Multiple Settings Mass Clans: Beyond

[Filament]

Holly wants to agree with him, but something about the devastation feels different here. It's different from their Earth in that there are no cataclysmic dead zones, there were towns. Not as advanced as the ones in their own universe but still life fights to stay here.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask." She'd agree, curiosity brimming once more in her honeyed gaze. "Wouldn't surprise me though." She'd affirm Hunter, looking at him over her shoulder for the first time in a while.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Okay, okay." Pest agrees, limping after her. With the pain he's in, there's not much argument left in him. The tom lets out a heavy breath as he stumbles after her, blood pouring from his flank. "Fucking shit." The tom would swear, doing his best to keep pace with Malevo.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Stalker, holy hell." Flame exclaims, joining Aceline in giving the sheline a hug although he pulls back, weary of hurting her in the state that she's in. His attention then shifts to Penny, who lay bleeding. "I need help over here, Penny's hurt!" The tom would call, pressing two ginger forepaws onto her wounds in an attempt to staunch the bleeding.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"This is the first time Thrush and I left the Crater to explore the world beyond these walls." Thistle informs. His gaze turns from Lexi back northward, visibly growing more antsy. He can't keep his front paws still. "Would it be okay if I go check them out? If she doesn't have the scar then this isn't my earth and there's nothing to worry about timeline-altering-wise because I can't pull off any theoretical portal moves."

 

[Moonsound]

Lexi stared at Thistle for several long seconds before smirking.

“I can’t say no. Your curiosity is infectious.” Lexi meowed, padding back over to and then past Thistle.

“Your sister was pretty defensive, fair warning.” Lexi added on as they followed the tracks back.


_____________________________


Malevo walked/carried Vasteye through the portal. The medical bay was spacious but not dauntingly so. The walks on the right side of the large corridor were downward slanted ceilings, the entire slanted portion being see-through. A handful of feet before reaching the left wall the ceiling flattened out like normal to make a 99 degree corner with said wall. The architecture and view outside showed that this bay was right in the exterior starboard side of the ship. Medical personnel were already administering aid to the critically injured on beds. A pair of nurses were also helping False Lamb out of her pod and onto a bed to receive care.

“Who gets the pod? We need an answer from friends or kin quickly.” One of the nurses said, pointing to the pod in question.

____________________

Penny jerked when Flame set his paws on her wounds but a moment later, placed her paws besides his to block her wounds as best as possible. One of the lifeliners came over to assess and looked her over while pulling out some gauze. The lifeliner went about wrapping Penny’s entire torso with the gauze, getting spat with yellow blood towards the end.

“I have advanced healing.” Penny croaked out as best she could.

 

[Filament]

Pestilence struggles through the portal but makes it in alright. Steadying himself for a few ragged breaths, the tom would turn his head to the nurse, opening his mouth before his mind can catch up. "Saraphina." The tom would blurt out, steadying himself against a wall. Why wasn't he being bandaged? He wonders, beginning to feel light on his three paws. For all the wounds he'd suffered in the plaguelands, he's now acutely aware that he's never lost this much blood at once.

"I don't feel good." The tom would mew, having to force his voice to be steady and not slur.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame nods when Penny speaks. "She took a shotgun blast before and healed pretty quickly." He moves his paws back when a doctor begins to tend to her with bandages. If only there was some way that she could share her healing.

"I wish there was some way for her to heal others." He'd mew absentmindedly, staring feverishly into the distance. He was sick, people he cared about were hurt and while Aceline seemed certain that they could win, admittedly he was beginning to have doubts.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Streak struggles a bit as the others hold onto him and each other.
"My mom, she's gonna be okay?" He'd ask, his mew slight and whimpering.
As he huddles with his adoptive siblings, his body shakes a lot, making no attempt to hide his fear.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hal walks through the deserted market street where only a day earlier a giant submarine had torn through the street. The scent of water is strong here and he readies his rifle as he walks down the deserted sidewalk. High in the air above him, Luther's scooter floats, waiting for its owner.

The tom doesn't entirely feel like he's here and phantom movements startle him from the corner of his eye every now and again.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Filament's eyes brighten as they near the on-ramp that leads to a market based on the smell of food and the scents of many different animals, mainly cats ahead of them.
"You'll get your answers soon enough." he muses to Hunter and Holly as they reach the gates atop which two armed guards are sitting with very apprehensive expressions.

 

[Moonsound]

“Mu-muhyai blood. Would give. Nuh-normal animals…” Penny’s voice faded before she took a huge inhale and spit out more yellow blood. This time not into the face of anyone.

“My blood would give normal animals a heart attack.” Penny explained, able to speak without struggling now.

“Why? Who’s hurt?” Penny asked, trying to move but being gently pushed back down onto her back by the lifeliner.


_____


“Speed’s going to be okay, yep.” Rum said, looking down at the tom and nodding her head.

_____

One lifeliner came over to Lethe and sat down in front of him. Waving their paws to get his attention. They pulled a little paw held tablet out of one of their pockets and started typing in a speedy manner. 18 seconds later they flipped the tablet around and held it in front of Lethe with two paws. On the tablet there was the message:

I am going to work on your ear. Before do, I urgently need your vote for who of your friends should be put into the pod.

Accompanied with the message were four pictures of Milky, Crimson, Callista, and Saraphina in medical beds.

___________

Two nurses, both foxes, spotted Pest and ushered him over to them, by a lowered and advanced looking gurney. The species in the medical bay were only made up of cats, a couple cougars, foxes, Mia’Moray, and medbots resembling Rosie. The two fox nurses watched Pest approach intensely, once again displaying chaste behavior as the nurses near the portal did. As though there was an invisible line in the medical bay they could not pass. As soon as Pest made it over to them, one patted on the gurney in a gesture for him to lay down.

“You see that?” One of the foxes said to the other in a male’s voice. In response his counterpart stared at him unfazed while spanking a IV bag. Then they cocked their eyebrow and the first nurse rose both brows up and cocked their head towards Pest expectantly.

“What?–Ah! Yes I saw that.” The second voice, revealing they were both male, responded with an exaggerated nod after at first retorting with a bit of an offended tone of voice. With the IV bag spanked a satisfactory amount the second nurse slid the connected needle into Pest’s back, under his scruff, with skill. The only “pain” was the initial breaking of the skin.

“Retracted?” The first nurse asked, pulling out forceps out of a drawer in the gurney and using both paws to put them in their mouth. The second nurse once again sat quietly, looking at Pest’s wound. Nurse 1 stared at them until finally they got their attention.

“Hmm?” Nurse 2 asked, slightly offended yet again.

“Retracteeed?” He asked again.

