Trick or Purr
That day of the year came again. Humans were acting weird, dressing up like they were something scary in their own eyes, and screaming and yelling as if they were going to actually hurt every child that stopped by the door. Some humans even wore powder and weird-smelling paint—PAINT! – to screw their faces, as if they actually thought it wasn't affecting their pores. And after the night was over with, they would suddenly take all of that off, children would stop coming to the door (those little pests…), and everything would be back to normal.
Looking up to the full glowing moon, he let the breeze run through his fur, closing his eyes and letting out a small purr of satisfaction. He heard more children rush up to his house's door, chattering and squealing in joy when his human opened the door and let out a poor-excuse of a growl. Disinterested by seeing the scene several times already, the animal flicked his ear lazily and simply glanced back up to the moon. A few more groups of chattering human offspring came and went, and soon the animal just gave one lick on his fur and jumped off the wall he was laying on, walking off to his destination of the night, passing more and more kids as he did so.
Upon reaching his destination, the animal let out a meow to catch the others' attention, and both cats looked up. One meowed back with a purr mixed in his voice, while the other simply responded with a flick of the tip of his tail.
"Casper-boo," The seemingly-happier cat meowed, wrapping his tail around his short paws, "You came! Good, we thought you just planned all this and was going to just make us sit around in this cold night!"
"Like I'm going to sit around and let my human have all the fun!" The cat mentioned as Casper-boo, a long haired brown tabby with white, with a red and white cloth wrapped lazily around his neck, meowed back to the other. "Toki isn't coming?"
"He said he would." The other cat of the trio mewled, catching the brown tabby's attention. This cat was a dark blue one, with white fur patched on his chest. Like Casper-boo, he too had a cloth around his neck, but his had longer ends that almost reached the ground, and instead of red and white it was blue and gold. "He told me he was going to be a little late, though."
Casper-boo twitched his ear at the response. "Toki? Late? Speckles, you must've heard something wrong…"
As Speckles just sighed and gave himself a lick on his own shoulder to lower his rising fur, the third cat lifted his forepaw, as if to catch Casper-boo's attention. He was a weird-looking cat, with being a peach color with patches of white in some places. His legs were short and stubby (Casper-boo could swear he heard his owner say something about him being a 'munchkin' when they were first introduced to one another; whatever, though) and his tail was long and fluffy, providing him warmth from the cold winds. His cloth was short like Casper-boo's, not threatening to reach the ground like Speckles', and was white and sky blue. It almost seemed to reflect with the color of innocence.
"He said he was bringing a kitten," He purred after he caught Casper-boo's attention with his raising paw, "Said his owner's brother got one recently."
"A kitten?" The brown tabby blinked slowly, taken back. "Toki? With a kitten? I can't see that, Ikaebi."
Ikaebi gave a slight shrug and lifted his head, his whiskers quivering slightly in the breeze. "Really? Is it weird that I can?"
"I would just think it's a weird time to show us him for the first time," Speckles commented, "Of all the nights, why tonight?"
"Maybe the human didn't let him out until now," Ikaebi guessed as he turned his head to the blue cat. He padded the ground a few times to stretch his claws and looked off to the distance again, where he expected the last cat (and the kitten) to come from. "They do that a lot with kittens."
"They're overreacting!" Casper-boo sighed, shaking his head from side to side as he did so. "Really, my human let me out early!"
"Your human's weird anyway." Speckles commented almost silently, his ear twitching when he heard more human offspring purrs. Ikaebi blinked and lowered himself fully on the grass as he watched the tabby suddenly tense, shooting a glare to the cat who commented. Bored, Ikaebi slowly licked his forepaws, hoping to fluff up his fur to keep him warm. This night was always chilly every single year, he could only just imagine what it must be like for humans who seemed to have only a patch of fur on their heads. Trailing off to his own thoughts, ignoring the hiss he heard from Casper-boo, he blinked when he saw a shadow approaching the group.
"Not too late, Toki." Ikaebi purred, catching Casper-boo and Speckles' attention. The cat mentioned as Toki said nothing, simply strolling lazily to the group, letting his long white fur almost drag on the ground. His red and blue cloth was readjusted, the group noticed, since the last time they all gathered. In his mouth, he held the loose skin of a kitten; a small ball of white fur was all it looked like at first. It took all three cats a moment to look at the ball of fluff the white cat was carrying, until they could make out the ears and tail. When the kitten looked up to them, they saw a single circular mark of silvery-gray around the kitten's right eye, and already its human arranged its owned bow around its small neck; blue and red mainly, much like the white cat, but switched backwards color-placement-wise.
