Night ; 9:25 PM

The once flowing, warm blood settled into a cool, unpleasant chill on Hollyleaf's paws, almost feeling like water - something she wished it was. In a way, she couldn't detect any emotion, though maybe it was the shock as her emerald green eyes watched the lifeless body of Ashfur laying in front of her paws. Bile welled up in her throat, and for a moment, she genuinely felt as if she was going to throw up, but she didn't.

Instead, she just washed her paws off in the stream of flowing water and pretended that she hadn't just murdered her own clanmate in cold blood, that it was some other cat that possessed her body and made her do it. The thought soothed her for a brief moment, if it wasn't for the fact that Starclan knew the truth, and it'd be held against her until the moment her lungs would accommodate her last breath.

Hollyleaf sat there for a while, coming to terms with herself. In a way, it felt thrilling, like a laugh in the face of her clanmates saying, "Hey! I'm not just a stuck-up, code following cat! See? I murdered my poor, innocent clanmate in pure malice, and didn't even feel remorse for it!".

Within the same breath though, guilt filled her lungs, strangling her like a riptide and pulling her under. Ashfur could've done so much for the clan, fed so many queens and elders, could've fought or ended a battle - but he couldn't now, because her very own claws ripped away his life and ended him like a piece of prey.

The sunset had faded by now, the darkness of night masking her pelt and blending it in like watercolor. It should've been comforting, knowing that no cat could physically see her unless they squinted, but it wasn't. There were clouds over the moon, like a disapproving gesture directed at her from Starclan itself.

A not-so subtle rustling broke Hollyleaf from her trance, and she didn't even need to turn to know who it was, the all too familiar scent hitting her nose.

"Go away, Sol."

She hissed quietly, her tail lashing in a fit of aggression, ironic considering just how weak she was at the moment. The tortoiseshell tom promptly ignored her request, instead opting to slide up beside her and watch the flow of the stream.

"Impressive, really. I never thought such a small kitten would be capable of getting blood on her pretty little paws."

Sol commented, his sultry voice tinted with amusement, and perhaps a bit flirtatious. Hollyleaf could feel herself melting at his voice, and his scent, the warmth of it making her feel kittish and naive.

"Sol, you need to leave. You're on Thunderclan territory."

Her voice was meek as she protested, deep down knowing that she didn't want him to leave, finding comfort in a cat who understood her distress, or at least acted like it. She heard Sol give an amused purr as he leaned his head down to match the height of hers.

"So are you, kitten. Do you really think Thunderclan's going to accept you after you murdered one of their best warriors? You're a loner, just like me now."

Hollyleaf's maw let out a choked sob at that, but didn't bother to defend herself. She knew it was true, she'd be exiled on sight the moment she confessed to killing Ashfur, as if being half-clan wasn't enough of a sin itself. Her tail puffed up a bit as she moved it to wrap around her paws, a tear slipping from her jade eyes. A comfortable silence settled as Sol pressed his fur against her own, his eyes occasionally flickering to the disturbing, lifeless body of Ashfur.

Eventually, Sol rose to his paws and gripped Hollyleaf's scruff, pulling her up as well and eliciting an off-guard shriek from her mouth. She spun around to face him and shot a weak glare at the tom, shaking her fur and puffing her pelt up to make it look double it's size. Hollyleaf's tail swished as she eventually relaxed, Sol's amber pools admiring her from a mere few paw-steps away.

"Up. We have a long journey."

It was a futile explanation, but Hollyleaf didn't need one to be convinced. She was already captured in his sickly game of cat-and-mouse, except she was the mouse, and she didn't have a place to run. With a nod, Hollyleaf shot one last glance at her victim, before following behind Sol's paw steps. She'd miss her old life, the camp she grew up in, her brothers - her family.

She wondered how her brothers would react when they realized that she was gone. Would they even care? Or how the clan would react when they realized the killer of their beloved clanmate was one they'd always trusted. Her clan would be bound to find out once they found the body, her scent was practically embedded in the area.

