Still small, but not quite a kitten anymore, Pale ventured through Orion a little lonely and a bit frustrated. She had lost track of Jay some time ago and even her keen sense of smell could not find her path back to her friend. She didn't like being on her own. It made her feel like she wasn't accomplishing something, like she was wasting time. At least when she was with Jay she could make sure nothing happened to her. But now? No, she was alone.

Every so often she found herself looking up. She hadn't noticed the stars of Orion before. The glimmered high above her head, so beautiful, so...eternal. Every day they were the same, every day when she looked to the ceiling she knew she would find the same patterns smiling down at her. It made her feel comfortable, safe even. Knowing that one thing would never chance. That there were things that were reliable, stable, and unchanging.

She found herself gazing again, sitting on a high rock, a soft purr coming from her chest as she admired the stars, tracing patterns with her eyes. All gembounds were made of crystals - perhaps every gembound was simply a crystal in a world of stars? Perhaps all the stars up there were gembounds as well, to one day hatch? If that was true, then they would be great creatures indeed, for in all of Pale's life not a single one of them had broken.

She didn't have much of an imagination, but she imagined that they were connected to the stars and that gave her some kind of comfort.

Palefur flinched when she heard the voice. She turned and found herself faced with another cat whose eyes were staring at the same thing she had been looking at as well. She narrowed her eyes, wondering if what this newcomer saw was the same as what she could see. Her tail flicked with interest. Was this a sign? A sign from the stars that she was right? Had they placed this new believer before her to become an instrument of order?

She started with a smile in return. "Hello," she offered. The smile was a little cold but she was trying her best. She wasn't exactly very emotionally articulate. She moved over so that the rock she was on had more space, space enough for another cat to sit. "Come. Watch the stars with me."

When the other cat jumped up next to her, Pale looked back up at the ceiling, but also watched the other cat, trying to gauge her response. From her body language to the way she was speaking to the stars above...no, no, she was getting sidetracked. She couldn't look back up there for now, even thought the stars were pretty, perfect, a wonderful measure of stability and eternity...

By the time Pale realized she was getting distracted again, the cat spoke up and she'd lost her chance of a first impression. She cursed internally but brought her attention back down. One of her ears twitched at the word, in her head wondering why the cat had given herself a name like that. If it was up to her she probably would have called her...Mist or Silver or Cloud. Not Pebbleriver. "I am called Pale. Pebbleriver...it is an interesting name. How did you come to a name like that?" And she also wondered if Pebbleriver had a friend, a companion that had helped her come to a name like that, just as she had Jay. But she doubted it. That would be too much of a coincidence.

Pale listened with rapt attention, but not with much interest. She honestly didn't really care how the cat had gotten her name, but she wanted to know if there were others that had been with her. Thankfully, the cat shared her life willingly. The story, though, proved Pale's theory to be false. There could, possibly, be other cats around the caves, but Pebbleriver hadn't met any of them. If she had, then there was more to learn.

Throughout the story, Pale carefully took in everything about Pebbleriver. The way she was sitting, the way she was speaking, the way she described her story, everything she could get. It was a little difficult, she wasn't too experienced with it, but she could definitely get the sense of innocence from her new friend. She had not suffered much and, so far, life had treated her well. She was more feminine then Pale too, and especially more then Jay, but it was possible that she was mistaking this for the innocence she had already noticed. She would have to speak more to her to get a better feel for her character.

All of this she thought of while Pebbleriver was talking. She didn't miss a beat once she was finished. "Interesting. I suppose we all have different ways of coming up with our names." At her comment, though, Pale's tail twitched and she blinked slowly. "No, I like it. It's unique and it has a nice vibe to it." Her gaze betrayed no lies as she tried to crack another warm smile, a little more successful then the last time.

Pale watched as Pebbleriver raised a paw, licking down the stray fur that poked out from the top. She didn't need to do the same to herself - her fur was short and one wash a day was enough to keep it clean and straight. It wasn't hard to get another impression from Pebbleriver as she began to groom the fur that didn't even look that bad. Vanity, perhaps. Or simply a sense of style. Either one was more useful information to Pale as she got to know this cat.

Her name wasn't creative, though, not a big story to tell. She shrugged indifferently. "My fur is pale," she answered simply. "That is how I got my name. Perhaps not as creative as Pebbleriver, I should think." But she was more interested in how Pebbleriver through of her fur. It was, perhaps, the most important thing in Pale's mind at the moment. "Sometimes I wish I had fur like yours. A little thicker, especially in cold caves, and maybe a less obvious color then orange."