I've never been one to walk alone... [open]

[trau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/212d8w7.jpg] [scrolly:h(341),w(340),sy] "Talk." Gawk. Walk. I always had such a good sense of humor. The reflection shifted for a few moments in mind before dissipating into emptiness. The heat of summer left any thick-furred creatures in a world of misery. For a creature who'd spent nearly a full year up in hiding in Strangler's Mountains, summer was an unwelcome event, something Jinxer had expected and dreaded as he'd done in the Iris Pride. What differed from then to now was the fact that he was a hobo, an enemy to every group within Hexasol except for maybe Lexis. To be honest, though, as much as Jinxer respected canines now, the thought of actually living with ones he didn't know practically disgusted him. As the sun began to rise, Jinxerbee could tell it was going to be a hot day. It was already hotter than it had been at noon in the spring, and he knew it could only get hotter from there. Being that he was a snow leopard with several layers of white and black-speckled fur on his pelt, the heat was already pretty unbearable. He could only imagine that it would get worse if his coat were entirely black. Thank heaven it wasn't or he'd have laid himself out to die when he was just a cub. Speaking of laying myself out to die, Jinxer thought with a bittersweet chuckle as he wandered through the cemetery of the Tempest Pack like a cat with a death wish. He had nothing to do with his life now that nobody was riding his ass giving him orders at all hours of the day. At first, it had been refreshing, if a little terrifying, but now he was bored as a bad fuck, and he figured he deserved a little excitement, regardless of whether or not it got him jumped by some canines and torn limb from limb. At least he wouldn't be bored in hell. That was where his first thought had come from. He remembered back after the battle between Iris and Tempest where he'd first betrayed his Pride; he'd just shuffled along through here afterwards until his dear friend Devil had literally ran into him and thrown his already pain-racked body to the ground, warning him that Florence was after him. It was still amusing to him now, the thought that Florence, head bitch of the slaughterhouse, would go out of her way to hunt him down for turning on the Iris Pride. Jinxerbee was nothing but a rat - scum. She wouldn't get her precious paws filthy by wasting her time on him. That might've just been his fear rationalizing when he'd been bleeding out of his face, but whatever. He still didn't believe Florence cared about him. So, then, why had he run away? Honestly, he'd had nothing to really live for, but the thought of dying by anyone's claws was terrifying. So he'd left, to avoid that fate. Now that he was back, though, he could feel a humorous hint of nostalgia; he'd followed it back to this place for a dance with fate. Should the heavens deem Jinxer unworthy of this life that he stole, chances are some canines would jump out and fuck him up real good. The unfortunate thing was that Jinxer wouldn't fight, either, and if there was one thing he hated, it was being made fun of for being weak, helpless, and cowardly - though, technically, he was each of those things. Oh, well. Bring it on, Tempest. Anything to say to this fat ol' cat who gave up his life for you a year ago? Didn't think so. [/scrolly]

[MudBug]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,485,true][atrb=height,212,true][atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2yngfsz.jpg,true] Watch my moves! Read my mind! Hear my voice! Dogs and cats. Cats and dogs. ...maybe rodents know the secret of life? Montgomery tilted his head to one side as a rat scurried across his path, looking like it had a grave mission to carry out. Yes, it must be the rodents. It must be some unassuming creature that nobody ever thinks to pay mind to, they alone hold the key to happiness. The key had to belong to somebody, because canines and felines sure hell didn't have it. Montgomery hated the cemetery, but it seemed appropriate. His hopes and dreams deserved a proper burial, if nothing else. Well, they did deserve much else, but they weren't getting it. His legs moved forward at a steady pace, but he had no destination. He walked alot lately, just walked. His helpless mind churned so continuously about the same things over and over. Dogs and cats. Tempest dogs, his family, or whatever you call those that you're helplessly tied to whether you like it or not. As for the cats, it was just one