Dreams and Delusions [open!]

[Cloud]

Hailpaw looked at the white tom beside her, confused at his now somewhat aggressive stance. She smelled his displeasure, but didn't know what to make of it, though she flicked gravel with a paw thoughtfully as she led the two (how nice it was to have them follow her!) back to the Stream where her kits were.

They arrived shortly, and before the little she-cat even saw her kits she heard their wailing as they caught her scent and pleaded for food. Her ears flattened but she hurried along to fulfill their request.

"Apologies, guys. Gotta feed these little whiners." She padded over to the squalling brown, black, white, and gray bundle and laid down next to the trickle of water, and drank some.

"MAMMAAAA! You gone so long I so hungry gonna DIE!" Stonekit wailed.

"Well if ya'd start drinkin' ya'd be full quicka." She grumbled. "I ate some rat, so you all should be fine." Immediately the little gray tabby fell to his mother's stomach and began to drink, sucking noisily.

[Reagan]

Blotchkit scampered to her mother's side, eager to eat. Her stomach was growling even now, and she began to drink as well. She barely even noticed the strange cats whom her mother had brought home.

Dusklight stared at the little kittens, unflinching, but inwardly sympathizing their plight. If he could just convert Hailpaw, then she could raise her children in the way of the Light, and they'd never have to suffer or hunger again. "Right, so I was on the subject of faith, wasn't I? I was just saying that in order to end your misery, you've got to believe in the power of the Light." He sat down, his tail twisting around his front paws.

"You could even start believing now, if you'd like. It has to be with all your heart, mind you. You can't just pretend to believe. You must know that the Light is the provider of all that is good, and will keep you from darkness and pain," he meowed. "You've got to know that the Light speaks to me, just as I'm speaking to you right now." His enthusiasm for the subject only grew as his hope for Hailpaw's conversion increased.

[Cloud]

Hailpaw sighed in relief as Blotchkit, too, joined her older brother at their mother's belly. She looked up at Dusklight, drinking in his words at he spoke, then looked down at her kits. Much as they annoyed her, she knew they deserved better than this, and frankly, so did she. Maybe Dusklight would even be a good mate for her, in time.

Although that white tom was nice too...oh well, both of them were better than Grimykit and Shortwhisker, curse their names. It wasn't like either of them was going to help her, that much was obvious.

Her face softened as she looked down at the little monsters, smelling their simple scents. Deep down, she did love them, a little. Maybe they would be better off if they believed in the Light. But first she had to decide.

She looked again at Dusklight and answered him slowly, but truthfully.

"This ain't a joke, right? Ya not a Clanna' tryin' ta trick me? Cause if yer not, Ah I think ah'm readeh ta start ta learn how ta believe. I just...I migh' no' be verra good at it in the beginnin', but I'll try. Is there an oath or sumthin' that I can say? Maybe that'd help."

The harlot looked at the preacher hopefully.

[Reagan]

His ears flicked, and he observed her considering his words. When she finally answered him, his eyes lit up with approval. "I'll tell you, I'm not a Clanner trying to sway you one way or another with fancy words," he responded. "I was never much for debating things like that, I like to think my walk of life differs from the common ones."

He leaned down to her level, looking her in the eyes with all the confidence he had. "Well, you've got to start somewhere," Dusklight meowed. "You can't be expected to know everything about the Light in one day." He purred, and his whiskers twitched just a little when she asked for an oath she could repeat. He hadn't considered using one of those before, but he did agree that it would help the process.

"Alright, you can just repeat after me: I choose today to believe in the Light, and to live my life in faith so that I may be prosperous." It was the best he could come up with at the moment. He knew he might have to tweak it for future encounters with other lost souls.

[Cloud]

Reassured, the queen breathed deeply and tried to imagine the Light, looking at it streaming in through cracks in the walls. It would help her, it must. If Dusklight could truly speak to it, if it would give her a better life...she was willing to believe.

"Thanks, Dusklight." She meowed, looking at him with gratitude. "My kits'll be happy to learn abou' th' Light too, when they're old enough. Okay, Imma say the oath."

She closed her eyes, and summoning all the hope and faith she could imagine, she repeated his words. "I choose today ta believe in th'Light, an' ta live mah life in faith so tha' I may be...er...what's dat word? Prospuss? Pros-per-ous. I got it. So tha' I may be prosperous."

A question occurred to her, a worrying one. "Er...is there any sorta code I gotta follow or sumthin'?" If it included having only one mate, she might have problems with it.

[Ten]

ooc: whoa nelly. I need to post too, you know.
{continued from this thread}

bic:

Tinykit squealed and tried to push his sister, Blotchkit, out of the way in the hopes of reaching his mother. They were growing kits. It was getting harder for all of them to fit in place together as they drank. As the runt of the litter, the gray little kit wasn't having an easy time muscling in for his milk.

Frozenheart had followed close behind the tired mother and kept a sharp eye on the preacher, anticipating that he might giving him due cause to attack. When more of his philosophy was revealed, however, it wasn't what the white tom had expected. He understood now. The tom was insane.

