Chapter 34: Lost In the Wind

After gearing up with herbs to suppress our hunger, and Yellowfang forcibly tying my tail with an assortment of herbs, we set off. As the camp entrance drew closer as we made to leave, I could feel a faint tugging within myself. Something in me didn't want to go, but I was dutybound to fulfill our mission.

Graystripe's and Fireheart's playful banter kept the silence at bay. I turned to the side to speak, to see nothing. My eyes faintly searched for a familiar black tom, but he wasn't here. My brain knew that, but I felt a deep want for him to be here. I turned back to the two, suppressing the feeling again. My ears must have sunk back because Fireheart seemed to have noticed my foul mood.

"What's wrong Smudge?" He asked with concern.

"It's nothing. Just not used to being away from Ravenfeather." I mewed, trying to keep as monotone as possible.

Fireheart turned to Graystripe and whispered to him for a bit before they fell back to keep me between themselves.

Fireheart broke the now tense silence. "You know, I don't think you and Graystripe ever really took the time to get to know each other. Now's as good of a time as any."

Graystripe spoke next, seemingly vying for my attention. "Yeah. Fireheart has told me lots about you, but we've never really spoken all that often. You get along with Dustpaw and Darkstripe. What are they like?"

I briefly pondered on my answer before speaking. "Dustpaw… He's diligent. I'll give him that. He works hard and learns fast, but he's too focused on being like his idol. He wants to be like Tigerclaw, big, strong, a bruiser, but he can't. His body just isn't built for that. After I gave him some tough love, beating him into the dirt in the style he wanted to be, Ravenfeather managed to convince him to work for something more attainable. I feel a little bad for humiliating him that way and never really apologized." I mewed, adding slightly to the somber mood.

"How about Darkstripe? You haven't told us about him yet. What is my elder brother like?" asked Graystripe, trying to keep the mood from falling further.

"He's a genius, at least at teaching. Darkstripe can just tell the kind of encouragement and adjustments a cat needs to better their skills. You wouldn't think it, but he's the best teacher in the clan. His only real problem is that he's weak to peer pressure. He gets caught up in the moment and sometimes pushes more than is acceptable. On top of that, if reinforced, his mindset just snowballs." I answered.

"Snowballs?" Fireheart responded.

"You know. Like when you push around a bit of snow. It rolls up into a ball. The more you push it, the bigger it gets. Darkstripe is like that. He gets an idea in his head and it builds up. Eventually, it just reaches a point where it cannot be undone. If I wasn't so close to him, I think he'd have developed some kind of pathological hatred of all things kittypet." I mewed.

"Why'd he do that?" Fireheart asked.

"You two don't exactly make it easy for him. You're outspoken." I said gesturing to Fireheart. "And you're a cat who likes to screw around." I mewed as I gestured to Graystripe.

"Honestly, you two are the biggest trouble makers in the clan, for now. I may not like Sandpaw, but you two also make fun of Dustpaw and Sandpaw pretty consistently. Darkstripe gets his sense of order from Tigerclaw, so you two tend to rub his fur the wrong way." I stated.

We didn't have any more time to chat because we were coming up upon the former Windclan border. We briefly spied from the border line to see if any cats were in the area. Thankfully the wind was coming our direction and we caught no scents. We crossed in silence. The tall grass swept in the wind. The land was flat. We could see a fair distance, but that also meant cover was sparse. We were almost to the theoretical Windclan camp when Fireheart caught the scent of Riverclan.

"Riverclan! I think I see four! They're after a rabbit." Fireheart whispered urgently.

"Over here! There's a badger set! We can hide in there?" Graystripe signaled.

"But what if there's a badger?" Fireheart mewed quickly.

"We'll have to risk it. Besides, scent's old." Graystripe responded.

With that, all three of us clambered into the hole, me pressed into the back since the herbs I carried were scentable. As we waited in silence, we heard the Riverclan patrol come running our direction. They likely hadn't spotted us, which was confirmed by the warrior speaking above the hole. Our anxiety rose as the warrior suggested the rabbit hid in the badger set. He briefly tried reaching inside before another called out that they spotted the rabbit. Then, their chase was back on, abandoning us to our silence. We waited likely five minutes before Graystripe and Fireheart worked up the nerve to peek out.

"They're gone. We're clear." Fireheart mewed.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. We emerged back out onto the plains, dusty but not any worse for wear. Fireheart took the lead as we traversed deeper into the territory. Then we found it, a wall of snagging brush was congregated around a narrow entrance. The entrance tugged and pulled at my pelt as we made our way in. What waited inside was definitely once a camp. All the major locations and dens were there, but each was tattered in ways only a full-blown battle could cause. What were the dens had large holes scratched into them where Shadowclan tried to force their way in. Scraps of moss and fur seemed to cling to any snagging point on those dens. The rest congregated against the west wall, likely where the wind had blown it.

Thankfully, there were no bodies. Either Windclan got lucky, or more unlikely, Brokenstar had enough conscience to at least bury the dead. From what I could spot, there wasn't a ton of blood. Not enough to for a cat to die at least. Maybe a kit or two could have.

That thought froze me for a second. A kit or two could have. Shadowclan had been using kits as warriors. Windclan's morale would have crumbled after accidentally killing a few kits. That's what likely drove Windclan out, not what Shadowclan could do to them, but what they'd have to do to keep what they had. I could almost picture it, Shadowclan streaming into the camp. Each of them fighting like rogues, but the kit warriors being the front lines. It would only take a couple, a poorly placed swipe, a slightly to aggressive warrior, and suddenly a kit or two are dead. Windclan, witnessing what they've done, flees in guilt and to try and keep more kits from dying. I could almost hear the yowls of victory mixed with the howls of grief from the mothers who lost their kits to get just a chunk of land.

While Fireheart and Graystipe looked for where Windclan went, I searched the former medicine den. Most of it was useless or I didn't know the applicability, but I scavenged up what I could and wrapped it with cobwebs to my tail that still held Thunderclan's herbs. It made my tail stiff and heavy, but it was out of the way and wasn't likely to get knocked off by vigorous activity.

"You got enough herbs there Marigoldtail?" Graystripe teased.

"I just thought Windclan could probably use them when we find them. With them on my tail, I can still hunt and fight if necessary." I replied factually.

"Least if I get hurt, Smudgefoot the Marigoldtail will patch me up." Graystripe teased again.

"Nah. I'll patch you up just enough for you to survive, but I'll make sure it's itchy and bugs you when you sleep." I snarked back, catching my fellow warrior by surprise.

"Since when could Smudgefoot joke?" Graystipe asked Fireheart.

"Oh. He jokes a lot. His humor is just a bit darker than most."