Young Writers Society

Absolutely! Yes, any type of domestic animal

Thanks ^^

~Rayne

Tom watched her walk away from him with alert eyes. He checked the shadows around her several times, searching for the cat-shape of other strays. He knew they wouldn't take the sight of the polished Dutchess too well. She wouldn't last a second under their gleaming claws.

Something burst out from a bush in front of her. He stiffened and opened his mouth to yowl a warning. But it was only a human child, running from the bush with a Frisbee clutched in its hand.

He should just save himself this panic and just walk her back to the safe hands of her human.

"Dutchess!" he yowled, running up to her.

She paused and looked over her shoulder at him and he thought he saw a whisper of a smile.

Then a shadow fell over her.

Two wiry strays glared down menacingly at her. Scars stretched across their flanks and one had part of his ear missing. This was something Tom did not want Dutchess to see. The stereotypical image of a fighting stray. She would probably think he was the same as them.

Tom finally reached her and stepped protectively in front of her, hiding her from the narrowed eyes of the strays.

One of them looked at him. "You're Paws' brother, aren't you?"

Paws. His sister. Every stray knew her name. It was one she'd made for herself that either angered or scared the others. Paws had embraced the life of a stray, while Tom watched from the sidelines, a little frightened for his sister.

"Yes," he said, "I am."

"Who's this?" The other was looking at Dutchess. Tom didn't know if she was frightened or outraged by these two.

"A house cat. You don't have to worry about her," Tom said quickly, not keen to say pure-breed. They wouldn't like that., and Tom couldn't expect to win a battle against two of them.

Dutchess, please don't speak, please don't speak, please don't speak. He thought over and over again, desperate for her to obey him just once.

As if she would.

*evil laugh* Of course she has to speak! She think she's better than all street cats. :O She really is terribly spoiled and snooty.

Dutchess

"Excuse me?" I asked, stepping from behind Tom. "You two are rather rude. How dare you address me in that manner." I was outraged.

"Shut up," Tom hissed at me. I looked at him and then away.

The two cats looked at each other amused. "You have quite the attitude for a housecat. If you were smart you would know to keep quiet."

Tom tried get me moving behind him, but I refused.

"I am smart. Smarter than a stray for sure. Maybe you'd better keep quiet yourself. I am trying to get back home, now if you'd excuse me," I said, waving my paw for them to move.

The two cats looked at each other and grinned. "We're not going anyway."

**Poor Tom. What has Dutchess gotten him into!! Stupid cat! (;

Just to let everyone know, I'm leaving on the morning of the 6th, but I'll be back sometime on the 10th.

Thank God for laptops!! I'll be bringing mine with me, so I may be able to get a connection, as hotels usually have free wi-fi. If not, anyone who's left here and still posting, I trust you'll try to keep all characters alive

Thanks guys ^^

~Rayne

P.S. I promise I'll post for Patches as soon as I finish doing this thing Sorry if anyone's waiting on me

Here we go :

Patches-

I stared quietly at Leo for a minute before curiosity got the better of me.

"What happened?" I asked quickly.

He cringed. "Nothing I want to talk about."

"Why?" I asked, a bit louder this time.

His hackles started to rise. "Because I don't like thinking about it. Now stop asking questions."

I looked away for a minute, trying to stop talking, but I couldn't contain myself any longer. "Well what happened?" Leo said nothing, but shot a vicious glare at me. I looked down again and my ears flattened shamefully. "Sorry..." I whispered. A couple seconds later, a shrill barking sound flowed through the air. I gasped. "What's that??"

Before anyone had the chance to say anything or try to stop me, I leaped up on the wall and trotted down two houses, towards the sound. I heard Leo groan, then join me. I laid on the wall of our neighbors two doors down. There, in the yard, was a small black dot, jumping and barking like mad.

"Whatcha gotta bark for?" I asked eagerly.

It stopped barking and looked at me.

---

Moonjumper, if you want to bring Mulan in right here, you can

~Rayne

Leo

Leo hissed loudly, his tail puffing up. "Patches, back off!" he yowled, extending his claws in case he needed to fight. Patches turned to Leo.

"Why?"

Leo stared at her for a moment. "It's a dog!"

"... So?"

It wasn't Patches who spoke. Leo turned to the dog, who was looking at them curiously.

"Hi!" said Patches cheerfully. "I'm Patches, and - " Leo groaned loudly. Why did she have to make conversation with the mutt?! " - this is Leo. Who are you?"

"Mulan," replied the dog. "I'm a pug!" The dog grinned at them. Leo thrashed his tail furiously. He couldn't believe that he had allowed himself to get dragged into this mess. Leo was widely respected among the other cats in the park; What would they say if they saw him here?!

