My Return (Fox)

[Midnight]

It took a bit to navigate her way back to the twoleg home, but Ayame came, as she promised, the following day. The sun was high in the sky, about sunhigh- as if that wasn't easy enough to guess- and the loner padded up to the pond, crouching by it and taking a few laps of the cool, refreshing water. It wasn't snowing today, luckily, and there was only a light blanket of snow resting on the ground. Ayame looked around the yard. She'd have called out for Blaine and Mia, but the fact that a twoleg could hear her caused Ayame to keep her jaws sealed shut, and she waited silently for the tom, and possibly his niece, to come.

[Foxpaw]

Blaine slid easily out of the barn, shaking a few pieces of loose hay from his fur. A mouse dangled loosely from his jaws, plump from stolen seeds. Ah, just in time he thought, glancing up at the sun adn squinting his eyes.

"Have fun with your little street rat friend," Leon mewed from the doorway, snickering softly from behind an unsheathed paw that he was cleaning. He ducked swiftly when the slightly smaller tom swung at him with a half-hearted glare.

"That's not the kind of thing you say about a lady. This is why you're never getting a mate, Leon," He mewed with a slight grin, voice muffled. He gave the tom a shove before trotting off in a rather good mood. He saw her waiting by the pond and increased his speed slightly, stopping in front of her and dropping the mouse at her paws. "Glad you could make it," he purred, voice warm.

[Midnight]

Ayame's ears perked, staring at the other tom. He was rather handsome, but Ayame was here to hang out with Blaine, not that other tom. Ayame purred when Blaine approached her and dropped the mouse at her tom, "Thank you. I'm glad you came, too. I was a bit worried, what with twolegs and everything.." The brown tabby trailed off before letting out a deep breath, crouching, and taking a few bites of the mouse. "Nice catch, considering it's leafbare."

[Foxpaw]

Blaine flicked his tail lightly, seeking to put the she-cat at ease somehow. "Oh, my twolegs aren't so bad. They're pretty nice, actually. but they're out with the horses today, so you shouldn't have to worry about them for a while," he mewed, sitting neatly beside her. He chuckled softly. "The barn's usually full of mice all year around. They come for the easy warmth of the hay and stay for the steady supply of seads," he explained, trying to think back to a time when there weren't a lot of mice there. Even though Leon was put in the barn to keep it free of mice, the twolegs still fed him, so it wasn't like it was a matter of life and death if he didn't catch them.

[Midnight]

"I doubt they're bad, it's just.. I guess you could say I was raised to stay away from them, really. It's instinct to run from them, being anywhere near them or their things makes me wary." Ayame mewed quietly, feeling rather embarrassed. "That sounds great!" The brown tabby mewed more loudly, getting excited. "All that prey!"

[Foxpaw]

Ace nodded slightly, almost more to himself than the she-cat. He'd teach her to trust twolegs. Once she got a little cleaned up and fed, she'd make a great kittypet. He found her too sweet-mannered to be a wild cat anyhow. "You're welcome there anytime you'd like. Leon will treat you well, I'll make sure of it," he promised, glancing in the direction of the barn. "Maybe in time you'd feel comfortable enough to meet my twolegs. I just know they'd adore you," he mewed confidently.

[Midnight]

"Leon?" Ayame asked. Had she missed something, or had he not mentioned this Leon? Ayame's skin burned for a few moments in embarrassment. She must have forgotten something that Blaine said! Such a gentleman wouldn't have made such a mistake, right?

Ayame nodded, deciding to take the safe, not-rude route this time, "Yeah, it'll probably just take some time for me to get used to the twolegs." Honestly, though, the brown tabby she-cat knew that she'd never be used to twolegs. She wasn't brought up that way, and she doubted that she could change that part of her life. She'd always be a loner, free to roam.

[Foxpaw]

At her question, Blaine looked rather mortified, his own ears burning. "I do apologize," he mewed, clearing his throat and giving his head a shake. "That was awfully rude of me. Leon's a good friend of mine. He lives in the barn. I' 'll introduce you later," he mewed, dipping his head,amber eyes wide and apologetic. How could he possibly of forgot?

"If you don't want to or feel uncomfortable, of course you don't have to," He mewed quickly, not wanting the pretty she-cat to feel scared. It would be a lie to say he didn't have high hopes, however.