cat. Flurry. All Flurry, all the time. His mind had become like a projection screen, casting nothing but images of her on a constant loop. He was certain he'd go mad, soon enough. He had hoped the ridiculous summer heat on his abundant coat would help to fog his mind, but it hadn't. He was sharp as ever, whether he wanted to be or not. Maybe he'd get lucky and have a good hallucination? As if his wish was going to be granted after all, a faint scent of feline reached his nose. Well, isn't this nice. Doesn't smell like Flurry, but oh well. I guess madmen can't be too picky with their manifestations of insanity, he thought with an air of indifference. He waited to see something like a shining lion, or flying tomcat appear on the horizon, but instead there was just a bored looking cat that looked little like anything he'd seen before. It had the spots of a leopard, but it's pelt was silver and black. Not a speck of the tawny gold of most leopards. It was a deal smaller than other wild felines as well, hardly any bigger than Montgomery himself. Peculiar thing for his mind to conjure up. They both walked on almost mechanically. It would only be a matter of time before they came to face each other. Good thing Montgomery wasn't in a rush. He kept his gaze level with the feline as the scent grew stronger and gave away that this cat was male and not from around these parts. No trace of Iris, or Lexis, or even nearby loner land. He supposed that made sense. His mind thought he could use a stranger from a faraway place to help him forget home troubles. He almost said 'thank you' aloud. Strangely enough he began to felt impatient, and called out to the feline ahead. "Oi! Hello there. You got a name? Funny, you'd think I'd know it already."

[trau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/212d8w7.jpg] [scrolly:h(341),w(340),sy] "Talk." Gawk. Walk. With his thoughts now already uncovered, free to wander about his mind, Jinxer allowed his paws freedom to trod wherever they wanted. Despite that he respected the Tempest Pack, he felt no guilt in trespassing. After all, he wasn't going to steal food or other precious resources, nor was he planning on attacking or spying, so why should they give a damn if he was here? He wasn't a threat in any way shape or form. Like he'd said, he wasn't going to steal, kill, or spy. All he wanted to do was walk and reminisce, and... maybe see Brooke. Jinxer remembered her. He'd had a run-in with her long before he'd "turned to the dark side" or, in this case, the light side. He'd been defending... oh, what was it he'd been defending? Oh, right. That was when the Tempest Pack had come to Gravity's rescue. Jinx himself had never been part of the torture, but he'd seen the state that Gravity had been left in. It hadn't been pretty. It was fortunate that Gravity had been found and rescued when he had been or else it wasn't likely that he'd have survived for much longer. The snow leopard had been trying to keep the canines distracted while reinforcements came, but he'd ended up ramming himself head first into a door and splitting open his forehead like a fucking idiot. The thought of that, and the memory, made him grimace, but he also let out a laugh in spite of himself. How the hell am I not dead yet? Honestly, it was a true mystery. At every point in time, one person of power or another hated him. Someone or something could have taken him out at any time, but it never did. Was it because there was some greater purpose to his life? Somehow he doubted it. He was nothing special. He was no Brooke, no Florence - thank fucking God - no Streiter. He wasn't a leader. He was barely even a follower. He made his own path, but it was a path of self-destruction and misery. Either way, it was a life to live, for which, in a bittersweet and ironic way, he was thankful. Still, at times like this, he missed Pongo. Pongo would have assured him that he still had a purpose... he'd be dead if it was his time, but he was alive and kicking, so perhaps he still had more time to do what he needed to. The question was, what did he need to do? Everyone wondered that, but it was more prevalent on Jinxerbee's mind than others' because his days were numbered... Eventually Karma would catch up and literally bite him in the ass. Or the throat. Either way, he'd be fate's bitch soon enough. With that thought in mind, Jinxerbee made his way across the grass between headstones, keeping courteously off the plaques in the ground. He had a bit more respect for the dead than that. Suddenly, something caught his