severely lacking [open]

[Deleted]

Every cat had secrets that they tried to keep. Some could stay hidden forever and some would have to reveal themselves eventually. Bael had a few of each type. His past was a secret he was hoping to keep forever, and with any hope, forget eventually, but he knew that eventually more and more people would start to figure out about some aspects of Bael that he couldn't hide.

one such thing was his claws, or rather, his lack of claws. Due to some events from when he was younger Bael no longer had claws. There were small scars left to prove what had been taken. If you didn't know about the lack of claws and you had never fought Bael though, you would never know. The outward appearance of his paws was just that of a cat with sheathed claws. It caused problems though.

the main problem was fighting. Bael had special training in order to make sure he could fight well enough without them.

So that was what he was going to do today. Bael had heard that the canyons were fairly secluded so he figured that he might head over there in order to avoid being confronted by some random cat. He would have loved somebody to spar with, but regrettably he couldn't do that without at least giving them the idea that he didn't actually have claws.

At first light Bael left a den that wasn't really a den and instead was just a place to sleep temporarily and made his way over to where he planned to be practicing his fighting moves. It took a good while of travel to get there, but once he was there he immediately got to work.

Mostly his practice was for building up his strength with his swats and kicks and front paw slams so that he could still do damage with his paws, but eventually he got bored of that and switched to practicing maneuvers that involved biting and using the environment around you. This ranged from using things to kick off of, to trying to get his fake adversary to trip over rocks and backed up against trees and larger boulders.

Once sun high arrived Bael had to take a break and sat with his back against the boulder that he had tried to corner his imaginary foe with. He thanked the breeze that ruffled his fur and cooled him down. While he sat he pulled a few of the leaves and twigs that seemed to be ever present in his fur out.

[Silverhawk]

After Lily had disappeared Flood had decided to continue living in the cavern complex she and the others had called home. It was noticeably emptier now and she found the life quite lonely, but was left with few other options. Thicket and Widget were long gone, and a moon ago Lily had vanished as well. He'd been her last companion and she didn't know the territory well enough to venture out on her own in search of them. Most of her energy went into surviving.

It was lucky she'd always been a talented hunter, even before. Before being hit by a monster and losing her memories. She didn't know where the skills came from, but they'd kept her alive thus far. 

Flood squinted her bleary eyes as she exited the main cave she resided in, gazing down into the canyon below. The young she-cat paused warily when she noticed that the normally barren space was occupied with another cat, something which didn't happen often. At first the stranger's dark coat reminded her of Widget and without thinking, Flood sprang from the cave and barrelled towards him. "Widget!"

It wasn't until she was almost a foxlength from the Tom that she realised that he was a stranger, and a wave of disappointment threatened to crush her. She retreated a few steps immediately, ears flattening in wary sorrow. "You're.....Not who I thought you were."

[Deleted]

Bael hadn't been expecting to encounter another cat. It had crossed his mind sure, but he didn't really plan for it. So when he heard the voice yell an unfamiliar name Bael startled and whipped around to see a female bounding towards him. 

Time me seemed to slow for a second while Bael panicked. How had he missed this cat? What was he supposed to do to defend himself? It didn't seem like the cat was violent per say, but she was running towards him at a speed that suggested she might tackle him. Finally he snapped out of his quick panic and dropped to the ground in a very low stance. He figured that if she did jump at him he could leverage her off of him and use her momentum to send her further away from him.

No cat had landed on his back and no other blow ended up coming. Bael looked up to see the cat who had just seconds earlier been running at him backing up. She spoke again, this time she stated that she had thought he was somebody else.

Bael rose up from his more defensive state. He was still on guard, but he was much less worried now. "Ah I see. I'm real sorry that I'm not who ya' thought I was. Ya' seemed," Bael thought for a second about the way she had said the name. "Ya seemed excited." He meowed.

Bael begins inspecting the she-cat and making sure to watch her movements and figure out exactly how or if she might attack him and how to protect himself and avoid the attacks that might come.

[Silverhawk]

Flood, noting the stranger's defensive posture, remained tense herself. She assumed that it was her headlong rush that had made the stranger wary, so any further trouble would definitely be her own fault. That didn't mean she wanted a fight. Flood was by no means an aggressive cat. She felt guilty and embarrassed more than she did hostile, especially considering thr fact that she hadn't been outright attacked for barelling towards a complete stranger while screaming. Even if she didn't feel like it, Flood had got lucky with the stranger she had run into.

She dipped her head slightly, acknowledging the tom's words even if they didn't provide her with any comfort. Upon closer inspection it was clear that the stranger looked nothing like Widget. Her ex-leader was larger and had darker stripes. In fact, the very air around this Tom was different. Even though he'd appeared polite thus far, she didnt bring herself to trust him. "No, forgive me," she murmured, head still low. "I shouldn't have rushed you like that; it was foolish. Thank you....For, you know, not attacking me."

The tuxedo she-cat tipped her head. The stranger didn't look to be too far from her own she really, which was a surprise. It was strange for someone to be living alone out in the wilds. It wasn't typically conducive to survival unless you were a tough old rock. It made her curious about the Tom, and wary that he perhaps had more friends nearby that she had to be careful of. Still, reluctant to let on that she was still wary, Flood retreated a step farther and sat down. She lifted a leg to scratch behind her ear then smiled. "My name is Flood. I mistook you for an old friend of mine. What's your name?"