home ;; now that we're coming && h o m e

[SHADE. :D]

They were home. Home at last. Out of danger, stupid, foolish danger which they had brought upon themselves. But that was not important now. It was only important that they were home, alive, together. Spectre trotted into the cool shade of her cave, heaving a sigh of relief. She glanced over her snowy shoulder to be sure that Cursico was still there, before snatching a pigeon from the kill pile and beginning to eat it.

[cursico]

Cursico mewed with every step he took. Kinda like a squeaky toy. Step, meow, step, meow... And so forth, why he did it? He was using it as a purring sibsitute, and simply because he liked it. He arrived wuite a bit later than Spectre, being a lot slower in his rambling walk and constant noise. Perhaps he should have feared some sort of predators, perhaps he should have watched out for Clearpool, just in case his paw had caught her.
But he really didn't care. Upon arriving he nodded pleasantly at the pigeon and promptly curled into a ball.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre looked up at her companion, slightly confused. She finished the pigeon with a last swallow, before licking her lips. The white loner felt exhausted after the days events but knew that she should groom herself before sleeping. Otherwise in the morning her fur would be matted into impossible clumps. Spectre sat, beginning to draw her tongue over the dorty white fur. After she had finished this, her fur gleamed like virgin snow, but she felt more tired than ever. The she-cat curled up beside Cursico, shutting her eyes. After a moment's happiness, when she revelled in the feeling of her friend's warm fur against her's, sleep claimed her.

[cursico]

Cursico curlled up closer to Spectre. Not waking, just instincetiively going towards the warmth. Drifting into a deeper sleep that would last until morning

((Ooc: Sorry its short, in a rush))

[SHADE. :D]

// Not a problem. [:

Even after the sun rose, Spectre did not wake. Her sleep was deep and peaceful, filled with dreams of Cursico and the good times. The white cat turned her head in her slumber, her nose buried in Cursico's soft ginger fur. Spectre then blinked open her eyes, the light blue depths clouded with warmth and drowsiness. The loner lay there, silently curled, for a few more moments, before rolling carefully onto her paws. She was taking care not to wake Cursico. Spectre yawned, showing her sharp teeth. The loner stretched all of her limbs at length, before shaking the limpness from her tail. Spectre then picked up a vole from the kill pile, placed it beside Cursico's nose, and exited the den. She sat just outside the cave, watching the sun rise in a flurry of beauty. Lilacs and pinks stretched across the sky like colourful streamers, and Spectre's eyes flashed with awe.

[cursico]

Cursico's nose wrinkled. His eyes slitted open into anothers. Dark glassy eyes bore into him. With a meow he pushed the vole away in desgust. Cursico took a few halfhearted nibbles at the rodent, eating in the morning didn't make him feel good. The giner tom looked around for a moment, head fuzzy with sleep. Ginger pelt shining, Cursico got up and gave himself a morning lick.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre continued to gaze, awestruck, at the stunning beauty of the dawn skies. The white she-cat's blue eyes followed the progress of the sun as it clawed its way up the blue stairway of the sky. The loner's eyes skimmed across the surface of the blazing sphere as it settled in its usaul place in the heavens. The day promised to be warm. Spectre got up, stretching her limbs, and turned. Cursico was awake, and nibbling the vole with a look of disgust scrawled across his muzzle. Smitking, Spectre padded calmly back into the den. Cursico had begun to wash himself, so Spectre picked up the fresh kill in her mouth and tossed it back onto the pile. "Good morning," she mewed. Her paws still felt sore from her climb as she flexed them against the cold stone floor.

[cursico]

"Mornin'" Cursico said cheerily, finishing his clean. He felt more alive than before, was that because Spectre had wandered in, or just because he'd finished cleaning? He didn't know. With a long purr, Cursico rubbed his cheek against Spectre's.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre smiled, licking Cursico's ears in return. The ginger tom's cheek was warm and soft against her own. "We should hunt," she mewed, forcing herself to think practically. Cursico's eyes made her insides swim. "We havn't got that much fresh kill left." She gestured to the pile with her tail. There was a mouse and two voles. There was also a sparrow, but it stank. It was crowfood. Spectre sighed, flicking Cursico's nose affectionately with her tail tip. She strode towards the fresh kill pile, nose wrinkled in disgust. The white she-cat picked up the sparrow by its wingtip, and took it outside to bury it.

[cursico]

Cursico smiled. "Hunting sounds fun" He purred, shaking his fur. A cynical eye darted in the direction of the meagre pile.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre smiled. "Okay," she answered, stretching out her forelegs in front of her. She unsheathed her claws, scratching at the grass before her. She then straightened up and sheathed her claws, blue eyes gleaming. "C'mon." The white loner streaked out of the cave, her tail streaming out behind her. She bounded across the fields, crisp with autumn, until she entered the small stretch of neutral forest. Spectre tensed as she scented rabbit. It was very close; a moment later the young bobtail broke cover, its paws a blur. Spectre darted after it, running flat out. As she gained, the rabbit stumbled, and she leapt. Spectre's claws caught in the rabbit's fur, dragging it back to her paws. She sank her teeth into its neck, killing it instantly. Spectre shook herself, licking blood from her muzzle. She then carried the rabbit back to cave, winking at Cursico. After depositing it on the kill pile, she exited the cave again to resume hunting.