“Yes. It’s retracted.” The second nurse responded, their voice and attention directed solely to Pest. The dynamic between the two nurses was peculiar. It was as if nurse 1 was teaching or monitoring number 2, yet number 2 held an air of superiority more befitting the senior memeber of the two, not a newbie. And they would always talk to Pest. Not nurse 1.

The two foxes, both of which having rubbery fur, went about injecting Pest with what they described as something he might recognize as morphine, but without the sleepy or mind blurring effects. Next, #2 split his wound apart and #1 reached the forceps in. A couple moments later #1 gently pulled something then let go of the forceps, leaving them pinching something.

“You can clot it now.” Nurse 1 said simply. #2 produced a large syringe and lined up with the forceps. They lightly squeezed the plunger, waited for half a minute, then squeezed a little bit more then pulled the forceps out. After that they let Pest’s wound close back to how it was before and coated it in the same substance. They waited another half a minute as the substance solidified. After all of that the two looked at one another and then both looked at pest.

“An artery of yours had retracted further into your body, away from the wound. We retrieved it and sealed off the bleeding completely. How are you feeling?” The two nurses spoke and questioned Pest in perfect unison.

______________________________________________


A golden eyed tom-cat was walking behind Hal, slowly closing the distance between them. His eyes literally glowing in the dark like stars. He had a chiseled jaw, brown mustard colored fur, a necklace with some large animal tooth, and a displeased expression. There was no mistaking who he was looking at, as his eyes almost never broke their lock on Hal.



________________________________________________


Trin stopped pulling the wagon and looked up at the guards.

“Do either of you recognize this wagon? We ran into these caravaners getting attacked a ways down the road, they’re in the back. Can we go in?” Trin asked, giving a toothy smile at the end.

 

[Filament]

Pestilence seems to ease up as the painkillers hit his system. The pain is gone and disappointingly to him, his mind is still clear. They work on his damaged body as he lays there, all the while panicking. Where was Lula, where had they taken her? The operation is over and he moves to sit up, his orange and white dyed fur feeling weird against his wiry frame. "The Mia'moray who was with us, I'd like to see her." The tom would utter, still feeling dizzy but he doesn't care. He needs to know that she's okay, not from words but with his own eyes. His body feels light but not enough to be distracting.

"I just want her to know I'm here." He mews, eyes full of fear as he gazes pleadingly at the two doctors, or nurses or whatever they were.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hal freezes, picking up the sound of movement behind him but he doesn't turn around immediately. Instead, the bicolor tom turns slowly, rifle slung across his chest. The silence of the street had given this other cat away and now with his unmarked vest he demands answers.

"I thought I was the only one out here." He'd mew quietly, looking unsure of himself, like he didn't know whether the other tom was real or not.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I don't know." Flame admits ruefully, "Saraphina I think but I haven't seen Milky." The tom wheezes, sucking in a harsh breath that audibly pains him. He's still sick, everything just felt like so much right now. Steadying himself, he'd try and survey the room as best as he can. "I don't know who was here. The giantess, she got us here from quarantine." The tom collapses on his hindpaws, bringing a single forepaw to his forehead.

"Shit, I need a minute, everything is spinning." The tom would mew, doing his best to stay steady.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The guards atop the gate exchange a glance.
"Yeah, it's Farmer's wagon, they'd just left." The mountain lion atop the gate would call down to Trin, his expression lifting slightly into somewhat of a guilty look.
He shrugs his shoulder, a large carbine pistol slung in front of him. "We'da sent help but we're short as is... Are any of them alive?" He'd ask, not quite ready to let them in yet, especially if the cats he'd seen earlier were dead.

"Hey what settlement you lot from anyway?" The other guard, a longhaired siamese colored she-cat, would call down to them.

 

[Moonsound]

“No. You didn’t.” A gruff, grizzled voice like aged bourbon came from the golden eyed tom’s mouth.

“My daughter’s dead. And the trail leads to you. I’m going to give you 30 seconds to convince me otherwise, or I’ll kill you.” The older tom said, clicking his tongue and unsheathing noticeably longer than average black claws.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"Just keep your wits about you. See or hear anything, tell me, and if you feel the ground start to shake open a portal and leave." Thistle instructs. As they approach he can see that, yes, Thrush is indeed defensive. She immediately hisses at them and Young Thistle ducks behind her.

Under her breath, the skinny kit murmurs something to which the only other Craterborn understands as: "When I tell you, run, and do not look back. I will find you."

The older tom scans the kits but it's difficult to pick out the scar he's looking for. He strays away from Lexi, moving around to a sort of flanking position. Young Thrush is torn between who to keep track of, eyes darting between the two strangers. She spits at Thistle and swipes her claws at him in warning.

Keen blue eyes finally pick up on something. The younger version of himself keeps his head angled in a peculiar way. "Calm your hearts, young ones." Thistle mews in the language of their ancestors. That catches the kits' attention and they both turn to face him fully. All thoughts fly out the window when Thistle sees the tomkit's bloodied face and the empty, gaping socket where an eye once resided.



Lethe reads the message and looks at each of the pictures shown. His stomach lurches at the sight and he puts a paw to his mouth to help prevent anything from coming up. The figures shown barely look more than roadkill at this point, they are absolutely torn up. He mentally crosses off Milky and Crimson. Lethe has no personal relationship with them (he hasn't spoken much with the singer and the red sheline rubs him the wrong way) and if Trin doesn't like that choice then, well, the tom already hates him for what happened with Mute so what's one more black mark against him?

"Saraphina." The earthling meows, pointing to the Debenary. Her jaw hangs, possibly dislocated, and the normally red-hot interior of her mouth is dull. Her nose doesn't produce streams of steam like usual. Saraphina's nice, one of the few left from Earth, it'd be a shame for her to not see Undertaker brought to justice for his crimes against their planet and their people.

The tom bows his head after making his choice, praying silently and asking Aslan or whatever gods above for forgiveness. The decision to choose who lives and who dies should never be one left in the paws of mortals.

 

[Moonsound]

“Her. Do what you can for the others.” A lifeliner standing in the medical bay didn’t waste a second. As soon as Lethe spoke they pointed to the charcoal sheline. The nurses moved her into the pod with equal haste. With that the jumper went back into the apartment.

____________________

“She is on the other side of the portal. The lifeliners have assessed that her life is not in danger. How are you feeling?” The two nurses said to Pest in perfect unison.

_____________________

The lifeliner assessing Penny looked over at Flame for a moment before refocusing onto her.

“That’s nice—no that’s weird of her. I didn’t even feel her walk over here.” Penny said to Flame. Her gaze moved to the blown out windows for a couple seconds before coming back to the lifeliner when they patted her where her largest wound was. When she did nothing more than blink at them, they scooted over to Flame.

