'Friends' Beyond Lifetimes [Closed]

A small laugh escaped Theron as she rolled on her back, flopping onto her side to paw at some of the loose hay that were scattered about the upper part of the barn. She had never seen such a thing like it - well, she had rolled in plenty of grass but this was loose and easy to move around which seemed to make it all the more fun to play in. Her tail swished, leaving a gap within the hay as she went back to rolling back and forth...That was until there was a creaking sound of somebody shoving their way into the barn. She rolled onto her feet, not bothering to shake off the hay that clung to her form as she padded to the edge of the upper loft and looked down. "Hello there!" she called out to the cat who had entered, making out his form as she peered over the edge. "You a loner as well?" She couldn't quite tell what scent he had - all she could smell was the dry hay and he was a good bit below her but...Ah, she figured as long as he was friendly she wouldn't mind the company - it wasn't her barn anyways.

Dawnhawk practically flew into the barn, still fairly muddy though plenty of his pelt at this point was visible. He had a fair bit of anger he needed to let out, a trait that he no doubt inherited rom his foul-tempered father. He spotted a rat, the creature clearly caught off guard by his sudden entrance. He raised his claws to it and parted his jaws to unleash the fury that had been fighting to escape...

"Hello there!" Dawnhawk's claws haphazardly slapped the rat and flung it against the barn wall, but the cuts had been superficial and the noise that escaped Dawnhawk's maw was not much more than a pitiful squeak as he hastily forced his anger back down into the pit of his gut where it belonged. The pale tom spun to lock eyes with whoever had spoken to him...

His fury gave way to shock in an instant, like ice cold water onto smoldering coals. Dawnhawk could only stare at the familiar face, his voice caught in his throat. It only took him another moment to realize she wasn't who she looked like. This she-cat was much younger... though the resemblance to Theron was almost disturbing.

"You a loner as well?"

"No." Dawnhawk lied on reflex. He wasn't in the mood to have even a shred of honesty right now, not for anyone. "I'm a Thunderclan Warrior. Who are you?" The fact that he was able to say that with a straight face and without skipping a beat gave him a slight burst of satisfaction. His success helped him relax and he put on a softer expression. The rage was still there, but it was quietly smoldering rather than raging for the time being.

Theron's smile seemed to brighten as the tom whipped his head up to stare at her and seemed shocked at what he saw but she said nothing as he quickly recovered and spoke. Oh, a ThunderClan warrior, huh? She titled her head, humming. She was pretty sure ThunderClan wasn't anywhere near here but...Whatever, didn't have much of a reason to disbelief him - she did suppose she was rather far from home and she wasn't fully sure of the layout of the Clans yet... She crossed her paws over the edge, resting her chin on them as she beamed down on him. "Name's Theron, nice to meet you! Thought, dunno if I believe that your name is 'a ThunderClan Warrior' so you got one you are willing to share? A nickname will do, guess I could understand you being hesitate to share information to a loner like me," she purred, tail flickering back and forth as she shook some of the hay from her - sending a few strands floating down towards Dawnhawk as she waited for an answer.

Dawnhawk blinked as he watched the she-cat move. She even acted like Ther- And then she said her name. Dawnhawk's haunches promptly hit the floor, lest his legs just decide to stop working and he got a mouthful of hay. A lot of weird things happened to him in his life... but this.... "Theron, huh?" He asked, now looking at her sideways in suspicion. "No my name isn't Thunderclan Warrior. I don't mind giving you my real name I suppose, since you owe no allegiance to any clans. I'm-" The conversation he had long ago with Bloodstrike at the gorge flashed through his mind and he jumped on that name immediately.

"-Lightbringer." He finished, nearly no hesitation whatsoever. What did it matter if a loner knew his name or not anyway? Then again... if Dawnhawk wanted to hide from other clans, he couldn't go telling anyone his real name. Still... Lightbringer wasn't supposed to end up being his name... More like a title. He'd need to think of something a little better later. Something to call himself when he wasn't caught off-guard like this. He didn't expect anyone to be in the barn.

"Just because you're a loner doesn't mean you don't have a story, Theron. If you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine. Where did you come from, if not the clans?"

