Hidden Shadows

FUZZY
Fuzzy was moving gently through the foliage, stepping as carefully as she could to avoid the crunchy leafs peppering the forest floor below her feet. She has her eyes set on a pair of vole, rather plump ones at that. It was clear they had been eating and preparing for the upcoming bare leaf season. Just the thought send a chill through Fuzzy's pelt— or was that the breeze that had just swept through?

Wait, breeze?

Shit.

Fuzzy sprang from her hiding place, sprinting after her prey which were now running as fast as their little legs would carry them, hopping ivrr sticks and rocks that Fuzzy soon destroyed after in her chase.

If there was one thing Fuzzy was good at, isn't was running, so she soon found herself right on the voles tails, throwing herself forward and— oh fuck.

All movement stopped when Fuzzy went crashing right into a tree, the voles disappearing into their burrow at its base, squeaking along the way.

Were they laughing at her?

Comically, the red molly slid down and sat, sniffing a little as she brought a paw up to rub at her nose.

Ow...

JASPER
The tom had been watching. He had noticed a slight movement out of the corner of his eye and after carefully following behind it for a few moments, soon came to realise that it was a tail. A tail he didn’t recognise. With nothing else to do for the day (his favourite pass time of following around Purrella wasn’t possible while she was off doing “business”), so now Jasper was stuck with sneaking around following mundane rogues.

Or, well, at least he thought her mundane now. First impressions weren’t always right on the nose, but Jasper hadn’t been particularly impressed— She didn’t look like she could cause too much damage, and that was the sole detail that gave him the guts to very loudly and audibly let out a laugh in her direction. Ending with a snort, he jumped down from his position in the tree he’d been hiding in and approached the molly.

“Did you get taught how to hunt by a kit? I don’t think that could’ve been more horrendous.” He insulted, one side of his lip curling up in disdain. “I sure hope you’re not trying to look after yourself, otherwise you’ll certainly starve.” Jasper had the urge to roll his eyes in her direction, but fought it. He found when he did things like that… Well, let’s just say that his company didn’t stay around for very long.

FUZZY
A sudden burst of laughter made Fuzzy's fur stand on end, the striped red molly leaping out of her skin, turning mid air to face a stranger— another rogue from the smell of him— as she landed back on her feet, pulling the classic “scared cat, arched back” pose for a few moments as she stared at him, wide eyed.

A few fast heartbeats later and what he said would finally process and her fur would flatten— though only a little. His comments were harsh but... well, from what little she knew of other rogues, this could just be him showing concern. He was right. It was horrendous. She messed up.

A little nagging in the back of her brain tried to make itself known, but she quickly pushed it back, forcing herself to look this stranger in the eyes as she responded, clearly apprehensive but not wanting to be rude.

“Oh I— I didn't know someone was— someone was here. I'm— I'm sorry. It— it was a bit of a— a bit of a goof on my— my part.” She stuttered out, forcing a nervous smile on her maw, though she was clearly embarassed.

“I hope I didnt— I hope I didn't int— intrude or any— anything.”

She would feel awful if she unknowingly woke him or even was hunting in his territory. She would have to apologize more if he confirmed that this was the case.

JASPER
He blinked at her huge display of terror, not even taken aback by it— In actuality, he looked bored. Jasper had come to despise any public display of fear, a result of having to train himself to hide his own. As a clan cat, he hadn’t hesitated to make his fear or cowardice known, seemingly thriving off the attention it gave him (even if it was negative). But living life as a rogue meant you had to follow different rules. Adapt. He waited impatiently for the other rogue to get a grip.

Once her fur had finally settled, Jasper began to make his way towards her again, attempting to see if he recognised her scent at all. Nope. Definitely hadn’t come across her before. He hadn’t really known what to expect from her. The more she spoke (or, rather, stammered through her words), Jasper’s mood only increased. Oh, this would be fun…

“Oh no, sweetpea. You didn’t intrude on me.” He simpered, voice positively purring. His expression changed from pure glee, to sombreness, to slight fear. Jasper’s voice became a whisper as he began looking around anxiously. “I’m not the one you should worry about…” He explained, bringing forth all his drama skills he’d perfected over the moons, “But the murderer who lives around here— Well, let’s just say they wouldn’t be very happy to hear your incessant noise while crashing through the place.”

His eyes flew back to her, trying to keep his act up but feeling the giddiness inside his chest. From her previous reactions, she would certainly play her part well.

FUZZY
Oh, good, he seemed a..little nice, actually.

Her face instinctively matched his own change to fear as he spoke, her ears twitching back and her eyes growing wide, looking around them quickly, her fur beginning to ruffle again.

“A mur— murderer??...” Around here?

She swallowed hard, looking back towards the way she'd come. She would need to tell Spring so they could get a move on again— they were already escaping bad cats but stumbling into a murderers territory? She shuddered at the though, turning her fearful attention back onto the other cat, her tail slowly coiling around one of her own back legs, her voice barely above a whisper.

