The Hunt for Drake continues...

[Yoko]

Tybalt jolted excitedly at the scent of his brother. Drake must be here! He looked at the shabby old barn. For a moment he wondered why Drake would leave their plush home for such an ugly place, but he supposed that it was the adventure that had led his brother all this way. He glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey Brooke, Winnie, Desi, Prince!" he called loudly. "I found it!"

Without stopping to wait for reply, Tybalt rounded the corner through the entrance.

"What cat is making all that racket!" a voice hissed from beside him.

Tybalt leapt away, scared out of his skin. Before him was a plump she-cat with shaggy grey fur, and menacing amber eyes.

"Hey..." she mewed. "You look sorta like Drake."

[nightstorm]

Brooke looked up. At last, they had arrived at the Loner's barn. Her fur bristled, however, when a new voice sounded, that of a she-cat rather than the tom they were searching for, Drake. Brooke padded up beside Tybalt, her eyes cool. Her claws were sheathed, but ready at the slightest hint of hostility from this strange she-cat. "That should be no surprise," she meowed coldly, "Considering they are brothers. Do you know where Drake is now?" Brooke's tail flicked as she gazed at the stranger, her muscles tensed. She was never a very trusting she-cat, so it was no surprise that she was on edge.

[Yoko]

((OOC: Imagine Helen with a Boston accent. It makes the "floor" thing really funny. XD ))
Helen looked carefully at the golden bengal tom. He was even a bit taller than Drake. She was about to question him as to who he was but another she-cat answered instead. The skinny grey she-cat must think she's really something to talk to her in such a tone.

"You watch your tongue, Little Missy!" Helen hissed. "Lest you find it on the flooooooor!"

The she-cat jolted as another bengal, a lighter brown she-cat, entered the barn.

"Well, well," she mewed with a smirk. "Drake's kin indeed. Don't you recognize me?"

Tybalt squinted at the shaggy loner, then shook his head.

"Well, I'm insulted!" Helen pretended to huff. "Shouldn't you recognize your own Aunty Helen!"

Tybalt's eyes stretched wide. A grin spread across Tybalt's face. "You're mother's sister? She talked about you!"

Winnie visibly cringed. She was related to this messy fat loner? How embarassing! And now the handsome Prince beside her knew it.

But upon looking at Helen more closely, she noticed that her shape did not really resemble fat. If she did not know better, Winnie would have guessed that she was having....

[nightstorm]

Brooke hissed grumpily. Stupid loner. All she wanted was to find Drake, lead the little kittypets back home, then find a decent meal and somewhere to nap. She was tired and hungry, and her temper was getting lower by the second. "I'll watch my tongue as I please, thank you very much," she growled. Muttering to herself about what a day this was, and asking what she had done to deserve it, Brooke sat, glowering.

Her ears flicked with surprise. This loner was related to these kittypets? Oh joy. Why don't we all just have a splendid reunion? Brooke thought moodily. Would this loner tag along too? Or prove that she was an independent cat that didn't depend on others? "I don't mean to break up such a happy moment," Brooke interrupted impatiently, her stomach rumbling slightly, "But we came here for a reason, and if you don't mind, I would prefer to get Drake and get out of here. The sooner I get a nap, the happier I'll be." For such a young cat, she sure behaved like an elderly one, Brooke thought sourly. She briefly considered bolting away, then decided she couldn't leave these kittypets here. Not even she could abandon cats and let them roam around, lost.

[Yoko]

Though Helen shot Brooke a rather sharp look, it appeared that she was too tired to do much else. So instead the she-cat flicked her tail in annoyance. Looking down at her kin, she mewed, "Your brother ran off just a while ahead of you. He said something about seeing Lost and he lives over in the Rogue Loft."

"Rogue Loft?" Winne repeated with a heavy dose of worry in her tone. That did not sound good. What was Drake thinking? Wandering off into these dangerouse places?

Tyablt grinned widely. More places to explore! But Winnie didn't look keen on going. The golden bengal's grin wavered. "We're still going to get him....Aren't we Winnie?"

