deja vu!

[Pripyat]

I believe in people dying.

To many, BoneClan's old territory is a haunted and shadowy place. Some may see the silhouettes of fallen warriors in the corners of their eyes, silhouettes that are nowhere to be found when they turn to look more closely. Some hear voices. Some smell old blood, sunk deep into the porous earth.
Dark. Lonely.
Trecherous.

But Pripyat was not afraid.

After all, these lands used to be his home. His paws found and followed the old paths with all the assurance of someone who had walked them his whole life.
Often, he came here to remember. Today, however, he came simply to kill some time.
Or maybe a stranger. That would work just as well.

The black cat paused, scenting at the air, a lazy grin drifting across his face.
"Smells familliar, Spiderlilly," he murmured, curling his tail in good humor.

He pushed his way through the long grass, his blue eyes seeking.
Then stopped again. He nipped pensively at his lip, drawing a bead of dark blood.

Upwind, and many, many tail-lengths away, a black tomcat wandered.
He did not look in their direction. His eyes, which glinted blue even at this distance, were trained downward in thought.
This cat was tall and skinny, with big ears and what would have been a lean, swift build if he were better fed. His coat was marked with dozens of scars.

In short, besides the scars and the thinness, this cat was the mirror image of Pripyat.

[/blockquote]

[Spiderlily]

It was like wandering back into a dream, cherished and remembered, setting paws on the old Boneclan lands once again. Like twin scythes, bloodstained and curved against differentiating light, the two cats trailed down old paths – paths both familiar and loved. Spiderlily had rarely returned here without the company of her black shadow – although such a thing happened occasionally. She came, and remembered, followed the old scents and rekindled old memories before leaving the dead again where they had fallen and returned, once more, to the home she still very much refused to call home.

This was her home. This place. When she had left the city, she had chosen this to be her home – no place else. Now, her home could only be beside her love, Pripyat, and where his paws chose to take them.

Because he was loyal, down to the core, to Boneclan he stayed.

She stayed.

The mottled tabby paid attention to her companion as she trailed across the underbrush – somewhere lost within her own thoughts. “Of course, Prip. It’s home, yanno.” She breathed, a quiet response to the words he had chosen to utter. Little did she know that she did not really understand. Little did she know that they had company, until she wandered a bit ahead of Pripyat and stepped through some long grass, tickling as it brushed along her belly and sides, and paused to spy…

A tom.

A battered, scrawny, scarred up looking mess of a feline. Her ears twitched, tail lashed from side to side in a sharp burst of pure irritation that their time together had been interrupted…before Spiderlily froze. Wait. This rogue tom… Acid yellow eyes blinked, before glancing between her love and the tom. What in the seven hells was going on?

[Pripyat]

[ note: I wrote this really long, pretty post and then proceeded to accidentally delete it. You know how it is: you have everything perfect, and then you do something stupid like press 'paste' instead of 'copy'. And it's gone for good.
I died a little inside when I messed this up, and I can't bear to attempt to retype it. So it's being replaced with stage directions.
Basically, a super-condensed ugly version of my deceased post.
Sorry about that. ]

Pripyat: looks at Spiderlilly, back at Saigon, and then launches into a run.
Pripyat: "Saigon!"

Saigon: jumps and stares at Pripyat in mingled shock and terror.
Saigon: (nervously) "Pripyat."

Pripyat: "Why hello there. Long time no see!"
Pripyat: circles Saigon.
Pripyat: "You've lost weight. Loner life isn't treating you well, huh?"
Pripyat: circles Saigon, suddenly gets all srs-like.
Pripyat: "You know, Transal could have used your help back then."

Saigon: (splutters) "But--eh--I--I didn't--"

Pripyat: (very quietly) "Just because you didn't want us didn't mean we weren't your business, Saigon. Like just because you wouldn't look at us didn't mean Transal could stop caring about you.

Saigon: winces

Pripyat: grin flickers in and out
Pripyat: "I'm just saying you screwed up, that's all."
Pripyat: grins hugely
Pripyat: "You haven't met Spiderlilly, have you? Of course not, it's been too long!"
Pripyat: turns back to Spiderlilly, all bright and cheerful now
Pripyat: (still looking at Spiderlilly reverently) "Saigon, this is Spiderlilly. I love her more than air."
Pripyat: "Spiderlilly, meet Saigon."
Pripyat: (looking craftily back at Saigon) "We go way back, don't we, father?"

