Life 2:2

Feel free to start asking another round of questions. This time, I'm focusing upon the past and traditions of Windclan and how they drifted and changed over time. Participants to this Q and A will be Fireheart, Graystripe, Deadfoot, and Tallstar. Please ask questions that any of these four might ask.

Tallstar followed the strange apprentice as they traversed the plains. Every once and a while, Snakepaw would stick their head into what would look like a rabbit burrow, usually just shake their head, and move on. It was after the fifth of these burrows did the apprentice pull free with a smile.

"I found one!" The apprentice exclaimed excitedly before pushing back into the burrow and beginning to dig.

Tallstar had to dodge some of the clumps of dirt sent flying out of the burrow, now noting that the burrow was far larger than what a hare really needed. After a bit more scuffling, Snakepaw disappeared into the burrow. Tallstar watched silently, curious as to what was going to happen. Finally, he heard a familiar sound. It was a hare screeching in panic. Another followed, and another. Slowly, each hare was muted as a small cracking sound echoed out the burrow. After a moment longer, Snakepaw came crawling out of the burrow backwards, clearly dragging something. With him came a decently sized hare.

"Here's one. I got two more in there. There's also some leverets in there, pretty close to adulthood. I got one of them, but the rest got out through the back exit. Shame I didn't find that earlier." Snakepaw stated matter of factly.

"Did you really just invade a hare burrow?" Tallstar queried, intrigued as well as hopeful for what this meant.

"Nah. This is one of the old Wanderer tunnels. That's what I was looking for when I put my head in. Wanderers tended to make these fake hare burrows since hare's can be lazy and instead stake a claim on an existing burrow. The hare doesn't realize the entrance is a bit too big, big enough to fit a cat. The burrow still works against foxes and badgers, so they never realize. By the way, think you can help me get the other three? I'm still running on kit strength right now." Snakepaw answered.

"I don't know. Windclan abandoned digging because of all the cave ins." Tallstar carefully replied.

"Don't worry. Old tunnels are never actually too deep. They're also really sturdy. I only had to dig into it because dirt tends to accumulate near the mouth of these things. Trust me." Snakepaw rebutted.

Finally, after a moment, Tallstar decided to chance it, slinking near flat and having to dig a bit to get through the entrance. Once he got through, the tunnel expanded. Tallstar, being a quite tall cat, couldn't stand at his full height, but for most Windclan cats, this would be a snug fit. It was from the filtered light of the entrance did Tallstar spy something he'd seen before. It was that same mark he saw at the underpass that he and Snakepaw had traced. This one had far less depth to it and likely had only seen a couple visitors. Regardless, Tallstar traced it, feeling that familiar hum of unity and tradition like the last one had provided. This one was admittedly more muted than the other one had had, but it was still something of power. After finishing his trace, Tallstar followed Snakepaw even further, now seeing the hare burrow proper. There were some expanded chambers from the hares, but none were all that deep. There were three freshly killed hares still lying inside. Tallstar managed to get a grip on two of them while Snakepaw followed with the leveret. For Tallstar, it was quite hard making an exit to the tunnel, having to initially back off so Snakepaw could expand the entrance for him. Finally, he pulled free, laying the two with the one from earlier. Looking down on the pile, Tallstar realized how much food this really was. This was enough to feed his clan, no, to allow his clan a feast. His eyes actually teared up at the sight. They wouldn't need to sleep on empty stomachs tonight. Silently, Tallstar sent a grateful prayer to Starclan, thanking them for allowing him a good hunt and providing someone who could aid them in their time of need.

The duo returned to Windclan's refugee camp, their steps proud. The only reason they weren't prancing was the sheer weight of all the prey they were bringing back. Tallstar entered first, carrying three of the pieces of prey. Snakepaw followed him with the last. Every cat of the clan looked upon the display with shock.

"Tallstar, how is this possible?" Deadfoot mewed, assessing the pile of prey for any kind of illness or rot. Not like they could actually reject the food, but this prey was fresh, as in killed within the day. It seemed impossible to the deputy. Even on their own home territory, no hunting patrol of two cats came back with four hares. This just didn't make any sense.

"Well, I had some help from a certain kit. Snakepaw here decided to apprentice himself to me and dragged me out to try and drag some hares out of their own burrows. There are some other extenuating circumstances, but that is the gist of the story. As you can tell, it worked out." Tallstar answered.

"There's power here. Give me a couple heartbeats, and I'll be ready. If you want to tell Deadfoot the whole truth, I'll make sure he doesn't forget." Snakepaw stated.

What felt like a cool breeze came drifting out of the underpass, which should have been impossible given that it was little more than a cave. The scent of wind, dirt, and cat freely flowed around them. It smelled like Windclan, but it also smelled old. At the edge of their hearing, Tallstar and Deadfoot could make out the sounds of whispers surrounding them. These weren't aggressive whispers. Instead, it felt like some unseen cats were gossiping around them.

"What's going on?" Deadfoot asked warily, looking back and forth for the source of these sensations. Despite their nature being comforting, Deadfoot feared how they just crept up on him and seemed to have no bearing on the physical world.

"Calm down. It's just that the old spirits are excited to see us. They haven't had any visitors for a long time. You could call it Starclan, but that's only half true. Some cats decide to hang around the living world. To them, it's a much more personal way to watch the world than how Starclan watches from above." Snakepaw explained.

"How do you know all this?" Deadfoot asked towards the strange kit.

"Because I woke them up. They'd been sleeping, and I need their help to explain things to you. Without them, you'd just forget what I and Tallstar are going to say." Snakepaw answered.

"Tallstar. This is freaking me out. Please explain what is going on." Deadfoot begged, looking away from the kit.

"This is kind of difficult to wrap one's head around, but Snakepaw here is somewhat of an anomaly. He doesn't die like normal cats. Instead, he is reborn into another life whenever he dies. He's been around longer than even the clans. The only reason we were able to hunt so well was because Snakepaw here called upon some of Windclan's old traditions that have been long abandoned. After seeing all this myself, I may need to reevaluate Windclan's change away from having any cats that know how to dig a tunnel. Either way, this has turned out to be a major boon to us. We may also have the chance to learn about some history to Windclan long forgotten. Above all, I believe Starclan sent him to help us during our time of need. Tonight, we get to finally put our hunger to rest. Tomorrow, we'll see if we can get a good haul again. Once things have calmed down, I promise you that Snakepaw and I will answer as many questions of yours as we can. I've got a few as well." Tallstar answered, finally calming Deadfoot.

"Alright. If you think that's for the best. I'll let this go. I'll arrange for the coming feast seeing as you two had a great hunt." Deadfoot answered, returning to the refugee camp.