Placing the kitten on the ground, Toki watched in silence as it slowly pushed itself between his forepaws, hiding in his long fur. "…Fluffball." He said, telling the group the kitten's given name. "My brother."
"Fluffball… So original." Casper-boo commented as he approached Toki, causing the kitten to flatten his ears in fear and push himself further into Toki's safety. The tabby lowered his head and pushed his nose between the white cat's forepaws, in hopes to give the kitten a quick sniff, only to yowl right after and pull back immediately, something suddenly burning on his nose.
"Casper-boo?" Ikaebi blinked, startled, rushing to the cat's side and looking at the damage done. It was thin, but he could clearly see a few lines across the tabby's nose.
"He scratches…" Toki meowed lazily, watching the tabby rapidly lick his nose hoping to calm the stinging pain.
"Could've said that sooner!" Casper-boo winced, licking his nose again.
"You learn best by doing it, not hearing it." Toki replied with a sigh. "Fluffball doesn't like strangers. Not used to them. Kinda taken by humans early and all."
"We all were." Speckles commented, blinking.
"And we all been through the fright-stage." Ikaebi told the dark-toned cat, purring and sitting in front of Toki. "He'll get used to us in no time, don't worry."
The rather chubby cat purred, hoping to coax the kitten to relax enough from his fear and come out. It was however ignored as the kitten just watched the others carefully, not minding Toki's fur blurring his vision as he did so.
"Where are we going this year?" Ikaebi mewled after he figured it was best to just give time, changing the topic. Speckles blinked and flicked the tip of his tail towards Casper-boo, who was still licking his now-numbing nose.
"He planned this."
"Where are we going, Poo?" Toki meowed dryly, sitting down in the grass and letting his long, rather fluffy tail to cover his forepaws, feeling his brother relax under his chest as he did so.
"Casper-BOO," The tabby corrected, flattening his ears immediately against his head, "And I was thinking of going to what our humans call a 'Haunted House'. I heard Bertie is holding one in his human's place."
"My human talks about that a lot," Ikaebi purred excitedly, "He says it's fun, but I never saw him bring the human kitten."
"Are you sure it's something we can bring… Him, to?" Speckles blinked to the kitten that had poked his head out, his ears perked up in interest of the constant meowing that was going around him. "I mean… Not to be mean or anything, but like Ikaebi said…"
"I'm sure Bertie will tell us if we can't when we get there." The tabby began to take a step forward, blinking right after and turning around, "Wait, this way."
"That's the way to my house." Toki hissed as he stood up, feeling his fur fluff up slightly. "I don't live near that ear-folded cat."
"Eh…?" Casper-boo froze, placing his paw back on the ground after a moment of thought. The other cats stared for a bit until Speckles sighed and stood up.
"Bertram's place, right?" He asked, double checking to make sure he indeed saw the tabby nod hesitantly. After doing so he gave a quick sniff to the breeze and began to walk. "I'm sure it's this way. He always comes from that direction, and I can smell his territory marks not too far off."
Ikaebi followed after Speckles and glanced to Casper-boo, who blinked nervously with his blue eyes and sighed before following hesitantly as well. Toki stepped back and lowered his head to pick up Fluffball, but the kitten batted the older cat's face away from himself, making sure his claws were sheathed as he did so, and toddled with his for small paws after the group. At this, Toki blinked but just stayed behind his new brother, ready to carry him whenever he got tired.
xxx
"Ralf!" Casper-boo meowed as soon as the maine coon was in his vision. The large, round cat blinked and turned to face the group, then purred in delight and strolled his way over. His tail high in air, he looked to the brown tabby and meowed his answer.
"Casper-boo! You decided to come? And bring a whole lot of others?" The large cat's whiskers twitched. "Bertie would be jumping in joy at the amount of cats that came! Here, this way," He turned around and began walking, "Are you sure you can actually walk through the whole thing, though?"
"What IS a haunted house, anyway?" Ikaebi questioned, tilting his head and perking his ears up for the answer. Ralf blinked and faced the weird-colored cat.
"You came without knowing?" None of the cats replied. "Well, a haunted house is… Well… Bertie said it's really scary, that's all I know."
