Private Thread Chapel Social

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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"Ah, Princess, I hope I'm not late" Fox drawled softly, his voice slipping from the darkness like smoke from a wild, angry fire. He emerged from between two wild hedges, paws light against the old stone as if he'd walked the path all his life. His tone held its usual confidence and bravado, one a lesser tom wouldn't be able to get away with so easily.

Moonlight caught his ginger tabby fur, shimmering faintly as he dipped his head with just enough flourish to show respect, though the twinkle in his eyes suggested the large tom was not above a little bit of theatrical flair every now and again. 

He didn't move closer right away, only stood a few tail-lengths back as though savoring the moment, her presence, letting the night stretch out between them like a drawn curtain before the nest act. The bats above rustled faintly and Fox was immediately alert to them, flicking his ear and catching their rhythm, if this ended where he hoped, he would be able to get a meal out of this interesting meetup.

"I must say, the view does live up to the invitation" he added a bit more quietly, gaze resting on her with a softness not found in ordinary rogues, at least not any rough, weathered rogues he'd come across.

Heir to the Black Prince

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A slight smile curled at the corner of Ahryndae’s mouth not enough to betray amusement but just enough to acknowledge it. Let them see if he'd last. "Just Fox..." She purred, the name rolling off her tongue like velvet drawn across the edge of a blade. She didn’t turn to look at him right away. Then at last she shifted with slow purpose allowing him the full weight of her gaze.

"You’re not late, no." she said, voice low and smooth. The bats above gave another faint chitter, their wings rustling. Ahryndae’s eyes lifted, golden and gleaming in the moonlight, before returning to him with a look that could make a lesser cat shudder. "The creatures have yet to leave their roost."

She stepped forward then, just one measured pawstep. Her sleek tail flicked behind her, and there was a pulse of anticipation in her posture, elegant and wild all at once. Not one of Whitehart, but never one to shun an opportunity brought on by the humans and their constructs.

"I dance at night." she reminded him, eyes narrowing slightly, but not unkindly. "And tonight, I hunt bats. Join me, if you like." There was challenge in her tone. An invitation spun from mystery, sharpened by pride, and lit by something mischievous just beneath the surface. Something like a dare. Something like a game.

Then, without waiting for an answer, Ahryndae turned and leapt lightly to the next stone ledge, the shadow of the gargoyle brushing her flank like an old friend. Closer she climbed the dark, stooping ledges of the church towards its slanted roof. Closer to the bat's nests right before they escaped into the dark to feed.

Let him follow, or let him watch. Either way, the hunt had begun.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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Fox watched her body leap up so effortlessly elegant and followed suit, while his leap was not one of elegance, it was still study and silent as death. Her perched himself beside her and curled his tail, not around anything, but rather to keep it from waving behind him to keep himself from being found easier, if he didn't alert the creatures with his words, he would certainly alarm them with sudden movements.

Carnelian had taught him all kinds of things, all sorts of hunting methods, and bats were one of them. He didn't doubt Ahryndae's abilities however, while he didn't catch bats as often as he should, she claims she hunts them nightly, so he wouldn't be surprised if she was miles ahead of him before he even looked at a bat. "Should be an easy task for you then, a few bats won't ruffle my fur either though" he chimed quietly, near silently as he slowly moved his tail for balance.

Fox glanced around for a landing point, bats didn't land, they're always airborn unless they slept, so they wouldn't land for him or anyone else's convenience. So it was safe to have a landing point to avoid getting a sprain that would just put his hunting skills to waste. Then he spotted it, an identical perch across from them, it wasn't the worst distance, but it would certainly keep him on his toes. 

His eyes narrowed as he heard the batting of wings and didn't hesitated, launching himself at a relatively small bat that had bravely taken off from where it had originally lay. His teeth gripped the bat's neck harshly before it could scream for help, before it realised it had been under attack. The, less-than-gracefully, he gripped onto the perch on the other side and climbed safely with his hind legs aiming a proud glance at his newfound hunting partner. 

"Would you look at that" he murmured, placing the limp bat beneath his paw "a fine catch for someone who doesn't normally dance" he cooed confidently, he had no intention of having a competition, but bats weren't easy, not for most cats.

