[.A . S T A R . L I K E . F I R E.]

[Ash Firestar]

I feel alone in this barren world

++ Glinting orbs glared into the outside world. The grey and black daubed bengal cat crouched in a fern, bush, plant, thing; orbs on the mouse that was nibbling a seed, a few centimeters from his dangerous claws. A mischievious smile protruded upon his furry face as he readied a pounce. Shuffling forward silently, he leaped and landed on the head of the tiny mouse. The he-cat had not eaten in several days so he silently prowled over to the small mouse and started to eat. As soon as the mouse had been devoured by the cat, he lifted himself up. His crown up along with his nose and his mouth open, sniffing for another's territory. He grinned as he realized there was no cat where he sat, maybe farther off, but not here.

++ Once again he was alone, like he always was. He had been alone all of his short life, with the exception of a few friends along the way, after he escaped his utterly stupid owner he just ran. He had no idea he would end up in a forest or wood. He sighed and layed on his back, looking up at the clouds, trying to pass time away.

Like I always do.

[Indigo Wintertrap]

If it were up to me
I'd make it all go away

A small orange she-cat with faded tabby markings sniffed around as she padded gingerly through the forest. Her tiny ears pricked forward at the sound of movement and she felt a thrill of pride that she had heard the noise at all. She was becoming a stray more and more each day and loving it, as far as she was concerned. She lowered herself onto her haunches, her eyes glancing to and fro around her. The scuttling nosie sounded again and Indigo pinpointed it to a small grey mouse scurrying around the base of an elm. She smirked and crept forward, stepping lightly as she did so. When she was a few paces away she pushed her weight to her back paws and sprang forward. Just as she was descending the mouse darted forward into a hole in the ground. Indigo's claws skimmed over its tail and then it was gone.

"Drat." She cursed and straightened up with a roll of the shoulders. That was alright. She was starving ad in need of food or anything. She smirked. Nope, she was just trying to play around with her newly acquired skills - though she would have eaten the mouse once it was caught obviously. She began to hum to herself quietly - to desire to quietly hunt vanished away into thin air - as she trotted down a small trail through the forest. It took her a moment to pick up on the other scent - that is to say, the other cat scent. She cocked her head to one side in curiousity and crept forward. She leapt into the lower branches of an overhanging ash tree nimbly, smirking at her success.

She could spy him now, a gray tom with interesting black spotted markings. Rare, Indigo hadn't met anyone who looked quite like him before. She was already hooked and wanting to know more, she realized with a grin. She placed one paw out in the air in front of her, and then dropped down to the forest floor with quick agility, landing on her feet - as cats always do - just in front of the tom. My, she was getting used to her life. She winked and flashed the tom a smile. "Hey."

But what exactly would be left behind?

[Ash Firestar]

Am I alright?

++ The grey tom jumped; he did not hear any pawsteps approaching. He turned and saw a slender, orange tabby she-cat. He dipped his head and grinned. "Hey." He returned her greeting softly. He tilted his head to look at her, she was very pretty. He didn't know what to say. He just sat there like what the two-legs said, "a couch potato".

++ This moment felt very akward to the grey and black daubed bengal cat. Actually, he hadn't seen many orange tabby cats up close, or even spoke to one. He didn't know what to say. "Aaand, who are you exactly?" He finally put up the courage to ask her name. Smiling pleasently, he assumed her name was like a flower, like Daisy, Petunia, Dafodil, or something like that, oh, maybe a color, Violet maybe?

++ Ash had no idea what an orange tabby cat would be named. Rayne? No, that's not it. He was dumbfounded with her name...what could it be? He just had to figure it out. But, he jumped from his troubled thoughts and said, "I'm Ash Firestar, better known as Ash..." his sentence was kind of a cliff-hanger, he expected her to reply to that. But, you know; you never know how a cat will act or react to something.

Or am I not?