"Anyway," continued Patches, ever oblivious to the dangers of talking to a dog. "Why were you barking?"

Mulan shrugged. "I was bored." Leo rolled his eyes. Grumbling to himself, he lay down on the brick wall and stared hard at Mulan. Mulan eyed him back.

"He's not very friendly, is he?" asked Mulan, turning back to Patches. Patches giggled.

**Hope I got Mulan right, Moon - Poor Leo... He's usually very antisocial....

The two cats stepped menacingly towards Tom and Dutchess. Tom groaned mentally. What had Dutchess got them into?

"You think you scare me?" she meowed, worsening the situation even further.

"They should," Tom growled to her through gritted teeth. He didn't want to go into details and scare her, even if a dose of fear seemed to be needed.

"Well they don't. They're all talk."

Tom closed his eyes as though in pain.

Don't say that.

"All talk, are we?" growled one of them as they stepped forward again. Both cats arched their backs and hissed, ears flattened and claws out.

Tom hissed in return and also prepared to fight.

Thanks Dutchess.

Then a shape flew out of the nearest bush and barreled into the two strays, knocking them over. The shape got to its paws and Tom's heart leapt.

"Paws!" he cried out happily.

She ignored him and hissed at the two strays as she slowly advanced on them. They just took one look at her and fled. Her name was that well known.

Dutchess

I sniffed a little. Did they actually think that they could hurt me?! I was Dutchess for crying out loud.

The one Tom called Paw stepped towards them. She held her head high. She didn't seem the proud, boastful type, that just seemed to be how she hekd herself.

I looked her over. She wasn't bad for a stray. Of course she needed a bath and a groomer, but she wasn't ragged like those last two cats.

"What's going on Tom?" She asked. Did I detect...anger in her voice? Was she protective over him like my owner was over me? I gasped. Breanne! She is going to be so upset and worried and by the lookes of my fur she will be angry as well. I needed a bath!

**Yay! Paws' POV!**
Paws

She glared at Tom. Wasn't it normally the other way round? She'd always be the one in trouble - due to her quick temper - and Tom, sensible, diplomatic Tom, would always be the one to help her worm herself out of it. Now, for the first time, she was saving his butt.

Paws saw the white snowball of a cat near him. A house-cat. No, a ... pure-breed. What was her brother doing being seen with a pure-breed? She knew he would prefer being a house-cat to a stray, but hanging around with them... Getting into trouble because of them!

"What's going on, Tom?" she asked him. What the hell are you doing with a house-cat? Wait, no, a freakin' pure-breed.

The white cat gasped and Paws snapped around to look at her.

"She's my sister," murmured Tom to the cat, thinking she was frightened. "She isn't like those two other strays."

"I'm worse," Paws meowed, actually wanting to scary this prissy little cat. She ignored Tom's scolding look.

"I'm filthy!" she said, surprising brother and sister. "Totally disgusting! Breanne is going to be so angry! Urgh, I hope she doesn't see me with you two strays!"

Paws bristled. "Excuse me! I may be a stray but at least I'm not some stuck-up house cat!"

"How dare-"

"I'm the one who saved your fluffy white ass! You're the one who got it, and my brother, into trouble in the first place!"

"You can't-"

"Speak to you that way? I can speak to you however I like. And there's nothing you can do about it! Unlike my brother, I don't get smitten with you after one fluttering of your eyelashes - so your 'charm' ain't gonna work on me."

**Uh oh. I can see trouble ahead with these two constantly locking horns ^^ **

^^ I can see it too. (: Dutchess can be quite stupid...gosh darn her snootyness! ^^

Dutchess

I laughed at the cat. "You're such a stray," I said.

"You say that like it's an insult," she hissed. I rolled my eyes.

"For you, it is," I replied. "I wasn't trying to get smitten with your brother. In fact, I just want to go home." I walked up to Paws. She was a little bigger than I , but I held my ground.

"Besides, you can talk to me in any matter you want but at the end of the day, you're just another stray. You're words don't matter to me. I'm not saying all stray's aren't worth my time, I'm saying YOU are not worth my energy."

She looked down on me and I could feel my claws contracting for a fight. I would lose, after all she had done this her whole life, but if she thought I was backing down she had another thing coming.

**Oh dear. ^^

**Laughs. I feel like I'm taking over this storybook. ^^' Sorry people!

"Enough!" Tom leapt between them, which was actually very brave of him. "Paws - I'm taking Dutchess back to her human. Dutchess ... just ... follow me." He paused and added: "And keep your mouth shut."

"Don't tell me to keep my mouth shut, Tom-cat," she grumbled, following him.

