Everybody Wants to Rule the World [c]

The night was calm. Serenaded by the shrill chirps of crickets, the deep thrumming of late-night frogs upon their marshy perches, Kylo made his way through ShadowClan territory. The lanky tom picked his footfalls carefully, selecting spots that would both be the safest, and that would leave the least visible trail... he wasn't here to do anything specific, tonight, but... he also didn't want to be followed, and ambushed - Kylo had learned the hard way that not every cat was like him, and most would leap into attacking before bothering to speak. Nostrils flared, the tom hesitated for a second as bitter, fresh ShadowClan scent blew to him on the light breeze. One cat. Alone.

The tip of his tail twitched.

Kylo knew all about ShadowClan. In fact, he knew all about all the clans. Or, he had. The tom was sure things had changed some, since his mother had poured all that information between his ears, but he was more knowledgeable than most rogues who stumbled upon the clans' territory. He was of ThunderClan blood, and part of him longed to go there, tonight, to seek out the family he'd never known. But he had family in ShadowClan, too... and fewer cats, he was sure, that would judge him for the sins of his mother.

He followed the scent trail on the wind, eventually leaping up on to a fallen log to see, on the other side just in the distance, a shining, moonlit pelt. Kylo tilted his head, wondering how to proceed. Surely it would be smarter to steer clear, but he wanted conversation. He wanted knowledge. His eyes on the other cat, Kylo let out a small "mrr" sound, just loud enough to be heard at the distance he was.

Moonshine had a rather large pile of prey that she had caught just tonight. A mixture of rats, frogs and lizards lie buried in a hole by the uplifted roots of a pine tree. She surprised herself at how well she was able to hunt. Shadowclan would be eating well, especially tonight. Her real test would be during leafbare, which wouldn't be happening anytime soon now. The silky-furred, white and gold she-cat had just finished burying yet another kill when a soft mew caught her attention on the wind. Moonshine's ears perked forward and her head turned to look. A lone cat was standing there... watching her. The fact that he had made himself known told her that he had no intention of harming her, and Flintstar was generally fairly accepting and... indifferent towards the presence of outsiders.

"Hello..." She meowed softly back, though her tone didn't necessarily suggest a warm welcome. She wasn't harsh or angry with him, but she didn't want just anyone to think it was okay to cross Shadowclan borders and just do what they wanted. "You're on Shadowclan territory, stranger. Is there something I can help you with?" She made sure that her shoulders lined up with his and her paws were spread casually, but evenly apart for balance. Things could turn nasty at the drop of a pine needle, and she wanted to be ready for it.

The she-cat snapped to attention immediately, not unexpected, all things considered. He was trespassing, after all. Kylo smiled, tilting his head just a bit, his oversized ears casting pointed shadows on the ground between them as the bright moon backdropped his lanky form. "I know where I am," he said, matter-of-factly. "ShadowClan lives in the marshes, and WindClan the moors, and ThunderClan in the forest..."

Confident that she wasn't going to attack him, though she certainly looked prepared to, Kylo slid neatly down off of his perch and took a step forward, lifting one paw towards his own chest and dipping his head in sort of a bow. "I know lots about the clans... but... I want to know more," he told her. The tom's dark blue eyes shone with a hungry light, and he took another step forward, his stance casual and nonthreatening. He had to learn more. His mother's anger had never made sense to him, and he was desperate to know if his gut had been right... if the clans weren't so... wrong the way he'd been raised to believe. "Tell me," he pleaded. "Tell me about ShadowClan. I..." he started, then paused, uncertain. Should he tell her? It may make her more sympathetic, more likely to share. The tom flicked his tail, troubled. "I have family there. In ShadowClan. And, my name's Kylo, by the way."

Moonshine watched the tom very carefully for even the tiniest hint of a threat. If she even suspected that he was going to attack, she was going to strike first. On the revelation that he had family in Shadowclan, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. He didn't look like Dawnhawk, but neither had Yew. Was this another of her wayward siblings that Dawnhawk so casually tossed aside like yesterday's food scraps?

"Shadowclan hunts at night. We are masters of the shadows and darkness. The other clans can't even compare." It was all she was willing to tell him for now, since it seemed he knew more than just a run of the mill rogue did. She knew a similar amount to how much she did when she was still in the Asylum... and that was enough to make her wonder. "I'm Moonshine... I was Ivory before I joined Shadowclan. Who is here that is your family?"

Kylo's eyes sparkled with a mixture of amusement and interest, and he sidled a bit closer. "You are quite the proficient hunter," he complimented her. The loner fell back to his haunches, long tail curling around his paws. At her question, he tilted his head a bit, expression going a bit more guarded. "I... shouldn't say," he said. "It's not that I don't want to, I just..." his head tilted the other way. "I don't know you... and, I don't want to get anyone in trouble..."

Eager to redirect the conversation, he jumped back in. "Were you born in ShadowClan? Are your parents great warriors? Do the clans fight, often?"

Moonshine was at least appreciative of the rogue's honesty. She shrugged before continuing to speak. "I was an outsider and was accepted into Shadowclan. Flintstar is fairy reasonable. Unless you've got serious crimes in your past and a significant bounty on your head, I imagine you'd be fine." Now she watched his reaction carefully. She wouldn't be hostile unless he gave her a good reason to be. "My parents weren't part of Shadowclan either... and as far as I know, I have been told they were both great warriors in their own right. I've been here a few moons and talk of war is not on the horizon. Are you considering joining a clan?"

Flintstar. That was a cool name. He knew that cats with -star in their name were leaders, and that made sense with what Moonshine was telling him. The rogue walked out his forelegs, until his belly was touching the damp ground beneath, and relaxed there in an attempt to put her at ease. The warrior seemed a little tense, and Kylo had no inclination to fight.