[Indigo Wintertrap]

I can hear them
Crawling
Calling

Indigo smiled politely as she was greeted by the tom. Since he didn't seem angry or in any mood to ward off conversation, she took a light step closer, gold eyes seeming to smirk along with the rest of her body and face. "Hey," she said again with a quiet giggle. Her glance swept over him, taking in immediately his grey fur with the soft black spots. Indigo hadn't seen too many spotted cats before. But they caugh other things too - things that might not be apparent at a first glance to most. The intensity of his blue eyes. They were just as friendly as his posture and Indigo found herself thinking of the saying 'The eyes are the window to the soul'.

"Aaand, who are you exactly?"

Indigo grined. Why were names always so important among cats? True, she was potentially interested in getting to know this stranger's name eventually but only to better her mental fiction of him as she rapidly sought to leanr more from appearance only. The rest would be learned from talking to him. But she didn't need to know his name. What if that threw the whole thing off. It seemed to her that everyone was always so eager to classify and arrange everyone they met but they focused more on the name then the subtle signals that everyone threw off. The tom in front of her seemed relaxed, fairly confident in himself, amused, and comfortable in the forest. All this was picked up from posture. By this she guessed that he was not new to the streets. To the area perhaps but he was not some housepet that had just been thrown out.

Then she thought of Storm and Tamar. They'd be pretty annoying and upset at first but they'd cooled off pretty quickly after meeting with her and Stel. Maybe some other cat had just got to this guy first and he was just abandoned. But that didn't fit right with her fictionous image - like trying to fit a puzzle piece into the wrong puzzle. "I'm just a street cat," she said with a grin. "Fairly new to the life of a stray but it suits me fine." Technically, she had answered his question. Names were irrelevant. I'm Ash Firestar, better known as Ash..." She grinned. Once again, he seemed to be asking or her name, more 'subtly' though this time. She bit her lip softly so as not to laugh and nodded as if completely interested. "Ash. I'll remember that." She grinned, her eyes grinning evilly and amusedly along with the rest of her face.

But can you?

[Ash Firestar]

I'm tired of being so lonely.

++ The grey daubed tom curiously looked at the cat sitting in front of him, she seemed...different. He did not have the words to describe her, she was so odd, so unlike any of the other street cats he'd met.

"Fairly new to the life of a stray but it suits me fine."

++ That made more sense, he guessed that she was a house-cat that either got thrown out of the house or ran away. Personaly, he thought humans were as dumb as dogs, they just didn't understand that cats were incredibly brilliant and intelligent and you could never actually tame a cat. He relaxed a little, he loved trying to guess what cats had been through, since he probably would never be told.

++ He looked intensly into her strange, but comforting amber eyes and smiled gently, she obviously didn't care about names very much, he didn't know what to say, but he asked again, "I know, names aren't important, but...it's really bugging me, what's your name?" he questioned, seeing the amusement in her eyes, she was teasing him. He grinned back, he was NOT going to say or answer anything else until he knew her name. He felt like he was going to act annoying, and he liked it!

I just want somebody to hang with.

[Indigo Wintertrap]

I light you
Live for you
Long for you

Indigo gave a small smirk - a friendly one - wondering if the other tom - Ash, she reminded herself - was annoyed at all by her not giving a name. He seemed relatively calm. Perhaps he was fine to let it go instead of playing her games. The thought was slightly annoying but also amusing and Indigo found herself liking that he was so different. "I know, names aren't important, but...it's really bugging me, what's your name?" She let out a little laugh. So much for that theory. But that was alright. She pretended to pout. "Why are names so important to everyone?"

In truth it was a good question. Why did everyone feel that it was so important to know the name of who they were speaking with? Indigo would have much preferred to guess his name and not know it. But he had already told her his name. And the game wasn't much fun if it was being played by only one cat. She rolled he eyes in mock exasperation. "Fine," she huffed. "My name's Indigo." Her eyes twinkled with mischief. "But, then again.... I could be lying, couldn't I?"

Love you.

[Ash Firestar]

Hear no evil
Speak no evil

++ Ash was suprised by her question, she definately was different. He play-glared at her, "Honestly, I have no clue. I guess that's how we get to know one-another." He shrugged, "That's the only thing that's important to the humans, their jobs, whatever that is, their family, if they have one, and their names, which are so strange!" He grinned at her fake-pout, it was pretty realistic!