attention. Movement? The half-blind leopard lifted his head, ears perked and curious. A canine. Well, that was... expected. The dog was quite fluffy, and about his same size, though from this distance, he looked pretty small. Like a little pup on the horizon. Depth perception and size estimation and all that had sort of... well, been fucked to fuck since he'd lost his left eye to Emile, but whatever. He knew this dog was about his size. The canine was a male, obviously Tempest. He seemed to be moving along at as slow and nonchalant a pace as Jinxer himself was moving, but they were on the same path. The fact that the dog hadn't jumped up, kicked up the pace, and flipped out to chew Jinxer's ass was a pretty good sign that the leopard wasn't going to get all sorts of maimed today. He really wasn't in the mood to be bitten all to shit. The dog apparently wasn't in the mood to fight, either. In fact, he seemed in the mood to make pleasant conversation, which, in all honesty, Jinxerbee didn't mind. The dog's voice rang out over the cemetery. "Oi! Hello there. You got a name? Funny, you'd think I'd know it already." Jinxer cocked his head and continued moving, his tail waving and flicking around behind him. "I'd think no such thing," the leopard responded, a bit of a grin slipping over his face, while curiosity twitched at his whiskers. "What makes you think you'd know my name? You usually talk to random cats that strut their fuzzy butts through Tempest territory? Seems like an odd practice to me, but hey, I used to do the same." Though he was genuinely curious, he intended to make this conversation as entertaining as possible. [/scrolly]

[MudBug]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,485,true][atrb=height,212,true][atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2yngfsz.jpg,true] Watch my moves! Read my mind! Hear my voice! Poor guy, doesn't even realize he's a figment of my imagination. It's gonna be an unpleasant surprise to him when I snap out of it. Montgomery and Jinxer's paths finally came to a head, and they stood before each other. One completely sure of his insanity, the other puzzled by the strange words of his creator. This was the situation in Monty's mind, at least. He'd have to let this feline know he was nothing but a hallucination. Montgomery decided to let him down gently, lest he take the news badly and try to wreak havoc on Monty's clearly fragile mind. "I do, in fact, talk to random cats on a regular basis. Thank you, very much. And why shouldn't I know your name? You're my creation, after all. Fluffy butt and all." He spoke rather nonchalantly of his being "in cahoots" with felines. Perhaps that wasn't the right term. He hadn't plotted much with a feline. Other than his plots for love, happiness, and freedom with Flurry. But that had failed miserably, so it hardly counted. Whatever. I'm in cahoots, if not now, then eventually. His face relaxed into a blank stare as he waited for his imagination's retort to Montgomery stating his own higher level of being. Or whatever you want to call a delusional canine in the presence of his own illusions, thought Montgomery, just a tad bitterly. He wondered how he'd react were this cat real? Probably not much differently. He was in Tempest turf, so their conversation would likely have to continue elsewhere. If someone were to stumble upon them, a bit of a show might be required to stage an escape for the leopard here. Inconvenience aside, he'd still welcome the company.

[trau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/212d8w7.jpg] [scrolly:h(341),w(340),sy] "Talk." Gawk. Walk. They stood face to face, neither a threat nor friends, but the dog seemed comfortable enough. Jinxer, on the other hand, was just confused. Why on earth would this odd canine know his name? Jinx certainly didn't remember him, so how could he remember Jinx? The question was answered - "I do, in fact, talk to random cats on a regular basis. Thank you, very much. And why shouldn't I know your name? You're my creation, after all. Fluffy butt and all." - and then Jinxer was enlightened as to the mental state of this canine. He was a damn looney-toon. Well, better a looney-toon than a psycho-crazy enemy, yes? Indeed. The dog spoke ever so gently - so calmly, as though he were chatting with an old friend. It was an odd thing, to imagine being... well, imagined. He almost had to bite his own shoulder to make sure he really was real. Nah, he knew he was. What sort of crazy creature would imagine all the self-torture Jinx had put himself through? He was real, just as real as this wacky dog. Jinxer just gave him a toothy grin, his fangs glistening as his one good eye lit up. With that, Jinxerbee responded in a relaxed tone, "If it makes you feel better, I don't know your name either." Jinxer looked around, that slight bit of anxiety rising up in him now. So this dog - crazy dog, really - was fine with him being here, but what would others think? He shifted his weight, then back, and looked to the canine, saying, "And, personally, I'm not entirely sure that I'm a figment of your imagination; if we could skitter on out of open space, that'd be fantastic. I'd hate to get you yelled at." [/scrolly]

