"Is it always this windy up here?" Graystripe asks, and Fireheart flicks his ears and stares at Graystripe with an amused smile on his face. "Well, these are WindClan's hunting grounds, and what would WindClan be without wind? Plus, it doesn't look there are any trees to block it." Fireheart meowed, flicking his tail at Graystripe playfully as they continued onwards.
"Do you smell that?" Fireheart asked, and Graystripe nodded, the two ThunderClan cats looked to see a RiverClan patrol close by. "RiverClan," Graystripe meowed, and the two cats sat and watched to see what would happen.
"Gotcha! Huh? Oof." A black tom with green eyes spluttered in shock and surprise as the rabbit he had been trying to catch scurried away, and another tom, this one was brown with amber eyes started laughing at him. "Wow! Nice one, Blackclaw." The brown tom meowed, still laughing. "Stupid rabbit, shut it. I'd like to see you do better, Loudbelly." Blackclaw growled, glaring at Loudbelly, who was still laughing at him.
"Let's see if we can find any pray ferther down the more." Leopardfur meowed, giving an amused purr as she lead her patrol down the hillside. "They're horrible hunters," Graystripe observed, watching as the RiverClan patrol left to go and try their luck at hunting something else. "True, maybe RiverClan should stick to catching fish." Fireheart said, turning to stare at Graystripe.
"C'mon, Fireheart. As funny as the RiverClan cats are, we better get moving or their patrol will scent us." Graystripe meowed, and Fireheart nodded.
"We should look for the WindClan camp, it'll be the best place to pick up their scent." Fireheart meowed, and Graystripe nodded in agreement.
"Good idea," Graystripe meowed, and the two cats continued onwards to the WindClan camp.
They moved slowly through the heather, keeping their mouths slightly open to pick up the scent of any more RiverClan warriors. They stopped at the foot of a large flat rock that sloped up steeply, past the tops of the gorse bushes.
"I'll climb up and have a look around." Offered Graystripe, and Fireheart nodded.
He watched his friend creep up the rock. Graystripe crouched at the top and gazed around the plateau, then skidded back down to Fireheart.
"There's a hollow over there, I can see a gap in the brush." Graystripe meowed, and Fireheart nodded.
"Okay, let's check it out. It could be the camp." Fireheart meowed, and Graystripe nodded in agreement.
"That's what I thought, it's probably the only place here that's sheltered from the wind." Graystripe meowed, flicking his ears.
As they neared the hollow, Fireheart raced past Graystripe and gazed over the edge. It looked as if a StarClan warrior had reached down from the sky, scooped a pawful of peat from the plateau, and replaced it with a thick tangle of gorse that grew almost to the level of the ground on either side.
Fireheart sniffed, he could smell many scents, all WindClan, old and young, male and female, and, in the background, the faint odor of fresh-kill that had long since become crowfood. This had to be the abandoned camp.
Fireheart bounded down the slope and plunged into the bushes. The gorse skimmed through his sleek fur and scratched his nose, making his eyes water. He could hear Graystripe behind him, curing as thorns snagged his ears. They pushed through into a sheltered clearing. The sandy ground had been trodden hard by generations of paws. At one end of the clearing stood a rock, worn smooth by many windblown moons.
"This must be their camp," Fireheart murmured, a flash of a past memory coming to him. but an unpleasant one, one where there is a battle.
"I can't believe Brokenstar managed to drive WindClan out of such a well protected aria." Meowed Graystripe, rubbing his nose with one paw.
"It looks like they put up a good fight," Fireheart pointed out, realizing with a jolt how badly ravaged the camp was. Clumps of fur littered the ground, and dried blood stained the sand. Mossy nests had been dragged out of dens and torn apart. And everywhere, stale ShadowClan scents mingled with the smell of terrified WindClan cats.
"I'm surprised there were no casualties," Graystripe meowed, and Fireheart slowly nodded.
"They must've fled in time," Firehert meowed, sniffing the air. He then noticed a small gap in some brush nearby and motioned with his tail for Graystripe to come over.
