Chapter 9
Stormfur was hardly aware of the transition from mountain to moorland, focusing solely on putting one paw in front of the other. It was more of a challenge than it should have been, and the RiverClan warrior was certain that if it weren't for Squirrelpaw's dark ginger pelt brushing his, he wouldn't even be capable of that. They rested sparingly, the loss of Feathertail fueling their desperation to get home and relay Midnight's message.
It wasn't until Tawnypelt suddenly stopped, her eyes stretching wide, that Stormfur bothered to look around. "Look," the tortoiseshell warrior croaked. "Highstones!"
He felt Squirrelpaw straighten beside him, a light sparking in his eyes that he had thought Feathertail's death had dimmed forever. "We're almost home!" She gasped.
"Let's hurry," Brambleclaw meowed. "If we don't stop, we can make it to Barley's by nightfall."
They all gave a small nod of agreement, before forcing their paws to start moving again, Brambleclaw in the lead. He had done well, Stormfur reflected silently, to become the unofficial leader of their small group. It didn't take much for Stormfur to see the young ThunderClan warrior being his Clan's leader eventually. If we can save them in time…
They passed Highstones without so much as a second glance, and Stormfur noticed that the closer to home they got, the faster their cracked, bloody paws tried to move. Squirrelpaw wouldn't leave his side, but the dark gray warrior knew that she was dying to run ahead, especially when Barley and Ravenpaw's barn came into view.
"Welcome home!"
Stormfur whirled around, his claws instinctively unsheathing and sinking into the grass. He felt Squirrelpaw do the same beside him, her hackles raising, until she light out a bright yowl. "Ravenpaw!"
Stormfur relaxed, sighing, as did the rest of the traveling cats. The loner had two mice at his paws, and as the scent reached Stormfur's nose, he felt his stomach rumbling silently. They hadn't even stopped to hunt once they had realized how close they were.
"It's good to see you all," Ravenpaw purred, before faltering, glancing around. Stormfur knew what was coming next, and he braced himself for the fresh grief. "But… weren't there six of you?" His amber eyes fell on Stormfur. "Where's Feathertail?"
Squirrelpaw pressed closer against him, and Stormfur bowed his head. "Feathertail…" his voice caught painful in his throat, and Tawnypelt continued quietly, "Feathertail walks with StarClan, now."
Ravenpaw's eyes grew wide. "Oh no…" He then shook his head. "We'll have plenty of time to exchange news later. For now, please, hunt. You're welcome to rest in the barn tonight. You all look like you need it." Brambleclaw blinked gratefully at the loner, who dipped his head and left, mice in his jaws.
"Finally," Squirrelpaw gave Stormfur's shoulder a nudge. "Come on, Stormfur, I'm starving."
The RiverClan warrior nodded, following the eager apprentice more slowly as she bounded away into the fields. There was prey-scent everywhere, and Stormfur realized again how hungry he was. He had just caught a mouse, when Squirrelpaw jumped him, rolling him over and pinning him in the tall grass. "Good catch," she teased. "But mine's bigger."
For the first time in a long time, Stormfur felt his heart stutter, looking up into Squirrelpaw's shining green eyes. He missed Feathertail—so much so that he could barely stand to keep breathing—but Squirrelpaw… She took his breath away in a different way; a way that made him believe that even if the sun stopped rising, everything would still be okay.
"Squirrelpaw…" He sat up as she moved off of him, touching his muzzle to hers. "You'll keep seeing me, won't you…? When we go back…"
"Stupid furball," the dark ginger apprentice purred fondly. "Try and stop me."
Stormfur felt a purr erupt from his chest, and he wound himself around the ThunderClan apprentice, licking her ears. "We should keep hunting," he finally sighed, noticing how dark it was getting. "The others will be heading back to the barn soon."
Squirrelpaw nodded, before bounding away, calling back playfully "Bet I can catch more than you!"
"So," Ravenpaw blinked curiously at the journeying cats. "Did you find the sun-drown place?"
"We did," Brambleclaw mumbled around a mouthful of prey. "It wasn't anything like what we were expecting."
