Don't Make Me Be the Bad Guy [OPEN]

Ichtaca let out a long sigh of relief, glad that her Nightstrikers had decided to slack off that day. They had been in the shadows of the camp from sunrise to sunhigh, and she was on the verge of falling asleep from not moving when someone finally decided to suggest for them to take the rest of the day off in secret.

Taking advantage of that, she had done some pleading to leave and had by some miracle gotten it approved. She knew that meant that she would probably be in the clan cats' position by now, being the one getting watched by the Nightstrikers. She probably wouldn't have it easy after returning, but she didn't exactly want to continue sitting there.

Besides, Ichtaca wanted to check out everyone else in camp. She wanted to get to know them a little better, and...well, if she wanted to get out of there, she'd have to get to know the ShadowClan cats more.

Murkystrike hesitated, staring at the strange Asylum cat that was sitting nearby. She had been watching her out of the corner of her eye, and the other she-cat had just seemed to be... Watching. Not necessarily even actively waiting for something, just watching. After a few more heartbeats, the she-cat rose and padded over to the fresh kill pile, snagging a fresh-ish lizard and a fat toad. Tentatively, she carried the two over to the she-cat, setting them down in front of her without meeting her gaze. "...Do you prefer lizard or toad? Or is there something else you'd like more?" She mewed, finally raising her gaze to meet the Asylum cat's. She didn't particularly want to do this, but perhaps getting to know this... Well-numbered foe would be the secret to eventually beating them.

When Murkystrike opted to approach with a toad and lizard and ask about which one Ichtaca preferred, Ichtaca was a little confused for a moment. Was it tradition for these cats to greet one another with food? Then she decided that she didn’t need to think about that. A conversation starter was a conversation starter, and she would take that.

“Truthfully speaking? I think I like lizards better. I like their sort of crunchy feel, and toads taste…For lack of a better word, yucky.” Ichtaca replied, pulling a face. “Besides, a weak runt like me is better at hunting lizards.”

This was Ichtaca’s main strategy when it comes to asking other people about things or making them feel close. She share as much information about herself as possible, usually information that by all common knowledge should be heavily confidential. And she usually tries to slip it into her sentences casually. Of course, it was possible that the other cat wouldn’t pick up on it at all, which would be awkward.

Ichtaca sniffed at the lizard again and gave Murkystrike an encouraging grin. “You know, the one good thing about being in the Asylum is that I get to live to see another day. I have food, I have protection, and that’s…like literally all there is. Can’t figure out how some other cats seem to think the Asylum is family to them. They literally took away my family.” She continued on in her nonchalant tone, but suppressed it to be softer. A flame of rage lit within her eyes as she talked, though she suppressed most passion. Hopefully she wasn’t talking to one of those Asylum fangirls. However, from how Murkystrike had looked at her earlier, she wasn’t like that.

Ichtaca then realised she hadn’t yet shared her name. “Oh! Pardon me. My name’s Ichtaca.” She added with a smile.

The young warrior nodded slightly in response. "Toads aren't so bad once you get used to them. I've heard the other clans refuse to eat them unless necessary, but we have so many here. You can even dig them up out of the ground in leaf-bare, I've been told." She ignored the comment about being weak, but it did peak her interest. The she-cat continued, but as she spoke about Asylum Murkystrike couldn't help the darkness that covered her expression. However, a sudden confession made her ears perk up, and she blinked before nudging the lizard closer to the Asylum cat, bringing the toad closer to herself. "I'm sorry to hear that." Murkystrike mewed finally. "Do you want to talk more about it, Ichtaca?" The name sounded foreign, and was even more foreign to try to say, but the young warrior forced it out. "I'm Murkystrike."

Ichtaca flicked an ear, glancing at the Nightstrikers hovering around. Well, she was just telling a story, so it should be fine.

“My parents died when I was pretty young. I was saved by a group of Rogues who tried to help those who are weaker, like me. They were the most family to me I had ever known.” Ichtaca started, her voice loud enough for the Asylum cats to hear. She didn’t want them interrogating her later on about what she was whispering to a Clan cat about. After all, the Nightstrikers who were in her group all knew her well enough to know she is not the happiest with the Asylum.

“They-well, we-took in a lot of cats with disabilities. Blind cats and deaf cats made up like half of the group. Underdeveloped runts, like me, also made it in. I recall one cat having this syndrome that made him have horrible balance and keep running into trees-even worse than my already horrible disability. There were also a few healthy cats who had volunteered to join. We could all empathise with one another, even the healthy cats. We learned to cover up one another’s weaknesses. There’s this blind-deaf combo of two cats who covered each other’s disability with their own ability. It was a great group to be in. We had no official name, though.”

