just [say it] x x

[[don't]fear[the]reaper]

i'm paranoid of all the people i meet
why are they talkin' to me and why can't anyone see

[/center]

A chill breeze ruffled the cream brown tabby pelt of a well-muscled tom as he stood in the rock's immense shadow. A few snowflakes drifted down from the clouds to touch his pelt. The tomcat shivered, more from paranoia than the bitter midwinter cold.
Plaguestrike was a handsome tom for his age. Just over a year old, he was large and sturdy, with light blue eyes peeking out from his soft coat of creams and browns. He could easily take anyone who bothered him down and out; so why the worry that was so very clear in his eyes?
Well, for starters, his family. Only too recently had he discovered, to his dismay, that his real father was a murderer, a rapist; essentially, every negative a cat could possibly embody, and then some. Shatteredsky, his dear sister and companion of his kithood, was his half-sister. Plaguestrike understood why Morninglight, his mother, and Hauntedstar, his stepfather, hated him so, why they'd looked at him with such a mix of fear, revulsion, and just a bare bit of love. His father's second mate, Mintleaf, had borne him a second litter of kits, adding to Plague's reluctant 'family'.
They'd feared him. Hated him, reviled him, just like his father before him. And how could he refuse them those feelings? He'd killed Abyssfang; he was no longer the innocent tomkit who had wondered why his 'parents' treated him so differently from everyone else.
I want to say sorry. Plaguestrike thought miserably as he twitched his tail. But I don't think I can. And if I do, no one would believe me. They'll never leave me alone, anyway. All they want is for me to be dead and gone.
"Well, I won't die, just for you!" The tom snarled at the elements as the wind picked up and more snow fell to earth. "I'm gonna live, and I'll be my own cat, no one else's!"

i just wanna live
don't really care about the things that they say, don't really care about what happens to me

[/center]

[[Morninglight should show up and crash his pity party.]]

[angels.to.demons]

we all danced in fire
trapped in this machine

Feeling the frigid air seal him in some sort of numb mud puppet state, Draik plodded on, seeking desperate need to find her parents again. Sighing, he whirled his plumy tail around, pondering the situation he'd earned through ignorance and nothing else. How was he to know that little knoll was right there? And then he just couldn't resist following the trail to the funny-smelling, mucky forest...

Jerking his head upwards, hearing a low, steamy hiss emerge from the throat of a nearby lifeform, he stepped back a little, eyes flashing in fear and wonder. Another was here! From the sharp, pungent odor of it, too, he knew that he wasn't exactly on the cheerful side this miserably cold, damp day.

Draik lowered his head slightly, pressing himself to the ground and peering up at the tom who leered over him. Pale brown in color and nearly full grown, by the looks of him. Draik only smiled simply and mewled nervously, "Uh.. hiya.. I'm, er, trying to find my way back to my parents. I'm Draik." He blinked, not comprehending if he was friend or foe.

[[don't]fear[the]reaper]

i'm paranoid of all the people i meet
why are they talkin' to me

[/i]

Plaguestrike looked down, and a slight smile hovered on his previously miserable face. "Draik? That's a nice name," The creme tabby meowed in his quiet voice. He liked kits. Why, he couldn't possibly tell; perhaps because of their total innocence?
"I'm Plaguestrike. And it would seem, friend, that we're trapped in this snowstorm for the night. There's a den in here, if you don't mind sharing it with me." His blue eyes seemed... hopeful. He missed company; a friend would do him some good.

[angels.to.demons]

Draik's head nearly struck the canopy of broken trees, it jerked upwards so fast. His clouded green eyes met Plaguestrike's blue eyes wonderingly. Deciding to trust him, as was the way of small kits, "Thanks. You're name's pretty cool, too, but I never heard nothing like it. Where'd you get such an unusual name?" He glanced upwards at the pale brown warrior, and allowed himself a full, rather sincere smile.

right is wrong and wrong is right
white is black and black is white

[[don't]fear[the]reaper]

[[It's like Scarface and Plaguekit in reverse!]]

Plaguestrike's smile faltered as the tom turned his head away from his newfound friend's gaze. "My mother. I. . . I wasn't what she wanted, and she named me Plaguekit. I thought up the ending myself, after I ran away when I was about your age..." His tone was miserable now; revisiting his past wasn't what Plaguestrike had felt like doing right now. Meeting Draik's green eyes again, the creme tabby added, in mock severity, "I hope you aren't running from your parents either, Draik; I'd have to do something about that."
The smile returned to his face and to his blue eyes, and, for a moment, it seemed that Plaguestrike was alright again.
For a moment, at least.

don't really care about the things that they say
don't really care about what happens to me

[/center]

[angels.to.demons]

Draik silenced himself at the sadness in Plaguestrike's tone, and decided to leave that tender subject alone. Instead, he answered to his new friend's playful tone with a sheepish smile, "Nah. I wouldn't do that. I was just playin', and I got lost. I wouldn't leave good ole Dad or Mom. I wouldn't even leave Dumia." Now he smirked, thinking of his sister. "Well, not usually."

[[don't]fear[the]reaper]

Plaguestrike smiled. "That's how I feel about my sist- sisters, too." The tone in his voice was calmer, more jovial than before, though it was hardly happy. The creme tabby nudged Draik with one paw; he was glad to have someone with whom he could talk, and not risk bringing up painful topics. "So. Who're your parents? I might know them; I'm old enough to know too many cats than I should."

[[sorry. we should start moving them towards minnow & co., or shadow & co.]]

[angels.to.demons]

[ && prob'ly. but for some reason i probably won't. ]

Draik tentatively raised his head, smiling. Dad's name's Shadow and Mom's name's Shroud. I think." He shook out his coat, glancing worriedly at the storm outside. Maybe it'd let up soon; if he didn't get home, Dumia might rat on him, or something like that. He wasn't sure if she would; she usually wasn't a tattletale, but... well, you know how sissies are.

[[don't]fear[the]reaper]

Plaguestrike shuffled his feet. "I dunno them." He confessed, looking slightly sheepish. "But," The tabby added, looking slightly hopeful. "I have heard of them. I c'd probably find 'em if I tried to." The young tom got to his paws, shaking his body to rid it of its coating of snowflakes. "C'mon. At the least, I can take you to my place; it's not very big, but it's nice enough for just me."

[[Murt. I'm dead.]]

[angels.to.demons]

&& me too. -blanch-

Draik looked up gratefully, green eyes meeting the blue ones of his new friend. He answered in a relieved tone, "Thanks, Plaguestrike. I owe ya one." He giggled, then bounced to his feet, tilting his head slightly.

[[don't]fear[the]reaper]

The tabby grinned, pleased by his friend's obvious relief. "No problem, Draik. I would've wanted the same when I was your age, if..." He trailed off, then shook his head to get out of his whirlwind of memories. "Anyway, let's get some food first; I'm starving!"

[angels.to.demons]

The young black kitten felt a myriad of different emotions, but the hunger clawing at his own belly was enough to push them away. The innocence glowing from his acid-green eyes was suddenly beaten back by a lustful hunger. "Me, too," he admitted, smiling sheepishly. "Er, what's there to eat around here? I don't know how to hunt yet." Suddenly, he became ecstatic again. "Wait! I know! Will you teach me?" Pleased with his new theory, he turned towards Plaguestrike and let his eyes glimmer with hope.