"Let's find the scent trail out of here. Look, they must've escaped through this gap in the brush. Many of them were badly injured, they must've barely escaped with their lives. I'm certain this is the right way, C'mon." He meowed, looking down at the dried blood littering the WinClan camp.
"It doesn't look as if they were heading for Highstones," Graystripe remarked. The trail took them sideways into a wide grassy field. They skirted the edge, staying near the hedgerow as WindClan had done. The scent led them out of the field and onto a Twoleg path through a small copse of trees.
The trail led them to the far edge of the uplands, where they stopped to catch their breath. In front of them the ground sloped away to the Twoleg farmland. Far in the distance, where the sun was beginning to set, loomed the towering shapes of Highstones.
"I wonder if Nightpelt is there yet," Fireheart murmured, in a tunnel below Highstones lay the sacred Moonstone, where the leaders of each Clan shared dreams with StarClan.
"We'll have a hard enough time dodging Twolegs, rats, and dogs, without meeting the new ShadowClan leader as well." Graystripe meowed, flicking his tail back and forth.
"Look, WindClan must have stayed here. But wghere are they now?" Fireheart meowed, his eyes were wide with surprise, he turned to Graystripe, who just nodded and scanned their surroundings.
"I wonder what made them leave?" Asked Graystripe, sniffing the air. "There scent is quite stale," He meowed, looking back at Fireheart, who nodded.
Fireheart shrugged and the two cats followed the trail onward to a thick hedge. With a bit of a struggle, they wriggled through onto a grass verge. Beyond a narrow ditch lay wide earth track.
"I don't know, it's all so odd. Let's keep moving." Fireheart mewed, and Graystripe nodded, following Fireheart as they kept traveling.
"We must be near Barley's territory, oh no." Firehert meowed, his ears twitching at the sound of barking dogs.
"Remember what Barley said, the Twolegs let dogs lose at night." Fireheart meowed, his tail swishing back and forth nervously as he stared at Graystripe.
"Maybe the dogs were the ones who chased WindClan out of these parts. It's almost sunset, we should get moving." Graystripe meowed, and the two cats continent onwards.
"Do you think Ravenpaw ever found Barley?" Firehert mewd, looking worriedly down at his paws. "Sure he did, why wouldn't he? We were able to make it this far, so don't underestimate him. Don't you remember the time Tigerclaw sent him to Snakerocks? He came back with an afdder, don't worry about Ravenpaw." Graystripe meowed confidently, and Fireheart smiled softly at his friend.
"You're right, Ravenpaw is a resourceful cat." Fireheart meowed, and the continued on their way.
"It's getting late, should we keep going? What id the trail takes us to Highstones after all? Nightpelt will definitely be there by now." Graystripe meowed, flicking his tail back and forth.
"Hmm... There scent is still pretty fresh, so we better continue on. There will be time for rest later." Fireheart meowed, and Graystripe nodded.
The cold breeze carried another odor to Firehearts nose-there was a Thunderpath nearby. Graystripe screwed up his face. He'd smelled it too. The warriors exchanged a look of dismay, but pushed on. The stench grew stronger and stronger until they could hear the roar of Thunderpath Monsters in the distance. By the time they reached the hedge that ran alongside the wide gray path, it was hard to make out the WindClan trail at all.
"Their trail is masked by the scent of the Thunderpath, but it seems to lead under these bushes. WindClan must've either doubled back or crossed the Thunderpath." Fireheart meowed, and Graystripe looked around.
"You look around here, and I'll check out the other side." He fought to keep her voice calm, but exhaustion was making her desperate. Surely they couldn't have lost the trail now, after coming so far?
"WindClan definitely was here, C'on Graystripe." Fireheart meowed, flicking his tail back and forth as he waited for his friend to cross safely to the other side.
"Woah! Would you look at that Fireheart." Graystripe mewed, staring with wide eyes at the strange Thunderpath. "I've never scene a Thunderpath like that before," Fireheart meowed, and Graystripe still looked wide-eyed.
"Do you smell that?" Graystripe meowed, and Fireheart opened his jaws and scented the air. "It's a fresh WindClan marker," Fireheart meowed, and Graystripe motioned with tail at a shadowed hollow.