"Go on," the loner urged. "Tell me everything. I can tell that there's a lot."
It took Brambleclaw most of the night to tell their story to Ravenpaw, with small interjections from his companions about things that he had left out or needed more elaboration. Ravenpaw listened with clear, focus eyes, nodding every now and again and offering words of comfort when the tale got particularly hard to continue telling. By the time the ThunderClan warrior was finished speaking, Stormfur was struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Well," Ravenpaw meowed, "I think it's time you all got some rest. Stay as long as you like—though I'm almost positive you'll be gone by the time I even wake up."
Brambleclaw nodded. "Yes, we'll probably be out before the sun."
"Well, I'm sure you'll bring the Clans this way when you leave," the loner was slowly padding away, towards his nest. "With any luck I'll see you then."
They all murmured a good night to the black tom, before settling down. Stormfur curled up beside Squirrelpaw, who flicked her ears and scooted closer to him. "Good night, Stormfur," she yawned quietly. He leaned forward, rasping his tongue over her ear.
"Good night," he mewed softly.
The RiverClan warrior was surprised to be woken by Crowpaw the next day, his blue eyes still dull with loss. Stormfur's heart went out to him, but he knew better than to try to comfort the WindClan apprentice; there was nothing that he could say to make the loss hurt any less.
"We're almost done," Crowpaw muttered. "Now's not the time to be sleeping in."
Stormfur nodded. "You're right." He stood, stretching, and turned to wake Squirrelpaw. "Come on, Squirrelpaw, it's time to get up." He prodded her with his paw, blinking fondly at her as she yawned and stretched, standing slowly.
"I'm ready," she yawned again. "I'm ready. Let's go."
They squeezed out of the barn door, joining Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt. Crowpaw came out last, and taking a small head count, Brambleclaw nodded. "Let's go."
The final stretch of their journey seemed both the shortest and the longest to Stormfur, dragging on and on even as he watched WindClan's territory rush to greet them.
"Finally…" Crowpaw exhaled, standing at the border, his chin high and his eyes closed. "Come on," Tawnypelt meowed. "We've still got plenty to do."
Crowpaw nodded and took the lead, padding confidently through his territory. Stormfur couldn't help but to notice how much of it was destroyed though. The ground was torn up everywhere, and in the distance, he could see a large monster. Were we too late?
A furious hiss caught the RiverClan warrior's attention, and he turned to see a patrol rushing towards them. His amber eyes grew wide as he saw how thing the WindClan cats were. Compared to them, Crowpaw seemed lean and muscular.
"What are you doing on WindClan territory?" The first cat—Stormfur guess by his size that he was only an apprentice—spat.
Crowpaw blinked, his blue eyes filled with confusion. "Owlkit? Is that you? Why are you out of camp?"
The apprentice looked uncertainly back at his mentor, who Stormfur recognized to be Tornear. "It's Owlpaw now," he growled, trying to seem threatening. "Who are you? How do you know me?"
Crowpaw looked incredulously at the two warriors behind the apprentice. "Tornear, Whitetail, surely you recognize me? It's me, Crowpaw!"
Tornear only looked mildly surprised. "Of course we recognize you," he muttered. "We searched the whole territory for days after you ran away."
"I didn't run away," Crowpaw objected, shaking his head. "I had to leave. I'll tell Tallstar the whole story."
Whitetail stepped forward. "Of course we'll take you to Tallstar," she mewed. "But you've got to explain to us why these other cats are in our territory."
"They traveled with me," Crowpaw answered immediately. "It's a long story—one that I'll tell to Tallstar."
"Come on then," Tornear growled. "And you lot, get going, before we're forced to chase you off."
Stormfur couldn't help but to think he could swat the WindClan warrior aside with paw should he attack, but he kept his thoughts to himself, knowing better than to start trouble now of all times.
Crowpaw brushed past Squirrelpaw in a surprisingly affectionate farewell, dipping his head to Brambleclaw and touching noses with Tawnypelt. Then he came to Stormfur, bowing his head. Stormfur touched his nose the difficult apprentice's shoulder. No words were spoken—none would have accurately described their shared grief.
