climbing trees, the best activity of all

[irrational]

Anger.

Fear.

The two emotions ran through his mind, clouded his vision until all he could see was red and all he could hear was his heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. He was only partially aware of his claws sliding out of their sheathes, of a low growl building up in his chest and sliding out of his throat. He was not aware at all of the words that slipped into the air, "This is all your fault, you worthless she-cat! How dare you allow this to happen! I grace you with my company, my presence...do you not know how to be grateful?!"

Only red. Only the sound of his heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. But he could feel. Oh, yes, he could feel. He could feel his claws sink into her skin, past her fur. He could feel blood pour out of the wound, drip onto his paws. He could feel her pain as tremors overtook her, as he brought her to the ground. His claws tore at her, again and again. He could not hear her cries of pain, of confusion, of horror over the sound of his own heart.

Where was the damn kit?!

He would dig it out, destroy it, and all would be well once more.

As his claws tore at her belly, the thumping in his ears gradually died down and he became aware of Twoleg voices.

"She's being killed!" Someone yelled and the bengal tom let out a gasp of surprise. He looked down at the kittypet and, for a moment, confusion flooded his leaf green eyes. He could hear it all; why was he seeing red? And then he realized. Realized it all and, with a light moan, he turned and slipped off into the forest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Leopard woke with a start, his eyes snapping open as he scrambled for a hold on the branch supporting him. "Mouse-brained dreams," he growled to himself, looking up towards the sky, attempting to detect the owner of the sound that had rudely awakened him.

Spotting the culprit was not hard.

A woodpecker paused, eyeing the cat below it before thrusting its head forward again. The annoying thumps caused Leopard's tail to lash out of agitation and he sat up slowly, muscles flexing beneath his coat. Oh, if he wasn't so high up, he'd jump at that bird right now, flatten it beneath his paws. As it was, such a jump would surely bring about his death if he missed and so Leopard merely parted his jaws and let out a yowl. The woodpecker's wings beat wildly as it took off at top speed, Leopard watching it go lazily, quite enjoying the fear of the prey animal.

He licked one paw and lazily drew it over his ears, looking down at the ground. Strange. He wasn't as high up as he thought. Leopard frowned slightly before shrugging and laying down once more, rudder-like tail stretched out behind him. Lounging in tress was one of the tom's favorite activites and he'd be damned if he cimbed down because some stupid bird made him yowl like a maniac, probably alerting all cats nearby that he was here.

[Otter]

Tree-jumping--or flying, as Tramp preferred to put it--was the only worthwhile activity to be done in a forest. Besides, of course, picking fights with foxes and the occasional raccoon. Compared to that, tree-flying was as safe as taking a nice, cool swim in a pond.

Unless, of course, the pond was home to a swan.

Now that would be a worthwhile adventure. Maybe not alone, of course; even Tramp's arrogant mind was able to wrap around the fact that no cat could take on a full-grown swan alone and survive. However, with another cat, it was possible. Maybe Jack, one of the only cats who seemed to be able to stand Tramp's arrogant, adrenaline-loving nature, would join him one day. Or Blaze, the little she-cat he'd met a few days ago. She knew how to have a good time, to be sure.

All these thoughts slipped from Tramp's mind as he launched himself out of the uppermost branches of a tall oak tree. Leaf-green eyes fixed unwaveringly upon the broad, low branch he was aiming for and, for once, he actually made his mark. With a heavy, painful thump the bengal tomcat landed upon the branch, all the breath driven from his lungs at the impact. He scrabbled to sink his claws into the rough wood before the impact knocked him right back out the tree and, panting like a winded dog, Tramp straightened up and surveyed the land around him.

There was little time to take in his surroundings, however, before a hair-raising yowl split the forest air. Tramp jumped straight up, fur fluffed up and tail bristling as he searched for the sound of the screech. It stopped as soon as it began, however, and the fluttering of wings announced the fleeing of some form of bird. Can't blame it, the young tom thought with a shake of his head, casting around for the culprit.

Finally, Tramp's gaze fell on a cat halfway up the tree opposite of him. The young tom puffed up his chest and curled his tail up, wondering eagerly if the stranger had witnessed his daring leap from the tops of a tree. However, as he watched, the older tom settled down on his branch, and Tramp visibly deflated. He couldn't have seen me. No cat could pretend not to be amazed after seeing what I just did! he thought with a sad shake of his head. I suppose I'll just have to go show him firsthand. If there was one thing Tramp lived for, it was the approval and awe of others.

Without further ado, the muscular, black-spotted tom clambered down to the ground and shot up the other tree, clawing his way straight up the trunk without bothering to seek help from the many branches. After a few moments he jumped from the trunk to a branch just above the stranger's and, eyes glistening eagerly, he asked, "Ever seen a cat fly?"

If there was something familiar about this stranger, something tugging at the back of his mind, Tramp pushed it away for another day. Why stop and think when he could impress a total stranger?

[irrational]

Was he insane, or was that the sound of claws on bark? Leopard pricked his ears, eyes narrowing as he listened carefully, but he could hear nothing else. You're crazy, Leopard, he chided himself, this is part of the forest. Of course you'll hear things. It's probably just a squirrel.

The loner was just about to settle down once more when a figure suddenly flew through the air and landed on the branch above him. Shock flooded the tom's eyes for a moment as he sat up, tail as bushy as a squirrel's. But the anger soon faded from Leopard's eyes and he gave his chest fur a few quick, slightly embaressed licks before glaring at the cat above him.

"Ever seen a cat fly?"

Normally, a quick retort would've shot out into the air, but this time Leopard stayed silent, his eyes round as he stared at the cat above him. No...no...he was just dreaming; that was the only possibility. Leopard blinked a few times, but the cat above him did not disappear like Jenny had. This was real.