Her legs grew tired as she trailed not far behind Sol, his tail hovering just behind her to make sure that the onyx she-cat hadn't darted off yet. Hunger and exhaustion pawed at her desperately, but she continued to push herself, it wouldn't be long until they could take a break, they just had to make sure to be far out of Thunderclan territory until then.

After a long while of walking, Sol came to a stop at an area beneath a tall oak tree, and sat under it, beckoning Hollyleaf to as well. The scent of Thunderclan was far gone by now, the unfamiliar feeling of the environment sending Hollyleaf into a frightened state, but none-the-less, she collapsed next to Sol tiredly. She was still very much hungry, but it could wait, they both weren't in a state to hunt right now.

Closing her eyes, she curled into herself and fell into a slumber almost instantly, her body taking in the well needed rest, and she could very faintly feel Sol do so as well.

Mid-Morning ; 10:07 AM

The black-furred femme stirred awake at the feeling of a paw prodding into her side, and it didn't take a genius to know who it was. Her tail irritably swished the mottled black and orange paw away as she shifted, an annoyed whine sounding from her maw.

"You have approximately one minute to wake up before I leave you here."

Sol hissed, though it was an empty threat. Hollyleaf's eyes peaked open groggily, and she gave a weak glare towards the tom, but didn't bother to force herself up. Her stomach screamed at her to eat something, a pang of pain as a result.

"I'll get up when you get me something to eat, Sol. I'm not going to make the 'journey' if my body's too weak to even get up."

The she-cat narrowed her eyes, just barely gathering enough strength to move from her curled position and onto her side. She strained her ears to hear Sol grumble something under his breath, before stalking off, reluctantly hunting down some unfortunate prey to satisfy her paining hunger.

Bored, Hollyleaf batted at a leaf within reach, tearing the browning shrubbery into tons of tiny pieces while she waited patiently for Sol to return. For a moment, she debated on whether or not to curl up and fall back asleep, but the thoughts disintegrated as she saw Sol come back, carrying a lifeless rabbit in his maw.

Relief sparked in her veins as she moved up a bit, looking at Sol and letting a slight smile grace her face.

"Thank you, Sol."

Hollyleaf drew her voice out and made it sound sickly sweet, but the gratefulness was genuine as she began to quickly eat the rabbit. She figured the tom had already eaten before she woke up, seeing that he wasn't bothering to get his share of the prey from her.

Finishing about half, she pushed the remainder of it away before rising to her paws, shaking her fur out to remove the dirt and leaves that had settled on it during her last-nights slumber. Her ears flattened against her head as she looked up at the tortoiseshell, just now realizing how much larger the tom was compared to her.

"Maybe I was right about you being a lion when I was an apprentice."

She muttered, her voice sounding lighthearted. An amused chuckle escaped Sol's mouth as he leaned down and licked a bit of her neck fur, causing Hollyleaf to let out a jumpy mewl, not realizing what he was doing at first. Eventually, she relaxed as Sol started grooming her, a feeble flow of purrs sounding from herself as she pressed into Sol.

"And maybe I was correct about you being a kit."

He lightly taunted, a smile on his face as he groomed around her ears and forehead, feeling Hollyleaf's pelt flush from beneath her thick layers of fur. The she-cat mumbled a quiet 'shut up' as she continued to purr, her thoughts unsure of Sol's intentions, but still trustful. He wouldn't go out of his way to hunt and groom for her, especially since it gave him no gain.

After a while, he stopped grooming her, causing a childish complaint to come from Hollyleaf's mouth. Her tail swished and scattered a few leaves around, before she reluctantly stood up again, feeling far better than she had before, the food now settled in her stomach and her fur feeling clean.

"We should get going, we still have a long walk, and I want to be there by sunset."

Sol commented, rising to his paws as well and stretching, his mottled fur slightly blending in with the leaf-fall colors. Shaking his pelt, he began to walk again at Hollyleaf's lack of response, his tail hovering behind her again as he had the night before.

The onyx-tabby she-cat flicked her ears and followed him, her paw steps coming into line with his own. She was still curious as to where they were going, but she let herself wonder, it was better than thinking about what her former clanmates were doing right now, or if they even found the body yet.

