Hey, play with me! [open]

[~Tobi~]

The little one stops to climb a tree

A snow leopard cub stalked through the tall grass, but unlike normal circumstances, his face was lit with a playful smirk. The cub did this every day, although this was his first time on the ranch. Normally he just messed around in the forest, or played with the river. This valley had become a better home to him than his old one in Russia, much better climate. And here, the people were nicer, so he hardly ever got in trouble. The adults in town adored him, and he didn't mind the lack of other children his age. He found playing with other animals more entertaining anyway. Tobi almost smashed his face in to the wooden plank of the fence which suddenly came in to view, but then stuck his head through it.

All he saw was a few herds of cows, and a couple stray ones. Climbing through the space, grinning ear to ear, he silently made his way to one of the single cows grazing on the tall grass surrounding him. His playfully innocent nature often got him in hurt or scolded sometimes, but he never learned, because he never paid attention. And the injuries were not much more than bruises. Still, messing with a big creature like a cow might not have been a great idea. But the little feline boy never thought about that. He crouched and sprung, grasping at the black spotted hindquarters of the cattle, which in response moo-ed loudly and tried to shake him off. Tobi was now on the cow's back, and was hanging on for dear life as the cow tried to throw him off in any way possible. This was kind of fun.

Not too long and it succeeded, successfully sending the cat-boy rolling off to the side. Tobi scrambled to his feet and ran back toward the fence, away from the charging animal. He was about to get trampled. He managed to jump back through the fence, avoiding the cow which now was visibly furious, but running headlong in to a tall man which didn't look too happy either. "The cows are for food. Not your entertainment." The stern man walked away and he just sat with a frown on his face. "Oh blah blah blah. They'll be for my entertainment if I want, and he can't stop me! Tobi stuck his tongue out at the empty air, then turned away.

Now rather bored, he began to climb the nearby tree. His favorite thing to do. He wasn't paying attention to the height though, and before he knew it, Tobi was a good 25 feet in the air. He crawled out on a wide branch, then looked down. "Oh no, oh crap!" His footing slipped, and he tumbled over the side, hurtling toward the ground below. He hoped so badly that someone would catch him, instead of his back meeting a very hard ground. That would be his most unpleasant injury yet, and his parents would probably not let him go wherever he wanted anymore. A frantic scream erupted from his little kitty jaws.

[{ Hatter]

Bounding through the large fields of corn that were grown for the use of the city, Hatter couldn't say that he was in an exactly good mood. His face was what a panther would look like if it was frowning. His panther forehead was scrunched up in the furrowing of his brow. His facial expression and mood were a contradict against his fanciful prancing through the stalks of corn. He was a black phantom that no one could see, moving stealthily through unexpected places. No one knew where he was, no one knew he even existed. . . But not for long. He got to a point in the cornfield where it ended, and he bounded out into the open, right in front of a store house. A man sitting on the dirt floor in front of the doors of the shed-like structure stood up from his chair and yelled. Oi, get out of here!

Hatter skidded to a stop. His tail twitched with the feeling of being yelled at (which he was quite used to) and any expression that was on his face was cleared. When he didn't budge, the man started to come toward him, looking very angry. Hatter's eyes widened. After all of his experience with other people, he knew what people did when they looked like that and started to stalk toward him. Hatter the panther took off full speed to his right, away from the man and toward a fence. His sleek black fur shone in the sunshine and made him look like he had a translucent, blue effect to him. As he reached the fence, he attempted to make a sharp turn, but his abnormally large paws prevented him from doing so. He slid to a stop after he had tumbled to the ground.

Laying on his side, he looked at the things around him. He noticed the fence that he was laying beside, and the many cows inside of it. He noticed a line of trees. And he noticed one of the trees moving. Something was in it. Hatter raised his feline cranium. He stood up when he saw a little cat cub head poke out of the branches. But the cub was almost as uncoordinated as himself, and fell. Hatter took off once more, heading toward the cub. Just as the kitten was about to hit the ground, Hatter leaped, grasped the small cat's hackles in his mouth, and landed with the young cat in his mouth. It was so small. He let it down.

You should've when you could've.

