The ground of the cavern was hard and prickly with various small shards of rock scattered everywhere. Fireheart had only taken a few pawsteps in but with every stab a new shard of rock he felt, the more his pads complained and protested. He couldn't comprehend how WindClan could possibly be willing to stay in this prickly land any longer.
It didn't take long for the scent of nervous WindClan cats to fill his mouth the deeper in they walked. Graystripe stepped close enough that their pelts were brushing- much calmer than when they were around the dogs but still on edge. Fireheart didn't blame him, this tunnel was dark and on either end, it was possible they'd be attacked. This was foreign territory and for all he knew, WindClan was surrounding them at that very moment.
It was almost too dark to see anything, small cracks and crevices in the ceiling letting in much needed streams of light. He lightly flicked Graystripe's shoulder with the tip of his tail and his friend trod to a stop. A larger hole in the ceiling allowed much more light into the cavern where there were many cats staring them down. Warriors and elders, monarchs and their kits were huddled together, shivering and watching them closely.
Slowly the cats began pushing the kits and elders behind them with sharp, narrowed eyes.
They're starving, Fireheart grimaced to himself, noting the ribs he could see on several of the warriors who were glowering at them. They hissed threateningly when Fireheart stepped further into the light, allowing himself and Graystripe to be seen more easily.
Despite their hostility, none of the warriors moved a single muscle.
They're waiting for Tallstar's signal, Fireheart realized. Even out here, WindClan followed the warrior code despite Brokentail breaking every one he could.
Some of the cats shuffled drawing his attention. A lean black and white tom with large ears stalked forward, head close to the ground and teeth bared as if ready to strike.
Tallstar, Fireheart identified and held his breath.
When his eyes landed on Fireheart, his jaw dropped and he stood up straight.
"O-okohi? It can't be," he rasped. "Okohi what are you doing here? I haven't seen you in seasons. The guards said…"
Graystripe blinked as Tallstar ran over, practically tripping over himself to reach them.
"I thought your kingdom name was Soryn," Graystripe said.
Fireheart smiled sadly as Tallstar skid to a halt when he heard Graystripe speak.
"It is," Fireheart agreed. "But Okohi was my father."
One of the elders shoved her way to the front of the line and eyed Fireheart fiercely. She moved closer and Fireheart found himself leaning back reflexively as she sniffed him over, passing around him in a circle before nodding to herself.
"He looks just like that ginger tom who kept sneaking in to see Tallstar," the elder claimed.
Tallstar gently sniffed Fireheart himself then tentatively rubbed his cheek against him.
"The last time I saw you, you'd just opened your eyes for the first time," Tallstar said whimsically. "I'm so happy they turned green- like his."
Tallstar shook his head fiercely, "I'm sorry I've gotten distracted. You smell of ThunderClan- we were expecting ShadowClan."
"Bluestar sent us," Fireheart explained. "We're to return WindClan to their rightful hunting grounds."
Tallstar turned away, "That is no longer a safe place for my clan."
Fireheart suppressed his instinctive response to rest his tail on the saddened leader and the haunted, defeated expression on his face. Instead, he raised his head hoping that if he looked confident it'd spread to WindClan.
"ShadowClan has driven out Brokentail and his rogues," he said. "He's no longer a leader in the eyes of the clans."
Tallstar's ears perked up at this as his warriors began murmuring excitedly among each other. Several of the warriors relaxed entirely, dropping their hackles and flattening their fur with relief.
"You have to come back a soon as possible," Graystripe added. "RiverClan and ShadowClan are trying to hunt in the uplands. They're poor rabbit hunters but it's clear they're trying to take advantage of you guys."
The WindClan warriors purred in satisfaction at the thought of RiverClan and ShadowClan struggling to hunt on their land.
"How poor?" Tallstar asked.
Fireheart scoffed, "They couldn't catch a rabbit if it laid on their paws and begged them."
The warriors around them cackled their approval at his remark and Fireheart felt reassured by their high spirits and good humor. He supposed with how weak and starved the clan looked, restricted to only hunting whatever they could in the rocky area around them, their spirit and pride was all they had left. This is mind, he asked, "May we travel with you?"
Tallstar eyed them, recognizing the silent offer of help for what it was before nodding.
"Yes," he said. "I would never turn away one of Okohi's."
