat?!" he moaned as if wounded and burrowed his head deeper against the ground. He smacked his lips, feeling the scent creep into his mouth.
"Well, great! Now I can taste it!" His eyes darted up to the kittypet, narrowed into a defiant glare.

[LYNX ♥]

She couldn't stifle the giggle that exploded from her very chest - but of course, she hadn't tried very hard to either. What a clumsy fellow! The young housecat wasn't entirely certain what he thought he was doing, stumbling all over himself like that, but she supposed he was probably just shocked over her presense - maybe she even radiated a light that only country bumpkins like himself could see, blinding him and causing the wild tom to tread upon his own tail. After all, by the way he had reacted, Pumpkin guessed he wasn't very used to cats like her - perhaps not even used to cats in general. "Wow!" She finally purred, prancing closer several paces, "Aren't you just the cutes-" His outright offense at her scent brought a gasp tumbling forth from her delicate maw which now gaped helplessly. How could a little tom who probably fed on dog dung to survive able to insult her lovely smell? Pumpkin tried not to be smug, but she couldn't lie and pretend that she didn't absolutely gush the odor of roses and perfume, and what cat couldn't appreciate that?
Pumpkin didn't know, but she did manage an indignant snap at the tom after he had so profoundly insulted her lovely scent. "That, sir, is no way to talk to a lady!" Her bruised pride was evident in the way she erected her back and puffed her furry gray chest into the open so that it nearly juttered past her inclined chin. Halfheartedly, the small gray female took a light swipe at the tom's almost-buried head, "Stop that, you great buffoon!" She added, as if to emphasize her weak blow. "You're just embarrassing youself," Pumpkin added while rolling her brilliant orange eyes, drawing her petite frame into a rather dignified pose that including the false pretense of grooming herself whilst glaring out at the newcomer from narrowed eyes.
"And by the way, I've just finished a perfectly respectable meal of kibble and sausage."

[bliss]

Echopaw scowled as he felt the light bat on top of his crown. But then again, what the kittypet had said was right. He did look ridiculous. His paws slowly pried off his half-buried nose and he lifted his head, shaking away the scraps of moss and leaves strewn on his small head. He pointed his noise away haughtily and shook off the bits of debris on his striped flank before swiping a damp paw over his ear. The tom stuck his chest out as well, a bit too far as the apprentice looked rigid and uncomfortable with paws sticking out with a small, matted chest. But of course, Echopaw thought he had the most intimidating pose ever, and he matched this poise with narrowed yellow eyes, eying the kittypet up and down.

"Hah! You, a lady?" he snorted. "You're nothing but a kittypet." The tom frowned, brows scrunched in suspicion; he sported a look as if the she-cat in front of him declared that she was a hedgehog who could fly. Nah, that would have been cool.
"Well...whatever this....ki...kibble, anyway! Whatever you're eating, maybe you should cut back on it," he grumbled lowly, waving his paw in front of his nose. Although he had to admit, the smell wasn't that bad anymore. It was on the borderline of a dead rat and his brother's excess gas when he ate that stale thrush. He was adjusting to it...that showed just how great he was.
"Anyway, what's a kittypet like you doing out here? Shouldn't you be...I dunno, trailing around your Twoleg at their every beck and call?"

[[-snerk- we got a narcissist on the loose xD. Ah, short reply. Sorry!]]

[LYNX ♥]

Her facade of superiority was shattered in an instant as the young female observed her new aquaintence try and mimick a similar pose and she couldn't hold in the extraordinarily sonant peal of giggles. Her chest deflated with the gush of air that poured from her maw with the laughter and her head bent so that her narrow, fur-ridged shoulder blades jutted from her spine quite awkwardly while she fought to contain her amusement, "Maybe you just always look silly!" She crowed, straightening once more to grin fully into his wild-looking face, her own sunset gaze glittering brightly. ,"And anyway," Pumpkin went on, flicking her feathery tail nonchalantly, "you wouldn't know a lady if she waved her tail in your face." She shrugged, she was over his insults. "And you're saying that only wild ruffians like your kind can be ladies? That's bizarre! I'd say kittypets are the only ladies, sir!" Her voice rose dramatically in pitch as she brought her statement to a close. That would show him!
Still, she couldn't keep in the second gush of titters as he fumbled over the name of her meal, and she eyed him with something like adoration in her vivid gaze. What a cute little fellow! "If you ate it, you'd love it. It can't compare to the sopping, bloody mess that dead animals make. Ugh!" Pumpkin let a little shudder run through her petite frame, "That's just gross. I only catch those for fun." The young female then shook her head with enough force that the movement continued through her body to the tip of her long, silken tail. Oh no, no, he had it all wrong! It wasn't the two-legs that owned her, it was she that owned them. The gray she-cat rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. "Just goes to show how ignorant you wildcats are," Her sigh was a punctuation to her dreary tone, but she nstantly piped up once more, "One day you'll understand, silly kitty! Hey, what's your name anyway?"



dkfhlkhgl sorry this is so delayed!