[MudBug]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,485,true][atrb=height,212,true][atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2yngfsz.jpg,true] Watch my moves! Read my mind! Hear my voice! Montgomery was surprised with himself for imagining up such a cheerful fellow. He supposed it made sense in one way, or another. He certainly didn't feel like analyzing his own delusions, however. Whatever the reason, his mind had produced a chipper feline for him to converse with. The leopard only responded to his asserting himself as the creature's creator with a toothy grin, and half-hearted rebuttal. "You can call me Montgomery, Jinx. Nice to meet you, in any case, fiction or reality. Though, to be honest, I'd much prefer fiction to my more recent reality." There he went, getting all bitter and preachy to a total stranger. Well, it was his delusion, dang it! If you couldn't bitch about your problems to your own imaginary companions, who could you bitch to? Jinx was still acting uncomfortable with the setting, which sent Monty's mind on a tiny detour. If he could imagine up Jinx, could he imagine another place? He wondered, briefly how much concentration it would take to put himself on the beach, on a warm summer day. Oh, crap, his imagination was talking. He peeled his mind away from the beach long enough to pay attention to Jinxer's voice. "And, personally, I'm not entirely sure that I'm a figment of your imagination; if we could skitter on out of open space, that'd be fantastic. I'd hate to get you yelled at." Funny, how did Jinx still stand there? Montgomery would have been certain that his preoccupation with the beach scenario would have taken far too much focus off of Jinxer for his mind to hold up the delusion. But, the idea of a snow leopard simply waltzing into The Cemetery, and striking up conversation with the first Tempest dog he happened across made even less sense than any thoughts of hallucinations. With a nod, more to himself than Jinx, Montgomery decided to stick with his insanity theory. "C'mon, there's a shady spot just in those trees. Those human things must have liked oak trees around dead things, they sure did plant quite a few around here. That one has a few low slung branches. I reckon you can climb," he said, not as a question, but more of a statement. He walked over to one of the dozens of oak trees along the edge of the graveyard, and promptly laid down beneath a prominent, low branch. He waited for Jinx to get situated, where ever he chose. Montgomery was surprised with himself, looking forward to a friendly conversation with an imaginary leopard, as much as he did.

[trau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/212d8w7.jpg] [scrolly:h(341),w(340),sy] "Talk." Gawk. Walk. Honestly, talking to a crazy dog was a little bit difficult. It was kind of hard to keep track of who was who and what was what and why. Montgomery - he introduced himself in a very polite and calm fashion - was completely convinced that Jinxer was a dream, it seemed, and to be honest, with the perfect knowledge in his head and ringing in his ears, somehow Jinx was sort of convinced that he was, in fact, a dream. He was almost convinced... almost. But the blindness in his eye and the pain in his heart just reminded him that he couldn't possibly be a fictional character. I think, therefore I am, right? Montgomery spoke now. "Nice to meet you, in any case, fiction or reality. Though, to be honest, I'd much prefer fiction to my more recent reality." Jinxer raised a brow. Was his reality pretty bad, too? Interesting. He'd have to ask about it. Hopefully this new friend would hear his question; he seemed to suddenly lose himself in thought. "Well, maybe your reality can be fiction for a while. You're here and I'm here, may as well make something of it, right? I can be your therapist or whatever the hell people talk to about their problems." Then Jinxer commented that he