Heir to the Black Prince

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Ahryndae stilled where she perched, eyes following the arc of Fox’s leap and the swift execution of his hunt without so much as a whisker twitch. The crack of the bat’s spine was a quiet note in the hush between them, and she watched without blinking as he landed opposite her, the prize clutched beneath his paw.

She rose fluidly to her paws again, not bothering to disguise the slight flex of her shoulders before she leapt to the next jutting stone. The angle was crueler here, the wind sharper, and she seemed to relish it. Moonlight painted her in silver threads as she stalked the cathedral ledge her movements soundless and shaped by habit.

Ahryndae paused where a crack in the masonry yawned above the slanted roof tiles, her ears flicking at the stir of leathery wings within. She did not speak again until the night air shifted until a second bat emerged. Then begun her waltz.

A flash of shadow, a pulse of muscle, and she caught the creature mid flight between her paws with a violent grace that contrasted her usual composure. Her landing was softer than his, - if not from the sheer weight, then more deliberate, controlled. The bat lay limp in her grasp already silent as to not warn its brethren.

She turned, stepping into the wash of moonlight again, and laid her catch beside her like a treasure laid at the altar of some forgotten god. "I did say I hunt them nightly..." The ghostly she-cat whispered, almost gently. "But it is different with an audience."

Then, with a glance that held something like invitation. "Or even a dance partner. Shall we see if your luck holds?" She lifted her chin then, gaze shifting to the opening above. The stillness was breaking...bats, sensing the hour’s turn, were beginning to rustle in earnest. A rhythm was forming.

Her tail curled with controlled anticipation, and she turned her golden eyes on Fox once more. "This is the part where the dancers move as one." Her grin curled, almost conspiratorially. "For the catch." She stepped nearer, her shoulder barely brushing his for a fleeting moment. "On the third wingbeat. Leap when I leap."

Above them, the air tensed.The wingbeats surged. Ahryndae sprang like a phantom loosed from stone, claws slicing through air as she shot up toward the flightpath...an obsidian blur amidst the night. Her body twisted in midair, teeth bared in silent calculation. The hunt was no longer a solo performance.

Twas was a duet.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🦊•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Fox's ears twitched at her words, the corner of his mouth pulling into a half-grin as he flexed his shoulders in preparation. "Now that" he murmured, eyes glinting with playful fire "sounds like a challenge I can't refuse." He adjusted his stance beside her, the breeze tugging at his fur as he fixed his gaze upwards, listening, feeling the rhythm build around them. The energy in the air was palpable, a dance indeed, wild and wordless.

He didn't speak again, not when the first beat passed, nor the second. Only the third, when Ahryndae surged like wind-born shadow, did he move, launching into the air with all the controlled chaos of a tom used to cliffs, rooftops and split-second decisions. His paws sliced through the wind, jaws parting in that heartbeat of silence between the wingbeats.

The bat didn't shriek, it didn't get the chance. It simply vanished into his grip with a soft snap, its momentum collided with his chest as he twisted midair to land. The stone was sturdy under his impact, but he absorbed it in a roll, steadying on all four paws like he'd meant to land there all along. Breath controlled, he padded to a more comfortable position and dropped the catch in silent pride.

He glanced her way, whiskers twitching as he leaned in with a low chuckle, voice warm with mischief. "I'd say you make a better lead than most. I only nearly sprained something" A wink followed, but the grin softened as he glanced at the sky again, where shadows stirred. "Still hungry, Princess? Or shall we give the stars another show?"

Heir to the Black Prince

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Ahryndae’s landing was quieter than the fall of a snowflake, her body coiling into stillness as though the night itself paused to observe. The second catch lay cooling between them. Two breaths. Two strikes.

She stepped toward him with the same measured elegance that marked all her movements, the tip of her tail flicking behind her like a metronome keeping tempo. Her golden eyes lingered briefly on the limp bat at his paws before flicking up to meet his. "Your landings may lack poetry, but you do stick them."

At his final words her ears flicked, and her smile curved in something richer than pride. Almost genuine. "I never leave a stage half danced...” The exotic molly murmured. "But there’s no need to hunt what we won’t eat." She turned to him then, head slightly inclined. "Part of the dance is to leave them watching. Wanting more."