[Midnight]

"Y-you don't have to apologize, it's fine, really." Ayame mewed, trying her best to make sure he knew that she didn't mind. Ayame continued to walk forward, not saying anything at the next part, because she wouldn't be able to say anything without lying, which may mess things up big time later, or being outright rude, and this tom seemed pretty big on not being rude.

[Foxpaw]

Blaine dipped his head, his amber eyes filling with relief. It was a good thing she was so forgiving. The young tom didn't kno whow easy most she-cats he met took advantage of his chivalrous ways for their own selfish gain. Luckily, this didn't seem like a big problem with Ayame. He paused at the edge of the pond, sitting on the bank and looking down curiously. "Where do you come from, if you don't mind me asking?" he mewed, glancing over at her with that same keen interest.

[Midnight]

"Well, my littermates and I were born loners. I'm not sure where exactly, but somewhere in the area behind LeafClan territory. When we got older and separated from our parents for our own lives, we joined the Returned Clan, which wasn't really a Clan, more of a disorganized mess of killers. We're not killers, don't worry; in fact, Sakura, Haruko, and I spent all of our time trying to persuade cats to leave the Returned Clan, because it wasn't fair for cats to get killed just for being Clan cats and such.. It's a long and confusing story, really." Ayame meowed. "What about you?" She wondered if the tom had lived his whole life thus far as a kittypet, or if he had once been a loner, she doubted him being rogue or Clan blood, but it was, of course, very well possible.

[Foxpaw]

Blaine listened to the she-cat, amber eyes wide with awe. She had had such an interesting life... Thinking back, it was the kind of life Lilah wanted. She would of liked the she-cat, would of begged to hear more of her adventures in the wild, in this clan. but that kind of life-the life his sister had quite literally died for-only served to make him uncomfortable and anxious now. "I see. It must of been quite an exciting life," he mewed as politely as he could, staring off into the dark waters of the pond, ice crusted around the edges. "Ah, I'm afriad my story isn't nearly as interesting. I was born here, in that house, and had a sister, Lilah. My Mother was a kittypet, and my Father was a loner who, after spending his younger years adventuring, met my Mother and settled down to live in the barn. I've lived here my whole life. I've always been content with this life, unlike my sister," he finished, a slightly stormy look settling onto his face.

[Midnight]

Ayame grimly shook her head, "I wouldn't call it exciting. Moreover dreadful. Life's good now, being free, but in the Returned Clan, I was trapped. I've heard of cats being trapped in buildings made by the twolegs. There are many, many cats and dogs in that one building, and some cats go into one horrid-smelling room and never come back, while others are taken by nice twolegs and never come back. I've never experienced that, but I can say it sounds sort of like what the Returned Clan was." She listened to his story and was slightly jealous of him. "Consider yourself lucky. I don't like twolegs much, but at least you didn't have to deal with a lot." She wondered what happened to his sister, and if her words would've offended him, so Ayame dipped her head respectfully to the tom and hoped that would suffice as an apology in the event that she did hurt his feelings.

[Foxpaw]

Blaine gently draped his tail over her shoulders as she talked, amber eyes wide and concerned. He felt a pang of protectiveness that nearly weighed him down. It was simply the way he was when it came to she-cats. He didn't like seeing them in uncomfortable situations. "You're right, I haven't," he murmured, even as his mind drifted to Lilah, his best friend, his other half. It was a different kind of pain, he decided, a different kind of thing to deal with. And there was no running from it, no getting away. It had become a part of him, a dark, bitter part.

Wanting to distract both her and himself, he sat down neatly, curling his tail around his paws. "That place, with all the cats and dogs? I was in one before," he mewed, whiskers twitching in amusement. It really was a horrible place, but it had only been for less than a day, and it was a rather fond memory despite everything.

[Midnight]

Ayame purred, completely oblivious to the fact that she was even purring, and stood right next to Blaine, feeling comforted by his presence, even though, again, she didn't realize it. "Well, it's not like I'd want you to have gone through that, you know. You're too nice to be able to go through such a thing."

Taking a step away from the tom as he seemed to change the subject, Ayame looked into his amber eyes again, almost sighing. They really were beautiful. She listened with perked ears and said, "Really? Well, I'm glad you were one of the cats that made it outside and never came back. I can't help but wonder what happens when cats and dogs go into the other part, even though I doubt it's a good thing if no cat ever hears of them again."