[lone]

Originally Posted by Ever

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.

Honestly, the tom hadn't been expecting an answer. This showed how badly Ebony wanted this. She wanted him to... what did she want? For him to be her friend? You can do this. Baby steps, Arrow - baby steps. This was a small step in the direction of making a friend, and a huge step (for him) in the direction of trust. What if she found him there and tried to kill him one day? What if something bad happened? What if - tell her. Answer her. Okay. So Arrow wanted to trust Ebony too, wanted to believe her with everything in him even as he watched her, to see that she was honest and vulnerable - like he was. He was vulnerable beneath his hard outer shell. He was hurt more easily then he wanted to believe. More fragile then he let himself believe. And braver then he thought. "It sounds beautiful." And with that, the guard over his expression went down. For an instant it went down. For moments he stared at her, watching her as though there was nothing to keep his guard up anymore and then he stopped with a sigh.

Was he being stupid? Crazy, just to think that even for a moment, he could have something to believe in? Something to believe in - it was what everyone wanted, wasn't it? No. Everyone wanted someone to believe in them. Even Arrow, sometimes, longed for at least one cat that he could trust to tell his fears and hopes to. This was a leap. And especially, when she told him to follow. Ebony - being similar to him - was actually asking him to follow her. And he went. He padded after her, head spinning, cautious in his movements and holding a certain boldness to them as well. He didn't have to be afraid anymore - he didn't have to - she was going to be okay. Not going to kill me. Will kill me. Not going to kill me. Will definitely murder me. This was the back and forth of his mind as he followed her. "Why." It was a statement, moreof then a question, but Arrow asked it. Half commanding an answer.

Why... what... he didn't know. Things were confusing him right now, things were going, and it felt like he couldn't hear all the words that were being said - might be being answered to him now, because his ears were ringing. Yet he was still following her. What was he doing? Didn't this have potential to be dangerous? Yes. But it was that something to believe in, something to believe in him, that Arrow had wanted for so very, very long. Had needed, even. And if he had needed and wanted it so badly, it couldn't be a bad thing. There was no way that something that was so good for him - so socially involved - could be bad. There just wasn't. And as afraid as Arrow was... because yes, he was still afraid, and he still wanted to know why... this was also good. Why. Why him? Why now? Why this? Why here? Why her? All those questions, and no answers so far. Perhaps these were those questions that would be revealed with time.

Just as slowly, over time, he would reveal himself to her. Show that he wasn't always like this. Just as he could see how happy she was. And, a smile - for the first time in a long time, a real, happy smile... not polite... broke out over his own maw. No one was ever this excited because of something he had done, or was doing, or anything like that. But here they were. And maybe, this wasn't going to end badly! Arrow could feel that there was potential for friendship there. It was an adventure, a long road, a long trek - and they were going to make it. He knew they would. He was almost excited, but not quite, it was a sort of... half and half thing. Worry and excitement mixed and he wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry or smile, and all he knew was that this was the start of something new.




Being in the Dusk Syndicate had it's ups and downs. For example, one of the unfortunate downsides was everything that was going on. So far? Obsidian had been sticking in the territory, going into the clearing every once in a while, and so far... no one had noticed that he didn't belong. The tom may not have joined officially but he considered himself to be an official part of the Syndicate now. There was no going back. Sometimes he missed the garden with Calia, other times he preferred being here in general. The tom slipped into a part of the territory that was quite pretty and settled down there. He had been sleeping out here - hiding, of course - his scent was almost like a Dusk Syndicate cat's now. Except for one thing. Sometimes, on some of the cats he had seen and yes, even talked to, Obsidian had noticed a distinct scent of... blood. Old, but it was there almost as though it were lingering on them. This had made him fear a good few of those cats, and a shudder went down his spine just at the thought. Picks of anxiety made his fur stand on end as he glanced around. So far - so good. No cats were there right now. Good, for the moment being, Obsidian was perfectly safe. He breathed a sigh of relief, the smallest of smiles coming over his maw as he headed onwards through the territory. The tom didn't hunt here often. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to. Soon, perhaps, he would have officially joined and things would change. Then he would really be bound to this place. This hell. Where a cat like him might... belong.
@Gusty