++ He stood up, his paws were falling asleep and becoming numb. He paced in front of the tabby a few times to wake them up. "Indigo, eh?" he said, and whispered it to himself softly, so he would not forget it. "Sure, and I'm a dog in a cat-mask." he said sarcastically. Maybe she was playing, who knew? He would just have to trust her.

Have no fun!

[Indigo Wintertrap]

More than meets the eye
Chance a glance

Indigo made a face. "Why should a name dictate how we get to know each other? I think it would be fabulous to meet someone and talk without knowing who they are - without anything to base what they on except the context itself. A name means a way to classify others, to remember them. A meeting with a nice stranger seems to mean to everyone a chance to get to know someone, to find out about them and maybe see them again - develop a friendship, per say. I think, personally, it would be wonderful to not have such commitments so early in a conversation. To talk not about each other but to exchange opinions on subjects of any type." She let out a little laugh. "Like we're doing I guess."

But she still wasn't done. "No commitments, no fear of being judged. Just one encounter and then never seeing them again. If you're never going to see someone again then their judgments shouldn't matter, should they? I think the idea the idea is beautiful. To be able to talk with someone and move on, no commitments or restraints - each one saying what they needed with no pressing need to firm something visible." She paused. "Sometimes those which are invisible are the most beautiful of all," she mused quietly. She smiled at Ash's comment - he was friendly enough and certainly good-natured. "True," she agreed. She didn't like to talk much about humans. Not with other cats.

With who then? Yourself? She shook her head slightly. It was not absurd. Her thoughts were her own and she liked to explore them. Thinking was a pastime for her, albeit a strange one in the eyes of some. She smirked, letting out another little laugh. "What other choice do you have but to believe? Sure, you could call my bluff but there is nothing in this world to prove my name. Only my mother knows. But she could lie just as well as I could. There's no such thing as proof in this world - only one person's word over another. It comes down to faith and how much trust you're willing to put in a stranger." She let out a mrrow of amusement. "I could be lying in telling you that my name is Indigo or I could be telling you the truth.

"Or I could be telling you the supposed truth. Perhaps I myself was told a name that was not the one given to me and have been living a lie." She smiled gently. "It comes down to what I was saying. It's just a name. You should put more faith in the cat them self and not the name for it is a word and there is nothing guaranteed to be true about it. The only true thing you can count on is the soul of a cat and that is learned from conversation and not by a name. What is a name, after all? A word deigned by one's mother to be appropriate for one when they are kitten? Surely, we can grow out of our names, which is also, perhaps, why they carry such little meanings. And if one was to change their name it would be their choice and make no difference for they would only be assuming a new identity and we all pass through many in out lifetime."

It was at this point that Indigo realized how much she had said and how much she hadn't realized she was broadcasting to Ash her thoughts as they came to her. Strange. She blushed slightly. "Apologies for rambling, per say. But during my rambles I commented on the beauty of two strangers sharing an opinion. I have given you mine. But what do you, Ash Firestar - what do you think? Not of names but of anything. Enlighten me." She grinned, her eyes sparkling in the dusky light from the sun - golden as it filtered through the trees and illuminated her own gold eyes.

Into the crystal ball

((OOC: I must apologize but I'm afraid the only explanation I can give is being in a philosophical mood and loving Indigo in her own little philosophical mood Lol.))

[Ash Firestar]

Knowledge to the brain,

++ Ash was engrosed in what Indigo had to say. She-cats thoughts were always so deep-down and they hit Ash right in the gutt. He grinned when she was finished, "OK, but mine probably won't be as in-depth as yours...but it should still hit your gutt." He said sarcastically. He took a deep breath and thought of whatever came into his cat-sized brain.

++ "Why must cats hate others that are different? I've seen it in the human world; anybody who's different, who wants to stand up to something are pushed back down by authorties. I heard a human comment on the TV, 'The ones that are truely different are the ones that will truely make a difference in the world'. I think that is totally and completely true." He paused and waited for a reaction and started up again.