The light spoke to him? You had to be a fool to believe that. Light was just light, and believing anything else was some kind of crazy delusion. He knew this because he'd lived around light, albeit only fragments of light, his whole live. Then again... Frozenheart was deaf. With no lips for him to read or gestures for him to interpret, it may well be that the light did speak, and other cats were able to hear. Still, he resisted the idea. If it were true, it would mean that he were missing out on something, something important, and he liked to believe that he was fine just the way that he was, regardless of hearing. He didn't take to the message.

That said, he was reassured when Dusklight claimed he wasn't a Clanner. He didn't make sense, but he wasn't going to impose a hierarchy on anyone. Frozenheart relaxed, his ears popping up again, his white fur flattening on his back. He looked skeptical now, but he was no longer preparing to attack. He only shook his head in a pitying way and gave Hailpaw a glance that questioned her for her immediate acceptance of a loony's rambling.

[Reagan]

Blotchkit squeaked as Tinykit tried to push her out of the way. She continued to fight for her position, pushing at his head with one of her little paws.

Dusklight was eyeing Frozenheart with unease, but was relieved when the tension that the cat was carrying seemed to dissolve. He looked back at Hailpaw, listening to her repeat the oath that he had given her. He felt warm inside at the thought of making his first convert.

"Excellent, excellent!" he praised, giving Hailpaw a lick on the forehead. "You're now a believer. How do you feel?" He purred, excited over the fact that Hailpaw had chosen to follow his religion.

When she asked her question, he shook his head. There were no rules he'd thought of in particular, save for maybe one. "Well, all you've got to do is spread the message to other cats," he replied. "Just tell them about the Light; get them to believe and say the oath that you said. I've not got any other rules... just always believe in the Light."

[f i x a t e]

L O C U S T K I T ~

[/font][/right]Locustkit nuzzled her way in among her siblings in the skirmish for milk, having no trouble pushing some of the others aside. Although she was of average size for her age, she was rather strong for a kit. As her litter mates started to shove and wriggle themselves closer, she let out what was supposed to be a hiss. It sounded rather pathetic, and ended with her gasping for air and coughing. With a bewildered expression on her face, she looked up to her mother for a reaction. After a second of no acknowledgement, the kit looked over to the adults that were stealing her mother's attention.

She couldn't understand very much of what they were talking about. Something about a light? And its power? Locustkit looked over to one of the patches of sunlight nearby. Eyes wide, she pulled away from her mother, relinquishing her position to her siblings; the spot was quickly filled. Confident in her steps now, Locustkit walked over to the edge of the light. She hesitated a moment, and then stepped into ray of sun, expecting... Well, something to happen. Super smell or hearing? Perhaps the ability to catch her own tail? She scanned over her body, circling around, looking for some kind of change. Upon finding none, she sighed softly and looked over at the older cats, shaking her head. Silly light nonsense.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Cloud]

The gray she-cat giggled as he licked her, flattered. "Bettah, that's fo'sho. Like I gots some reason fo' tryin' to keep livin.' Hmmm, okayz. But if ya do speak to the Light, is that all it says? Does it say anythin' bout food or sumthin'? Ah'm not complainin', I just wanna know more cause it seems so inta'restin'. If it's a good storeh I kin tell it ta mah kits."

Hailpaw noticed Frozenheart's look, and she turned and addressed him. "Look, Froz'n'eart, I know I migh' seem a bit lizardbrained. But see it fro' mah position, if ya please. I got me four kits ta feed, and Ah'm barely alive. I need any help ah I kin get, an' if th' Light is real, then Imma b'lieve in it, an' mebbe it'll help meh. It can' hurt."

She squirmed as her tussling offspring fought for what little nourishment they could get. She watched with fascination as Locustkit broke off from her three siblings and trotted over to a patch of light. How amazing! Her little daughter was so smart already. "Good girl, Locustkit. Th'light'll help us."

The young queen pulled away from her other three kittens and sat up, deciding it was time to say something.

Stonekit complained as his mother pushed him away, his small face in a severe pout. Especially when he noticed the big toms! He hissed and fluffed up his fur, trying to look bigger than he was as he glared in what he thought was a ferocious way at them. "What you doing here? Raar! Imma kill ya!"

The little gray tabby pounced onto the striped brown tom's leg, clinging with all his might as he tried to nibble on his fur. "You not very tasty, mista tom." He said, disappointed.

Hailpaw rolled her eyes. "Stoneki', get offa nice mista Dusklight. Anyways, Ah've decided it's high time ya four learned ta eat meat."

[Reagan]

Dusklight was very pleased with how well the religious conversion had gone over. Even though Hailpaw kept the questions coming, he was confident he had answers for most of them. If he didn't have the answers, they were simply mysteries until the Light revealed otherwise to him. "If you just keep believing, food will come. Good things come to those who believe," he responded.

He watched Hailpaw get up, and was surprised when one of her kits ambushed him and nipped him on the leg. He drew his paw back a little. "Feisty young ones, aren't they?" he commented. He wasn't too bothered by it. Kits would be kits... and one day, these particular kits would be followers of the Light. He kept looking towards Frozenheart, however, concerned despite Hailpaw's attempts to assure him of the harmlessness of the situation.

Blotchkit was disappointed when her mother got up, but she was fascinated by the prospect of eating meat. "How we gonna do that?" she asked inquisitively. "We gonna catcha 'izzard? Ima gonna get one all by m'self." She punctuated what she'd said by pouncing in the air and landing on the ground with some invisible prey between her little paws.