What is Beauty? - Hotaru and Gwen

Storm-Kitt:

Gwen padded along in the willow forest meeting the Southern border, enjoying the feeling of dew beneath her paws. It was morning, so the grass was moist and the air was clear, lacking the muggy summer feeling it had in the middle of the day. It was rather nice, so it set the Dark Elemental in a good mood.

She found herself at the border with the Southern Region quite often. Not that she way complaining, though. Most of the cats she had met from the neighboring Region were nice enough, excluding the idiotic Adviser they had. And there was one cat in particular she wished she saw more often.

Shaking her head free of the thoughts, she stopped at a particularly big willow tree. Its branches cascaded over her head, their long tendril reaching the ground. It was her favorite kind of tree. She thought thy were beautiful and unique, whereas ash trees, oak trees, juniper trees, and many other kinds all looked similar in a way. Gwen laid down at the roots of the pretty tree, deciding she needed a day to rest her paws. The day before, she had spent the entire morning, noon, and evening wandering around in a cave, despite all the little stones that hurt her paw pads.

The dark tabby looked up at the sound of something moving, thinking it was a squirrel she could catch and eat, but instead noticed a young looking cat. He was across the border a little, but Gwen didn't really care and laid her head back on her paws, hoping the cat wouldn't be too noisy.

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru has been walking all morning since he woke up. He honestly hadn't had much of a clue on where his paws were taking him, but he figured that he could get some herbs while he was out. The sun's heat had been slowly rising as the dew upon the ground has been slowly evaporating.

Early mornings and the smells that corresponded was a bliss for Hotaru. He loved mornings as smells were ripe and pure, nothing had tainted the scents yet. Plus when he returned to camp Clarias would probably hound him since he left without telling her, again. Not just that but the rush of cats going to a fro, and many coming into his and Clarias' den(? is that the right term?) for very little things that a simple tug or a lick would fix the problem. Not that Hotaru minded much, since he really does enjoy helping others and cant do much else to help the region.

A smell hit Hotaru's nose, its familiar and yet very hard to get, catnip. Now that he could smell it he had to get it right away, this was something that he couldn't pass up.

Of course Hotaru was so focused on the smell of catnip he didn't realize that he crossed the boarder that goes into the West region. Turns out it was going towards the base of a willow. He laid down and carefully got the catnip out of the soil which was softened by the morning dew. The earthy smells combined with the catnip and the normal morning smell.

After collecting the catnip, which he put in his mouth he stood up. He thought that there was a hint of the forest-y smell in the air. But he was sure that that was not part of the smells that occur in the willows. Hotaru scanned the area with his ears, like his mother taught him, to hear if there was any unusual rustling, but none could be heard.

Walking farther into the willows paying close attention to his surroundings he could smell the forest-y smell getting stronger. Of course he was positive there was no forest in teh way he was heading (He of course still does not realize he has crossed the boarder).

Scanning the area again, he stopped moving, not realizing he was getting closer to a dark tabby nestled in the willow roots nearby.

Storm-Kitt:

The cat was getting closer. Maybe she'd talk to him. With genuine intentions or not, a conversation could give her some entertainment.

"Hey, kit. You do know you're on West territory, right? You'd think that even a kit would be able to smell the scent lines, or at least notice me here, for Andromeda's sake. You've been walking around like a duckling without its mother for a while. Have you ever even been out of your camp before?" she said, her mouth moving on its own. She had meant for the start of the conversation to go another way, but all of a sudden she was bashing on the younger cat, much to her own displeasure. Oh, well. Too late now.

"Don't just stand there. Get over here and sit, or something. Or maybe I should force you back on to your own territory. That's what I should do, to be honest, but I'm feeling, ah, generous today," Gwen continued, patting the ground next to her with a paw. Wanting to catch a glimpse of the cat's eyes, as she could read much from them, she finally moved her head to the right angle to see Hotaru's eyes. Blind. They had a glossy look to them and didn't focus on one thing in particular. Just stared into space. Didn't react to movement like any other's would.