"My sister is going to be so jealous that I met you first," Fireheart laughed. "She liked hearing about your journey with dad."
Tallstar beamed at the mention of Okohi and his siblings.
"How are the littlest ones?" Tallstar asked. "I remember Okohi being worried about them."
"Ahasra and Adihikko are fine," Fireheart assured. "Ahasra's even a guardian with her first gem!"
Tallstar purred loudly as if he was hearing about the accomplishments of his own kits. Fireheart shook his thoughts about Tallstar being a second father from his head once more and instead introduced himself.
"I'm a ThunderClan cat now," Fireheart said. "This is Graystripe and I'm Fireheart."
"Fireheart," echoed Tallstar just as Fireheart walked through another pool of sunlight. "It suits you."
Tallstar flicked his tail and the warriors finally broke their defensive line, chattering excitedly about returning to their homeland
"Are we all fit for the journey ahead?" Tallstar asked his warriors.
"All of us but Morningflower kit," a brown molly announced "He's too small to keep up with us."
"We'll take turns carrying him then," Tallstar said.
The warrior shuffled about, stretching and twisting, herding their weaker clanmates towards the center of a wall of warriors. A cream tortie molly stepped forward with a tiny scrap of fur in her mouth and a familiar tom walking beside her. Tumblepaw looked up from where he stood by Morningflower and nodded a greeting to Fireheart.
A black tom with a misshaped front left paw stepped forward, "We're ready Tallstar."
Fireheart and Graystripe turned and led the bedraggled clan from the den and into the sunlight where Maluri had laid down, another dog waiting with him. Tallstar broke from the ranks and approached the new dog.
"Ita," addressed Tallstar.
"Tallstar," acknowledged the new dog. "I hear you and your own are returning home. I and our pack are happy to hear that you are safe once more in your homelands."
Tallstar dipped his head, "I cannot thank you enough for allowing my clan to stay in our time of need."
"It was not only our pleasure but the duty of any decent creature to help those who need it," Ita said. "We'll escort you to the edge of our territory- there shouldn't be any dangers but you never know."
"Thank you," said Tallstar before turning to Fireheart and Graystripe. "Graystripe, please stay ahead with me and Ita. Fireheart, travel alongside the clan and alert my deputy if you smell trouble."
"Which one is your deputy?" Fireheart asked.
Tallstar nodded to the black tom with the twisted paw, "Deadfoot."
Fireheart dipped his head in acknowledgement and joined the main body of the clan, falling into step beside Tumblepaw.
"Fancy seeing you here," he joked as they walked.
"So you're a warrior too?" Tumblepaw said nudging him.
"Yep, after the battle against Brokentail- what about you?"
"We were ambushed by a small patrol from Havoc- only two but they were fierce. I tackled one when he went for Morningflower and sent him running for his mother- Tallstar named me Tumblestrike the same night."
"Awesome," Fireheart purred. "You know, Silverpaw from RiverClan is a warrior now too- she took down a goose."
"Really? What's her name?"
"Silverstream."
"Pretty."
The cats traveled through the rest of pack territory unmolested. They saw neither hide nor whisker of Havoc or any of the more dangerous creatures like bears. Fireheart shuddered- he hoped he would never have to encounter a bear and if he did, it was separated from him by a large gorge. All too soon they arrived at the birthing den.
"This is where we leave you to travel home," Ita informed. "Travel safely and may Iseca not come for you anytime soon."
Maluri had nodded to Fireheart and surprised him with a slobbery lick on the side of his face before he joined Ita in returning to the pack's camp. Fireheart shook the drool from his pelt as Deadfoot snickered at him.
They crossed out of pack territory quickly moving by their attempted settlement- which he now realized must've been where they were attacked by Havoc's stooges. Tallstar set a swift pace across the frost covered ground and it was all too clear that the WindClan leader was eager to get home. Fireheart stayed on the left side of the clan while Deadfoot flanked the other.
They hadn't reached the deer path yet when it became clear that most of WindClan was struggling to keep up. More and more warriors were straggling behind, unable to keep up the intense pace. As Deadfoot called out this alert to Tallstar, Fireheart fell back from Tumblestrike and bounded over to Morningflower, one of the cats falling behind. It couldn't've been long since her kitting and this hard pace wasn't safe.