Theron straightened up as the tom agreed to introduce himself, revealing his name to be Lightbringer. "Well, nice to meet you, Lightbringer!" she purred, tail curling around her side as he asked for her story. He had a point - she did spent moons growing up somewhere before she had set out to see the world. She returned the even stare, before a small smile quirked at the corner of her muzzle. "Well...I grew up pretty far from here. Got a loving family back home, lot of siblings - younger, mostly," she noted with a flicker of her ear. "I'm part of my parent's first litter. But...There wasn't much back home for me. Everybody else was content to stay, help out with our group but I wanted...More!" She jumped to her paws, tail lashing back and forth. "See the world, learn what I can! Sharpen my skills and meet all sort of cats!"

She paused a little at that, scrunching up her nose as she recalled all the cats who seemed to react poorly to her whenever she would state her name. "A lot of groups didn't like me....For some reason," she huffed, falling onto her haunches as she gave a shake of her head. "I'm not stranger to fighting but it wasn't fun, being chased off so often but...I found this place and thought the Clans sounded interesting! The biggest group I've seen for one, and so many lifestyles in one place? There is a lot I could learn here...So I decided to hang out in this barn. So, I hope that was enough of a tale for you, Lightbringer," she purred, leaning forward to look down at him. "If so, then what about your story? What is a ThunderClan cat doing out here on the far side of the moor? Thought this was WindClan turf."

Group? Dawnhawk's fur threatened to bristle, but he managed to keep it under control. Was the Asylum still.... around? He'd fled after watching Theron and Eris die. He knew they had lost. To hear that they may have regrouped somewhere gave him mixed feelings. He was the last captain standing at the end of that battle, and he only led once he knew for certain that they were not going to win. He knew Theron was dead. Eris was dead too. He came back to see that the forest had once again been ruled by the clans. He assumed the Asylum had disbanded. Had he been wrong?

"I've been sent on a scouting mission to observe Windclan's activity. Just typical reconnaissance. The rest is classified to outsiders." That ought to be enough. He was far more interested in her story anyway. "Theron... I actually know quite a lot about why other cats react to your name like that. It's not a happy tale... but would you like to hear it?" She seemed innocent enough, and if she'd rather not know, he wasn't about to tell her. She had done nothing to him. For all of his rage, Dawnhawk was trying to his best not to hurt someone who was nothing more than an innocent bystander... again.

The fact that she was confused as to why she had such reactions to her name made Dawnhawk question what he'd thought previously. If the Asylum had simply regrouped and Theron happened to have a child hidden away somewhere, shouldn't she be aware of the situation? This would require more digging... and he was going to be very careful with how he was about to do it.

Theron gave a nod of her head as he gave his gruff response, pouting a little at how short it had been thought. She had given him so much details on how she grew up and she had gotten none of it in return. She perked up a little as he mentioned knowing why cats reacted poorly to her name, staring at him for a few heartbeats before her ears slicked down. "I...I suppose so," she said slowly as she pushed herself to her paws, carefully jumping her way down to the ground to make it easier. She settled down a few tail-lengths away, curling her tail around her paws as she fixed Lightbringer with an uneasy look. "I mean...I think I can make a guess if it isn't a happy tale and they tend to react poorly but..." she gave a shake of her head, straightening up a little to meet his gaze. "I-I want to hear it. I want to know what I am getting myself into."

Dawnhawk chuckled quietly at her reaction to not being given as much information as she thought she'd get. Sorry little one... Don't make assumptions next time. Although she did confirm that she wanted to know more about her name. Very well.

"Several moons ago, kits from all of the clans were going missing. They would just be gone, no scent trails, no sign of struggle, no blood.... nothing. They were just gone. The clans didn't know it at the time, but there was a large group of rogues that had learned to hide their scent planning to take over the forest en masse and bring the clans to heel. This group was called the Asylum. Why they started with stealing kits, I'm actually not sure, but I do know that they turned these kits into soldiers for themselves and more or less attempted to erase any memory they had of being in a clan. It largely worked.

Not long after the kits had gone missing, they attacked all of the clans and forced them to surrender. Some clans surrendered immediately, seeing that they were outnumbered and stood no chance. Other clans, like Windclan and Skyclan, resisted at first, but they were ultimately conquered as well. Windclan suffered heavy casualties, much more so than Skyclan. So for a season, nearly two, the Asylum ruled over the clans and watched their every move. They left their traditions in tact, with the exception of visiting Highstones to speak with Starclan, which is a major religious event for the clans and very important to them. Obviously, this didn't sit well with the clans and they devised a plan to overthrow the Asylum and reclaim their homes for themselves.