Well, it could make for an interesting thing to make the cat uncomfortable with. Younger cats were particularly fun and easy to manipulate, and this cat was probably no exception. But she would let the Rookie approach her on his own will first. So Gwen waited for the cat to follow her instructions and sit.

samsocksadopts:

At the sound of a cat talking, a female, Hotaru Turned his ears towards the cat and then he moved his body so that he was facing the cat.

The she-cat kept on with her remarks, not that he wasn't paying attention no, but he was trying to locate where she was. When she asked for him to sit by her he got the general gist of where she was at, especially since she patted the ground. Hotaru slowly padded up to the cat and stood there in front of her.

"Miss, now you know as well as i do that I'm too big to be a kit. And I didn't realize that i crossed the boarder, i was following a scent and i was so focused on it i missed the boarder." Hotaru said in a soft, but stern voice, "I might look like a ducking to you, but if you haven't noticed by now, I'm blind. So forgive me on looking stupid in your eyes, Miss."

Hotaru looked like he was slightly annoyed, which was the honest truth as he really didn't like being called a kit or a duckling. Not just that but he was a bit annoyed with himself for not noticing the boarder.

Storm-Kitt:

Gwen rolled her eyes. 'The kit may think he sounds serious and all, but he's really only making this easier for me. Just keep calling him kit or duckling and he'll snap eventually,' she thought, amused. She patted the ground again. "Well, sit down already, kit."

Not bothering to check if Hotaru listened or not, Gwen turned her gaze to survey the area. She had definitely chosen the biggest tree, so that meant there would probably be shade on all sides of it for most of the day. Perfect. And there was a little stream nearby, so if she got that thirsty, it wouldn't be too long of a walk to get water. It seemed there were a couple bird nests in the area, so she had the opportunity to listen to their songs all day, and if she got bored of them, she had plenty of time to locate and kill them. Birds were her favorite prey, after all.

"So. I'm Gwen. West Region. As you could probably guess, considering I'm the one on my own territory right now. I'm a Searcher with the Dark Element. And your name is?" she started, hoping the cat would just chill and sit down. It was kind of hard to put on a show for herself if the cat was so uptight.

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru took a breath and let it out and let himself calm down. Then actually sat next to the cat. He curled his tail around himself, the fur was slightly bristled.

As the cat, Gwen, introduced herself, Hotaru made a mental note of who she is. Just like he has with his region members.

"I'm Hotaru, from the South Region. I'm a healer rookie and a fire elemental." he looked straight at Gwen, but his ears were moving as the birds were tweeting. He could also hear the water streaming down, but didn't pay much attention to it. He was focusing more on Gwen as he wasn't sure if she was friend or foe yet.

Storm-Kitt:

"Hotaru. Interesting name you have there. Your mother give it to you?" she replied, her curled tail flicking slightly in amusement. "By the way, my actual name is Guinevere. But call me that and you might go home without a nose," Gwen said, returning Hotaru's empty stare. "But now that that's out of the way, what are you doing here? I was planning on spending the day relaxing under this tree. Quite the relaxing setting, wouldn't you say?"

She leaned back against the bark of the tree, her back paws in the air rather than touching the ground, and her front paws resting on her stomach. "You can relax. It's not like I'm going to hurt you," the Dark Elemental added, glancing at the Rookie again. For once she wasn't acting. She was showing her true self for once. Possibly because acting required effort and today was her relaxing day.

samsocksadopts:

"Yes, it is an interesting one and yes it was given to me by her. And your true name is interesting as well," Hotaru chuckled, " I will take note to not call ya that."

Hearing Gwen lean against the tree more, Hotaru relaxed his body. "I have to admit, this is really nice." a awkward laugh escaped him, "Why I'm here is simply, 'cause my paws took me here. I had no place is mind to be honest, till I noticed some Catnip, which I left over there." Pointing with his tail back over where he was a few minutes prior.

"Im only tense cause I can't see you or anything else for that matter. And I think that you won't harm me without a reason, considering you haven't yet."