"Let me carry him," he told her. "Just until you've caught your breath- I'll stay right beside you I promise."
The queen hesitated, clearly reluctant to hand over her son. Fireheart wasn't surprised- only having one kit was rare and after all that had happened, she must be paranoid about his safety. After staring into is eyes for a moment, Morningflower gently set the kit on the ground for Fireheart to pick up. Fireheart kept his word and stayed right next to her allowing her to keep her precious kit in sight the entire time.
Tallstar slowed his pace but only to the amount that was strictly necessary, clearly anxious to get home. Fireheart was awed by the strength of the WindClan leader whose ribs showed beneath his pelt and stumbled every so often but still bright eyed and determined. And Fireheart couldn't blame him for the harsh pace.
With some of WindClan old, some of them sick and all of them weak and starved, it was of great importance to travel as far as they could as quickly as they could. He smiled involuntarily around the kit in his mouth- brave, courageous and selfless just like dad had always told him and his littermates. By the time Fireheart and Morningflower made it to the deer trail, the first part of WindClan was already waiting on the other side.
Morningflower leaned forward and gently took her kit from Fireheart, a grateful and relieved expression on her face. She'd stopped panting and proudly strutted across the deer trail. Fireheart hovered on the edge of it, his dream coming back to the forefront of his mind. Still, he heard nothing and so he crossed with another group of cats.
Just as the last group of elders began to cross, Fireheart's ears picked up a frantic crunching sound. His dream at the front of his mind, Fireheart raced back to the center of the deer trail and grabbed the first elder he could by the scruff, dragging him to safety before returning with Graystripe to grab the last one.
The deer burst from seemingly no where. They were far larger than Fireheart imagined with legs longer than he was tall and some of them with massive antlers like trees growing from their heads. They didn't seem to even notice the cats attempting to cross, sprinting away from something Fireheart didn't know of and uncaring of the small creatures just trying to survive.
Fireheart threw his body over the frail elder in the center of the path and cowered sd the swarm of sharp hooved animals leapt over them. He vaguely spotted Graystripe being knocked over by one of the smaller deer as he desperately shoved on last elder to safety before crouching with the rest of WindClan.
The river of deer seemed endless for several long minutes but finally the last deer had cleared them and continued down the trail. Fireheart trembled, thoroughly frightened by the entire experienced and forced himself upright enough to nudge the petrified elder the rest of the way.
Graystripe rushed over to him and threw his tail over his back worriedly, "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine" Fireheart shuddered "I'll get over it."
"What I wouldn't give for some poppy seeds right about now," Graystripe sighed, rubbing Fireheart's cheek with his own.
"Are you okay?" Fireheart prompted of the startled looking Morningflower.
"I'll take the kit next," a gray molly reassured him when Morningflower didn't answer.
"You were willing to be trampled for us," noted Deadfoot with a slight smile. "You were clearly frightened by the deer trail and yet you ran to our elder's aid. We won't forget this."
As Tallstar led them on, Fireheart knew they'd have to stop soon. The fright from the deer had sapped what remained of WindClan's energy and now they were traveling slower than ever. By the time they arrived in the land nearest to the Highstones, even Fireheart was completely drained. The sun had since passed its peak and was now beginning to set and dark storm cloud were filling the sky.
As the first drops of water fell onto his nose and the icy wind of aruahsio tore through his pelt, he looked at WindClan and concluded that there was no way that they would survive a long, cold and wet night. It didn't take a medic to know that it was the perfect recipe for a severe greencough outbreak. Besides that, for the first time since he'd eaten Spottedleaf's herbs, he was starting to feel hungry and from the drooped tail of Graystripe and his sluggish steps, so was his friend.
"Tallstar!" called Fireheart as the rain started coming down heavier and started seeping through his pelt. "We should stop soon and shelter for the night."
Tallstar turned and looked at his dripping wet clan and nodded in agreement, "I agree."
The tom flicked his tail towards some dips in the ground, "there's a ditch here- we can shelter till sunrise."
Graystripe and Fireheart exchanged a look and turned back to Tallstar fiercely shaking their heads.
"We'd be better off in the open rain," Fireheart told him. "There are rats in these ditches and they're not friendly."