"Hey!" meowed Paws, watching them both with narrowed, angry eyes. "Pure-breed not even gonna say thank you to me?"

"I could have handled them," Dutchess said, her nose in the air as she stalked away. She bumped into Tom. "Hey!"

"Dutchess, please show my sister what lovely manners you have."

"You're mocking me again."

"He has every right to," said Paws.

Dutchess hissed. "Thank you! Are you happy now? Tom - escort me back - now."

Tom immediately sat down. "Ask me nicely and I might consider it."

Dutchess

"I will not!" I exclaimed. "You're lucky I even said thank you to your sister. I will find my own way home."

Tom looked at me, incredulously. "And if another stray comes your way..."

"I do NOT need your or your sisters help. I am perfectly capable of defending myself and I will NOT beg, as you seem to be asking my to do," I replied.

I turned and walked off. I felt so nasty. Off in the distance I heard Breanne. She was calling me and it sounded like she was crying. I gasped. How horrible I had been!

I turned back to the others, glaring at them. They could do what they wished with me, but all I asked was a safe and quick way home. They didn't even care about my human! They didn't know what a lovely girl she was!

I took off down a dark alley. This was the fastest way back to the park. I needed to get to Breanne

**I haven't posted for Roxy in ahile**

Roxy

I trotted down to the park. It was a beautiful day and I needed to relax. I lay in the sun for a moment but the humans were bothering me. They had their house-slaves with them, playing fetch.

As much as it hurt, I still found a reason to hate humans. They were all cruel. I had thought I could trust one but he only stabbed me in the back.

I ran towards the junkyard. There was safety there. I was calm and cool and I could lay around without human intervention.

A dog growled and I turned to see a stray. I got into a crouch as well.

"Get out of here," he threatened. I smiled.

"No way. Where are your manners, sir," I replied, smiling.

"Manners? I'm not a stuck-up house dog," he growled.

"Good. I didn't think you were," I said. "I'm Roxy, by the way, and I'm not here to take your things. I just needed to get away from the humans."

**This is an opening for Gargoyle (:

Yay!! The poor loner needs a friend Also, Moon, I'll wait for you to post for Mulan before I do any more with Patches. Please post soon, though And Emma, don't worry about it You're doing just as you're supposed to do ^^ One more thing: WhiteTiger, I LOVE ROXY!!!!!! She's adorable n_n And my grandparents have the sweetest Aussie :3 Sorry I didn't say it earlier; I didn't remember until just now XD

Gargoyle-

I raised a small brown eyebrow at Roxy. For once, a dog wasn't here for territorial reasons! I sat down.

"Alright," I said. "I understand. Gargoyle."

She smiled. "Pleasure to meet you." She was the most well-mannered stray I had ever met. "So you don't like humans either?" She asked.

I shook my head bitterly. "No. They cannot be trusted. The ones who return the loyalty and faithfulness that us dogs give to them are few, and far between. The rest aren't worth it. Even just to have a roof and a supply of food."

Roxy nodded. "Well spoken, sir. I couldn't agree more," she said, her voice trailing off, her head turning away.

I cocked my head. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" I asked, walking closer to her and seating myself again. Her brown eyes were filled with sadness as she looked up at me. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," I said quietly.

She looked at the ground again and her ears shied back. My ears flattened sadly.

---

Poor doggies

~Rayne

Aw. ): Oh and thank you ^^ I had an Aussie once, and the picture reminded me of her. That's why I chose it. (:

Roxy

I sighed. I hardly ever opened up. I didn't like it. It made me weak and vunerable. But this dog seemed to understand me so well.

"I wasn't always a stray," I sighed. For some reason the sunny day wasn't as beautiful as it was earlier. "If fact, I used to frown upon them. I would turn my nose up and them. I guess you could say I thought I was better. I had an owner who I thought loved me very much. His name was Jefferey. He had a son named Thomas. Thomas was the one I loved most."

I had to stop a moment. I hated to talk about them. It hurt so much more to be betrayed by someone you loved. It hurt just to admit that I loved them.

"Then one night the fireplace was kept on all night. Thomas thought it would be fun because it was a cold, Christmas Eve," I blinked a little to stop the watery little drops from falling. I hated crying and I wasn't going to do it in front of Gargoyle.

"Somehow the flames got loose and Thomas and I were trapped in the house. Thomas clung to me and I tried to get him out. I got us away from the hottest flames and suddenly Jeffery ran in. He scooped up Thomas and looked at me sadly. He wasn't ready to risk his life for me. He didn't want me, even though I would have saved him and Thomas no matter the cost."

I lay down, my tail curling around me. "And that is why humans are terrible, beasts. Not us," I smiled a little.

Post guys! ^^ (: I liked this one.