Storm-Kitt:

The female cat stood and walked over to the catnip and put it between her teeth before walking back over to Hotaru. "Here's your catnip. Wouldn't want you to loose it or have it eaten by a squirrel or something," she said, dropping the sweet plant by the younger cat's paws.

"So, kit, a Healer, huh? I never even gave it consideration. As a kit I always stole the catnip, so I guess that would have been a plus," she said with a slight laugh. "And in case it makes you more comfortable, I look a lot like you. Dark fur, lighter undercoat, stripes, whatever. My eyes look a lot like yours, too. Just a little more golden. You do know what you look like, right?"

samsocksadopts:

After Gwen gave him the catnip and continued talking, he politely waited until she stopped. "Thank you for getting my catnip for me. And it would be a bit sad if something got to it." Hotaru gave Gwen a smile then looked off towards the water, "I kinda know what I look like, from what others tell me. And people call my eyes a maple color. Course I was born blind so I don't really know what I truly look like. I know for sure that my fur tends to be ruffled or has things in it and that my paw pads are rough. Other than that I take others words on what I look like."

He looked back over at Gwen, "My mother used to call my eyes beautiful. She used to say that all the time, especially if another cat teased me about them." He paused then looked like he was going to ask Gwen something. But wasn't quite sure on how to phrase it. "Gwen, if you don't mind, can I ask you a weird question?"

Storm-Kitt:

The Searcher looked at the Rookie out of the corner of her eyes. 'A weird question, huh? I seem to get those a lot,' she thought to herself. "Sure why not?" she replied, starting to brainstorm on what the cat wanted to ask. What his eyes looked like? Why she would ever steal the catnip from the Healer's den? How to have kits? Oh Andromeda, she could have fun with that one. But this was a Healer Rookie. They were generally more mature and informed. Giving up on the guesses running through her mind, she said, "What is it?"

samsocksadopts:

"What is beauty? I know it's a weird question, but I'm curious to know what it is." Hotaru looked a bit embarrassed after asking the question. He shifted where he sat, waiting until he hear Gwen's reply.

Storm-Kitt:

Gwen was taken aback, but her acting skill let her get over it immediately so she didn't stutter or anything when she spoke.

"Beauty is relative," she replied simply, but when she saw the disappointed expression on Hotaru's face, she decided to continue. "For example, say a cat has perfect white fur with sparkly blue eyes and a soft voice. Any male shallow enough to swoon over her would, right? Sounds attractive. Well, say she's snobby and thinks everyone is below her. At that point, in my eyes, she's no longer beautiful. She may be pretty, but beauty can't be the right word for her," Gwen explained.

"I believe beauty to be a word for perfection, or near it. If a cat is perfect on the outside, but disgusting and muddled on the inside, then she isn't perfect, is she? Many cats are too shallow and superficial to understand that their meaning of beauty is twisted and ruined," the Dark Elemental sighed, looking at the Rookie beside her.

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru listened intently to Gwen's explanation, he understood what the idea was, not the visual but knowing other cats personalities, it made more sense.

"Thank you for telling me, hopefully my question didn't bother you too much." Hotaru gave an awkward smile, since he wasn't quite sure on why Gwen sighed. "If I got it right, beauty essentially non existent. It depends on what others look like on the outside as well as the inside. And many misuse the word beauty, because of one part of the two essential parts is that way and the other is not."

Hotaru looked at Gwen, looking hopeful of his short version of what she said and hopping he didn't hit a nerve with her.

Storm-Kitt:

She nodded, although Hotaru couldn't see it. "Good summary, I guess," she confirmed, running a licked paw over her face.

"But if you think about it, if all cats want to be called 'beautiful', then they would all be pets and help everyone they see and talk in this cute soft-spoken voice. Then we wouldn't have any originality. So in a way, everyone is 'beautiful' to someone, even if someone else thinks they're a terrible person. As I said before, it's relative. Not one cat will be beautiful in everyone's eyes. That's why I try not to use the word," Gwen continued.

samsocksadopts:

"I see, that is a good reason to not call that to someone you don't really care about on an intimate level. As well as everyone having their own flare rather than be acting to be beautiful." Hotaru nodded his head as if it was making sense. He then added, "Thank you for sharing that information with me, Gwen." He smiled at Gwen who was c leaning herself.

