What the Heck is a Starlord, Anyway? [Closed]

Each of Fallowpaw's steps leading her to her den brought a newer sense of confusion into her mind. So much had happened all in one night. Well, she'd found out so much in one night. She was still somewhat baffled by the fact that her Mentor and Leader had been keeping such an extensive secret from her for so long. She felt more hurt than mad, but not exactly because they hadn't told her. Goldeneye knew she was going to have to leave, yet she didn't have the nerve to tell her own apprentice why. She'd left Fallowpaw to carry the burden of taking care of an entire Clan, a large one at that, on her shoulders, yet she couldn't tell her why she was leaving. She shook her head as she ducked through the reeds separating her from her den, eyes immediately falling to the sleeping ginger tom in the corner. She'd been out helping her Clanmates in need, as she did every morning. "Starlord, wake up. It's time to tend to those wounds." Small paws led her to the herb storage that she'd managed to build up in Goldeneye's absence, scanning the collection with well trained eyes.

There was nothing the loner hated more than feeling stuck. Here among the reed-knit walls that seemed to be more of a challenge than ever. Even standing in the middle of camp as he faced their leader everything felt like it was pressing in on him. Everything here was apparently void of freedom. It was with much disdain and internal gripe that he finally settled down in the medicine cat's den, as they called it. That was what Gold was. She had told him all about this in their time together, this was her den. An apprentice, medicine cat in training lived here too. And this looked to be his temporary living arrangement. Only for Gold and the kits... Between his duty towards his friend and her kittens and the exhaustion that wracked his frame, Starlord had made the decision to begrudgingly settle in for the night. He was no stranger to wounds or pain, and they all seemed to think he was in worse shape than he was but the tom had to admit the journey had been long.

After all of this, Starlord had growled at the silent enemy that lurked within the camp and settled down into the nest. Sleep had been restless. Unlike the past moons where his mind had been at ease among the beautiful she-cat and her lovely little kits, this was horrible. For the entire night, it seemed like he was destined to relive the constant loss of his kin. The horrified face of Pelly as they fought their way through the storm. Rocket's eyes flashed with a rare fear. And then it was over. And he was alone. There was shivering throughout his body and not from the cold. When Fallowpaw called his name, the ginger and white loner's head snapped up almost immediately and in his still groggy sleep fixed her with an intense stare. He blinked a few times before recognition came to him. It was Goldeneye's apprentice. Fallowfoot or something. She had one of the strange clan names that he was still getting used to. Even after all the time they had spent together he still affectionately referred to the elder medicine cat as Gold.

"Wounds?" His eyes flickered back over his well-groomed coat. There were not that many marks that marred his color-patched fur. At least not compared to normal. Starlord could not hold back a soft snort of laughter. Gold was similar in her fret over the conditions of others. He supposed that was what made her good at this. With a warm smile at the younger cat, he glanced up, "I appreciate the thought, Fallowfoot, but I'm really okay. No use wasting your time on me. Did Gold put you up to this? Or is it just your nature as a medicine cat? I always found that interesting about her..." The tom's eyes lit up as he talked about Goldeneye. He trailed off and looked away as if recalling something. Thoughts of the past few moons filled his mind and there was a brief flicker of sadness as he considered that was merely a time past now.

As she picked two Dock leaves from her stores, Fallowpaw's eyes flickered back over to Starlord to see how much she'd need to apply. "Wounds. That's what I said, is it not?" The sense of irritation from the night before still lingered in her voice, but her statement was meant to be similar to a joke, even if it hadn't come out that way. As she prepared the Dock to apply to Starlord's scratches and sores, she glanced back at him as he spoke. After she spit out the bitter-tasting plant, she carried the pulp over to him, setting it at her paws as she examined the wounds. Just as she'd expected from the Loner, he'd need some Oak Leaves as well. "My name is Fallowpaw." Fallowfoot... Was that the name that Goldeneye had planned to give her? "No, Goldeneye didn't put me up to it. I guess you could say that it's my nature, I dunno." Gently, she pressed the chewed Dock into the ginger tom's scratches, mainly focusing in on the larger ones, speaking to him as she did so. She was careful not to press too hard, treating the newcomer just as she would any of her Clanmates. "And it's not a waste of time... Starlord?" A question that had very temporarily stuck in her mind the previous night. "So, what's a Starlord anyway?" She asked mindlessly, concentrating more on his wounds than anything. Despite her attention being elsewhere, she would still like to know.

