Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. Now on with the show~
The wind was constant here. That was the first thought he had when he wandered towards this place. His paws twitched at the seemingly never ending tug the wind gave to his fur. He had to narrow his eyes at times in order to have a hope of seeing where he was going but at the same time...such a thing made his heart soar, if only for a moment. Just for a moment.
His paws were bloody and sore. He had lost track of the days where it was just him and his nightmares. His pelt was ragged and torn, his eyes dull and lifeless. He didn't know why he kept going but at the same time, he knew he couldn't just lay down and die. But it was still hard, even harder than putting one paw in front of the other. Even though the wind was here, he was still just one cat. He missed the others. He wished that he had been stronger.
The day wore on, the tom limped on his aimless journey, no destination in mind. Even if he knew where he was going, he wouldn't be able to find it in himself to care. While stumbling through a hilltop, his paw slipped and he went rolling, rolling, rolling down hill. His frail body bounced hard against the rocks covering the hill and more than once, he cracked his head on the hard dirt.
He finally came to a stop, though the world kept on spinning. That went on much longer than he liked. Eventually, the battered tom eased himself up on his fore paws, slipping and grunting in pain. He felt something warm and sticky ooze from his body and with a pained snort knew that he was bleeding. Closing his eyes, the tom slowed his breathing. His body ached from the fall, he wasn't sure but maybe there was more damage than just one cut he suffered. But even with the pain washing over him more and more, he couldn't make himself open his eyes. He laid there, still as stone as the day went on and the sun slowly slipped beneath the trees.
He hadn't realized he fell asleep, the ground was cooler, the wind eased into a gentle breeze and he was very much in pain and very hungry. The hunger made him open his eyes, he picked up his head, looking about. The whole area was covered in darkness, but such things did not matter to him, he could see in the dark after all. He tried to get to his paws, but his legs trembled and soon buckled under him, causing him to fall with a groan. He tried once more, but this time, his body barely moved. With a sigh and a wince from his growling belly, the male tried to settle as well as he could and sleep fitfully for the rest of the night.
When he awoke at dawn, his hurts were down to a low throb though he was still very hungry. He looked around again, taking better stock of his surroundings. Grassland covered most of the area, along with rough patches of hard packed soil. He could smell numerous grazing grounds filled with seeds and flowers for land prey, and birdsong filled the air in the trees nearby. The tom could even smell a pond nearby that held fish. There was enough prey here that could feed a lone cat like him for the rest of his days!
Snorting, the wounded tom forced himself to his feet, managing with a grin to stay upright. He took it slow, one paw in front of the other until he was able to walk away from his meager nest. As he did so, he took in more and more of the area he was in, more for prey searching than for any other reason.
He soon realized how isolated it was, other than prey, he could smell nothing else. His thoughts soon turned to the hunt when a plump pigeon landed a few yards in front of him. The ragged cat narrowed his eyes and crouched down, quickly and skillfully getting within range before pouncing, killing the bird with little effort. At first, the tom picked up his head to scan the area, not wanting to lose his catch. But even with blood in the air, he remained alone.
Feeling secure, he began to eat. Tasting fresh blood on his tongue after so long without eating made the tom tremble, his tail whipping behind him in sheer bliss. He spent more time simply chewing and licking the blood from the bird than actually eating it before his belly finally rumbled loud enough for him to eat.
Once his meal was finished, he laid down, pushing the bones away from him and taking a deep breath, allowing his body to wind down and ease the aches he still felt. There wasn't much for him to do but rest and he decided that to be the best course of action.
When he woke up later in the day, the sun was directly overhead. Taking in scent, he realized no one had come across him and the cat smirked grimly to himself. To be alone, with nothing but the wind, it suited him just fine. He knew he didn't even deserve to have the wind singing in his ears but he was grateful for that. After everything he that had witnessed and done, to be alone was his own punishment that he would bear.
Deciding to explore this new place, the male took to wandering, far into the night. He soon realized just how isolated this place was as the moon rose and his body forced him to rest. The whole time he wandered, aside from prey, there was not a soul around. As he knew it earlier, there was only the wind.
But such isolation didn't bother him, he rather enjoyed it. No one to take care of, no one to worry over. His own hurts were all his attention was tied too, and the only belly he had to fill was his own. Stopping by the pond he smelled earlier to drink, the male looked at the fish swimming around and tilted his head. He never had fish before and with a slight grin, his paw flashed forward and by some luck, managed to hook the fish before it was able to wriggle free.