He looked up at her, smiling. "Serious crimes? No. I've never hurt anyone that hasn't tried to hurt me, first," his tone was earnest, and after a moment, Kylo flopped over on to his side, curling a paw against his chest and outstretching the other foreleg. "My parents are from ThunderClan," he told her after a moment, dark eyes studying her. "But I never lived there." The tom heaved a sigh, rolling his shoulders back in a halfhearted shrug. "I... haven't told this to another cat, before. Don't know why I'm telling you."

Kylo fixed his eyes on Moonshine. "Is it better to be in the clan, than out?" He hadn't expected her admission of being a non-clan cat before, too - perhaps she had a unique perspective on it. "My mother always told me that I was better off out here, taking care of myself. She said that the clans didn't even follow their own rules, and... they bring suffering to those who don't deserve it." This was the part that Kylo wanted to know, the most. Stories of starry cats had haunted him since the day he was old enough to understand them. "Is StarClan real?" he asked. "Do they hurt the ones who don't follow their code?"

Moonshine watched as Kylo approached and.... exposed his belly by turning over onto his side. Well... definitely not the behavior of a cat that wanted trouble. She felt tension leave her shoulders that she hadn't been aware of until now. She turned her head to the side a bit at the news that his parents were Thunderclanners. Yet he had family in Shadowclan? She needed to talk more with her clanmates then, because she didn't have a clue who Kylo was talking about. Before she could inquire further, he spoke again with more questions and... more information.

"I have always found clan culture fascinating, though I was told by my birth colony that they were savages. They were wrong. I wouldn't say the clans are any more or less savage than my birth colony." She did thump her tail on the ground a few times in thought... how much should she tell?

"I'd really like to know who your parents were Kylo... but that's fine if you'd like to keep it a secret." It wasn't like she knew many Thunderclan cats anyway... or even Asylum cats that had been stationed there. "The clan cats aren't perfect and as with all cats everyone is different. I try my best not to judge. Starclan is very real... and I have only ever heard of one instance where a small part of Starclan actually hurt those who broke the code. It was a small segment of radical Starclan cats that the more moderate Starclan cats fought off, but I wasn't there for that. I wasn't even born yet. Even in Starclan, everyone is different, I suppose."

After a moment of letting her information sink in, Moonshine decided it was time to start asking her own questions. "So two Thunderclan cats had you... but you have never been in Thunderclan and were on your own... your mother didn't seem to like the clans... Are you the kit of an exiled cat?" He wasn't alone, if he was.

The loner's large ears were trained on Moonshine as she spoke, his eyes watchful and curious. So StarClan was real... It was something he'd been dubious about ever since the idea of ghostly cats was presented to him, but now here he was with another cat confirming it - one who had no reason to lie to him. His brow furrowed a bit as he thought about that. Rainstrike's motives had always seemed bizarre to Kylo... she'd been angry at cats in the sky, and the ones upon the ground that obeyed them... truth be told, he'd thought she was a little crazy.

But now he knew that she had been telling the truth, and that realization made him feel more conflicted than he'd anticipated.

The tom brought a rear leg up to scratch behind his ear, lost in thought for a moment before eventually Moonshine posed her own query. He studied her, head tilting gently to the side. "My mother was an exile," he confessed. "My... father, is dead. Well. They both are, now, but... yeah,"

Another moment of silence, "Do you think StarClan knows about me, too? Since my parents were clan cats?"

Well her detective skills were on point. It did make her sad to hear that Kylo's parents were both dead, however, and her ears airplaned out on both sides of her head with guilt. She didn't know what to say for a good few moments, but Kylo at least changed the subject and made it easier for her. "I'm sure they do. They seem to know everything about the world... and even have advice for problems going on on in the inside as well." She had seen a few cats with inner turmoil go speak to Starclan and come out with a bit more pep in their step.

"I am sorry to hear that though Kylo. I shouldn't have pried... I hope you understand though. While Shadowclan is fairly tolerant of outsiders, I still feel it is my job to make sure you're at least not... dangerous or otherwise going to bring complications here." The excuse sounded lame once it left her mouth. Definitely sounded much better in her own head. Protecting her clan came first, and sometimes that meant making the hard decisions.

"I'm not sure what else I can do for you except to offer information, but I'm still fairly new to the clan life as well."

"It's alright," Kylo assured her, offering a lopsided smile, tail flicking as she mentioned making sure he wasn't dangerous. The loner laughed, lifting a paw and spreading his toes, his claws sliding out to glint in the pale moonlight. He looked at them, remembering the blood they'd shed in his lifetime so far - only in self defense, of course, and the looked past them, to Moonshine.

"Anything with teeth, with claws... dangerous," he told her, meeting her eye and for the first time since they'd met, he looked serious. "I don't mean any harm to your clan," he said after a moment of tense silence, and he dropped his paw back to the ground before rolling to his feet, shaking the scraps of moss away from his fur. Kylo sighed quietly. "You have given me more information than I expected, so do not feel badly. I... don't know why I came here, to be honest. Partly, it was to look for my brother, but... I guess part of it was the allure of not having to be alone anymore, too." His ears flickered, and his expression softened into gratitude. "I leave with more questions than I arrived with, but also, hopefully, with a new friend," Kylo dipped his head to Moonshine. "I am sorry for trespassing, but... I won't lie and say I won't do it again, if it means I get to speak with you... or more like you."

Moving casually, he passed Moonshine, gently touching her shoulder with the tip of his tail as he passed. "Farewell, Moonshine. I hope the rest of your hunt is as successful as mine was."