"I guess it's best to ask Bertram himself for the details, then." Speckles concluded with a huff. Ikaebi gave a slight nod in silence and walked with the group until they reached a large human nest.
"Here's Bertie's place." Ralf meowed, stopping momentarily to let the other cats examine the human nest with their gazes. He then began to walk again, pushing himself through the bushes. "Be careful. Those flowers have thorns."
"Who would plant something like this?" Toki hissed in annoyance, walking up and over his brother. Fluffball complained with tiny mewls, but the white cat ignored it and made sure his fur was always guarding the kitten from the horns, as far as he was concerned of at least. Ralf shrugged.
"Humans are weird." He answered, ignoring another small complaining mewl he heard from under the white cat. "Especially Bertie's human. Even my human says so." The large cat pushed against the stems and leaves, being careful not to stab his paw with the thorns. After he managed to open a hole big enough for them all in the back of the bush, he let the others squirm their way out awkwardly, Casper-boo coming out first.
"How does Bertie always get out of this area to take a nap at the park?" The tabby complained after he was out, sitting down and taking some time to lick the green out of his long fur, not wanting it to stain. He winced as his tongue hit a thorn that tangled in his long fur, sighing and using his fangs to carefully pull it out and spit it out on the side.
"There must be another way out that we don't know about," Ikaebi guessed as he was helped into the garden through the hole by Speckles. His legs were too short to lift him off the ground high enough to jump through the hole, and the navy blue cat knew that well enough. As soon as he was pushed out of the hole however, he jumped away out of the way, sitting down and licking his paw, making sure to groom himself as well, both to keep himself warm and wash the scent and possible leaves that had gotten stuck, bringing his short paw to his head and washing his face.
"There is." Ralf answered from the bushes, causing Casper-boo to blink.
"Where?"
"I can't fit through it." Ralf meowed, turning his head slightly so that he was pointing to a hole in the fence near the ground with his nose. Casper-boo and Ikaebi couldn't help but to feel their small jaws drop. The hole was large enough!
"I don't know what kind of junk your human feeds you," Ikaebi blinked, hesitantly lowering his ears, "But that hole… Is pretty large, Ralf…"
"Not large enough for me!" The maine coon complained. "My stomach always gets stuck! I know Bertie must've just made it that tiny just to torture me! I can't visit him going through the normal path!"
Without saying anything, Speckles easily slipped out the hole next, landing on the thorn that the tabby put down earlier. He gave a pained yowl and quickly pulled it out his pad, licking the blood that slowly trickled down. Casper-boo widened his eyes slightly at the sight, his ears going flat against his head again. "M-My bad, Speckles…"
Speckles shot the other a glare, and Casper-boo closed his mouth quickly. As the quiet cat continued to lick his injured paw, he slowly walked to the hole where Fluffball was being dangled out from, being held by Toki. Without a word the tabby took the kitten and backed away from the hole, putting Fluffball down and checking him for any possible thorns, only to earn another scratch on his nose. Ikaebi watched in silence as Toki jumped out gracefully from the opening and walked to his brother, sitting down right after, looking amused as Casper-boo flailed and licked his nose repeatedly and wincing each time.
Ralf jumped out last and after checking himself over for thorns once, mewed softly to get the other cats' attention and began to walk, leading the way again. The cats followed, Speckles limping slightly at every few steps and Casper-boo letting out complained mewls under his breath. When they reached where the humans parked their weird machines usually, they finally saw another cat come forward, blinking his green eyes.
The folded ears gave an interested flick when Ralf meowed to get his already-caught attention, making the other just bat at the idiotic fat cat with his paw on the other's face. Ralf's eyes closed as he flailed uselessly, though all cats could hear the purring that emitted from the maine coon's chest.
"Bertie!" Casper-boo meowed, flicking his tail in greeting. The Scottish fold simply nodded his greeting as his green eyes scanned the group. "We're here to try out your haunted house thing!"
"That's just lovely." Bertram licked his lips, sitting down in front of the group. "Are you sure, though? I made sure it was pretty creepy."
"We aren't cowards." The tabby puffed his chest out.
"I'm sure we can do fine." Ikaebi added in, walking up beside Casper-boo. Bertram blinked in interest.
