A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (open, joining)

Talon stretched his whole body, as small as it was, trying to soak up the weak beams of sunrise. His eyes were barely open as he stirred to his paws. He perked up and saw his dear friends eating the freshkill from last night. A dog carcass, it was already dead when Talon found it, but it was in good condition and now his meal for them this morning.

"Oi, Bob, good ta see ya," Talon meowed with a yawn. The tallest buzzard looked up at him for a moment before going back to his meal. There were three others surrounding the dog carcass from last night. One of them stayed close to Bob. "Ya brought ya girlfriend too, eh?"

He chuckled as the birds ate, waiting for his turn with his own kill. A mouse, about as much as anyone could ask for in leafbare. Sometimes he would try some of the scraps that the birds left behind, everything from a deer that was crushed by a twoleg monster to badger to whatever could be found.

"Boys-- uh, boys n' girls, sorry 'bout that, love..."

Once the buzzards stopped eating, he took his mouse in paw and munched away, adding, "Anyway, we must bring the message to everyone. How do ya suggest we do it?"

The birds pecked at the bones of the carcass before flying towards Clan territories. The roads always had some kill off the side of the road, but did that mean more?

One bird stayed for the last shreds of the carcass, staring Talon down. The bird squawked at him before following the others.

"That's it! The Clans... of course! Those murderers, sleeping in beds and destroying trees stolen from the birds. Covering the ground in bloodshed and not even giving offerings, worshipping fireflies in the skies... They have stolen the ancestral lands for long enough."

A devilish grin formed on Talon's face. "It's time to get the land back."

"But... I need backup. I cannot save the forest by myself, I need allies."

His face scrunched up. It was hard enough to find a cat that wouldn't kill you if you got the chance. But an uprising? That would be impossible to organize alone.

Before leaving to find allies, Talon pulled out another carcass for the buzzards to have while he was away. He grabbed his favorite feathers and piled them neatly, knowing he would be back someday.

One pawstep at a time, he happened upon an old settlement. It looked rather dilapidated, if you asked him, but the structures they managed to build were nothing short of incredible. Perhaps he too could learn to build shelters instead of hiding in tree knurls or holes in the ground.

He walked towards the center of the clearing when he felt an instinctive heat on his back.

He was being watched.

Talon trilled and clicked with his voice, an homage to the songbirds, which always helped calm him down.

Was this the beginning, or was this the end?

"Are you a cat or a bird?"

A russet tom was the first to speak, making his way into the open to face the cat. He was curious, to say the least. What kind of cat made those sounds. It was actually....pretty cool.

"Do you think you can teach me how to talk like a bird? You sound so real! No Clan cat would ever know it was me! Wait, you're not a Clan cat, are you? My Pa says Clan cats are bad, and I really don't want to fight you. You seem so cool!"

Talon turned around to face the tom, a small smirk on his face. "I'm a cat who appreciates birds."

"And to answer your question, I've not put one pawprint in the Clans."

The russet colored cat in front of him seemed completely nonthreatening, which let his guard down. "I love teaching about birds," Talon perked up, almost giddy. "Truth is, any cat can do it, it's simple enough once ya get it down."

Talon approached the other tom.

"Click with ya tongue, or try squeaking while purring. Takes some practice, but you'll get it."

The small sandy colored cat looked around the camp, wondering what else was in the shadows.

"Anyone else here, friend?"

The smell of a stranger wafted into Tarot's den, and he crept out, heading towards the source. Stalking forward he saw that Aether had already encountered the tomcat that had crossed onto their lands. They had territory markers now so either the loner was just ballsy and trying to fight them all head-on, or they were curious about joining.

He stopped beside the Hunter. Looking the stranger over, a sandy cat, wide-eyed, lithe, a possible hunter, or prowler. "I am Tarot, a leader of the Forgotten Order, and what, may I ask, brings you to our land, stranger?" His silken, snake-like voice called out, lidded eyes keen and wary.