“D-d-d-do you kn-know whe—where th-they are? Wh-who are they— I mean— what—what do they look like? S-so I know who t-to av-avoid...if-if it's okay t-to ask....” she stammered out, her mouth feeling dry, as if it were full of cobwebs. She was practically shaking in her fur!

JASPER
She’d fallen right into his trap.

His tongue swiped across a fang, like he was getting ready to pounce onto a particularly juicy mouse. But he kept himself under control. Don’t mess up now.

Jasper nodded his head like he was afraid to confirm the news, his face crestfallen. ‘Oh, how in danger they were’ he wanted his expression to say, like he couldn’t bear putting it into words. His tail lifted up and softly wrapped around her shoulders, like he was trying to comfort her. Really he was just holding her in place… He didn’t want her to scare off just yet.

“Yes, a true murderer. It’s said that they have a taste for blood, and don’t kill out of necessity… But because they lavish in it.” His words were soft, despite the horrible picture of violence they were painting. Jasper watched, absolutely entertained by how she was processing this— It was exactly as he wanted it. Perfect.

Her question came at the right time. He pinned his ears back and held in the laugh that threatened to burst at any minute, settling instead for a short, dry chuckle. “Me? Know where a being like that is? You flatter me, pumpkin.” He stepped back, separating himself as he circled her, edging on his exaggerated tale.

“No one can predict where they’ll show up next. They hide in the shadows, waiting for their next victim… Attacking them when their guard is down.” Jasper paused now, looking at her inquisitively. “But you don’t have anything to distract your attention now, my dear? A… Loved one, perhaps?” 

Another pause.

“Someone you’d like to protect?”

FUZZY
It was becoming more obvious that Fuzzy was terrified, her legs quivering more as the tom drew closer, draping his tail over her back. Though meant to be comforting, her stomach was doing cartwheels and alarm bells were beginning to ring in her ears. Her eyes, wide with fear began to glance from the tom, to the area around them as he spoke.

She didn't like how he was using pet names with her. He didn't like how comfortable he was touching herm she didn't even know his name. She swallowed hard, her breath quickening as she tried to play it cool— as cool as she could manage, that is.

She ducked her head and backed up from under him, putting a little space between them.

Her expression definitely betrayed her as he mentioned having a loved one to protect, her ears pinning to her skull and her eyes flitting back towards the way she'd come from, her heart pounding in her chest. Spring…

“N-no, not-not at a-all, sh-sh-sharp as ev-ever... mis-mister... uh...uh..I'm-i'm sorry I didn't cat-catch your na-name..?” she tried to turn the conversation, hoping to distract him instead as she looked for a quick way out, realizing with a plummeting feeling in her chest that they'd gotten switched around, and she would likely have to run past him to flee and find Spring again.

JASPER
As amusing as it had been but a moment ago, Jasper was once again growing bored. Come onnn, at least try and act like this wasn’t affecting you as much as it was. The tom had half a mind to just leave it there, especially since she was slowly growing more and more irritating. Even Jasper hadn’t been as cowardly as this and that was saying something. He couldn’t fight the huff that escaped him as his patience wore thin.

She wasn’t playing along anymore and that was irritating.

That is, until her face flashed with fear at the mention of a loved one. Interesting.

His amusement was back as his toy was once again fun to play with. Jasper had noticed the space that the molly had put between them and he threw a satisfied grin in her direction. For someone who was trying to pretend like everything was going fine, she was sure like the very opposite. His eyes flitted over to where hers as gone, half expecting whoever she was thinking about to be hiding behind the bushes. If they were… Well, Jasper wouldn’t be keeping them company for very long.

“Have somewhere to be?” He asked mockingly sweet, like the taste of honey would be bitter on his tongue. “Someone to check on?” Jasper had stopped playing nice now, outright insulting her anxiety at this point. He wanted her to run away now so he could nap.

At her question, he rolled her eyes. “Gobbledygook.” The tom answered simply. Was she stupid? Of course he wasn’t going to give her his name. Especially his new one. If she wanted to learn it, she’d have to do the work. Simple as that.

He noticed her exit was blocked… But he didn’t care. She was worse than snail slime now. Jasper flashed his tail at her, whipping it around. With a snarl, he gestured towards the opening in the trees. “Just go.” He barked. Good riddance to this pile of useless fluff.

FUZZY
The actions, the gestures and expressions reminded Fuzzy far too much of a few of her bullies from her last one snake clan. Her throat was dry and her claws digging into the ground below as the unknown tom spoke sinisterly to her. She made a fragile attempt at denial in the form of shaking her head when he mentioned her having somewhere to be or someone to check on, her fearful eyes trained on him, ready to zip away the moment he made an agressive move in her direction.

Luckily she didn't have to wait long, the tom moved and snarled at her to go and she wasn't going to stick around to let him change his mind.

Kicking up dirt and dust, Fuzzy ZOOMED past Jasper, tears welling up in her eyes as she sprinted, feeling as if she were flying through the air as she zipped and zagged through the trees and rocks, aiming to make her trail unclear.

She needed to get back to Spring.