“You’re dehydrated.” The lifeliner said in an auto-tuned voice. They took their helmet off to reveal they were vanta-black and had a big cat shaped head, despite being no taller than Flame. They looked fake with the way their body absorbed light. It was impossible to make out any features about them because of it. It was like looking at a living shadow. Were they bald, furred, scaled, made of marshmallow? You couldn’t tell. Even their eyes were all black and their eyelashes grew over them to prevent glare or reflections. The lifeliner pulled a pill out of their helmet and showed it to Flame in an outstretched paw.

“This is a hydration tablet. Take it.” They said in an auto-tuned voice. Accompanying their voice were multicolored bioluminescent teeth, in stark contrast to the rest of their body. Hues of pink, green, and pale yellow faded in and out like a lava lamp for the brief moment their maw was open. A moment later they put their helmet back on.

“Levo, all stable. Let’s start packing hydration tablets for survivors next time.” The black cat said, standing up and walking over to the line up of non-critical animals.

“Alright. Let’s start getting everyone onto the mercy.” Malevo said, walking over to Flame and company.

“You four okay to move? Your silver-furred friend is all patched, but he’s talking about some weird stuff.” Malevo meowed, looking at them expectantly.

_____________________

The lifeliner with Lethe shined their helmet light into one of his ear. They flicked the light off and leaned away from him, fiddling with their pad for a bit in silence.

“You kitties and your ears…can you pass me a cochlear device?” The lifeliner called over to a feline nurse standing at the portal. They nodded and rushed away, returning just moments later and tossing a white ring to the lifeliner. They caught it and slipped it over Lethe’s left ear. A small cord was attached to the ring with a short needle on the end, no bigger than a bee’s stinger. The lifeliner took the needle and gently pressed it against the center of Lethe’s head, between his ears. A firm application of pressure and the needle was secured into his skin.

“How’s that now, can you hear me in your left ear?” The lifeliner asked Lethe, waving a paw in front of him.

_______________________________________________

Lexi kept her distance from the kits and stood as un-aggressivley as possible, while keeping her eyes on the little Thrush. Understanding that Thistle probably wanted her attention split between the two. Lexi was content to just watched until Thistle reacted in the extreme.

“What?” Lexi barked at him, taking a precautionary step towards him.

___________________


“Ford and the calico are in the back asleep. The younger ‘boy’ didn’t make it.” Trin answered, nodding his head back at the wagon.

“We’re from real far east. Real far, across the ocean.” Hunter answered the other guard. Pointing eastward for emphasis.

 

[Filament]

“Fine, I didn’t.” Hal relents, admitting he didn’t know if the tom before him was even real or just a figment of his imagination.

When the tom speaks again, he’s a bit surprised. This tom doesn’t look like any demon he’s ever seen, but he levels his rifle at the tom, although his gaze doesn’t peep the sights just yet.

“You’re no demon, I’ve only ever killed demons.” Panolpy flashes through his mind, whispering memories of how he’d gotten the prison destroyed at Mute’s behest. There had been terrible things there, not just the inmates and admittedly he did feel something beyond guilty for how the whole situation had shaken out.

“Your daughter, was she at Panolpy?” The tom asks, his voice edgy, ready to pull the trigger if he had to but something in his remaining eye communicated that was the last thing he wanted to do. Too many had been lost already and to be fair, he was hardly here, if it weren’t for Red’s medbots he’d be dead.

He should be anyway, if the other tom made a move he’d probably just let it happen. That’s what he wanted to believe but some primordial fear kept him determined to keep clinging to his life, as pointless as it was, especially now that he had run out on his friends.

They’d never take him back now. He’d well and truly blown it, he realizes, blinking his remaining organic eye to clear the tears that are threatening to form. They’d been the only family he’d ever truly had and now he was alone again, just like always.

You’re so fucking stupid. He thinks to himself, still drunk, getting more upset. He stands there, rifle angled at this cat, tears in his eyes, feeling like some petulant child, like he doesn’t belong here. He should be with the others but it’s too late to go back now. They hate him and he’s given them plenty of reason to after all.
____________________________________________________________________________

His mind rushes, he knows where she is but he wants her to know he’s still alive. “I’m feeling like I need to be with my partner.” The tom mews, his voice determined. She had to be just as scared as she was and he wasn’t with her. He’s still weak from bloodloss but he’s not going to leave her like he left Eden, like he’d left Skism, he doesn’t care what the nurses have to say, he knows he needs to be beside her.

“I’m fine, but I’m going to be with her, and there’s nothing between here and Hell that’s going to convince me otherwise.” Pestilence mews at last, giving up on trying to convince anyone to use the name he’d prefer at this point. I’m still a pest, he thinks, finally something similar to a smile crossing his lips.

With that, he’d sit up on the gurney, feeling jittery somehow, as though he were running on pure adrenaline.
____________________________________________________________________________
Flame is enamored by the appearance of this strange alien but there are more important things going on right now that require his attention. He takes the pill and although his cotton-mouth dissipates his body still feels like shit.

“I’ll be okay to move and help anyone who needs some support.” The tom reports, sitting to his paws and unconsciously entwining his tail with Aceline to sooth the anxious pit forming in his belly. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“We should’ve shot Undertaker when we’d had the chance, maybe Deceit too.” The tom deadpans, a faraway look in his gaze as he remembers just how much death he’d caused during the apocalypse. Maybe, it would’ve mattered, if he’d done something brave enough to stop all this. Who could tell if they’d ever have another prime opportunity like they’d had at the symphony again.
____________________________________________________________________________
The mountain lion’s expression is hard to read for a second before he shakes his head sadly. “He seemed like a good kid.” The male would utter, his female co-guard nodding along and together they bowed their heads in silence for a moment.

“Come on then, let’s get you all inside.” He’d offer, pulling a lever which opened the gate outwards towards the group.

As they moved in, he’d peer curiously down at them. “So are y’all from Asia or Europe?” His gaze is genuinely curious, as though he were laying eyes on animals from another planet, which ironically, he is.

Before them many hodgepodge market stalls are lined on either side of the overpass and in the middle with room to walk on either side. The smells of smoked small game are heavy, as are the odors of rust. Many of the stalls are made from various vehicle parts and a few have wheels, many have canvas or tarpaulin roofs; others are corrugated aluminum with solar panels atop of them. The air is alive with the buzz of music, generators, and the quiet almost undetectable buzz of electricity.

There are stands selling junk, food, ammo, guns, alcohol, scarves, hand made jewelry, bags; and somethings inbetween. There is seemingly no rhyme or reason to placement and many vendors offer multiple services.

Lots of animals such as foxes, cats and dogs of all varieties litter the black top, numbering easily over one-hundred. Two the far back of what remains of the overpass, is lodging, quickly followed by rabbit and chicken hutches, although pigs are present as well in one far corner.

