Home Visit [C]

Butterfly was, to the relief of her mother and absolute terror of her father, becoming independent. The urge to explore, to leave the carton on her own, grew stronger and stronger by the day until she really couldn't stand it anymore. One breezy, chilly morning, she woke her mother with a loving nuzzle.

"Ma, may I please go out to play on my own? I'll be super duper careful. I'll watch for hawks and rogues, like Papa says to!" Eager to be rid of the clingy kit for a moment, Snowdrop agreed. With an appreciative lick and a barrage of squeaky 'thank you's, the oddly proportioned kit bounded out of the nursery and out into Twolegplace.

The ground here was awfully cobbly. Little pebbles stuck to her feet as she toddled past the various Twoleg dens, smiling dazily all the while. Finally, it was happening! She was exploring, all on her own! It didn't occur to her to remember which way home was, of course. She'd just have to figure that out later.

She gawked at the dens around her. Some of them were impossible to see into, big caves with no visible way in or out. She supposed the Twolegs just stayed inside. It must be very dull, though. Other dens seemed to be open, with big rectangular holes in the front and lots of alien looking objects on display inside. It was the weirdest thing, though. When she clambered onto the edge of the hole and tried to walk through the mouth of the den, some invisible force held her back. She tried and tried, but she just couldn't push past the invisible barrier. Chalking it up to Twoleg weirdness, she hopped off the edge and continued to excitedly prance around the streets.

After about ten minutes of aimless wandering, Butterfly found herself in an alleyway. At first she thought it was her nursery, but something was weird. She could smell cat, but not her family. Hesitant, she crept into the alley. "Hello? Is anyone here? I'm Butterfly, I'm exploring." She took a few more steps in before seeing it: a cat! And a very, very big one. Little red flags went up in her undeveloped brain, but she ignored them. How cool, another cat! She trotted up to the huge she-cat. Now that she was real close, she could see that she was missing... Pretty much everything. An eye, an ear, fur... A wave of concern hit the lanky kit.

"Oh my clouds, are you okay? Does that hurt? How did it happen, did a rogue kill you? Papa Sunflower says rogues can kill you." She gingerly sniffed a scar on the molly's leg. "I'm sure my Ma can help. She's very smart."

Beechfang's fur lifted at the scent of an unfamiliar cat and along with it an unfamiliar voice. She turned, not quite believing the innocence in the rogue's voice until her gaze landed on the she-cat that looked hardly out of her kithood. A low snort escaped her at the cat's words. "Exploring twolegplace is dangerous for a kit." She mewed softly. Her words could've been threatening, but lately she found that she lacked the energy. Especially with the kittypets of these lands being so naive. She hadn't ran into an actual rogue that had been aggressive in some time, and while she still had her guard up, she was more inclined to think that this one was exactly what she appeared to be. A stray kit exploring places she probably shouldn't.

"I'm fine, they're old injuries, they don't bother me." She lied. "No, not rogues, and if I was killed I wouldn't be standing here, would I?" Well, Dawnhawk had been a rogue, not at the time. And Starclan themselves-

"Sunflower? Your dad?" She stared down at the kit incredulously. Was it the same Sunflower? How many toms had such a feminine name? "Where are you from, kitten? You ought to be with your parents, surely."

Butterfly cocked her head, huge ears flopping with the movement. "Dangerous?" She asked. Papa did always warn them about things to watch out for... but Papa was scared of everything. One time she said "boo!" to him as a surprise and he started crying. The memory made her sad, so she stopped thinking about it. Maybe she meant the Twolegs? But they were all stuck inside their dens. Well, she saw a few of them, but she was so small they didn't look at her. If they couldn't see her, they definitely weren't dangerous to her!

She listened intently as the she-cat explained her injuries. They were old? Butterfly didn't know cuts could stay there like that. "Well, if you're sure they don't hurt..." she said unsurely. "It's good they didn't kill you. Why would you not be able to stand if you got killed?" She questioned. Papa never explained what "kill" meant, really. He always just made a scared noise when it was mentioned, then Butterfly cuddled with him until he felt better. Maybe she'd ask Ma later.

