Life 2:1

Snakekit awakened to hear the rumble of a monster passing overhead. 'Strange,' he thought, 'I didn't think I was due for a pop out cycle yet.' Snakepaw stretched himself out, feeling for any tension or other reminders of his previous life. He sucked in a deep breath as he stretched himself out, noting that his ribs felt a bit tender like he'd taken a hard fall. Thankfully for him, the feeling was dull. If Snakekit had died by his broken ribs in his previous life, he might have come back with cracked ribs instead of just bruised ones.

Finally accustomed to his body, Snakekit looked around him, finally seeing the gaunt bodies of cats who'd been on the run for far too long. They looked so tired and resigned. He recognized the scent too. It was Windclan. Never before had he seen a clan so beaten down, so accepting of their terrible state. It ached Snakekit's heart to look at.

It was just then a hunting patrol returned with Tallstar at its head. The fruits of their efforts were a measly hare and stringy old bird. Every cat looked upon the food with intense hunger, but they withheld themselves, knowing this would have to get them through the day. At least the pride of the clan remained, even if it was starting to chip at the seams.

It was fortunate that Snakekit managed to reincarnate to them at this time. Due to his extremely long and often ridiculous life, Snakekit had survived as a rogue many times in similar locations. In fact, Snakekit noticed dome very distinctive scratch marks on the walls of their refugee domicile. Snakekit would recognize that mark anywhere. It was the old symbol for a Wandering. If a Wandering happened here, then there was likely a collection of useful old tunnels dug out by cats of old. Wandering tunnels also tended to come with prey traps, small offshoots of the main tunnel that were easy to dig out and opportunistic critters would build a home in.

Tallstar noticed the strange kit that hadn't been here yesterday. The kit seemed to be fussing with a strange set of scratch marks on the wall, going back over them and tracing the pattern. It was an odd sight to see, so Tallstar trotted over to investigate.

"These scratch marks interest you?" Tallstar queried to the kit who Tallstar now felt the most eerie sense of familiarity about.

"This is the mark of a Wandering. Similar to how other clans have their spiritual journey to the Moonstone, Windclan used to have the Wandering. A pair of apprentices would be sent off for a moon to wander and see the wider world before returning. There were even competitions to see who would get out the furthest. The Wanderers would dig tunnels and such to facilitate the ability for the next set of Wanderers to get even further. Wanderers left marks like this on all their works. You can see it in the ground here that this refuge was expanded by cat paws. It is considered good luck to retrace a Wanderer's mark. This one has been traced many times, so it must be one commonly seen." Snakepaw lectured.

Tallstar looked upon the mark, now somewhat mystified at its history. As he looked closer, he noticed how it really wasn't just one set of scratch marks. It was instead layer after layer of overlapping scratch marks. The most recent of which were a tiny set of kit claw marks, belonging to the strange kit who'd just told him some forgotten history. Slowly, Tallstar reached out to touch the mark, feeling a small amount of energy like this place had some small connection to Starclan. Tallstar extended his claws, feeling them fit into the grooves previous ancient paws had made. He looked to the kit questioningly, who responded with a nod. Tallstar traced the odd pattern, feeling an odd wave of nostalgia, curiosity, and above all, a sense of unity. This mark felt like the combined work of many lifetimes of cats, all working towards the same goal, to push out a little further, to see a little more.

Finally pulling his paw away, Tallstar really took in the kit, feeling a sense of recognition at the kit's leopard spotted coat and sharp, almost snake like green eyes. "You?" Tallstar sputtered out, finally fully remembering the kit, or rather the apprentice from so long ago.

"It's been a long time Talltail. Forgive me, Tallstar. You've really come into your own, haven't you?" Snakekit answered.

"I thought you were just pulling my tail all those years ago. You really do come back. As happy as I am to see you again, you've come at a bad time. We aren't catching enough prey, and now we've got one more muzzle to feed." Tallstar stated, wincing a bit at his own rejection of Snakekit's presence.

"If any time were the perfect time for me to appear, I'd say right now is one of them. I've been out this ways many times, and I know all the good hunting spots of old around here. If you'd let me, I think I can help with this food problem. By the way, did you feel a whisper from Starclan this morning?" Snakekit answered.

Tallstar's thin pelt puffed up slightly at the question. 'How did Snakekit know that?' He thought. Seeing how Snakekit looked up at him expectantly, like he'd done this before, Tallstar let his fur flatten. "Well, yes. All they said was my name." Tallstar answered.

Snakektit stood suddenly with a kittish smile. "Looks like I'm your apprentice this time around. Starclan always picks for me to help the cat that needs me most, and it looks like you are it."

Snakekit then unexpectedly began to pad out of their hideout, waving his tail to gesture Tallstar to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Tallstar exasperatedly mewed, somehow already knowing Snakekit, or rather the self-apprenticing Snakepaw, would simultaneously be one of the biggest boons and troublemakers of the clan.

"Hunting!" Snakepaw cheerfully mewed, flicking a smile back Tallstar's way. "There's likely some other Wander tunnels around here with some prey traps. I bet since it's been so long since someone's used them, the traps may even have turned into some rabbit warrens. I promise you that we won't come back empty pawed."

Tallstar followed the strange apprentice, holding out hope that the strange cat's promise held true and that Windclan would finally know peace from the hunger imposed by their exodus of their old territory.