Unexpected Guidance

[ginger]

    Although he would always return home to Susan, Mr. Nakey was, in his heart, a wanderer. He wandered from trailer to trailer to get pets from every two leg, he wandered over to different campgrounds to antagonize dogs while their people were trying to sleep, and, from time to time, he would even wander close to the place where he had heard of wild cats who lived in the forest, and had never worn sweaters. Frankly, he thought it sounded a little bit unbelievable. Hanging around the forest he could buy, but living without clothes? How did they bear it? Then again, he did have to remember that for almost the first year of his life, he too had nothing to wear. He had his rooster bandana, but he had resorted to carrying it around because it had come untied, and he had no thumbs. But, now that he had discovered the joy of mooching off of two legs, he was constantly clad in different attire. Some of it was clothes that people had made for him, some had been bought by Susan, and the rest consisted of old socks that he had 'borrowed' from people's clotheslines. 
    Today, however, his chosen place of wandering was to the front door of a particular two leg nest. In the days prior, he had picked up on little bits of their conversations, and put the little snippets together to form some understanding of what they had been discussing. Apparently, a few months prior, someone had found three sickly cats over in the flower fields. They had taken the poor things in, and although one of them, a younger tomcat, did not make it, the pair of she-cats had managed to pull through, and were finally given a clean bill of health. And today, the two leg was going to let the two of them go free, probably to return to wherever they had come from before. And of course, Mr. Nakey simply had to be there to see them off, and point them in the right direction. Although he loved two legs, he had to admit they were not always the most intelligent when it came to dealing with his kind. Sometimes, he believed, you needed to bring in an expert. And of course he would be glad to fill the role. 
Kanna

[Kanna]

Scorpionclaw and Swiftleap
Words: 278
Tagging: ginger

It wasn't until the sun was rather high in the sky that the twolegs headed out of theur home, carrying two cat carriers. One of the cats inside was tense, on her haunches nervously, while the other was laying down, alert but seemingly trusting of the twolegs, despite the twitching of her whiskers. The twolegs had been planning to release them near where they were found - the edge of the flower field, which wasn't far from their home. It was only a few blocks in the car. The red tabby, the one who was originally relaxed, scrambled to her feet as they were put inside the car. To them, this was a monster, and they were about to be eaten!

One twoleg sat in the back of the car, another behind the wheel, and the car pulled off. There was some traffic, and it would be possible for another cat to keep up, even if they just had to use instinct or follow their nose. It wasn't too long after that the car pulled into the car parking lot of the flower fields nearby, getting out with the carriers. They didn't release the cats straight away, talking for a few moments before finally heading into the shrubbery.

Placing the cat carriers down, the twoleg closest first unlocked the green one, and it only took a moment for the brown tabby she-cat to shoot out, not looking back before plunging into the bushes. The catches on the blue cat carrier were then unlocked, where the dark ginger she-cat emerged. She glanced behind her at the twolegs for a moment, before following where her companion had disappeared to, albeit slower.

[ginger]

