~~~Morning, Forest
Grey had a plausible excuse for being here, she believed. After all, she was supposed to keeping an eye on Hail (who had not shown up for several days after the first) and Hail had been in the forest, thus being in the forest counted as keeping an eye on Hail in her logic. Any and all contradictions are void.
But the real reason laid in the fact that had hit her the day before, the fact that revealed itself from the depths of her mind and would not stop gnawing at her thoughts.
It had been a rainy day yesterday, clouds refusing to part for the sun and icy drops of water beating the ground mercilessly. Business had been slow that day; scents were mixed up and no cat volunteered to get his fur wet willingly. The tunnels were cramped as cats milled about and sat around chatting, listening to the thrumming of the rain. It would have been a pleasant evening if not rent had to be paid and dues to be met.
"Get to it!" Grey screeched, her fur standing on end. She glared at a hunter who was hesitating about stepping out in the rain, but at Grey's voice, he dashed out into the rain as if his pelt were on fire.
She sighed irritably; she had already lost count of the lazy slackers she had threatened today. It seemed as if she had to repeat each of her orders twice in order for it to get into everybody's thick heads. And speaking of thick heads, Hunter was not to be seen anywhere. His nest was empty, and she would have thought he disappeared just to leave all the work to her to annoy her, but she knew that he was probably out meeting with Hail while she was grounded in this hellhole.
Grey entered the prey room, now turned into a hot, stuffy lounge for those trying to escape work. As she entered, the fear scent upped by twofold.
She took a deep breath, then let it rip, "You had better get off your tails and move, you lazy furballs or I'll rip all your ears from your faces and feed it to you!"
There were a few yelps of fear as the room was effectively emptied out by means of stampede.
That worked, she thought smugly.
She let out a relieved sigh and turned to leave the room. Despite the cold and wetness outside, it was humid and heated inside the tunnels thanks to the amount of slackers gathered together. Unlike the other cats, she would actually enjoy a break in the rain.
As Grey stepped outside, she immediately felt the cold wash of rain over her face. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up, letting the water roll over her and wash her tension away. It was a pleasant feeling after the mess the West Syndicate had become today.
Something about sitting in the rain made her mind wander. Her thoughts rolled through her like the raindrops rolling off her fur, slowly, gently. Suddenly, one thought snagged her thoughts and clung to her. Those eyes.
Those blue eyes.
She let out a growl of annoyance as the thought once more unearthed itself from her mind, tearing through any halcyon moments the rain had temporarily created. Why won't they leave her alone? Why can't she figure it out?
Something about those eyes! It enraged her that she could not place her paw upon it, because they seemed so familiar, so close; it was as if she knew the answers but just couldn't remember the way to say it. Her eyes lowered and found her own frustrated face reflected in a puddle besides her paw, the raindrop distorting and making her face ripple.
And suddenly, she saw those blue eyes once more.
Grey gasped and stared into the puddle, and those eyes stared back, surprised and confused. Her eyes? Her eyes were those eyes?
They were her eyes. Her eyes. Questions that she could not answer bubbled up within her mind, and her frustration was replaced by confusion in one heartbeat. What did this mean? She thought about the black and white tom that uttered her name, and the strange, longing look that swirled around his face like a shroud.
The more she stared into her own hers, his eyes, a small spark of hope ignited in her chest. It was a tiny hope, a tiny possibility, and it quickly caught fire. Could it be? Could it possibly be?
One word echoed in her mind, reverberating within her heart and filling her with hope.
Kin.
She had to find out.
And so, the next day, Grey was back in the forest.
She had explained that she needed to investigate the forest for prey-related reasons to Hunter, who had come back in the middle of the night, claiming to have had urgent business with the Eas t(To which Grey responded: "Where in the world were you? I was working my tail off getting your slackers and furballs up and about while you were off dancing in the rain somewhere! I hope you catch a cold and die in a gutter alone!").
~~~Noon, Forest
Grey suppressed a groan as her paws sank into the muddy dirt of the forest floor. She quickly leapt onto a patch of leafy grass and proceeded to clean off her feet, somewhat to no avail. She had been wandering around the forest for hours, and she was getting hungry. She wasn't that used to hunting, especially in the forest, but she could try to learn.
She lowered herself into a battle crouch and started stalking towards a brown mouse sniffling at the ground. She started creeping up towards it, tail swishing and claws unsheathed. The mouse skittered slightly, and suddenly dashed away.
Grey growled and attempted to leap after it, but its long tail had already disappeared down a hole. She spat and turned away, until she heard someone snickering behind her.
"Who's there?" She hissed. Without waiting for a reply, she leapt into the tussock of grass from which the laughter sounded. She barreled into a golden tom, and pinned him down. She bared her teeth and growled at him, who was no longer laughing.
"You!" she snarled. He was the tom from her last encounter with clan cats, the tom who had dared call her a rogue.
"Yes, me," he meowed, "What are you doing here again? After you fled so gracefully last time?"
"Shut up!" Grey hissed, "I'm here to talk to your leader cat. The old one."
"That gives you no right to demonstrate your poor hunting skills in our forest."
"What!" she snorted indignantly, "They were not poor!"
"Lies," he sighed, "Your tail was flailing around like it had a life of its own, your hunter's crouch resembled more of a battle crouch and you didn't put your paws down lightly enough. Also, the spot you chose didn't have enough grass to act as cover."
Grey sputtered, "Wh-what? Wait, you were watching me the whole time?"
The clancat flushed embarrassedly and growled, "I was only watching a trespasser."
"I told you, I need to speak with your old leader-geezer."
"Don't call him that!"
"Don't call me what?" And there he was, standing there in all his mysterious glory. He looked exactly the same as before, his eyes the same shade of blue as hers. She felt relieved for a moment, as if she had thought his eyes would change, or she had seen it wrong.