"Yep! He's the bestest dad in the whole world. Ma says he's.. uh..." She tried to remember the words. "A... useless idiot! That's it. But I think he's very useful. He tells us stories!" She bounced a bit at Beechfang's question, turning around to face the street. "I live in the nursery! It's just... um... Well, I'm not sure exactly. But I'm a big girl, so I can explore on my own! That means I can find my way home too." She gave a confident nod, turning back to Beechfang with a bright smile. "I'm Butterfly, by the way! Oh, did I already say that? I don't remember... What's your name?"

"Killed... Dead, like the prey we eat. Or the squirrels and raccoons that get hit by monsters." She didn't know if the kit in front of her had ever eaten fresh-kill, let alone seen what the twolegplace rogues called 'roadkill.' And that would probably cause a whole torrent of other questions... Oh well. If the kit's parents wouldn't teach her about anything beyond the life of the sheltered twolegplace kittypets... Impossible to know, really, and quite frankly, none of Beechfang's business.

"I'm sure..." 'Useless idiot' oh stars above... It couldn't be the same Sunflower. What poor, unsuspecting she-cat would have toms with that miserable excuse of a tom? And one that was far older than her parents, or even Foxfire had been, she was pretty sure. Beechfang's lips twitched as she fought a smirk, or more likely a snarl of sheer disgust at the notion of it. But... The kit had the same strange lank and overlarge ears, if not Sunflower's pelt coloring. And she'd called wherever she lived a nursery, too.

Butterfly, the kit introduced herself again, and Beechfang had to admit that it almost sounded like a warrior's name. Not that this scrawny thing was anywhere near old enough for the privilege, but then, rogues and kittypets didn't follow their ways. "I'm Beechfang." She mewed finally, continuing to study the little she-cat thoughtfully.

Butterfly's eyes widened. Did she mean... That could happen to cats too? A small shiver ran through her body. How horrible. "So... If you got killed by rogues, would you go all... limp? Like a mouse after you hunt it?" A terrible thought came to her mind. "Can dead things still feel???" Oh clouds, she'd been eating dead things. What if the poor mice could feel everyth- She shook her head defiantly and stopped thinking about it, afraid she'd throw up or burst into tears.

She tried to calm herself down, watching the large molly's reaction to her talking about Pa. She made a face, one that reminded her a little bit of Ma when Pa did something silly. "Mhm! He tells the best stories, about ghosts and foxes and even evil cats who wore other cats on their backs. He says they're all true, but I don't really believe him. Well, maybe about the foxes. Foxes are real, I've seen one!"

She smiled brightly from ear to ear. "Beechfang, that's a good name! Who gave it to you? My Ma gave me my name. She says it's because Pa would pick something stupid. Your name isn't stupid though! It makes you sound super cool." She wasn't quite sure what a "Beechfang" was, though. Maybe it was a plant?

"Yeah... Like that. And... No, I don't think so." Beechfang muttered awkwardly. If the kit was that innocent to not even know that much, it wasn't her problem and she refused to feel guilty for it. Getting into the intricacies of Starclan and the dark forest and whether the dead could still feel was something she had absolutely no intention of doing, not with some random rogue, at least.

And then she talked about her father, mentioning some of the stories he told. Beechfang's heart sank. It had to be Sunflower. How on earth had that old mousebrain... Ugh. And he'd told her about ghosts... Maybe Butterfly already knew about Starclan or the dark forest already. Poor thing, that must've been nightmare fuel. It was to Beechfang.

Cats wearing pelts, that had to be the Asylum. And foxes... Of course the kit would've seen a fox. Because one couldn't underestimate Sunflower's inability to do anything, Beechfang simply didn't question it. "Foxes are dangerous, you should've never been let anywhere near one, at your age." Nevermind that she'd fought plenty of foxes in her time, and dogs too. But she knew just how dangerous they could be.

The comment on her name made the she-cat snort. "Thanks, I think. That's... Better than a kittypet laughing at it, I suppose." She added awkwardly, "Butterfly is... nice, too."