Finding Answers [Beechface]

Moonshine went on patrol alone that night. She found herself wandering back to a place that she wasn't eager to see again... yet her paws carried her there. She wanted answers. What had Dawnhawk done that was so horrible that there was a kill on sight order for him? She'd heard that Skyclan was very proud of only including Skyclanners in their ranks. A polar opposite to just about every other clan. If they had kicked out a true Skyclan cat like Dawnhawk... he must have done something more than just be a member of the Asylum. Still, it wouldn't surprise her if that was the only horrible thing he'd done. Proud clans like Skyclan seemed to be full of short-tempered fools.

The pale she-cat was very careful observing her surroundings. She wasn't eager to be mistaken for her father a second time and instantly drop dead from a confused Skyclan cat. She wondered right then if Flintstar would go to war over her death. Probably not. She was one warrior out of several. He had others to do her duties probably better than she could do anyway. A scent in the air told her a Skyclan cat was close. Just one... Moonshine wasn't about to go into a stalk and look like she was in hunting mode for fear of another attack. Instead, she casually rounded the other side of the Highpine and made herself completely visible, face and all.

Beechface had been about ready to make her way back to camp, a bundle of herbs in her jaws, when she caught the scent of Shadowclan on the breeze. The medicine cat paused midstep, eyes narrowing as she turned her head towards highpine. The scent was strong, but it seemed like it was only one cat.

"I hope you aren't planning on attacking a medicine cat." It didn't smell like Rookfire or Flintstar, so she could only assume it was a warrior or apprentice. She didn't have to wait long to find out, however, as a pale she-cat slipped from behind the trees. Beechface forced her claws to stay sheathed, though the fur across her back rose instinctively.

Beechface blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing her face at the uncanny similarity the she-cat had to what had once been family. She'd seen her from a distance at the gathering, but even up close it was clear to her exactly who this cat's father was. Her face was faintly mottled tortoiseshell, her eyes a touch more green, but that was where the bulk of the differences ended. She wasn't Dawnhawk, but Beechface was suddenly very glad that her mother was back in camp, miserable as she might've been.

"So, my littermate had other kits." Her tone said it all, Beechface wasn't impressed in the slightest. "You have guts to be skulking around our borders with everything your father has pulled. Why are you here?" Beechface wouldn't attack her for existing, she wouldn't think with her claws first. Unlike her parents, she'd learned a thing or two about not lashing out at others... To a point.

Moonshine eyed the other she-cat, noting the herbs she carried with her. A medicine cat... Then the stranger confirmed it. Moonshine did notice the way she reacted, saw the ripple through her fur that hinted aggression. She forced her own claws to stay sheathed at the reaction. The silver long-haired she-cat spoke again, and not a single word or utterance of her tone was nice. A growl threatened to rip from her throat in response, but she refrained.

"Well that's what I'm here for, Medicine Cat." She retorted, unintentionally sounding like her father though she hardly knew anything about him. Another difference was that her temper died down rather quickly after having gotten that little bit of venom out. She wasn't an angry cat and she didn't like feeling that way. It just wasn't her.

"I don't know anything about Dawnhawk. He was my captain in the Asylum and I spoke to him once but he never really acknowledged me. I thought he might have been gone, until Bloodstrike tried to bury his fangs into my skull and kill me, thinking I was him. Was being in the Asylum his only crime that would warrant such a reaction?" She doubted it, but she would allow her aunt to tell her.

Beechface's eyes narrowed at her quip, a low growl rumbling in her throat. Stars, she sounded like him, too. Her claws dug into soft earth, tail twitching as she continued to speak.

She wanted answers? Wanted to know what he'd done? This poor she-cat was truly clueless. Maybe it was best that she stayed that way. Tornshadow hadn't wanted to know, still didn't want to know, and seemed to drift farther away from her clan by the day. This niece of hers wasn't a part of Skyclan, though, and asking the wrong person about Dawnhawk would earn claws rather than an explanation.

"When Asylum invaded our camp, our father tried to fight them. He only stopped them from killing our father so that he wouldn't look like a martyr. He was dragged out of camp bleeding and unconscious. He had another of our warriors dragged out of camp for going against him." She spat venomously, "He killed several of our clanmates. One of whom was a kit that wasn't yet two moons old. Your grandmother was forced to watch that, and then when I stepped in to prevent him attacking her, he attacked me. Would've killed me too if his Asylum lackey hadn't grown a set and stopped him. That Asylum lackey was killed by him and he framed him, made himself look like he'd tried to save Smokefeather, me and Featherkit." Nearly every scar lining Beechface's pelt was from him. "He maimed our mother, and forced her into retiring because of it."