    Mr. Nakey had curled up right outside the door, catching a few extra winks of sleep while he waited for the lazy two legs to rise. He always found that time passed much quicker if you spent it napping, or sticking your nose in where it did not belong. And, luckily for him, he had planned to do both of those things. Finally, just as the sun had gotten very high, the tomcat felt a gentle bump against his hindquarters, and popped up his head. Just as he had hoped, the two leg had mistakenly awoken him when opening the door, allowing him to get up and poke around in their business. The tomcat took his sweet time in getting up, knowing that two legs had a tendency to be rather slow. He yawned and stretched before he followed behind the two leg, his nose twitching curiously the whole way. He never bothered to hide or shrink back from two legs around here, as all of them knew him, and a majority even called him a welcome nuisance. And even those few strange two legs that did dislike him knew better than to say or do anything, for fear of being on the wrong end of Susan's wrath. She may have been short, but her knitting needles had seen many a great battle. At least, that was what he had heard. 
    As he padded behind the tall human, Mr. Nakey tried to peer through the gaps in the cat carriers, and get a glimpse of the wild she-cats. One, he noticed, seemed to be much more tense, so much so that he could smell her fear-scent even from his place below the carriers. Frankly, he could not blame her. He had been a kittypet for most of his life, and he still was not a fan of those plastic prisons. He had seen some of his feline neighbors go off in those carriers, and return smelling strange, and having certain...pieces missing. He thanked his stars that Susan had not elected for those procedures. Still, the few times that he had been squished into one of those little boxes, he was not a fan. For him, those boxes meant that he had to go to the vet, a strange smelling place where two legs poked and prodded at him. But, things got worse. They even made him take off his sweaters! The hairless tomcat shuddered at the thought. It felt so violating!
    But, the tomcat knew that the pair of she-cats were not being sent to the vet. They would be going somewhere much more pleasant. They were being sent home! The naked tomcat watched from a few tail-lengths away as the two leg set each of the boxes into his ruby-colored monster, and then got in himself. Ugh, I guess I will have to walk, thought the tomcat, rolling his pretty blue eyes. But, he supposed, it was a worthy sacrifice so that he could help out these two cats. Oh, the things he would do for..well, let's be honest, he did it because he did not have anything better to do at the moment. Luckily for him, the trek was not too terribly long, and the route not too dangerous. The two leg seemed to be in no big rush, so, with just a little extra effort, the wrinkled cat could keep up. Even before they had reached their destination, Mr. Nakey could smell the sweet and sleepy aroma of the flower fields. It smelt sort of like the perfume that some of the two leg ladies would wear; the kind that made the wrinkled tomcat sneeze. He waited impatiently, tapping his thin tail, while the two leg putzed around with the carriers. He wanted the creature to quit talking and let him see the she-cats! He had places to be!
    Finally, the two leg opened up the latches, setting the pair of felines free. As was expected, the more nervous of the she-cats shot out into the bushes, while the other one seemed to take her time. Great, the wrinkled tom thought to himself, once again rolling his eyes dramatically. Now I'm going to have to follow them into the plants, and get my precious sweater all dirty. He gave the two leg a cheeky little headbutt before he plunged into the foliage, sniffing for the pair of she-cats. Finding them was no easy task, thanks to all the pollen-scent flooding his nose, but eventually Mr. Nakey succeeded. 
    "Hey girlies," he chirped casually, sidling up to the ginger she-cat. "I take it you ladies could use some assistance?"

Kanna

[Kanna]

Swiftleap and Scorpionclaw
Words: 277
Tagging: ginger

The brown tabby had stopped just inside the bush, crouching down with her orange eyes fixed upon what she could see of the twolegs through the leaves of the bush. Her fur was raised all along her spine and her shoulders, clearly tense. She hated those twolegs with a searing passion, and she couldn't understand how her companion was able to put up with it. The ginger tabby let them touch her, pet her and whatever else twolegs did, with very little protest. It was unlike the she-cat.

"What are you doing?" A hiss came from the brown tabby as the ginger one slipped into the bush to join her, lowering her tail as she sat up, facing away from the twolegs, "They're twolegs, and you're letting them touch you!"

"Hey, Swiftleap, the less resistance means that they'll likely set us free without hurting us." The ginger tabby pointed out, much to the disdain of her brown companion, presumably Swiftleap. She twitched her whiskers, kneeding the ground as the other sighed. Swiftleap really wasn't happy at her companion's admission. Before she could reply, though, her eyes travelled past the ginger tabby and towards the leaves, where something - someone - was just emerging.

The ginger she-cat nearly jumped out of her fur upon hearing the cat approach her. She raised a paw to move aside, shying away, but something stopped her. This... was this a cat? Where was his fur? Was that very colourful thing his fur? It barely covered him!

"Who are you?" Swiftleap narrowed her eyes as she faced Mr Nakey, covering for Scorpionclaw's loss of words with a demanding statement and a flick of her tail.