[/b]
++ "But why? The ones who are like everybody else blend in and make friends, but those who are different stand out and don't make friends. But when the ones that are different make a friend they become friends for life, which makes both of them different. Why can't we all be different? Why can't we all make friends with those that stand out? Why mimic other's and how they do stuff, why not do our own thing?" Ash smiled, this was going well, he dug deep down and searched for more to say about being different.

++ "I guess nobody wants to be different though. Humans wear their hair like the people on the TV and buy their clothes, they try and blend in with the rest of the crowd. Isn't it good to be different? Isn't it good to stand out? But still, we continue to try and be like everybody else, 'fit in' is another term that means, look and walk like everybody else. But still, I repeat, isn't it good to be different? Isn't it good to stand out and not fit in with everybody else? In my mind I say yes, what about in yours? Are you thinking like me? Or do you think like everybody else?"

++ He breathed deeply, signaling that he was finished. He felt like a 'teacher', or that's what the humans called it, anyway. "Did I enlighten you?" He questioned amusingly, it was a kind of taunting question, he was trying to add a little 'funny' to the conversation. He chuckled to himself, happy he met a new friend.
[/blockquote]

Is food for the soul.

[Indigo Wintertrap]

Look in the mirror
And what do you see?

Indigo raised one brow and let out a soft giggle as Ash started - apparently up for the challenge. She pursed her lips thoughtfully as he spoke, trying to take in what he was saying. After all this was almost as good as the 'beautiful moment' she had envisaged - there was no way it could go to be waste or be ruined. She just wouldn't let it. Besides, her philosophical state of mind demanded that she focus on Ash's words - to interpret and mull over them as she would. "True," she murmured quietly as he spoke of being different and the negative qualities often associated with the term. He was an interesting thinker, that was for sure, even if - she thought with a smirk - she found her own topic to be more unusual.

It was true. People who were admired and idolized were those that were exactly the same as everyone else. "You might as well idolize yourself and the whole group of mimics for they'd all share the same qualities," she added with a grin as he finished. "We pick the weirdest role-models - the ones most like ourselves. Perhaps so that we can feel that connection? That we are almost as good as them?" She raised one brow in amusement and let out a soft purr. "Good job," she teased, though she was, in fact, impressed. "You certainly did enlighten me." She smirked. "You've got a good mind - at least one that's open to thought. It's nice." She paused.

"I personally like thinking, no matter what it's about. I drive myself crazy but it's worth it. The skill to be able to analyze and discuss with yourself." She laughed. "And no, I'm not crazy. I don't hear voices or anything. I just think in ways that others might not." She took another pause. "Usually I'm different - more 'normal' perhaps." She frowned. "But see in that sense different is normal and not-different - how we are now - is slightly abnormal if I do say so. So it's a circle. No, not a circle. A looking glass - two different mirrors that both reflect our opposites. It all depends on which side you're standing on."

She blushed, not wanting to go off a complete tangent. She could finish mulling this over with herself later. But it was nice, to be able to talk about such philosophies and varieties with Ash. He was more like herself than anyone she'd ever met before - or at least, more like this secret side of herself. The other side of the looking glass, she thought with amusement. But it was nice, meeting him. She stuck by her ideals of no needs and expectations in a first meeting but at the same time found it hard to ignore the part of her that was telling herself that she did want to see Ash again.

Staring back through your reflection

[Ash Firestar]

Our greatest glory is not and never falling

++ Ash smiled at the tabby, glad he'd finally met somebody like her. Honestly, he would have been glad to meet anybody, even if they were...mean and selfish. But, he was overly-glad that he'd met a she-cat like Indigo. He loved talking about how he felt. He loved to share his point of view with others. The grey bengal tom felt different then the other toms he'd met in his life...which wasn't very many. He didn't really make friends as easily as he was now in his past.

++ He hated humans. What they did to them, locking them up in steel cages like they were criminals. What did they know? Two-legs had no right to lock animals away so another selfless person could go and hurt them deeper. He looked at the ground slightly, wondering if the cat just a few centimeters away from him thought of humans? What happened to her?

"Fairly new to the life of a stray but it suits me fine."

