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Description

Comforting Touch

815 words
+ 4 for picture + 1 for story wordcount + 1 for ncp (human) + 10 for trainning = 16 ep I think???
(the don't bite the hand that feeds you prompt)

There were noises outside the garden that Tobiah didn't understand, yet sounded oddly familiar in a way. A past memory, a good yet also painful memory... If his old life, his old master. Jake....Tobiah...He...He missed Jake, a lot, he would always miss his first owner. Did that make him a bad Empire cat? Because he loved a human? The thought was rather startling actually, realizing that most of his fellow Empire cats looked down on humans for forcing them to fight in the Arena. The jungle cat couldn't blame them for not wanting to fight for the rest of their lives. Still, not all humans were bad... Really it was the Hunters Tobiah despised. They destroyed his home, and captured him as well as Vanya and the rest of his empire. He wasn't sure he would ever fully trust a Hunter... But he would forgive them. Because he was a spiritual cat, a Mystic, he knew holding hate in his heart wasn't good for his soul. That didn't mean he would forget though, no he'd never forget.

But he had to move on, somehow, some way, he had to live on. But how? How does one live on when everything is taken away from them? When their way of life in the city is taken away by Hunters, he ran to the wilderness. Yet the Hunters came yet again and took away his way of life once more. Creator, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I live on? There isn't even an air empire anymore! He growled in frustration at his growing spiraling thoughts. Claws digging into the soft earth of this..this...Garden? Back yard? He wasn't sure where he was, his yellows eyes glancing over the Hunter escort perched atop the far wall. Selene was her name, she was a tall cheetah girl who insisted on flirting with the much much smaller male, Tobiah had no idea why. He couldn't get her to stop and had long since given up all hope of escaping her uncomfortable flirting, large sly grins, and winks that she sent his way.

That hunter was weird and Tobiah really didn't like her, but he was polite anyway, witholding his irritation as much as possible. He didn't know why they brought him here, she wouldn't say, so he had just been sitting in the tall grass where he was mostly hidden, pondering his life.

That had proven to be a bad idea.

He missed Kai.

He missed Vanya already.

He missed his friends.

He missed Jake his long-dead master.

He missed home.

But where was home now?

Was it in the city? Was in back in Air? Air was gone though, forever, destroyed.... Lost...

But he also kinda missed the city, the familiar hum of moving people and felines, friendly faces on every corner. Well, mostly friendly. Most of all he missed Jake, he missed his human master, he missed the warm fireplace, gentle pats, and thrilling hunts through the woods followed by soft encouraging words when he did well. Maybe none of this would have happened if Jake hadn't been taken away? Maybe he wouldn't have had to lose his home twice now...

He felt tears well up in his eyes and pointedly turned his back to the Hunter escort. He was much too macho to show that kind of weakness in front of anyone. I have to be strong, for Vanya, we're in this together, I have to keep it together. Creator help me, I can't do this on my own. The feline thought in a silent prayer to the heavens as he bit his tongue to try to keep back the tears, throat feeling constricted and chest tight.

Just then he heard a sound, turning his head the jungle cat's eyes opened wide in surprise. There was a human girl crouching down in front of him, she was already very close - he hadn't even noticed her approach. His tear's wet as they trickled down. Soft human words were spoken to him, a hand reaching out-

"Hey there little guy, you alright? Aww don't be sad... Its okay. You must feel so scared, new place and all that. Don't worry, I'll make sure your safe. Can I pat you?" He didn't know what the words meant but they sounded so gentle, so nice, comforting, soft, kind. He felt himself leaning forward and flinching in surprise when a single finger bumped his cold nose. He didn't pull away instead of looking up into the girl's face. She giggled happily like a child, though she looked older than one. Bright eyes and a wide smile looking down at him, "Your nose is cold!" She teased him, scratching him behind the ears.

Just like Jake used too.

It was his favorite spot to be scratched.

Something warm filled his heart and suddenly the sadness didn't seem so bad....