“Then, well, the Asylum attacked us. As you can guess, we were no match for the well-trained and strong cats of the Asylum. Some of us were slaughtered mercilessly. Those who weren’t killed were either forced to run or had to join them.”

“While I would have happily run off, I couldn’t. I’m not strong enough to survive on my own in the wild. I’m the kind of cat who can barely take five steps without stumbling. I knew I had to join the Asylum in order to survive. So…I did.” Ichtaca let her tail coil in around herself and sighed. She blinked back her tears.

As the Asylum cat spoke, Murkystrike settled on the ground to eat her toad methodically. Her ears remained perked and focused on Ichtaca, even as her eyes occasionally dropped to the prey she was eating quietly. As she spoke, the young warrior couldn't help but feel sorry for the she-cat, it sounded like she had a clan of her own, of sorts, and it had been ripped apart. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she wondered to herself if this was just the first part of Asylum's plan. Get into the camps, fully learn the territory and ranks of the clan, then rip them apart from the inside. Her tail slapped the ground once as she considered the possibility, tucking that information away to pursue further another day. For now.... Turning her eyes back up to the other she-cat, Murkystrike tilted her head sympathetically. "I'm sorry to hear what you've been through. It must have been horrible, and a very difficult decision." She murmured, left ear flicking as she became acutely aware of the listening ears surrounding them.

Ichtaca was thankful for Murkystrike’s attempt to comfort her. At least she was the kind of person who cared for her. Her head bowed, she responded with a ”Thanks.”

”Also, since we aren’t exactly talking about anything against the rules-I’m just, well, telling you the story of my life-it’s probably best to speak loud enough for those…guys to hear. I agree, having someone listen in on conversations is annoying, but I’m guessing neither of us want to spend time being questioned on what we were talking about…” She added to Murkystrike, as a sort of advice. Hopefully it didn’t sound like she was upset about it, because she wasn’t.

”And yeah, it was horrible to have to go with these guys instead of my family. I was supposed to learn to kill, or at least fight. Since, as you can see, I’m much too weak to, I ended up as a Pelt Ward. Which are, well, basically servants to the Nightstrikers. Some cats may say that the Nightstrikers take care of their Pelt Wards, but for lack of a better word that wouldn’t get me yelled at-change of mind, I’ll probably get yelled at just for telling you this, but my Nightstrikers aren’t exactly friendly or nice to me.”

“I’m not going to mention what, exactly, but it’s not really as bad as you may be thinking.” Ichtaca was sure that a big reason for why she disliked the Nightstrikers so much was because she already had a bad impression of the Asylum, and they served to make it worse.

Murkystrike blinked hesitantly before nodding. "I understand. It's true, I don't particularly want to spend my time being questioned when I could be doing something useful, I suppose." She purred, keeping her voice loud enough for those nearby to hear, silently hoping they'd take some offense to it. The she-cat continued, and Murkystrike frowned. "Maybe... I can help? I've never had an apprentice before, but the clans are different. ShadowClan especially, we use our wits in battle, and excel in the cover of darkness. Perhaps just fighting face to face isn't your specialty, but not all fights are about strength. Wit and knowing your enemy is just as important as brute strength. I could show you some things I know, if you'd like? That way you can at least defend yourself, if something would happen... With leaf-bare approaching, I've heard that predators get more brave since they're as hungry as we are."

”You can teach me to hunt without being disadvantaged by my weakness?!” Ichtaca exclaimed, excited. If she was able to learn some hunting strategies from Murkystrike, maybe she could finally get away from the Asylum. Then whatever they did would no longer be any of her business. She could finally be free from them!

She then quickly lowered her voice. ”Sorry, I was just very excited. It would be awesome if you could teach me that! I could come with you on a patrol? And then you could teach me? It should be fine for just me to accompany you-“ She was getting very excited over this. Honestly, one couldn’t blame her for being so excited over the prospect of freedom.

"I can certainly try, Ichtaca." Murkystrike mewed, eyes lightening with the other she-cat's excitement. "We may have to try a few different things, to work out what is best for you, but I promise I'll do what I can to help. Hunting and fighting aren't only about brute strength, and I want to help." The young warrior smiled at the Asylum cat, feeling oddly drawn to her. Shaking her head as Ichtaca apologized quickly, she purred. "Please don't apologize for being excited, I understand. That sounds good to me, I'll come find you when I'm about to go out next, and we can work together then! I look forward to it." Murkystrike purred, her tail flicking happily behind her.