wasn't fully convinced about how real or unreal he was; Montgomery seemed to be taken back from his dreamworld, thinking for a second. The canine gave a brief nod. "C'mon, there's a shady spot just in those trees. Those human things must have liked oak trees around dead things, they sure did plant quite a few around here. That one has a few low slung branches. I reckon you can climb," the canine stated. Jinxerbee was slightly entertained by the dog's command. Jinxer shrugged. His last attempt at climbing had landed him flat on his back, but whatever. "Alright, let's shuffle on over." The canine led the way and Jinx followed casually, though his tail was low and his ears were perked and alert. He didn't want to get caught... he wasn't a bad guy. Montgomery settled at the base of a nearby tree, while Jinx sized it up with his one good eye. Well... maybe he could climb it. He'd just... have to get a good running start. With that thought in mind, he kicked up the pace, shooting off the ground and once more throwing himself at the tree. He hit a low-hanging branch with a heavy thud, the sound resonating in his chest as it hit him directly in the sternum. He let out a low grunt and a growl, hooking his front claws into the branch and flailing his hind legs madly to try to get a grip to push himself up. One leg caught and he immediately shoved himself up, unbalanced and a bit winded, but still unable to be seen through the leaves. He let out a huge, heavy sigh. "Good God, could that have been any more difficult and humiliating?" [/scrolly]

[MudBug]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,485,true][atrb=height,212,true][atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2yngfsz.jpg,true] Watch my moves! Read my mind! Hear my voice! Montgomery thought he heard something about a therapist, or something of that sort. He wasn't quite clear on what Jinxer meant, but he got the idea of the proposition. As he watched Jinx's interesting attempt at "climbing", he thought of where to begin spilling his heart, which floodgate to open first. Strange thing was, he didn't like the idea of pouring his troubles out of his mouth in clear and tangible language. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure it was possible. The problems weren't anything substantial, just a thousand nuances of trouble that only Montgomery could really understand. It was all so . . . emotional. He didn't like emotional. Emotional was the end-all-be-all of gray areas. Nothing made sense, even when it did make sense, in the land of emotional. So be it, he thought with a huff, and a strange warbling of his lips. It would just have to sound strange, and disjointed, and, perhaps altogether stupid. It couldn't hurt, could it? Well, it couldn't hurt anything more than his pride. His pride, he knew was incredibly callous at this point. He took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then decided to simply sigh it away. He glanced up to Jinxer, now contently perched on the large branch directly above Monty's head. Bringing his line of sight back down to the distant shapes of The Cemetery, he began his . . . tale? Was it a tale, or was it just a series of unfortunate events. No, it couldn't be that. There were no real events, more just a series of less than grand reactions, to put it kindly. Whatever the case, it had to start somewhere. He quickly put it out of his mind to try and word it all prettily. He began rather abruptly, harshly. He felt thankful for an imaginary friend that wouldn't have the right to mind his rudeness. "I'll take you up on that offer to hear my whining, not that you'd have much choice. Unless, I suppose, you just left. Wouldn't that be great. My own imagination is bored of my gripping. Couldn't blame it. Anyhow, I guess I should just let you know I'm in love with a cat. Not you, don't flatter yourself. Not even a big cat like yourself. Just a regular old tabby, or whatever the orange striped ones are called. "Like a right fool I fell in love with her, only to be too much of a coward to leave my overbaring 'family' I call a pack, and actually give her the attention she deserved. Serves me right, her leaving and flirting with her own species only to come back and tell me it won't work out. That being said, I guess I'm just an arrogant bastard for thinking I ever could have changed the outcome. I must think I'm quite the canine Casanova to make even cats fall in love enough to hang around my melancholic ass. That idea of all the girls loving the moody, mysterious hunk, it's all bunk, my friend. All bunk."

