Two Silhouettes (closed)

Astraeus’ ears flicked in mild irritation- did she really think he’d made it this long without some knowledge of herbs? His father had taught him a little, but in his travels he’d come across a land full of flowers- and the cats there knew their herbs better than any Clanner he’d come across. Difficult? Aye, but what was a bit of difficulty when the subject in question could save one’s life? Ah, but the Clanners- they simply depended on one or two cats to support the entire Clan. Hah, what about when they fell sick? It forced a Clan to ask another for help- a favor they’d surely cash in at some point. Yet, despite this internal commentary, he concealed his annoyance well. He always had.

You shouldn’t have to switch paths, don’t you see? He thought to himself, still attentively listening to what she had to say. Most Clanners, especially the younger ones, he was finding, were just- desperate for someone, anyone to listen to them, always drowned out by their elders. It was a sorry state of affairs when even a tom like Sablestrike, almost fanatically devoted to the Code, was so desperate to be heard (even if he himself did not fully realize it) that he’d talk to a rogue he hated, just to be listened to. You shouldn’t have to switch paths, Lighttail- knowledge of herbs and of fighting tactics are not necessarily contradictories. You can still be specialized in one without lacking basic knowledge in the other. Do you require your hunters and your fighters to remain separate? Their skill sets are vastly different, are they not?

She finished, and he drew back a little, yellow eyes still fixated on the molly before him. “Oh deer, that sounds painful. It is pretty, out there, isn’t it? It’s hard to find a sense of awe in a place you’ve remained your whole life, but you’ve seen something, haven’t you?” he glanced up at the sky- he should be going, soon, but… he still held to the hope that he could get her to actually listen, weigh his words with an unbiased mind and critically examine his agreements.

Lighttail couldn’t help but admit he was right, in a way. “Sometimes I feel, deep down in my bones, that perhaps there’s something out there for me. I don’t talk about this a lot, but I’m adopted. My mother found me out on the territory, and we don’t know a thing about my birth parents. Sometimes I wonder if my blood just runs differently than the Clans…” She shook that thought off. “Still. Maybe someday. Right now, I have to look out for my brothers. They need me.”

It was with a renewed, keen interest that Astraeus cocked his head to the side, ears pricked. Ah- how interesting. He didn’t believe that blood dictated personality as much as environment and upbringing, but it might impact it to some degree- she was adopted? He was mildly surprised- he’d thought Clanners preferred to bring lost kits to Twolegplace to be kittypets, if they were lucky, or to die early deaths, if they weren’t.

Ah, but she had brothers- more than one, and she didn’t want to leave them- it wasn’t that she couldn’t, however. He himself had once believed that only death would take him away from his family, and then unwillingly, yet the horrifying visceral filth of un-death had sent him away- with a heart that ached for moons, yet was inconceivably lighter away from such unnatural beings, despite the difficult circumstances he’d all too often found himself in.

“Perhaps it does,” he mewed softly, “yet regardless you fit in well. I must be going, now- may you find good hunting and shelter when you sleep.”

Before turning and trotting away from ShadowClan territory, he hesitated just a moment, to catch anything else she had to say. At least she was more open to the broader thoughts of the outside world than her brother, and perhaps, one day, she could be freed from the entangling, constrictive customs that bound so many cats in an inescapable grip that they scarce even noticed.

“Wait!” Lighttail found herself calling. “Maybe we could, y’know, talk again sometime?” Why did she want to se this random drifter so much?

Warm yellow eyes lingered on the silver molly for a moment and an eternity as Astraeus’ thoughts spun through his mind. She was- she was an interesting molly indeed, with a small, small spark of the need to travel and wander and drift that sung in his veins. Perhaps- perhaps, with gentle coaxing, the spark could  kindle a fire- the all consuming flame that urged him ever, ever onwards, like dead leaves in the autumn wind…

A smile, all glinting sharp teeth, and a wave of his tail- and then he was gone, silver coat blending in with the dappled shadows like he was born there. His last words floated back to the silver molly like leaves in the wind-

“I’d like that-“

-and he would. Truly. Lighttail- was a novelty, and a pretty one at that, a molly willing to hold a conversation rather than leap at him with unsheathed claws. She was the only prisoner willing to even entertain the notion for a millisecond that she was, perhaps, a prisoner- the only one willing to look beyond the iron bars to the one who sought to free her. And he did- truly- she’d be a charming travel companion, yet more than that it brought him a sense of deep satisfaction to sow some seeds- not of discord, not truly, rather- rather of clarity, of keen sight and keener minds.

Perhaps he was carrying on his father’s work, yet in a better way- claws could not bring down the Clans, yet words and ideas could- not bring them down, that was not what Astraeus sought to do- rather, help them to think for themselves. If they wished to carry the burden for the benefits, so be it- but they should know the burden they carried was not universal. They should make the decision for themselves- and Lighttail seemed to at least be thinking about it, which was more than he could say for most cats.

A final gleam of his silver coat in the dappled moonlight- and he turned, for half a second, to see Lighttail’s coat shining in the silver beams.

Yes. He’d like to see her again.