[~Tobi~]

The little one stops to climb a tree

The air rushing over Tobi, or rather, Tobi speeding down through the air, was quite a terrifying experience for a little boy. His eyes were shut tighter than he would have thought possible. He wasn't ready to die, much less in such a fashion as going 'splat' on the ground. Luckily for him, Tobi didn't quite have the imagination to imagine just how gruesome it would look. But obviously he knew it would be painful. Then it was gone, out of nowhere. He wondered if he was dead already. It had been painless, somehow. But no, that couldn't be, he still felt something below his head. Weird. And then he was on the ground, and he decided maybe it would be a good idea to open his eyes now.

He cautiously lifted one kitty eyelid. Everything looked normal. He was alive! As he steadied his breathing and heart, he peered around to see how in the world he had survived falling from such a great height. He looked above his head and saw another cat, but much larger than himself. Black and sleek, not in any way resembling the little puffball that was Tobi. Backing up from under this other feline's head. Sputtering some, he attempted to speak to this person. Well, he assumed it was a person, because he had never seen a cat like this in this new place that wasn't. "Th-thank you for catching me. It w-was you, right?" Tobi prayed this wasn't another adult who would scold him for doing something so reckless, and what would his mother say? And blah blah blah. He had heard it all before. If it was, little Tobias had no intention of staying around to hear another lecture. He had almost died. He had learned his lesson. No climbing thirty foot trees. Duh.

[{ Hatter]

Hatter looked down at the little ball of fluff that he had just dropped from his mouth. He had just saved this little guy from serious injury and pain, possibly his life. The small cub looked positively terrified, still, as he sat huddled up on the ground in front of the unusually large black panther. Hatter looked down at the little one in confusion. Did he not know he was on the ground? But then Hatter saw the cub turn around to him with the childlike innocence that almost all young ones held. Hatter looked at the younger cat with a blank expression as he spoke. Th-thank you for catching me. It w-was you, right? Hatter blinked. It wasn't often that someone had the decency to thank him for something that he did. No one ever did that, as a matter of fact. The kititran was kind of surprised.

But he got over his shock rather quickly. "Yes, that was me." he said in a matter-of-factly tone. He breifly wondered where this boy's guardians were, and why he wasn't with them. But he cast that thought aside, because he really didn't care. Hatter really hadn't ever dealt with kids before, and he didn't really want to gain that experience right then and there. But then it hit him. This wasn't just any little kid. He could have slapped himself for not realizing this when first laying eyes on the kid. But he hadn't even thought about it. This was another kititran. Hatter had finally found another of his kind. The first he'd ever seen besides his own parents. Again, he was shocked. But this time, he didn't show it.

"If you're going to climb that far up into trees," Hatter started, looming over the little cub. His voice inclined that he was about to scold the small feline, but this proved to be false. "You might want to practice on your balance a little more." Hatter's English accent showed as heavy as always, even in his cat form. The panther looked up at the tree that the cub had fallen from. "I'm way too uncoordinated to climb that high." he said to no one in particular. He turned back to the puff-ball in front of him. "But that's nothing unusual for me. You, on the other hand, are lucky that I was nearby." Hatter looked hard at the snow leopard cub with his amber eyes ablaze with a curious flame. He had finally found another kititran, and it was the little tuft of fur sitting on the ground in front of him. Hatter reached out with his paw that was nearly bigger than the cub's head and shoulders, and lightly shoved him, almost knocking him over. The panther only did this to see the boy's reaction. He looked at the young one blankly. "What's your name?"

You should've when you could've.

[~Tobi~]

The little one stops to climb a tree

Tobi planned to get his furry butt out of there when the panther began what sounded like a reprimand. He rolled his eyes, and almost went and started to climb the tree again, out of spite. Of course not that high, because knowing him he would slip again. And the panther would probably just watch him fall. So he was surprised when it wasn't a lecture. This seemed like a guy he could get along with well enough, considering he was an adult. Always a little awkward when an 8 year-old boy is associating with a man. He assumed it was a man, based on his size. Plus, even Tobi knew what people would think about that. It's a sad thing when a child that young knows the really messed up things in the world.

Tobi stumbled a little under the panther's paw. He cocked his head and looked at the other questioningly. Why did he do that?. . .Hm. Weird person. "What's your name?" "My name is Tobias. But I like being called Tobi better." And like any little boy, he wasn't going to do nothing when someone pushed him. So he pranced over and smacked the black leg of the large panther playfully, before prancing backwards and sitting back on his haunches and flipping his tail. He smiled a cheesy smile up at the big cat. Who he would enjoy having some type of identity for. "And, um, what uh, what can I call you?. . ."

