Nightmare From the Past (Open)

[echo]

A coal black figure walked through the grass toward a abandoned barn. Breathing in her pumpkin orange eyes took in every sight they could as she made her way inside through a gap big enough for her to fit through. Ears twitching for every sound that was made before she advanced toward some shelves and started to climb upward. Her paws ached badly once she reached the second level of the barn. Then movement in some hay caught her eyes and she stalked toward the pile knowing it was prey. Once close enough she pounced and her teeth pierced flesh and the creature gave a small squeak before she got out and started to eat. It was small mouse but she didn't complain because it was Greanleaf and prey was plentiful for all.  

Flicking her tail she cleaned herself then went toward a window that had a small blanket that some humans had left behind. She curled up on it her back toward the direction she had come from so she could see out. She liked to go to sleep at moonhigh.  Her eyes heavy now she curled her tail over her nose and drifted off. In the mists of her sleep a nightmare began. Starting off with family. She was only 24 moons when she and her three brothers had been separated due to twolegs tearing down their old home. "Shadow!?...Smoky?!...Coal?!" she yowled out in her sleep and then spotted Coal, the youngest of the brothers trying to get away but everything was falling around him and Echo started to run toward him but it only felt like the faster she would run the farther he would get from her. Then Coal was gone and Echo yowled out "COAL!" and gasped  opening her eyes and found herself back in the barn she resided in. Sighing she shook her head sadly "I could've saved you, Coal" she whispered in the darkness looking back out the window.

[hawktalon]

Andromeda was pacing the dark, winding alleyways of the twolegplace. Her mind was whirling, as usual, controlled chaos. Never did her brain have fewer than a thousand thoughts and memories flashing through it, never did it rest and allow her to stop scheming her various crazy ideas. Yet she could focus, be normal, act sane. Aside from those thoughts, she was focused on other things. She had been badly tricked, yet again by that loner. Selfish piece of fox-dung! Andromeda's mind spat, her rage was brimming under her pelt, though her sea blue eyes remained calm and devious as ever, flicking lazily from one passing sight to the next. Her maw was parted slightly, drawing in the scent of the twolegplace: asphalt,twolegs, garden flowers. Her droll surroundings did nothing positive for her mood. She hated the twolegplace. It was only the cold weather and lack of food that kept her pride down and allowed her to slink into a two leg's home for the winter to get freebies of food and warmth.

Andromeda let out a massive yawn, pausing in her walk to stretch her back, raising her body onto her toes and then holding it until her muscles grew lax and springy once more. Her latest escapade had led her into losing a bet. Badly. She'd attempted to catch ten mice for a good piece of territory in the twolegplace. Yet none of the cast had told her that the territory was decreed to be open to all cast that wished to pass through. Furious, Andromeda had looked to escape the twolegplace. But she couldn't leave until the weather permitted. And now, in the heat of Greenleaf, it did. She'd high tailed it out of the two leg home early, run off into the alleys, and grown fat and happy on the sparrows and trash-seeking rats. Now, the weather allowed for her to return to the forest that she so loved. It was the greenness that she loved, the lack of bounds here. She revealed in it all, her mind willing her paws to move faster.

Her nose drew her quickly out of her thoughts, sending them hurtling into oblivion as the musky, feral smell of raccoon assailed her nostrils. She whirled on her paws, turning in circles several times. Her blue eyes flashed left, right, up, down. Fear pulsated rapidly and strongly through her veins .The vicious mongrels would kill a cat for food if the trashcans were empty. Even badgers head been known to back down to the fiery tempered animals. She spotted her enemy after several seconds, staring at her through its smug mask of confidence and power. She hated to have to back down from a fight, especially now that she was so worked up about her latest loss. She didn't have time to make her own decision, though. The raccoon was already sprinting towards her, tail bushed and claws skittering over the pebbled alley floor, mouth twisted in a sadistic grin of murder. Andromeda let out a primal scream, and fled.

Her paws carried her swift as the wind down corner after corner, quickly taking her into the forest. City raccoons hated the forest; it spelled hidden, unknown dangers. She ran, always hearing the raccoon squabbling behind her, its short, shrieking cries making her pelt crawl with terror. Andromeda quickly found herself rushing through a field, the tall grass whipping her face and stinging her eyes. Her paw pads were scratched from the grass scraping them, her chest felt as if it was wrapped in an iron grip made of ice. The air being drawn into her lungs was too cold, burning her throat. She finally dared to stop, to catch her breath. She could no longer hear the shuffling of heavy paws behind her. No longer could she smell anything besides her own fear scent. She flopped down in the grass, chest heaving, paws moving aimlessly to try and relieve themselves of their aching burden. I must keep moving she told herself, standing shakily and limping on through the grass. She spotted a barn up ahead, and continued moving towards it, her eyes watery and paws leaden and itchy. She stopped before she made it to the barn, laying down with a long sigh and rolling around to flatten out a bed for herself, dozing off as the fading sunlight gave way to navy sky draped with stars.