"They must have settled somewhere near here, why would WindClan come to a place like this? There's so many Monsters." Graystripe observed, twitching his tail and flicking his ears back and forth.
"I guess it was so that not even Brokenstar would want to follow them here. Huh, what's that dark shadow up ahead?" Fireheart meowed, motioning with his tail at a darkened area somewhere close by.
"I don't know, a burrow? It's to big for a rabbit, and surely there can't be a bagger set there, the wall is made of stone." Graystripe meowed, staring intently at the hole, as he tried to figure out what it could be for and where it would lead them.
"Let's take a look, we do need to find a way across the Thunderpath." Fireheart mewed, glancing over to the hole in the wall.
"I can feel air flowing through it, i must come up somewhere on the other side." Fireheart informed Graystripe, as he came back out into the entrance.
Graystripe frowned and replied, "Is it empty?" To witch Fireheart gave a nod. It smells like it," He replied, and Graystripe nodded. "Come on then," He mewed, entering the tunnel with Fireheart a tail-length behind him.
"Do you think that's WindClan?" Graystripe asked, and Fireheart gave him a deadpanned look in response. "You smell there marker, who else could it be." He mewed, and Graystripe nodded his head at his friends logic.
"Wow! We really found them!" Graystripe exclaimed, smiling brightly at Fireheart, who frowned and gave a small glare in his direction. "Now we just have to find a way to convince them that it's safe to return home," Fireheart mewed, keeping his voice low as he glanced at the WindClan cats.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Graystriped mewed impatiently, as he prepared to run over to the WindClan cats. But Fireheart stopped him with a warning look. "Hang on, we don't want to startle them." Fireheart mewed, frowning and shaking his head at Graystripe.
And the gray tomcat did the exact opposite of what Fireheart had told him, and in his hastiness, he startled the group of cats and the startled mews caught the attention of the Twolegs around them. "What The- Why are there so many cats around us?" One growled in a high pinched voice, and another one growled and shouted at the cats. "Agh! Stupid cats! Get out of here!"
"We have to catch up with them!" Fireheart cried, and Graystripe nodded. "Don't let WindClan out of your sight!" He mewed, and just then, the angry Twoleg began shouting again. "Get out of here!" And Fireheart ducked just in time as the Twoleg tried to kick him with its furless paws.
"Graystripe, we need to get out of here!" He mewed, and Graystripe nodded and replied, "Keep running, we can't loose WindClan!"
"Look, there they are." Fireheart says, glancing over to see one of the WindClan cats enter the tunnel that the two ThunderClan cats had previously came out of.
"What? Where'd they go?" Graystripe inquired, as he looked around for any sign of WindClan, but nothing was there. "I don't know, another tunnel? Come on, let's go find out."
"Haha! She-cats first," Graystripe teased, and Fireheart groaned and gave Graystripe an annoyed look. "Ugh! Really?" He mewed, but he entered the tunnel nonetheless.
Once they came out onto the other side, the two ThunderClan cats took a moment to scan there surroundings. "Woah! This place is creepy," Graystripe muttered quietly, and Fireheart just gave him a strange look.
"Shush! We don't want them to here us," Fireheart whisper-shouted to Graystripe, who got the message and stayed silent. "Hold on, I hear something." Fireheart mewed, flicking his ears back and forth as he listened for ant strange noises.
"That's them! It's WindClan!" Fireheart mewed, glancing over to the group of cats as he turned back to look at Graystripe. "Wow! There so thin," Graystripe remarked, noticing how malnourished the WindClan cats looked.
"What Brokenstar did to these cats was awful, they must be starving." Fireheart mewed, and write after he spoke, a sudden shaking rumbled the ground and startled the two cats.
"The WindClan cats didn't even seem to notice the shaking, there just sitting there." Graystripe said, blinking in surprise as he stared with wide eyes at the group of cats who were all sitting as still as statues. "I guess they've gotten used to the Monsters passing," Fireheart answered, as he silently observed the WindClan cats.