"We'll meet again at the Great Rock," Tawnypelt whispered. "Try to bring Tallstar if you can."
Crowpaw nodded, then followed Tornear and Whitetail as they led the way. Stormfur thought he heard them talking, but he didn't strain his ears to listen. It was time for the rest of them to go home.
Tawnypelt left them when they reached the RiverClan border, murmuring her good-byes and making a hasty exit. Stormfur's own paws were prickling with anxiety. After seeing the destruction on the moorland, he couldn't help but to be fearful for his own Clan's well-being.
"Come on," Brambeclaw flicked his ears towards the river, and the stepping stones Stormfur knew weren't far away. "We'll cross there by Sunningrocks."
Stormfur nodded, following the dark brown tabby slowly up the river. Squirrelpaw's tail was twitching anxiously, her eyes desperately scanning the ThunderClan side of the river. Stormfur couldn't help his own eyes doing the same to his own territory. As much as he was drawn to Squirrelpaw, there was a tug at his paws, calling him back to the RiverClan camp. There's just one more thing I need to do…
When they reached Sunningrocks, Brambleclaw turned to Stormfur, as if to say farewell, looking surprised when the RiverClan warrior shook his head. "I want to tell Graystripe. About Feathertail…"
Squirrelpaw pressed close against him. "Stormfur… We can tell him, if you'd like…"
"No," he heard the raw grief in his own voice. "This is something that I need to do…"
Brambleclaw dipped his head. "Very well." With that, he turned, bounding swiftly across the stepping stones and towards the Sunningrocks. Something seemed strange to Stormfur—ThunderClan's scent was much too strong for the border. Have they recently marked it…?
A yowl cut off his thoughts, and two ThunderClan warriors raced down the slope as they approached the border.
"Brackenfur!" Brambleclaw exclaimed, his amber eyes wide with surprise. "And Rainwhisker!"
"Brambleclaw?" The golden-brown tabby that Stormfur knew to be Brackenfur stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes as big as the sun. "And Squirrelpaw? You're alive?!"
"Of course we're alive," Squirrelpaw stepped forward, her claws working at the sand beneath her paws. "Are you on patrol? Why are you so close to the RiverClan border? Where's my father?"
"Patrol? No, we're guarding the camp." The dark gray warrior beside Brackenfur—Rainwhisker—didn't seem nearly as pleased to see them, his blue eyes dark with mistrust. "Why is he here?"
"The camp?" Squirrelpaw echoed, bewildered. "Surely the camp is…"
"It was destroyed," Brackenfur murmured. "Come, I'm sure you've got a lot to tell Firestar."
Brambleclaw nodded, and then flicked his tail towards Stormfur. "And this is Stormfur, Graystripe's kit. He's got a message for him."
"Can't you deliver it?" Rainwhisker growled.
"No," Stormfur met the ThunderClan warrior's gaze evenly. After everything they had been through, this half-starved ThunderClan tom didn't faze him at all. It was shocking though, to see how thin they both were. "It is a message I must deliver myself." Rainwhisker glared for a moment longer, before hissing softly and turning away, his tail lashing as he padded slowly back up the slope towards Sunningrocks.
"Come on," Brackenfur sighed, turning and following his cross Clanmate.
Stormfur waited for Brambleclaw to go ahead, following more slowly with Squirrelpaw so that their pelts could brush as they took the final steps of their journey together. No, a small voice in his head reminded him. We've still got a long way to go… Starting with convincing our Clan's to leave…
It didn't take long to reach Sunningrocks, and though Brackenfur had hinted to them that ThunderClan had moved there, Stormfur was still surprised to see the whole of ThunderClan huddled amongst the large stones. Their fur was thin and ragged, and Stormfur could see some of the warriors' ribs. It's even worse than we thought…
"Is that… Squirrelpaw?!" A scrawny dark brown tom staggered from his sitting position, his amber eyes wide.
"Shrewpaw!" Squirrelpaw bounded to the small tom's side, and though the black tom beside him pulled away, Shrewpaw greeted her enthusiastically enough, touching his nose to hers.