"…If you say so." As Bertram stood back up to lead the way, Fluffball suddenly mewled softly, his voice shaking. The group stopped for a second to look at the kitten that just sat beside Toki, shaking slightly. He let out another pitiful mewl and lowered his head, his ears flat on his round head, now just looking like a true cotton ball.
"What's with him?" Speckles asked as he turned around to return to the shaking kitten. Toki blinked, obviously not knowing the answer, so he lowered his head and nuzzled the small kitten. Not being able to truly speak words yet, the kitten just mewled again, his gaze shifting away to the side slightly. Toki glanced to the spot his brother was staring at, tilting his head slowly.
"Butternubs?" Ralf asked, just as Toki blinked in confusion. The kitten kept staring at the spot as Ralf let out an amused purr. "Don't worry, he does that sometimes. You'll see him suddenly appear, too!"
Fluffball swore he could see a faint shadow in a shape of a cat that meowed pathetically, trying to fight back to Ralf's meows with a faint voice of his own, "I was always here, Ralf!" Blinking slowly, the kitten followed after the group after being nudged forward by his brother, feeling a shiver run down his spine as he did so at the ghost-of-a-cat he just saw.
xxx
"Here," Bertram meowed, nodding to the forest he led the group to, "This is the haunted house."
"Isn't this… That forest?" Ikaebi asked after they reached the destination, lowering his tail to the ground and tilting his head. "The forest where… Cats go in but never make it to the exit?"
"Correct," Bertram purred in response, rather amused, "You know about it?"
"We aren't going in there." Speckles commented, narrowing his eyes carefully. He sat down at the entrance as Casper-boo approached the entrance, giving the eerie wind a quick sniff. "We heard too much about it."
The Scottish fold simply glanced over to the dark blue cat, twitching his left ear in question, "You're scared?"
Toki looked worried for a moment as he stared at the darkness, unsure if he could actually see the path. Like Speckles, he too sat down, hoping to give the signal out to Casper-boo that he too didn't like the idea of going in. His blue eyes narrowed as the tabby finally turned back to Bertram with his chest puffed out awkwardly.
"We aren't scared," He said, "We're going in. What do we get if we come out the other side?"
"…I suppose I can sneak a few tuna cans out of my human's food storage." Bertram meowed thoughtfully, watching as Casper-boo's eyes shifted to the other members of the group.
"You can't be serious," Ralf meowed, "You won't be able to make it through! Bertie, I thought you said it was just for a small joke of a time!"
"It is." Bertram replied dryly. "For those who can make it, at least."
"We aren't going." Speckles gave a hiss as the tabby wrapped his tail around Ikaebi's shoulders lightly, purring excitedly. "If we can't come out, what will happen?"
Bertram shrugged.
Casper-boo narrowed his eyes to Speckles and hissed back softly, "It's just for fun, Sparky." Speckles' ear twitched and the claws itched to become unsheathed from his paws, wanting to sink into the idiotic tabby's face as Fluffball had so many chances and successes of doing. Toki watched quietly, closing his eyes soon after and sighing.
"I say we can try to go in," Ikaebi commented as he moved himself out of being under Casper-boo's tail, causing the tabby to just lower his tail to the ground, "Besides, Fluffball seems like he wants to go."
"…!" Toki's eyes snapped open as he just remembered his brother, looking over to the entrance of the forest again, finding the kitten wobbling in awkwardly, his tail high in air excitedly. Immediately the white cat moved himself to the kitten and he picked him up, ignoring the protesting squeaks and mewls the kitten let out as he squirmed angrily.
"Are you sure you want to bring a kit into there?" Ralf questioned as he moved himself next to Bertram. He tilted his head slowly as Toki just carried the kitten away from the forest. "I heard things about this place, too."
"We're going in," Casper-boo suddenly meowed, gathering the others' attentions. As they turned to the tabby, they found Speckles underneath, pinned down by his shoulders with the winning-cat's paws. Speckles hissed and attempted to lash out angrily, only to be pinned down again by Casper-boo lifting a paw and pushing it down on the attacking lash. "We got the better vote, too. I want to go, Ikaebi wants to go, and so does pipsqueak there. That's 3 against 2." He turned to Bertram, who blinked his green eyes a few times at the mention of the tabby wanting to go in regardless of what the two other mature ones in the group said, and sighed. "We'll come out for sure, so make sure you get all the tuna cans you can from your human and save it for us, got it?"
Bertram rolled his eyes and nodded, "Fine."
