Everyone will end up here someday.

[Ten]

The blood was always the first to go. Decomposition of the flesh took much longer, due to the dry climate that bacteria regarded as inhospitable. Yet rats often descended upon the corpses, leaving scraggly skeletons with only the least chewable parts clinging to their bones.

To a cat accustomed to burials, the boneyard might have seemed creepier, and though Frozenheart was not at all comfortable with it, he did regard it as natural. Scattered bones and twisted bodies ceased to experience the pain of hunger and heartache. They were peaceful.

Everyone would end up there someday, he knew, and his corpse would lie in the boneyard before he'd ever join a Clan. To someone like Woodstripe or Dingypaw, it would be a distressing thought, but it comforted Frozenheart as much as the silence of the dead -- that was one thing they shared in common: the refusal to speak. For, just like himself, the white tom believed that the dead could speak if they had so desired.

ooc| meandering post. ehh.

[Cloud]

Drabheart was sad, something that happened all too often these days. Clanners were everywhere and cons seemed scarce. A cheering word, it seemed, was what these cats needed, but suspicion and difference of opinion often caused rifts in the tabby's attempts for comfort.

Looking over the boneyard, he couldn't help but feel that somehow it was the oldest place in the enclosure. Who knew, he could be completely wrong. But it felt like it, what with all the remnants of lives hanging in the air...Drabheart fancied they were speaking to him, begging him to stop the anguish that tormented the daily life of every cat.

But it also felt like his answer, however well-intentioned, could never appease them.

"Yes...so much sadness these days..but don't we all want light in this dark, dark world? Why should that make us so different? Ha, and talking to myself only makes me look mad...but no one would notice, here..."

However, he realized out of the corner of his eye, that he was not alone. A white tom with unusual blue eyes sat over there. Drabheart ducked his head, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry..." He said, looking at the tom. "I didn't see you there...but I'm not mad, really. I just..." He shook his head; what could he say to justify himself? "...um...like talking to myself? Stupid, I know." He grinned apologetically. Maybe this cat would understand.

[duckyaisha]

Rainstripe had temporarily managed to subdue the Other by viciously mauling a few helpless lizards. Even that made her feel sick to her stomach, but if she didn't let it take out its agression on a lizard, it would turn to rats, or even worse, cats, and she couldn't risk that happening.
She found herself wandering towards the boneyard, though it wasn't the Other's doing. The Other was sitting calmly in the back of her mind, licking blood off its paws and replaying the lizards' gory deaths in its mind. This was all her idea. Every so often, even before the Other had invaded her mind, Rainstripe would check the boneyard and make sure her mother's body was not decaying in this place. She knew that any of the unidentifiable skeletons to belong to her mother, but she refused to believe it. As long as she didn't see her mother's body there, she was still alive. It was stupid and naive, but that's what she believed.

The she-cat felt a chill run down her spine as she made her wauy through the maze of the bodies. Something about this place, the silence, the mangled bodies lying everywhere, the occasional moan of sorrow as a cat found its lover or beloved family member lying in the sand, it made her feel out of place. This place was eerie, creepy. No place for the living. The smell of death hung over the bodies like a thick, heavy mist, obscuring the other smells.

The Other, of course, was perfectly relaxed here. It sat back calmly, not driven to aggression, not wanting to sink its claws into the first cat it came across. The Other thought the boneyard was peaceful, and though Rainstripe did not agree, she was glad it wouldn't be attacking anyone she came across.

She was so involved in her search and unable to smell much besides the heavy scent of death that she almost ran into him. Luckily, she decided to look up and saw a wall of white fur. Leaping backwards, the Other instinctive unsheated her claws. She didn't fight it until she realized that it was only Frozenheart. The Other sighed and retreated, the boneyard sedating it like no other place had before. "Frozenheart!" meowed Rainstripe happily, her yellow-green eyes lighting up, though her voice sounded much louder in the silent boneyard.

"I'm so glad to see you," she said, her voice reduced to a furtive whisper, as if the dead were listening in on their conversation. They might have been, if they still had ears. "What are you doing here?" she added, her search for her mother put on hold. Hopefully she could convince Frozenheart to come with her, as the boneyard was much less terrifying with the warmth of another cat pressed against your side.

[Ten]

Frozenheart's blue eyes caught sight of the tom only as he was apologizing (for what, he didn't know) and, thinking Drabheart could do with some cheering up, he gave him a big, almost goofy grin. The stranger didn't appear to be mourning over any particular cat, and the white tom took this as an indication that he didn't want to be alone, so he started to approach him.

That's when a gray cat T-boned him in the side. Of course, this cat wasn't big, and Frozenheart was big, so she didn't knock him off balance, but it was unexpected. When he turned his eyes on her, he recognized her at once, and his smile doubled with the feeling that recognition produced. Rainstripe! How wonderful it was to meet her again -- here. He had to admire her brilliance. The boneyard was the perfect place to free herself from her new troubles. There was no blood here, no appetizing smell of fresh meat, and he didn't expect to see anyone fighting in such a place as this.

He acted as though he had been looking for her, rousing a loud purr and licking her forehead. He should have been looking for her, he realized. Even if she could handle herself now, he wanted to watch over her.

After a final lick and a headrub, Frozenheart looked back at Drabheart and held up his tail, wanting Rainstripe to meet his new friend. Of course, the two toms barely knew each other -- they hadn't even been introduced -- but an exchange of smiles was enough for Frozenheart to call a bond.