"Tallstar, intruders, behind us!" A WindClan cat yowled. "Identify yourselves, did Brokenstar send you after us?" A black tomcat with blue eyes meowed, alerting the other WindClan cats, who all turned to stare at both Fireheart and Graystripe with narrowed eyes and fearful gazes.
"You must be Tallstar, WindClan's leader." Fireheart meowed, staring directly at the black and white tomcat in front of him. "ThunderClan warriors." He mewed in surprise. Behind him, the line of WindClan warriors relaxed their aggressive stances, though they didn't move from in front of the queens and elders.
"I was expecting ShadowClan," Tallstar continued, turning back towards Fireheart and Graystripe, his eyes flashing with hostility.
"What are you doing here?" Tallstar meowed, flicking his ears and lashing his tail.
"We came to find you, Tallstar. Bluestar and the other Clan leaders want you to return to your territory." Fireheart told the WindClan leader, who shook his head and dug his paws into the ground.
"That land is not safe for my Clan anymore." Tallstar replied, a haunted look in his eyes. Fireheart felt a pang of sympathy for the scrawny WindClan leader.
"ShadowClan has driven out Brokenstar, he's no longer a threat to you." Fireheart quietly explained to Tallstar and the other WindClan cats.
"Could it be true?" A small dark tortoiseshell molly spoke up from the croud of gathered cats.
"You must return home as soon as possible, ShadowClan and RiverClan are starting to hint in the uplands. We saw a RiverClan hunting patrol on our way here." Fireheart quickly explained, and Tallstar bristled angrily.
"Those Snake-hearts." Tallstar hissed, narrowing his eyes as his fur bristled in anger. "They're terrible rabbit hunters though, they went home with empty belly's." Graystripe meowed, and Tallstar's eyes gleamed in amusement.
"Sounds like RiverClan." The WindClan leader meowed, his eyes gleaming with amusement again at the thought of RiverClan trying to hunt rabbits.
"May we travel back with you to your territory?" Fireheart inquired, and Tallstar thought for a moment before answering.
"Hmm... Yes, yes, I see your meaning. It would be much appreciated, who do I have to thank?" Tallstar asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at Fireheart once more.
"I'm Fireheart, and this is Graystripe." Fireheart meowed, flicking hist tail to both himself and Graystripe. "Fireheart, you remind me of somebody that I used to know. That name suits you," Tallstar meowed, nodding to Fireheart, who snodded back at the WindClan leader.
"Thanks," Firehert meowed, nodding to the WindClan leader.
"We shall depart at once with these ThunderClan warriors, it's time for us to return home. Is every cay able to travel?" Tallstar asked, as he turned his attention back to his Clan.
"All except Morningflower's kit, he is too young." A dark gray She-cat answered, and Tallstar nodded. "Then we must all take turns carrying him," Tallstar decided.
"Lead the way, Deadfoor." Tallstar meowed, turning to the black tom, who nodded. "We'll take you back the way we came, it might be a short cut," Fireheart meowed, and Tallstar slowly nodded, looking a bit unsure.
"Is it safe?" Tallstar asked, still look a bit uneasy as Graystripe answered, "We met no trouble coming here," Graystripe meowed, and Tallstar slowly nodded.
"Very well, come with me Graystripe and lead the way. Fireheart, travel beside the Clan, tell my deputy if you see any trouble." Tallstar mewed, and the two ThunderClan cats both nodded there heads in understanding.
"Witch one is he?" Fireheart asked, and Tallstar pointed with his tail at a black tomcat. "That's him over there, his name's Deadfoot."
"Alright, I'll do that." Fireheart mewed, and Tallstar nodded and Deadfoot spoke up. "You all heard him, let's move."
"Are you sure this path leads to daylight?" Deadfoot asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at Foreheart. "It leads right under the Thunderpath, have you never used this tunnel?"
"When our warriors cross the Thunderpath, they prefer to see where there going. You go first," Deadfoot mewed, and Fireheart just nodded his head in understanding.
"Tallstar, the Clan is tiring. We need to travel more slowly," Deadfoot mewed, turning to look at Tallstar, who nodded.