Casper-boo purred in satisfaction and began to walk into the forest, glancing over his shoulder to check who was following. Ikaebi was the first to walk behind him, trying to call Speckles to follow as well with his tail. Speckles sighed and got on his paws, walking behind the chubby cat, just as Fluffball bounced his way after Casper-boo and Ikaebi, Toki speeding up his walk until he was walking side-by-side with Speckles. He watched as Fluffball made his way to the front with Casper-boo, who blinked down to the kitten and purred again, allowing the kitten to walk in front of him, to lead the way, as he wished to do.
Still sitting at the entrance, watching the group of cats walk into the forest, Bertram closed his eyes and lowered his head slowly. Ralf saw it and couldn't help but to stretch his paws slightly, trying to contain excitement. "Not yet?"
"…So impatient…" Bertram meowed, opening his eyes very slightly, just so that his green eyes were slits, allowing him enough vision to see where the light and darkness were. "Very well, though. Just give them a bit to walk deeper into there."
Ralf mewed and shifted his weight from one front paw to the other repeatedly, flattening his ears. "And don't go too far." The Scottish fold warned, "You saw it, they had a kitten with them."
"That's their own fault," Ralf complained, lashing the air with his tail, "And you're the one that said make sure they all come out of this opening."
"…You're right." Bertram said after a pause, pointing to the forest with his nose. "…Then go, Ralf. Enjoy yourself with the others."
"Will do." Ralf purred and ran into the darkness of the forest, climbing up one of the closest trees he could sink his claws into.
xxx
"Humans enjoy things like this?" Casper-boo grumbled as he pushed away a poorly-hung fake skeleton of a cat that hung from one of the trees with his forepaw. He stopped to turn to the group, sighing, seeing the bored looks on Ikaebi and Speckles' faces. Toki was licking off the fake-web that Fluffball ran into earlier from his brother as the kitten complained repeatedly in protesting mews and squeaks.
"It's rather plain." Ikaebi commented, looking disappointed. "My human seemed to enjoy it so much; I thought it would actually be scary."
"Humans are simple creatures," Speckles commented as he came to a stop, looking over his own shoulder. "I say we just go back."
"But Bertie said he'll give us tuna if we go all the way," Casper-boo meowed, complaining, "And pipsqueak doesn't seem to want to go back, yet."
As he said that, Toki sighed as he watched Fluffball, all cleaned up now, walk forward. He stopped next to Casper-boo and tilted his head, not understanding why the group stopped. Ikaebi seemed to be neutral on the question of going back or not, simply flicking his ear trying to listen for something interesting. When he couldn't pick up anything however, he let out a small sigh and shook his body quickly, puffing his fur out once more. Toki stepped forward to Casper-boo, nudging the tabby with his shoulder slightly before meowing softly, "I am not in a hurry, and I'm sure Fluffball could enjoy some more time. It doesn't seem as dangerous as I thought it would be."
Casper-boo blinked and nodded slightly, looking to Speckles for approval right afterwards. The blue cat hesitated and shifted his gaze away for a moment, trying to think of whether or not to approve the choice of going deeper into the damned 'haunted' forest or just turning and heading back.
"Fine," Speckles said after a bit, "It's not like I'm in a hurry to go anywhere anyway."
"We should split up," Ikaebi suggested, lifting his head to look at the other cats. "Maybe we can find something scary if we walk in smaller groups?"
"I don't understand your logic," Toki commented, sighing. "How does that work?"
"I don't know, but I like it," Casper-boo was the next to comment, walking to a small circle of cats. Toki's ear flicked in annoyance.
"We can meet out the forest when we're done. Whoever runs into something scary can show the other group later." Ikaebi purred, closing his eyes. "Doesn't it sound more fun than to just walk through this boring excuse of a haunted forest?"
"I suppose." Speckles nodded, wrapping his tail around Ikaebi's shoulders. "I'll go with him."
"I'll go with Toki and pipsqueak, then." Casper-boo commented, flashing an awkward grin to the white cat, who just returned an answer with a glare. The tabby acted as if he didn't notice the glare, tapping his long tail against the ground as the group was arranged. "We'll meet here in a bit?"
"…I guess that can work," Ikaebi meowed, "I mean… Once we're out, we kind of can't really share what we find…"
Speckles nodded slowly in agreement to the munchkin cat and licked his own shoulder lightly, letting his rough tongue brush out the scent of the eerie forest leaves. "Then let's just get it over with."