[duckyaisha]

Ooc: I keep accidentally typing Rasinstripe insteasd of Rainstripe!
Rainstripe's actually pretty tall, but not bulky. I don't think she's as big as Frozenheart, but certainly taller than the average Joe of cats.

Bic: Rainstripe was delighted that Frozenheart was so pleased to see her. She returned his purr and licked his chin, which she could just barely reach if she stretched upward and balanced on the very tips of her toes. Seeing Frozenheart made all her troubles melt away, the way her mother had done when she was a young kit. His affection gave her strength, and when the Other came sniffing about to see if this was a cat it could fight, Rainstripe hurled it backwards. Astonished, it stayed in its corner, focusing on the lizards.

Rainstripe tried not to think of that, and instead followed Frozenheart's gaze. She noticed an unknown tom lingering near them, and since Frozenheart had wanted her to meet him, he was obviously friends with him. /Any friend of Frozenheart's is a friend of mine/ she told the Other, who, disgruntled, tried to imagine the gory ways in which each cat had been killed.

"Hi there!" she meowed cheerfully. She didn't consider him a stranger since Frozenheart trusted him, and it was nice to meet someone new.

[Cloud]

Drabheart was considerably more cheerful than he'd been in a while. These cats were so friendly! Now if only they'd be cons...but he wouldn't ruin it so soon by asking. "Hi." He said back, surprised his voice had such warmth even here in such a sad place. "I'm Drabheart. So, you're Frozenheart.." He nodded in a friendly way at the big white tom, then squinted at the pretty gray tabby. He could swear he knew her name. "and...uh...I don't know your name, sorry." He said with an apologetic tone. "Good to meet you two."

He looked over at the waste of bodies. Where was his mother? He wondered. Or Grayheart, for that matter. He felt, as he often did, the pang of regret that his father had been so brave, so strong - and so devoted to the wrong cause.

[duckyaisha]

"Hello Drabheart, I'm Rainstripe. Pleased to meet you too." The good thing about sedating the Other with the boneyard was that now she finally had the chance to make some new friends. Drabheart seemed like a good cat, perhaps too good. Hopefully he wasn't a Clanner, but cons could also be kind. After all, the she-cat considered Frozenheart the nicest cat in the enclosure, and he was a con. Though perhaps he acted differently towards Clanners.

She considered asking them to help her look for her mother. The anxiety was still inside her, eating her from the inside. Her search had been cut short, but now she had to know whether her mother was dead or not. "I hate to ask a favor so soon after meeting you, but would you two help me look for someone? I haven't had contact with my mother in a very long time, and I want to make sure she's still alive." This was directed towards both the cats, though she had known Frozenheart for quite a while. "She's a gray tabby, like me but smaller, and her stripes don't show up very well because they're almost the same color as her fur." This seemed to be a pretty good description, though, looking around, she wondered if there were a hundred cats that matched that description.

[Ten]

ooc| mmhm, I know she's tall. I imagine her as rather lean, however.

"His affection gave her strength, and when the Other came sniffing about to see if this was a cat it could fight, Rainstripe hurled it backwards. Astonished, it stayed in its corner, focusing on the lizards." -- awww.

bic|

Frozenheart left Rainstripe's side to circle around the tabby tom, sniffing him up and down without regard for personal space. Drabheart. A name much like his own. He rubbed against him before returning to Rainstripe and taking a seat.

As Drabheart turned his gaze on the corpses, Frozenheart observed the change in his face. It seemed you could never find a cat who had not known someone now in the boneyard. Blue eyes softening with sympathy, the white cat tilted his head, wondering for whom he grieved. Talking about it never changed the facts, but he might like to talk about it anyway -- and if that were the case, Frozenheart was there for his new friend.

He suspected that there was something unusual about this death, something more than pain and guilt affecting Drabheart now. Or maybe, it was the recentness of it that he was picking up from him. Though attentive, he didn't want to look as though he was prying -- and yet his calm, white face seemed so open and understanding. He glanced at Rainstripe, hoping she would say something.

[Cloud]

Drabheart nodded to Rainstripe, then smiled as the white tom rubbed past him. He returned the favor by nuzzling the big white kitty. How nice these cats were! It dulled the pain of his previous failures, though it did not banish them.

"Oh, sure, I'll help you search for her." He nodded in understanding. "I take it as a compliment, really. I mean, so many cats are so suspicious these days...you announce you have good intentions to all, and cats look at you funny. What's up with that? Maybe I'm just a crazy con."

Oh, wonderful. Way. To. Go. Drabheart. What if these cats were Clanners? He'd meant to say 'cat', but somehow con had slipped out instead.

"Uh...sorry. I didn't mean to say that..." He looked away in embarrassment. Way to ruin things, you lizardbrain.

Better apologize sooner rather than later.

[duckyaisha]

Rainstripe's eyes lit up. After all her experiences with Clanners, there was finally another cat besides Frozenheart and Beetlepaw who shared her views. "You're a con? Frozenheart and I are too. I didn't think there were any other cons, besides me and him and Beetlepaw." She neglected to mention Grimykit, not because she had forgotten, but because even thinking about his name brought back the terrible memories of that day, and set the Other to prowling around her mind.

Now she felt much more comfortable around the other tom, not having to sidestep the issue of a Clan. "I was thinking we could start over here, since these bodies seem more recognizable." The pile she had pointed to was full of bodies that had recently been deposited. Their flesh was still attached, though it was swarming with insects, and there was still ample amounts of fur. The stench made Rainstripe's stomach churn, but she forced herself to keep it down. After all, she didn't want to have to go through the ordeal of hunting until she absolutely had to.