[{ Hatter]

Hatter frowned at the little one's arrogant reaction to the first part of his words. He really didn't appreciate his attitude. The large panther tilted his head at the name of 'Tobias.' It was such a mighty name for a small fluff of fuzz. Tobi did fit him much better. The panther didn't move as he watched Tobi bat at his leg. It obviously did not do anything to Hatter like the larger cat had done to the smaller one. It was rather comical. But Hatter just raised his cat eyebrows in a sort of patronizing fashion. When the younger cat smiled, Hatter blinked. And, um, what uh, what can I call you?. . . The huge, black feline sat down similar to the way the cub in front of him had, not purposely mimicking him, but seeming like he did. "You can call me Hatter." he said simply. That's what everyone knew him as. That's what he knew himself as. He wasn't sure if he even still knew his birth name.

Hatter tried to match the snow leopard's smile by grinning, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He was still observing as closely as he could the small cat. Then he thought of something. "You know," he started, eying the tree that the cub had previously fallen from. "If you're going to do something fun, it might as well be something like this." In mid sentence, the panther stood. After nodding quickly toward Tobi, he took off, and tore through the short distance from where he was to the tree. When he reached the tree, he seemed to run directly up the trunk of it, as if he were ascending perfectly at a ninety degree angle. But instead of going up to the branches far up, Hatter pushed off of the tree, sending himself flipping backwards into the air. The large cat landed perfectly on his paws. He turned around and grinned mockingly at the little cub.

You should've when you could've.

[~Tobi~]

The little one stops to climb a tree

The large black cat sat down like Tobi, and cited his name. "You can call me Hatter." Hatter? That was a weird name. It wasn't even a name. This really was a weird guy. Tobi gave him a weird look. Hatter smiled at the little cub, and it seemed that he was also watching just a little closer than normal. "You know, if you're going to do something fun, it might as well be something like this." Tobi was confused for a moment, but then watched in amazement at the large feline's next actions. How anyone could ascend the tree like that was completely beyond Tobi, and then whoa. The little cat's eyes were wide as he watched the backward flip off the trunk made by the other. Man did that look fun!

"That was so cool!" Tobi almost shouted at Hatter, who was grinning at him. "I wanna try that!" With this, he hastily turned toward the humongous tree, running at it as fast as he could. (Which was not that fast at all) When he reached it, he tried to run up it as he had seen the other cat do, but succeeded in nothing more than clawing his way up a few feet and sliding back down, leaving tiny claw marks down the wood. Tobi stood on his hind legs clawing at the trunk for a minute or so, then plopped down on his backside in defeat. He looked up at Hatter with a half-fake pouty expression.

[{ Hatter]

Hatter watched with an unamused expression on his face as the little snow leopard attempted to do exactly what he had done only seconds before. He stared at the cub for a long few seconds after he had just altogether given up. "You might want to wait until you're a bit. . ." he started, looking over the full physique of the kitten. His tone was slightly dry. "Bigger." he finished, resisting saying anything that would offend the small feline. The large panther walked a few steps to approach the tree, walking closer to Tobi in the process. He reached out and ran his padded paw over the little scratch marks that he had made. Hatter shook his head slowly. "They won't like that very much." he mumbled to more himself than the leopard sitting in front of him, though he knew he was still heard. He was talking about the farmers. The people who inhabited this ranch. They didn't appreciate anyone on their farms, and they really didn't like when they left marks of their existence. Especially pesky cats like them.

As if on cue, an enraged shout came from behind them. Hatter jumped, and crouching, he turned toward the creature who had made the noise. A large and muscular man -he looked more like the person that actually did the plowing and harvesting rather than just supervising- was walking briskly toward both of the cats sitting or standing under the tree. As he reached the about halfway mark from where he had started out to where the felines were, he waved his arms and shouted angrily. There was something that looked like a rake or pitchfork in his hand. Hey! he bellowed. As he rounded nearer to them, Hatter wanted to run. His cowardice was one of the dominant traits in his instincts, and even personality. But he didn't know if the little snow leopard could run as fast as he. He would try to show some bravery. The large panther that was Hatter jumped forward in the direction of the man, opened his mouth, and let out an airy hiss - a warning for the man to stop coming closer.

