a willing participant (open)

[moo]

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[atrb=background,http://i45.tinypic.com/2ihtg5f.jpg,true] "Speech" With his nose to the wind, an older looking male Asian Golden began to pace the border. This forested area looked intriguing, and there was a sense of mystery that made it almost foreboding. Of course, that had never stopped Mulder. He didn't really have common sense in that regard. The danger only made the cat want to enter the depths of the forest even more, the burn for finding whatever truth might lay inside consuming him entirely. His golden eyes flashed a little as he paused, regarding the trees as they closed themselves off to him. An ear flicked, and his tail whipped behind him. "What are you expecting to find in there, Mulder?" his own rugged voice questioned. A sigh escaped him, and he sat down, staring at his paws. Why was he so driven to find whatever the hell had taken his sister? It was as if he stayed hidden in his own world. The war was irrelevant. Death? It wasn't something he feared. If he died while exposing what he knew to be true, that there were life forms other than what strayed into Hexasol... then he would be just fine with it. Perhaps then he'd be able to finally see Samantha again. Pawing a few times at the ground, he finally rose, his dusted tail twitching lightly to shake off a few excess leaves from his fur. It was now or never, he supposed. The allure of the forest would forever draw him near until he satisfied his feline curiosity. "You might as well get it over with... there's gotta be something there."

[/color] And with that, he took a few steps forward.

A smell stopped him dead in his tracks. He was right there, right at the entrance... but someone else was approaching. His hackles raised and he turned, a gold fire in his eye, daring whoever it was to come closer. He wasn't one to attack at random, but if he felt threatened... "Having fun stalking me into the woods, there, buddy?"[/color]

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[♥Picasso]

Atom -

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It was Tuesday and Tuesday meant fish night. Atom had just stopped off at Avalon Lake to choose his meal for the day and had caught an impressive looking salmon. It was always a difficult day on Tuesday because the Lake was a far walk from the Railway in which Atom resided. He enjoyed eating his meal in peace in His Spot on the discarded train carriage. However, on Tuesdays, Atom had to make an exception for this. The walk was too long, and not consuming the salmon within the hour would ruin the delicate taste the orange fish had. So, Atom was walking along an old path, overgrown with grass and roots, looking for a good spot. It needed to be warm enough so Atom would not feel uncomfortable. He narrowed his eyes. There were too many shadows in the forest to be warm enough to eat his meal. Atom was almost considering discarding his salmon altogether, however his stomach grumbled in protest.

At the edge of the forest, Atom began to exit again. He wasn't going to venture any farther in. The forest was full of the unknown and he had to stick to his routine. However, a smell caught Atom off guard. Suspicious and wary, Atom didn't dare put the salmon on the ground. He didn't want his meal to be covered in dirt and leaves. Atom almost turned on his heel to gain distance between he and the stranger, however the tabby cat really wanted to leave the forest. Taking a breath, Atom drove forward. If he were to bump into a stranger, he would just walk past them. He didn't need to make meaningless conversation with another animal. Conversations were pointless unless someone had something of worth to say. Of course, Atom always had something of worth to say, however he reckoned any stranger he met would be yet another fool. Rolling his eyes, Atom continued until the figure of another feline came into view.

He was far larger than Atom, however Atom was agile and easily able to get out of tight spaces. Clenching his jaw, Atom rose his head, and ignored what the feline said to say. Stalking? Who did this cat think he was? Atom almost wanted to retort. He was not stalking anybody. All he wanted was to eat his dinner in peace. And buddy? Atom sighed, words already bubbling up to his throat. Atom marched over to a clean-looking rock and laid his salmon down gently, before turning back to the feline. "Excuse me, but in what way am I your 'buddy'? I have never set eyes upon you before. You are merely a stranger to me. And to answer your question, I have not been 'stalking' you. Our paths have crossed. Stranger things have happened in the world than this meeting." Atom's eyes flashed with curiosity as he looked over the stranger. He was a peculiar looking feline, but Atom recognised it. An Asian Golden Cat. Atom hypothesised he was probably one of the last of his kind within Hexasol. There was no way to test this, and Atom discarded the thought as he waited for a response.

