[Winter in Polaris] Frostbite.

There was something so... infuriating. Twisted couldn't exactly describe it, but with every passing second the tension in the air became thicker. She tried being nice, tried showing her her cool trinket and inviting her to a race. But this dumb, ugly, stupid kitten-- ugh! She hated everything about this. She hated the snow, she hated the ice she was slipping on, and she especially hated Madhukar for doing whatever the fuck she was doing.

Still, she tried to move on. There was something glistening ahead, and maybe it'll take her mind off wanting to punch something. Just keep on moving forward-- no, no, her paws slipped helplessly. Maybe grip her claws in and-- no, that didn't work either. It was only when he feather slipped from between her teeth and drifted away to a nearby snowbank that she let out a growl. Was- Was Maddy having as much trouble as her? And why did her thoughts always go back to that cat? This was all so.. so...

Eventually, Twisted snapped

"Why are you-- ugh!" Twisted hissed, whipping back to glare at the torbie. "Why are you ignoring me? I beat you in a fight! That makes me better than you! So why are you acting like I'm not even here?!" Her voice was wild with irritation, and anger-- and perhaps even jealousy. She remembered the way Mad's friends treated her, the way they'd never leave her to walk alone in a tense silence. Why couldn't she have that?! "It's not fair!"

Finally, Madhukar could run no longer.

She could look ahead and she would find something she had seen before already.

Her interest in this blizzard was draining, and behind her there was a question posed, and...

Madhukar went back, choosing not to fight the wind currents. Anger clamped around each paw and the current pushed her forward this time, back to this absolute nonsense, this ridiculous and unnecessary fiend, this little fool, this--

This jealous kid.

Why, only now, was it starting to ask questions? Why, only now, was it starting to show its true colors? How had it hatched bearing a facade?! Nothing about this Cat made sense to Madhukar, and the enmity it caused her was finally starting to come out in full.

She reemerged from the blizzard, took a few paces towards The Cat, and stood there suddenly stagnant. As if all the tension in the wind had been sucked into her body, coiling the springs that kept her walking and seizing the muscles in her form. The only sign of emotion in Madhukar's face was relegated to her glistening chartreuse eyes. Crackling. There was a pregnant pause. Moisture collecting in the clouds. And then, there was noise.

"Bea-ting me..." Madhukar was taking great care to force her mouth to cooperate, "Do-es no make yo-u b-- bett-er." If 'Twisted' thought her glare couldn't get any more intense, Madhukar was about to prove it wrong. "Bea--t me agai-n," Madhukar's head lowered, turning her gaze dark, posing a challenge, "an' yo-u still won'-t be bett-er." Madhukar wished she could be done, but she just needed a little more time to get to her point here.

Madhukar now lifted her chin, shifting her gaze to look down on The Cat. Here's the kicker:

"I don'-t care abou...t dir-t an' stones. I don'-t care abou' yo'."

The momentum had caused her to lose it at the end, but the scathing venom hopefully remained.

This kid needed a little shock to its mangled, obsessive system.

Think "Speak"

Twisted. Could. Not. Believe. This.

She acted sooooo nice to Maddy. She even offered her a feather! That counts as nice, right?! So why was she there, why was she glaring her down with the most hate she'd ever seen? Well, two could play at that game, so the siamese returned the seething look gleefully. And when she spoke--

Fuck. Fuck her.

In fact, just fuck everything about this cave. Let the entire world collapse just to soothe her anger. Maddy was lying, she had to be. A hiss escaped from her lips, her claws unsheathed. 'She thinks she's better than me, huh?! I'll show her how she's wrong, I'll fight her time and time again just to prove it!'

A clawed paw raised up...'

...And stalled.

Would it really change anything? Mad would still ignore her 'Like everyone else, those fucking--' and she'd still have that gnawing hole of loneliness in her gut. No amount of hissing or clawing would make gembound want to hang around with her or acknowledge how much better she was. Just like Madhukar said.

Reluctantly, the molly lowered her paw, gritting out a short "Fuck!". She didn't want to do this shitty charade anymore. She slowly back away, keeping her gaze, before turning tail and stalking away. She didn't care about the funny crystal or the snow or anything anymore, she just wanted to crawl back to her tunnel and do nothing. And so she did. The broken-tailed cat trudged through ice and flurries until she was just a black speck, and then just nothing at all.

The feather sat on the snowbank, waiting.

'Twisted', predictably, raised its claws to Madhukar. She was ready. She shifted her stance, waiting for the first strike. 'Let's see how claws do against lightning.' And here the tension was, making the air waver with its heat. And here the frost was, biting into Madhukar's back, trying to gnaw at her bones from the outside of her skin. And here Madhukar was, prepared.

And yet no strike came.

Suddenly, the masonry of this wall of fury must have quit because the next chilly breeze sent the whole tower tumbling down in the most anticlimactic way. A moment more of waiting and those claws came down. And to Madhukar's utter shock, The Cat only swore... and then left. Madhukar didn't move until it was out of sight. She didn't feel like she... could.

There was no wrongful victory. It wasn't a victory at all. No one's ego was being fed. It was just... jarring to see that imp... no, really? Had that demon Cat really just made the... right decision? No, no, Madhukar couldn't believe it. Or, maybe she could, if 'Twisted' allowed her to...?

When she got over the surprise, Madhukar came to the snowbank and found... the feather. She blinked at it for a moment. Prodded it -- 'A trick?' No. Sniffed it -- 'A joke?' Nope. Picked it up -- 'A... gift?' ...Huh.

'Well you got me there, I guess.' It still wasn't even a victory. It was so characteristically dubious and yet so uncharacteristically... what? What was it? Madhukar didn't even know.

Holding to the giant feather as tightly as she held to her own confusion, Madhukar also padded off into the distance.

Unfollowed. Alone. Thinking.

Think "Speak"