It’s not Starworld’s market by any means but there is certainly something for everyone here.

 

[Moonsound]

One of the lifeliners sincerely but absentmindedly thanked Flame for his offer to help but gestured for him to relax while they did a final check of the apartment.

“Deciet. Didn’t Deciet bring Hunter and you two back to life?” Penny asked Flame, looking over at the tom quizzically and expectantly.

Aceline’s eyes flicked over to Flame when their tails touched. Just as a smile crossed her muzzle, her eyes flicked to Penny. Stalker was glancing around curiously, like she was lost.

__________________

Nurse 1 and 2 shared a look and then rolled their eyes in unison. Though the eye roll didn’t seem to be aimed at Alec, but more so each other.

“Try to walk softly.” The nurses said in unison. As they did so, two lifeliners were carrying Lulalissa into the medical bay on a stretcher with no haste. Further signifying her condition was not life threatening. The lifeliners were still careful in their movements as they started to get her into a medical bed; one with less apparatuses and no team of medical personnel standing around it.

_____________


“Was. Was is right. She was at Panoply. Only her body never got pulled from the wreckage. Her body popped up on some random planet in the middle of a tun-druh.” The older tom said, his eyes squinting. He appeared completely unafraid of the gun pointed at him. He was even confident enough to even flex and tap his claws on the pavement.

______________________________________________

Trin dipped his head to the guards. He started stretched as the gate opened, only to stop halfway and push the wagon back a smidge. He wasn’t sure if he was far enough back from the gate that he’d wrongly assume opened inward. The action jerked the wagon a bit, and then jerked it again when Trin pulled to go forward. The red eyed tom’s eyes grew a couple sizes as he took in the settlement. A smile gleeful smirk tugging at the edges of his muzzle as well.

“Europe. There’s also two stragglers of our group coming after us. One was born with huge fangs, you can’t miss them. Feel free to tease her about ‘em.” Hunter said up to guards as he walked in behind the wagon. It was nice to be able to say Europe again, as weird as it was. Hunter would have never thought that’d be something he’d be nostalgic about but after hearing all the various alien homeworlds and city names from his travels with both the group and False Lamb…Europe was nice to hear again.

____

Seeing no pattern to where things were, Trin looked for a space open enough to back the wagon into and proceed to do just that. Eager to get the harness off and talk to Thrush. Hopefully he didn’t just park on someone’s land or some special sewer grate to the local area’s governmental body. He didn’t want to make that mistake…twice.

“Keesipip, can you check to see our guides are still asleep?” Trin asked, shrugging off and ducking out of the harness. The ashlander nodded, heading to the back of the wagon and peeking inside.

“Thrush. Any idea how I can get one of those scarves? Preferably legal ideas first.” Trin said, strolling over to her with a contained, strained, but still contained giddy smile.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Lethe nods. "Yeah. Just my left ear, though."


"A scarf?" Thrush asks, genuinely confused why such an insignificant item would pique his interest. "Currency would be my first guess, Ford'll know what to use here. But since we most likely don't have any, bartering and trading is another option. We have water to give. Sometimes animals will exchange work for things; extra paws to help rebuild a ransacked house for a roof over your head and bed to sleep in for the night. Just gotta ask."


"I'm- he's missing an eye." Thistle informs grimly before quietly adding, "What happened to you..."

 

[Filament]

Flame shakes his head in a ‘no’ gesture. With a small look around the room, he focuses his attention back on Penny. “We found our own way through the wood.” He’d explain, trusting that she’d understand this bit of information.

“We just kept walking when the others stopped, eventually, we came upon this forest of trees, each with a pool leading to different worlds. We took a leap of faith and here we were.” The tom would finish, seemingly out of breath.

“I stand by what I said, next time she’s around, she has to go.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Alec stands all the way, taking a second to steady himself as he slides out of the bed. With a few shaky pawsteps, he finds himself beside the animal he loves, keeping pace beside her on her bed.

“Lula, I’m here.” He’d mew, keeping his tabby face aside her, as they move briskly down the hallway. “I’m so glad you’re gonna be okay.” He’d blurt out, his face full of many emotions, relief predominant among them.
____________________________________________________________________________
“Cannibal.” Hal mews, blinking with realization. “She chose to escape with Panolpy with us.” The tom breathes in deep. “She died when we went after Holly’s little brother.” That genocidal patriach’s piece of shit son, he’d think silently to himself.

“She was crushed by the ship we commissioned, it was a tragic accident, but it was quick.” The tom would exhale, lowering his rifle.

“She wanted to help, the wind blew wrong and the next second she was gone.” Smashed by the ship against the rocks. This wasn’t fair to him.

“Those animals she followed are no longer my kin, if you wish to kill me, fine. Do it, but the elements did away with your girl, not anyone amongst them.”
____________________________________________________________________________

The guards exchange a small look and then nod at Hunter, their faces full of mischief.
“You got it.” The mountain lion would offer as the group made their way inside of the small city.
____________________________________________________________________________

Ford startles as Keesipip pokes her head into the back of the wagon before his weary eyes blink with recognition.

“The siren.” he mews at last, his voice hoarse and his throat burning from smoke inhalation.

The sounds of the market surround him and he seems to realize where he is.

“You brought us back?” He croaks.
____________________________________________________________________________

Filament looks around the market, sticking close to the group. “Considering what they were traveling with, I’d wager that barter is your best bet.” he’d offer, completely taking in the station as he readjusts himself in the hoodie he’s still wearing.

“I’m sure they’d take your water.” He agrees with Thrush.
____________________________________________________________________________

Holly is chatting with a merchant who’d waved her over not far from the wagon. The salesman in question being a long-furred grey and white tom.

 

[Moonsound]

“Good. Head on into the med bay. I’m not sure if you’ve got permanent damage or not. But don’t worry, you’ll have dual hearing before you leave one way or another.” The lifeliner said to Lethe. You could hear in their tone that they spoke with a smile when they talked.

________

Penny gave Flame and deadpan gaze before reaching over and placing her paw on his muzzle.

“Deciet has a holy item or method. That can bring animals. Back from the dead. And she just told Pest about the virus, how do we call her?” Penny said, raising her brows at Flame and lightly shaking his muzzle to add emphasis to what she was suggesting.


_____


“Aww, knowing that makes me feel all better now.” The gruff tom said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Let me explain something to you.” The tom said, reaching behind him and pulling a full sized whiteboard from seemingly nowhere. Complete with doodled visual aids.

