ORIGIN

Lethe, slumbering on a tree branch above the cat, was disturbed in her sleep by the sound of her disturbing the foliage. Her path took her below the tree in which she rested and the binturong lifted her head grumpily. Why couldn't she get any decent shut-eye around here?

She closed her eyes to try and fall back asleep but it was pointless. She was already awake and she would stay that way until she'd at least found something to eat. Grumbling, she slowly rose to her paws and began to walk along the branch, making sure to dislodge any twigs or seeds over the cat's head. Perhaps one of them would hit them. Served them right for waking her up.

She sniffed carefully, trying to pick up any sweet fruit scents in the area, but her search came up empty. Everything just smelled so dark and murky. Not that she didn't like that, she just wished she could be able to distinguish the scent of fruit. Perhaps there wasn't any in this swamp.

Having completely forgotten about the cat, she began to climb her way down the tree trunk towards a pool not far below. If she couldn't find fruit, then she'd catch a fish. And if that didn't work, hell, she'd eat leaves! She wasn't going to expend anymore energy to finding food right now. She landed on the muddy ground with a soft 'pat' and sat down at the edge of the pool, her long tail curling towards her as she glared carefully into the water, searching for the movement of fish.

Lethe was focused intensely on the water. Well, as intensely as she could. There was a flash of silver and she caught sight of a fish swimming around, just out of reach. She was still as stone, her paw tense and ready to fly forward to catch it. It was getting closer and closer and almost there...

But then, just as she was about to strike out with her paw, a voice called out, alarming her. She dove clumsily forward to grab at the fish, but the surprise had thrown off her aim. Her paw slapped on empty water and the fish darted away. As she watched her meal escape, her stomach let out an angry growl that was repeated in her throat as she turned to face the intruder.

It was some cat and she was not at all aware that she had seen them only moments before. How rude of them to yell at her like that, especially when she was about to catch a fish! "Did you have to scream like that," she snarled. "I was going to catch something!" Her tail thumped angrily against the mud. She looked down at her paws and realized that she was actually standing in a sloppy puddle of wet earth. But she hadn't even noticed until the cat had pointed it out! Not that she really cared - it felt kinda good.

She bared her teeth and looked back at the cat. "I ain't dumb and I'll do what I want." With a sudden, impulsive decision, she lifted her right paw, dug it into the mud, and swiped forward, sending a splatter in the cat's direction.

Lethe scoffed at the cat. Go ridiculous to presume that water was terrible, just because one person hated it. It was annoying and frustrating to listen to. "Just because you don't like water doesn't mean that no one does. I'm perfectly fine in water, thanks." As if to accentuate the thought, she turned back to her fishing, momentarily forgetting about the cat and flashing a ow in the water as soon as she caught sight of the fish.

Just as she held it out to present it to the cat, she let out that comment and Lethe couldn't help it. She burst out laughing, dropping the fish, her tail slapping once the mud. She had forgotten whatever petty bull she had been angry about before. Without a second thought she launched into the mud and rolled over so that her own pelt was slick and brown with mud. She turned side to face the cat and asked with a light tone, "What about me? Is it my color?"

Lethe rolled around in the mud for a bit, enjoying the cool feeling of the mud on her skin before she stopped, panting hard. Why was she doing this again? For a moment, she was very confused. Why was she covered with mud? Why had she been laughing?

She looked up and saw the cat and she remembered what had just transpired, breathing a sigh of relief that, at least this time, she had remembered. She got up, giving her thick black fur a shake to dislodge some of the mud, but it was mostly unsuccessful. Well, that was fine. She needed a bath anyways.

She smiled at the cat, happy that she had at least found someone who tolerated her and wasn't a waste of her time. That was fun, playnig in the mud. Why was she ever angry at her? She couldn't remember. But that meant that it probably didn't matter, right?

Once Aurora had introduced herself, she opened her mouth to give her own name. "My name is...uh..." She blinked, confused. What was her name again? Did she have a name? She couldn't really remember. There were a lot of words floating through her head. One of them had to be her name. "Uh....." She ran through as many of them as she could until one seemed vaguely familiar. "I think it's Lethe. Or, at least someone called me Lethe. I guess that's my name." She tilted her head with confusion, straining to remember the moment when she had been named, but it was all a hazy blur.