[trau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true][atrb=background,http://i54.tinypic.com/212d8w7.jpg] [scrolly:h(341),w(340),sy] "Talk." Gawk. Walk. Jinxer could hardly believed that climbing the tree had been so fucking impossible to do. To think that he was a feline and was climbing as pathetically as a clawless canine pup, well... it was pretty humiliating, but hey, at least this canine - Montgomery - seemed too distracted with his own thoughts to really care what failure Jinx was up to. Jinxer was pretty sure that, if he wanted to, he could bark, neigh, and flail around like a noodle and Montgomery would consider it normal. Normal was, after all, a relative term. He was both pleased and a bit uncertain when he had finally gotten a grip on a branch a few feet above Montgomery's head. Jinxer was half-afraid that he was just going to fall out of the tree and crush the dog underneath him. Being a cat, Jinxer was pretty sure that he knew how to fall properly, but maybe he didn't. He certainly hadn't fallen off the roof properly when he'd tackled Emile into the snow during the Tempest and Iris war. All things considered, that had been a pretty short-lived fight with long-term affects. Odd how things like that worked. Jinxerbee rested his head on his paws, looking down at the canine beneath him who stared off into the distance, seeming to consider how exactly he would start his story. Must've been one hell of a story if the one who'd experienced it didn't really know how to tell it. For Jinxer's own story, he'd kind of just sunk into the blunt and quick version of the story. "Betrayed the pride, got my ass kicked, ran away, came back." That was really all there really was to it, save for finding a brother of a different species. But that was beside the point. Montgomery finally began to speak, and his first words made Jinxerbee snort, his laugh and amusement quite audible. Montgomery seemed pretty sure that Jinxer was capable of leaving. Jinxer responded with a smirk, "If your imagination gets uppity, just kick it in the ass. It's what I'd do." However, Montgomery seemed quite content to begin his story now, so Jinxer went silent and began to listen, curious as to what this canine could've possibly experienced that made him so... odd. The first part of the story was almost immediately enough to knock Jinxer out of the tree with shock. He dug his claws into the branch once he swayed, keeping himself upright at the words. Montgomery was in love with a cat?! Holy fuck. Jinxer kind of knew what that was like... the closest thing he had to a family were all canines. Devil, Pongo, and Rikki... It wasn't exactly love, though. Well, it was family-like love, but Montgomery was in love with a tabby! Like, actually in love. That was crazy. According ot Montgomery, he'd been too involved in the pack to leave them to really take care of and pay attention to the tabby like she apparently deserved. The tabby had left him to be with creatures of her own species, leaving this poor dog quite heartbroken. Well, sort of heartbroken. Maybe this was how Montgomery had lost his mind. Then again, falling in love with a feline took a lot of guts and a lack of sanity... That was kind of the way things were. Jinxer obviously couldn't fall in love with felines, or else he wouldn't be in the situation he was in. Montgomery stated that having creatures fall in love with the moody, mysterious type was "bunk". It was pretty much a lie... Jinxer certainly didn't have any friends or secret lovers now. Jinx nodded up in the tree and responded, "Yeah, I get that. I suppose I understand. If it makes you feel better, I know what that's like, though maybe not quite to your extent. All the creatures I've ever really cared about were canines. Felines may be my species, but they aren't my type." [/scrolly]

[MudBug]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,485,true][atrb=height,212,true][atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/2yngfsz.jpg,true] Watch my moves! Read my mind! Hear my voice! Monty heard Jinxer's claws clink against the tree trunk as he began his story, but hardly bothered to pay it mind. He supposed it only made since for him to be surprised. Still, it was ironic. His own mind being surprised at his heart's story. Oh, Monty, you're such a poet. He looked up at the feline as it responded, sounding just as bitter as would be expected. All canines, huh? Considering where he now sat - in a tree, on Tempest lands, bemoaning the unfairness of life with a shepher - it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. Montgomery sneered at Jinxer, and himself, his eyes falling back to the horizon. "Well, ain't we just a right couple of turds in the punchbowl," he said with a lilt. It had to be a sight to see. A canine and a feline, sitting in camaraderie, discussing the troubles of getting along with each other. Slowly the sheer irony of the situation begans to turn in on itself in Montgomery's mind, almost suffocating him. He shook his head, and decided not to ponder it any further. Instead, he looked back to Jinxer, and posed a new question. "So, let me ask you something. You said you were real, which I still find doubtful. But, if you were, why would you be here, clinging against hope to the trunk of a tree and listening to a dog whine about his ill fated romance with a tabby cat? Pardon the intrusion but, it's quite weird, to be frank."