who do you belong to, little girl? [thalia's origins]

[holly's note: this is pretty much only in meta musings since conversations with npcs are separate from site rp]

The conversation she'd had with Roe was both enlightening and deeply confusing; in that it shed light on things that confused her but offered new things to take their place. Chief among them being that, if she were stolen from ThunderClan as a kit, why did she have an Asylum family that looked like her?

She'd rounded up her father, confused but willing to go along with most things his daughters asked for so long as they weren't outright impossible, and he had fetched her mother without a second glance. "Apollo," Selene huffed, "what is the meaning of this, I'm sure whatever it is can wait-"

She cut herself off when she noticed Thalia in the secluded place she'd picked for this conversation, eyes widening in surprise.

Thalia shrugged. "I think I've waited long enough, all things considered. First question: I'm not adopted, am I?"

Selene blinked. "No, of course not, why would you even start to believe that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe when I figured out that I came from ThunderClan. So if I'm not adopted, would you two mind explaining how I got there in the first place?"

Selene took a step back, perhaps shocked that her daughter would have the audacity to ask outright. Apollo seemed more confused than truly shocked, though, stepping closer to his youngest daughter. "I don't know anything about this," he told her. "Your mother told me you'd been lost, until you showed up again and I was too happy to question it. I think I'd like an explanation, myself."

"I - you have to understand," Selene started, though she wouldn't meet their eyes. "I was scouting when you were born. It was all rather unexpected, and a newborn kit is a liability when you have a mission at paw - you understand that, don't you? It was close enough to one of the clan settlements that I left you there, hoping it wouldn't kill you, before moving on. Presumably they found you... And you can imagine my surprise when you came back to us so unexpectedly. I saw a second chance, though perhaps I didn't utilize it as well as I should have..."

Thalia stared at her, unsure if she could find the words to respond to everything her mother had just told her.

Thankfully, she didn't have to, as Apollo rounded on her without a second thought. "You mean to tell me that you let me believe our daughter was dead for more than a moon, when you'd simply been irresponsible enough to leave her unattended on unfamiliar lands? That you hoped she wouldn't die? And that you took her miraculous reappearance as some kind of second chance, when you still barely acted as you should? Selene, I honestly thought you were better than this."

At the very least, she had the decency to look a little bit ashamed. "I... All I can do now is apologize to you both."

"I don't think it matters anymore," Apollo told her sharply. "Well. Not to me, at least. Whether Thalia chooses to forgive you for abandoning her or not certainly isn't my decision, but as of right now, I am through with you." With that said, he turned and left without another word.

Selene sighed wearily, meeting Thalia's eyes for the first time in the entire conversation. "...Well? What about you?"

"...I don't know," Thalia told her honestly. They stood there in silence for a few long moments before Thalia turned and padded after her father, who was waiting for her a short distance away.

Maybe that was enough of an answer.

("I'm proud of you," he told her. "You'll figure this all out eventually."

"I hope so."

He nudged her affectionately. "I know so.")