Alone Not Lonely [Harvey]

Beechfang silently stalked through the shadows, dark eye sweeping over her surroundings. Twolegplace wasn't the Skyclan territory she'd known like the back of her paw, but while she was exiled, Beechfang would attempt to make it so. The day was growing uncomfortably warm and it wasn't even sunhigh yet. Beechfang would explore a bit, then find herself some prey and retreat to where she'd made her nest. The strange, hard gray stone under her paws would be scorching if it grew much warmer out, and the pale tabby tried to stick to the more shaded areas as much as she could.

A monster rumbled past on the thunderpath, turning away from Beechfang to follow a bend. Twoleg nests lined the opposite side of the path she was on, while grass and evenly-spaced trees lined a fence she walked beside. Not for the first time since her arrival in twolegplace, Beechfang wished that she was back in Skyclan territory among her family. She shook her head, trying to ignore the thought. They would be better off without the threat of war looming over them that her presence would bring, as much as she wanted desperately to be there. She had meant what she'd told Birdpaw, however. Being exiled was better than being dead.

The scent of another cat on the breeze brought Beechfang to a stop, interrupting her thoughts. No clan scent made her instinctively tense, single eye searching her surroundings for the scent's culprit. Beechfang had no love for rogues, and even less now that she was technically one of them. All she'd ever known from them was violence and hostility... And she wasn't hopeful that would change now, either. She knew better than to be complacent in a place such as this.

Beechfang waited, single eye sweeping over her surroundings once more. The cat that approached her was small and soft, the strange tinkling sound of the band around his neck announcing his presence just as much as it announced that he was a kittypet. He would, Beechfang decided, be of little threat, though she didn't relax completely either.

"I- New enough, I suppose, kittypet." The tom gave an introduction - Harvey. Kittypets and rogues had one thing in common, and that was the utter strangeness of their names. "I'm Beechfang." To the clans, a name said a lot about a cat. She didn't think outsiders had the same customs or traditions surrounding them. She was an outsider now too, she had to remind herself, the thought made her fur prickle in discomfort. It had been her own fault, but that didn't make the truth of it any easier to swallow.

Beechfang stared at the tom askance as he spoke, "Beechfang is a perfectly fine name." She protested, "What sort of name is Harvey, anyways?" The counter was kittish, she knew that, but the large she-cat couldn't seem to help herself. How in the void could her name be considered mean? It wasn't like a parent naming their kit Ash, after a fire had swept through the territory. Beechfang had, as far as she knew, been named for her pale, silvery coat. Perfectly respectable to name a kit for that. Still, there was no malice to his tone like there might've been from another cat, and Beechfang's defensive pride subsided somewhat. He was just a naïve kittypet.

And then the tom decided to... give her a new name. No ceremony involved, though, Beechfang supposed that rogues and kittypets would have no concept of such a thing. Now thoroughly nonplussed, Beechfang couldn't help but to ask, "...What's a Bessie?" The tom had barreled ahead with questions, and it... Honestly made Beechfang's head spin with how quickly the topic shifted. Stars, this one liked to talk.

"I was from the forest... It was nicer than here, that's for sure." Nicer when the world wasn't ending, anyways. The bitter pang of grief that his question stirred up made her ears flick back. "I'm on my own, now." Even Bloodstrike was lost to her, and his self-imposed exile had hardly lasted even half a moon. Stupid, selfish twolegs. Stupid, bullheaded, reckless tom. Her parents, her mate, her kits... Even the strange understanding she had come to with Briarthorn - was she Briarstar, yet? Even that was gone, across a rickety wooden fence she lawfully couldn't be on the other side of. She could haunt Skyclan's borders, but that was no substitute for being in Skyclan.

A giggle left the small tom, and Beechfang sighed quietly to herself. The only thing stranger than rogues were kittypets, it seemed. Proving her thought, Harvey mentioned his 'owner' and Beechfang had to struggle to keep the discomfort off of her expression at the idea of such a thing. She couldn't imagine what it must be like, to be beholden to such beasts as twolegs.

