Brave New World (Rosemont, Rex, Popsicle)

[Zesha]

Rosemont | She-Cat | 9 moons | Kittypet

As Popsicle explained the meaning of vigilant, she made a small, “oh,” sound that made her sound far more fascinated than she should have. Even at nine moons old, she still hadn’t really been outside in the world, and some of these things were topics and words that her mother had never bothered to explain. There really wasn’t anything at all that her mother told her about the outside world, other than it wasn’t fit for a proper queen and that show cats like them did not romp in the dirt like commoners. Whatever commoners were, since her mother never explained that either.

“Oh!” she said again, louder this time. “That’s what that thing was called! I saw a dog before. It wasn’t much bigger than my momma, and it ran around and made that strange sound you called a bark. And it did smell! It smelled really bad! Even when the housefolk washed him with the evil water and used soap he smelled. I hope I don’t meet another one. It’s very hard to talk to them without gagging, and they never say anything that I can understand.” It had not yet dawned on the little lynx point that dogs could not speak cat.

“Can we go explore that place?” she asked, waving her tail in the direction of the forest. “I see things that can fly come out of there sometimes. I think momma said they’re called birds. They sing sweet songs and are much better at it than housefolk. Or… twolegs, you said? Yeah. They’re better at it than twolegs. I’d like to go see where the birds live!”

aeron at thq

[Usa-san]

Popsicle     

Tom | 28 Moons | Kittypet

Listening to the older tom explain what a dog was had the fluffy cat agreeing quietly, he gave him props - describing a dog was quite difficult. Eyeing Rex as he said that each place had it's own dangers he waited until he was done musing about how there were no monsters or twolegs in the forest and he was about to speak before Rosemont started speaking herself - and Popsicle being Popsicle patiently waited until the young she cat was done before he spoke. He didn't enjoy interrupting cats and his neighbor seemed keen on exploring the forest rather than the area that was densely packed with upwalkers that weren't as kind as house folk. Popsicle could understand why a cat would rather go exploring the upwalker-less area rather than the area with them - although seeing as he himself had explored Upwalker place and had been too nervous to explore the forest caused him to chide himself in his cowardice.

One of his backwards ears flicking sideways, he lazily turned his head and watched a monster slowly creep by it's large black paw-like things crunching the rough monster path beneath it. Watching it leave his sight but not his ears he turned back to Rex with an intrigued look. "It may be safer in the forest away from the monsters. They are much faster than the ones here." he said softly. "I'm fine with going there." Popsicle continued eyes shifting to Rosemont then - and despite saying so there was a hesitant tone in his voice. In truth Popsicle was much to nervous to go anywhere on his own - he was a kittypet after all.

[asilentbeast]

[ Rex ] 

Tom | 44 Moons | Loner 

Rex was somewhat relieved to hear Rosemont had encountered a dog before after all, and that the experience had thankfully proved harmless. “Most dogs are a lot bigger than the one you met and less friendly. They cannot speak our language so there is no point in trying to chat with one. Every animal has their own way of communication.” Rex had met a fox who could speak cat once, but her intent had been just as malevolent as the rest of her kind, using clever words to lure felines into her den before sinking her teeth into their throats. Rex had been one such cat and likely wouldn’t be here to educate these youngsters if Red hadn’t come storming in at the last minute to save him.  

He remembered the reddish queen fondly in that moment. Bursting into the burrow with eyes blazing like smoldering embers and a caterwaul so fierce she startled even the fox. His mind snapped back to the present as Popsicle inquired if they might explore the forest instead of the Twolegplace and Rose mentioned something about birds. He was still somewhat reluctant to take the two inexperienced cats anywhere, but if he didn’t teach them who would? They might go wandering off on their own and end up hurt if he didn’t go with them now. The guilt would follow him for the rest of his days if he ever found out something horrible had happened to the pair. 

“Very well...but you must promise to stay close. Remember there is safety in numbers. You can’t just go running off the moment something catches your eye or nose. If you can promise me you won’t go bolting off on your own I’ll be glad to show the forest to you.”

[Zesha]

Rosemont | She-Cat | 9 moons | Kittypet

Rosemont nodded along to what Rex was saying, wondering what a dog would do if it wasn’t friendly. But she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to find out, or see a dog that was bigger than the hyperactive pup her former housefolk had brought in before. She was a bit disappointed that they couldn’t speak cat, however, for she really would have loved to talk to the small creature that had taken up residence with them those pawful of moons ago. Still, it at least informed her, so she wouldn’t try to speak to the birds or anything when they entered the forest.

As a bright yellow monster stalked by on round, black paws, she lifted her head and perked her ears forward, listening to the groaning sound its engine made and the grumbling of its paws. She had never been this close to one before, except when she had been brought here, and they still interested her. The scent coming from its exhaust, however, hit her full force and she recoiled from it, throwing a paw over her nose and muttering, “Stinky,” as it passed by, oblivious of the cats hiding behind the hedges. The scent lingered even after it disappeared.

