There he was.
He was a fluffy brown tabby that looked like he once had the enthusiasm to love and enjoy his life but it had been violently revoked from him. In short, he looked miserable.
"Marquis please don't tell me you're trying to get me a new mate." The tom sighed looking away from me.
"What? No!" Marquis snapped. "You talk about a Rosesneeze-"
"Rosebreeze."
"Whatever, Rosebreeze. All the time!" Marquis pointed out. "And she says she's Rosebreeze's daughter."
"This is your daughter Thomas." Marquis repeated.
"...What is your name?" My father asked me.
"Starlingpaw."
"She did say she was expecting kits, but then one day she stopped coming to see me." Dad sighed. "Is she doing well? Where are our other kits?"
Stuck in a cursed forest hell thanks to me.
"They're back in the forest, but a invisible force keeps any cats from leaving...except me." I admitted.
"How did you get out?" Dad asked.
"I...I don't know." I lied.
"Well, is this why you came here? So you could bring me back to Rosebreeze? I'm in. Let's go." Dad meowed eagerly.
"Dad...I'm not going back there. Ever." I muttered.
"What? Why?"
"I left the forest for a reason." I responded vaguely. "You can go back there. I'm not going to let you choose."
"Very well." Dad said. "I guess this is goodbye, anything you want me to tell her?"
"Tell her I love her, and make sure she's safe. Her Clan is going to be mad that I left." I rubbed my head against my father's. "Bye Dad."
"Bye Starlingpaw. Take care of our Twolegs okay Marquis?" Dad meowed.
"Ok." Marquis whispered. "Bye Thomas."
So soon after meeting my father, he left out the cat flap, over the fence, and out of Twolegplace. I considered escorting him, but it seemed too soon. I didn't want to break down again.
"Starlingpaw, it seemed like something really bad had happened if you wouldn't even come back there just to drop your father off." Jasper pointed out to me as the two of us went back to our Twoleg nest, leaving Marquis back with his Twolegs.
"Good assumption." I deadpanned.
"Tell me, did somecat hurt you?" Jasper asked.
"You could say that."
We didn't talk the rest of the way back, and I got to meet Jasper's Twoleg. She appeared to be a young female with brown fur on her head reaching to her shoulders.
She seemed indifferent to the fact that there was suddenly an extra cat in her home, and petted me and pulled out an item similar to Jasper's and filled it with food.
It appeared to be wet and when I smelled it I was overwhelmed by a delicious aroma and I purred.
"It's chicken flavored cat food." Jasper purred. "You seem to feel much better."
"I can hardly believe that I don't have to hunt for it!" I gasped, looking at him eagerly. "I could get used to this."
"That's good." Jasper chuckled as he began to eat food as well. Our Twoleg gave a happy sound before leaving us to devour our food.
After we finished our food, Jasper and I noticed a white paw swipe the cat flap and we went outside to see Jessie, Minty, and Marquis.
"The four of us like to hang out near our nests like when we were near Jessie and Minty's nest earlier." Jasper explained. "Plus, look. It's the sunset."
I looked over Jasper and his friends which were becoming mine as well. There it was, the orange-pink sunset Jasper had anticipated me to see.
It was more beautiful than the sunrise.
"What happens after the sunset?" I asked Jasper.
"She's never seen the sun?!" Minty gasped. Geez, should've told Jasper in private. These were quite the nosy cats!
"Cool it Minty, it's a long story." Jasper told her. "She's been through a lot, she'll tell you when she's ready."
"Thanks Jasper." I meowed. "So...?"
"After sunset comes what you're familiar with: the night." Jasper replied gingerly.
"And when does it come back?" I asked nervously.
"After a good night's sleep hun." Marquis answered, giving a wink.
"Basically." Jasper added, looking at Marquis weirdly again.
When it started getting dark Jessie leaped onto Minty and they started play fighting, with Marquis eventually joining in. To reference a Twoleg term I learned from him, he turned out to be a total nerd.
Me and Jasper were peacefully sitting with our paws tucked in watching the moon that I knew so well. Glancing and smiling at our friends.
"What was this AngelClan like?" Jasper asked me.
"They loved themselves like they were the best group of cats on Earth." I huffed. "They were extremely proud, except this tom Briar-"
I immediately shut up, realizing I spilled a little too much than I wanted to.
"Briar?" Jasper asked.
"Briarpaw." I corrected him. "He turned out to be just as terrible as them."
"Oh, well. They seem awful, and they don't deserve you." Jasper reassured me. "Stay here, we all love you here. We're more than happy to have you."
I didn't think he was wrong, these cats treated me better in one day than those mouse-brains back in AngelClan treated me in four moons. Good riddance.
"I don't want to leave you guys, you all have made me feel welcome here." I told him, flicking my tail pleased.
"Yay! New member of our kitty gang!" Jessie squealed in the middle of the play fighting. "Did you hear that you two? Starlingpaw is staying here!"
"That's awesome Starlingpaw!" Minty purred.
"Hopefully you'll learn more about my amazing Twoleg talk." Marquis teased. "Baby girl~"
"Marquis."
"Okay, okay! Chill!" Marquis snapped at Jasper. "No need to be so protective, she's a grown she-cat."
Well, I'm only ten moons old. But I'll take it anyway. I got up and playfully pushed Marquis over with one paw, easily since he didn't expect it.
Marquis got up and leaped at me and I rolled out of the way. Jessie and Minty joined in and eventually Jasper leaped and headbutted me in the side. We all sprawled out tired and I purred.
I felt so happy, and I knew I would stay here for a while.