Mid-Day ; 4:42 PM

Hollyleaf's paws started to ache as she huffed, her body begging her to take a break. They'd been walking for hours now, and it still looked like the same scenery, except maybe with less greenery and more fields. She'd seen a few of these fields before, when her and her former clanmates went up to Skyclan, they were near the horseplace. Of course, they were smaller, these ones seemed like they could go on for forever.

"Sol? How much longer?"

She asked meekly, starting to struggle to keep up with his pace. Briefly, she wondered just how Sol could walk so much without having to take a break, he didn't even look thirsty. Sol glanced over at her and gave a comforting lick on her ear, slowing down his pace.

"Not long, I recognize this place. A little bit longer and we should be there."

He murmured, but it didn't sooth Hollyleaf. At this point she just wanted to go back to her clan and curl up in her familiar nest, the one right next to Lionblaze. Grief pained at her as she remembered her brother, the fact dawning on her that she might never see him again, with the assumption that Starclan wouldn't let her in.

"I want to go home."

Hollyleaf mumbled, tears threatening to prick at her eyes, her exhaustion and physical pain causing her emotions to skyrocket. She saw Sol spin around with a hiss, catching her off guard and causing her to stumble back.

"That's not your home anymore, Holly. Your home is with me, and it will always be with me, do you understand?"

Sol hissed, using his much larger body to pin her to the ground while she let out a fearful cry, using her back legs to claw against his stomach, but it didn't seem to have an effect. After realizing it was no use, Hollyleaf flattened her ears and lowered herself to the ground as far as she could, adverting her gaze submissively.

"I understand- please get off of me."

She pleaded, her voice weak as she cowered beneath the tom, and to her relief, he got off of her. Her full freedom lasted a mere second before she felt her scruff be gripped, and she was pulled along as Sol continued to walk. In a way, she felt relaxed that she wasn't putting full pressure on her paws anymore, but she knew that Sol would get tired of having to carry her eventually.

It was silent for a while, just the gentle chirping of birds and several other creatures within the wilderness, until eventually she caught sight of what she assumed to be their destination. It was a collection of several two-leg houses, hundreds even. Fear sparked in her when she saw monsters driving quickly among the concrete paths, her tail starting to swish anxiously.

Though it didn't seem the Thunderpath Sol was heading towards, instead, he was focused on a building. To Hollyleaf, it seemed odd, made of brick instead of the wood one she had seen back in her territory, but she still held her trust, the previous fearful encounter of Sol being forgotten in the back of her mind.

Her back started to ache a bit, her scruff still being held by the tom, but he didn't seem persistent in letting it go anytime soon. She could feel the weather grow a bit colder as the warm hues of the sunset tinted the area, and a yawn escaped her throat as she let herself continued to be dragged along. It wouldn't be long until she got to rest again, but this time, hopefully permanently.

Eventually, Sol let her go as they reached their destination. It was a brick building, but it didn't seem like any two-legs had touched it in a while, seeing the grime on the side and a rather big broken chuck off of the wall, leading to where Hollyleaf assumed she was supposed to go to.

Reluctantly, Hollyleaf crawled through the hole, feeling Sol follow closely behind her. It had lead to what appeared to be an unfinished basement, not touched for quite a while. Wooden boxes we're piled up along the walls and some scattered along the dirt flooring, along with some hay and a few patches of grass.

The odd thing was that the hay looked as if it had been piled up into sections, acting as nests to whatever creature lived- or still lives there. Panic coiled up in Hollyleaf's stomach as the scent of a mix of different cats hit her nose, and she kept herself as close to the wall as possible. Sol seemed relaxed however, stepping in right beside the lithe she-cat.

Faint paw-steps neared before the sight of a cat rounded a corner of hay, their eyes widening in surprise as they admired the two cats.

"Harry?"

chapter two is literally being released the same time as this but ;w; i physically cannot get over the fact that sol's kittypet name was harry. like i cant comprehend that. who would look at a tortoiseshell cat, a rare male tortoiseshell cat, and be like 'hmmm, gonna name this cat harry.' and live with themselves. i can understand why sol wants to destroy pretty much everything now. i would too if my name was harry. anyways! favs/follows/reviews are always appreciated!