Ciaran raised an eyebrow, an almost-unnoticeable sign on slight amusement towards Ciaran. He'd rather not involve strangers, but everyone else seemed to need help.

"Why don't we...go inside? Or at least get out of the alley before we reveal anything confidential to...them...?" he asked, flicking an ear in the general direction from where he had heard pawsteps a moment before. He didn't want to let down his guard anywhere unsafe.

((Ciaran's not an easy guy to approach. Not trying to offend anyone here XD))

“Disappeared? As in ran off or just faded into nothingness?” However the idea of a cat just fading away was highly unlikely. Zmey turned her attention back towards the window where the female voice came from again. So they didn’t know what town this was…oh well she would just have to find a map somewhere. Again her attention was drawn towards the Abyssinian as he spoke. “Them?...Do you mean me? Or was I included in the suggestion to go inside?”

((XD yeah sorry, her color description was in the body of the profile since I could find a pic with the right coloring.))

Mirri sat up as much as she could but ultimately had to vacate the window sill to make it easier for the boys, and the new cat apparently, to make it in. She hopped onto the floor and waited slightly to the side for the other cats to come in.

The little kitten slowly moved from under his hiding place back into the kitchen where he saw Mirri jump from the window. Jinx quietly snuck up behind Mirri using her as a sort of guard just in case the new cat was merely an illusion. He peeked his head around the cats body to wait for the others to enter the room. After a while he quietly spoke up. "Are we having guest? should we open the food box for them?" He tried to make up for his running away previously.

"You could come in if you want. I won't stop you, at least," Quintus mentioned to the travelling cat. He heard Jinx as he was climbing up towards the window. "You could say that, but it's not the Calico from before."

Quintus hopped into the window, moving his eye to the other cats to see how everyone is holding up. "Ciaran is giving off this uneasy feeling. Maybe I'm missing something." Quintus blocked out the rest of the cats as he examined the alley. A rustle from the garbage bins, a clack of metal, and to top it all off, it was near sunset. "If anything was going to happen to our group, it would be now," Quintus thought, with a new sense of uneasiness.

((I'm considering the ear flick a sign of unease :P)

"We may have to look further than the ice box for dinner, but it is a nice offer," Mirri says to the little kitten. She's never keen to share but living in human homes now and then, and wither other cats, has given her a fair idea of ettiquete, even if it's really only for show purposes. She'll wait to see how much the other cat actually seems to need their food, of what's left of it, before opening their stores to her. She sits, her tail sweeping slowly back and forth, but otherwise doesn't appear too concerned with the new arrival.

(I believe that a hunting trip is forthcoming, at least Mirri will be out and about digging up something for the kittens. I imagine there isn't enough left in the house to cover another day.)

Ciaran turned around, glanced back, and still worrying, changed his mind about going back into the shop. He clambered halfway through the window and muttered, "Maybe I should wait outside, in case anything happens..." He could feel, no, smell, Quintus's anxiety, and raised an eyebrow. Peering at Mirri, he asked, "Well...then...what's better?"

The rattling from the garbage grew louder and louder, if only in subtle steps to whats left of his eardrum on his metallic side. "Something's coming," Quintus warned Ciaran, "a lot of something."

As the sun went down under the horizon and as the shadows grew darker and deeper, as night normally is, small, red eyes appeared from the alley way. There must have been a dozen pairs or more, and as Ciaran's eye got adjusted, he saw the hostile new comers: large rats.

"Ciaran. Where did you get that rat?" he asked as the crowd of rats began to crawl out from their hiding spots.

Still hanging in the window, Ciaran muttered, "Oh....shit." Your fault, Ciaran! Why why why why whyyyyy do you have to be so...arghhh.

"Mirri, I-- ...Sorry. Mind hiding the kits in the back of the shop? This might get...nasty," he growled, as he dropped down to the ground on the other side of the door. At least a dozen rats....This was not going to be easy. Ciaran arched his back, took a menacing step forward, and hissed threateningly, hoping to scare away some of the murderous rats.

When that failed to do anything, he charged at the one right in front of him, and was immediately hidden from sight from the many others that threw their screaming selves at his back.

((Yes, I need help here. >.>))

Throughout the conversation between the other cats, Zmey had remained silently where she was. She had still been dubious of the possible invitation that had been offered to go inside the building they seemed to inhabit. It was always odd dealing with domesticated felines. However when the swarm of vermin emerged from their hiding places she had quickly stood up and took a defensive position. She normally had no issues with rats, but these ones in particular looked a little more than hostile. Things seemed to happen quickly. One moment the cats were talking, next the Abyssinian was back on the ground and attempting to scare off the rat pack with a hiss. When that failed he charged one.

A part of her mind briefly wondered if the cat had ever been in a real fight. But then again, just because they seemed domestic now didn’t mean they were necessarily always domestic. Either way, when rest of the rats leapt onto the cat’s back and obscured him from view she couldn’t sit idle anymore. Quickly closing the gap between her and the other cats and the rats, Zmey charged into the skirmish located the Abyssinian. Letting out a threatening hiss of her own she clamped her jaws around the neck of one of the rat’s on the cat’s back and ripped it off, flinging it into the nearest wall.

