Chapter 36: Windswept Underpass
With the dawning light, I woke beside my still sleeping companions. Fireheart and Graystripe were never early risers, but, to their misfortune, I was. I pondered what method I'd enjoy most. Should I startle them, wake them softly, embarrass them? I had a wide degree of options. I decided to pull a classic, at least a human classic. I made my front two paws good and wet before sticking them in the pair's ears. Both rose, startled.
"Ew! What was that! It felt gross!" Shrieked Graystripe.
Meanwhile Fireheart frantically groomed his ear in an attempt to remove whatever I stuck in there. I couldn't suppress my laugh. Pulling this simple prank was alleviating in many ways. It made this mission feel less like one of the due or die missions of my past, and it helped relieve the anxiety created from missing my other friend.
"That" I paused for effect. "was a wet willy. Nothing grosser than getting something wet in your ears."
After Graystripe finished cleaning his own ears he decided to ask, "why didn't you teach us that before? We could have gotten Sandpaw and Dustpaw good."
"Because you two are merciless in your pranks. This is something you do to a friend because they'll forgive you. You don't do this to someone you don't like. It's a good way to make them like you less." I responded, letting my tone drop to something more serious and cold.
After stretching ourselves out, Fireheart and Graystripe got to tracking again. Unfortunately, the nearby highway had an on ramp, meaning more vehicles were passing, stirring up the air. We could definitely smell Windclan, but the stench of gas fumes and moving air made it difficult to pinpoint. Thankfully, some of Adi's documentaries came in handy for me. While wind moves, soil does less so. With feline eyes, spotting old cat tracks was much easier. Funnily enough, the tracks I found had a pronounced limp based on the gait. Also, one paw seemed to scrape instead of step. Regardless, I led the patrol from there, following the trail.
I could hear some humans talking nearby. The way their words seemed to drift from one to another in a slurred fashion heavily implied the humans were drunk. The soft orange glow of a fire could be seen from afar. Despite clan cats being naturally afraid of humans, the smell of Windclan intensified. They were close. We finally spotted the human camp, which was barely even a camp. Two scruffy men that stank of sweat and booze sat by their crude fire. Their clothes were torn and faded from use. They were clearly homeless, which made them all the more dangerous. Depending on how hungry they were, I could imagine them killing a cat for some meat. I'd seen it happen before. Those two were too dangerous for Fireheart and Graystripe. I stopped the pair before we got any closer.
"Listen to me very closely. Those two twolegs are extremely dangerous. We don't want to be spotted by them at all. Those ragged pelts on them and the stink they're giving off mean they could be very hungry. I wouldn't put it past them to try and eat a cat. Thankfully, they're slow. Just watch out for anything thrown. Twolegs are really good at throwing things accurately." I lectured.
With that, we approached with caution. We weren't the only cats in the area. Apparently these bums were a bit more prepared for life out here than I thought because they at least had a pack of hotdogs. The foreign cat seemed to have been moving in on the pack, but, unfortunately for him, the humans had enough sense to notice something going after their food. They leapt to their feet yelling something incomprehensible, startling the cat. The cat bolted with two more appearing and fleeing in the process. I got lucky that Fireheart took my warning to heart and did not follow them. Graystripe, I had to restrain. He calmed himself quickly, but it could have ended poorly.
After a couple moments, the humans settled back down, allowing us to skirt the camp and track the three foreign cats, now confirmed to be Windclan in origin, the way they fled. The visible increase of displaced soft soil made it obvious we were approaching their camp. It was time to meet Windclan.
Windclan had settled down under a rarely used off ramp pointing out into unknown territories. There wasn't a vehicle passing overhead very often, likely one every ten minutes. It was the calmest place to hide here. We approached from upwind so Windclan could catch our scent as we approached. We padded to the mouth of their hidden camp and sat, letting them come to us.
"Thunderclan. I expected Shadowclan." Spoke a voice that sounded somewhat middle aged.
With it emerged a lanky black and white tom with a notably long tail. Beside him stood the cat who accidentally made the trail here. His left front foot was twisted over, making obvious why that step always scuffed instead of truly stepped. I could barely see him in the darkness with his black fur.
I let Fireheart speak first since he's the most diplomatic of us three. "Greetings Windclan. We're representatives of Thunderclan. We've come to have you take back the moors."
"We cannot return while Brokenstar is in power." Replied the lead tom.
"Brokenstar has been driven from Shadowclan and no longer holds influence there." I replied factually.
"I see⦠So it is safe to return?" Asked the lead cat.
"At the last gathering, Shadowclan, Thunderclan, and Riverclan agreed to not impede your return. They will let you take your territory back, provided that you do decide to return at all." I stated.
The lead tom and his deputy seemed to catch my implication. The other two clans did not want Windclan's return, but they did not have the means to stop their return given Thunderclan's backing. Instead they played word games to absolve themselves of duty and still appear to be in lines with the code and seem morally good. Politics at its finest.
"Very well. Windclan! We have gotten news that it is time to take back what is ours. Today we will begin the journey back to our home." The leader announced.
From the cave came cheers as hope spread through the cats who'd been trapped here for about a bit longer than three moons.
"I am Tallstar of Windclan and this is my deputy Deadfoot. Tell me, what are your names Thunderclan warriors?"
Starting with Fireheart, then me, then Graystripe, we all introduced ourselves. While Deadfoot, Graystripe, and Fireheart began organizing cats for the trip ahead, Tallstar signaled me over. I managed to drop off the bundle of herbs still tied to my tail before joining him.
"You've told me officially what happened. Something tells me that isn't everything." Tallstar stated.
This cat was clever. He caught on to my wit. I decided to reward him with a bit of additional information.
"True. That isn't everything. Brokenstar wasn't just driven out by Shadowclan. A Thunderclan raid to retrieve some stolen kits facilitated the coup. Since the coup wasn't Shadowclan in origin, Nightpelt, probably Nightstar by now, is going to want to establish himself. He's going to want an easy win to prove he's the right choice for Shadowclan's leader. He's probably going to press your borders since you are currently the weakest clan. My suggestion would be to humor him. Press his borders first so he can get a win in. Then play defensive. You can't appear weak either." I mewed.
Tallstar nodded sagely. "I'll consider your suggestion."
It was time to return.