Casper-boo nodded and turned to leave, blinking right after and looking around, under himself and Toki's chest, and in the bushes. Toki blinked and gave the tabby a quick swat on his muzzle before hissing, "What?"
"Where did Pipsqueak go?"
"…You mean Fluffball?" Ikaebi blinked just as he turned around from already facing his back to the others, his eyes wide in question. "I just saw him over there playing with the leaves."
"Obviously, he's not playing with leaves anymore." Casper-boo commented, his eyes wide. Toki sat where he was, his ears perked up fully and his rather large figure quivering. Oh shit.
"…Where did he go?"
xxx
"One down." Ralf purred as a black cat placed the kitten in question down carefully, making sure to not hurt him. Fluffball blinked up to the cat who carried him long way. "Why did you have to take the easiest one, Cio?"
"You can't make me work the hardest," The black cat's eyes narrowed, "I'm the oldest here, carrying that little fluff was hard enough work as it was for me."
Fluffball mewled, his ears flattening immediately, suddenly frightened. Noticing that, Ralf blinked and lowered his head for the kitten, giving him a small nudge on the side, hoping to be comforting. "Don't worry," He purred, "We're not here to hurt ya. Just to give your group a little scare."
"…Who should we take next?" A white, long-furred cat asked from the shadows, walking out to allow the others to see him. "The munchkin?"
"Whoever's easiest for you, Rose," Ralf meowed after he saw the cat approach them, peering to the kitten. Fluffball stared at the cat recognized as 'Rose' curiously and tilted his head slowly.
"I say we leave that skeleton we found the other day in their way." Another cat came up, this one large and dark grey. Ralf blinked at the suggestion and fell silent, lifting his head away from the kitten and tilting it to the side.
"I suppose we can do that." He approved, looking to the cat he called 'Cio' not too long ago. "Go leave the bones nearby. Off you go!"
Cio stared at the maine coon for a bit before he sighed and nodded, stretching once before jumping away from the group to do as he was told. Fluffball watched and soon turned back to Ralf, letting out another pitiful mew. Ralf purred and nuzzled the kitten's head. "Don't worry, it's all for the fun! We won't hurt you or your friends at all~!"
xxx
"I can't find him…" Casper-boo flattened his ears as he turned his head to the silent, white cat, who just continued to search around, moving bushes and tall grass away from his view with his paws. "I thought you kept an eye on him."
"I was… But I move my gaze away from him for one second, and he's gone." Toki meowed, pushing his paw into a bush and feeling around, hoping to hit a ball of fur. "He couldn't have gone far… You've seen him walk; he can't run like that."
Casper-boo gave a slight nod, in case Toki wanted an answer, and sniffed the air quickly. "Damn it, I should've memorized his scent for times like this…"
Toki blinked and sniffed the air once as well, narrowing his eyes right after. "…He was here." The white cat meowed, looking around, "With another cat."
"Who?"
"…" Toki said nothing, not remembering or being able to pin point the scent to a certain cat. He knew so many, but that didn't mean he remembered every single one's smells. For a moment he tried to think, until he gave up and walked forward, stopping soon when something caught his eyes. Casper-boo blinked and approached the white cat, his own eyes widening right after.
"Is… That…"
"Bones…" Toki answered with a nod, too scared to sniff it. "…A kitten's…"
xxx
"Not back here," Ikaebi meowed softly, "Any luck, Speckles?"
The blue cat shook his head, sighing and jumping down and off the tree. As soon as his back legs hit the ground, he used them to jump up again onto the next tree, climbing it up all the way and looking around. "No," He meowed, "Can't see him."
Ikaebi sighed, feeling useless, and searched the ground. "Toki said he can't go far."
"I know where he is." The munchkin cat heard, making his ears perk up immediately. He glanced up to see a cat, slowly making his way over with a purr. "That is, if we're looking for the same thing."
"A kitten," Ikaebi meowed his answer, "He's a small little guy. White, with some gray on his face…"
"I think I saw him that way, not too sure if it was really him, though." The white cat nodded to the distance, making Ikaebi nod and run off to the direction.
Next thing he knew, all he could see was darkness.
xxx
"Nice going, Rose!" Ralf purred when the white cat dragged the munchkin over, shrugging at the compliment. "Three more!"