Rose turned her attention back to Rex and stared up at him with big blue eyes, sparkling with a sense of adventure. “Okay! I promise!” she squealed, bouncing on her paws at the thought of getting to go somewhere different. Suddenly, she stopped and tilted her head to the side, giving him a quizzical look as she asked, “What’s dangerous in the forest, though?”

aeron at thq

[Usa-san]

Popsicle

Tom | 28 Moons | Kittypet

Seemingly relaxing a bit at the knowledge that they would be going into the forest rather than deeper into twolegplace, he couldn't help the nerves that suddenly set in about the forest the strange noises, strange cats, strange creatures and ever more strange things that Popsicle had no idea about. Shuffling his paws he averted his gaze once again and found he couldn't speak up to reassure the other tom that he would be staying close - he even completely missed Rosemont asking what was dangerous in the forest, if he had listened and was able to speak he may have answered everything but alas he could not.

Fighting his nervousness he took a few silent yet deep breaths and slowly turned to Rex with a rather sick expression. "I... I promise I won't go running off to explore anything... but I can't promise I won't turn and run at the sign of something that wants to kill me." he whispered, feeling sick to his stomach in an anxious type of way that had him wanting to curl up in the shape of a ball.

[asilentbeast]

[ Rex ] 

Tom | 44 Moons | Loner

Popsicle's body language was starting to worry Rex, watching the pale-furred tom fall apart into a bundle of nerves, trembling and stuttering. The young tom couldn't be any older than his daughter Flame, yet he was so very different. Rex couldn't blame him his fears. If he had grown up his whole life in the Twolegplace, never setting paws beyond the hardpath he might have been just as frightened to go anywhere else. He leaned forward and touched one of Popsicle's curled ears with his nose in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "You don't need to come with us if you would rather return home," he meowed reassuringly. "The forest can be a scary place. There's no shame in wanting to stay here, though I can assure you if anything tried to harm either of you I would get you back to safety to the best of my ability." It was as close to a promise he could get. As much as wanted to comfort Popsicle he knew some things were out of his control. Like what happened to Fox...

Attention now turning back to Rosemont, he focused on answering her questions. "Just as there are dogs and monsters here the forest also has predators like foxes and badgers. Sometimes other cats you might meet won't be friendly either. Badgers make quite a ruckus when they move and foxes have an awful stench, even worse than dogs. However, I haven't noticed any in the area lately so the most we'll likely have to worry about encountering are rogues today." He stared between both cats, rising to his paws as he prepared to lead the way to the forest. His green gaze landed on Popsicle again, still waiting for the smaller tom's response. 

 

[Zesha]

Rosemont | She-Cat | 9 moons | Kittypet

Rex had, in her mind, positioned himself as the authority figure of the group. Normally this would have mad her feel rebellious, as her parents had always played that roll and told her she couldn’t go outside or do this or do that. But for the first time, a cat that had power, at least to her, was allowing her to do the one thing she had always wanted to do: explore. This made Rex a far greater cat in her opinion, and the fact that Popsicle wasn’t running off to his owners was definitely giving her a good impression of him, too.

Of course, the curly-eared tom’s nervous behavior was a bit unsettling. What was so bad about this place that he would be uneasy about going there? The monsters seemed to stick to the paths, she was noticing, as she watched another one with its glossy metallic coat rumble slowly by. The only time they went off the dark pavement was to go up into a hard concrete stretch of land in front of the houses, which she assumed was where they slept. She couldn’t imagine sleeping out in the rain, though, so she decided there must be some other place they went when it stormed.

Trying to ignore the anxious energy of the older white cat, she turned her attention back to Rex, who was starting to speak again, this time about the dangers of the forest. “Wow, there sure is a lot out here,” she mused, realizing at last that this was a huge world that she had only just begun to discover. “I hope I don’t have to meet anything that smells worse than a dog, though. They stink!” To show her disdain of the scent, she wrinkled up her little nose, making a face that looked honestly comical.

But this was her chance. A chance to get out and see what her owner would rather keep away from her, what her parents had kept from her. Bouncing around on her paws, she went up to Popsicle first, nudging him softly with her head to encourage him. “Don’t worry, Popsicle, everything will be okay! We just have to stick with Rex, and nothing bad will happen, I’m sure of it!” she meowed, the enthusiasm in her voice nearly palpable. “So come on, let’s go! I want to see the forest before it gets dark!”

Rosemont still didn’t have a good grasp of time yet, and it had only been about fifteen minutes since she had exited her house, so by human standards it was only 7:15 am. They had plenty of time to get going before it even got close to dark.

aeron at thq

[Usa-san]

Popsicle 

Tom | 28 Moons | Kittypet

Freezing as Rex touched on of his ears with his nose, he blinked owlishly at the older tom in confusion. "I... I want to go!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. He believed the other cats words and a strange part of him believed in his abilities to care for two inexperienced cats. Listening to their conversation with his anxious aura still there but a rather more determined look in his plain soft blue eyes. Eyes flickering to watch another monster creep past and park itself in its home. Popsicle himself had been inside the Monster's den and even rubbed up against it in a show of friendliness. The monster had continued to lay there and sleep 

Being nudged by Rosemont and encouraged by the excitable she cat had him standing and looking to Rex to lead them. He'd follow him as soon as the tom wanted to go. Of course Popsicle was certain they would have all day to explore - and he wasn't too keen on returning if the forest spoke to him more than his own home.