Mirri grabbed Jinx by the scruff of the neck and hopped to a high shelf, the one where Rin had taken to hiding, and left the kitten there with orders to "stay put." She immidiately hopped back on the floor and ran to the open window.

Again she set herself on the window sill, determined to keep any rat from making it's way inside the shop. Her hefty claws at the ready, she took a swipe at any rat that made it near enough to the window to be in range.

As Zmey sent rats flying, Mirri hooked one and brought it quickly to her mouth to snap it's neck. Dinner for one...

Jinx was not sure what was going on when Mirri grabbed him and put him next to Rin. He gave a quick glance to Rin then hopped off the shelf not wanting to be left alone. Whatever was going on outside must be more exciting then sitting on a shelf. Not only that but Jinx was horrible at following directions. He bounced back towards the kitchen and the window peering over he saw the other cats in the alley way. He wondered why they were attacking the other cats with smaller tails.

Everything moved at fast pace for Quintus. Ciaran gets toppled, Mirri and the newcomer join the fight, and pretty soon, Quintus himself was pouncing into the crowd. Most of them seemed to attack Ciaran, which let him make steady work of some of them, but in the back of his mind, he knew that Ciaran had to be free of the rats if they were to overtake these things. Quintus ran towards Ciaran after killing his second rat, swiping the ones that tried to get in his way as he moved hastily towards his friend.

Ciaran had downed maybe two rats, and now grabbed a third by the tail, flinging it at the wall with his jaws. It had been a while since he'd needed to fight anything, and his skills had gotten...rusty, to say the least. He batted at another one. When the hell did I get this slow...? he thought to himself, pledging to eat less than he had for the past few months.

(( XD I'll save you Ciaran... or try))

Jinx saw that Ciaran was getting tired against the invaders. Taking a deep breath, the little kitten decided he had much to make up for especially his previous hiding under the table at the voices. Since his friends thought the unsual cats were hostile so would Jinx. Using what little natural jungle instinct he had as an ocelot, Jinx leap from his perch and crashed wildly into the rat that Ciaran was batting at. Once he flattened the rat he sank his jaws into the dirty brown fur trying to mimic Mirri.

Seeing Jinx run into the battle only increased his fury as he began to rampage through the crowd of rats, desperately trying to protect those he knew and cared about. He knew it wouldn't last long since there were already rats crawling onto him through his blind side. They were digging into his skin and his vision was getting dimmer than normal.

((Quintus won't hold out if the battle drags on much longer))

As the fight progressed more of the cats jumped into the fray. The number of rats seemed to keep growing. Zmey had managed to take out at least five rats when a little kitten seemed to belly flop out of the window and onto a rat near the Abyssinian. Pausing to observe the kitten’s little fighting demonstration, she had to admit the kitten’s courage was impressive…Still fights were no place for kittens, especially domestic ones. Running over to the small ocelot she grabbed it by the scruff of his neck with her jaws and tossed him back into the window. Turning back to the fight at hand, she swiped at a rat that had been coming at her from behind. Quickly locating the other domestics, she spotted the Blue Russian being blind sided by the seemingly never ending swarm of rats. Letting out a feral hiss, she leapt over to the cats aid and began ripping the rodents away from his side.

Not pleased, was the mood going to Mirri's head at the moment, especially as Jinx hopped into the fight too. The kitten seemed to have the rigth idea, but was certiainly not ready for any actually fighting. She reacted quickly to Zmey's toss, making sure the kitten landed in the window and not fall back out again, accidentally or not.

Figuring it was better to give the kitten something productive sounding to do rather than risk her jump back into the fight again, Mirri put the kitten beside her. "Do lot let any of them in the window. Knock them off the wall." She demonstrated the idea with a fast swipe to the next rat that appeared in range.

Having killed three rats with her practiced bite and wounding a couple more that came within reach, Mirri focused instead on swiping at the rats and trying to keep them away from the main brawl rather than trying to kill each one. Several rats already decided that vengeance for their comrade wasn't worth getting killed. She half-hung her back end into the store, but had her front paws against the outside wall to get better swipes that the mob of rats.

A slightly amused Ciaran watched as the kit was tossed back into the window, but his curiosity was more piqued at the new female. She fights! he thought, wondering how she was so adept. Caught in his thinking, he didn't notice a rat bite onto his tail. With a sharp screech, he whipped around, accidentally hitting Quintus in the process, but effectively making it loosen its hold. With startling speed, he clamped his jaws down on his fifth rat.

It took a hit to the head in order to snap Quintus' consciousness back into reality. He was a little tired, but his adrenaline was rushing through and after dropping onto a few rats with his metallic side, he had an idea. Swiping left and right, Quintus listened for the the rats for when they climb onto the side of his head. When he hears that noise, he slams that side of his head to the ground, killing the rat. Although the clang of metal hurt his ear, it was well worth the cost. Ten rats dead? Twenty? ... Or maybe they weren't, but injured may as well work the same with the amount of rats now fleeing the area.
"Know your place, vermin!" Quintus shouted as he lifted his head triumphantly. He was seeing red again, but he felt that the red looked more like a prize of the 'hunt' than a mark of murder. "So this is how those big cats from the box must feel. I'm alive!" he thought, as a new light began to shine down the alleyway.

