I don't love you [EssiexHolliday] But I always wil

[Whiskers [Archive]]

The stars were always so beautiful. When the sky darkened and night came, it was rare that Esmeralda conformed with the rest of the cats and went inside the low-hanging dens of Meadowclan. Instead, she slept outside, where she could feel the wind on her back, could smell the scents of both enemies and friends, and see the stars if she lifted her eyes and drank them in. Most cats did not question this; the few that did assumed that she slept outside because of an intense religious connection with Starclan. But no. These star-obsessed cats did not realize the true beauty of the stars because of their hysterical fanaticism--such idolation, undeserved, led to a beauty marred with fear of the power these stars could wield. Essie did not feel this fear, and so she found them beautiful and loved them more than any clan cat.

But the stars were not most beautiful in Meadowclan's sky, though they were certainly very bright and very big. No, she was too far from the stars, stuck as she was on the ground. Essie needed to be as close as possible. In Mexico, she could climb very tall buildings, and be so close she could almost feel their warmth. But now, she only had trees and not many of those.

And so Essie decided to go to the place of houses and buildings, the man-made structures that all these clan cats spat on and that she admired. After all, she could never make such fabulous, tall, strong buildings with her own paws. She was excited to climb these buildings again, to feel gravel and concrete underneath her paws instead of dirt and grass. She loved parts of Meadowclan. She liked the open air. She loved the smell of prey wafting through the camp. But she missed her home, her city, and the nearby kittypet neighborhood was the closest she was ever gonna get. So she decided to sneak out at night, like she used to sneak out in the city. She decided she was going to spend the entire night wandering on sidewalks and climbing fences.

But she was not going to do it alone.

When she had decided to visit the nearby human houses, her impulsive nature acted on instinct. She sought out her Holliday by the fresh-kill pile, and, leaning down, whispered in his ear to meet her past the ranch, where the lamp posts shined on the street corners, far, far, far away from Meadowclan. Her eyes had shined as she pulled away from him, meeting his own eyes, and for that second she felt like they were true comrades again, going on a midnight raid of Antonio's supplies.

She did not think he would resist her. She always, after all, trusted him. Though she was no longer a princess--though in some ways, she was now his second-in-command in his mission to help the rogues of Meadowclan--and though he could ignore her, she still felt like he was by her side. If he did not end up showing up, she would be sorely disappointed. She would know that the days of Mexico were truly dead and gone and that she and Holliday were different cats, never to share the same thoughts again, as they once did.

She sat under that lamp post, her fur glowing soft underneath its light. Her eyes focused mostly on the houses just a little ways away, sometimes moving toward the other lamp posts, finding their solitary glow comforting in a way that stars often were not. Sometimes, her eyes drifted back toward the soft rolling hills of Meadowclan, where the dark swelled and swallowed most of the surroundings. She was expecting him. Waiting for his eyes to pop out, waiting for Holliday and that damn smirk to capture her attention so they could begin. She would not wait much longer--the moon had already made its climb to the center of the sky--but she would wait. Just a little longer.

She needed her partner-in-crime.

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[Pyro]

