[ti]Open[/ti]Coming Up Short

[Fireflake]

Vulture stalked at an oddly brisk pace along the thin fence that held the area's dogs and kittypets. For once, he didn't care that his small claws were on display to the world. It wasn't a matter of confidence. He still hated them. It was just that his frustration was currently focused elsewhere, which cancelled out those thoughts for now. The tom’s ears pricked at a distinctive sound through the lightly-pattering rain and he leapt from the fence to a small tree nearby. Was that-? His ears flattened. Nope. Just a creaky window that a Twoleg was struggling to close.

Vulture lashed his tail as the tiny raindrops hit his fur. The rain seemed to be only in this part of the Twolegplace, like a literal dark cloud hanging over him. He would have been anywhere else if he could, but this was where his hunt had led him. Though usually it was a small annoyance to protect his built-up grime from the rain, it was worse today. The sound of the droplets hitting the pavement made him constantly look behind himself. It felt as if those rats he’d seen streaming into the Twolegplace were following him.

The thought that lingered through this series of irritants was that he should just give up and go home, but he wasn't sure which home he meant. Was it the abandoned building that housed the rogues, that threw shadows onto the walls at night? Was it the L-shaped alley that he'd grown up in? The place where his mother lived, where he'd been born? Or was it somewhere entirely different, far away from all of these streets? He just didn't know. But that wasn't for him to be thinking about right now. All he wanted was that one stupid bird.

[Bumblebee]

Raven wasn't sure where she had ended up this time, but it seemed a nice place. Her gaze flicked lazily about from the wooden fence she was draped over. The drizzling rain didn't bother her much at all, only causing a slight flick of the ear when a drip fell onto it. There were a ton of cats in this area, more so than the normal twoleg places she had visited in the past. Of course a lot of them lived in the woods and such nearby. She had heard that the wild groups called themselves 'Clans' and were supposedly bloodthirsty monsters. That sounded a touch ridiculous to her though.

Brown ears perked as she spotted a shape moving along through the twoleg place. The tom seemed grumpy. Maybe a clan cat that had wandered too far from home? Or perhaps a lost kittypet? She stood and stretched with a yawn, deciding to watch the other cat for a moment. She padded along at a distance behind him, them jumped down to land nearby. "You a clan cat, Kitten?" She purred, meaning no offence with her casual nickname of 'Kitten' to him. "Something got your whiskers twisted? Or ya just not likin' this rain?" She glanced up at the sky, shaking her head as a droplet hit her nose. "Rain won't cause no issues for ya, Fella. If ya're lost then I sadly won't be able to help out much that that. New to the area myself. Pretty place though. Her voice held an odd little accent, likely a mix of everywhere she had been before and spent time around. "Ya needin' any helps though? She purred with a slight, inquisitive tilt of her head

[Fireflake]

Vulture caught a glimpse of the she-cat before she approached, from the corner of his blue eyes, and turned his head slightly to glance at her. It seemed she'd already noticed him. Thoughts of possibly dodging the social interaction were foiled when her voice hit his ears, where it had clearly been directed. The sound was interesting, sprinkled with slightly odd noises, which he couldn't help but notice contrasted sharply with his own gravelly and mostly flat tone. Vulture peered down from the fence at the stranger and flicked off a raindrop that was dribbling away with some of the dust from his tail-tip.

After a few heartbeats, his dark ears had adjusted to the little differences in the newcomer's speech, and he processed her actual words, at which point his lip curled at the corner in a disapproving half-frown. She seemed to be a talkative cat. Again, the opposite of Vulture himself, who offered few words even for the two or three cats he still cared about. At least she was readily offering up information. Maybe it was worth not alienating her immediately. Vulture swallowed down his anger at the nickname and question that flanked her chatter. His short claws slid back into their sheathes.

"Not clan, not lost, not a kitten."
The tom's ears flicked back, which served the duel purpose of expressing his discontent and searching for that elusive call that had him chasing his tail in recent times. Though the tom didn't say much verbally, his body language was alive and active, refusing to let him hide his agitation, even through the slouched manner he generally clung to. While he grunted, "Looking for a bird," his softened stance and slight lean forward said, 'yes, I would like some help'. Vulture threw his gaze in a pointed glare over his shoulder as the Twoleg finally stopped fiddling and slammed their window shut. "A bluebird."

[Bumblebee]

"Mayhaps a roamer like me then? Travelin' about to see the different lands we got out and about here? She purred, moving a bit closer, though no so close to be uncomfortable. "Or a stay put kinda cat? All nice options I s'pose." She stretched, then shook herself to shake off the droplets of rain off of her pelt. He seemed disgruntled at her little nickname, which caused her to chuckle softly.

A bird? Specifically a Bluebird. Strangely picky, but all of the cats she had met thus far had been odd sorts. The felines around here were all a little peculiar, though that just made Raven fit in decently well. She liked this little area so far.

"Blueburd? Awfully specific of ya to want. But at this time with the rain and whatnot, they would probably be settled in nests, so up a bit and looking in the trees would bring ya more luck that searching dow here or for one flying. Once the rainin' halts then they might come out more though. The den tops would give ya a good look about in the trees if you wanted to attempt to do that. Ever climbed the furless' dens? She quipped, nodding up to the roofs above their heads.

[Fireflake]

Vulture swallowed hard as the she-cat tried to figure him out, but left her to it. Maybe she'd find an answer and let him know. She seemed to drop it quickly as the conversation moved on, so Vulture reminded himself to stay on task. He was here for a very specific purpose, just as the stranger said. Her chattering was at least interesting to listen to, much like the birds themselves, so the rogue let her go on. Her question had him frowning once more. He let out a harsh, dismissive, "Pfft."

As if he would carry out this search without thinking to use his one strength! "Didn't see anything. Came down to listen."
He shook his head violently to dislodge the raindrops that had perched on his dark ears. The tom glanced up to the roof again with a quick look of desperation. "'T'd be too wet anyway."
He gave it the same dismissive look he'd given Raven and paced further along the fence. The wood, too, was slippery, and he had to dig his claws in as far as they'd go just to stay up there.

But he had to stay up there. There was no way he was going to get down on the same level as that she-cat. He peered down at her as if she was far away, a clear look of condescension given his good eyesight and the fact that she was really only two or three tail-lengths from him. The area was foreign to her, she'd said, but an extra set of ears couldn't hurt.... Embarrassment fizzling to his cheeks, Vulture meowed quietly, "They make a- a- ih-ih-ih-ih-ih! But higher. And a, uh... hmph, can't do th'other one. Y'ever heard it?"