[ENG] Everytime I close my eyes ..

... it's like a dark paradise

It was a quiet morning. Slowly the sun was creeping up in the sky, shrouding the forest in a red glow. It was at times like this that Vulture was at his happiest. He found that the transition  from the comfortable twoleg den back to the wilderness came a lot easier if he stayed within the plentiful borders of the forest. His hunting was tested every day by the nimble forest prey but he began to gradually get back into the feeling of it. While Vulture had never been a good hunter, or a decent one at best, he felt himself longing for the juicy tasteful creatures that lives in the forest. Quietly he stalked the barren ground with pricked ears, following the fresh scent of a dormouse. They were small, agile beings that could easily escape the grasp of a decent hunter. Today he wanted to test himself though. Once he caught on to the scent he hunted it down until he nearly reached the end. His legs moved almost in slow motion as he placed them, one paw carefully put in front of the other, painfully aware that any mistake could cost him today’s meal. His pale green eyes spotted the creature when he came round a thornbush. He froze and sunk lower to the ground. The soft colored dormouse was stirring up the earth under a blackberry bush. While it seemed busy it clearly took enough times to look up and check for predators. His eyes were focused mainly to his immediate surroundings and not beyond. It probably had lots of natural predators on the ground and not so much in the sky like owls or hawks. Vulture his dark tabby pelt made him blend in nicely with his surroundings. His whiskers twitched slightly when a sound was heard near him causing the dormouse to stop for a second, prick its ears and look intently in the direction of the noise. His tiny nose twitched feverishly and his breathing quickened. Before it could decide whether it should stay or run Vulture shot out of the bushes like a bullet. On cue the mouse shot away from him, his tiny paws scratching in the sand. While his speed was impressive to say the least Vulture had been close enough to almost grab it. His claws missed and the mouse shot under the blackberry bush. Rushed Vulture dove after it not caring about the leaves that started slapping him in the face as he did. In it’s panic the mouse shot out from under the bush and made an ill fated attempt to climb the bark of the oak tree that stood next to it. Vulture spotted the creature and jumped after it and felt his claws dig into soft flesh. His jaws shot forward to finish the job and for a second he was met with jet black beady eyes looking back at him in terror. Unyielding he bit and finished the job quickly. Panting because of the short and intense moment he placed his front paws back on solid ground and stood still for a few seconds, dormouse dangling from his jaws. He placed the mouse on the ground and sat down. He was still severely out of shape since his stay with the twolegs. While they didn’t necessarily kept him cooped inside he did spend most of his time near them. The blank food they had offered had been free plenty, something he couldn’t have said about the prey on the outside. He couldn’t stray too far for he was afraid that he would run into the bloodclan. He had not been into shape enough to deal with even the youngest of them. His mouth watered at the sight of his freshly caught meal. The thread of the bloodclan was now gone and for that he was  thankful. With that thought he crouched down and began gulping down his early breakfast.

Whereas Farai was not typically an early bird, she had awoken before the sun did that morning. The soft rays seemed almost lazy as they crept upon the forest and it's inhabitants, slowly bringing the heat of day. The young, pretty she-cat took some time to stretch her sleepy muscles and give her fur a brisk wash before leaving the branch she had assigned as her sleeping place for the night. Quietly she slid into the forest, were dew still sparkled on the grass blades. A wonderful sight, yet Farai had little notice for it. She was on the prowl, her stomach was empty and demanded to be filled. The faint smell of another cat filled the air, letting her know that he was close. As far as she could smell, he didn't have the stench of any of the clans nor Elite on him, making him a rogue like her. Meaning she was relatively safe, though she hoped to hunt undisturbed. Softly she began making her way through the woods, tracking down a dormouse. They were small creatures, but would make do for now. However, the closer she stalked, the stronger the rogue scent became. It seemed today was not her lucky day; a few tail lengths away from her bushes rustled and she saw a flash of brown fur followed by a high pitched screech notable for a mouse. Farai sighed somewhat annoyed. Well, there went her breakfast. However, her interest was now sparked and since all the prey in close proximity would have fled because of the excessive noise, she decided to pay the other rogue a visit. "Good morning, noisy neighbor," she mewed somewhat jokingly, stepping out of the bushes and thus making her presence known. She seemed a bit wary at first, inspecting the other cat. When she determined that he was not much of a threat, she relaxed a bit, sitting down. "You beat me to it," she said, pointing to his catch. Quietly the she-cat yawned, not entirely sure where to look for prey next but hey, it was still early.

