Alone and Afraid (open)

It had only been a day since Kindleblaze had been exiled, and she'd never been more terrified in her life. So far, she'd stuck around the WindClan territory, still having been in shock and not knowing where to go, but she knew that they'd find her sooner or later, and so she'd decided to head somewhere else, away from her former clan. At first, she'd wondered if maybe another clan would take her in but quickly shook away that thought. No one would take in a cat like her.

But there was always another option… join the rogues. Of course it was crazy and in some cases even deadly, but she had nothing to lose and might as well try, even if they did want to rip her to shreds. Besides, she was a warrior. She could handle a few rogues, right?

So she'd trekked through the outskirts of the WindClan territory and even part of RiverClan's, and here she was, former WindClan warrior, standing in front of the Twolegplace, her rump quivering with fear. Strange sounds and smells overwhelmed the she-cat as she stood in the unfamiliar area, her ears flattened against her head and her tail slightly tucked under her legs as if she was a dog. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. She had no clue what to expect, no idea who these cats were or what they were really like from the few stories that she'd heard.

Continuing to second guess ever coming to weird and unnatural place, the hustling of a bush behind her made Kindleblaze jump around. "Hello?" the she-cat meowed, unsheathing her claws, and while she tried to look as powerful as possible, she was actually scared out of her mind.

Jasper hadn't seen many Wildcats around his part of twoleg place, but lo and behold there was one quivering at his pawstep. He could easily tell due to the musty heather smell on her pelt, mixed with smells of the forest. The young tom's curiosity was piqued as he watched, but as he shuffled to get a closer look he must have moved the brush or stepped on a twig which alerted the young she-cat. Huffing in irritation at his clumsiness seeing as he was relatively good at stalking for he had caught a few birds in his garden - but that was besides the point. -

"Hello there Wildcat! What brings you here?" He meowed, trotting out of the bush with sleek and long fur no collar around his neck but it was clear to any cat through the unnatural smells on his sleek and clean pelt and unmarred that he was a kittypet. "Don't you uh, have a group to be with?" Inquired the rather sweet tom. Moving his shoulders to reveal strangely strong muscles under his pelt he tilted his dark brown face, his dazzling blue eyes probing Kindleblazes.

Bat pushed aside the loose board to let Pepper through a nearby fence. She carried poppies and horsetail. He carried a fat hare with him. Brushing against her, he narrowed his eyes at the WindClan warrior, not with hostility but, uncertainty. Dropping the hare, he asked "Do your clans not have enough territory?" He brushed his tail over his mate's broken back.

Pepper placed down her herbs and looked at the younger WindClan cat with a tired look, only a few sunrises they had given up their kit. She scented the air and then hushed her mate. "Are.. are you lost?" The fear scent did not follow the guarded look that Kindleblaze showed to them. Pepper's voice was one of a cat who had found a frightened kit. Her body ached from the journey that spanned the edge of WindClan to the twolegplace but, Bat would not make the mistake of leaving the she-cat to her own harsh mind.

Claws extended and fur bristling, Kindleblaze didn't let her eyes leave the tom who emerged from the bush. From his lack of hostility, it was obvious that he probably meant no harm, but even so, she couldn’t let her guard down. Who knew what rogues were actually like? Maybe they were great con-artists! But the way he spoke had her confused. Wildcat? Was that what the rogues and kittypets called the clan cats?

Before the tall grey she-cat was able to reply, two more cats emerged from a tall Twoleg item and she snapped her head over to them, a little surprised by their sudden presence. As much as she wanted to keep acting hostile and defensive, Kindleblaze realized that she had no right in doing so. This was most likely their territory, well, if rogues even had territories, and so she needed to respect that, to some extent. Besides, she needed a place to stay and possibly some food, so how she acted would most likely determine how good they'd treat her in return, and with her heart still racing, she prayed to herself that they wouldn't chase her off.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I guess you could say that I am in fact lost," Kindleblaze spoke to the other she-cat, standing up a bit straighter and letting her muscles relax. "And no, I don't have a group to be with," she added, a slightly defeated look in her eyes as she turned back to the male. "I was a WindClan cat, but that life isn't for me anymore," 'And let's keep it at that,' she thought to herself, shaking her head. There was no need to tell them that the reason she was here was because of exile, and decided to keep things simple, for now at least.