Description

Comforting Touch

815 words
+ 4 for picture + 1 for story wordcount + 1 for ncp (human) + 10 for trainning = 16 ep I think???
(the don't bite the hand that feeds you prompt)

There were noises outside the garden that Tobiah didn't understand, yet sounded oddly familiar in a way. A past memory, a good yet also painful memory... If his old life, his old master. Jake....Tobiah...He...He missed Jake, a lot, he would always miss his first owner. Did that make him a bad Empire cat? Because he loved a human? The thought was rather startling actually, realizing that most of his fellow Empire cats looked down on humans for forcing them to fight in the Arena. The jungle cat couldn't blame them for not wanting to fight for the rest of their lives. Still, not all humans were bad... Really it was the Hunters Tobiah despised. They destroyed his home, and captured him as well as Vanya and the rest of his empire. He wasn't sure he would ever fully trust a Hunter... But he would forgive them. Because he was a spiritual cat, a Mystic, he knew holding hate in his heart wasn't good for his soul. That didn't mean he would forget though, no he'd never forget.

But he had to move on, somehow, some way, he had to live on. But how? How does one live on when everything is taken away from them? When their way of life in the city is taken away by Hunters, he ran to the wilderness. Yet the Hunters came yet again and took away his way of life once more. Creator, what do I do? Where do I go? How do I live on? There isn't even an air empire anymore! He growled in frustration at his growing spiraling thoughts. Claws digging into the soft earth of this..this...Garden? Back yard? He wasn't sure where he was, his yellows eyes glancing over the Hunter escort perched atop the far wall. Selene was her name, she was a tall cheetah girl who insisted on flirting with the much much smaller male, Tobiah had no idea why. He couldn't get her to stop and had long since given up all hope of escaping her uncomfortable flirting, large sly grins, and winks that she sent his way.

That hunter was weird and Tobiah really didn't like her, but he was polite anyway, witholding his irritation as much as possible. He didn't know why they brought him here, she wouldn't say, so he had just been sitting in the tall grass where he was mostly hidden, pondering his life.

That had proven to be a bad idea.

He missed Kai.

He missed Vanya already.

He missed his friends.

He missed Jake his long-dead master.

He missed home.

But where was home now?

Was it in the city? Was in back in Air? Air was gone though, forever, destroyed.... Lost...

But he also kinda missed the city, the familiar hum of moving people and felines, friendly faces on every corner. Well, mostly friendly. Most of all he missed Jake, he missed his human master, he missed the warm fireplace, gentle pats, and thrilling hunts through the woods followed by soft encouraging words when he did well. Maybe none of this would have happened if Jake hadn't been taken away? Maybe he wouldn't have had to lose his home twice now...

He felt tears well up in his eyes and pointedly turned his back to the Hunter escort. He was much too macho to show that kind of weakness in front of anyone. I have to be strong, for Vanya, we're in this together, I have to keep it together. Creator help me, I can't do this on my own. The feline thought in a silent prayer to the heavens as he bit his tongue to try to keep back the tears, throat feeling constricted and chest tight.

Just then he heard a sound, turning his head the jungle cat's eyes opened wide in surprise. There was a human girl crouching down in front of him, she was already very close - he hadn't even noticed her approach. His tear's wet as they trickled down. Soft human words were spoken to him, a hand reaching out-

"Hey there little guy, you alright? Aww don't be sad... Its okay. You must feel so scared, new place and all that. Don't worry, I'll make sure your safe. Can I pat you?" He didn't know what the words meant but they sounded so gentle, so nice, comforting, soft, kind. He felt himself leaning forward and flinching in surprise when a single finger bumped his cold nose. He didn't pull away instead of looking up into the girl's face. She giggled happily like a child, though she looked older than one. Bright eyes and a wide smile looking down at him, "Your nose is cold!" She teased him, scratching him behind the ears.

Just like Jake used too.

It was his favorite spot to be scratched.

Something warm filled his heart and suddenly the sadness didn't seem so bad....