"I'll go next," the gray cat meowed, closing his eyes excitedly. Fluffball watched as the large cat make his way to him, making him curl up slightly in fear. Despite knowing the group was not intending to hurt him or the group he traveled with, it was still frightening to see a large cat that could just step on him lower his head and nuzzle him.
"I'll bring your big brother over~"
"Good luck, then, Oreo." Ralf meowed, nodding. Oreo waved his tail once in response before jumping into darkness.
xxx
"Toki, it wasn't Fluffball, trust me," Casper-boo meowed, hoping the white cat would say something as they walked with the other being silent. "I gave it a whiff; it's not a scent I recognized."
"…" Toki said nothing as he continued to walk, narrowing his eyes soon and stopping. Casper-boo too stopped, blinking in confusion. "Shh," The white cat hissed, "Can you hear that?"
"…Hear what?"
"Someone's stalking us." Unsheathing his claws, Toki gave a quick jerk of his head as he looked around, trying to find where the noises were coming from. "…Someone who's really good at following, too."
Casper-boo gave a nod, letting his fur stand at the comment. "I can't smell him. He must be used to covering his scent."
Toki's ears twitched when he heard a faint crack of a twig in the corner, making both cats whirl around and bend their bodies low, their lips pulling back in a snarl. They were replied with a friendly purr, causing both cats to feel a shiver run down a spine. Who could purr after they heard two rather large cats hiss and snarl to them?
"It's just me, guys~" Oreo purred as he stepped out, not minding on cracking another twig under his paw. "What is with the hostility?"
"…Oreo?" Casper-boo's fur lied flat and Toki's lips lowered back into position, hiding the fangs easily.
"Yep," The large cat meowed, trying to sound friendly, "What's going on? You're challenging Bertram's haunted forest, too?"
"We were, but we lost one of our members…" Casper-boo mewed pitifully.
"A member?"
"A kitten," Toki meowed this time, "My brother…"
"I saw a kitten that way," Oreo blinked as he pointed back into the bushes he came from with his tail, "I can take you, Toki. He seemed rather scared…"
"…!" Toki's eyes widened. He sheathed his claws and jumped into the bushes without hesitation, and Casper-boo was about to do the same as well, only to be stopped with Oreo's large tail.
"Let's let him do it on his own." Oreo purred and kicked the tabby back slightly, causing a hiss to emit from Casper-boo. "No need to scare the little one even more, right?"
"…Right." The tabby gasped, sitting down slowly.
"Well, I want to keep on going with the challenge," Oreo tilted his head after a moment, "I'm sure he'll be right back, I'll see you at the exit?"
"Of course." The tabby nodded, wrapping his tail around his forepaws. Oreo nodded in silence and ran off, knowing full well that Cio and Rose already must've brought the white cat back to the secret place.
xxx
"This is ridiculous." Toki grumbled as soon as he saw the backstage of the kidnappings. Fluffball was snuggling up to him, purring like they haven't seen each other in centuries, and Ikaebi was in the corner chattering away in meows and purrs with a faint shadow of a cat. "A waste of time."
"Don't be that way," Ralf purred, tapping his tail against the ground, "We're just trying to give a scare to all of you guys."
"…" Toki rolled his eyes and after giving one lick to his brother's head, wrapped his tail around his brother and looked off to the distance. "So what of the rumor?"
"Something Bertie just decided to make up one day," Ralf replied, nodding, "Just a whole bunch of nonsense. It was surprising so many cats came to believe it, though."
"…If you want to scare Poo, you're doing it wrong." Toki said after a moment, thinking, changing the topic suddenly. "…Let me help you with him."
"Whatever happened to 'waste of time'?" Rose blinked, suddenly interested.
"Might as well catch that all-mighty-so-full-of-himself cat being so scared once in a while…" Toki replied with a grunt-like purr. Fluffball blinked curiously and looked up to his brother at the noise. "Trust me. If you want to just make him run out the forest while squealing like a pig, all you need is me."
"Sounds interesting. I was only told by Bertie to make sure you all run out the forest by the entrance, not the exit, so he doesn't have to hand over any tuna." Ralf purred, nodding after he gave the idea a thought. "Okay, show us, then. Make Casper-boo run out the forest in panic."
xxx
"Ikaebi?" Speckles called as he searched the ground, looking rather calm. He carefully listened for any familiar, cheerful meows he knew the munchkin cat gave out a lot, sighing when he heard none. "…Did you leave?"