The questions Harvey asked seemed genuine enough. The tom before her was young, and had clearly lived a sheltered life if he didn't know much of what lay just beyond twolegplace. The cloudiness of his eyes seemed to Beechfang like a good reason for a twoleg to keep him from anything eventful, and her thoughts turned to that of another briefly. Was Primroselight here in one of the nests, perhaps, trapped and yearning to break free? She gave her head a shake. She'd looked for her sister, and nieces, and had found nothing. Her efforts had become futile, and Beechfang had found herself with only one mouth to take care of rather than helping to feed an entire clan. Might as well answer some of Harvey's questions while she was here.

"There are lots of cats in the forest. We- They live in clans, made up of families of cats that live and hunt on the same territory. Warriors and apprentices provide for the kits, queens and elders." She began to explain, "We all have names like mine. A mother might name their kit Primrosekit, or Birdkit. When they're old enough to begin to learn to hunt and fight, the -kit gets dropped for -paw. When they've learned enough and deemed ready, they earn their warrior name from the clan's leader. Birdpaw might become Birdsong, Primrosepaw might become Primroselight. If a warrior is chosen to become deputy, then lead the clan, they take on -star instead."

He wanted to learn about the clans? Beechfang had her own misgivings, after seeing the damage rogues could do her first instinct was to shut any questions a rogue had down. Cats like the Asylum's filth or Dawnhawk little pets deserved claws, not friendly chatter and information. On the other paw... He was just a kittypet, albeit a rather small and scrawny kittypet. And some information was simply common knowledge, not anything that would harm a clan if shared. And Harvey, for all that Beechfang clung to her suspicion, didn't seem like the troublesome sort, even if his speech was strange. Beechfang sat, fluffy tail wrapping around her paws.

"There are five. Skyclan borders the twolegplace, and the territory is all rocky gullies. There's no cat better at hunting in the trees than a Skyclanner, and few who are better fighters." She began, only mildly smug about her birth clan's proficiency at both hunting and fighting. "Riverclan makes their territory along the river, they're fat and lazy, reek of fish, and like to stick their nose in other cats' business where it doesn't belong and some of their number have no discipline or respect. Windclan cats run the moors and are fast enough to catch rabbits and hares, though they can be dangerously naïve and lack foresight. I feel bad for their new leader who seems like a sensible sort, he's got an uphill battle ahead of him trying to convince that lot to use the fluff between their ears. Thunderclan makes their home in the dense forest hunting squirrels and mice. They're reasonable and friendly, but not naïve. Shadowclan prowl the marshes at night. I'm not sure how they find frogs and toads appetizing, but most of them are decent and they like to keep to themselves and don't cause trouble for the most part. They all guard their borders, some more fiercely than others. Nobody likes trespassers on their territory, but borders are clearly marked."

Birdsong and Primroselight... Beechfang felt her lips twitch up briefly in memory, Yes, they were pretty names. "They were good cats." She stated in simple agreement. Better than Beechfang, anyways. Kinder, less impulsive.

There was an air of longing about the kittypet that Beechfang hadn't expected at her words. Most, she thought, would've been awestruck, perhaps fearful, or even disbelieving. Rogues at least knew the ways of hunting and fighting, while to kittypets she assumed that it must seem just as foreign as their lifestyle seemed to her. Harvey hadn't had the reaction she expected, though he'd also been the one to approach one of the wild cats with an alarming lack of fear, too.

"I am." She confirmed. Her pride in them had been obvious enough, there was no hiding it. As to why she had left... A low huff escaped her, tail lashing once at the bitter memory. "I-" Beechfang began, drowned a cat in cold blood, because she deserved it. She asked for it, and her clan refused to see that the issue was settled. The little tom in front of her had an air of innocence about him, or perhaps it was just his relative youth. Beechfang wasn't sure.

"I killed a cat. Self-defense, though I suppose some could call it vengeance. Riverclan would call it senseless and then call for my death or war in return. The conflict died with the foxheart I killed, she caused me more harm than death could ever hope to, I retaliated. There was no need for any more bloodshed than that." A bitter twist of her lips, her ears flattened. "My clanmates weren't happy to see me leave, but it was better than the alternative." Cloverheart had been a stupid, self-righteous prick, and so too was the foolish Riverclan leader. She wasn't sure she regretted killing the tiny she-cat who had caused so much harm, but she regretted what that killing had led to. Dovefrost, their kits, her father... Perhaps Briarthorn would be able to pick up the pieces of Skyclan without her and Bloodstrike's warmongering presence.