RPGTopia

"The thick band of stars that stretches across the sky every night," Mistpool meowed, gesturing upward with her nose. "When one of us dies, we gain a place there as a star."

"I thought those lights were just...lights," Eli meowed quietly, staring thoughtfully at the rocky wall of the den. "Will...will I be a star?" he asked, looking up at Mistpool as if he feared the answer.

"Having fun?" Firestreak meowed to Shadowsoul, smirking as he watched the other tom's ears flick back and forth. The orange tabby hadn't wandered far since his departure from the den, but hadn't noticed his clanmate's sudden interest in the conversation within until that precise moment.

"Much. You should try it. You'd be surprised how amusing it can be" purred Shadowsoul with a smirk as he continued listening, enjoying the path the conversation had taken. Having experienced life outside of the Clans and the ideology that they maintained, he knew what questions may be brought up, and the thought of listening to Mistpool try and produce answers to some of them was both intriguing and entertaining...

"Maybe one day, little one," Mistpool mewed gently. "It would be arrogant to assume only Clan cats make up Silverpelt. But you don't need to worry about that now - you've got seasons and seasons ahead of you," she added comfortingly.

Eli gave the medicine cat another unsure smile. "Thank you," he meowed simply. Mistpool had tended to his injuries and answered all his questions. What more could he ask for?

"Ever the loner," Firestreak mewed with a dramatic sigh. "Things like 'privacy' and 'cats taking offense' never really occur to you, do they?" he asked, only half joking.

"There's never any harm in expanding one's knowledge, my dear Firestreak. I would not presume to eavesdrop on their conversation if I felt they may be offended by it" purred Shadowsoul with a chuckle...

"If you say so," Firestreak meowed, unconvinced. The orange tabby hesitated. "...So, did you learn anything juicy?"

"Not much we don't already know" responded Shadowsoul as he kneaded his paws into the grassy earth, continuing. "This kit has undoubtedly never met a Clan before. I would say he's either a kittypet, or loner, most likely from quite a long way from Clan territory. No idea how he got here though. He's completely unaware of Starclan, and doesn't even know the meaning of common words we use, like Silverpelt. I know most Loners and Rogues are at least familiar with those terms, even if they don't always use them, so the presumption would be that he hasn't even met local loners and rogues" growled Shadowsoul stoically as he toyed with a beetle scuttling through the grass under his paws. "Not ones in a speaking mood, anyway" he added grimly as he batted the beetle sideways as it crawled out of the grass and onto his paw, the insect smacking against the side of the den before tumbling pathetically back towards him...

"Sounds rough," Firestreak replied, frowning. "Especially for a cat that young. If he is a kittypet, he definitely should have known not to come this far into the forest by himself," he meowed, figuring Shadowsoul's reasoning was sound enough to rule out the young feline as a loner or rogue, at least from their own region.

"Not all kittypets are happy with the life they're born into...The heart of a warrior can never be satisfied by the fawning attention and witless handling of a two-leg. Could be he ran from his old home in search of something more...substantial. Or, perhaps he was chased away from his old home by dogs. I've dealt with them and their kin enough to know they can be rather...persistent" growled the black bengal lowly, particular emphasis being placed on the last word, the tom remembering that fateful night when he lost his only remaining family...

"You got all that from eavesdropping?" Firestreak meowed with a chuckle. "This little refugee is a kittypet with a warrior spirit! We must set him free!" the orange tabby yowled dramatically and sarcastically, giving Shadowsoul a sly smirk.

Shadowsoul shook his head as he sighed, returning the smirk with one of his own. "I said it COULD be the case...You need to pay closer attention, Firestreak" he purred, before suddenly batting the beetle he'd been toying with at the tom, striking it at an angle so the insect soared right at Firestreak's face...

Firestreak fumbled for a few moments with the beetle, the struggle eventually culminating with a swift and decisive paw strike that sent it soaring away. "I never was the most attentive cat in my apprentice moons," he admitted, smiling with feigned innocence.

Mistpool poked her head out of her den, all the yowling making her wonder what was going on this time. As she spotted Firestreak and Shadowsoul, she gave a mock-scowl and shooed the toms away, meowing, "Don't you two have better things to do than disturbing the peace?" Shadowstar, who was approaching from the other direction, ducked the beetle and added dryly, "Or traumatizing bugs?"

"Oh, I'd hardly call it a disturbance. We're only conversing, afterall" purred Shadowsoul with an innocent, if somewhat unnerving smile. "But, if you insist..." he added, getting up from his spot seemingly reluctantly. "...I suppose I can choose another lounging spot until my services are next required" he continued, beginning to make his way into the centre of the camp...

Firestreak meowed a quick "sorry" to Mistpool and followed after Shadowsoul. "So what is going to happen to the kit now?" he meowed to Shadowstar, stopping a few tail lengths away. "Er, that is, if you don't mind filling me in, illustrious leader," he added with another sheepish grin.

Shadowstar hummed thoughtfully, eyeing the medicine den entrance. "It's hard to say until I've spoken to him," she meowed. "But I think it's a safe guess that Mistpool won't let him out of her sight until he's fit to walk at the very least. For now, he will be treated as a guest." She closed her eyes briefly, trying to guess how long it would take for the kit's wounds to heal. A moon? Longer? How long would the Clan tolerate the stranger's presence? Fixing her gaze back on Firestreak, she added, "I've already told Falconflight to tell the patrols to watch their step and report back if they find anything unusual, but I think he wanted a word with you and Shadowsoul."

"Right," Firestreak meowed obediently, in a sudden shift in attitude. The young tom knew when to get serious, if nothing else. "Shadowsoul, you got that? Falconflight's expecting us!" he called over his shoulder in the direction the former ShadowClan warrior had been heading. Firestreak ended the conversation with the ThunderClan leader with a respectful bow and broke into a trot, intent on catching up with the other tom.

ThunderClan's deputy was finishing up instructing the rest of the patrols scheduled to go out that day not far from the Highrock, punctuating his orders with a lash of his tail now and then.

Shadowstar nodded back to the young warrior and stepped through the ferns into Mistpool's den. The blue-gray tabby bit back an exasperated sigh and quickly dipped her head to the Clan leader, meowing, "Shadowstar." "How is the little one?" the darker tabby asked, tipping her head to one side. "I believe he can answer that himself," Mistpool replied, turning to Eli and giving him an encouraging nod.

The tom looked over his shoulder, his ears swivelling to keep pointing towards the younger Warrior. "Is he now? Well, Starclan forbid we keep him waiting. Onwards! Let us go forth, and other such motivational babble" purred the black Bengal in a bored, droning tone, a smirk meeting Firestreak's approaching form, breaking what would otherwise have seemed to be a very convincing disinterest in duty. He didn't yet move from where he stopped, wanting to wait until the ginger tom was at his side before heading towards Highrock...