He was entirely open to having another member join them, but first, he had to gauge what the tom was intending to do here, it'd do no good to jump to conclusions. While they were sorely lacking in numbers thanks to the Harsh leafbare, he wasn't foolish enough to accept anyone without figuring out if they could work in a group such as his.

The elegant ex-loner awaited an answer patiently, violet eyes seeming to shift hues in the light.

As Talon's conversation wrapped up with Aether, he turned to look at a more imposing cat. Tarot was his name, and he had an off-putting aura about him that Talon couldn't place.

"Good meeting ya, I'm Talon."

He shifted his paws as he looked up at Tarot. Talon hated being short but it was an advantage at times. Hopefully not needed at times like this.

"I came here looking for a group, or allies. The Clans destroy the forest, worship false gods, they have no business defiling the homeland for birds, the conquerors of the skies."

He smirked as he spoke. "When you're my size, ya have to know to take care of ya-self. Bigger idiots have tried to kill me and they've died trying. They then get ta feed the buzzards, true retribution for their folly."

"I suffer no fools, Tarot. If a job needs to be done, I will do it. The Clans are comfortable and complacent and worship little lights above like they ever cared about them. The birds are real, Tarot. They have strength and skill beyond our own. My tracking skills are the best of the best, because I learned from the birds."

"Whatever you need. Whether it's medical, or tracking, or battling. I can do the job."

Aether tried the clicking with his tongue technique, like the cat had said, but found it a lot harder than he claimed it to be. How did he even get his tongue to move like that so he could click it?

He was still trying when Tarot came up, and that instantly made him freeze. Although his eyes lit up as the cat, Talon apparently, spoke. "Oh, we are fighting the Clans too! Tarot can he join us? Please? He is so cool! Learning from birds and talking like that? The Clans would never know it was him! He could probably be a bird! Oh please can we keep him? I can train him, promise! I want to learn to be a bird too!"

Turning back to his self-proclaimed new friend, he grinned. "My name is Aether by the way!"

The stranger gave him a name, and the lithe tomcat listened keenly as Talon spoke providing a promising profile. He was a fanatic about birds, that much was obvious. There was probably a couple of screws loose in him but this was the Forgotten Order, a sanctuary for those who would otherwise be cast out of clans or groups for not fitting the ideal 'normal'. So, he hardly cared about that quirk of the sandy cat in front of him, besides, he couldn't talk, he was a cannibal.

As Talon finished Aether immediately spoke up with kit-like excitement, bringing a glint of amusement to the otherwise apathetic front of the leader. "You may end up training him, Aether, but first I'd need to discuss with Klaus what faction he would be shifted into." Turning his gaze back to the loner, he continued, "You've provided a promising profile for me, Talon, and you've found the right place to seek allies. Those foolish clans, the ones they worship are real, but they are no gods. They are mere mortals who think they've become better, more important than those still alive upon passing into death. Their rules are flawed, their beliefs are flawed, their character- flawed. They are just as flawed as the rest of us, yet they choose who deserves their unnatural favour, they play god, and one day, I intend to make sure they pay for it."

He cocked his head a dark smirk on his face. "And you, Talon, may end up being by my side on that day. I'll have to discuss if you'll truly be joining us with the second leader, Klaus, but I'm sure he'll have no issue with you joining, especially since you've gained my approval." The dark-mottled tomcat's tail twitched at that, "Until it is confirmed though, you are free to roam our land. Aether here will be showing you around, keeping an eye on you- I'm sure you'll understand." He lifted his scarred visage, "Unofficially I welcome you to the Forgotten Order, a place for those cast aside from the coils of 'normal' felines to gather in sanctuary, and perhaps plot the demise of those that have wronged them. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine." With that, he dipped his head in farewell and turned, intending to find his old friend to further discuss their new potential member in private. Aether, while a bit naive at times, could most definitely handle making the newcomer comfortable in the meantime.