oceans of tears and gales of laughter

[OOC: Sanura and Barron's parts written by Whisper, Cari's by myself.]

She had taken to staying longer and longer periods away from home - sometimes through the whole of the night - though she still hadn't learned how to properly catch wild prey for herself. She had managed to snare the odd mouse on her prowlings, but her pounces were so rushed and sloppy that it was by sheer luck that she ever managed to catch anything. She wasn't a bad fisher at all, though, having taken Orca's single lesson to heart. But it didn't matter, and she hunted more for the fun of it that anything else. Home was for her where her real food was provided, and where her real family was.

Just that afternoon Cari had made her way to the Mushroom Groves and curled up in a tree, purring gleefully as she gazed out upon the enchanted sunlit glade below her. The young queen was by now more than a year old, but she had not left her playful behaviours behind in the slightest. It was just so much fun to dance through the twilight or leap through a clump of grass or - most fun of all - splash into a pool of water. With her kittenish proportions lengthening into sleekness, Cari was thought a beautiful statuette of a cat... until she sprang into action.

Eventually, though, admiring the scenery, she had dozed off on her branch, and now she woke with a start to find that night had crept up upon her. Casting her gaze once more around the groves, she caught sight of a pair of glowing eyes below her. Another cat!

With a delighted mew of greeting, Cari sprang off her branch and landed with an exuberant rustle in the underbrush, all too eager to meet this stranger.

( and the world spins for you and your positivity )

[OOC: set pre-Mushroom Grove.]

The sunlight was dancing bright on the water as Merlin made his way to the river’s edge. The spotted tom turned his head skywards, feeling its warmth on his face, and his eyes closed as he purred appreciatively. He loved this time of morning, when the world was still new and fresh and awakening, and the sun had not yet reached its full strength. But then, Merlin found something he could enjoy about every time of day.

He loved the moment when the sun rose, a glowing disc, amidst the fresh soft colours of dawn. He loved the heat of noontime; loved the hazy drowsiness it brought on as he stretched out for a nap in patches of shade. He loved the late afternoons when the sunbeams slanted through the trees, turning the world golden… and of course there was that most magic time of all, the moment between the setting of the sun and night. Then, the sounds of the night-creatures began to rise around him, the sky would fade into deep blue, and he would go stalking through the last light of day.

And so it continued; spring, summer, autumn and winter… It didn’t matter when you looked at it, the world was beautiful.

( bright blessed days and warm sacred nights )