They must have trained together… Stormfur's eyes travelled the circle of cats slowly gathering around them. With a spark of despair, he realized that more of the dull eyes around him shimmered with hostility than welcome.
"Where have you been?" One cat rasped.
"Why were you gone so long?"
"Why did you come back?"
"What is that RiverClan cat doing here?"
"Enough!" A pale ginger she-cat thrust her way forward. "What's this I hear about one of my kits returning?"
Squirrelpaw immediately left Shrewpaw to bolt to the older she-cat's side, and with a start, Stormfur recognized Sandstorm—though she hardly looked herself with her ribs showing through her ragged fur. Her purr shook her whole body, and Stormfur felt a pang in his chest. Chances were likely that no one would greet him so fondly when he returned to RiverClan—except maybe Mistyfoot. HE cleared the thoughts from his head, forcing himself to step forward.
"Sandstorm?" He meowed softly. "Is my father here? Graystripe?"
"And Firestar," Brambleclaw added, moving to stand beside Stormfur.
The warrior scoffed as her pale eyes met Stormfur's. "Don't add his name like I don't recognize you, Stormfur. And they're out hunting," she flicked her tail towards the forest, then turned her curious gaze Brambleclaw. "I'm assuming you're going to explain yourself to him?"
Brambleclaw bowed his head. "Of course. We have a lot to tell him."
Squirrelpaw nodded, her green gaze flicking to Stormfur.
"And you brought Stormfur here because…?"
"I have a message for my father," Stormfur supplied softly, feeling the familiar tug of grief at his heart. Squirrelpaw's tail drooped, and he longed to push his nose into her pelt.
You can't now, mouse-brain! You've come back—you'll be lucky to get to see her again!
"Brambleclaw!" Stormfur was startled out of his thoughts, blinking up to see Firestar standing at the top of the slope leading further into ThunderClan's territory. "And Squirrelpaw!" He left the rabbit he had brought back lying on the ground, racing down the slope to push his nose into his daughter's pelt. Stormfur's eyes widened as Graystripe appeared next, picking up the rabbit his leader had dropped and bringing it down. It was until he put the rabbit down that he saw Stormfur, his amber eyes growing wide as he launched himself forward, pushing his muzzle into the dark gray tom's shoulder.
"Stormfur, you've come back!" He then stepped back, blinking in confusion. "But not to RiverClan?"
Before Stormfur could answer, the ThunderClan deputy continued, "And you've brought Feathertail, too, right?" He looked around hopefully, and Stormfur felt the stone fall away beneath his feet.
"Graystripe," he murmured softly, forcing himself to meet his father's hopeful amber gaze. "Feathertail walks with StarClan now." He tried desperately to keep his voice from wavering, squaring his shoulders and gritting his teeth as Graystripe's eyes slowly filled with dismay. "I came here to tell you… and that she died to save all of us. She was the most noble warrior, and you would have been proud."
He touched his nose to his father's shoulder, though he knew that the warrior hardly noticed. He only whispered despondently, "She was so much like her mother…"
Stormfur winced slightly, drawing back and looking to Brambleclaw, dipping his head in a small farewell. He turned to leave, hesitating ever so slightly as he passed Squirrelpaw, fighting the urge to lick her ears and lose himself in her scent. He couldn't, however, stop himself from glancing at her one last time, warmth shooting through him at the emotion smoldering in her eyes. I'll see you soon, he promised silently. Tearing his gaze away, he bounded back towards the river, plunging in without a moment of hesitation and paddling to the other side. It felt even better than he had imagined to swim in his river again, and suddenly, the RiverClan warrior wanted nothing more than to curl up in his nest of reeds and sleep for a moon.
Not yet, he reminded himself, padding through RiverClan's territory towards the camp. I still have to tell Leopardstar—if she'll let me back into the camp.
As he approached the camp entrance, he took a deep breath, realizing that Blackclaw was on guard duty. He was not the most friendly cat in RiverClan, but he was Mistyfoot's mate, and Mistyfoot treated Stormfur almost as fondly as she treated her own kits. Please be in a good mood…
"Blackclaw!" Stormfur called out before approached wading through the water that surrounded their camp.
