A LITTLE UPHILL CLIMB — joining

[syzygy ♡]

The brown tabby stopped on a dime, creamy paws digging into the mulch underfoot and ears perked. She watched the trees with thinly-veiled suspicion as if one might move and shatter the illusion of an entirely still forest. Just as she thought the bark might molt and shift around the knot in a fire-colored aspen, a black and white cat came from behind it instead and strode close to her with a swagger she had not seen in anyone else. Syzygy watched him carefully, her shoulders tensing and her paws instinctively stepping back. No matter how hard she tried to calm the incessant racing of her mind, nothing stilled, and she was stuck with nervous energy and no outlet; paws twitching, tail lashing, ears flicking. She hated it, and she especially hated the way he drawled 'sweetheart', as if he was the most magnificent thing in the forest. Her eyes narrowed.

She didn't hate him, not yet, for he was a stranger and Syzygy found it hard to feel that strongly about anything anymore, but she certainly felt suspicious. Even so, she breathed in, and just beneath the thick aroma of leaf litter and petrichor from late morning dew, she found the scent she was seeking. Perhaps he could help her. "Okay, uh," she murmured finally, more to compose herself than anything. "Is...Is this Sunhaven?"

The name sounded foreign on her lips and her voice was rough with disuse. Syzygy immediately cringed upon hearing herself.

[glow=black,2,300]— ♡ —[/glow]