Saigon: pins his ears back against his head, his face timid and watchful

[Spiderlily]

Eh? From the instant that Priyat shouted the tom’s name and broke into a run, it was clear that they knew each other from proceeding events – if not for potential familial ties. Even so, the she-cat hung back as her dear friend circled the nervous older tom, muscles tensing from time to time under her tabby coat as she watched to see if the rogue would attempt anything. Nothing appeared too serious this far, however, Spiderlily feigning an appearance of boredom up until Transal’s name was mentioned,

Wasn’t that…Prip’s sister?

So this was another link from the past – the daredevil circled a bit to the two toms’ right, eyeing Saigon even as her fellow Boneclanner introduced herself. It was then her grin became wolfish, dangerous, something terribly wicked glittering in her narrowed eyes. “Sounds like just ‘nother deadbeat dad, eh? Can’t say I’m all that much a fan, mm.” Then again, what did either of these two cats know? Spiderlily never mentioned her own father to Pripyat after all.

Stalking closer, there was little doubt the reason behind the hunter’s glare behind shadowed amber-yellow eyes – this tom had hurt Pripyat, by hurting Prip’s sister.

This tom had to pay.

He had to die.

While it wouldn’t bring back Transal, the sister her love so missed and cared for even to this day, would it not give her a chance for her memory to move on in peace? Even though the tabby didn’t believe in silly sh*t like Starclan or even much of an afterlife in general it was the thought that counted.

And hey! She hadn’t had her kill for the day, it could be a treat! The grin tapering down to a wry smile, she looked once again over to Pripyat and boldly exclaimed, “Sorry to say this bub, but yer pater ain’t rubbed me the right way here 'lready.” Of course, she wasn’t sorry at all.

[Pripyat]

Saigon was trembling. He steeled himself, trying his hardest not to show his fear...but there is was, showing on every inch of his body.

The she-cat terrified him.

She was the same sort as his son, he could see it in a heartbeat. Practically broken from the same mold. He feared her for all the reasons he so strongly feared Pripyat: the brutality he sensed in both of them, the dormant violence simmering in their veins, the lurking danger flitting just beneath the surface.
He had seen these things in Pripyat when he watched his son, a young apprentice, tear into another cat's throat so viciously he almost severed her head from her shoulders.
Since then, Pripyat had filled him with horror and disgust.

A black wave was rising in Saigon's mind, numbing him, choking him until he sobbed for air. The terror spread to fill every inch of him until he could neither more nor see.
In the safe confines of his head, he could sense movement, hear the mutterings of Kaslin and Chalin: So afraid. Terrified. Locked up. C'mon, move, Saigon. C'mon! Go already.

Saigon swallowed. I can't.

Suddenly, a sense of vertigo overwhelmed him as he was shoved rudely aside. Kaslin moved to the front, taking over, thrusting Saigon down into the depths of their collective consciousness. Saigon lost control; Kaslin was in charge now.

Saigon's body language shifted drastically. He stepped sideways, angling his ears agressively forward, narrowing his blue eyes, lifting black lips to show white teeth. The fear retreated from his face, leaving behind a wild, righteous anger. Almost protective. Definately hostile.
The air around him quivered with tenseness.

Pripyat laughed, showing his own white teeth in response. His were more impressive: they were stronger, sharper, and more practiced. And unlike Saigon/Kaslin, who looked tense and drawn, Pripyat stood relaxed, his stance perfectly balanced. He was not nervous or even angry--not right now. And he was predatory. There was something darkly wolflike etched on his face and his wide, shifty grin. He made looking dangerous seem effortless.

Saigon/Kaslin's ears twitched briefly back. He was intimidated, but he tried not to show it.

"Stop playing games," he growled. "We didn't screw up anything--Jigsaw wanted kits and that was it. We never chose to be a father, especially not to ugly little killers like you."

Kaslin lashed his tail. All he wanted was to protect Saigon from this mad murderer and let Saigon take control once more.
His voice was low and bitter. "Leave us alone."

Pripyat bounced. "Oh, you're all still there, huh?" he meowed, his tone still passably friendly. "Good to see you, Kaslin. I'd say you're the best one."

He watched Kaslin/Saigon bristle in delight.