[ginger]

    Mr. Nakey's large ears pricked as he pushed his way through the flowers. It sounded like the she-cats were a bit at odds with one another about the whole being around the two legs thing. The tom could not help but laugh at the pair of them. He sat back on his haunches, chuckling as the ginger she-cat, the one who had seemed to be more relaxed, gawked at him. By this point in his life, he was very used to cats staring at him in wonder, no doubt wondering where his pelt had run off to. Once, when one of the neighbor's kittens was poking around, he had gotten them convinced that the wind had blown it off. The poor little thing had refused to come outside for nearly a moon! The tomcat laughed at the memory. 
    "Who are you?"
    The tomcat turned, tilting his head to gaze over at the other she-cat, a brown tabby. Already, he could tell that she would be a challenge. He could recognize her as the one who had been scolding the ginger tabby for being so friendly with two legs, and the one who was absolutely terrified by the carriers. 
    "They call me...Well, that depends on who you ask!" The tomcat chirped his response, flicking his large ears back and forth. It was clear that he was completely running on his own agenda. "Let's see, Susan calls me Mr. Nakey, Clara sometimes calls me Dobby-I think it is from a book or something. The kids next door call me Wrinkles. Joe from across the way calls me Rooster. Oh! And there are a couple other people that call me Loki too. So, I guess you can call what you like!"
Kanna

[Kanna]

Swiftleap and Scorpionclaw
Words: 182
Tagging: ginger

"What sort of names are they?" Swiftleap's ears flickered back a little, but not in anger, more in confusion. She had known that some rogue cats lived around the clans, but she didn't know any of their names. Did all non-Clan cats have names as weird as this cat did? Not only that, but he had so many different ones! Which one should they use?

"Where's your fur?" Scorpionclaw's voice broke into Swiftleap's thoughts, as she leaned down, sniffing Mr Nakeys skin, "Is that colourful pelt all you have? It doesn't look very warm... you must freeze at night!" She exclaimed, raising her head. Swiftleap hissed at her companion, almost as a warning, but Scorpionclaw paid no attention. She had never seen a cat without fur before! There was no way that the she-cat would pass this opportunity up - she had to investigate this!

"Did someone take your fur? Or did you get injured?" She asked, much to Swiftleap's disdain, "I know when cats get scars, the fur sometimes doesn't grow back, but how did you manage to scar your whole body?"

[ginger]

    The hairless cat tilted his head, large ears flopping slightly as he did so. Where did his names come from? He tried his best to explain it all. 
    "Okay...lets see here. Mr. Nakey is because she says I am a little gentleman. I think Dobby is from one of the two legs paper thingies. Wrinkles is...well, look at me. Loki is because I am a mischievous boy. Oh! And Rooster is because sometimes I wear a chicken bandana!"
    The tomcat smiled in satisfaction, proud that he had managed to explain every one of his many monikers. In his mind, it was quite the feat. "Susan is my favorite two leg, so I guess you guys can call me Mr. Nakey if you are looking for one name," the tomcat suggested to the confused looking she-cat, glad that she had appeared to calm down a little bit from her scare with the two legs. Now, if anything, she just seemed to be baffled by him. Of course, he was quite used to being baffling. 
    "Where's your fur?"
    Mr. Nakey laughed as the younger of the two she-cats asked her question. It was one he got all the time, from kittypets and clan cats alike. So few of them had seen a cat of his...beauty. Sometimes, when it came to younger cats, he would try to trick them, and tell them that it had blown off in the wind, or been stolen by a badger. But, both of these she-cats seemed too old, and too clever, to fall for those sorts of things. So, he would tell them the truth. 
    "I don't have any! All I've got is this peachy fuzz," the tomcat chirped, bringing some attention to his nose, which sported the one patch of noticeable fur. Everywhere else was just covered in a very fine dusting of downy fibers, invisible unless you were truly searching for it. "But my sweaters keep me pretty warm most of the time. I have thicker ones for winter, of course. Then, I have to practically be wrapped in stuff to keep myself warm. Usually during those months I stick to indoor exploration."

Kanna