Storm-Kitt:

She let out a slight laugh. "It's nothing, really. Just a few meaningless words," she said, muttering the last part under her breath so Hotaru couldn't hear.

"So, were you born blind or did something happen? And is your family still alive? Any siblings? After you go, you can ask me questions," she said, her smile spreading. She absolutely loved learning secrets about people. Even if they weren't really secrets, just knowing anything about anyone made her happy.

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru smiled again at Gwen. Then he put on a pondering look on his face, muttering, "Where to start, where to start." Then he face lit up as he came up with a good way to start out the question, but his face slowly turned grim as he told it.

"As i said earlier i was born blind. It was a harsh winter, last winter really. Either way i did have an older sister, but she died soon after birth. My mother died when i was 5 months(moons) old she caught greencough. As for my father he is alive, but... lets just say we don't see eye to eye and isn't really apart of my life." Hotaru paused and started to talk on a more happier note, " It was essentially my mother, his brother and his mate in my life. Though those two now have 2 kits who treat me like their parents as if nothing was wrong with me."

Hotaru waited a beat so then he could change the subject to you, "I'll say my questions will be the same as yours." Hotaru smiled as if he never looked grim moments before at Gwen.

Storm-Kitt:

The Dark Elemental listened patiently as Hotaru talked about his life. She stored away the information in the back of her mind. She surprised herself with how much she was able to remember, dating all the way back to when she was a few days old and opening her eyes. Gwen also managed to remember almost every bit of information a cat told her.

"Same questions? That's boring. I'll take out the blind question, though," she said, thinking back to the questions. "My father died before I was born. He died fighting off some foxes so my mother could escape," Gwen started, the lie coming out without hesitation. She never told people how her father actually died. Good thing she was an excellent liar. "My mother is still alive, but she's retired to the Elder's den, and I don't know how many more months, or days, even, she has left in her. She never seems to get sick, though, so she might have a while left. As for siblings, I was the only one in my litter who was born breathing. I had three brothers and a sister, but they were never alive," the female finished, waiting for Hotaru to say something else.

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru listened intently and also didn't comment on her past. "I figured it would be fair if i asked for the same information. Any other questions you have for me?"

Storm-Kitt:

"For once, I can't think of any. I guess knowing your name and your family history is enough for today," she replied, smiling at Hotaru, although he wouldn't see it. "Say, how long have we been here? It might be about time for you to be heading home. Kits can't be out alone for too long, right?"

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru replied to her first question,"I guess it would be. And as for how long we have been here..." Hotaru sniffed the air and placed the catnip next to Gwen. Then stood up and patted the ground till he felt the warm of the sun on the ground. Hotaru returned back by Gwen again. "It is sometime around the middle of the morning. Again im not a kit, but i should get back before Clarias kills me for being out so late." Hotaru gave an awkward smile from his last sentence.

Storm-Kitt:

"Whatever you say, kit," Gwen responded, her smile widening. This cat was too easy to tease. "Well, get back safely. You sure you won't need help? I could get you there," she offered.

samsocksadopts:

Hotaru sighed when Gwen used the term again then gave an awkward smile. "I should be able to get back, but you are welcome to come with; i wont complain too much."

Hotaru picked up the catnip from where it was placed and put it on his right front paw. "This time i should be able to locate the boarder. I wont be concentrated on other scents as much as i was on the catnip." Hotaru gave Gwen a smile.

Storm-Kitt:

"Well, if you're sure you can get back on your own, I'll stay here," Gwen said, watching Hotaru getting ready to leave. "See you some other time, kit," she teased one last time before laying her head on her paws to take a nap.

samsocksadopts:

"See ya later, Gwen." Hotaru said, then he picked up his catnip and walked slowly towards the boarder paying very close attention to where he was going to go back to the South Boarder. This time he could very clearly tell where the boarder was for the smell of it. He crossed the boarder and hoped that Clarias wouldn't kill him for leaving.