Pripyat glanced to Spiderlilly, his blue eyes glowing like moons.
"He's being pretty rude, isn't he, Spiderlilly?" He spoke slowly, deliberately. This was the start of the game, and he knew Spiderlilly would reconize it as such.

[Spiderlily]

Oh, even better. Fear.

Spiderlily would be lying if she ever claimed that she didn’t feed off of the fear that her enemies before they met such…untimely deaths. Then again, on the other paw, she was not one to ever lie about such a thing; why lie to something that was the undeniable, pleasurable truth? One could only smirk and pad forward in a stalk towards the skinny tom, tail lashing almost humorously in the air above her. But then…there was a change. Enough of one for the she-cat to pause, not in fear of course [Spiderlily…fear?] but with curiosity. It was almost as if the scrawny beast had an abrupt change of heart, instead of reacting in terror opting to take the path of righteous aggressive defense of himself.

Of course it couldn’t be that simple.

Being rather sound of mind herself, Spiderlily didn’t delve into the world of madness or personality disorders much – outside when she faced such a cat and had to find the best, and slowest preferably, way to eliminate it. Even so, as she chanced a glance towards Pripyat as he spoke [’you all?’], wasn’t this something she should remember.

Madness of any kind seemed to run through the bloodlines in that family.

No matter, no matter. Spiderlily yawned openly, with as much disrespect and boredom she did every time Bossman went off on one of his little speeches, giving the changed tom, Kaslin now, a look that clearly stated ‘Oh yeah, I’m so scared I’m shaking in my fur…not.’ But Prip’s words could only bring a true smile to her face, what could be said to be a pretty sight to some but never pretty to those soon to be on the receiving end of her torture. “It is noticeable, isn’t it? Yanno, I think iffa we ripped out his tongue he might have’a change in attitude quick, no?” Baiting and playing, seeing how far they could break an opponent before utterly crushing them.

A game she knew and loved so very well; especially with Pripyat.

“It sounds like fun, eh Kaslin? Yanno what they say – flesh of family is always the sweetest.” Not that she’d been doing any of the eating..but he didn’t need to all that yet.

[Pripyat]

Oh yes, that was Pripyat's family--all wild, all skewed and twisted and strange. All crazy, and never in the same way twice.

It legacy moving back through bloodlines a thousand generations old. The insanity was as much a part of these dark cats as their blue eyes. Since their beginnings in the cold, obscure north, Pripyat's family have walked on the odder side of the divide between sanity and insanity.

Not that Pripyat knew any of this. With him, the line was broken; he knew nothing of hi family's history.
What he knew was blood and screaming, roughly in that order.

The black tomcat grinned, his white teeth showing starkly against his dark face. "I dunno, Spiderlilly," he purred, pretending to think about it. This was all part of the Game; the mocking, the teasing...and later, the killing. "I suppose we could always try it and find out."
He glanced sideways at her, his blue eys bright with excitement.

Kaslin snarled. It was a rough, chopping sound.
"I know what you're doing, and you can knock it the hell off," he spat. "I seen this kinda sh*t back in FangClan. Mind-manipulation. Playin with me. It won't work."
But deep down, where he hoped the BoneClanners couldn't see, he was frightened. There was a shake in him, a subtle quiver; 'It won't work,' he said, but...it might.
It very well might.

Pripyat laughed out loud in delight. "Well! He's fiesty," he exclaimed.
This would be fun!

[Spiderlily]

Ah well.

It didn’t matter really; Spiderlily would always love him the same. It was strange, that love burning within a feline such as feline as herself – who had never really loved any single cat before – something new and certainly different. Something else she mused upon, those times she had to herself to slip off and away to her lookout point above the camp…but it surely was completely worth it.

No matter. Just another cog in the murder machine, right? Heh.

“Oh?” Spiderlily chuckled, flowing to her paws and circling to the right around the scrawny tom, as if sizing him up. “He surely does have a bit’a spunk, yanno. Hehe, dare I say we don’ stop there, no? This party’s only gettin’ started bub.” A light and playful lick of her lips, and she darted in with a clever paw swiping towards the tom. Inches, inches, but she wasn’t trying to land any blow, not yet, not at all.

Just intimidation, pure and simple. A start, a prelude to the true fun.