“My daughter was in a nice, comfortable cell at Panoply. And her release date wasn’t too far out either. Until she runs into a certain orange someone who mysteriously is always blurred out on camera footage. This orange someone used her pitiful state to emotionally manipulate my daughter into keeping her safe. Oh but not to worry, soon orange animal’s friends show up. And within a DAY upheave everything! And the trail went cold when for some reason a demon military vessels shows up and blows up the place with no survivors! Cold except for one little ember.” The gruff tom, stopped point at the doodles on the whiteboard and looked directly at Hal once again.

“The recorded voice of a tom calling Redentraku. A call that god-ring investigators passed over as benign, but I didn’t. Lo and behold, THAT call you made just so happened to trigger a bunch of out going radio chatter to an unidentified vessel. And just a couple hours later, everything went boom…My daughter didn’t “choose” to go with you, she chose to live! Because of what YOU did. AND I DON’T GIVE A RODENT’S A** ABOUT YOUR MELODRAMATIC DISMISSAL!” The father tom yowled, shoving his nose against Hal’s.

“You’re directly responsible! Now quit the games! Either you take me to that orange blur or I spill the guts of everyone in the apartment you left. This second!” The nameless tom growled viciously, sending some spittle onto Hal’s face.


________

In the medical bay, the bed with Callista on it began to emit an upbeat jingle. The staff’s reaction to the music was nothing but, with the pale blue uniformed animals briskly preparing supplies and equipment.


Vasteye was on a gurney, with bandages around his abdomen. Watching the commotion. Callista’s bed was right next to Lula’s.


_____________________________________________

Keesipip’s ears and eyes perked at Ford’s movement. Taking in his words with a nod.

“Of course.” The ashlander said simply.

“The guards recognized the wagon and let us in.” Hunter spoke from outside the wagon.

“Yeah. How’re you feeling? The both of you?” Keesipip asked, cocking her head.


_______

Trin listened to Thrush and nodded with a smile. “It’s good for heat, and a souvenir for Purple.” The tom explained.

“I do still have a few bottles. Water it is. Hunter, go watch Holly.” Trin said, addressing the brown with his head in the plastic bag to count the bottles.

“Couldn’t someone el—hey!” Hunter started but stopped when Trin tossed a water bottle at him. It wasn’t hard so he caught it in his mouth, but that didn’t stop him from sending a quick glare at the maned cat.

“Because you’ve been places like this, Holly hasn’t. We need to get supplies and we’re already short two cats. And Nyx has two kits to deal with.” Trin said as he took out three more water bottles. Giving the group a grand total of 4 full water bottles to barter with.

“Fu-ine.” Hunter said with the bottle in his mouth. He rolled his eyes and walked over to Holly and the merchant.


The brown tom saddled up beside the orange she-cat.

“What’s he selling you?” Hunter asked, looking at the long furred tom once before putting his attention on Holly.

______________________


Lexi’s muzzled formed an ‘o’ shape.

“And I’m guessing you didn’t lose one when you were a kit.” The huntress inferred out loud, stepping over to Thistle to try and get a good look at the younger version’s eye.

 

[Filament]

Flame frowns as she paws his muzzle but does his best to keep his composure as she wiggles it around. Once she’s done, he’s a bit confused about what she’s implying.

“Someone has to die, I suppose but if it’s not someone she needs for something, like Hunter, she won’t come.” He steps away from her paw and seems to be thinking.

“Maybe I’m being rash, but she hasn’t stopped lying since I got back and now some of my friends might die.”
____________________________________________________________________________
The tom’s sarcasm strikes some kind of nerve in Hal and he’s suddenly very angry but he keeps a perfect poker face, even in his gaze.

I could really give a shit if you feel better.

He thinks, keeping his rifle at low-ready. As this hysterical tom goes on, even acquiring a white-board, the tom zones out. He’d said what he had to say and clearly he wasn’t going to kill him or he’d have done it already. With a small exhale, he hates Holly, that’s a feeling he can at least get behind.

"My daughter didn’t “choose” to go with you, she chose to live! Because of what YOU did."

Yeah, how’d that work out for her?

He thinks coldly, eyes narrowing as the tom comes nose to nose with him.

Maybe if your daughter made better decisions, she wouldn’t be a frozen corpse.

As he levels his final threat, the tom snaps his neck forward, biting down hard on the bite-trigger of his rifle, the bullets flying into the concrete between them. He skitters back as bits of debris flick against his forelegs, some more painful than others and makes distance between them.

As the dust clears, he stands just mere feet away, rifle angled at where he assumed the tom would be.

He may not like the group and especially not Holly, but he has no doubt that this tom would gladly do what Deceit had done to that guard back in Capital. Once he gave this tom what he wanted, he had no reason to believe he’d keep his promises. That aside, he was armed and as far as he could tell, this tom was not.

Hal might be a lot of things but on top of that, he’s not about to sell out people he used to care about to some random asshole who’s upset kill them in some stupid revenge quest.

He starts to laugh as he goes over that last line.

'This second!’ As though he was his dead daughter, she obviously didn’t care to listen to him, and he wasn’t going to follow her example.
____________________________________________________________________________
Alec comes to rest beside Lula’s bed, eyes swirling with worry as he looks down at his injured mate.

“What happened to her? What are her wounds?” He asks a passing nurse, unable to see any visible injuries besides the blood from her nose and mouth.
____________________________________________________________________________


Ford relaxes a bit and sags back down pitifully. For a tom who had once been confident, he seems completely destitute as he stares at Keesipip for a few moments, eyes dull with grief and pain.

“Everything hurts, chest heavy.” He reports back, his singed bi-color coat moving slightly so he can look at her while laying down.

“I need water, her too, and-” His words die in his throat as he seems to remember that his other apprentice is dead.
____________________________________________________________________________

Holly opens her mouth in surprise as Hunter comes over.
“He’s not selling me anything yet, but some of this stuff is kind of neat.” She mews, waving her paw in the direction of various human relics, ranging from completely useless to semi-useful.

“I was just talking to him about what happened here.” She’d explain as the tom behind the small counter went back to sorting through bags of scrap.

“He said it happened before his time, but that the elders of this village call their A-Day ‘The Great Drought.’” There had been many other details but they didn’t seem relevant and she really didn’t want to piss off Hunter.

“It wasn’t caused by humans, not directly anyway, and there’s still quite a number of them alive according to him.”

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

"Okay. Thank you." Lethe mews to the lifeliner before padding through the still open portal. He finds someone not busy and tells them he needs his hearing fixed.


"Don't stray too far." Nyx tells the rabbit-turned-kittens. She leisurely walks down the main strip of the marketplace, seeing if anything catches her eye.


"Oh. That's thoughtful." Instead of browsing stalls like the others, Thrush watches the animals. She doesn't have much in terms of personal effects right now but you can never be too careful.



