Under the Starlight

[Kitty]

Tom took a deep breath. "My name states the obvious," he admitted, a little sheepishly. "Tom." Hm, the last time he'd said his name out loud had been when he was a kit, talking to Turtle.

"I'm called Tom." Wow, that really did state the obvious, huh? He sighed. At least Rhiannon's name was pretty. Tom was just...plain.

[froststream]

"Tom," Rhiannon repeated, rolling it around in her mouth. "That's nice."

It was good, pure, simple and traditional. Rhiannon's name was too long and odd. Cats often said to her, "Rhiannon? You mean, Riannin? Raining? How did you say that again?" And if she tried to spell it, there was that silent H. "Oh!" the cats would exclaim. "R-hi-annon! Got it."

Of course they didn't, but Rhiannon was too shy to correct them. Why waste the breath? "I like that name," she said honestly. "Simple and straight forward. It doesn't seem to fit you, though. You seem to have a lot more than you're showing. But of course. We're still strangers, linked together by names. But, I'm not sure, still."

[Kitty]

"Rhiannon's a much nicer name," Tom pointed out. He was just speaking his opinion. She seemed to agree with him, in the fact that it his name was stating the obvious. "Its different, uncommon." Wow, this she-cat had gotten him to talk more than he had since he was a kit. "Knowing names doesn't mean you know the cat." Just because Tom had known Turtle's name didn't mean he'd actually known what the loner was like. He had no idea that Turtle was going to send him away. That was the last time he trusted another cat....

[froststream]

"Of course not," Rhiannon agreed. "Nmes or just words put together, sometimes jumbled, sometimes with purpose. Either way, it's just a name, not our lives. Though I'd say it is still a big part of us, otherwise cats'd be changing their names every day."

Rhiannon lowered her gaze again hastily. She had said to much, to a loner who obviously didn't want to talk. She gazed up at the moon, trying to run away to that inky world, where her dark pelt blended in and stayed with the rest. Where she was a part of something and not a single little cat under close scrutiny.

[Kitty]

"Or you'd call every cat 'you'," Tom pointed out. She'd actually gotten him to joke around. This was something unheard of. I must be growing soft he thought, shaking his head slightly and closing his eyes.

He watched the moon. It seemed to be something that both cats seemed to enjoy. Just stargazing. Or skygazing. But Rhiannon didnt seem to be one for the daytime. Mostly night time. "Do you like night or day better?" he asked. It was random, but not random to him, since he'd just been thinking about it.

[froststream]

"Night," she replied quickly. Maybe too quickly. But she was confident of her answer, so whatever. "I like the nighttime, because that's when life starts. Cats say the daytime is happier, more cheeful, when you can see the flowers and cats. The Night is much more melanchonic, much gloomier, peaceful and quiet and still. I guess that's why I like it, because we match. I'm not rpoud of me being that way all the time, but I am proud that I at least don't follow the crowd everyday. The day is much different. It takes the dawn that the night gives, and gives the dusk, but it never seems to want to let go. For a long time you can see it hovering near the horizon, while night sweeps the skies. Night, on the other hand, gives what it gets and makes no scene about what to let go of and what to take. It simply lets the days slide into one another. It completes the cycle."

She paused. She'd said far too much. She'd rambled. Shy, quiet Rhiannon speaking? This was the most she'd talked in... how long?

[Kitty]

"Night's much better," Tom agreed. "Day seems to always stay the same, but every nigt the sky is different. There's more to see." He'd actually enjoyed Rhiannon's little speech. She made several very good points, and given good reasons for enjoying the night, too. "I don't really blend in to any time of day, especiallly not night, but I just can't seem to get over how nice it is." It was much more peaceful than the day - especially because there were less monsters out and about. Twolegs, too.

[froststream]

"Yes," she purred. "And nighttime's when you can see the stars."

She sat down, feeling as though maybe, just maybe, she might be able to talk a little longer. Her tiredness was gone, and she felt ready. For what, she wasn't sure. Ready for something...