With that, she eased into a seat, the tension in her body slowly unwinding into stillness, like silk drawn over stone. The wind brushed over them both, tugging gently at her fur. Her voice was quieter when she spoke again, but no less firm. "Two each. Enough for the night. We hunted well."

The world's too big to stay in one place.

⋘ ──── ∙∙•🦊•∙∙ ──── ⋙

Fox grinned at her words, a spark of mischief lighting his eyes. "Hey, I never claimed I was graceful, just effective" he quipped, lowering himself beside her and nudging one of the bats with his paw. "I'll take a clean catch over a pretty landing any day, though if you're offering flying lessons, I might be convinced" he added with an absent flick of his tail.

He settled beside her, the hush of the night folding around them like a soft blanket. He took a bite, chewing thoughtfully, then glanced her way. "Y'know" he began between mouthfuls "for all your phantom gliding and ghost-cat mystery, you've got a sharp wit under all that quiet." his voice was easy and warm, the kind that invited comfort without demanding it.

After another bite, he flicked an ear towards her, half-curious. "So, Ahryndae... how'd a she-cat like you end up dancing with bats on rooftops while the rest of the world's snoring?" His tone was casual, but there was real interest behind it, a desire to know her far beyond the performance. "Not that I'm complaining. Makes for a far more interesting dinner companion"

Heir to the Black Prince

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Ahryndae let the corner of her mouth lift. Her gaze returned to the bats, and she leaned down with the same deliberate grace she carried in everything, teeth parting around the still warm body before she took a bite. The taste was familiar, comforting - if a bit exotic.

As she ate, she listened, the way one did when the wind changed direction. "Wit is the blade no one expects until it’s drawn..." She said, licking the blood from her lips. "Charm fades. Muscle dulls. Cleverness is something that rarely leaves you defenseless."

At his final question, the one she did expect, her eyes drifted toward the rooftops above, where the last of the bats wheeled free of their nest. Her expression did not change, but something behind it cooled. "I could ask you the same..." Voice gentle as smoke. "What is a tom like you doing chasing ghosts across cathedral stone?" But she didn’t leave it at that. After a beat, she continued.

"An invitation - a dinner bell... The day is too loud, Fox." She laped once at the visceral caught on her claws before she took another bite.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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Fox watched her eat for a moment, so delicate and precise, as if she practiced it instead of just feeding herself, it was just as much of a dance as the catch was. Fascinated, Fox stared for a moment longer before taking another bite from his own catch his claws latching onto the leathery membrane of the wings to keep the bat in place as he tore away the flesh, not as graceful as her, but it was eating.

A twitch in his ears identified a thought or two behind the charming allure of the ginger tom as he flicked his tail. "Wit is a blade..." he repeated under his breath, as if the words had a taste, something strange, new, and yet, oddly sweet on his tongue. "Now that's something I haven't heard before, doesn't make it any less true Ahryndae" he spoke.

When the name left his mouth, it left a sweet taste on his tongue, as if it were the sweetest mouse that he had ever caught that was worth the catch.

Fox's nose wrinkled with a suppressed laugh as her glanced over to her, her question, perhaps avoidance, but perhaps something less malicious. The laugh left him in a quiet snort as he settled more comfortable down onto his belly "Hey! I asked you first" he noted, his voice being drawn out in comfortable filling of the silence "how about this, you tell me why you're here with me, and I tell you why I'm here leaping after bats with the princess of the night" her responded, his voice smoother, softer, as if instead of challenging or commanding, his voice allowed the offer to be built more like a suggestion than anything else.

"What'll it be princess?"

Heir to the Black Prince

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Ahryndae chose not to answer directly.

She finished the last of her meal with a delicacy that never bordered on hesitance. There was no pretense in the way she cleaned her claws afterward, only ritual, the kind that came from having always been watched. Refined down to habit. If her mother had still drawn breath, she’d have called it posture. Ahryndae called it control.

Only once her paw was clean did she glance sidelong at him, the name he’d spoken still settling in the air between them like perfume clinging to velvet. She didn’t smile, not truly, but the glow of amusement lit her eyes like candlelight behind glass. "If I’m a princess - which I am. You’re the tom who’s been following her through every corridor of her keep." Her voice carried no accusation, only observation. As if to say: You followed the invitation. You followed the music.