After many clan cats were imprisoned for treason, whether they were found out to be part of this secret resistance or for other reasons, a battle at Fourtrees erupted. The leader of the Asylum and her three captains were there, as were the prisoners from each clan and the members of the resistance. The leader of the Asylum was named Eris. She died in that battle, but she took her opponent, Beecloud of Thunderclan, down with her. The three Captains were named Dawnhawk, Lyrelei and Theron. Theron was by far the worst of them. She lead a faction called the nightstrikers, and they were not much more than brutish thugs. I guess at one point they had visited Windclan before the Asylum take over and had done some damage there too, but the details from that are fuzzy for me. I wasn't born yet, nor am I a Windclan cat.

Anyway, Theron died. Dawnhawk escaped and I can't exactly remember what happened to Lyrelei. I think she may have died as well. The details on her weren't clear and I wasn't there for that battle. I only know what I heard from others. So that, Theron, is why cats flinch at your name and probably why being near Windclan is a very bad idea for you."

Dawnhawk then went quiet and waited for her to respond. He'd been watching her face very carefully for any sign of a reaction that would clue him in on what she knew, and in turn, what had happened to the rest of the Asylum. He'd fled before he really saw what had happened at the very end, eager to get his family out of Skyclan for fear that Wolfstar would kill them.

Theron's expression slowly shifted from a slight excited smile to a somber expression as Lightbringer started to explain about kits going missing, turned into soldiers for a group called Asylum. Slowly as he went on and on, her gaze slipped from him and onto staring at her paws, flinching a little as he called this...This other Theron the worst. She knew he didn't mean her but it... It felt weird and strange, to hear her name spoken of so poorly. He explained the end of Asylum, how the other cats had died but a few fled. Finally he finished, and she kept her gaze locked onto her paws. "That's..." she scrunched up her nose, trying to think of what to say. His story had seemed so...Neutral, just staying the facts minus for how terrible that other Theron was - but she suppose he hadn't been alive to see it, only hear the aftermaths... "...A lot. I-I can't imagine what would make a group do that. I-I understand why cats might not like me..." a heavy sigh escaped her. "But...Maybe...Maybe being near WindClan isn't so bad." She glanced up at Lightbringer, an uncertain look in her eyes. "I-I mean, I might share her name but I don't think... If I could befriend those cats, when they think of a...A Theron, they could think of me not...Not her." There was another pause, before she let out a nervous laugh and ducked her head. "Sorry, I guess that is a stupid thought. I'm not even sure what I am expecting to gain from hanging out around the Clans, I just...I want to learn so much about them. How they fight, how they hunt...Everything that makes them... Them!"

Dawnhawk watched the small Theron's reactions. The same light that was in Sunnyskip's eyes was there in her's too... and what a horrible thing that had happened to Sunnyskip... what will happen. Because of me... He thought bitterly, but pushed the thought aside for now.

"All I can say, Theron, is that I have warned you. I think what you intend to do is foolish, dangerous and now irresponsible with the knowledge you have now... but it's your life. You live however you want to, however short it may be." He stared at her very seriously for a moment, but blinked and his expression softened.

"Best of luck to you. I mean it." He didn't want to hang around Windclan for any longer than he had to at this point. He had other missions to carry out anyway... ones that he had given himself. No one had any control over him at this point and he had so little to lose. Dawnhawk had plans... and he was now free to move forward with them.

He turned to leave, though he was walking slowly at first in case Theron had more to say before he dipped.

Theron laughed a little as Lightbringer called her plans 'foolish, dangerous and irresponsible' but it was a a bit of a sad laugh to words she had heard uttered by her family. She knew it was stupid, thinking that she could befriend the Clans when they hated this...Other Theron so much but she had been given this name for a reason, hadn't she? This was what she was born to do. She smiled softly thought at his softer wish of luck, giving him a short nod before she realized he was walking away. "Oh, are you leaving?" she questioned, a little sad that her first chance at real company was walking out but...Well, this barn seemed pretty familiar to WindClan - she suppose it wasn't the best place for a spy to hang out. "Well...It was nice meeting you, Lightbringer. Best of luck with your own mission and maybe we can see each other again?" she added, her tone bright - unaware of what she was promising luck on. "If you ever need a warm place to sleep and mice to eat...Well, not my place to lay claim to this barn. You are welcome any time!"