[moo]

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[atrb=background,http://i45.tinypic.com/2ihtg5f.jpg,true] "Speech" The scent of fish was starting to permeate Mulder's nostrils, and he let out a light grumble. Well, whoever was around had to be another cat. He didn't know of too many dogs that would eat something that... gross. No, he wasn't really a fan of fish in any case. But that didn't matter; as long as this stranger was someone that wouldn't want to harm him, he didn't really care. The feline that accompanied the strong stench of salmon was small and lithe. Indeed, he was more fit to escape than to make trouble. Mulder relaxed his shoulders, turning his head and looking forward at the woods once more, a wistful glint in his amber eye. It took him a moment to realize that the cat had paused and spoken to him. His tail flickered a little as he turned his head, staring blankly at him. Did he always take things so literally? "It was a figure of speech. Sarcasm, even." He sighed and then looked back at the woods. Oh, Samantha... would he truly find anything of interest in there? Why was it calling to him so strongly? Mulder had always been one to trust his gut instincts, so perhaps he needed to follow his hunch for this as well. The feline spoke again, and he couldn't help but scoff a little. "Stranger things? Yeah. Strange is what I live for." If "strange" was even a word that covered it... The existence of things that he knew to be true... that most would scoff at... yes, that was strange indeed. Of course, he wasn't about to say anything about such things. Not that he didn't want to be perceived as insane; there were so many insane animals around here that Mulder barely batted an eye to what others thought of him. (Now, if they said it out loud, that would be when he was on the defensive). No, he was more wary and suspicious of this smaller cat. He still had no idea if the cat was working for someone that would prove to be detrimental to his search for the Truth. There were plenty out there who would love to stop him in his tracks, but Mulder wouldn't have any of it. His tail curled around his paws, his eyes not once leaving the woods.

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[♥Picasso]

Sarcasm. Atom narrowed his eyes. He had been confused by the concept of sarcasm since he was a kitten. It appeared to come naturally to others, but Atom had always found it difficult to understand. Atom had long since come to the sound conclusion that sarcasm was used by the idiots of society. He gazed at the feline disdainfully and shook his head, tutting. He then gazed back over at his dead fish. He was wasting precious time talking to this... stranger. And an idiot at that. Atom didn't know what had possessed him to even start a conversation with him. There couldn't possibly be any hope for an intellectual conversation between the both of them. He sighed. Atom longed to have someone to talk to about his theories and hypotheses, but no one had the capacity to understand. This feline would be no different, he guessed.

The next comment confused Atom even further. Strange is what he lives for? Atom walked back over to the rock that held his fish and then glanced back at the feline. "Apologies, but how is it possible that you live and breathe for 'strange'? How is that something that can sustain life? Surely you live for food, water, oxygen?" Atom stared at the feline, before looking around at his surroundings. It wasn't too cold nor too hot. He was warm enough to be pleasant, but not too warm to be uncomfortable. He looked back down at the fish. He supposed it would be beneficial to consume his meal here. However, he didn't want indigestion due to the strange feline behind him. Leaning down, Atom began to eat at his fish. He ate in a particular way, starting from the tail upwards. He discarded the bones efficiently as he got to the delicious meat.

Once he had devoured the fish completely, Atom discarded of the skeleton and turned back to the feline, half expecting him to have left. It was starting to get dark now, with the sun low in the sky. Atom was thankful that the weather was calm today. A short walk in the dark wouldn't hurt. Atom ignored the fact that many things could hurt him in the dark. A wolf, a fox, stubbing his paw on a rock. At least he had night vision. Atom thought back to the last time he had slept, and realised that it was less than an hour before he was scheduled for another nap. He would have to wrap up this conversation soon, otherwise he'd start getting tired and grouchy.

[sorceror]

Subject one: feline, male, golden and striped. Like a map. A map of the world. Name unknown, but he came out talking, and for a minute Rumor thought he was talking to him. It soon became obvious that he was having a chat with his own self and not anyone else in particular.
How odd. Random would think that was odd if he was here. Finder would warn him away from this cat, but Rumor had no idea where his little bodyguard was, so he would stay. And listen.
Subject two: feline, male, grey, stripes. Like waves. Like all the waves in the ocean. He appeared carrying a fish, which reminded Rumor of something, and set him off thinking again. A fish.
Yea, as fish bring life, so fish can take it away.

No, no. That wasn't right.
Rumor gave up listening to the two cats talk and frowned, applying himself to careful thinking. Maps, oceans, fish. There was something about this meeting that seemed very important. If Random was here, he'd know. If Finder was here, she'd tell him to think about it on the way home. But she wasn't, and so he couldn't. He'd have to figure it out now.
"Apologies, but how is it possible that you live and breathe for 'strange'? How is that something that can sustain life? Surely you live for food, water, oxygen?"
One of them interrupted his considerations. How rude. The black cat frowned at the animal in question, the little gray cat who carried the fish in his mouth like a veritable son of Posiedon. Life? What was life? Yea, as the fish bring life...

"As the fish bring life, the fish can take it away," he said quietly to himself, and inadvertently ruined his hiding spot and let the other two felines know he was here.
The black cat slid out of where he was crouched in the bushes, yellow eyes burning fanaticism at the other two cats. "Thou shalt not take the name of fish in vain. No food, no water, no clothes, no hope, but by god we have fish now."
He stared at the other two cats for a minute, awaiting some kind of response.