[echo]

Releasing a yawn she stood up stretching and then immediately caught sight of movement in the grass and saw that it was another of her kind. A frown crossed her face and she started back down the shelves and down toward her entrance. She poked her head out catching the scent of a she-cat that smelled like the two-legged place. 'Kitty pets' Echo rolled her eyes. She wasn't very fond of kitty pets because they acted as if they were better than others that lived on their own or in the clans that were nearby. Echo slowly and quietly tracked the scent letting her coal black pelt blend in with the darkness. She froze when she saw the other she-cat fall out in the grass exhausted. 

Wriggling her nose she crept a little closer before saying "What's a kitty pet doing way in the loner lands...shouldn't you be with your two legs?" Her body never moved and was cloaked in the darkness except for her pumpkin orange eyes that were bright like fire. She blinked twice her tail twitching as she tensed if the she-cat would turn on her for interrupting her sleep. Then she stood up moving to circle her then she paused saying "What brings you out..." she trailed off scenting something that made her pelt crawl. "Dogs" she hissed under her breath and then looked around hearing movement then she turned back to her gap and said "Come on inside. Dogs are one of three things I don't associate with" Ducking inside she climbed to a barel and waited for the she-cat

[hawktalon]

Her eyes started to slide shut, utter exhausted giving way to a slow, creeping blanket of sleep. Her mind stilled, pushing her further and further from the real world around her. The swaying grass whistled and danced a soft song of sleep and dreamy lands conjured from the depths of her conscience. Though she wanted to stretch and settle down in a more comfortable position, her tired body refused to allow her to stand, tying her down with invisible cords. She yawned from where she lay, splayed out in the grass. So close to sleep, so easy to drift away and wake up tomorrow, well-rested and able to live another day without the twolegplace and its finite boundaries. She was in the forest, safe and sound, and she'd found a field full of food and shelter.

A voice cut through the air, sending her pre-sleep thoughts drifting away on the wind. Of course, just now! Andromeda thought, anger coursing weakly through her. The irritation she felt was numbed and barely there, so weak was her body. She almost ignored the voice, deciding on just falling asleep instead. And then she heard that same voice call her a kittypet. The once mild annoyance turned into a blazing fury. Dare they!?!? she thought. Her mind dashed water on her sleeping mentality and she slowly, painfully, forced herself to roll onto her belly. Andromeda's eyes narrowed, slitting with her newfound anger. She pushed herself to her feet, swaying for a minute. She saw her target, a crow black she-cat heading towards the barn, calling after her to avoid the dogs. The statement forgotten, Andromeda spun in a circle, then followed the she-cat, slinking after her, furious still at the accusation.

The barn drew closer, smelling of sweet hay, mice, and the dusty scent of disuse. She paused for a few moments, wondering briefly if the barn was safe. Her mind prodded her conscience, drawing her away. Another smell, less desirable, reached her nostrils. Dog. Andromeda knew quite well that outrunning a raccoon was enough adventure for one afternoon. Flashing a brief look behind her, she darted into the shelter of the warm, empty enclosure and searched for the cat she had seen, blue eyes glaring into the shadows. She knew she must smell like a kitty pet, but by no means was she willing to be remembered as one. This cat would be in for it. Maybe not tonight, but another time. When she wasn't so scuffed up and worn out.

[echo]

Echo watched up on the barrel as the she-cat came inside and look around for her. She stood up stretching saying "So...." Her pumpkin eyes went to her and she jumped down finishing "you got a name or what kitty-pet?"  Echo walked around her then sat down saying "My name's Echo by the way" As her eyes scanned the she-cat over she could clearly see that she was exhausted. 

The coal black cat stood up and then started padding for a huge patch of hay saying "Seeing as though you look exhausted. You can sleep here in the barn instead of out there in the grass" Echo released a yawn and arched her back up in a stretch and then sighed and climbed on the hay and made herself comfortable again. Curling her tail around her she said "If you get hungry they're plenty of mice to eat" 

Making one last yawn she sighed closing her eyes. But her ears remained alert to any sounds. She could hear the mice, crickets, and most of all for the she-cat.