[cursico]

Cursico watched Spectre go, still groggy. His eyes watched Spectre return in a surprisingly quick amount of time. Only then did he stumble along, Cursico a lumbering ginger cat... Perhaps hunting wasn't easy, but it sure was fun!
Heading towards to group of trees, his other senses came on instant alert, he found his body feeling refreshed after yesterdays little climb. He felt faster than usual, happier than usual.
He entered the shade of the trees and looked around. Straight ahead, a pheasant, those plump birds were quite tasty. Cursico snuck towards the feathery prey, tensing and waiting for the right moment to strike, in such a way the bird couldn't flap from his grasp.
Bobbing its head down to the ground, and turning its back on Cursico to get a worm, the pheasant only had the telltale sound of a jump to warn her. Even then as she shrieked her last call and spread her wings in hope of flight, claws tore into her wings and rendered her helpless.
Cursico purred in triumph and quickly ended her life.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre's eyes followed the ginger flash across the wide field. She smiled as Cursico caught a pheasent.Good, she thought. The kill pile will be nice and full. Spectre wandered through the trees, tail down and mouth open to scent the air. She caught the scent of mouse and turned around, crouching instinctively. The white she-cat spotted the dull greyish shape shuffling around under a bush of ferns. Spectre crept towards it, paw by paw, remembering the training she had had in the northlands. She pounced, catching the mouse in her mouth. She killed it easily, crunching the bones between her teeth. She then buried the mouse and carried on with her hunting.

[cursico]

Cursico could hear the smaller creatures fleeing from the short commotion and silently cursed. It would be harder to catch alert creatures. Still, the pheasant was a good catch, and he was thankful for it. Cursico dragged the dead bird up to the fresh-kill pile and dropped it, taking a few seconds to lick his lips.
Then he turned tail and raced back into the forest, eager to impress Spectre.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre smirked as she spotted Cursico running past, a look of deep concentration scrawled on his face. Was he trying to impress her? Spectre shook her head in amusement, before pricking up her ears as birdsong drifted towards her. A small sparrow sat on a low branch, twittering happily. Spectre could hear the cries of younger birds further into the forest, but this sparrow would be easier to catch. The white cat crept skillfully around the tree, before it climbing it with fluid grace. Her shoulder muscles shifted as she pulled herself onto the branch below the bird. It gave a squeak of alarm, but Spectre leapt before it could flee. Her claws grasped sleek feathers, and she pulled the bird to the ground and killed it, before carring it back to cave. She carried the mouse back too, both pieces of fresh kill dangling from her mouth. The white cat then added the prey to the kill pile before sitting outside the cave to watch Cursico, the corners of her mouth twitching.

[cursico]

Cursico stalked after a large mouse, despite its ungainly size, it looked like a fast little thing. He moved closer, ears facing in the same forwards direction. He moved forwards and pounced.
His earlier assumption that the mouse was fast proved true, because it shot off before Cursico got his jaws around it. Cursico hissed and just managed to hook the creature's tail around a sharp claw.
The mouse turned and bit his paw hard.
Cursico batted the mouse hard around the head and rendered it unconscious before killing it and bringing the creature back, favouring the non-bitten paw.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre got to her paws as Cursico approached the cave again, holding a large mouse in his mouth. As she spotted the bitten paw, she gave a long purr of amusement. "Whoever heard of the great Cursico being bitten by a mouse?" she teased. The white she-cat turned and disappeared into the cave. A moment later she returned, holding one paw from the ground. It was swathed in cobwebs. Spectre gently began to bind the web around Cursico's paw. When she had finished she patted it with one of her own snowy paws. "Is that better?"

[cursico]

Cursico smiled and the mouse dropped to the floor. "At least it turned out worse than me" He purred. Cursico flicked the web-covered paw, finding it such a strange thing. "I'll be a lot better with you around" He added.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre smiled and stretched again, her forelegs pulled before her in their full length. The pure white loner gave one last yawn, this one wide enough for her lips to curl away and reveal her rose pink gums, Spectre then shook her head with a finality that suggested she was up for adventure. She unsheathed her claws and began to sharpen them against the hard, cold stone floor. "So, what do you want to do today?" she asked. She paused, then mewed daringly; "I heard a rumour about a cave not too far from here. It's called Blood Cave. Legend has it that a bloodthirsty family of cruel cats live there, and tear apart any trespassers!" Spectre's blue eyes shone with excitement; she did seem bothered by the last bit of information. "So, want to check it out?"

[cursico]

Cursico's grin brightened to an almost impossible gleam. "Sounds wicked" He rumbled, speaking hard because he was smiling so much. He spun in a circle, surprisingly he didn't fall over with the maneuver, although he wobbled slightly. His own claws unsheathed, scraping against the rocks as their owner, the large ginger cat kept cirling and mewling like a happy kitten.

[SHADE. :D]

Spectre laughed, her head tossed back. She nudged Cursico's flank with her forehead, before purring a reply. "Come on then, you silly little kit." The white loner brushed past Cursico, her feathery tail prodding his nose with its tip. Spectre padded out of the cave, sniffing the air with a raised muzzle. The she-cat then began to trot to where the loner had pointed her. She glanced over her shoulder only once to be sure that Cursico was following her.

[cursico]

Cursico sneazed again, wrinkling his nose than now smelt like Spectre. He trotted after her, breathing deeply and flushing beneath his fur.

[SHADE. :D]

// I made a new thread in the Blood Cave. It's called 'Tiptoe'.