As the other cats slowly patted onwards, Fireheart turned to see a dark tortoiseshell molly panting as she gently put her newborn kit on the ground so she could catch her breath.
"Let me carry him, just until you've caught your breath."
"Thank you so much, his name is Gorsekit."
"Hi, Gorsekit." Fireheart mewed, smiling down at the small kitten, who smiled back. "Hi, Fireheart." Gorsekit mewed back, and Fireheart smiled warmly before gently picking the small kitten up by his scruff.
"We'll have to stop and cross the Thunderpath here," Tallstar mewed, and the other cats glanced between one another nervously.
"Oh man, Fireheart. You've gotta meet Onewhisker, he's great." Graystripe mewed, and Fireheart turned to the light brown tomcat with a friendly smile. "Huh, nice to meet you, Onewhisker. I'm Fireheart,"
"Thanks for everything you've done for WindClan, Fireheart. I don't know what I would've done without you, one more day in that tunnel and I-I would of lost it."
"Aww, don't mention it. I'm happy to help." Fireheart replied, nodding at Onewhisker, who gave him a wide smile.
"Just as before, we should try to get the Clan over the Thunderpath in smaller groups, Graystripe and Fireheart will stay behind with any cat that needs extra help." Tallstar instructed, and everyone nodded there heads in agreement.
"Yes, Tallstar. The strongest warriors should go first, Onewhisker, Mudclaw, Barkface, we'll all leave at the first opining." Deadfoot mewed.
"What about Tallstar?" Graystripe asked, "I will cross only when the rest of the Clan is safe," The WindClan leader meowed, and everyone nodded.
"Deadfoot, it's clear, now. Go!" Tallstar ordered, and the black tomcat nodded, and the three other mentioned cats followed close behind him.
"That leavs Webpaw, Ashfoot, Morningflower and her kit." Tallstar meowed, naming the cats that were left.
"I hate crossing the Thunderpath, and this will be Gorsekit's first time." Morningflower mewed worriedly, as she stared down at Gorsekit.
"Ill insure you two get safely across, tell us when, Graystripe." Fireheart mewed to both his friend and to Morningflower.
"Now! Graystripe yowled. Something's coming!"
"Go ahead Morningflower," Fireheart mewed, "I'll help Webpaw."
"Fireheart! Webpaw!" One of the WindClan cats yowled in a panic as the two cats just barely made out of the way as a monster roared past them.
"Are you two alright?" Deadfoot asked them. "Thank StarClan we all made it." Graystripe sighed in relief. "That was close."
"Heh, if you would've died for us, WindClan will never forget that." Onewhisker meowed in a joking tone.
"Ionewhisker is right, we shall honor you both in our stories. We must keep going, we have a long journey ahead of us." Tallstar mewed.
"Is Gorsekit alright?" Fireheart asked Morningflower. "Oh, yes. Thank you so much," Morningflower mewed in a greatful tone.
"You want me to carry him again?" Fireheart inquired. "That'd be lovely, your so kind Fireheart."
"We're getting close to Barley's barn, Tallstar, perhapse we should stop soon and take shelter for the night." Fireheart informed the other cats.
"I agree, my Clan is growing tired from the travel. And the weather is getting worse," Tallstar mewed. Fireheart nodded as something black caught his eye.
"Ravenpaw!" Fireheart cried out happily. "Thank StarClan you're safe."
"Firepaw! I thought I heard your voice." Ravenpaw mewed happily.
"It's actually Fireheart, we're warriors now. I'm Graystripe." Graystripe says, joining the conversation.
"Do you know this cat Fireheart?" Deadfoot asked the fire-pelted tomcat, who nodded. "Is he a loner?" Onewhisker asked with a cautious look toward Ravenpaw.
"Uh... Not exactly. But, he can help us find food." Fireheart mewed. "Yeah, I know all the best places to hunt around here," Ravenpaw chimed in.
"Why would a loner help us?" Deadfoot asked. "Loners have helped the Clans before! Another loner named Barley saved us from the rats near here last Greenleaf."
