no easy answers

Thalia was, despite the lingering sense of apprehension toward her captors, still a kit - curious by nature, insatiably so, and it was this insatiable curiosity that found her observing the place she'd somehow found herself in. Seeking whatever answers she could find, and whatever questions she might need to ask in order to find them - the matter of explaining things wasn't something she understood all that well, admittedly; she was young enough still that she typically took whatever an elder cat told her as the truth and didn't dare question further.

But she found herself now in a strange place, with strange cats and a strange name, one that didn't yet feel quite her own; and she was told to feel at home here. She wasn't sure how she was meant to do that, exactly, and she was - though she would never admit it - too afraid to ask. The elder cats seemed strong and serious, even if they hadn't been unkind, and she wondered if they would be angry if they heard her question that kindness.

For once, Roe wasn't attached to Theron's side. He sighed softly as he padded through the camp, whiskers twitching. It was a bit of a relief to be away from her, a chance to breath and reflect on things but it also left the question of what to do. His Captain had been called away for a meeting - no doubt some talks about how to sort the kits or something like that...Or maybe just planning for the future, he didn't know. It wasn't his place to know, he just...He just had to do what was ask of him and make sure all of his family was safe. While he was pacing aimlessly, something caught his eye and he came to a stop to stare off to see Thalia, looking a little... Dejected? The Nightstriker hesitated as he stood there, torn between what to do, but finally he took in a deep breath and approached, giving the kit a soft smile. "Hey there, little fella," he purred, taking a seat about two tail-lengths away from her. "How you dealing with everything? I-I know its a lot, but its for the best."

At the sound of a voice very clearly directed at her, Thalia turned her head to look at the source. She wondered, briefly, if she should keep quiet - but he had asked, and... What was it? Roe... Yeah, that was his name, wasn't it? And Roe hadn't done anything scary - the scary one, the cat he was with before, was nowhere to be seen now. "How are we supposed to feel like we belong here? I've never felt like I belonged anywhere."

What apprehension she felt melted away, or perhaps just became easier to ignore, as she kept talking. "I don't know how to be a Thalia, and I don't want to disappoint anyone..."

...Ah. Roe blinked as the young she-cat admitted her feelings, her doubts about this whole situation. It was a heavy subject - far to heavy for a young lass like her but... He wasn't surprised, this whole situation was...Weird for them, as it had been for him. "You do belong here," he responded as he scooted a tad bit closer, tail-nub twitching as he struggled for the words. "It...Its hard, I know. I didn't feel like I belonged when I brought in as a kit. But...Everybody in Asylum as a use - we all work together to spread our knowledge, protect each other and bring more into the fold. Most of the cats here? They weren't part of the original Asylum, not like Captain Theron. The Captains, they will find a perfect spot for you," he explained, scratching at his chin. "And there is no 'a' Thalia. That isn't how our names work - every cat is unique, every name is as well. There is no other Thalias. There is just you - and you just...You just gotta be you, that is what matters. You won't be a disappointment cause we will find the perfect spot to put you in, you hear?"

Spark watched the two cats, Thalia and Roe, speak from a distance. Thalia, like him, had a different name before being part of Asylum. She was Laurelkit, and he was Flamekit. But that wasn't who they were anymore. Her name was now Thalia, and his name was now Spark. Although some of the other kits didn't like Asylum, he embraced it. It seemed much better than the clans were when he was young. He could do anything, maybe even speak his mind and get away with it... no, that would still be too risky to attempt. He will just stay quiet while listening to the other cats talk. Thalia seemed to be talking on how she was worried that she would not belong, and Roe tried calming her down by saying that she would always have a place in Asylum somewhere. Spark himself hoped that maybe, somehow, his ability to listen would come in handy. There's probably something that it could be useful for.

Thalia blinked up at Roe, eyes wide; unaware that she was being observed by her fellow kit. If she'd noticed, she likely would have fallen quiet; but she'd come too far to stop the questions now. "How do you tell where we're supposed to belong? What if there's no place here where I fit in? What happens then?"

(What if, she thought, I'm not good enough for you, either?)

She didn't want to doubt these cats, who had been kind to her so far, when Roe had answered her questions honestly and kindly; but she couldn't keep those doubts to herself now that she'd been given an avenue to express them.

In that moment, however, she made a resolution: that she would do her best to be worthy of this chance; of the name that she'd been given and the part she was told she was meant to play.

Ah, she was curious about the sorting project. It wasn't an easy thing to answer, he didn't know the details of it. Theron had openly talked with her ideas on which kits would make good Nightstrikers but he wasn't...Fully sure what she saw in them, she tended to keep that part of her thinking a secret. He opened his mouth, taking in a deep breath when he stopped...Feeling his fur prickle under somebody's watch. He glanced around until his gaze landed onto Spark. Ah, it seemed the other kits weren't far. Not wanting to leave the kit out, he raised a paw and motioned for Spark to join the pair, giving him a soft smile.