"No, I didn't. What happened to you?" Thistle asks. When the silence stretches on a little too long he reiterates in the Old Tongue.

"The bitch called Mistress did this to him!" The young version of Thrush hisses hatefully.

"Why?"

"Because I was done doing her bidding. I refused to kill innocents. It is by the grace of the gods we escaped at all." She curls her tail around Thistle.

This strikes a cord in Thistle. He's quiet for a moment while the gears in his head turn. "Do you speak the common language? Rœða Paraversian?"

For the first time the one-eyed tomkit speaks. "Yes." His intact hazel eye is watery. The young tom is most likely on the verge of tears because of pain.

"Okay. Keep moving north. Eventually you will find a walled city. Go there. You will be safe there. Look for a red, long-furred she-cat. She will help you." Thistle instructs the kits.

 

[Moonsound]

"She didn't lie about the virus so I'm willing to risk it. Now does anyone have any idea how we can get ahold of a demon?" Penny asked, looking around at Flame and Lethe.

____________________________________

A cream tabby cocked his head at Lethe.

"Your ear? We can look and see what's-" The nurse started but wasn't able to finish.

"Yo Translation Error, bed three's status is dipping! We need red feline mammal carbon-based blood with claw antigens and lopsided antibodies. As much as they'll give us!" One of the doctors beside Crimson's bed shouted. The nurse talking to Lethe was already jogging out of the bay before they even finished.

____________________________________

One of the nurses carrying new I.V bags over to Callista's bed flicked their gaze at Alec.

"Internal bleeding, lungs. Mia'moray, strong lungs. Sleeping, not unconscious." He said quickly and choppily while hanging up one of the I.V bags.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Trin hummed in a hopeful tone, chewing his cheek once.

"Well I haven't exactly been a good father to her these past days. Not to mention Crimson's set to chew my head off. And for good reason. Purple means the world to her. She's important to me too of course but to Crimson.... You saw that gun she had. She'd been holding off demons for days. She'd fight Aslan himself for that girl." Trin meowed, zoning out and staring vacantly at a random animal a ways away. It only last a couple seconds before he came back and made a noise half way between a chuckle and a snicker. Looking at Thrush with a grin.

"She'd even fight you for that matter. Purple's incredibly special to her. There's a reason Crimson came with her and not Azure." Trin said, playfully popping his brows at Thrush when he addressed her.


____________________________________

Keesipip gave Ford a solemn and sympathetic smile.

"I'll get you some water as soon as I can. Come out whenever you're ready." The ashlander dipped her head and made her departure from the back of the wagon.


The rabbits turned kittens sat by the wagon, watching animals go by. "We're thirsty too." One of them said as Keesipip passed them. The sheline flicked her ears in acknowledgement.

___________________________________

Hunters ears perked up as his eyes perused the various human relics, listening to Holly explain.

"Oh? That's genuinely nice to hear. Good on them." Hunter mewed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Lexi's eyes grew bigger and her ears pinned against her head.

"You think it's a good idea to give them any advice?" Lexi asked, stretching her facial features in apprehension.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The older tom's glowing eyes shown through the dust from the shooting. Still watching Hal.

"Well at least you're doing something now instead of just staring at my like a farm cat." He said. Using one of his long claws Cannibal's father proceeded to cut out an outline of himself through the dust, as if the particles were a solid mass akin to jello. He then pushed on the outline, making it fall down flat in front of him, letting him step through the cloud perfectly. The dust in the air was still floating around like normal dust should, but the outline he cut laid on the ground like plywood.

"I take it you want to do this the hard way. Fiiine by me." The gruff tom said, cracking his neck.

 

[Filament]

Flame looks contemplative but still confused. Did the prostitute demon survive? He had no idea admittedly and he shakes his head.

“Not unless that demon that Trin let in is still alive.” He hardly knew anything about demons, only Farichea and Deceit were the only demons he’d really gotten to know and he now had to admit that he knew hardly anything.
____________________________________________________________________________

Alec sags with relief beside her bed. “Thank you.” He’d mew quietly, keeping his voice low now that he was aware that she was sleeping.

My brave girl.” The tom would whisper, brushing his head against her cheek as gently as he could.

He pulls back and bows his head, thanking Aslan in his own way.
___________________________________________________________________________

Filament stands awkwardly beside Thrush and Trin, not really sure what he’s meant to do so he busies himself with studying passers by. A couple even stopping to leer at his eye, indicating that while some of these animals might have basic prosthesis, what they saw when they looked at his face was unlike anything they’d ever seen before.
____________________________________________________________________________

Contrary to her words, Ford has no plans on moving and he slumps back down, falling into a restless sleep rather quickly. In contrast, Lizeth begins to stir and she moves from beside the body of her friend, who is now wrapped in a burlap sack. Tears form in her eyes but she shakes them free, pulling a small satchel to her chest with a sigh.

Slowly, she stands to her paws, pulling it over her chest so that it hangs on her side. With a few breathes to steady herself, she hops from the back of the wagon, eager to get away from the stench of death.

Wordlessly, the scorched calico joins Holly and Hunter and seems like she wants to say something but does not.
____________________________________________________________________________

“I was thinking the same.” Holly would agree, giving an affirming nod to Hunter as a somewhat scorched calico joins them. Lizeth’s eyes are weary but determined and she seems to almost coil her side into her satchel.

“Could you two accompany me? There’s something I need to get, for…. For Streak.” even though her voice had wavered a little, she seems to find herself and again. Large yellow eyes stare imploringly at the tabby tom and orange she-cat.
____________________________________________________________________________

While Cannibal’s dad is monologuing, Hal steadies his aim as best he can while inebriated and with a useless prosthetic. When the tom steps through his own dusty outline, Hal seems surprised but doesn’t waver in his movements. While the tom is cracking his neck, the tom unleashes another volley at the tom, biting down on the bite trigger in sloppy but controlled bursts of lethal rounds.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Thistle turns to Lexi, "I don't know, I'm not an expert on parallel worlds." he keeps his voice low so the young duo can't hear. "Just look at them... they won't make it to Skogen av Bien, let alone find their way through it. They're heading north anyway... Let's just- Let's just go." Thistle squeezes his eyes shut and turns away, unable to look at the kits any longer.


"Hm. If she cares so much about Purple, then maybe she should've told me about how Purple could die if she eats too much sugar before leaving her with me. If I'm such an uneducated bumpkin from a backwater planet then why does she expect me to automatically know everything about the biology of an alien species I just met?" Thrush states flatly, one torn ear flicking in irritation. Her tail lashes angrily behind her just thinking about what Crimson said.

Listening to their not-so-subtle conversation, Nyx's eyebrows shoot up. It's obvious that Thrush doesn't like Crimson, the demoness just hopes that the red cat doesn't come after her for relaying her own hateful words to the rugged sheline.