Grey felt her fur stand on end as her eyes met his. She could tell his mind was racing by the way his eyes were narrowed in thought, but his eyes were still unreadable. She automatically curled her lip in apprehension.
"Who are you?" she meowed, trying to push the snarl out of her voice.
He gazed at Grey evenly, and then replied, "I am Owlstar. I am the leader of Shadowclan."
"And how do you know my name? Why do you have the same eyes as me?"
Owlstar stared at Grey for a few more heartbeats than what Grey was comfortable with. Her claws flashed in and out of their sheath as she glared at him nervously.
"Well?" She demanded.
"It is a long story," he murmured, then glanced at the other clan cat, "And not for all ears to hear."
"Owlstar?" the golden tom seemed confused, "What can you share with a rogue that you can't share with your deputy?"
"I'm sorry, Oakleaf, but I need some privacy with Grey right now."
Oakleaf looked between the two confusedly, but without hostility. Reluctantly, he submitted to his leader's wishes. He bowed his head and meowed, "I'll be back at camp, then."
"Thank you," Owlstar nodded his head at his deputy's retreating form.
"You have got a lot of explaining to do," Grey hissed.
The black tom looked at Grey in surprise, and then suddenly burst into laughter. This startled Grey, who leapt back in defense, and could only stare at the leader cracking up before her.
"What?" Grey snarled. She was a mouse's tail from ripping off his fur for laughing at her, but she can't do that or she'll never get her answers.
"You remind me so much of your mother," Owlstar smiled, mirth still evident in his voice.
"My… mother?"
"I think you might've guessed already. I assume you're alive because you've been adopted by rogues?"
"Yes, yes," she meowed impatiently, "but what about my mother?"
"In the clans, it is forbidden for a clan cat to love a rogue. The rogue must either join the clan, or the clanner must become a rogue."
"Yeah, so?" Who cares about clan rules? She wanted to know the truth. It was a heartbeat away, and she could feel the satisfaction of knowing already, its so close.
"Patience, Grey," Owlstar chuckled. He continued, "Well, I made the mistake of falling in love with a rogue. Your mother, Grey."
Grey grew silent. She felt her head spinning, her heart ba-bump ba-bumping in her ears. Her father… this was him! Her father was a forest cat. Her mother was a rogue. Forest cat. Rogue. As she registered this new information, she felt a piece of happiness and hope rising up within her.
This was her father!
Kin!
"What about my mother?" Her voice was filled with excitement as she glanced at the black tom.
Owlstar's face told the tale. His expression morphed from pleasure from finding a daughter to unabashed grief. Sorrow flooded his features and his face was contorted into raw pain, pain that could only be from losing a loved one. She knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth.
"I tried, Grey. I truly tried. I had convinced her to join the clan when she was about to give birth to you, but the other three clans weren't exactly welcoming."
"You mean… they… killed her?" Hatred was the ink that started to swirl into her clear thoughts, making everything black and muddied.
"Not directly, no," Owlstar murmured, "but they never fully accepted her, so she was the first targeted in battles and raids."
"Aren't you the leader? Stop them!" Grey snarled. She knew she should not be speaking in present tense, but she couldn't help but wish she could have been there to save her mother.
"Not yet, and even if I were, I couldn't possibly do anything to hinder the other clans." he whispered, " I only rose to become leader after her passing, and I will forever regret the lateness of my actions. If I were leader, I could have protected her more, kept her safe…" Owlstar bowed his head, his words choking off at the end.
Grey hesitated before closing the distance between her and her father and placing her nose on his neck, something she had never done to anyone in her life. She breathed in her father's scent, so different from Father's but not necessarily bad. Father's scent was deep and seemed to be infused with peace, which never failed to calm Grey. He looked at her with affection, but as long as she could remember, the closest thing to a gesture of affection was placing his tail on her shoulder.
However, Owlstar's scent was a forest; he smelled of pine needles, grass and earth, and it was unfamiliar territory for her, who was used to the twoleg stench and streets. The forest was so natural, and something wild and deep inside of her truly felt at home in the forest.
Owlstar licked Grey on the head affectionately, and meowed, "Thank you, Grey."
Grey stepped back after a few moments and meowed, "So, what do I do now?"
Owlstar looked confused for a moment before stating as if it were obvious, "You join Shadowclan."
"What?" She exclaimed.
Her father tilted her head and meowed, "You were born with clan blood within you. Become one with your birthplace; you belong here."
"But…" she mumbled, "Won't they drive me out?" Like they did my mother?
"No," he replied surely, "I am their leader now, and I will not let anything happen to you. I won't make the same mistake twice."
"What will you say to them?"
"I will say you are a rogue worthy of joining us. Ah, it would be better if you did not mention your mother or me as your parents, I think."
"Why?" Why keep this brilliant discovery a secret?
"My clanmates can get quite… fierce about mating choices, and I hope that we can keep my past in the past. I don't want to stir up past conflicts," he muttered, looking at his paws. His eyes did not meet hers.
"I understand," Grey murmured.
"Well? Will you join Shadowclan?" Hope shimmered in his eyes.
Grey was torn. Her life in the Syndicate was her only life, and at one point, all that mattered. Her future as the leader of the Syndicate, where will it go? And Father… it will tear her heart apart to ever leave him. He was her Father… but Owlstar was her father.
"This… is a hard decision to make, Owlstar," she confessed.
Owlstar looked slightly disappointed and murmured gently, "Please, take your time. When you do decide, please come into the forest. I will tell the other cats of the possibility of a rogue joining us, and perhaps this will give them time to adapt."
Grey meowed. "Thank you, Owlstar."
"No, thank you."
A/N: Just wanted to get this out here before school starts screwing with my life. Reviews are awesome.