Away from the Gatherers << Open!! >>

[Stormsy]

[ For those cats who don't want to be in that large Gathering thing ]

<< The Mad King >>
The loud voices of the cats from the Gathering were piercing his ears. He had many powers, but the heightened hearing was definitely the most annoying of them. How did this happen? he thought, remembering when he used to rule a kingdom where he was feared and powerful. Now I'm alone, minus Elise. Ah well, who needs 'em. The tom was a deep, dark purple color, with dark red eyes to match. A small crown sat upon his head, and large wings were folded over his back.

<< Elise >>
The she-cat had a light blue, almost icy colored pelt. She was called Elise, even though her true name was 'Lindsay'. She wanted to go by something different in her alternate form, a form in which she could be much more powerful. She had wings similar to the King's, and could also control things involving water or cold. This she-cat had managed to befriend the Mad King, and was hanging out in a tree nearby where he sat.

[[Acro.]]

ooc:// This. Is. Awesome D8<

~ N O X ~

A figure moved in the dark...

No... the dark moved with a figure.

From the shadows at the edge of the small clearing, away from the noises and excitement of the other clearing not far from there... a shadow stirred. The dusty greys writhed and swirled, condensing into a darker shade, moving unnaturally beneath the foliage. Two spots, lighter grey than the rest, faded into existence, and then the darker areas around them began to take form. A face, ears, shoulders, forelegs, a torso, hindlegs, a tail...

As he emerged into the light, sunbeams streamed straight through his misty figure, his pelt nothing more than what shadows were made of. He stepped forward, silently approaching the Mad King and his female companion, his paws never leaving any marks on the ground beneath him. Darkness steamed away from his body as he moved, evaporating into the light like black clouds into nothingness. He left no shadow of his own, and tendrils of the darkness he was made of squirmed and stretched around him along the ground, searching, reaching...

He approached the Mad King, his lighter grey eyes peering up at the larger tom with a nothingness behind them. When he spoke, his voice was low, quiet--gentle like the night. "I've seen you before," he stated, his whisping tail swaying calmly behind him, leaving a trail of shadowy dust in its wake.

[Stormsy]

<< The Mad King >>
The King was surprised when he saw a cat materializing out of the shadows, but he recalled seeing someone like that before, in his past territory, made of light. He dipped his head slightly to the shadow cat, red eyes flashing for a second. The cat spoke of knowing the Mad King, of seeing him somewhere else before. Could he perhaps have lived in my previous kingdom? There were many there...the purple tom thought, tilting his head. "Is that so? Where do you come from?" he asked, truly curious. The crown upon his head was slipping off, the ruby in the center catching the sunlight. Gently, it pushed itself back onto the cat's head fully thanks to the power of the Mad King's telekinesis abilities.

<< Elise >>
The she-cat remained in the trees, though she knew the shadowy figure had spotted her. She didn't mind, really, because she knew the King would protect her. The two had an agreement -- her loyalty for his protection -- that had rapidly turned into a close-knit friendship. She watched with her sharp eyes, and listened to hear the conversation between the two formal-acting cats.

[ Quietly mutters: Don't get attached, don't get attached...dammit I'm already attached to these two ]

[[Acro.]]

ooc:// I KNOW, RIGHT? D8

~ N O X ~

The shadow tilted its head at the King's question, his silvery-grey eyes dull against the sunlight streaming through them. Where did he come from? "I don't know," he replied quietly, stating it as a matter of fact. He had never known where he'd come from. One day, he had simply... come into existence--one day, he just was. The tendrils slithering out along the ground around him focused in a singular direction, and the tom's gaze followed them. In the next moment, he simply melted--faded out of existence, only to silently reappear on the branch directly above the icy she-cat's. "And you," he remarked, voice low. "I've seen you, too." He paused, tilting his head down at the lovely feline below him. "I've seen everybody."

Any cat, any creature who had ever stepped into shadow... he knew them.

