[Ever]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The brown tabby felt a sense of close-to contentment - along with, grudgingly, some regret. The conversation he had with the black cat made him feel like there were finally a few cats in the Syndicate who actually weren't either shy, overly optimistic, or manipulative. He didn't fit any of those definitions. It was a "defying stereotypes" type of situation, though Arrow didn't think of himself as the type of cat to defy a stereotype. The only reason he was even still in the Syndicate was out of fear. He guarded himself. He gave away as little information as possible. And while other cats in the Syndicate did that as well, they were always hiding something. Some big secret that it would kill everyone else to know. Or at least, that's how it looked in their eyes. Over the moons, Arrow had discovered that these "big secrets" always ended up being not as big of a deal to other cats. Some were, some weren't. But to him, the less known about someone? The better. So maybe they were right anyways.

Though Arrow didn't like the scary-looking, secretive types that were always hiding in the shadows... kind of like himself, although he was at least polite to the other Syndicate members. These cats? In a way reminded him of Ebony, though she was a little nicer then he had suspected. Trust was earned - not given - and so once she had proven that she had earned it, he would be willing to open up to her. If she were manipulative and cruel and used information against him, well... then Arrow could leave the Syndicate. Leave this awful place that he was confident he didn't want to stay in for much longer anyways. The Syndicate scared him at times. Yes, scared - he was frightened of the cats within it. Something he would never, ever admit, but it was the truth. Fireflies looked like stars, the only noticeable difference being that every once in a while something he thought was a star would blink, and flicker out, showing that it was one of the small insects. Beautiful creatures. Arrow could never bring himself to kill any type of animal that was so delicate. Well, there was a difference between prey and animals that didn't deserve to be killed. Other cats included. An unspoken law of the Syndicate seemed to be 'kill or be killed,' and yet the tabby refrained from it when possible. Because he found that it didn't make him happy to kill other cats. Most of them deserved to live, anyways. Good cats made bad choices - it was something he had learned long ago. And a bad choice was not something you deserved to die for. He was hoping that he would be shown some mercy in the future, if he were to show others mercy. Though that wasn't something that would get him places.

"Do you know any other cats in the Syndicate? Or are they all scared of -" He stopped for a moment, contemplating whether this was a delicate subject to go on... and at the same time trying to work up the courage to speak the dreaded tom's name, before he was able to continue. "Or are they all scared of Hannibal?" There. He had said it. Part of him wondered if speaking it was like bringing a curse on himself, though he knew that was silly. It was crazy to be frightened of a name in itself, though that particular name - just the name alone - was a frightening one. It sounded like something out of a nightmare. And seeing the cat, Arrow could understand why the parents might have chosen that particular name.

Arrow glanced at Ebony, her dark pelt seemed to blend into the shadows so well - though he could still see her, having good vision, but had he been less capable of seeing through the shadowy darkness, only her bicolored hues gleaming would have been visible. It would be something that he would not wish to see in the dark of night, when he was already worried about being attacked - and a gleam of amusement entered his own eyes as he thought about a prank involving her oddly mismatched eyes.

She almost felt as though he could read her mind, though she supposed he was right to be curious about Hannibal; plenty of syndicate cats were. He was illusive, he put on this feigned attitude of friendliness around others to lure them in. Not many knew what exactly he did when he killed the cats after he was bored of toying with them, though she was one of the few who did. Knowing what he was able to do, since he craved it so much was frightening. It was less that others were frightened of her, and more than she was frightened of bringing others into her hell. Hell was knowledge in the syndicate. If Arrow ever knew she was afraid of what Hannibal might do. Though maybe if she were just friends with him Hannibal would leave the tom alone, if he suspected no threat.

It made her want to leave the syndicate even more, to find happiness away from this place. She couldn't bring herself to do it though, at least she had something here, some sort of illusion of community. Albeit a murderous one.

She blinked as she looked over at Arrow, wondering what words would help in getting the point across. "It's not so much that they are frightened of me and my connections," she began slowly, pausing to roll her tongue nervously in her mouth, "it's more that I am afraid of dragging them into the family, closer to danger." She finished, her voice a whisper as if Hannibal could hear their conversation. The confession was brutally honest and she felt embarrassed to admit how afraid she was of her own kin, so she looked away from Arrow quickly to focus on the night and its soothing stillness. Though it didn't feel so soothing tonight, with the topic of their conversation. Every small firefly lighting its way through the night tricked her eyes into thinking they were the reflection of Hannibal's eyes in the dark. It put her on edge rather than calming her with their usual beauty and grace. She picked up her pace to an anxious trot, as though she could outrun their sight even though they flitted throughout the entire territory.