He took a large bite and tasted the tangy flavour of blood. Vulture began eating like a glutton and the blood began seeping out of the corner of his mouth and dripping on his chin. The taste was rich and currently one of the most delicious things he had eaten in a while. He began to make a mental note to hunt for dormouse more often. They tasted great! While the hungry tabby began crunching on the tiny bones the bushes next to him began to rustle, shortly followed by a cat entering the tiny clearing. With his mouth still full of mouse he sat up and looked surprised. A tiny, hairy tail dangled from in between his teeth. The ease he had felt earlier began oozing out of him like pus from a wound when he saw the she-cat. While she didn’t look threatening he must admit that he just wasn’t fond of other cats these days. He was overly cautious, reserved almost to the point that he had become somewhat estranged to his fellow beings. The isolation of the twoleg home had made him survive the winter but in return made him even more of a loner than before. He felt a little bit of relief when the redded she-cat took a more relaxed posture. ‘You beat me to it’ she mewled. At that instant Vulture was reminded again that he had prey in his mouth. Prey he had been indulging himself in, had been revelling in the taste, before she had arrived. He must have looked stupid. He let out and awkward grump, chewed loudly on the remains of the mouse and forced himself to swallow the rest of it whole. He barely got it down and instantly regretted letting such a good mouse go to waste by letting the majority of it go down like that. He winced as the huge bulk slid down his gullet. “Hi.. I guess I owe you a thanks” he managed to croak out, feeling the warmth in his cheeks. “If the mouse hadn’t gotten distracted by the noise you made I don’t think I would have caught it” He let out a dry cough and straightened his back. He scented no bloodclan scent on her, what made her a bit less of a threat in his book, though he was far from being at ease around a stranger like her. “The day is still fresh, I have no doubt you might catch something else” He chipped with an awkward shrug. It wasn’t like this area was taken so he really couldn’t take any blame.

You didn't have to be a genius to figure out that this stranger was not used to company, as he gazed at her with a mouse's tail still dangling from his mouth. Farai's eyes sparkled with amusement as he realized how stupid he looked. The rogue visibly forced himself to finish the mouse off in one big gulp, which couldn't have been anything but uncomfortable. The red she-cat laughed in a friendly manner. "Oh please, don't hurry because of me. Enjoy you meal," however, that was already far too late as she could almost see the remnants of dormouse go down his throat. It looked painful, yikes. “Hi.. I guess I owe you a thanks” his voice was noticeably rough after taking down that mouse. The fact that her stomach was still empty no longer bothered her, this was far more amusing anyway. The she-cat sat down and gave her chest fur a few brisk licks. “If the mouse hadn’t gotten distracted by the noise you made I don’t think I would have caught it” as he coughed she raised one eyebrow at him. "Don't go and thank me for being incautious while hunting, thank yourself for catching it," she absolutely hand't made that noise on purpose. Farai would consider herself an overall nice cat, but if he thought she would let her breakfast go to a complete stranger on purpose, he was dreadfully wrong “The day is still fresh, I have no doubt you might catch something else” she chuckled, not only because of his remark but also because of the rogue's awkward posture, clearly he was not at ease with her around. "Oh I will, though not around here. You sure made quite a show of catching that mouse," she teased him.

Vulture couldn’t help but let out a little grin. He had no doubt it must have looked like something to witness. He wasn’t exactly a graceful hunter nor a skilled one. If he got prey in his quick, awkward manner then so be it. “One tends to let oneself be carried away when he has an empty stomach” he remarked wisely and with a little glint in his eyes. It was a relieve to be able to have a civil conversation with someone. While he had no intention of letting his guard down just yet he was at least glad for this. Before he joined the twolegs the only thing on his mind had been survival. All cats he met had been unkind and dangerous.. maybe that had changed now that the bloodclan had been defeated so badly.. “You plan to hunt far from here?” he heard himself ask. He wondered if she was the kind of she-cat to wander close to bloodclan territory or not. “I tend to stick close to the twoleg cities if I can help it” He cast his gaze to his paws as he remembered his niece. Last he had seen her was in the twoleg city on the other side of the forest. Maybe he would go back there after all.. despite the danger.

The other let a small grin slide over his face, which was a pleasant surprise. Farai wasn't out here to cause any trouble, too much fuss for her especially so early in the morning. So it was nice to see even the smallest sign that the other was warming up to her, even slightly. She had seen enough big bad rogue bullies who would seize every opportunity to start a fight. Or, even worse, they'd rudely try to get her in bed with them, neither was really pleasant. “One tends to let oneself be carried away when he has an empty stomach” she let out some soft laughter. "Sure it's not because some pretty red she-cat came your way?" she said after winking at him, clearly teasing the poor rogue as her voice nor posture wasn't serious at all. “You plan to hunt far from here?” she looked around for a bit and then shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps, I'll see where my paws take'll me," that was usually how she went around anyway. If there was more prey to be caught around these woods, she would stay. If there was none to be found, the fields closer to Clan territory might offer some solutions. “I tend to stick close to the twoleg cities if I can help it” the red and white she-cat raised one eyebrow at him. "Why's that?" she asked, genuinely not understanding his motives. Farai was raised far away from the Twolegs, by a rogue and a clancat. Both of them kept their distance from the two legged, freakishly tall creatures, so naturally Farai did too. For a while she had wondered the streets were Bloodclan was and had even lived on a farm for a few months, but she had no affinity towards them nor the twolegs. "I wouldn't want to be found dead around any twolegs or their cities," she mewed honestly. "Oh, the name is Farai, by the way,"

