Private Thread Prize in Seclusion

I don't need them. Not anymore.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Magdalen stretched herself languidly and glanced around her. The dark, dusty hollow that she was currently calling home set a displeased look on her face. Frequent days of rain and the obnoxiousness of cats she didn’t know, had driven her to seek shelter under the porch of a housefolk’s den. She hated the proximity. Loathed it, even. Yet, what was she to do? She couldn’t break free of this wretched place without meeting the awful clan cats and likely being attacked by them. Nor did she overly want to leave. There was a cat who had passed this way once before that she owed a great deal to. She still hoped he would wander through one day soon.

Regardless of her distaste of her situation, Magdalen had to eat. The prospect of hunting cheered her up as it always reminded her of how far she had come. Only a few moons ago she had still had to scavenge scraps from the housefolks’ garbage. Now, though, she was able to catch something to eat most days. After giving her pelt a quick clean and a shake, Magdalen crept out from under the boards and turned her gaze toward the fence that separated her space from the streets. With a smooth leap, the ginger, gray and white tabico she-cat landed on top of the rickety boards. They tilted and swayed under her weight, and Magdalen had to shift and flex until an equilibrium was found.

Staring down into the street beyond with sharp, yellow eyes, Magdalen searched for signs of dogs, housefolk and other cats. Not seeing any, she took a deep breath, mouth open, to pick up on any scents she could. Carefully she mentally sorted the various smells, discarding her focus from those that were old enough not to cause concern. Then her eyes widened and focused as she realised that she knew the faint tom scent that she picked up. Curiosity had her leaping down from the fence and approaching where it was the strongest. It was that tom who had helped her some time ago. Magdalen looked around, trying to spot him, but he wasn’t in sight. Undeterred, the sleek she-cat sniffed again, mouth open to draw the scent over her tongue and help her focus on it.

Once Magdalen was sure of the direction that the tom had taken, she began to follow at a steady pace. She didn’t want to rush toward him and accidentally startle him. Nor did she want to take too long and risk him moving into land she wasn’t prepared to explore. Magdalen still had no idea how she was going to repay him for saving her life, but she had to take this chance. Maybe they would talk it out and he would have an idea. Steadily, Magdalen followed the scent and moved into areas she had almost never travelled through. Eventually, however, the scent became muddied and disorientated. Magdalen sat down in frustration, she felt like she was close to where he had been or was, but a breeze and other scents were overpowering her ability to track him any further. “Darn it!” the she-cat spat out. She winced as she realised how loud she had been and looked around for any danger. It wasn’t fair that she had come so close.

Survival demands caution, but greatness requires daring
⋆｡°✩ ⭒ ──● 𓄿 ●── ⭒ ⋆｡°✩

Part of the outer casing had been pecked away at, but that only made it more satisfying to get to the softer flesh inside. Sighing with pleasure, Kosmo took a bite, finding it convient that it had no fur or scales to rip through. Even if it didn't have delectable offal, it all together tasted something similar to it.

From beyond the fence where he had come there came a sound. Unexpected. A voice it seemed. The words were lost to him but it seemed like it came from a place of frustration. His tongue licked at the outline of his maw as his head lifted curiously. Nostrils strained to tell if it was a familiar scent or not - the outside scents weren't doing him any favors. He'd have to check on them himself.

Stretching his forepaws out, he let the link of meat roll into the grass half hidden and padded up between the branches. From the two panes he could spot a feline figure, a she-cat, and she wasn't a stranger. It had been the cat whom he had staved off infection. A fleeting smile teased along his muzzle as he called out to her, a faceless voice from the fenceline.

"Why don't you come inside." He invited her before moving back from the gap so she may squeeze in.

I don’t need them. Not anymore.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Magdalen whipped around at the sound of a voice, hackles raising along with her spine as she prepared to defend herself. The moment she saw who had spoken, however, and his words had registered in her mind, she instantly relaxed and she took on a look of surprise and delight. “It’s you! the tabico breathed out. Quickly Magdalen trotted over to where the tom was. Whether he had ever introduced himself had completely slipped her mind. The sleek she-cat had never been fantastic at remembering names, and the fact that the last time they had met she had been feverish from her infection had certainly not helped that.

Smoothly, Magdalen followed as the tom slipped his way through a gap. She was utterly surprised at the sight that lay before her. SHe found herself unsure if she was in some old, but large garden or in a wild space. Either way her heart sang for the natural beauty of the grass and the tree with its ivy. This was the kind of place she yearned to be and once she had repaid her debt to this tom, she would journey past the clans’ lands and find a place like this for herself.