"I've got a brother, too," she said quietly. "Wildheart. He's amazing. I love him very much." Well, this was a step in getting to know one another. It was forced, but it was a start, too. "And Bombay, Like you know. She's great, too. A little crazy, but that's why I love her. Sometimes I don't feel I match. Wildheart, brave and protective, Bombay, silly and loveable, and then me. Quiet, antisocial..." She sighed.

[Kitty]

Tom bit back a laugh. Rhiannon sounded like someone else he knew...who was it? Oh yeah. It was himself. Quiet, antisocial, rude, cold...hm, it seemed he was all of those things to every other cat but this she-cat. She seemed to try to be making conversation, so he decided he should contribute to it. "I have no siblings. I have no one I love," he admitted. He'd loved his mother once, but she'd died. The only friend he'd ever had was turtle, and Turtle didn't want him. So he was all alone in the big wide forest, it seemed. Well, not completely. He had the sun, moon, and stars.

[froststream]

"Mm," Rhiannon hummed, nodding. "I'm sorry."

She flicked her ears back a bit. "I.." She didn't want the conversation to sound forced. "I... Used to live with Mother, in a smalll cage. But I was put into a bag with my siblings and a few others, and tossed into a river like garbage. My family survived, but only another tom from a different litter, too. He went... Insane. He jumped back into the river to find his family. We never saw him again. My siblings and I, we were scard, cold and hungry. Then, two cats came and adopted us. It was great, until a rockfall seperated us. Bombay found me and, moons later, so did Wildheart. We've been moving around ever since."

[Kitty]

"A...cage?" Tom asked, rolling the unfamiliar word around in his mouth. Oh well, it didn't really matter, he supposed. "I used to live with a loner," he admitted. "Turtle. But he sent e away when I was hardly more than a kit," he murmured quietly. Just remembering made him sad. He remembered the two or three moons he spent with the tom after his mother died. "I started living with him right after my mother died. That was a hard time for me."

It was just a little worse than being seperated from your family. After all, there was still the chance that Rhiannon's family was alive. Tom's mother wasn't.

[froststream]

"I'm sorry," Rhiannon mewed. "But I won't sit here flooding you with apologies. I suppose the only thing left to do is just, well... Live it out."

She raised her head and smelled the wind. "It makes you think, though, doesn't it? The Clan cats have one another, kittypets have twolegs, but what do we have? I've got a family, but almost all loners don't. And yet, we're one of the strongest cats, mentally, physically and emotionally. It matures us too quickly, but, well, it's better to know how to survive than spend your life pampered, in a way."

[Kitty]

Tom completely agreed with the she-cat. "Of course. But what makes the Clan cats want to stay together in groups that big, I can't imagine." He snorted and shook his head. One other cat was plenty for him, thanks."And kittypets? Most of them are mouse-brained anyway. Not even bothering to try and catch the easy prey in their gardens and being lazy all day." He rolled his eyes. Rhiannon probabl didn't share the same opinions he did, because she was too nice. But that was just his opinion.

"I'm fairly sure a Clan cat could surviv eon its own if it wanted to, it just prefer not to. After all, they know how to fight-" the many times he'd been chased off their territory proved that "- and hunt."

[froststream]

"Yeah.." Rhiannon agreed. "But I guess they stay because they like feeling secure. You know, like they have back up in case they mess up." She nodded. "It would be nice to feel like that." She of course, had her backup - Wildheart and Bombay. But what if something happened to one of them? You could lose a cat so abruptly. Just like when she was taken from Mother. That had been abrupt, but she had been happy to escape from that life, at the same time She wished Mother could have escaped, too, but perhaps it was for the best she stayed.

[Kitty]

At least she has back up, Tom thought, a little bitterly. Was he really jealous of this harmless little she-cat? He hoped not. That would be a little embarrassing. Especially since he'd thought himself incapable of getting jealous over anything. Especially families.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Yes, it would be nice to feel like that." Although several more cats weren't exactly what he had in mind. One or two, maybe. No more. Three tops.

"But I don't have any back up." I don't need any.

As much as he tried to convince himself of this, he wasn't sure it was true.