Then she tilted her head slightly, her gold gaze catching his with that steadiness she wore so well. "Because you had the manners to arrive... and the nerve to stay." Her tail twitched once behind her, slow and unhurried. "Now, you." There was something quietly daring in the way she said it.

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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"Manners to arrive and nerve to stay" he said, as if the words felt cool and sweet on his tongue, so he let them rest in the air for a moment. He finished off his meal and cleaned himself up before speaking, both actions were casual, as if he knew there would be eyes on them but he didn't care for them. "That's certainly a way to put it" 

With her daring nudge in her words, his ears swiveled for a moment and he let out a soft chuckle, breathy but hearty before shutting his mouth just enough to let a soft breath escape. "I'm just a wanderer, have been for as long as I can remember. I come and go as I please" he began, his voice laced with the smoothness of honey and as relaxed as a dozing kittypet.

"And today was the day I was made an offer for a fresh meal and company. I found it hard to refuse an offer like that, Princess" Fox added, curling his tail around himself like it would fall off at any moment. His eyes moved upwards as the last of the bats broke free of their chambers and his eyes followed as the creatures faded into the night. "Fascinating isn't is?" he began, with a soft tilt of his head.

"How we are so different, and yet we met all the same, though your invitation and my attendance. We gained both dinner and comradery. I would say that is a night well spent"

Heir to the Black Prince

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Ahryndae regarded him with the silence of someone deeply accustomed to watching others speak more than she ever needed to. Fox’s words were not new to her. Drifting souls always dressed their wandering in honey, softened it with charm. But he was clever in his own way. Honest, maybe. Or just good at sounding like it.

"Some would say the company matters more than the catch."She did not confirm whether she agreed. She rarely did. Her muzzle dipped for another bite, savoring her meal. She rose then, slowly, not as one leaving, but one redefining her shape within the moment. Tall and dark against the moonlight, her silhouette framed once more by the stooping edge of the church’s roof."We are different." She allowed as she brushed a carcass aside. "But even the sky and the sea touch at the horizon."

She stepped forward, light footed and sure like a jaguar. "I offered you dinner...” She meowed, golden eyes half lidded. "You brought conversation. Both rare delicacies in their own right." A pause, and then, with the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth: "Perhaps next time, you’ll be the one to extend the invitation."

The world's too big to stay in one place.

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Fox's whiskers twitched in amusement, his grin widened in that slow, lopsided way of his. "The I supposed I owe you a feast next time, something dazzling enough to match the company" he said with a teasing glint in his eye. He rose to his paws with an easy grace, giving his fur a quick shake. "Five days, maybe six. Find me by a riverside farmhouse, couple of cats there that don't mind us catching for sport and survival. Unless of course, you plan to haunt some new spire by then."

He finished the rest of his first bat and picked up the second, he stepped off of the stone, his gaze lingering for a moment longer, warm and bright beneath the shadows, as if he was trying to light up the night, and in a way, he just might have. "Try not to steal all the stars while I'm gone, Princess. You wear them too well as it is."

And then with that, he was gone, no further words, no backward glance. Just a flick of his tail and a limp bat in his jaws as he vanished into the night like he belonged to it. But against all the voices inside him telling him to move forward, he took a glance backward, the moonlight shone down but he stayed concealed by shadows, as one with the night as a bright ginger tabby could get. 

"Goodnight, Princess"

Heir to the Black Prince

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Ahryndae remained still as carved obsidian, the wind toying with the fine wisps of fur along her flanks like the hem of a regal cloak. His offer was not ignored. It was catalogued. "Hm. A feast." she murmured to the night, her tone amused. He means to impress
Her golden eyes lifted once more toward the spire, then toward the path he’d taken. She didn’t chase him with a farewell, nor match his play with any last clever remark. That would be giving him the final note, and this was her stage.

Instead, she took the slow path down from the roof, her descent silent, shadowed, and without hurry. She passed the bones of the first bat, the second cleaned down to delicate fragments. And yet, when she reached the stone arch near where he had last stood, she paused. "You’ll owe me more than a feast if you want to dance again, Fox." Then she vanished, weaving into the darkness where she had first come.