"That...That isn't an easy thing to answer," he admitted, finally turning his attention back to Thalia. Finding your kits' place is my job - that is Captain Theron's job....Along with Eris and the other Captains of course. But...Uh, I do know that they keep an eye on you - how to behave, what you are good at, skill wise. O-Of course that part will come in when you guys actually start your light training before getting sorted. But there are three groups. Nightstrikers, Scouts and Standards. Every one is vital, everybody is important. And you will always have a place - even the...Well, there is a sub group of the Nightstrikers," he said, scuffing at the ground with a paw. Truth be told, Pelt Wards were at the bottom of the pecking order them, not a...Luxury role but important nonetheless. He just knew that most cats wanted to be more than a Pelt Ward.

"The Pelt Wards - they help keep our pelts in good shape. They are the cats who don't...Uh, fit anywhere else. B-But even they are important members of our group! Like Pelt Ward Koshin is the only remaining cat of Captain Theron's original group. He was the only one other than to her survive their last mission but she still liked him enough to keep him assigned to her even after she became Captain and started to make a new group." He blinked, a soft nervous laugh escaping him. "Oh, don't tell the Captain that I told you that. She doesn't like people talking about...Uh, her old group."

"Oh, hush. Theron will be fine." The tortoiseshell patched tabby mewed, emerging from behind the shrubs separating the kits from the rest of camp. "Roe is correct, little Thalia. Everyone has a place here, isn't that wonderful?" Eris padded over next to Roe, settling herself between the Nightstriker and the little kits. "I can tell you a bit about the factions, hmm?" She glanced over at Spark, and motioned with her tail for the young tom to join them, as Roe had. "Come on over, this is something that you should be learning, too." She purred gently, scooting over a bit to make room for the kit.

"A secret?" Thalia asked, tail twitching in excitement. Her worries seemed to fade with that thought, that she was trusted with something that was meant to be kept secret; it wasn't enough to erase them completely, but they were certainly forgotten for the moment. "I'll keep it, I promise! You can count on me! But, um... What's a captain?"

The word had been tossed around: Captain Theron, Captain Koshin; but she wasn't sure what, exactly, a Captain was. Was it like a leader?

And then Eris arrived, assuring her again that she would find a place to be; and offering to explain the - factions, she called them; Thalia filed that word away for now. Hopefully she would understand it better when Eris was done explaining. For now, though, she settled in to listen, wanting to be the best that she could.

As the conversation went on, Spark was sitting in the distance. The tall kit listened as Thalia explained her concerns about how useful she would be as part of Asylum, and Roe went on to comfort her by saying that every cat would eventually have their own role. Also, he noticed me. That is not ideal. There were three roles in Asylum, it seemed. Nightstrikers, Scouts, and Standards. Roe had mentioned the Nightstrikers before, and how they were the cats who defended Asylum. If Spark remembered correctly, Roe was a Nightstriker himself. Then Roe mentioned about Pelt Wards, a subdivision of the Nightstrikers who cleaned the Nightstrikers' pelts. Spark didn't want to be assigned a Pelt Ward, since he thought that he could fit in at least one of the three main factions. I guess that maybe I could be a Scout, if it means what I think it means.

What intrigued him next was the mention of a specific Pelt Ward that Theron liked, more specifically the fact that it had to be kept a secret. Cool. I learned something new. When Eris walked to the group, she reinforced what Roe said, which confirmed that it wasn't just Roe who believed that. The fact that Eris beckoned him to go with them was... not something that he would have liked to do, but both she and Roe called him, and they didn't seem to be that bad of cats. Carefully, he walked away from the shadows to the clearing, sitting down next to Eris.

Roe froze, fur prickling at the soft voice of Eris spoke up behind him, slowly turning to look at her as she approached. She...Didn't seem like she was going to tell Theron about his mention of her previous team and Thalia seemed really interested. Well, if Eris was going to handle the talk about the fractions - which he was fine with, he suppose that she would have better insight in how they worked than his looser understanding - he could take the 'Captain' talk...And maybe tell the kits a little more about why they were here.

"Oh! Uh...Every group has a ranking system, as seen by a number of scars in certain areas," he explained, turning his head and raising his paw to the two neat scars that ran down his cheek. "For example, we Nightstrikers get scars on our left cheek. I'm a Rank Two cat - so that is why I have two. But it goes up to four. Captains, the head of each of the three branches, are the only cats with four - and only The Head - Eris, here, ranks above them. Theron recently becoming Captain only happened a couple seasons ago. As for the 'secret'..." he paused, hesitating as he turned to look at Eris, suddenly realizing how awkward of a conversation this became with her...Connection to that group. But...He suppose he would just have to tread carefully. "...This isn't Captain Theron's first time in this territory. Her group had been send to scope out new territory, to find communities to bring under our paws. They found the Clans - er, WindClan, mostly. They were doing...Tests, getting an idea for the strength of the cats and trying to weaken them. But...Um...Things went wrong and Theron - and the Pelt Ward Koshin - were the only survivors." His ears slicked back, bunching his shoulders as he shook his head.

"Captain Theron is really going to kill me if she hears me telling you all this but... I know she is still really upset about it. She cared for everybody on her team in her own way and she holds herself accountable for their deaths. Nightstrikers should never hunt alone and yet she was the only survivor of her pack - just because she had to complete her mission and report back to Asylum. She really misses them...And so mentioning their names is a bit of a sore subject around her."