 

[Moonsound]

“Oh that’s easy. She didn’t. She was just mad because she asked you to do something. You agreed to do it. And then didn’t do it. I imagine when you grow up how she had to, you take trust very seriously. You breaking her trust made her see Red. Metaphorically and literally.” Trin said like it was the simplest thing. He’d known Crimson for decades so her ins and outs were far from foreign to him.


________


Hunter looked at Lizeth sideways, a neutral expression on his face.

“Sure.” He said with a single not curt but not casual head nod.

“Lead the way. My name’s Hunter by the way.” He added on, turning away from the merchant and gesturing with his paw.

_______________________

Lexi did not contest and turned away from the parallel world’s twins.

“Don’t think on it too much. This is their world and there’s not much we can do. Rule of fang, try not to change anything in a universe you don’t plan on staying in.” She said as she padded along, giving a small shrug in the process.


____________________________________________


“She’s still at the Symphony.” Penny said, shaking her head ‘no’ to Flame’s idea. She pursed her lips and looked around at the apartment, bodies strewn across the floor. There had to be something or someone who could help.

______________________


The medical staff around Callista’s bed started to lessen their haste and urgency. Whatever has sparked their increased alertness had been abated.


___________________________


The glowing eyed tom-cat flinched at the incoming bullets. A couple puffs of pink smoke coming off his body.

“Oooooh no.” The tom groaned. He was clutching his chest while he stood of his paws and let out a few wet coughs.

“I think they got me this time. I’m on my way to the light. This is the end for me.” The tom continued on, kneeling down and dragging his rear into a sitting position.

“I hope you don’t mind letting an old geezer have one last final smoke?” The gruff tom said to Hal as he pulled out a cigar and lighter out of a random spot in his fur. He lit the tip of the cigar and burned through the entire thing in less than a second. He flicked the cigar butt and lighter away as he let out an huge exhale. The smoke flowing from his mouth formed into a headstone with a cat’s butt on it.

Like he was brand new the tom hopped to his paws and rolled his eyes.

“You animals love your guns. Can’t do anything without ‘em can you?” He said, partly amused as he started walking towards Hal again. Halfway there he appeared to get a better idea and stopped. Raising a paw pad side up towards Hal.

“You know what? You know I’m not going to just let you walk away. And since you can clearly see your little peashooter there isn’t going to do anything. I’ll let you have the first punch. Come on, cato e cato. Just make it count.” The tom said, waving his paw to usher Hal over to him. He opened his standing position to show Hal that he was ready and vulnerable. He even sheathed his claws.

 

[Filament]

Filament would flick his ear as he listens to what is sure to be an argument. The tones reverberating through his symphony gifted ear confirm as much and the tom heads away, stepping out of his hoodie as he moves away. With a few small movements, it's tied around his shoulders, it's hot here, not unbearably so. The heat here is the creeping, sweat trickling down your neck kind that irritates him. Just hot enough to make him uncomfortable and he doesn't really want to be apart of whatever is about to happen between Thrush and Trin.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lizeth seems to relax as she breathes out a sigh of relief. Her gaze sweeps over the orange she-cat and before it lands on Hunter’s own eyes. She sees a lot of things there but doesn’t have the energy to properly assess him. In her own eyes are grief and determination, they’re tired and weary but she holds herself with pride. Tips of calico fur are scorched black and fold on themselves and she’s not pretty but with a small nod, she’d pad forward gracefully.

“Lizeth.” She’d offer curtly, leading the way towards a small stand selling leagues of human junk. Her head moves immediately towards an old lawn ornament, a single metal flower, its yellow paint worn but still vibrant.

Wordlessly, she waves over the cat behind the counter, an old and greying tan tabby.
“I’d like to take possession of the flower, if you find this reasonable, M’am.”
Her voice is soft as she sticks her muzzle into her satchel, pulling out a corded necklace of many different bottle caps, with a small skeleton key being front and center.

“You were wearing that when you came in… The first time.” The she-cat would mew, eying the calico with a sort of solemn expression.

“It’s what I have to trade and it’s for my now dead friend. Is it acceptable to you?” The she-cat would offer, raising her head and staring directly into the eyes of the elderly cat before her.

With a small nod, the tabby would slide the necklace across the counter and retrieve the metal flower, carrying it delicately in her maw. At one point it had been a human lawn ornament, now it was to become the marker to a grave. What a world, she thinks, reaching her head forward and grabbing the object into her mouth.

She’d give them both a small sad smile and a nod.

“mthnk yoo.” She’d mutter through a mouthful of metal.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Flame turns his attention to Stalker as she meanders around the room, seemingly lost.
“Stalker, hey.” He’d call, waving a paw for her to come over to them. He has no idea his daughter had shot this cat.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Hal smirks as pink mist sprays from the tom and he settles onto his haunches, bleeding.
“Not the hot shit, you thought you were, huh?” The tom would challenge as the older tom pulls out a cigar and lights it. His expression is one of satisfaction until the tom regenerates, at which point it returns to anger.

This tom marches forward again and stops just as he’s trained his sights squarely on him, the small distance between them making it so much easier.

“You animals love your guns. Can’t do anything without ‘em can you?”

Hal gets ready to squeeze the trigger again.

“That’s cute, but I’m willing to bet you don’t have a lot of magic cigars.” Hal would snark, pulling the trigger again. The gun clicks and he freezes, still biting the trigger angrily.

“Fuck.” He has more magazines but the tom doubts that this cat is going to let him reload. Without another word he pushes hard against the sidewalk, charging him. He feigns like he’s going to swing his artificial limb into the tom but ducks low and attempts to shoulder check him with his gun and mount.

 

[Firestorm of TempestPack]

Before Trin could finish explaining away Crimson's actions, Thrush shakes her head. "Stop." Her pawsteps come to a halt and she turns to face the white tom fully, ignoring everyone else passing them by. "Just answer me this one question: do you or do you not think that Crimson is in the wrong for leaving out vital information about your daughter and her health before placing Purple in my care? Answer honestly."


Nyx feigns interest in the wares at one of the stalls but her ears swivel to focus on Trin and Thrush's words.


"I didn't even think we would end up here." Thistle mews, "I was sort of hoping we'd drop on the Crater overlook back on my planet. Where the sky and land is grey and the entirety of this place is filled with lava." He motions in a slow sweep of his paw to the valley of the Crater itself.

 

[Moonsound]

The gruff tom cocked a brow and stared at Hal peculiarly. Even as he rushed him. Right before Hal crashed into him the Tom pivot just slightly, so that Hal was checking him on his shoulder joint instead straight on. The metal of the gun made contact and a loud crunch noise could be heard, accompanied by a yellow rectangle with the word “wham” flashing across Hal’s vision. But the attack did not budge Cannibal’s dad an inch from his spot.