Could it be that there was at last some law in his life? Holliday had never been one for playing by the rules, and so it stood to reason that 'Elkstep' was no different. His own judgement had kept him alive for moons of scrapping, trouble, and general asshattery, and naturally he deferred to it before anyone else's. Mexico was a notable exception, but as he'd been told numerous times before, Meadowclan was not Mexico. The rules of the states were...different, or at least, they seemed different. In Mexico, he found a cozy, if not violent, niche where his particular skill set was wanted, needed. A niche that wasn't at all put-off by his loose-canon nature...A woman that could put the driven snow to shame. Here in Meadowclan though, he had been as out of place as physically possible, and he often found himself wondering why it all worked (before a brilliant crash and burn) in Mexico, but not here. Was it because he didn't have his lady-friend, his princessa? Or was it because the lawless couldn't exist with law? He was a loner playing at being a clan cat. He wanted the stability, but none of the strings that were so often attached to such a tempting prize. He wanted home, and what a home it was. Mexico on a smaller and less doom-driven scale, and surprise surprise he ended up firmly with the 'rebels'. Was he trying to recreate what he once had? Was he really that desperate to turn back time? Holliday didn't want to believe he was that pathetic, but well, here he was. Obeying Cedarstar. No, the so-called 'prankster' (ha) and outspoken critic of all things Cedarstar was obeying his leader's orders. Accepting punishment. No, he hadn't been training Foxpaw on the sly. No, he hadn't talked to any of his acquaintances, and no, he hadn't gone to the gathering. Why, he hadn't even thought of sneaking to it when the day finally came around. He should be chomping at the bit, spitting in Cedarstar's face, dredging up further evidence of favoritism, but no. He was taking it like a she-cat. So perhaps Cedarstar's favoritism wasn't the only thing making him antsy. Certainly, his princessa had come back, and freak-accident though it was, he was taking it. He couldn't bring Mexico back, but he could make the best out of what he had. So when she whispered to him in that devilish accent to meet by the lamps of course he came. That part of him which longed for the old days would have murdered him had he not. He wouldn't be 'Elkstep', the loner-turned clan cat who was slowly bowing to the law. No, he'd be Holliday. Screw Cedarstar. He was his own cat, and he could do what he liked. And there she was...his pawsteps, which had been rapid as he raced across the border, slowed when he at last came to the city and his...partner-in-crime. Were he prone to just a smidgeon more eloquence, he might have praised the way the light illuminated her pristine coat of snow. As he was not, he could barely keep himself from blurting 'Damn gurrl, you sexy'. Yes, he was a fan of magnificent asses, but there was something about Essie...The allure of the girl you could never get, that you hardly deserved. He wanted to be the kind of tom she deserved. A relationship with her was one in which he was not in complete control. They were equals, with her slightly above him. She was unattainable. And yet still, he tried. A smirk, and that old dance began. "Waitin' for someone, princess?" Speaking [bg=d6d5ae][atrb=width,500,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Whiskers [Archive]]

Oh look at that. Holliday was here.

Esmeralda heard his footsteps before she smelled him, but when she smelled him, his smell brought memories of hiding in walls and waiting to get the jump on Antonio's thugs, of the spicy Mexican air, hot with the boiling blood of fighting rogues, and of running. Oh all the running they had done, Esmeralda always two steps ahead of him. All it took was his scent to make her feel these memories, miss them and wish for home again. The world was strange--it gave her a piece of her home, and somehow this piece made her homesickness stronger than before. Essie just couldn't ever be simply happy then, even with Holliday beside her; she had to feel sadness too in spite of him--because of him. But she chose him to hurt her and that's all that counted really. She chose him. Whether or not he knew that.

Essie pretended to ignore him for a while longer, until he spoke and his deep drawl caught at her ears, making them flick instinctively back. Her head swiveled so she could look over her shoulder and see Holliday outlined in the black the same as she was outlined in artificial, two-leg light. He looked handsome. She acknowledged that with a bemused smile. Back in Mexico, she had thought him too rough-looking. He had looked like trees and dirt in her city of metal, and Essie had grown up with a sleek, raven-feathered father and three beautiful silver brothers. The toms in her life had been regal, tall and striking. Holliday could never have matched up with her ridiculous standards. But set against the backdrop of pure wilderness, Holliday was looking good. He was the real deal out here.

She was the one who was out of place.

"No one important," she said. "It's not like you to be tardy--wait...yes, it is. I'm glad I can still depend on you to be undependable. But I'm glad you decided to break your leader's rules to come walk in your princessa's shadow. I know these suburbs aren't much, but I'm hoping for a little adventure tonight."

And then she could barely contain herself. Though she wanted to stay calm, no-nonsense, straight-forward, she was but a few yards away from a world she had missed for moons. She zipped toward Holliday's side, her green eyes lit with her excitement and she looked out at the two-leg world laid out in front of her.

"While you were taking your sweet time, I did some reconnaissance without you. There's a house with a doggy door. Carelessly left completely open. I believe that's an invitation, don't you? It would be rude for it to go ignored."

That's what tonight would be--an good, old-fashioned raid like the ones she and Holliday had conducted before. It had the beginnings of an adventure, a tale to be told for the rest of her life. The night she and her partner had taken into a two-legs house and took a tour around the pantry. There was a possibility of danger--after all, something else had to use that doggy door. But where was the fun in something without any risks?

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