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"Is it always windy up here?" grumbled Graystripe, fluffing out his thick fur against the blast of cold air that swept across the uplands.
"I suppose there aren't any trees to block it," Fireheart pointed out, screwing up his eyes and sniffed the air.
"Do you smell Riverclan warriors?" he murmured uneasily.
"I don't smell anything," said Nightfrost, after taking a sniff from harsh winds.
Graystripe lifted his nose and nodded in agreement. "No. Do you think there might be some here?"
"Maybe. They might want to make the most of Windclan's absence, especially since they know Windclan will be back soon," Fireheart warned.
"Well, I can't smell anything now," whispered Graystripe.
The three Thunderclan warriors padded watchfully along a frozen turf trail sheltered by heather. A fresh scent stopped them in their steps.
"Can either of you smell that?" Fireheart hissed.
"Yes," whispered Graystripe, flattening himself against the ground. "Riverclan!"
Nightfrost twitched his ears with a hiss as he flattened himself as well.
Fireheart dropped into a crouch, keeping his ears below the heather. Beside him, Graystripe lifted his dark gray head to peer over the bushes. "I can see them," he murmured. "They're hunting."
The two brothers nodded. Four Riverclan warriors were chasing a rabbit through a patch of gorse. A black tom, whom Nightfrost recognized from the gathering as Blackclaw, pounced at the rabbit and missed. The Riverclan warrior sat up again with nothing to show for the chase. The rabbit must have made it to the safety of her warren.
Fireheart, Nightfrost, and Graystripe dropped down again and pressed their bellies against the cold turf.
"They're not good rabbit hunters," Graystripe hissed scornfully. Nightfrost sensed Fireheart nodding in agreement.
I guess RiverClan is more used to catching fish," Fireheart whispered back.
Nightfrost's nose twitched as he smelled the scent of a terrified rabbit coming nearer, with the Riverclan patrol after it. The wind changed directions as Nightfrost sniffed badger scent nearby.
"They're coming this way! We'll have to hide!" Fireheart mewed, panicking.
"Follow me! I smell badger this way," mewed Nightfrost.
"Badgers? Is it safe?" questioned his brother.
"The scent is stale but strong enough to hid ours."
"You sure it is abondoned?" Graystripe asked.
"There is no new scent." Nightfrost hurried them to the badger den, leading the way quickly through the low bushes, as the Riverclan warriors came closer.
"Here!" Nightfrost shouldered aside a tuft of heather to reveal a sandy hole in the ground. "Get inside! The badger's scent will disguise ours. We can wait till they're gone."
Pawsteps thudded on the ground overhead. Each cat held their breath as the steps halted and one of the Riverclan warriors yowled, "Badger set!" From the rasping mew, Nightfrost could tell it was Blackclaw.
A second voice answered: "Is it abandoned? The rabbit may be hiding inside."
"Wait; the scent leads this way," meowed Blackclaw. There was a scrabble of paws overhead as the Riverclan warriors charged away.
Graystripe slowly let out his breath. "D'you think they're gone?"
"I don't hear any paw steps."
"Perhaps we should wait a bit longer, make sure none of them stayed behind," Fireheart suggested.
No more noises came from outside. Nightfrost nudged Fireheart. "Come on," he meowed.
Fireheart and Graystripe followed Nightfrost cautiously out into the daylight. There was no sign of the Riverclan patrol. Nightfrost twisted his neck to see his little brother with his mouth wide.
"We should look for the Windclan camp," Fireheart meowed to the group. "It'll be the best place to pick up their scent."
"Okay," answered Graystripe and Nightfrost nodded.
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. "My pelt will blend better with the stone."
"Okay," Fireheart agreed with his brother nodding again. "But keep your head down."
The gray tom 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 think," Graystripe puffed, signaling with his tail. "I can see a gap in the heather."
"Let's check it out," meowed Fireheart. "It could be the camp."
"That's what I thought." Graystripe nodded. "It's probably the only place up here that's sheltered from the wind."
The trio head to the hollow and looked around, sniffing. The small warrior 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.
"I can't believe Brokenstar managed to drive WindClan out of such a well-protected place!" meowed Graystripe, rubbing his sore nose with one paw. The camp showed signs struggle, nests pulled out and the mixture of Windclan and Shadowclan scent.
"It looks like they put up a good fight," Fireheart pointed out as he looked at the damage done to the camp.