The smoky gray tom narrowed his eyes for a moment, his hackles rising. Then the recognition hit, and the RiverClan warrior jumped to his paws, his eyes widening. "Stormfur? Is that really you?"
"Yes," Stormfur dipped his head respectfully as he stood before the older warrior. Blackclaw had also been a close friend of Stonefur, Stormfur's mentor, and sometimes Stormfur hoped that the smoky gray tom saw a little bit of the great deputy in Stormfur.
There was relief in the older tom's eyes, but also caution. "If only Mistyfoot were here to see that you've returned safely…" He sighed, before shaking his head. "Never mind that. You've got a lot of explaining to do."
"I know," Stormfur flicked his ears towards the tunnel of reeds. "And I'll do so now, if Leopardstar is here."
Blackclaw nodded. "In her den, probably." When Stormfur hesitated, the short-tempered warrior rolled his eyes. "Well go on, I'm not going to escort you in like a prisoner—you're a RiverClan warrior, and I'm glad to see that you're home."
Stormfur blinked gratefully at the black warrior before pushing his way through the reed tunnel, at a loss for words at the tom's surprising welcome. Inside, the camp was bustling, patrols preparing to leave and kits playing outside of the nursery.
I'm home…!
As he took another step into the camp, every cat froze, their wide eyes finding the dark gray warrior.
"Stormfur…?"
The gray warrior's gaze found Mosspelt, the beautiful tortoiseshell queen padding slowly towards him—as if he weren't really there. "I'm home," he murmured softly, letting out s faint purr as the she-cat who had nursed him barreled into his side, covering his ears with affectionate licks.
"I knew you would be," she purred forcefully. "And I told them. I told them that you and Feathertail and Mistyfoot would all be home."
Fresh pain lanced through Stormfur's heart, but he forced it down, taking a small step away from the queen. "I'm going tospeak with Leopardstar now—I've got a lot to tell her."
"About what?" Hawkfrost stalked forward, his lips curled back in a sneer. "How well the prey's been running wherever you ran away to?"
Stormfur flattened his ears. "You don't seem underfed, Hawkfrost," he pointed out with a flick of his tail. "But if you're still struggling, I can certainly go catch a fish for you."
The dark tabby's eyes blazed for a moment longer, before he rolled his eyes and gave Stormfur's shoulder a companionable nudge. "It's good to see you back," he admitted. Like Blackclaw, his posture was still cautious, but he flicked his tail towards Leopardstar's den. "Leopardstar will be glad to see you, we need all the warriors we can get right now."
With a dip of his head, Stormfur pushed past the crowd of his Clan-mates, halting at the entrance of Leopardstar's den. "Leopardstar?" He called, proud when his voice didn't waver.
"Enter."
Taking a deep breath, Stormfur ducked through the entrance, watching as his leader's eyes grew wide. "Stormfur," she blinked a few times as if expecting him to vanish. "You've returned."
"Yes," he approached slowly, and kept a respectful distance. "And I have a lot to share with you, Leopardstar."
Her eyes narrowed. "Hopefully starting with why you and your sister left so suddenly?"
"Yes," he murmured again, bowing his head.
"Good," the dappled she-cat gave a curt nod. "Make yourself comfortable then. I'm eager to hear what you have to say for yourself."
Stormfur sat, his pelt prickling with unease. She has to belive me, he told himself as he took a deep breath. She must. "It all began," he started softly, "when Oakheart came to Feathertail in a dream…"
Oh. My. God. Guys I'm so so so so so sorry about how long this took Dx and if this chapter seems choppy and disorganized, I'm very sorry. I was struck with inspiration and decided to write this chapter only to find it was already half-way done. So I decided to use what I already had, and just make the next chapter more fluid. I know things aren't exactly the same as in the books, but… I was extra tired of pulling quotes, and I felt like it was interesting at all _ Anyways, I'm back, bursting with inspiration, and ready to write. So I'll see you guys next chapter!
Thanks for reading, and extra thanks to the people that reviewed chapter 8! You guys are my favorites!
