spin your lie like thread [c]

Most of the cats around her seemed to be neutral toward being forced to stay in Fourtrees, or otherwise making the most of the situation. Thalia, on the other hand, was more nervous than usual; her white-spotted fox pelt serving as a soft and comfortable nest and a reminder of relative safety. A crown of flowers- one of the last of the season, if she had to guess; flowers were growing scarcer by the day and she couldn't venture to the hard-to-reach places where winter flowers grew with the present dangers- rested at her paws as she added finishing touches, a symbol of the peaceful life she now strived to live.

The five Clans were gathered here- including, she recalled with a shudder, WindClan. It had been quite some time since Asylum's rule, their iron grip on the forest a fading memory in some ways and bleeding-fresh in others (her own expertise in ShadowClan's newest traditions, on hold for the time being), but the memories and the scars of it would haunt her for as long as she lived.

An accident. It had been an accident, but the blood on her paws was so very real; the punishment of belonging nowhere at all, even to Asylum- the way the new leader then, someone who she had hesitantly called a friend, had wanted her dead-

(With the grace of looking back, she could sympathize; but even that face was just another memory lost to time by now.)

She had found sanctuary in ShadowClan thanks to Flintstar's kindness, made peace where she could and avoided the Thunderpath. She had learned how to fight again, how to be an honorable warrior; and even now she hesitated to raise claws and teeth. But this- this was unavoidable, there was no way to simply not be where they were.

Were any cats still alive who would remember what she'd done? She didn't know. Would they see her, would they know her by face or flowers or fox pelt?

In the meantime, she had settled for keeping her distance. Where she was now was secluded, near the edges of the little area ShadowClan had staked out to avoid bothering any of her busy Clanmates.

One of the cats in her clan had already demonstrated how stylish simple changes with flowers could be, it was a good baseline for her project, but she wanted to differentiate her crowd from his fashion. The answer to her problem was in Shadowclan, a clan that she seemed unable to stay away from despite her experiences with them. She was slowly accepting that they weren't all villains, maybe just Nightstar, but now it was time to test that theory. Silverwing had business with this cat, solely because of the flower crown that rested at her paws. Even if it wasn't really a pressing matter she would figure out everything she needed from this cat. With pure confidence lacing her steps, Silverwing padded toward the she-cat and her, um, fox pelt. Why did she have that thing? If she had noticed that before Silverwing might not have approached, but it would be rude to turn back now, she was already so close. The Windclan warrior peered down at the flowers at the Shadowclan cat's paws, remarking on it with nothing but sweetness in her voice. "That's really pretty! How do you make them all stick together like that?" Almost as an afterthought, Silverwing looked back up to the warrior across from her, flashing them a bright smile. "My name's Silverwing, by the way!"

The unexpected voice of an unfamiliar cat startled her, and Thalia very nearly fumbled the last knot- she caught herself at the last second, pausing for a moment as she started it over. Once it was sorted, she finally allowed herself to look up to see the bright smile of a stranger. "Thank you...?"

She didn't know this cat, and she certainly wasn't ShadowClan, but she didn't seem hostile. She willed her fur to smooth itself over and tried to relax. Questions about her flowers weren't uncommon, after all, and she liked sharing her knowledge with others. How many seasons had she spent building confidence, just for this place and these memories to tear it away? "Oh, um- I don't know if I'm good at explaining it," she started. "Most of the time I teach by showing. But it's something my mentor taught me, a long time ago- they don't stick so much as you weave them together, see?"

The dilute calico pushed the crown forward just a bit, so the unfamiliar cat- Silverwing, right, she'd introduced herself- could get a better look at it. "It takes time, but... I like having something to do with my paws. It's- calming, I think. I don't know if I'll be able to make another one before snowfall, though... It's harder to get flowers now."

There was a pause, and then she remembered that she hadn't introduced herself. That was- rude, wasn't it?

She smiled down at her flowers, then looked up. There wasn't anything she needed to be afraid of, was there? "...My name is Thalia."

Silverwing noticed the smoothing of the cat's fur, a good sign she hoped. It had looked good with Harechaser too before she... Right, no talk about tails then. Apparently Shadowclan cats didn't like that for some reason, odd that was. "Your mentor must have taught you well, that looks pretty complicated. I'd love to learn how to do that, if you don't mind of course. I could even pay you in prey if you want?" The more she talked about it the more Silverwing wanted to learn. She had an abundance of free time, she needed something to fill it so she didn't get in trouble again, and providing her loved ones with pretty gifts seemed like a fun idea.

A name- Thalia! This was already going better than with Harechaser, she wasn't being insulted yet. Could this actually be a nice Shadowclan cat? Er, maybe not that, if she was nice she couldn't be in Shadowclan, especially with a name like that. Silverwing sat down, getting herself more comfortable for the hopefully lengthy conversation they were about to have. "Thalia? It's a pretty name, but it's not very... Clan-like?" That was rude, wasn't it? "Ah, I'm not trying to say your name is weird or anything like that, I like it! It's just that I don't hear many clan cats without, um... Names like mine, I guess?" How was she even supposed to explain something like that? "You are part of Shadowclan, right?" You're already messing this up!

"...He taught me very well," Thalia agreed. She allowed herself to wonder, for a moment, what he was doing now; what the new life for himself he had built looked like. "I guess it is kind of complicated? It doesn't feel like it, but I've been doing it for so long... I'd be happy to teach you! No payment necessary- it doesn't seem... Fair, really? I mean, I didn't pay anyone to learn, except with my time and attention. It was enough that I wanted to learn... And I think that's a good enough reason to teach anything."

Silverwing sat down nearby, and there was the question she was always expecting- one that came rarely from her own Clanmates, who had mostly grown up in her presence, but from any cat curious enough to ask. "I am a part of ShadowClan," she nodded, not particularly offended. "It's... A long and complicated story. It's strange, I know, but I've always been Thalia."

That wasn't strictly true, but- her, the cat she was now, had always been Thalia; the cat that preceded her was a memory dead and buried. Lost and forgotten, even to those that had given her that old name.