"I'd be happy to help you, I oh my life to Fireheart and Graystripe. And if there traveling with you, then you must be friends. I'll go and find Barley, he'll help too!" Ravenpaw said with a nod to the WindClan cats and to his former clanmates.
"Can we trust him?" Tallstar asked Fireheart with a cautious stare. Fireheart nodded. "Compleatly, he's an olf friend of mine."
"It's good to see you again Barley," Fireheart greeted the black and white loner with a smile. "You too now, we need to find you some proper shelter. Follow me," Barley replied.
"Come on, we have to trust them," tallstar mewed to his clanmates as they followed Barley and Ravenpaw.
"Ugh! You won't get me in there! Just look at it, it reaks of Twolegs!" Ashfoot hissed in discussed. "It's empty don't worry, Twolegs haven't used it in ages." Barley reassures them.
"Plus, it will give us shelter from the rain." Fireheart chimed in quickly. He was itching to get out of the rain as soon as possible.
"I'm not surprised Fireheart wants to hide in a Twoleg nest, once a kittypet, always a kittypet!" Mudclaw hissed.
"Mudclaw! Show some respect to Fireheart!" Deadfoot ordered the mudy-brown tomcat with a stern glare.
"You've spent two moons living in a Twoleg tunnel, does that make you a rat?" Fireheart retorted with an icy glare directed at Mudclaw.
Mudclaw just growled lowly at Fireheart in response. "Come on, we're just getting wetter the longer we stay out here. Fighting won't solve the problem." Graystripe stood in between the two fighting cats.
"We've faced worse then a Twoleg shelter in these past moons, one night here will do us no harm." Tallstar told his Clan with a soft sigh and a twitch of his tail.
"Thank you again Barley, this is the second time you've helped us." Fireheart told him with a grateful look. "Thanks for sending Ravenpaw to me, he's turned into a fine rabbit, and it's good to share a meal with a fellow cat from time time, who doesn't cough up fur-balls." Barley said.
"So what happened after we left you ay the border?"
I headed straight across the WindClan Territory, like you suggested."
"What about the Twoleg's dogs? Were they loose?" Graystripe asked.
"Yes, but it was easey to avoid them."
"Easy?"
"I could smell them from a long way off, i actually waited until dawn. Once the dogs were tied up again, I tracked down Barley. He's been great, i think he likes having me around. Definitely more then Tigerclaw ever did. Bu the way, what'd you tell him?"
"We said you'd been killed by a ShadowClan patrol." Fireheart replied.
Ravenpaw noticed one of the WindClan apprentices listening in on there Conversation, and so he decided to have some fun. "Ah yes, we loners eat Clan apprentices. Whenever we can catch one."
"You don't scare me," Webpaw replied with an exaggerated sigh.
Ravenpaw laughed. "Oh really? Your meet would be tough and stringy anyways." He said in a joking tone.
"How come you're such good friends with a loner Fireheart?" Webpaw asked him. A wise warrior makes friends whenever he can Webpaw. If it wasn't for this loner, we'd still be cold and hungry rather then dry and well fed."
"Ah, I guess you're right."
"So, ThunderClan thinks I'm dead? Well, that's probably for the best. I'm glad to see you two again, but you look tired. You should probably get some sleep, I'll keep watch tonight." He laughed slightly. "I can rest tomorrow."
"Thank you Ravenpaw."
"I can't believe we found WindClan, and that we're back here with Ravenpaw."
"I know, and it's nice to see that he turned out okay. You never know what can happen to cats out here."
Foreheart laughed at his friend. "Haha, right. Well, it's been a long day. Are you tired?" He asked Graystripe, who nodded. "Let's hit the hay then," He looked down at the hay with a laugh. "Heh, literally."
"We did well today, WindClan is finally coming home. And it's such a relief to see how happy Ravenpaw is here with Barley. All I hope is that tomorrow can go as well. Right Graystripe?" Firheart looked down at Graystripe. But he was sound asleep
"Oh wow! He really was exhausted. I guess I should get some shuteye too. Every cat has his own destiny, even though he's not in ThunderClan anymore, Ravenpaw's happy. And that's all that matters."