His pale eyes looked up at the red she-cat her question. He pondered for a moment to tell her all about it before she introduced herself as Farai. “Ah- my name is Vulture” he added hastily. Despite his initial wary attitude he was raised to be a polite cat. At least that was what he had taught himself. Not giving her his name after she had been nothing but civil seemed like the wrong thing to do. He gave a short nod and took a seat. “Well, I guess I like to hang around twolegs is because the fascinate me” He promptly said. “I’ve lived almost the majority of my life in that city. I know the streets, the smells, the prey.. honestly, its in some aspects even safer to live there than on your own in the forest” Vulture rambled.. His eyes began to sparkle again as he did. He had been away for far too long. Been an indoor cat for far too long. He missed the streets. Almost on cue the scar in his neck began to sting. Vulture slightly winced but managed to disguise it as a stretch of his legs. Making it seem like he just needed to flex. “I mean.. BloodClan tends to stay away from twolegs, mostly.. ” He remembered the tom cat who had given him his scars. His permanent reminder of him. “You have to look out for rogues and twolegs of course, but most of the time the twolegs don’t even mind you being there. They just kinda ignore you” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Except the twoleg kits. They sometimes like to chase you. But they are not very smart of fast and they are loud!‘ His eyes widened as the intensity of his storytelling picked up. “You can easily outrun them but you almost never need to. You always hear ‘em coming and if you do you haul ass” The ragged tabby tom let out a sight and realized that he had gone off and ran his mouth again. He mentally gave himself a scolding. Focus, dude.

Vulture. Though a powerful, not a very honorable name. Taking into account vultures were considered to be quite stingy, wanting more and more and never giving anything in return. This rogue didn't look like a vulture at all, he seemed very decent and perhaps a bit goofy and awkward. Farai decided she liked him, enough to postpone her breakfast. “Well, I guess I like to hang around twolegs is because the fascinate me” she twitched her ears into his direction, interested in what he had to say. The tabby rogue then continued to talk about the Twolegs and his experience among them. Whereas Farai was not one to have any interest in Twolegs whatsoever, she was intrigued by how involved he was with them. It even made his pale eyes sparkle, which was cute. She laughed softly when he spoke about the small twolegs, wondering how they'd look like. Farai had seen twolegs before but only a couple of times, so naturally she just imagined fluffy, miniature humans. That was how it worked with kittens anyway, so why not with humans? "I'll certainly remember to haul ass when I see some mini Twolegs, thanks," she teased, until she noticed how he sighed, probably realizing he had really gotten caught up in his stories. Farai gave him a bright smile, not minding his enthusiasm at all. It was refreshing. Again; there ware dozens of boring rogues around these parts."You're a good storyteller, I bet," the she-cat complemented him, curling her tail over her white paws. "How come you're so involved with those Twolegs? You're no lost house cat, are you?" she flickered her whiskers in an amused manner.

With a quick twitch of his whiskers he managed to get his attention back to focus. His pale eyes met the deep dark blue ones of Farai and he came back down again. “I try” he shrugged with a toothy grin and warm cheeks. Quickly the conversation shifted from one thing to another. It was a logical conclusion of her to make and he was all too glad to explain it to her. “I’m not, I am in fact- I was in fact a clancat though I’ve left that life behind a long time ago” He said solemnly without losing the playful shimmer in his eyes. “I guess twolegs always interested me. Not because of the danger the pose but because they are só very different from us” He said in an intense tone. “They have been living next to us for as long as everyone can remember yet we don’t know anything about them” Vulture thought back at the twolegs he had met last winter. They were an excellent example of how kind those creatures actually could be. Not at all like the horror stories kits were fed from a young age. “I settled myself in a twoleg city in my own little place I could call home, I wasn’t completely alone though, I still had my niece with me” His voice faltered for a moment. That’s right Vulture, you had your niece He thought. He really did not want to talk about her and pointedly went on with his story avoiding to dwell longer on the matter. “Though BloodClan also had made their home close to the city and I had a run in with them” Vulture rose to his paws and dipped his head a little so that Farai could see his neck. The broad, pink scar that adorned could be easily seen. “I haven’t really been back since that happened” He added with an awkward shrug.