"Why have you left the kingdom?" the shadowy figure asked of the two felines, his low tone taking on an air of curiosity.

[Stormsy]

<< Elise >>
The icy blue she-cat tilted her head at the cat's response. He didn't know? How could you not know where you came from? Elise remembered being born in the fields of those Clan cats in her other form, and in this one, being born in the kingdom. She only flinched slightly when the tom appeared above her. Her eyes moved up quickly so that she could continue watching him. He was a rather odd thing to watch, with the shadows. She almost wasn't even sure if he was really there or not. She heard his next statement, tilting her head again. Everyone? How was that possible? Elise was truly a bit afraid, but would never admit it to anyone except maybe, just maybe, the Mad King. She turned her attention from the shadow cat for just a moment, to look to the dark purple cat to answer for her.

<< The Mad King >>
The royally colored cat watched a bit defensively when the cat appeared above his closest friend. If he touched her, he would have to find a way to get up there, fast. Luckily for him, the shadow cat turned his attention to both of them instead of just Elise. His tail curled around his paws, knowing he would answer for his she-cat companion too. "Personally, I was cast out. A new cat took my throne. They said I was too cruel, and too commanding -- traits needed for a king, in my opinion. This new one couldn't lead worth a mouse tail. It was either me continue to work under that dumb peasant, or leave and live by my own laws. Elise had just lost her family, and told me she wanted to leave with me, and I wasn't going to say no," he explained in a formal tone -- the same one he always held to him.

[ℓυиαя]

~virosus~

Ears twitching in the direction of company, a slender black and bright yellow female stepped out of the scenery. Intense yellow eyes fixed on the group before her, not that she looked at all surprised at seeing a shadow cat and winged felines - nothing was normal these days. A black tail encircled by stark yellow rings swished gently yet keeping within the boundaries of her personal space.

A step forward.

Two.

Then when it looked as if she would come closer, the unusually colored feline made her way around the outside, seemingly avoiding them for her safety. As she moved, death followed. Flower once vibrant beneath her paws turned grey and shriveled, puddles becoming stagnant pools that seemed to boil. That burning yellow gaze never left them for a moment, her long legs eating up the distance until she sat a few cat lengths away, a dead land surrounding her once living landscape.

[[Acro.]]

~ N O X ~

Except for the natural swirl and sway of the shadows he was made of, the dark feline above Elise remained absolutely still while the Mad King spoke. His matte grey eyes stared at the larger tom with an emptiness while he listened. As the explanation continued, the smoky tendrils surrounding the shadow crept out long the branch he was hovering on, wove down the tree trunk, and slithered toward the darkness created by Elise as she remained perched there. These reaching limbs had no solid mass behind them--they were the same as the shadow himself--but they moved with their own life. They coiled and danced against the branch surrounding Elise, and every now and again one would strike out and connect to her own shadow, finding purchase there...

This was an eerie effect of being around the smoky-tom, though it would, for the moment, cause no harm or ill. Elise would feel nothing (except, perhaps, creeped out), and would only be aware of it if her eyes noticed the thin tendrils.

"...Elise had just lost her family, and told me she wanted to leave with me, and I wasn't going to say no."

The shadowy feline's eyes darted back down to Elise, the tendril exuding from him working into a more animated frenzy of movement. A King with no kingdom... No treasure but for his silent queen of ice. The tom tilted his head, as though prepared to speak, when suddenly a whisper echoed through his essence and the shadows around him rippled.

Another.

"Another," he repeated lowly, his eyes narrowed onto a black and yellow figure approaching.