The young kitten stood disorientated wobbled but regained his barrings enough to swipe at the air. When he came to his senses he saw a alley way full of dead bodies and a beat up Quintus. The cat looked pretty beat up. He bounced away from Mirri, through the crowd of bodies over to him. What do I do? He found one of Quintus wounds and tried to nurse the giant cat back to health with his tongue. The taste of old pennies made his mouth twist, but if it stopped the bleeding he would. Suddenly his ears twitched at the sound of another noise. He quickly looked in the direction where the rats came from, to see a large, lithe, caramel colored paw slide out of the shadows from behind a grey metal bin. Slowly a growl and a muzzle came from the darkness.

((post whenever. I'm at a writers block right now))

Alright then.

The growling went for only a short before it turned into a savage snarl, the muzzle's brief warning turning into an open mouthed snarling face charging headlong into the throng of rats and cats.

The terrier barreled into the pile, teeth grabbing hold of any rat or any fur that it's mouth met, shaking it and snapping necks and shredding innards before tossing the dead rat away and diving after a new one.

Revenge against one cat wasn't worth it. The rats started to flee, clawing their way over their prone or fleeing friends and downed cats in an attempt to get away from the dog.

(Terrier can make very short work of a rat once they catch it. This one is a mongrel of sorts with a wirey coat. It's not really caring what is rat and what is cat right now).

The Burmilla watched as the arrival of a rather charming dog frightened off the rats. As the dog continued to make quick work of a few more rats that it had managed to catch mid flee, Zmey moved herself into a defensive position between the dog and the kitten who had jumped back down to try and aid the apparently injured Russian Blue.


((Sorry, I haven't had a clue what to do. I honestly didn't know where you guys wanted the fight with the rats to go so I was just kinda waiting ^^;. Also...work has somehow taken over my life -_-...so my posts might be a bit slow in coming at times, and sorry for the short post ^^; kinda brain dead at the moment.))

((Uwaa.. I (rin) Missed alot xD I'm back now...))

Laying down on the shelf she was sat on, Rin stayed put as she was told. As she waited for others to come back in, she bathed her paws. Dust and small pebbles stuck to her paws causing her slight discomfort.

Quintus batted a final rat away as he felt his legs shake. The hoard of rats left parts of his coat in shades of red. As he saw more and more of the rats flee, instead of giving chase he fell back, tired enough as he was, and could barely hop up to the first platform before having to lay down on his side. "Go! While the dog is still busy, we must hurry. Go up to the window and do your best to block the entrance."

Rin tired of being alone on the shelf she jumped down and went to the window to see what was going on.

"Quintus is hurt! Quintus is hurt! Someone help!" she yelled out.

"Stay in the window!" Mirri snapped, not terribly pleased still that Jinx had jumped and entered the fight. There was decent sized pile of dead rats just on the inside that the Norwegien forest cat had prudently tossed aside for dinner, but with the bulk of the force now fleeing the objective changed to getting everyone inside, especially Quintus, before another oppportunistic animal decides to take advantage of a weak cat.

Laying her ears flat on her head she hunched down and watched from her perch.

"Is he going to die?" she asked quietly.

"No." Mirri said matter of factly as the other cats gingerly helped Quintus in through the window. "No, he's not."

It was a somber night. The rats were gone, the carcass left from dinner tossed unceremoniously out the window, their skeletons serving as a reminder for others of the damage possible to intruders as well as to cover up the scent of Quintus's blood. The window couldn't be closed, so the cats slept together in the same room, the one formerly inhabited by their Eccentric, those unscathed keeping themselves between the wounded and the doorway should any further unwelcome visitors arrive that night.

It was in the daytime that something slid in through the open window, as though chased in and seeking refuge from the early rays of the rising sun. It was blacker than a cat's shadow, and had about as much substance. It paused a moment before the stairway that let to the room of resting cats, before disapparing among the brickabrack that made up the curiostiy shop. It took temporary refuge in a small, overturned canister before it flashed a pair of slitted red eyes. On the other side of the room, resting on a stack of parchments and old documents, a single candle lit, it's wick already burning low and it's base precariously teetering on the uneven stack.

The sun was above the horizon when the first parchment caught fire.

Head count! Who's still here and who'd prefer to sign off? Good opportinity for "cats" to leave play and want to know who we'll be continuing with. :)

Rin is still in!

Rin rolled over in her sleep and her nose twitched. The scent of something odd woke her.

"Mirri, I smell something weird. It burns my nose." She cried as she tried to wake the older cat.

(Oh dear. Wrong Cats thread. WIll post something relvant here in a minute)

((Aww we lost someone? D8))

Not particularly keen on being woken up just then, Mirri gradually lifted herself up to near sitting before bothering to open her eyes. Though her surface thoughts were still working themselves out, her instincts and her nose knew that falling back to sleep just now would be a very bad idea.

She was fully alert by the time she reached left the room they were staying in, and was decending stairs in great leaps when the smell turned acrid.