ORIGIN

The tunnel was quiet. It was sometime in the morning-- at least, the underground equivalent of it-- and the cave lights were slowly brightening to compensate. Water dripped from short stalagmites. Tunnel Runners curled away in tiny crevices along the wall. Dust settled on ancient carvings. And, tucked away in a bend in the path, a gleaming emerald slumbered under a fine layer of dirt.

What's this? It shook, ever so slightly, and then twice. The blossoming light illuminated two tiny paws, pounding against the crystal. And their owner, a little kitten huddled inside, was pissed. She'd just gained awareness and she's welcomed by being in a crystal with no air?! What kind of sick game was this? Granted, she didn't know what "crystal", "air", or even "pissed" even meant, but her point still stood.

Finally! One more shove and a tiny crack opened up in the stone. A little push and the siamese came tumbling out, head-over-heels, onto cold stone. Fluid seeped around her and then the chill of dank air hit her fur. She hissed. First nearly asphyxiating in a stupid rock, now this? Barely a few seconds of being alive and she already wanted a refund.

The molly slowly picked herself off the ground on clumsy, dark feet and looked around. There wasn't anything around her, it seemed, except dangling strings of lights and damp rock. How disappointing. Was this it? Shouldn't there be, you know, more things in existence? She waddled along in vague annoyance until she saw it-- a gangly deer-thing. Something about it ticked her off ('Is this the only thing around other than me? And why does it look so stupid?!") so, in a fit of wet kitty anger, she skittered right up to it and screeched, tiny claws flailing threateningly. How dare this creature be so... whatever it was?!

The strange beast stared her down with far too many eyes before bounding away swiftly. The kitten puffed her chest out in pride. 'Take that, stupid thing!'

It struck her that she had, to her knowledge, chased away the only living thing beside her in the whole world. For a moment she felt bad, but that quickly faded away. So what? She's perfectly fine! No need for other, stupid-looking creatures! She could reign over this whole tunnel-thing by herself! Of course, she didn't even know who or what she was, or where she was, or even that she had a gem, but that could all come later. Declare yourself queen of everything first, ask questions later.

The newborn siamese was just about to pad the other way when something started skittering up behind her. Her back arched in annoyance. Was that stupid deer back for more? She spun around, tiny paws flailing in defense, when--

Huh. Just a cat, like her. She didn't really know what a cat was, of course, but she was little, and fluffy, and had funny patterns on her fur. While most people would immediately be awed by a tiny kitten, this kid was not. Here was this stranger, ruining her alone party!

The siamese opened her muzzle to hiss, when it suddenly struck her that she could actually understand what the other was saying. 'Words.' That was... new, to say the least, and she suddenly sheathed her claws and stared at her, thinking of this situation. Words, not just hissing. How many words were there? She realized she already knew a few, but were those all? This (stupid) creature had spoke to her, so it was only polite she spoke back. Now, to find the exact, new word that can describe exactly how she was feeling...

"..Fffuuck!" The word squeaked out of her little kitten mouth. She smiled like a little kid with candy and tried again. "Fuuuckk yooouu! Stuuupid!"

Someone needed to give this kitty a lesson in politeness.

Twisted had an odd sort of prideful look on her face after she spoke. This was... new to her (well, everything was), but she felt she'd do "wonderful" things with this ability. How many more words were there? Hopefully (stupid-)kitty over here could help her out. She didn't really consider the fact that people were less inclined to help you after you curse at them, but whatever.

What happened next caught the siamese off-guard. The torbie glared her down, and yowled-- 'That's not so impressive, I bet I could do better--' and then a massive, sonic kaboom came flying over her head. To the average onlooker it may have been loud but not jarring; to a newly born kitten with ears never used before, it was deafening. Her hackles pricked up and she squished backwards, ears pinned and mouth contorted in a weird grimace. What was that?!

A painful ringing continued in the cat's ears as she vainly batted at them. The other yelled something she could only barely hear over the conundrum-- something, something, don't say that? Well, that's another phrase she just learned. She was tempted to go right back to spitting curses ('Maybe give her a good scratch to tell her who she's messing with,'), but something in her said she didn't want to get hearing loss at the age of 0.

The nameless gembound lowered herself back down, hissing incomprehensibly under her breath, and looked Madhukar in the eye. "Fiine," she growled, like a toddler who's just barely putting up with this. She looked around the cave with a vague look of annoyance. "...Whoo are you. Are you the... only one beside me?" The words were new and fresh on her tongue. She didn't say them like a question: it was a demand, high-pitched and unseasy but still a demand, which was rather hilarious considering her current situation. 'Stupid,' she mumbled in her head.

The kitten couldn't help but smirk a little through the pain as the other shocked themselves. Sure, this little kitty managed to practically rupture their eardrums minutes after being born, but still. Hilarious to see them get fed their own medicine.

She shook her head, trying to get the ringing out of her ears. The other had spoke-- "Mad-Hoo-Kar" was her name, apparently; 'Too long. I'll just call her Mad.'. Mad continued speaking, confirming she was alone and asking about her. She didn't respond immediately: her mind was on what she had just done moments before. She shock of screaming at a deer, meeting someone new for the first (second?) time, and then immediately getting her hearing blasted meant she wasn't able to fully appreciate what she did. The whole loud-noise-and-zap routine wasn't something cats typically could do... right?

She decided to try it out right then and here. Still without answering Mad's question, she looked down and shuffled her feet, willing for a boom or spark like she did. Several moments passed, and nothing happened. She grimaced, annoyed. She'd just have to figure out how the torbie did it later.

Of course, what were they talking about again...? "Who are you?" the kitten had asked. Honestly, she didn't really know herself, but she was too deep into this weird insult war to ask. The siamese gave a know-it-all snort and said, pointedly: "I'm a cat." "Cat" was also a new word to her, but it seemed to refer to both her and Mad accurately.

Wait. Oooh. She meant a name, like Mad-hoo-kie, which was also brand new information. She turned her head and looked herself over for roughly the first time. Ivory, downy fur... tiny black paws... Creamie? Blackfoot? Better-than-Mad? Her gaze drifted down to her tail, and she realized with a start it didn't look like Mad's dappled one at all. For one it was black, but it was also crooked, curled around itself like a corkscrew. Something best to be investigated later.

"...Uh, I dunno and I dun' care. Call me something stupid. Curlytail or whatever."

The siamese watched Madhukar's actions through narrow, green eyes. This dumb kitten over here was acting all high-and-mighty with her flashy boom-noises and whatnot. Well, she'll show her! Not now, her ears were still hurting and she couldn't figure out that weird magic she did, but someday. Hopefully tomorrow. Next week.

Ah, looked like Stupid-Mad was talking again. And naming her... The Cat?! The. Cat. She was just about to go on a hissing tirade about how stupid that was, until she remembered she specifically asked for a stupid name. Oh, well. The Cat would have to do.

"Fine, 'The Other Cat'," The Cat hissed, though a bit less aggressive than before. She noticed Mad twitching her tail, and swayed her crooked one even harder to one-up her. Her tiny kitten head looked around the tunnel. It didn't strike her until now, but this other kitten had to have come from somewhere. But where?

The Cat padded past Madhukar, ears still pinned from the deafening thunder, and looked to the rocky bend ahead of here. "Where did you come from? How far does this tunnel go?" Her tail was still wagging, and she made sure to hit her in the face with the crooked tip. "I bet it's real stupid. Idiot-land. That's where you came from, huh?"