All at once, the dark appendages swirling within Elise's shadow retracted and shuddered before the Shadow himself disappeared. He re-vaporated at the darker edge of the clearing, stepping out to approach this new stranger. He paid no mind to the deathlands surrounding her, seemingly oblivious to them. He stopped a few tail-lengths away, posed over one of the septic puddles the she-cat had left behind. His paws made no ripples against the water--it never touched him. "You walk with death," he remarked, his whisping tendrils reaching along the ground toward this deadly feline but seemingly reluctant to touch the shadow she created. "Do you live?"

ooc:// Woops... not suppose to be this invested... ''>_>

[ℓυиαя]

Neon yellow eyes moved as the shadow cat materialized in the darkness near her and approached. He didn't seem to be scared on the outside, and maybe he wasn't, but he was definitely being careful. They all started off being careful. As her name suggested, Virosus was poison right to her very core -  a single touch enough to infect anything, killing it swiftly. As if that wasn't curse enough, those that stayed too long in her presence caught a sickness of the mind. She hadn't found any living creature so far that could withstand it, and she had tried. Virosus' body tensed slightly as he approached, not wanting to move and cause more havoc then she had already done.

Because the truth was, as much as she was a fatal walking disease, she didn't want to be.

Virosus hated seeing those around her hurt, those around her die, even from the smallest of flowers to the strongest of cats. They all fell eventually if they stayed around her long enough, no matter how careful they were. Because contact or not, the poison got them. His question flooded her ears in that low voice of his, so at match with the shadows that he was. A humorless laugh escaped her as she watched him. Wasn't it ironic that the one cat that without trying took so many lives, was the one lucky enough to live on? At the border of her dead lands, life kept trying to fight back, only to fall to the toxic presence once more. It would be days before anything lived on the small piece of land that she sat, longer if she remained. "Is it really living if all you cause is death?" Her voice carried an usual tone to it as she spoke in answer to his question - like she was confident yet on the verge of giving in. It was futile really this resistance and though for years she had tried to run from what she was, she was beginning to see that that wasn't possible. She was better off alone.

So why then had she walked into this clearing? To give herself one last chance? To take more lives in her selfishness to be normal? Or perhaps she had scented something different in this clearing, something that she wouldn't lose the moment they touched, the moment she let time get away from her. Eyeing the shadows that conformed to the shape of a cat, Virosus stood dead still yet her eyes took in everything. Every living moment was a burden to her knowing that every breath she took was a when something else took it's last. "And you?" She eyed his tendrils that still seemed to hesitantly hover between them. "I'd keep those things away from me, you don't want what I have. Trust me."

Virosus had always wondered why when others had been given telekinesis or physical powers, why she had been unlucky enough to take that all away the moment she searched for her own happiness in her bleak existence. Why her?

[Avery]

Goodfellow;

Oh what a joyous night it was!
The stars were out, the moon was bright
And there were cat's everywhere
And not just any!
Oh no!
Fun loving, outgoing, quiet,
mysterious, deadly,
Freaks like him!
T'was a great night to be alive!

Blessed with a dainty frame the tom
Had a grey base coat, with 
Blue, Purple, Yellow, Green
And Teal diamond's that coated
his fur. Large crystal blue eyes
Danced in merriment as he
Skipped away from the main Gathering of
Cats, towards a smaller, more subdued crowd
BORING!

Crowing in delight
He announced his arrival, and swung from the branches
Of a particular tree, where a rather
Majestic tom, with large wings,
Sat rather regally.
"It is I, Goodfellow, my Mad King!"
He sang loudly, his voice brightening
The dismal crowd.

"Hello to you to Fair Lady Elise, and to you
the dark fellow on the ground, and to you
Ms. Poisonous' being. You may address me,
as Jester! Or Goodfellow! Or Robyn,
If you see fit! Why the glum faces?!"

Using his tail the tom lowered himself
From the branch, and swung, like a monkey
While his paws clutched child-like
Underneath his chin.


-----
Techno

The whirring noise of fans announced the arrival of this feline. The grass muffled her iron steps as she slowly made her way through the forest. Large glowing green eyes captured the sight before her and she hesitated before stepping out of the shadows. Iron glinted in the large moon, and she heard her legs decompress as she stood still. Noticing the appearances of the other's she couldn't help but calculate. Numbers sprang in front of her vision, and pictures flickered into view as her research told her of each of them. The regal cat was the Mad King, while the icy she-cat was Elise (real name Lindsay), the dark tom was Nox, and the other she-cat was Virosus. The cat who was currently dangling from their tail was Robyn Goodfellow, a common legend among the two-legs. What was she?