++ That ment that she used to be a house-cat, a kittypet...he didn't know what to say or think. He just sat there, lifeless, well sort of. He listened to her words that poured out of her mouth like a faucet. He took them in, just as he did to her lecture before. He smiled lightly. "Just like looking through a mirror." He whispered to himself quietly, so that no cat would hear. "Honestly? You want an honest opinion? I think that we're both right, in away. I like being different. I enjoy listening to other's opinions. I love being the one who stands out." He paused, "But, I think you are right, it does depend on which 'side of the looking glass' you're looking into. Which ever side you go on will be the side you preffer, which side you want to be. Then again, there's always the option of going to the other side..." he stopped himself in mid-sentence, he was going off on a tangent, and that wasn't good.

++ "Sorry b'out that Indigo, I'm just feeling strong about being the one to stand out today." He shrugged, he liked talking with Indigo. At least she looked like she was listening, maybe not, but hey! At least she's being polite. He did not want to leave right now, he wanted to know more about this orange tabby. He wanted to meet her friends and try new things, he actually wanted to be her best friend.

But in rising, every time we fall.

((OCC: 'he actually wanted to be her best friend' and maybe a flirt later! XD I'm feeling bubbly today...'cause I'm almost done with a REALLLY good book.))

[Indigo Wintertrap]

If they could love

Indigo grinned, surprisingly pleased for all her opinions on first meetings. Though she did love them. No, it was more than that though - more than the promise of new beginning that hypocritically excited her each time. It was the fact that she had let out this hidden part of herself - kept captured under the peppy flirt everyone else knew. She had let that self shine through and it had made a good impression. Ash did not seem to find it stupid - he was rather enthralled, actually. She smiled softly. "Of course. I didn't mean to contradict you - only add to your ideas," she murmured quietly. Why now had she become so demure?

"I don't know if I'd say that whatever side you go on is the one you prefer," she said with her signature tinkling laugh. "Of course, in theory it should be that way. But does it ever seem to you that some cats seem content to be miserable? Those who complain and complain. Of course, then, technically if doing so made them happy then they would be happy on heir side - just be hiding it under false pretenses. But then there are those who truly long to be different than they are - to be on the other side. What about them?" But she was getting caught up in a whirlwind of thoughts and so she slowed down. "Maybe in order to truly be happy we just need to choose a side. Not in the grand scheme of good and evil but in simpler things. Whether we wish to fit in or stand out. And then we need to take action otherwise spend a life moaning."

She smiled again, her tail flicking back and forth with excited energy and happiness. Why shouldn't she be happy? How they had taken Ash's idea and moved with it. And here she was: sharing philosophy with a stranger as she'd always dreamed of. A handsome stranger as well, albeit, she thought with only a slight blush. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to stand out, Ash. It's an admirable quality." She grinned at him, one thing becoming more and more certain in her mind: she most definitely did want to Ash again. Befriend him even.

Did it make her a hypocrite?

Maybe.

But there are worse things you can be.

Like you and me

OOC: Hehe yesh they're awesome - Indigo's fallen hard but he's not her only crush so he'll have to vy for her attentions Lol! Ooh what book??

[Ash Firestar]

You have to stand up for what you believe in

++ He smiled at her comments, and philosophies. They were brilliant, challenging theory. He grinned, she's really thinking out of the box!

[/i] He loved a girl that could think out of the box, the ones who had brilliant minds were the most intriguing (sp?) and mysterious. He did not wish to pry her past from her, he would just have to let her tell him when she was ready. He looked at her pleasantly, "I guess you're right," he said, "but, no matter what it'd be the side fate chooses for you." He commented, maybe it wasn't the side you preffered, but it was the side you were put to be on.

++ "Then again, if fate chose it for you, what if it wasn't the side you wanted to be on? What if the other side was the better side for you? You were put on the planet to be different, to stand out. Like most, the people who were put on this planet to be different want to blend in." He paused lightly, "If the side chosen for you wasn't the right side, you could always go to the other side. Even if it meant escaping you're own home, humans, and family; would you would do it if it meant doing the right thing?" He directed his question towards Indigo. He wondered what would be her reply? How would she react?