But Hatter knew that it wasn't the most intimidating hiss that a cat could loose. And he had probably shown his fear through it, also. The man did not stop, or even hesitate. I said get out! he boomed, and raised the tool in his hand. Hatter's amber eyes went wide, and he dashed out of the way, to his right, and tore down the path that was carved by the fence. At first his mind did not remember the little snow leopard at all. But as he made his way away from the tree which they had resided under, he remembered, and slid to a stop with some struggle. He looked behind him to see if Tobi had followed as best as he could, or if he was in a tight situation.

You should've when you could've.

[~Tobi~]

The little one stops to climb a tree

"You might want to wait until you're a bit. . .Bigger." Tobi frowned with a slight pout. Yeah, he knew he was tiny. But hey, he was a kid. And being told that wasn't exactly his favorite thing to hear. He watched Hatter with an innocent, and pouty, expression. Tobi thought he heard the panther mumble something about them not liking something, and he was touching the little claw marks. Assuming those were what he meant, he wondered why not. What would they care of there were scratches in the tree? It's not like it would die. He hadn't even broken the bark. But then again, the people around here were not very nice. Meaners.

Speaking of meaner, Tobi was startled as he heard one of them yelling at him now. Or, maybe it was at both of them. Not that it particularly mattered. There was a big, strong, mean looking man running toward them and shouting. It kind of scared him. When he eyed the pointy tool in the mans hand, he decided that there was no kinda. He was scared. Letting out a tiny yelp, he scrambled to hide behind the much larger cat next to him. What was this guy's problem? Tobi jumped a bit when Hatter went forward and hissed at the person. He was confident that a hiss from a huge, black cat would at least make him pause for a second. But he didn't, and Tobi's hope disappeared.

And then his blockade between him and the scary person was gone, shooting off somewhere to the right. He whimpered and curled in on himself for a second, but realized he should get the heck out of there, and fumbled on his feet as he tried to follow the panther. Running as fast as his little leopard cub legs could carry him, (Which still wasn't very fast) he followed Hatter along the fence line. He saw that the man as getting too close for comfort. On a whim, he leaped through the gap in the fence and kept running. That should slow him down, he would have to climb over, not being small enough to get through as Tobi had. It seemed that sometimes there were some advantages to being small.

He caught up to the spot where Hatter was, and he had stopped. He went back to the side of the fence they had started on, and deliberated whether or not he should stop with the panther. He almost did, but the panther hadn't stopped the man at the tree, there was no sensible reason he would stop now. So Tobi kept running, although his legs were beginning to hurt. Hatter could certainly catch up to him, and in a few seconds. God, had he gotten himself in to a tight spot. This definitely was not his day. Escaping a near death experience, and running from a big scary person. After he got out of this he would head straight home, and not tell his parents about any of it.

[{ Hatter]

Hatter looked behind him, one of his paws raised and ready to run again. He saw that the little kititran had started his getaway pretty well and was going strong, but the farmer wasn't too far behind him. How they hated creatures getting into their farms and running amok through the fields of crops. This one in particular looked like he had had just about enough, and was ready to do something about it. The panther was confused a bit when he saw the tiny snow leopard jump through the fence to get on the other side, but he kept going. It didn't take a while of wondering before Hatter realized the big man was still coming for them. The lanky panther turned and started running again. It didn't take him but about six seconds before he rounded behind Tobi.

For a second, Hatter couldn't find his footing with slowing down behind the small feline. He stumbled, and nearly toppled to the ground on top of Tobi. But he found his balance right before he could do such a thing. This little kitten could barely run worth anything, Hatter realized. So after taking one more glance behind the both of them, the panther reached down with his jaws open, gathering the fur on the back of the snow leopard's neck in his mouth, and hoisting him up. Hatter's long and thin legs now could do full length strides, and he was gaining speed. But the fluff of fur in his mouth was unpleasant. He turned his head to his back, slinging the small white cat over and onto his back. There, he let go, and continued to look forward at where he was running along the fence.

He tore down a straight path - a straight path out of that place. He had learned his lesson many times before this one, but he always failed to retain the memories of getting himself in trouble. Some people around this area in particular didn't have very fond memories of him. After a short while, the panther broke away from the path of the fence, and through nearby cabins and store-houses. Hatter didn't notice a couple of people sitting out on the porch/patio of one of the housing cabins. But he did notice when one of them shouted. Hatter! I thought I told you to stay out! The panther's ears pinned to his head and he turned his head toward the person who had shouted, his eyes a bit wider with panic. God, if they reported him. He would be a dead cat. He began to run just a little faster.

You should've when you could've.