With a sigh, the loner resigned. He did not feel like putting up much of a fight with the pretty, young she-cat. Starlord rolled onto his side and pressed his head to the ground, looking up to her with a cheerful glimmer in his eye. Despite the ridiculous beliefs of these strange cats, there were still some decent ones. Besides, this Fallowfoot had not been awful to him yet. Nor rot-brained like Jaystar. It was hard not to slip back into his more relaxed demeanor. The scent of the herbs was shockingly relaxing to the ginger-patched tom. Underneath it all, Gold's scent still lingered. With a deep breath, he allowed himself to take it in and relax while the medicine cat apprentice worked on him. As she moved her paws, he purred contentedly and rolled when necessary so she could get them all. Even when it stung, he simply shrugged off the wincing that he body fought so hard to do.

When she answered his words, his tail merely flicked in acknowledgment. Until she asked about his name. Starlord's head shot up to allow his bright blue gaze to meet her eyes, "What's a Starlord? Well, dear, it's me. I am a Starlord." He chuckled softly to himself before continuing, "You know the stars right? Gold told me you do. Something about them being dead cats or whatever. But I just think they're great. My father always told me they're the greatest things in all the world, watching over all us below. Probably not cats though. And lords... they used to rule everything. Great cat lords. So, I supposed I'm the lord of the stars. Sounds pretty great, doesn't it?" For a split second, he seemed to forget he was in Riverclan territory. Instead, he was standing next to Zeus, the massive orange tom, listening to the great tales and lore his loner father had probably conjured up himself. But, Starlord liked to believe it, even if it was fantastical. Rocket said their father was just nonsense anyway.

Sighing contentedly, briefly feeling a pang in his chest as he remembered his lost kin, Starlord settled his head back down on the nest and allowed the apprentice to continue her work. He figured these cats might have some inkling of similar feelings, save for their other ridiculous notions on rules. His mind wandered back to the previous night as he remembered how she had tried to break to fighting between him and Jaystar. Pelly would have done the same as Rocket tried to launch himself into the fight. Especially because the supposed leader struck him. Starlord was still shocked he had not retaliated. With a deep breath, he finally muttered, "I'm sorry for the troubles I caused you last night."

Fallowpaw relaxed a little when Starlord released the tension in his muscles, her own slowly loosening as she rolled her shoulders a bit. "Well duh, I know you're a Starlord. But what about other Starlords? What are they?" When he began talking once again, her clear blue eyes found their way to his for just a moment as he kicked off his spiel. Then, she immersed herself in the world of her herbs as she just barely listened to him, taking in everything he was saying despite how hard she was concentrating. It was something she'd learned with the apprentices- fix them up while they talked, as they seemed to go on and on about the subject at hand. It tended to distract them from what she was doing, because no matter how hard she tried, not everything she did was always painless.

When she was finished with Starlord's scratches, she met his gaze just as he was finishing his story. She breathed out, releasing a breath that she was hardly aware she'd been holding. "Lord of the Stars... Sounds cool." If she was going to be Fallowfoot, then he would be Lord of the Stars. As a look of recollection flashed briefly across Starlord's face, Fallowpaw took notice. He was thinking of something important to him, that much wasn't hard to tell. She shook it off, not wanting to pester him about it. If he'd wanted to tell her, he would have, right? She settled down in front of him, her fluffy tail laid gently over her paws. His next words shocked her. They were beyond what anyone had ever thought to say to her regarding the situation. He was sorry. Goldeneye hadn't cared to even say a word to her about last night, and Jaystar was yet to say anything to her at all. These things didn't surprise her. No, it was the fact that he'd apologized. No one had ever apologized to her before. She froze up, her muscles tense again. To any other cat, this was nothing new. But for her, she almost felt as if she were... Appreciated. Like someone had actually cared enough to think about how she must've felt.