++ He would never know the answer to how somebody was going to react to what he asked. Ash always seemed to ask the weirdest questions, the questions that nobody could answer. He grinned, still pondering on what Indigo's reaction would be to his question.
[/blockquote]

Even if you're standing alone.

((OCC: It's a trilogy called Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Exteras(not a part of the trilogy just...extras). I just finished Pretties and now on Specials. They're written by Scott Westerfeld, you should google it. ))

[Indigo Wintertrap]

And he laughed
And I laughed

"...But, no matter what it'd be the side fate chooses for you."

Indigo pursed her lips - thoughtful. Fate? Did she believe in fate? "I don't know about fate," she said quietly. "I mean, I don't know if I believe that your destiny is controlled. That makes it sound to me like no matter what we do the result is the same - that our choices mean nothing so why bother?" She tilted her head to the side as she spoke, as if questioning Ash. Though, truthfully, her question was aimed more at the empty space around here, however weird that may have seemed. Aimed at the universe, per say. She frowned as he continued talking, mulling over his ideas. "I don't know. If there is such a thing as fate than would it not put you on the best side? Or then does that tie in to my concept of those who complain and wish to be something else entirely? So do you believe that they should take action towards their happiness or that fate put them there? Fate is a fancy way of blaming a distasteful predicament on someone other than yourself." She paused. "Do you not agree? Fate is a way of deflecting responsibility?

"For if we say we believe in fate than we can just as easily say when we are in a bad situation that we are meant to be there - that it is our "fate" - and do nothing. In which nothing is accomplished except misery but the person is at least guilt free because they had nothing to do with it even if they did. "Fate" put them there." She smiled. "I don't think I believe in fate. Do you, Ash?" It was a simple question, but a serious one and she realized that once it was out of her mouth. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot." And she hadn't. The words had just come in a flow from her speech and she found that she wanted to know. Did he agree with her or oppose her? Or was that too simple. There was never just black and white. Always gray in between. "Perhaps you form part of the gray zone," she murmured, not realizing that she was thinking out loud - voicing her thoughts.

At that point she glanced up, realizing that she had also been asked a question and had failed to answer. She blushed. "Is being on the right side the right thing? Sometimes there is to be gained from being on the wrong side of things," she mused. "Truthfully I suppose if I was in a scenario with friends and family that was suited for them and not myself I would leave. I would hope that they would understand and wish me well for I could not be there but I would leave nonetheless." She lifted her chin defiantly yet slightly. "I left my house-pet life." Not of her own accord but it wouldn't hurt Ash to think otherwise. Besides, she would have eventually, regardless. She knew that much. The streets had taught her that. There was no way she could have stayed.

But if she'd never left, she wouldn't have known the freedom.

In which case, might she have stayed?

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive.

We.

OOC: Yeah! I've read those! I actually thought of them when you said 'bubbly' but didn't want to ask in case you were like 'huh?' and I'd feel weird lol. No, I've read all of them. Specials is the best - I love Tally. She's so different but I dunno, I guess I connected with the character xD. Moreso in Specials. I've read Extras too but I didn't think it was as good as the first three. But that's just my opinion- I won't say anymore to bias you rofl.

[Ash Firestar]

Fate brought me into this world,
Destiny brought me here,

++ Ash listened intently, "I believe fate like I believe in destiny. Everybody has a purpose in this world, along with a destiny. The thing is that you have to figure out what that is. You have to discover it, which is why fate, or destiny, exsists." He said mindfully, he wasn't completely against her, but not completely with her, eigther. He shrugged and sat down, he had been pacing for a while now, his paws were tired. He smiled gently, his intense blue eyes gazing upon the she-cat dreamily, but he was thinking in a scholared way. He had no idea how to reply to her statement. He shrugged it off and listened as she continued on.

++ That explains a lot. He thought sarcastically, she'd run away from home. She didn't look like she had been acostomed to the street-cat life for very long, just the way she walked and talked told him that she at least had a kittypet history. He shrugged, he honestly didn't care, but he just said, "Cool. When?" He didn't know how else to comment. He shivered lightly, what if she didn't escape her house-cat life?

Then he wouldn't have met her.

Then he would've been alone.

I'm glad they both brought me to you...