"Well that's a pity," came a soft, raspy voice. Its owner was hidden by dark shadow, and a head poked out into the light. A ghastly figure with little fur set one good eye on the grey she-cat, but the eye was kind. His other eye, nearly blind and pearly white, had the sun's glint across it. The old cat was sitting on the cold, metal lib of a Twoleg rubbish bin, allowing his mostly bare skin reprieve from the damaging rays of the sun. Scorch tended to stay away from the other cats in Twolegplace, for a reason, though he felt sorry for this Clan cat. "Why did you leave? I'm sure they'll miss you, you look strong." His voice creaked and cracked as he shifted forwards, doing his best to look nonthreatening.

"Windclan? Ya mean those fast wildcats on the moors? You were one of 'em?" Jasper questioned, not feeling sympathetic at all for all the questions that the lost she-cat was being bombarded with. But before he got up from his position he greeted the three other rogues with a nod of his head, he knew they hung around but he never spoke to them all that much. So, getting up closer after deciding she wasn't a threat, Jasper gave her a hearty sniff before nodding to himself in agreement, as if there was anything to agree too.

"I'm Jasper by the way! I live with my housefolk! Those three don't live with any house-folk, you can tell by how scraggly they are!" Jasper joked whole-heartedly, after all, he used to be a rogue until he got picked up by the two-legs until his house-folk came across him and brought him to their den. He was grateful for their food and shelter, and the warmth was an added bonus. Shaking out his chocolate covered pelt he looked down at Kindleblaze with blue eyes probing hers once more.

"We live near there, the barn. It's open to every weary traveler. There's always mice around for food." Pepper meowed with a friendly look in her eye. 

Bat let out an offended noise at Jasper's comment. Instead of responding, he just groomed his coarse black pelt, icy gaze flickering to the sparrows chattering on a holly bush. "The storms will be coming in soon.. That means the monsters will be out more often." He meowed with an unpleasant look. Silently he was glad Kindleblaze wasn't SkyClan. He still felt unsafe around them and now he had killed one of them in the battle.

OOC: aaahhh, sorry for the wait ;A;

IC: Somewhat startled by another cat’s appearance, Kindleblaze snapped her head around in the direction of the voice to see an older cat. Sitting on some sort of big Twoleg object, he didn’t seem to be hostile, but the scars and his eye that seemed to be blind left her wondering what had happened to him. Maybe she’d just ask about it later. Turning to the Kittypet, she was a bit surprised that he was so open to being near here, but it wasn’t like she was going to complain. Besides, she needed all the allies she could get, so the least she could do was not be hostile, even though her pelt was itching with fear.

Opening her jaw to speak, she quickly shut it as the cat named Jasper spoke again, and then the other pair of rogues. Of course she couldn’t blame them for being so curious about her origins, seeing that they probably didn’t get many exiled cats wandering around these parts, but she knew that no matter how curious they were, she still couldn’t tell them the truth behind her being here. Making sure that they were done asking questions, Kindleblaze took the chance to say few words and hopefully keep the questions at bay, for now at least.

"I’m Kindleblaze," the tall, lean, dark grey she-cat started and turned her gaze back to the older cat who sat on the Twoleg item. "The reason I left is of no importance, but now that I have left, there is no going back," she mewed, trying to hide the pain in her tone. Never go back… to her clan, her friends and family. Just the thought of living alone the rest of her life was enough to drive her crazy. "Uh, nice to meet you all," Kindleblaze finished and looked back to Jasper and the others. Jasper lived with house folk, so he was obliviously a Kittypet, and the other two lived in a barn? She’d heard stories about the barn and how it always had plenty of mice, and she always wondered if it was really as wonderful as the stories made it out to be.

"So… I guess I’m a rogue now?" she chuckled softly, looking to Jasper. Although a little much for just having met, he seemed like a decent cat, while the others seemed a little more… reserved. Were all Kittypets this friendly?