Nothing.
"Ikaebi?"
No answer.
Groaning, the dark blue cat gave his body a quick shake and turned the way he was walking. He walked down the path, stopping every now and then to meow, calling for his friend, narrowing his eyes and continuing his way when no answer was given. Finally he reached the entrance, where he saw the Scottish fold waiting. The cat blinked and tilted his head.
"You're done?"
"Got bored." Speckles replied, shrugging. "I'll just wait here."
"You lost a friend?"
"I know it's just a trick you're playing on us. You'll return them as soon as the whole group's over with, right?" Speckles glanced to Bertram, who purred and nodded.
"I knew you were the smart one of the group."
xxx
"Casper-boo…"
The tabby blinked and turned around to where the voice was coming from, his ears perked up and twitching. When he saw his friend emerge from the bushes, he purred and jumped up on his paws, only to blink and widen his eyes immediately after.
"T-Toki…?"
Toki held back a purr of what would be equivalent to a chuckle for a human and fake-limped forward, falling straight on the ground right after. He let out a small mew, hoping to sound weak, and waited for the other's reaction.
The tabby stared down at the 'weakened' cat in horror, his figure shaking. After Toki explained his plan to Ralf and the others, they helped out by tangling leaves and twigs into the white cat's fur to make it seem as if he had just been in a fight. Fluffball helped too, purring excitedly the whole time, though Toki could only think his brother was just having fun messing up his brother's fur, something he is usually pushed away from doing.
"Toki, what happened?" Casper-boo blinked, nudging his friend. Toki just let out a fake pained hiss, closing his eyes. The tabby's eyes stayed wide as he quickly pulled the white cat over his back, rushing out towards the path they came from.
When he reached the entrance, he was met by Bertram and Speckles, both blinking at the white cat that was still faking injuries on his back.
"What happened?" Speckles jumped to his paws and rushed to Casper-boo's side, only to stop when he saw Toki lick his lips and slid himself off the tabby. With a sigh, the white cat began to groom himself, pulling out the twigs and leaves the other cats so skillfully tangled into his long fur. Damn them, it didn't have to be 'that' good…
"You lost the game." Bertram purred, amused, as Casper-boo stared at Toki with wide eyes.
"You're okay?"
"What's going to possibly attack me in that place?" Toki asked back, rolling his eyes, spitting out a twig he pulled out from his fur. "Seriously, you need to use your brain more, Poo."
"W-Wait… Where's Ikaebi and pipsqueak?"
"Ah, they should be coming soon," Toki replied, looking back into the forest. It didn't take much time until Ikaebi came out, holding the dangling Fluffball in his mouth. Speckles blinked and simply just stared at his friend as the munchkin placed the kitten down, who bounced over to Toki, hyper with squeaks and high-pitched mews. Casper-boo's jaw dropped.
"But we could've made it all the way, then!" He hissed, his ears flat against his head, obviously not happy. "My TUNA!"
"Too bad, we're tired." Speckles rolled his eyes. Ikaebi agreed with a yawn, and Toki nodded as Fluffball began to nod off to dreamland. "Maybe next year."
"No! MY TUNA! I was supposed to have TUNA for tonight!" Casper-boo complained as Speckles reached over and grabbed the tabby by his red and white bow, dragging him away, followed by Ikaebi and Toki carrying the already-asleep Fluffball.
xxx
"Did I do well?" Ralf asked after the group left, coming out the forest. Bertram blinked and sighed.
"Making a guest do your job… What kind of professionalism is that?"
"It seemed interesting." Ralf lowered his ears and approached the brown and white cat, pressing his body close and rubbing up against the smaller cat as he walked by. "And it worked, didn't it?"
"…I suppose." Bertram sighed, just as Ralf purred and turned around, pushing his head up against the Scottish fold's forehead, nuzzling him affectionately. Bertram rolled his eyes.
Author's note:
The cats in this story were named by the following people, I don't take credit for them:
Casper-boo: My Denmark, Den-nii/Den-Den
Toki: My Norway, Nor-nii
Speckles and Butternubs: My Sweden and Canada, Suu-nii/Pancake
Bertram/Bertie and Ikaebi: My England, Iggy/Jess
Ralf: My America, Fatass
All the others were named by me~ Sorry for the sucky names. XD
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Hope everyone has a blast of a time~! ^_^