Her name was Techno.

A strange being in a land of mythical creatures. She often felt exiled, and unexcluded. So why was she here? Merely to observe and take notes, hoping to one day be able to transform herself into one of these beautiful creatures. Her eyes zoomed in on the Mad King's wings and then Elise, and she longed to be able to be as pretty as them. Life just wasn't fair.

[Stormsy]

[ Sorry for the wait, hopefully a long post can make up for it haha ]

<< Elise >>
The icy she-cat sat still, her gaze flicking between the King and the shadow cat. Her wings fluttered slightly, adjusting themselves on her back. Her ears twitched, picking up soft pawsteps. She didn't turn to the new arrival, however. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the shadowy tendrils tapping about around her and occasionally near her shadow. She felt a bit off about it but didn't mind much. Elise stretched out one paw as if to touch one, but then quickly retreated it as not to look foolish.

The word of the shadow tom got to her ears quickly and she jumped, turning slightly to lock eyes with him. Another what? she thought, tilting her head. Elise's jaws parted as she was going to speak, and inquire, but then the cat was gone in the blink of an eye. She glanced around for him, her tail twitching in mild annoyance. The blue-colored cat spotted him a bit away with the new cat, and she shrugged it off quickly, looking to the Mad King to see if he had noticed. She was unnerved but would never let anyone know. This new cat brought an odd feeling of death, but to her it was also oddly comforting. I don't like that.

To her surprise, yet another arrival showed up. This one, however, she recognized. He greeted her King and that made Elise smile. The Mad King looked borderline pleased, and if he was pleased then she knew everything was alright. Someone pleasant and not deadly, perfect! she thought with joy. He greeted her next, and to that the pale blue she-cat dipped her head. "Greetings, Goodfellow!" she called in glee. It was the first time she had spoken around the new cats and her voice was very silky and soft.

To her greater confusion there was yet another. A mechanical looking cat, who confused Elise. The ice-cat's head tilted as she looked to her. She saw the cat's eyes flick to her wings, and she took it as a compliment. Without thinking, they stretched out in all of their glory and length. Elise nodded to her, a tiny smile on her face.

<< The Mad King >>
The shadow tom was focused on the King's every word, it seemed, which he was used to. He noticed the shadows reaching for his precious ice-cat and something twinged inside of him. That cannot be...jealousy, the Mad King thought to himself. Suddenly, without warning, he was gone. His dark head whipped around to find the cat with a new arrival. Curses, I didn't even notice this she-cat sneak up! The feeling of death was overwhelming for a moment, but not in a normal way. Not in the "I'm about to die" way.

No, it was the feeling he had gotten in the past, standing over the bodies of those who defied him. The feeling he had sitting on his throne of bones and gold. A smile stretched across his muzzle. Yes, those times were much better. He turned his eyes to Elise for a moment, with a reassuring expression so she knew that he would keep her safe. That was his promise, after all.

His thoughts of the past were reinforced with a familiar scent of a cat who must have known the Mad King previously. The regal tom turned as he came swinging in. "Ah, Goodfellow! Nice to see you!" he called joyously. It only strengthened his joy at the fact the tom called him his Mad King. Does this mean I still have followers out there, as well? He tried to shake the thought from his head for the time being, knowing this cat could bring a happiness that was needed in the rather depressing crowd. Again, he looked to his ice she-cat to see her reaction. Elise looked full of happiness, which was a relief to the King.

Yet another decided to join them this night. The whirring noise made him flinch, not that he would ever admit it. His tail flicked in greeting to the robotic she-cat, as the Mad King was now in a much friendlier mood. She seemed to study him and Elise, and it didn't bother him. He was used to being looked at, at least back in the kingdom.