~Fire in the night~

[Nightstar]

Small nose twitching delicately, eyes wide with remembered fear, a small grey tabby kitten slithered through the long grass. She saw no one, and no one saw her. Hopefully. Soul stiffened as something cracked. It sounded like the heavy tread of a twoleg. Fear pulsed through her tiny body and her fluffy kitten fur stood on end. She ran, she hid, she peered out from under her bush, she saw a mouse. Soul slowly crept out of her bush and looked around. Only a mouse, she was safe. She was suddenly angry at herself. Of course she was safe! She was dead. Nothing could harm her! Souls fur slowly settled. She watched the mouse, wondering if she should try catch it. She was starving! But she was always starving now. Her murderer had done a lot of things before killing her, starving her was one of them. And now? Now she was forever hungry, no matter how much she ate. Soul swallowed softly. She could still feel the tight pressure on her throat. The force that had finally killed her. She sat down slowly, shaking the morbid thoughts from her mind. Temporarily.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Fear. Anger. Mixed emotions were swishing over the she-cat as she sat silently. Another of their kind was near? If so, they were most likely having memories. That was what happened to Shrill. Her white pelt twitched, flicking droplets of water away as the drowned cat had her share. Her paws flailing as she tried to resurface, her head bleeding as claws scraped it. Her little brother's laugh echoed in her ears, muffled by the reddening water. Then everything faded and became black.

Shrill's glowing yellow eyes blinked to the present. Her slid silver tail was twitching. She stood up, shook out her dripping pelt -failing to get rid of the water that was forever stuck there- and padded down the hill upon she was perched. She made no effort to keep her paws silent. It would be pointless to scare the other cat.

She appeared into a soft clearing. A little gray kitten, still with its downy fur, was sitting only a few tail lengths away. She was thin. Starvation? Maybe. "Hello?" she meowed softly, her mew gurgling as a small rivulet of water left her lips. It was all the gentler she could be.

[Nightstar]

Soul shrieked with fear, blue eyes stretched wide and fur on end. Then she settled, it was another cat. Wait, but other cats, normal cats, couldn't see her! This cat must be a ghost! Water was falling from her pelt, and there didn't seem to be an end to it. Soul crouched down, staring up at the bigger cat with confused eyes, she had never met another cat before. "Hel-" A thin band of pressure tightened around her throat, cutting off her voice, making it impossible to breathe. She made a terrible hacking sound before fighting the pressurre off and continuing breathlessly, "lo... Hello?"

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Shrill's white figure flinched as the young kit screamed. I scared her that bad? Shrill asked herself. But then the kit recovered from her yowling and the drowned cat watched as something clicked in the blue eyes. Her greeting was questionable, but it made Shrill smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," she apologized. "I was trying to be a bit loud so I wouldn't. Guess that was an epic fail..." Shrill scolded herself mentally for scaring the kitten. Maybe it was natural from her Other life that she was jumpy. Shrill was naturally peppy from her Other.

"My name is Shrill, by the way."

[Nightstar]

Soul purred loudly. A real cat! or ghost cat realy.... who cares, it was someone she could talk to! someone real. "Thats ok! (hacks)My names........ ummmmm, I think,(chokes and splutters) I think my names soul.... Are you (cough) dead?! I am! I'm soooo happy to be able to (Gasp) talk to someone again!" Soul panted heavily. Talking was so hard with the unyielding presure stretched accross her throat.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Shrill nodded. "Yes," she gurgled, "I am no longer among the living. It's nice to meet you, Soul." The white cat smiled warmly at the kitten. "That must be annoying," she pointed out. "Is it difficult to," -she broke off to choke up some water- "I'm sorry, I meant is it difficult to speak?" She brought her silver tail around and touched the kits neck ever so softly. It was almost as if the contact hadn't happened.

"Were you suffocated?" the question flowed without knowledge until it was out. Shrill's yellow eyes grew wide and she slapped her tail over her mouth, mewling apologies. It wasn't her business how this cat wound up dead.

[Nightstar]

Soul shook her head. "It's all(cough)right." She mewed. "I don't (hack) mind. I wasn't suffoca(gasp)ted, I was hung." Soul shook her head in frustration. "and Yes it is (splutter) very, very annoying." Soul took a break to breathe deeply in and out, in and out. "If you don't (whezee) mind me ask(gasp)ing how did you (cough) die?"

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Shrill smiled, dropping her head to the side with a soft laugh. "Well, as you can see, I was drowned." She shook her pelt, scattering the droplets everywhere, but getting nothing damp. "When I was six moons old, my youngest brother killed me and my other two brothers. He slit open the throats of my brothers. He pushed me in the river and held me there." She blinked. "We lived beside a river because my mother didn't want to travel away from us to fetch water. Our father had jumped out of the picture when we were all three moons so she had to do everything for us."

Shrill lowered her head some, unknowingly exposing the claw marks atop her head. That was where her brother had gripped and pushed down. "Something went wrong in becoming a ghost for us three, though," she murmured. "My brothers and I continued to age. Now we all look as if we are fifteen moons old. So, we grew up without living."

[Nightstar]

Soul sighed and sat down slowly. "Pooryou" She said quicky before coughing. "But at least (gasp) you grew (cough) up." Soul stopped talking. It was getting to be to much effort. Then, burning with a Kts curiosity she had to ask the drowned cat something. "Why did (hack) your bro(wheeze)ther murder (choke) you?"

OOC: Ug, I need more words other than cough, gasp, wheese, hack, splutter and choke!

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Shrill gave the young kitten a smile. "I don't know," she meowed lightheartedly. "He just snapped and killed us. But, he did regret it. We visit him, you know," she added. "He's a sweet tom now. He has a mate and a good friend he can call Mother. Her mane's Ash. His mate's name is Scratch." She suddenly realized what she had meowed and looked at the kit curiously. "Have you learned how to materialize yet?" she asked.

[Nightstar]

Soul put her head curiously to one side. "Materialise?(Cough) Whats (hack) that?" She asked

OOC: sorry, running low on muse.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Shrill gently bit her lip. "To materialize is to, you know, make yourself visible to the living eye." Flicking her tail this way and that, she could manage her words better. Talking with her tail always worked. "My brothers and I have to, if we want to visit my little brother." She paused for a moment.

"If you like, I could teach you."

[Nightstar]

Souls eyes widened. "Would you (Cough) Really?!" The idea of being learning something, no matter what it was was exiteing. Sure she wanted to be able to materialise, but she wanted to have company more, and Shrill didn't seem to mind her to much.

[.:*Hawkstar*:.]

Shrill grinned. "Sure!" she meowed delightedly. "First thing's first; take a deep breath. Think about everything that's solid: rocks, trees, living cats. Close your eyes and picture them all." Shrill was doing so. She imagined her little brother, Bleak, his golden tabby coat shimmering after a good night's rest. A soft smile played at his lips, almost showing his deadly teeth. His ears were slightly red as his lover, Scratch, stood next to him. The other cat's black coat was sleek and he towered over Shrill's brother. Though he looked vicious, a warmth glowed in Scratch's eyes as his head bent to brush his muzzle across Bleak's.

Shrill sighed the Breath of Life and her translucent figure solidified. "Breathe the Breath of Life and you have finished. Just take a relaxed sigh."

[Nightstar]

Soul nodded in understanding. "Ok" she said, then coughed. She took a deep breath in and thought hard. There was the small blue tongues of fire, the sharp shiny stick, the twoled and the..... Soul shrieked in horror and shok her head furiouusly. She didn't want to remember didn't want to be seen.