“You think it’s my cigars?” The tom asked Hal, grabbing him by digging the claws of his other foreleg into the neck guard of the vest. With the long claws deeply imbedded into The material he held Hal close so he could back away.

“How stupid are you?…Good first hit.” The tom said, staring in Hal’s eyes. Without any hesitation or struggle, he ripped his claws down through the vest like it was just fabric and head butted Hal right on the nose.

“Where’s the orange one?” The father asked, shaking flecks gray camo strands of fabric out of his other claw and taking a step back. As he did you could see that his left foreleg hung limply, like it had been knocked out of its socket. With a flick of his shoulder the leg regained it’s rigidity and flexibility like new.



_______

Stalker looked at Flame and took him in. As in really took him in, as if this was the first time she’d seen him. You could practically see the neurons in her brain firing behind her eyes as she analyzed him up and down in fractions of a second. The zonules incased in those green marbles of hers stretching and twitching slightly as her pupils shrank just enough to be noticeable. The display adding on the illusion of something going on behind them, the strands ticking like the mechanisms in an old clock. Her maw open slowly and partially, but words did not come out immediately. The words had to wait for the inward side od her brows to come down just a bit and her ears to stiffen backward a few degrees.

“…Where’s my brother?” The cream sheline asked. Her light and friendly tone of voice gone to be replaced by a gelid, circumspect one.


________________________________________________

Hunter followed Lizeth silently. His eyes wandering to other things for brief flashes of a second until the calico stopped a short walk later. Hunter watched the interaction with nary a peep, interacting only with his eyes. At the end he gave the elder a quick nod and looked to Lizeth.

“Two questions. You trade in metals? And how deep do you want me to dig?” Hunter asked, his eyes darting up and to the right and his mouth opening up again before his mind had decided on the next batch of words.

“And where. So three questions actually.” The brown tabby added on rolling his eyes at himself.


_________

Trin lifted a paw in surprise when Thrush wheeled around on him. His ears perked and then fell against his head. His facial features returned to the way they were when Trin first ran into the group; vapid and in-emotive. But only for a moment, after which they returned to their emotive and non-plussed state they were in prior.

“What I think is that you’re trying to use my daughter as emotional leverage.” Trin said. An amused smirk growing on his features. It wasn’t patronizing or smug though, his look’s purpose was not to jab or antagonize.

“Thrush I hope you know I don’t judge you for what happened.–” Trin said, cocking his head slightly and smiling.

“–And you don’t need to justify yourself.” Trin finished with a couple head shakes. Said shakes ended with a toothy grin which then faded and a sigh came from the tom’s muzzle.

“I’ll respect your question and answer it. I do not think Crimson was in the wrong in not telling you sugar was harmful to Purple, no.” Trin said in a slower cadence than his usual speaking pace.

_____________________


Lexi’s gaze stuck to Thistle’s paws as she went along.

“Well, at least you have an interesting story to tell about your first portal. Huh?” Lexi asked, nudging the tom.

“We can talk about it once we get back with the others. Maybe brainstorm why we ended up here instead of where you wanted to go. You’re a jumper now.” Lexi mused, putting an open mouthed smile onto her face.

 

[Filament]

Hal freezes as the tom grabs his armor and holds him close. "Not my ty-" His words are cut off as the grip strength increases and he lets out a hefty breath.
“You think it’s my cigars?”
"I thought it was a fair guess." The scarred bicolor offers, trying to play it cool. His heart rate is picking up and he begins to struggle a bit. A forehead smashes into his nose and he lets out a cry of pain as he stumbles back. Claws carve through his vest, nicking flesh and he lets out an angry yowl as he gets his bearings.

"You're going to pay for that one, old man." The tom would remark, blinking his eyes to clear them as blood runs down his chest. His eyes flick towards the wound but he gives no further acknowledgement.

"Which one?" The tom remarks sarcastically. Holly was orange, Flame was orange, that piece of shit Pest, even Lexi. Memories of her flood him and a sinking feeling creeps into his gut. He told her that loyalty mattered and even if he had split from the others, he wasn't going to betray them.

"We didn't even try to bring her back, but we got her brother's dead friend on board no problem." He mews, a cruel smile crossing his face as he braces for another attack.

He backpedals a bit and moves to try and reload.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Flame is honestly too frazzled by the current situation to really notice Stalker's change in demeanor. "I don't know. He wasn't here when we got here." He answers honestly, hoping to whatever gods are still listening that the brown tom is okay.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lizeth's eyes move over the tom, examining him carefully. She relaxes and lets out a sad laugh at his question.
"Not metals exactly, just things. Anything someone else wants and is willing to exchange what they have for."
The explanation feels a little dry and she tries her best to elaborate.
"Some only trade out of neccessity, but the people here are different, they can trade for things that seem useless because they grow their own food. Just like back home." Truthfully that necklace had been a lot more than just a thing to her but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"That's kind of the thing, actually." The she-cat would mew, beckoning for him and Holly to follow her as they made their way to the back of the town, past the bizarre.

"We aren't going to bury him here, this far from home. Families stay together out here, even in death." She comes to rest beside what used to be a lane divider, setting the flower down again. To the left of her lays a small livestock tub repurposed into something of a communal bath. Standing again, she crawls into it, letting out a quiet sigh as the warm water whisks away the scorched tips of her calico fur. Pink blood stains lift from her white fur and disperse into the water.

"We'll be taking him back with us, usually there's a ritual we do before but I don't have any salt."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Moonsound]

“Very helpful.” Stalker grumbled sarcastically. Her eyes began to roll but stopped when her eyes found Aceline.

“What’d you call my name for if you weren’t going to be useful?” Stalker asked, her eyes flicking back to the ginger tom.


______


The old tom groaned loudly. Watching Hal with a sour, bored expression while he chewed his cheek. His left ear did twitch however when his daughter was mentioned.

“I only ever had one child.” The tom said, following Hal in lockstep. Not giving him any space.

“Tell me who it was or I’ll kill ALL the orange cats you know!” Cannibal’s father growled, throwing a slash toward the right side of Hal’s face.

_____________________________________________


Hunter followed Lizeth, nodding along to what she was saying. As she got into the bath Hunter turned away from her without thinking about it. In the past he’d never even considered performing such a gesture of modesty. But after his travels with False Lamb and Deceit, two females raised in “civilized” industrial societies, he quickly picked up on the custom.

“Guess it must not be a long journey if you’re willing to take a body with us. So what’s “back home” like? Your family do well enough to not need to haggle?” Hunter asked, facing away from Lizeth.