Closed Thread [Closed] Gossamer Moon in the Night (21FF22)

Let me be your labor of love.

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Advancing on the small grey form, Ahryndae stalked her prey, more or less oblivious to the cat who witnessed her glorious person hunting on the ground below. It was a patience game, approaching when the tiny creature scuttled the ground or nibbled on some grass. Soon she was close enough to attempt the kill, and rolling her shoulders forward, she sprung from her hunter's crouch, claws outstretched. A shrill cry escaped the creatures mouth before its muffled gurgle creased her purring maw as it died in her jaws.

Best to take it someplace secluded before she tucked into her prize. Someplace high - the fenceline behind her by the houses? Perhaps a bit too far. A tree instead. There were plenty around, and with prey in maw, looked up into the branches and paused when she saw it. A shape lurching on a branch, a large shadow - her nostrils twitched when the nightly breath reached her. She didn't know how long the tom had been there for, but she played off her suspicion with the lithe skill of a hunter joining him on the same tree, clawing her way up towards a nearby branch.

"What sort of gentlecat watches a she-cat in her private moments?" She mewed outloud, golden eyes narrowing. A knave, that's who. While her form was stiff as she settled on the branch, she displayed no other sort of hostility. 

Let me be your labor of love.

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Her lithe body tucked onto the smaller branch, holding her more dainty weight as she fixed the cat with a narrowed golden stare. Without breaking eye contact she took a bite of her prey and watched as the stranger stood to his full height. Her triangular eyes flicked against her head in brief irritation at his words, but he would think that, wouldn't he?

"A bold one, perhaps, however, why risk the peace of the night to steal hardly a morsel from me? You are addressing the Black Princess of Camelot, Sir. Who might you be?" Let him launch himself on her branch, she'd have the advantage should he break it and she was prepared to engage the ruffian should he make himself a nuisance.

Let me be your labor of love.

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Leave it to a savage to not be moved by her regal words that had fallen from her maw, still quite stained with blood from her kill. A moment to lap daintily to sop up the flavor, ichor still welcomingly warm. Still, the giant couldn't help but be curious, could he? "Duke?" Echoing the name, tempering it with a malaise sort of purr. "Duke of what? Where from do you hail and where are you holdings? Or is that simply what you call yourself, an empty name void of title or province?" While she wasn't exactly warm in her exchange, there was a note of amusement.

"Camelot is much more than a town, it is a kingdom, one of which someday I may inherit - by the grace of my bloodline. I am Princess Ahryndae, first-born daughter of Princess Aoife and Prince Cearnaigh, who was begot by Queen Valiant and King Pendragon of Camelot. I'll have you know, the very first of his kind to rule over the peasantry here."

The she-cat tilted her head, the night black of her form a shadow of the night, punctuated by a seething warm glance.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, or care judging by your impassive demeanor, but at least now you are informed."

Without tearing her gaze away from the much larger tomcat, her head bend and scoped up a mouthful of meat into her jaws. Ah, it was so much more delightful to enjoy a warm meal instead of a cold, pebble-shaped one.

"Now it's my turn to be curious." She mewed after her mouthful. "Where abouts do you hail from? Is the wilderness your calling?"

Let me be your labor of love.

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Ahryndae had done her part as far as she was concerned. This Duke was now well aware of where he roamed, of which cats had set claim upon this land, and offered awareness if nothing else. Diplomacy was the honey that glued a kingdom together, after all, and while she doubted this cat's sense of honor or reliability, he had not shown signs of open hostility. Neutrality would only get a cat like him so far in the long haul, but for now, the princess was pleased of this outcome.

"Well met, Duke of Nothing." She mewed pleasantly enough with a flick of her tail. Her meal was slowly disappearing, and the night was far from over. "What makes you think that I'm alone? My allies are never far, and my greatest is like a shadow. Perhaps when you tire of being alone on the fringes of society you can find a place with us."

Rising like a sleek splot of darkness, she extended the length of her lithe frame, eyeing the tom once more before she nodded. "Thanks for the company." A chuckle graced her throat at the half gracious compliment before she dipped down off the bough all the while keeping him at the corner of her sight.