The Art of Un-Denmaking +Open+

[Rune]

Rune was humming to herself as she began crafting her nest. There was so many bushes in the Twoleg yard she once 'lived' in and one of her favorite things to do was shape them into dens. She already hollowed out a bramble bush and was fitting the inside with bulrushes.

The only problem was, of course, her fur. Just in making her den she had scraped up enough shed fur to make literally three more cats. With a huff she eventually gave up and just started leaving it wherever it landed.

I hope I have no neighbors.

Of course she had neighbors, and of course one was watching her right now.

Of course.

[Deleted]

Jude trotted through the area where most of the dens were, giving each one he passed a sniff. The wounds on his neck and face still ached, though they were the least of his worries. 'Not Natalia, not Natalia, not Natalia...' He said this to himself as he passed each den. He had to find her as soon as he could. He felt terrible. He had never felt this way before, and it was one of the worst feelings in the world.

The tabby stopped in his tracks as some fur drifted past his face. He turned his head in the direction it came, spotting Rune immediately. It looked like she was making her den. 'Maybe she could help me.' "Rune?"

[Rune]

Rune leaped in the air at the sudden noise, and she turned around with a look of fear on her face, but instantly brightened to a smile when she saw Jude.

"Hiiiii Jude!~" She greeted him in a sing-song voice, then her dark golden eyes locked onto his neck wounds. "Great leaping eels, love, what happened to you?" She frantically sped over to him to inspect his marks. It was recent... But not to recent, she would guess about a day or two ago.

Rune looked up at him with big eyes, a spark of rage kindling in them."Who did this??"

[Deleted]

He smiled softly at the sight of her cheery expression. "Hiiiii!" He copied her voice, shaking his head when she rushed over. Thinking about it just made it worse. "Doesn't matter. And it wasn't a DeathClanner, so don't worry about running into them." He padded past her and stood in front of the newly made den, finding it surprisingly well-put together. 'I hope no one tries to steal it from her. It must've taken a lot of work.' Jude broke off his gaze, turning it back to the calico. "This looks great, Rune." He paused, looking a little distracted. "Um, have you seen a ginger tabby around here recently?"

[Rune]

Rune broke her serious face and giggled when Jude copied her voice. But what he said next intrigued her. "Wasn't a Deathclanner-" And the rest was just mess. Huh. So I guess that some Deathclanners aren't that friendly. No matter, I'm a great ice-breaker.

"Oh thank you!" She replied when she saw her den "I'm proud of it." Jude mentioned if she saw a ginger cat "Huh. Yeah, I was up in the trees earlier today gathering bark for my den when I saw something with a dark ginger coat crashing through the underbush." She scratched her ear with a paw as she thought. "But I assumed it was a fox from all the noise it was making so I just went the other way."

"Why? Was it someone important?"

[Deleted]

'Up in the trees?' He looked up. Trees were everywhere. What tree was she in? One by the clearing, one by the swamp, or maybe even one by the river? There were too many possibilities, and guessing would lead him nowhere. "Where were you, exactly?"

Jude nodded, followed by a sigh. "Because I need to find her. And yes, she's very important." 'Though not according to her.' He looked down at his paws. "Don't worry about it if you can't remember where. Could you maybe keep an eye out for her, though?"

[Rune]

Rune scratched her chin "Hmm, well, it was right near the swamps, and I could hear the main river." She let out a small cringe "Sorry, I have a really bad memory."

Her. Hmm, maybe she's his girlfriend. Is she avoiding him? Rune nodded "I can keep an eye out though, what's her name?"

[Deleted]

'Near the swamps.' He would make sure to check there next. Jude shook his head when she said her memory was bad. "No worries." He said softly, forcing a small smile. "Her name's Natalia."

He shuffled his paws. He felt a little selfish for telling Rune about his problems and not asking about herself. "Are you settling in okay?"