"Do you want me to go on? Because there's more. He's attacked innocents that wander too close to our borders," Birdsong had been an apprentice then, she'd came away uninjured but Copperfox... "And even before Asylum he attacked me when we were apprentices." So much of the clan had been shocked by his betrayal. Beechface too, even, though there was a part of her that had been unsurprised. She stared at the young she-cat in front of her, needing to know her reaction to this. Don't be like Tornshadow, don't try and defend him.

Moonshine listened, her face set in a hard determination not to react. But the reaction was still in her eyes. She desperately searched for anything that may indicate that the medicine cat was lying. She had to be. Why would Dawnhawk do such things? It didn't make any sense. He hadn't seemed like the type of cat to just mindlessly kill things. Especially not kits... Had that been the reason he was gone away and never came to see his Asylum born litter? No... The Asylum was always busy and he had been a captain. He had other duties. That was all.

"If that... if that's all true and I'm not saying I believe you, why did he do it?" She didn't want to believe any of this. Maybe she should have known better than to go to Skyclan for answers. They were all a bunch of impulsive hot heads as far as she could tell. "Where is Dawnhawk now?"

"I stopped trying to understand that arrogant furball a long time ago. Most of the clan did. He wanted power, and didn't care about rules or being civil. The first time he attacked me as apprentices, it was because he was meeting some Thunderclanner and I found clumps of his fur in the brambles." Beechface gave a snort of disgust at the memory.

"I don't know why he killed Featherkit, I walked in to see him arguing with mom. She disowned him after he'd had two of our clanmates imprisoned by Asylum, one of which being dad. Said she regretted having him, not that I blame her for that. And killing Featherkit was his response to it." Beechface spat in disgust at the memory. Had his claws ripped through her skin just a bit lower than where they had, it could've been her own unborn kits that had died as well... Not that this she-cat needed to know that little fact.

"As far as I know, he's still wandering twolegplace. After putting mom in the elder's den, I wouldn't want to be him encountering one of our border patrols." Of course, even then, Dawnhawk was crafty. He'd killed one of the cats that Bloodstrike had brought into twolegplace to track him down after Smokefeather's retirement. Poor Tigersong had been innocent and kind... And one of the kits Smokefeather had adopted and treated like her own. Beechface wouldn't miss Dawnhawk if he never showed up on Skyclan territory again.

Moonshine listened to the medicine cat speak and her ears rotated back until they were horizontal across her head. The news was... devastating. Her eyes glossed over as her mind whirled with thoughts. It would explain Bloodstrike's reaction when he saw her. Dawnhawk had killed siblings, clanmates and maimed his mother? It was shocking. Her own mother never had anything horrible to say about him and she had no reason to hide the fact if he had been horrible to her. Why then? Her grandmother sounded like she spoke before she thought, but that didn't excuse Dawnhawk's actions either. If they were true.

"I'll look for him, but that doesn't mean I believe you." Even though a part of her did. "My mother was an Asylum scout stationed in Riverclan. She never said anything bad about him... so to hear this is... It just doesn't make sense." She never really knew her father though... so anything was possible. "I don't think I ever caught your name... aunt."

"He's good at getting others to believe him. And if your mother wasn't stationed in Skyclan, I doubt she would've heard about what he'd done. He threatened us into silence; the clan only found out about Featherkit after the asylum was driven out because I told them. And even then my mother was so terrified that she argued with me after." A bitter edge had crept into her voice as she spoke, and Beechface sank her claws into the soft ground with a growl of frustration. Dawnhawk had changed their mother into someone she didn't even recognize.

"Beechface." She answered stiffly. "I assume you took on a proper clan name, if you wound up in Shadowclan? Odd choice if your mother was stationed across the forest in Riverclan." She had to admit she was curious. A sister and a niece were already in Riverclan, and here was a family member that had wound up in Shadowclan. The family was known for large litters and lots of she-cats... Surely she wasn't the only one of Dawnhawk's kits with this Asylum scout?

The frustration in the medicine cat's tone wasn't forced, Moonshine was sure of it. So it... must be true then. Disappointment and even anger settled in Moonshine's stomach. Maybe it was better that she had never gotten to know Dawnhawk. She still planned to seek him out, but she was less sure of how good of a meeting it would end up being. The medicine cat introduced herself and Moonshine stared. Her name is... what??? She couldn't stop herself from giggling, though she quickly pressed her foreleg against her mouth to stifle it. "It... suits you." And that was all she intended to say on the subject as an explanation as to why she thought it was funny.

"I'm Moonshine. I used to be called Ivory when I was still an Asylum cat, but I've left that name behind. I chose Shadowclan because that's where I was assigned to stay anyway, and their culture intrigued me, so here I am. It's not like Skyclan is welcoming of outsiders and... given what you've told me I doubt I would have been made an exception to the rule and been accepted here."

