[Ever]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

That one word held so much power behind it. So much strength, and there was a security in it that he could hear in her tone. The tabby stopped and looked at her, studying her, wishing - wishing things were different. If only he knew how to break the ice. It had been cracked, but it wasn't fully broken. There was still something, some border of cautiousness, keeping him secure. And he was both trying to push it down and keep it up, which was resulting in a mental war. Every cat had their own mental wars. Every cat had something they were hiding. Arrow was confident that Ebony was hiding something, something that made her this way, cautious and uncertain - and it made them similar.

"Good." It was the only thing he could think of to say, and in a way, this was very good. Someone like him. Someone that shared the same fears, at least it seemed that way. Although he guessed she had seen things that she probably wished she hadn't. No, Arrow had no idea what they could be. Just the fact that her brother was who he was, though, told him that something was probably wrong. There had to be. A cat like Hannibal couldn't just let the others live in peace, could he? Or was that only the rude ones? Perhaps if Arrow stayed out of his way and was polite, his friendship with Ebony could continue being developed. Perhaps he wouldn't be killed in his sleep, as he was thinking he would now.

Perhaps everything would turn out okay. Although he wasn't really one to think along the positive lines. "Where's your favorite place to go here?" What he was asking was something fairly simple. Because as much as the tom enjoyed the silence, if there was a chance - a fraction of hope that this, that the relationship he could feel developing between them could continue, he wanted to grab onto that. Even though his barrier was still there, it was beginning to fade away. As was the ice between them. And he could feel himself getting ready to jump, to take that leap, to jump and grab onto Ebony and prepare himself for a new friendship, but... it was too big of a gap. Too much for him.

He would never be able to make that jump and he knew it. The saddest thing about that was the fact that he really, really wanted to be Ebony's friend. She seemed like the type of cat who would make a good friend. But after so long of hiding, of trying not to get attached, Arrow was pretty sure that he couldn't do this. There was absolutely no way that he was going to be able to make friends with a cat who had a brother who was famous for killing, not to mention that he didn't know much about her. Maybe later. Maybe in the future. But he wanted so badly to believe that this could work, that they could be friends, that in the future everything would be alright, that he was desperate. If only there was a chance Arrow could let it go. Could lighten up and stop feeling like it was going to be the end of the world every time he wanted to make a friend. There had been other times, of course, but Arrow couldn't help but think that every time it would end in disaster.

There was the pretty she cat from across the clearing - but she could be flirtatious. The tom who always gave him a friendly 'good morning,' but Arrow knew that not every manipulative or evil cat started out by acting that way. The shy cat who sat in the corner, scared of the world around her, but Arrow wondered if it could be an act. The strong, nice tom who always appeared to be surrounded by admirers - but that was too dangerous. And then there was Ebony... a cat like him. A cat who had a past that was probably scarring, a cat who wasn't planning on hurting him as far as he could tell. But of course, his mind was on overdrive thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong. What if she was working with Hannibal? What if she was a killer on her own? What if something horrible happened to them? What if it wasn't safe out here at night? All those fears were holding him back. And yet that hope, that hope was what kept him from running.

All he wanted to do was be friends. And yet that seemed to be the one thing that he could not do, that was impossible for him to imagine doing. He couldn't be friends. No matter how badly he might want to. He couldn't allow himself to get involved in her life, to want to save her from whatever was going on. He couldn't allow himself to grow too concerned for her welfare because it might be his downfall in the end. It might end badly for him. And that was something else he didn't want.

For a moment silence hung heavy in the air as the two cats stared at each other. Both in equal surprise, and both trying to see the prospects of the relationship: was this worth it, was the risk of friendship worth the risk of death, of punishment? Neither knew what this would ultimately lead too, though both were very aware of all the risks that revolved around them, around her. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she thought on his question. It was a simple question, though the meaning behind it ran much deeper. It was a response, a push, him showing that he wanted companionship as well perhaps. That he wasn't always willing to let the fears of life control his decisions. However, the task put her at risk too. Offering him that sort of information, she'd never let herself be that vulnerable. Lying was a possibility, or so she thought for a moment, and then decided that leading him to a fake place, a second best, would only lead to distrust and broken feelings down the road. So lying wasn't an option. But the black feline wasn't sure still if she trusted him enough. What if he meant her harm, what if he was trying to gain leverage on her. She didn't know anything useful about him and now he wanted to know her favorite place.

The voices in her head whispered anxious thoughts to her, to run, to hide from this. They had the vision of comfort, comfort and safety in solitude. Nobody could hurt you if there was nobody to hurt you. The fur along her spine prickled with the passing moments of debate, feeling a little put on the spot. However, she knew why he'd asked it too. If she were in his shoes and truly wanted to believe and trust the other, she'd want to see some aspect of vulnerability as well, to see if it was an honest attempt at friendship and not some sort of trap. She sucked in a breath and held onto the strand of hope that had calmed her nerves during this entire excursion, that this might end in something good and not in flames.

"There is a place." She said quietly, holding his gaze as she finally broke the silence. Her mismatched eyes were well guarded as she proceeded with a cautious voice, watching his expression to try and detect any sign that he might of bad intents. "There's a stream that runs through our territory, it- it falls into a little set of waterfalls. It's nothing spectacular but- I- I think it's peaceful, beautiful." She felt herself tumbling over the words, nervous, anxious, but she'd done it. Ebony had been able to make the leap and reveal something she'd never told a single other cat in her entire existence. Her chest felt light now that it was out and in the air and her breath returned, a giddiness making her mind spin. She felt like a kit that'd made it's first friend, happy. How long had it been since she felt this happy? She couldn't remember a time when a smile came to her maw out of happiness and not out of sheer force. Her tail flicked happily in the air before her as she finally broke her mismatched eyes from Arrow's and in a new direction. She jutted her chin to the right of them and glanced over at him.

"It's not far from here, follow me." She turned and began anew, on a trail that was only too familiar to her. She bet if she were blind she could still find her way to the tumbling rapids, their crashing sounds as soothing to her as a mother's purr. Her smile didn't falter as she picked up her pace, silencing the voices that told her that this would lead to his or her demise and actually enjoying herself. It was foreign, this ability to be care-free in a sense, if even for a few minutes before the guarded cat returned. It felt wrong in every way, her gut was twisted and her head spun with dizziness, but she pushed on in the darkness, eager to share some of her world with another; for the first and possibly the last time if he were to back away from this. Ebony didn't want to waste an instant.