Some of the WindClan cats who'd moved toward the ditch when Tallstar mentioned it quickly backpedaled and rejoined the main group. Instead, Tallstar led them over to a large series of bushes and sniffed around, shaking his head. He announced that they'd be staying here for the night and several cats collapsed where they stood. Morningflower limped over to the bush they'd been sniffing and clambered under, shielding her kit from the rain.
"I don't know what we can catch out here," Graystripe muttered. "It's raining so much that all of the prey is probably hiding."
As he said this, his stomach released a noisy gurgle. Graystripe's ears turned red and he ducked his head sheepishly. Amused eyes landing on him and a few WindClan cats offered him a sympathetic smile. He opened his mouth to stay something before the grass behind them rustled.
WindClan warriors leapt back to their paws, hissing and arching their backs with threatening snarls. A scent was carried through the air and Fireheart straightened up, "Calm down- I know this cat" he announced.
A heartbeat later, Bala and small golden cat stepped into view each soaked by the rain.
"See," the small cat said. "I told you I saw a bunch of cats."
"I see," agreed Bala. "Hello my prince- you're beyond the clans and kingdoms a lot lately."
Fireheart laughed with relief, "My paws have always carried me beyond traditional boundaries."
The tom flicked his tail to WindClan, "Do you have anywhere we can shelter for the night? We're trying to return them home but traveling in this weather is just asking for greencough."
"Of course," Bala said instantly. "On one condition: I'd like some sunberries- they don't grow well up here and Ola loves them."
Fireheart grinned, "It's a deal- we always have more than we know what to do with anyway. Come find me in ThunderClan at some point and I'll bring you there myself! Or send a messenger."
"Fireheart," Tallstar intoned stalking forward. "Do you know these loners?"
"I am not a loner," Bala told him indignantly.
"Bala was born in the Shining Sun," Fireheart said quickly nipping the potential argument in the bud. "He's helped us before and he's willing to help us again."
"Any friend of his highness must be good creatures," agreed Bala. "You can have any many rats as you can catch."
"It'll be nice to meet some new cats," agreed Ola. "I've never met a clan cat before!"
Tallstar met Fireheart's eyes.
"Can we trust them?"
"Completely," Fireheart said and both Bala and Ola straightened up at their prince declaring total trust in them. "They're the ones who saved us from the rats- that's how we knew they lived in the ditches in the first place."
Tallstar nodded to his warriors who let their fur flatten on their backs and allowed the two cats to lead them away. Fireheart and Graystripe led the way, following closely as WindClan lagged behind.
Bala's home was a cove off to the side with a large cave near the back with a very short grass and sparse bushes. There was a small pool of water likely being fed by an underground spring that several of his chickens from drinking from with a loose fence around it. Three goats roamed about their short fencing, munching on bushes and thick grasses only glancing up for a short moment.
Bala darted into the cave with Ola and shook the water from his coat.
"Come on in," he invited. "It's raining like Kopapaxi is using the clouds to sharpen her claws."
"Or she clambered from a pool," Fireheart chuckled, shaking as well. "Come on!"
Graystripe was quick to join him sheltering from the rain and swiftly began grooming his coat. WindClan was much slower still hesitantly standing in the rain. Fireheart looked at these pitiful cats with their fur flat against their skin, likely soaked to the bone but still wary of help and was struck for the first time by how thoroughly Brokentail had destroyed WindClan's confidence in themselves.
Morningflower cautiously padded forward, her kit held tightly in her mouth. She nodded to Bala and Ola kindly and padded forward. It was like an unspoken signal and the rest of the clan slowly flooded into the cavern shaking off the rain and beginning to settle in. It didn't take long for Deadfoot to begin sorting out hunting patrols.
As Fireheart and Graystripe curled up with each other on the edge of the massive gathering of cat, a pair of small cats approached.
Apprentices, Fireheart concluded as the small white one spoke up.
"Why do you know loners?" he asked.
Fireheart flicked his ear, "They're not loners. But a good warrior always makes friends before he makes enemies."
Graystripe nodded, "Without Bala and his sister, you'd be wet, cold and hungry instead of warm, well fed and dry."
The apprentices exchanged curious looks but rejoined their clan, pushing their way to the warm center. Fireheart yawned and snuggled into his best friend as they waited out the storm.