The sandy Bengal looked up sharply. "Of course we are! We had better get a move on then. It was nice meeting you Helen."

"I wish I could say the same," Helen replied grumpily. Clearly she had picked up on Winnie's attitude towards her. But the grey loner seemed to like Drake. She had been happy when she mentioned his name.

Tybalt padded over to his kin and nuzzled her cheek, not at all threatened by Helen's unsheathed claws.

"It was nice to meet you," he mewed.

"Yeah, yeah," Helen mewed, though she seemed less hostile now.

"Tybalt!" Winnie yowled. "Are you coming or not?!"

As Tybalt bounded towards the barn entrance he heard Helen snicker, "I can see why Drake doesn't stick around his house."

[nightstorm]

Brooke let out a small hiss of annoyance. Great. Now they had to go to the Rogue Loft. Foxdung. There must be an end to this torment, she thought. Oh well. It looked like that nap would have to wait. Perhaps she could stay with the rogues for a bit...they had a nice barn, after all...just as long as they didn't come too near.

With a sigh, Brooke padded forward, nodding a disgruntled thanks to the loner, Helen, and moved to catch up to Winnie and Drake. As she pulled up alongside of them, she spoke. "The Rogue Barn isn't too far off, so it won't take long to find Drake and get you all home," she said sourly, "Though you may want to be on your guard. Some of the rogues can be...territorial, at times." Her thoughts flickered to one particular encounter, the origin of a long scar on her flank. Her nostrils flared at the thought, and unknowingly, Brooke sped up.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

After crossing the big thunderpath, the rest of the journey had been relatively fast. Prince had followed the loner and the two kittypets into the wilderness, farther from home than he had ever been before. Excitement hummed in his veins as they stalked through the tall grass, as the wind ruffled his fur and sun beat on his back. This is what I was made for! He had never felt so free in his entire life.

Eventually a large, disused building came into sight. Prince thought it looked a bit like his own Twoleg nest, but it didn't have nearly as many windows, and it was made entirely of wood. Quickening his pace to keep up with the other cats, he followed closely behind Tybalt as he slipped into a small entrance in the side of the building. Inside it was dimly lit and slightly musty. There were piles of dried grass everywhere, and the only light came from innumerable tiny holes and cracks that laced the wooden walls.

Suddenly there was a harsh voice from a few tail-lengths away. Peering in the direction the sound had come from, Prince waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness and saw a large, scruffy-looking she-cat sitting a deeper in the gloom. Her grey fur was ragged and dirty, and her yellow eyes were menacing. The young tom's mind flew to the stories he had heard of the wild, homeless cats that roamed near the forest, but he forced himself to be calm. The cat wasn't making any threatening motions; in fact, she was speaking to Tybalt as if she knew him...

"Oh, you're related?" Desi gasped in surprise, then felt her ears burn with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just..." The she-cat trailed off, mortified that she had let her mouth get away from her. She had been going to say that the matted, ugly loner didn't look anything like her two well-groomed relatives, but she stopped herself before she could say anything rude. She shouldn't comment on this other cat's lifestyle if it was how she chose to live - though she couldn't imagine why any cat would want to live like this on purpose. Perhaps she had simply been born without Twolegs to take care of her; it wasn't something she should be condemned for.

Still, she didn't volunteer any further comments as the two cats talked. The pale she-cat watched from beside her brother and listened to their conversation. After a short time, it was determined that the other kittypets' brother had moved somewhere else. Desi thought that this missing cat must be extremely bold to travel so freely by himself. Suddenly she realized that they were leaving, and Tybalt was calling a goodbye to the loner. "It was nice to meet you, Helen," she offered at the mention of the loner's name. "I'm Desi, by the way, and this is my brother Prince. We're sorry if we bothered you." Nodding politely, the young kittypey trotted hastily after Winnie and their guide, with Prince pressing his pelt comfortingly to hers. Desi relaxed somewhat, knowing that, no-matter how strange and unfamiliar the cats they might meet were, her brother was with her.