The stranger had the same bengal coat as him; perhaps the markings were different, but still, a bengal! And Leopard could not remember encountering any other cats with his pelt, besides Duke, in his lifetime. But there were kittypets around here, Leopard silently reminded himself. Twolegs often had exotic looking cats (like himself), he had once briefly spoken to a she-cat (named Exotica, a fitting name) that had a deep, slow mew. She had claimed she had come from a land far south, where giant snake-like creatures with legs preyed on cats and dogs. Ah, she had been a beautiful creature, with a long calico coat and daring green eyes. If it wasn't for that pesky white dog that had lived with her...

Leopard shook his head to clear his mind, realizing he was becoming lost in memories, something that didn't often happen to him. Something he didn't like happening. Now irritated with the stranger for startling him and rendering him momentarily speechless, the loner let out an irritated huff, "No, nor do I want to see one fly; I'm perfectly content lounging on this branch alone, without anything above or below me."

[Otter]

A cat that actually cared about feelings might have noticed the sudden uncomfortable air that came over the stranger upon sight. Tramp, however, is not a cat who cares much for the feelings of others. Unless, of course, that feeling is awe.

A bit put-out by the tom's blunt refusal to be entertained, Tramp felt himself deflate a bit as he plopped his butt on the wide tree branch. In all his time, Tramp had not often come across cats who blatantly refused to humor him. Especially when they were she-cats, cats were perfectly happy to watch him perform his stunts. Most, though not all, were extremely impressed by the end of it. And well they should be. This guy will be no different, Tramp thought decisively, inflating once more as he jumped down to the branch where the stranger sat. Not the wisest move, to be sure...but, then, Tramp was not a wise cat.

"You're missing out, then," he mewed with what could be considered a decent attempt at a nonchalant shrug. "No cat in existence can fly better than me. You certainly couldn't." He emphasized the last sentence by pointedly eying the stranger up and down with what he hoped was an unimpressed air. However, it could hardly be argued that the tom before him was less-than-impressive. Big, powerful, and as muscular as can be, a small voice in Tramp's mind told him he would be whupped by this cat. Maybe not in flying, since this stranger appeared a bit too muscle-heavy for that sort of thing, but certainly in fighting foxes and badgers. The thought both thrilled and intimidated him, and he continued, "Bet you've never swum the rapids in the gorge."

[irrational]

No, surely he must be dreaming. No cat with half a brain would dare jump down onto the same branch as he. Leopard's eyes narrowed dangerously as he scooted backward on the branch, unwilling to be closer then asbolutely nesscary to this arrogant loner. Lucky cat you are; if we were on the ground...

"You're mssing out, then. No cat in existence can fly better then me. You certainly couldn't."

The word's distracted Leopard from his thoughts and the tom cat's eyes flashed. He had no business calling Tramp arrogant by any means, for he could be extremely so. He was a prideful creature that did not take well to any insults- even the hint of an insult could turn him into a snarling monster. Leopard's muscles tensed beneath his pelt as the tom looked him up and down, attempting to seem unimpressed, but what cat could not be impressed by him? He was not small and thin, like those two cats that tended to hang around the moors, and he certainly wasn't a plump kittypet, spending all his time on the lap of his Twoleg's.

"Bet you've never swum the rapids in the gorge."

Leopard's ear flicked at the words. No, he certainly hadn't. He was a tree climber through and through. Water did not interest him- rapids especially. He eyed this stranger for a few moments; certainly he couldn't have accomplished such a task? His big ego would've drowned him the moment he set paw into the water!

"No. Perhaps you're suicidal, but I'm most certainly not," Leopard growled in reply, the usual scowl on his muzzle, "And I apologize for not clarifying earlier, but I especially don't want cats sitting before or behind me. I enjoy my solitude and I don't think a tree jumper could get to safety very well if they were pushed."

[Otter]

It was becoming more and more clear to Tramp that this cat was not the kind to fawn over him. Nor did this stranger seem to have any sense of adventure or fun whatsoever. How could any cat be so boring? The bengal tomcat's tail drooped, and he shook his head in bewilderment. How could the little she-cat Blaze have done so much more than this old geezer?

Leopard might well have not even wasted his breath to utter a threat; it flew over Tramp's head, for in his mind, he couldn't imagine any cat wanting to attack him. Who would want to harm such a fascinating specimen such as himself? No one, that's who.

"Then what do you do all day? Sleep in trees?" he asked finally, releasing his breath in a "huff" of disappointment and leaping to the branch he had come from. He did this not out of knowledge of Leopard's discomfort, but rather because he preferred to look down at a cat from above. Stretching out on the broad branch, Tramp let his tail hang down, flicking lazily from side-to-side, as he rested his chin on his forepaws and gazed down at the stranger. "I'm Tramp, by the way."

[irrational]

Tramp. What a stupid name for a cat; what she-cat in her right mind would bestow upon her kit the name Tramp? It was a name that immediatly made Leopard think of a battered, skinny tomcat lurking around an alley, eating out of thrashcans to survive. He looked up at Tramp, glad that the tom had moved off of his branch.

"Then what do you doall day? Sleep in trees?" The question played back in his mind and he lashed his tail.

"Obviously not, as I'm awake now. Besides that, no. But I don't see why I would confide my daily activities in you," Leopard added swiftly, looking down at the ground once more, glad that no other cats had appeared. Handling this arrogant bengal was enough; Leopard didn't think he'd have enough patience to deal with another pesky kit.

"Ah...my name is Leopard."

It would do him no harm to tell this stranger his name, right? This Tramp was arrogant. Obviously. Why would he go around talking about Leopard if he could talk about himself?