When they arrived at the tree and it became clear that they weren’t travelling further, Magdalen sat down and neatly wrapped her tail around her paws. For a moment she gazed around the area, soaking in the sense of freedom that wrapped around her like a cosy blanket that she used to snuggle in back in her first home. With a sigh, the multi-coloured she-cat returned her gaze to the tom who had brought her here. “I’m sorry to say that I’ve forgotten your name, if you ever shared it.” Magdalen gave him an apologetic shrug before she continued, “But I haven’t forgotten what you did for me. You saved my life, and I owe you something in return. I haven’t the skills or knowledge to be able to save your life in the way that you saved mine, and I hope you never find yourself in such danger. But…” the she-cat trailed off.

For a moment Magdalen hesitated, thinking quickly over what she planned to stay. Ever since her fever had broken and this tom had left, she had thought about what she would say and do if she were to find him again. Now that that moment had arrived, nervousness prickled her gut. She hoped that she would accept this offer, and with minimal delay as she really did want to get away from the housefolk and their nastiness. “But maybe there is something I could do for you that you would value nearly as much,” she meowed finally and set her yellow gaze upon the tom, watching him calmly, but hopefully.

Survival demands caution, but greatness requires daring
⋆｡°✩ ⭒ ──● 𓄿 ●── ⭒ ⋆｡°✩

Kosmo regarded her for a long moment. The abandoned lot seemed to hold its breath around them before Kosmo offered the she-cat a nondefined grin yet it wasn't the sort he'd offer to a stranger.

"Kosmo... You wake from a fever, hunt me down and the first thing you do is try to pay a debt." His low voice humed with approval as well as amusement. With a flick of his tail he crossed back toward the half hidden prize he'd abandoned in the grass. The scent of grilled meat rose immediately as he grabbed the strange furless prey closer with a paw.

"Relax here with me." The invitation came easily to him. The mink tom lowered his belly into the grass and took another bite. After a moment he continued, but there was no need to rush. He listened to the birdsong above where all other noises seemed to dull in his ears.

"I healed you because you needed healing....Though, there are others." he played it casual with an air of mystique he seemed to carry with him as his heavy eyes regarded her. "I'm bringing them together again. Faces from my past...and new faces tired of being alone. The Sky speaks. You'd be welcome among them...Magdolena?" He rolled the sausage beneath his paw. He wasn't too versed in remembering names either, but the first part felt right.

I don’t need them. Not anymore.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

The way the tom watched Magdalen after she had spoken her piece had her unnerved. Subconsciously the she-cat shifted, relaxing her spine and shifting her weight to her paws so that she might dart away should he prove hostile. The tabico really hadn’t counted on the possibility that he mightn’t be friendly given that he had saved her life, and the fact that he had seemed welcoming. Then again, he didn’t seem outright hostile either and the she-cat was left utterly confused.

Magdalen blinked as Kosmo spoke, her confusion deepening until she realised the first word was his name. Once she recognised the approval and amusement in Kosmo’s tone, the sleek she-cat relaxed her posture into one that reflected a calmer way of being. Her initial fears of hostility had faded, but she still felt rather off-kilter with the whole interaction. When Magdalen had thought of Kosmo since her recovery, she had stereotypically imagined some wise tom with a calm demeanour and steady, but maybe serious way of being. Kosmo, however, had a more quirky nature in her experience thus far and the rather inexperienced she-cat found herself baffled about how to react.

When Kosmo moved away and settled down to eat something, inviting Magdalen to relax, she couldn’t help but pad toward him with a sense of curiosity. It was all so different to how she had imagined this going and she was drawn in. Magdalen couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose as she noticed the sausage that the tom was eating, but she refrained from saying anything. She, herself, had had to seek out such scraps when she was learning to hunt, and she was in no doubt of mind that if she didn’t find somewhere that was plentiful in prey, she would have to resort to eating scraps again, as much as her heart defied such notions.

The quiet lengthened just long enough for the tabico to feel like she ought to say something when Kosmo, himself, spoke. Once more that sense of confusion wrapped Magdalen and a frown grew on her face when Kosmo got her name wrong. “Mag-da-len,” she enunciated with slightly noticeable annoyance. She thought quietly for a moment before speaking. “You say you healed me because I needed it, but why? You must have had some further reason.” Since finding herself living the life of a stray, Magdalen’s experiences told her that no cat did something for nothing. Life was just too tricky to go around helping others without a plan to collect the debts. The she-cat flicked her tail.

“And others? Bringing them together? What? Are you planning to make your own clan or something? Where would such a group even live with those heathens taking all the decent land around? Surely you wouldn’t expect a group to live on scraps like that?” Magdalen nodded at the sausage Kosmo had been eating. “Or do you plan on gathering them from here and journeying?” The tabico tilted her head. Her tone held incredulity and genuine curiosity as opposed to disbelief. She herself had often imagined travelling beyond the clans’ reach once she had repaid this debt. It was the only way she could see herself finding wild land for herself to live on in peace. Yet, a group could maintain peace more easily than one cat so if Kosmo were considering this, she might just accept this offer.