"We should be able to find their scent trail," Nightfrost muttered in a loud voice. Fireheart perked his ears and padded around the camp, sniffing. He waved his tail excitedly.
"Here! Windclan left their trail here!"
Graystripe and Nightfrost ran up to him to see a small tunnel. Nightfrost stared at it, shocked. Windclan cats must be small to go through. Nightfrost went first and went through easily. Both Fireheart and Graystripe had to struggle through the tunnel, with pieces of fur on the thorns. They ran to the edge of the moors following the trail, and see the Highstones.
"I wonder if Nightpelt is there yet," Fireheart murmured.
"Well, we don't want to find him down there!" Graystripe flicked his tail at the wide expanse of Twoleg land. "It'll be hard enough dodging Twolegs, rats, and dogs, without meeting the new ShadowClan leader as well!"
The two friends continued talking to each other in hushed voices. Nightfrost figure they did not want him to hear him and focused on the Windclan scent. 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.
"Look!" Graystripe meowed. Sun-bleached piles of prey bones lay scattered in the undergrowth. Mossy bedding had been gathered beneath the thickest patches of brambles.
"WindClan must have tried to settle here," Fireheart meowed in surprise.
"I wonder what made them leave?" asked Graystripe, sniffing the air. "The scent is old."
Nightfrost opened his mouth to scent Twolegs and dogs. They continued to follow the scent trail, onward to a thick hedge. With a bit of a struggle, they, Fireheart and Graystripe, wriggled through onto a grass verge. Beyond a narrow ditch lay a wide earth track. Graystripe and Fireheart whispered to each other in excited, hushed voices, making Nightfrost wonder what are they talking about. the warrior made sure to steer clear of the Twoleg nest, hurrying due to the strong, recent scent of dogs.
The cool breeze carried another odor to Nightfrost's nose. There was a Thunderpath nearby. Both Graystripe and Fireheart screwed up their faces. They'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.
Graystripe stopped and looked around, uncertainty showing in his eyes. But Fireheart could just make out the scent. He crept through the shadows beside the hedge until he reached a place where the hedge was less thick. "They sheltered here," Fireheart meowed.
"This was probably the first time most of them had seen the Thunderpath," Graystripe remarked as he joined Fireheart by the hedge.
Fireheart looked at his friend in surprise. "Didn't they patrol their borders?" he asked, puzzled.
"You've seen their territory—it's pretty wild and barren, and the prey's not easy to catch. I guess they never thought any of the other Clans would bother hunting there. After all, RiverClan has their river, and, in a good year, our forests are filled with prey, so no cat needs their skinny rabbits."
A monster roared past on the other side of the hedge, its night eyes glaring. The three Thunderclan warriors flinched as the wind buffeted their fur even through the wall of leaves. When the noise had faded away, they sat up cautiously and sniffed around the roots of the hedge.
"The trail seems to lead under here." Fireheart squeezed onto the grass verge that lay along the Thunderpath. Graystripe scrabbled through behind him. Nightfrost easily slip though.
But on the other side of the hedge the scent trail stopped abruptly.
"They must have either doubled back or crossed the Thunderpath," Fireheart meowed. "You look around here, and I'll check out the other side."
"Well then, I guess I be staying here to look for the scent then," Nightfrost commented.
The young warriors nodded and hurried off to either side while he stayed behind, his nose consistently twitching.
"Here! Windclan scent is over here!"
The two warriors hurried over to Fireheart's side.
"Have you found it?" puffed Graystripe.
"Not sure. I got a whiff, but I can't pinpoint it." Fireheart pushed his way through the hedge, Graystripe and Fireheart right behind him. He lifted his nose toward the open field ahead of them. "Have you any idea what's over there?"
"No," replied Graystripe. "I shouldn't think any Clan cat has ever been this far before."
"Except WindClan," muttered Fireheart darkly. Away from the confusing fumes of the Thunderpath, the trail was suddenly clear. WindClan had definitely come this way. The three cats struck out through the long grass, straight across the field.
"Fireheart! Nightfrost!" Graystripe sounded alarmed.
"What is it?" "Hmm?"
"Look!"
Nightfrost stopped and lifted his head. He saw a Thunderpath ahead of them arching high into the air on massive stone legs, illuminated by the eyes of the monsters that moved along it. Another Thunderpath ran below, veering off into the darkness.
Graystripe nodded toward a tall thistle. "And smell this!"