Spiderlily took a moment to glance around, a strange smile crossing her face as she recalled just where they were. Boneclan’s old lands…whatever were the goody-goody neighbors going to say when they heard renewed screams coming from here? Ah well. They would tremble in fear in their dens this night; knowing what had transpired on haunted grounds. “It won’t work.” Spiderlily repeated, attention returning to the game at paw. She cast a glance towards her love with a raised brow, almost daring, “Oh, really now?” The tabby leaned in close, looking almost mischievous as a young kit, “See buddy boy, ain’t lookin’ at all that way fer ya’. I know yer shakin’. I can smell it.”

Raising a paw, she indicated the tom with a devous, cruel laugh and gave Pripyat an almost tender, albeit completely evil, look. “Blood calls to blood; care fer the first go, mm?”

You see, Spiderlily really did love Pripyat.

Enough even to allow him first shot at her most favorite of sports.

[Pripyat]

Kaslin reacted blindly, sidestepping to avoid a blow that had never intended to draw blood.
He was shaken, but he was well-practiced in the fighting art. Slowly but surely, his mind was shifting back into that cold space where he could draw blood without guilt. Soon he would be ready to roll.

But he hadn't fought in so long...

Pripyat laughed. "Of course not! Why, we would feel so incompetent if we didn't at least make him scream before he dies!"

He exchanged a glance with Spiderlilly, his blue eyes glowing like lamps. He could almost feel the thoughts thrumming in her head: they were both so in sync, so closely aligned, that sometimes he forgot he hadn't known her for every heartbeat of her life.

Unlike Spiderlilly, Pripyat's love was no strange thing. It was in his nature to love; only circumstance had made love hard for him to find.

Pripyat circled his father, dropping into that old predatory slink. His teeth showed white and sharp, curled into a wolflike smile.
"She's the best, so she should know," he purred, favoring Spiderlilly with a tender but evil look of his own.

He was standing on the other side of Saigon by now, so he mimed an affectionate headbutt in her direction. It looked very strange, but hopefully she would understand what he meant.

Then, without warning, and from a dead standstill, Pripyat attacked.

Kaslin cried out in suprise, stumbling backwards. There was no time to raise his paws to deflect the assult--all he could discern was a dark blur and the flash of teeth and the biting scent of blood.
And a searing line of pain.

Pripyat danced away, blood tipping his razor fangs, his tail curled in delight. He had, with the simple ease of a kit leaping on a leaf, torn Saigon's ear in two from base to tip.

"Time to show me up," he mewed sweetly to Spiderlilly, his loving voice contradicting the blood smeared across his face.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Spiderlily]

Oh. Things were changing again.

A keen eye was kept on this odd tom – with something an overconfident warrior might consider watchfulness but was something else quite entirely. With this, considering the fact that something wasn’t working properly in Pripyat’s father’s mind to cause it to fracture into different identities as it had, caused for her to evaluate this situation further, thinking on her paws…or so it seemed.

What truly matter was the game, the enjoyment they took in this kill, made all the more sweeter the blood tie he had to her dark love. “Oh now, won’t we?” Another chuckles, dark and malice-laden, as she turned from her beloved to the thin rogue.

The best part was; they had managed to beat the odds and find one another, right? Although don’t ever mention to Spiderlily it was remotely anything as sappy as that.

Now, while she didn’t contradict Pripyat’s words the feral tabby looked quite amused of them – she might not consider herself the best exactly, but anyone looking would be damn hard pressed to find any better then her~ Of course, she considered Pripyat himself to be her equal, if not better, even though such words would never actually be spoken.

It was quick.

Quick enough that pride burned in her amber eyes, pride from the monstrosity that was Pripyat, for the skills that he had honed so perfectly. If only they had known one another, once upon a time in a city far away. The outcome of that road no longer traveled might have been far different.

She moved just as suddenly, even before the black Boneclanner could finish his words towards his woebegone wounded father, with a clever little ploy in mind. You see, there were some things she certainly had picked up on association with her friend – and the more active use of teeth instead of claws in combat was one of them. Not that she didn’t favor her claws. They were far more suited for the more delicate, slow torture she always preferred. Instead, the tabby went in close, seeking to snap his remaining untattered ear in her jaws and rip it from his skull – before dancing just as lightly out of paw range whether or not the attack succeeded.

Spiderlily was being lazy, deliberately, and it was obvious.

[ooc ;; And I’m guilty for a crap post because it’s 3am in the morning here and I’m so freakin’ tired.]