Beechface felt a flash of confusion as the pale she-cat laughed at her name. She didn't know why she laughed, it was a perfectly reasonable name. Especially considering Wolfstar could have easily gone for Beechfire or Beechfox or something equally horrible. All she could do was stare in bemusement for a moment, feeling like there was a joke that had sailed over her head. "Grandfather named dad Bloodstrike, named his younger son Blazingkit after a fire destroyed our territory, and named my sweet mousebrain brother Copperfox... After they killed two clanmates and traumatized him as an apprentice. And he named my other brother Lichenblaze, again, after the fire... And you laugh, Beechface is the only decent name he's come up with!" There was a slight tinge of indignation to her voice, because of course there was. She sounded a bit more amused as she continued, however, "I shudder to think what names he would give some poor, unsuspecting outsider."

"No," She agreed, all traces of humor vanishing, "Tornshadow- I believe I saw you two talking at the gathering?- causes enough tension by being present and doesn't look exactly like him on a quick glance. I'd call it jumping at shadows but..." Beechface shrugged, grimacing. It was worse than that. Smokefeather still didn't step foot near the nursery, and went out of her way to avoid Tornshadow. Beechface wasn't sure if her mother knew or even cared about how close the young warrior seemed to be to her own breaking point. She'd been pulling away, but there was precious little to pull away from. "Under different circumstances, maybe. We've had warriors return to the clan with half-Skyclan kits before..." But Redfall hadn't killed anyone, much less attacked a kit.

Moonshine decided to keep the joke to herself and nodded understandingly as Beechface explained why her name was just fine. Wolfstar... she remembered seeing the dark tabby leader at gatherings. "He probably would have just named me Tumbleweed." It was a shot in the dark at trying to lighten the mood, but just as quickly, the opportunity vanished. She blinked in surprise.

"Wait... Tornshadow? Is she... Is she one of Dawnhawk's children too?? She never told me!" Now that she thought about it... it was kind of obvious... She felt like an idiot. How did she not notice the similarities before? She was aware that Moonshine was her sister, as the tortie point had pointed out to her before...

"She's a Skyclan cat, did he ever have much time for her? He was stationed in Skyclan too." She was hopeful, for the most part and yet... she also wasn't sure how she felt about Dawnhawk not paying attention to her.

"His daughter." Beechface confirmed, "They were close, and when he was exiled she didn't take it well." Understatement of the year, really. Tornshadow wasn't close with the majority of the clan, and especially not close to those who had been openly hostile to Dawnhawk. Which amounted to the same thing as 'majority of the clan' in this case.

"He attacked one of our apprentices just to ask how she was doing, if that tells you anything. His concern for her has made him deranged. Birdsong was lucky another clanmate showed up when he did." Birdsong had been lucky she wasn't harmed, and Beechface still believed that was only because Copperfox had shown up. It had scared the living daylights out of Birdsong, and Copperfox too. As far as Beechface knew, Birdsong had kept good on her promise to stay within Skyclan's borders and not get caught up chasing rabbits into twolegplace. That Dawnhawk had gone on to attack Smokefeather, and hadn't been put down like he should've been... It made Beechface uneasy. Much as she would have liked never seeing her littermate again, if they'd found him in twolegplace and didn't kill him, he was probably still lurking within the dark, twisted alleys.

Moonshine was probably better off not knowing him at all.

Tornshadow was her sister... Moonshine sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws. She didn't think Beechface was going to hurt her at this point, and even if she did, she felt that she could take a medicine cat for crying out loud. What bothered her more was the fact that Dawnhawk seemed to care about Tornshadow... yet he hardly spoke to Moonshine or Yew, as far as she knew. A hot flash of jealousy shot through the she-cat and her ears pointed backward a bit in response. What made Tornshadow so special?

Even after she had been given the news of what an alleged monster her father was, the fact that he'd had no time or interest in his Asylum born children still irked her. Shadowclan was great, but they could never replace the need for a parent's love.

"Well that's good to know..." She didn't bother hiding the pain and anger in her voice. Her eyes went to the direction of the Twoleg place and her tail lashed away from her paws. "Well now you know me and I know you. If you have any word about him or his whereabouts, will you tell me at a gathering? I don't know if I necessarily want to go find him myself at this point, but he's still my father and I'd like to know where he is, should I change my mind."

Beechface gave a snort at her words. "Yeah, everything's sunshine and roses." She mewed sarcastically. There was little she could say that might make things easier for the she-cat, she'd tried with Tornshadow and got nowhere.

"Fair enough, if there's news of him, I'll let you know." She doubted any news of him would ever be good news, unless he somehow turned up dead. It was subjective, of course, but she hoped this she-cat wasn't planning on following in his footsteps. From her words, she seemed reasonable enough, and that was exceedingly rare in this family.

The she-cat stretched, gaze lifting to the sky to judge just how long she'd been talking with Moonshine. "I ought to be getting back to camp. We don't run on the same schedule Shadowclan does." Her whiskers twitched as she stood. It really was getting late to be out for those who started the day early. "Tell Rookfire I said 'hello.'"