[dionysus]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

Her sudden exclamation made Barracuda start, but he nodded a moment later. "Well, let me know if they ever do. I know how to handle a saboteur... and we wouldn't want someone as pretty as you getting involved in such a rough business, now would we?" Barracuda's silky purr sounded out, flattering as ever, but there was an underhanded struggle in it. She had never been sabotaged? Either her housefolk kept a close eye on her or she wasn't very hard to beat. And a show cat that wasn't hard to beat didn't deserve to be there. Competition was one of the three reasons Barracuda liked competing, the other two being winning and attention. Even a show cat had his limit, but Barracuda's was pretty high. He tolerated lots of attention. "Oh thank you, Bubbles! You've just made my night." In more ways then one, that was true.

Right now the tom was practically scheming... thinking of ways to get the collar, of ways to win Bubbles' affection so that he could break her heart later on (his favorite activity), and ways to find out why she had never been sabotaged. If she was a good show cat, well... Barracuda was confident he could find somebody who was just itching to make that she cat lose. And if she wasn't, well, he would keep her around for a while. The tom could use some pathetic, naive little cheerleader who was willing to stand by his side win or lose and make him feel better. And besides, she was pretty... a pretty cat was one thing that never failed to cheer the tom up. He would need her even more if he ended up competing against Iris at his next cat show.

Despite what the humans might think, it was a cutthroat world for the competing cats - impossible to tell who would win and lose until the last second, and there were saboteurs everywhere. Barracuda never risked it... he would always find someone willing to do the dirty work for him. And he was never blamed, despite the cutthroat name that he sported. Honestly? The tom lived up to his name. Preying on the emotions of she cats, nobody stood in his way, he was a predator - the predator of the cat show world. Almost everyone knew that he was not to be trifled with despite his lies and acts. Almost everyone who had stood up to him before, that was. Anyone else? They would soon learn if they dared to defy him.

Right now Bubbles was doing just what he wanted. Another naive victim, one that would soon be in love with him, one that he would soon be able to manipulate into doing what he wanted. Into doing whatever he wanted. Soon, Bubbles would be nothing but another helpless puppet, putty in the tom's paws... and Barracuda would have won once again. That was, if she wasn't too stupid to fall in love with him.

Bubbles was still a bit concerned by Barracuda and only nodded both times he spoke. She was naive, sure, but not stupid. Her naivety came from being too sheltered, once she was cheated once, she would surely grow up quickly enough. The molly walked briskly in the direction of her home, not quite trotting (as it wasn't lady-like) but moving swiftly. Her thoughts moved just as swiftly. Bubbles had heard about cats that tried to lead others astray. Bubbles had never met one, but this Barracuda could be one...No he seemed far too friendly. If only it was easier to see which cats were good and which weren't!
They made it to her home in good time and Bubbles led the way through the cat door wordlessly and up into the cat room. Bubbles had the run of the house but preferred to stay in the cat room where she had all her toys, blankets, beds, and collars. However, she wasn't sure if she was or if her housefolk would be comfortable with Barracuda staying in the same room. So, she led the tom to another room, the housefolks' guest room, and said, "You can stay in here. They don't usually use this room. Good night." With a brisk nod, the molly hurried to her own room and curled up in her favorite cat bed atop a cat tower in the corner of the play room.