Nightfrost inhaled the scent, used to the scent of the Thunderpath back when he was rogue. It was a fresh WindClan marker!
"They must have settled somewhere near here!" Graystripe murmured in disbelief.
The cats looked at each other and silently moved on to the Thunderpaths.
Graystripe spoke at last. "Why would WindClan come to a place like this?"
"Brokenstar won't be likely to follow them here. It's dangerous with the Thunderpaths and far," Nightfrost replied. Fireheart remained quiet.
"What is bugging you, Fireheart?" questioned Graystripe.
"If WindClan is hiding so near the Thunderpaths," Fireheart meowed slowly, "they must be fairly desperate not to be found. They're more likely to trust us if we arrive in daylight than if we creep up on them in darkness."
"That is a good choice, Fireheart," Nightfrost complimented. It was true. If they came at night, Windclan might try to rip them to shreds, but in the day, they would be easily seen even when they are far from Windclan.
"Does that mean we can rest?" asked Graystripe, sitting down heavily.
"We can until it's light," Nightfrost replied.
"Is anyone hungry?" asked Fireheart. The other two toms shook their heads, not hungry.
"I'm not hungry either. I don't know if it's those herbs or because the stench from the Thunderpath is making me feel sick."
"Where shall we sleep?" Graystripe looked around. Both brothers look around them to see the same burrow and pointed it out with their tail. They look at each other surprised.
"Siblings really do similar things at the same time," mewed Graystripe laughing," But its too small to be a rabbit hole. Maybe it's a badger den?"
"We should take a look." Nightfrost flicked his tail at Fireheart, and padded into the burrow cautiously. The walls were too smooth for a badger set and were made of stone. A breeze flowed through between his whiskers, bringing no scent with it.
"Is it empty?" Graystripe's voice echoed from the walls.
"It smells like it," Nightfrost mewed, poking his head out. He lets Graystripe to lead them into the tunnel. A monster roared above, startling the cats. Soon, they settled down for the night.
Nightfrost blinked and twitch at the sound of a monster roaring above them. He yawned and nudged at Fireheart and Graystripe. Both friends wake up and washed themselves.
"We should continue down the tunnel." Both toms followed followed the orange cat to two Twolegs sleeping near a fire. They hid in the bushes. Shadows of cats padded in front of the fire, Windclan scent drifting off them. Graystripe was about to call out to them when Fireheart put his tail to his friend's muzzle.
"We should talk to Tallstar," Nightfrost mewed.
"Do you think it is Windclan?" questioned Graystripe. Fireheart nodded. "It's their marker."
"So we found them," meowed the gray tom, getting up. Nightfrost turned to him.
"Graystripe, we do not want to startle them. If we do, the cats will scatter and we will have to look for them again." The gray tom stopped, obeying him.
A twoleg wakes up and shouted, startling the cats anyway and Windclan scattered. The other Twolegs wakes and does the same. Two pelts, orange and grey, ran after them. Nigthfrost was about to shout at them before running after them. A Twoleg had already stood and was about to grab him. He pretended to jump and skid below the large paws and the other Twoleg threw something next to him. He reached to the younger toms.
"Fireheart, Greystripe, next time don't run out like that! What if someone got hurt or worse, caught?!" Nightfrost almost snapped at them. Both toms lower their heads.
"We're sorry. But we don't want to lose Windclan," mewed Fireheart.
"If we did lose Windclan, we can find them again easily since they were so near. We could have waited until the Twolegs settle down and follow where we had seen Windclan scattered to," Nightfrost said, sighing. "So where did they go?"
Fireheart pointed to another tunnel. Nightfrost nodded.
"Let's go into the tunnel carefully. Windclan will think of us as enemies."
"But we're here to help them," mewed Graystripe.
"They would think we are with Brokenstar even if we do not have Shadowclan scent. Did you not see how thin they are? A hungry cat will not be able to think properly," reasoned Nigthfrost. Greystripe blinked, before nodding. The three toms padded into the tunnels and approach the Windclan cats huddled together, sickness and crowfood whiff to their noses, causing them to cling. A monster roared overhead, making the walls rumbled and them jumping. When Fireheart step forward a bit, sunlight made his pelt brighter then it should be, alarming a grey tom.
The tom yowled to the group, causing the warriors to form a wall between them and Windclan. They bared their teeth and unstealthed their claws, despite being so thin, it was clear that they will fight them.