"It... It's no big deal, really." She shook out her fur, trying to return to the way she'd felt before. But this newcomer, this loner... He had weird ways, but she couldn't help but wonder what had compelled him to apologize to her. After all, she was only a healer in his eyes. Or... No, he didn't view it that way. Before Goldeneye, he was completely clueless as to the ways of the Clans. He didn't view her as 'just a medicine cat.' To him, she was a regular cat. A being with feelings, dreams... The ways the Clan Cats had been taught were completely different than those of his own, and impressions left on kits of the Clan were far different than what he'd grown up learning. These thoughts hit Fallowpaw at once, and she immediately understood. She appreciated his gesture, her gratitude portrayed clearly through her gaze, which was now directed at the ginger tom. Her muscles untensed. "So, Lord of the Stars, how'd things go, out there? How'd you find Goldeneye?"

Once the younger cat seemed to finish her work on his various afflictions, the bi-colored tom rolled back onto his stomach and looked up at her. Part of him thought it might be more proper to sit up and speak with her yet he found himself enamored with the haunting scent of lavender somewhere in the den. It soothed him and made the appeal of the nest only that much stronger. While his mind struggled to focus on the conversation at hand and not fall into reminiscent thoughts, Starlord's bright eyes glanced up to lock with Fallowpaw's equally stunning gaze. When she echoed his statement of 'lord of the stars', the tom's maw broke into a receptive grin. That did have a nice ring to it. A moment earlier he had considered correcting her in saying that he was the only Starlord but the conversation had moved along.

It was noticeable, the way in which she received his apology. The feelings were betrayed by her voice and it sent a spark of pity through the cavity of his chest. An honest apology for wrongdoings, even if not entirely one's own, was only the proper thing to do, especially with how kindly she had treated him regardless. Was it strange to her that he extended such remorse? His mind snagged briefly onto that idea and for a moment he was wrought with worry about how this place has affected her as well. Both she and Gold were cats who deserved more than being shut up in this den, owing homage to others in a role they had not even chosen themselves. As he looked at the pale she-cat he found himself wondering what she would be like if she had not grown up inside such a place, if she had been free to dictate her own path. This was something he had often wondered with Goldeneye as he watched her while she told stories of Riverclan.

"Oh, out there?" He echoed, half trying to recollect what she had just said. It only took a moment for him to pick up what she had asked. Once Starlord's gaze refocused as well, he caught the gratitude. Any sense of guilt, mostly for what might have befallen Goldeneye and Fallowpaw as a result of his dispute with the clan leader, seemed to dissipate. With another flicker of a grin, the tom began to speak once more, "Jaystar seems to think I come from the trashlands, where I found Gold, but that's not my home. I got separated from my kin near there during a storm and have stayed for quite a while. I suppose it was luck that caused me to stumble upon her. And even better luck that I was able to care for her in that time, with a den and everything..." Although there was the usual jovial tone to his voice, hints of disdain came when he mentioned Jaystar. And there was something else that he could not help creep into his voice at the mention of Golden: longing.

Already he found himself missing the times it had been just them. Speaking to the lovely medicine cat apprentice was not awful but he wished more than anything that he had been able to convince the golden she-cat to run off with him. If they had, she would be far away from whatever was happening here. This was what she wanted. Starlord stifled a wistful sigh as he lowered his head onto his paws, glancing up at Fallowpaw so she could just barely see the whites of his eyes. After a moment, he let out a soft laugh, "It's not a secret, I suppose you can tell I'm in love with her. It's hard not to be, she is an incredible cat. When I was out there alone, being by myself was the hard part. None of the struggles of taking care of myself. Despite the loss of my kin and everything over the past few seasons, she brought something to my life that had been missing for a long time. So, it was good. I miss it."