The male stared at it before snorting softly, a tiny smile on his face before he sat up and moved on. While it was interesting that he managed to hook the fish, hopefully it would be a while before he had to resort to this kind of prey. The lone cat continued to walk, taking stock more and more of his surroundings. The long grass eventually began to thin before it become a soil filled field with only patches of grass here and there. The wind picked up even more, it brought the tiniest scent of other cat to him, making the male narrow his eyes.
How long would he have to travel before he would happen upon another cat? He hoped it would be a long, long way. He didn't want to deal with anyone. He turned his back from the smell, going the way he came and finding his nest then fixing it up to be proper bedding for him.
All the walking made his body ache and the male sighed, deciding that it was best for him to recover for the rest of the day than do anything else. At least the hill provided good cover from the sun, at least he wouldn't burn, the male thought with a slight snort.
The day soon wore on and the lonely male was soon awakened by something that he was unfortunately very familiar with, hunger.
But not just any hunger. The hunger for cat flesh. Baring his fangs, the male stood, his legs shaking but taking his weight. Nodding to himself, the male then set out, hoping to find something to sate his hunger.
He had ended up walking for hours, and coming up with nothing. His earlier hopes of remaining alone were now biting him in the tail and the male growled to himself, his claws scraping deep into the ground. The day was easing into night now and the coming dark, the male continued his search. He passed by the small pond and crossed into the soil field. Here the wind once again brought him the scent of cat, normal cat, he realized with a slight grin.
Despite his body aching somewhat still, the demon put in a burst of speed, as he did so, he felt the wind seeming to curl around him and push him forward. In only a small amount of time, he nearing the end of the field, the tom slowed to take stock of these area. The smell of cat was getting stronger. Hopefully, he would be able to catch it and have a worthwhile meal.
He went on, walking this time but still feeling the wind on his fur. The grass soon ended, turning into a hard packed dirt path. The demon bent down to sniff the ground, trying to see if there was a track to follow when his ears perked up, picking up a muffled sound.
Several paces in front of him, a small mass flickered, moving until he could make out the head of a cat. A molly. His heart quickened for a moment and he gritted his teeth, the trill of the coming hunt washing over him. The cat turned her head towards him but it didn't move, instead her tail simply whipped side to side as her gaze stayed on the male.
The demon narrowed his own eyes before sliding his claws out, deciding to just make his move. It didn't take much effort to reach the cat but other than inclining her head to him, the other did nothing. Not until she felt claws digging into her skin.
Letting out a thin wail as if she couldn't quite find her voice, the normal cat tried scratching at the demon and though the blows landed, the male felt nothing. Hissing softly, the male clamped his jaws around the other cat's muzzle, twisting it cruelly at a certain angle that soon had bones breaking. He could feel the bones cracking and splintering against his own mouth and the feeling ran through him.
The poor cat screeched softly in pain, trying feebly to continue clawing at the demon, before the demon's claws ripped at her throat and chest. Blood soon covered them both and the demon released his catch to lick at the oozing red tide.
Soon, he went to eating. At first it was frantic, his jaws clamping down at any piece of flesh his could get too and constantly moving about the corpse before he calmed somewhat, settling down finally to eat in peace.
As he was finishing up his meal, the wind picked up again. At first, he lifted his head to it, smiling as it weaved around him before it shifted for a moment, bringing a few scents to him. At first, he was unsure, he didn't have the energy to get himself into a frenzy and fight, so he stayed calm of course. But the wind strengthened and he knew as he drew it in that this was no mistake.
Hissing softly, the male tried to get to his paws, he couldn't stay here, and tried to leave. But the wind, once his ally, brought his sorrow as two figures started to form on the horizon before gaining shape and eventually, the demon started to recognize him.
He couldn't run, there was no time and they could just sniff him out. He didn't have the strength to fight and too late, the two were slowing down as they approached him. He crouched, his back arched and his fur spiking. Even as he growled out a warning, the two didn't stop. They were cats like him, demons, and that made him close his eyes even more. He saw them and recognized them but he only wished that they would go away.
"Deadfoot...Onewhisker..." he whispered, seeing the two toms get closer and closer.
"Tallstar? Tallstar! Please, don't run, Tallstar! We have to stay together! Please, don't leave us again!"
"I told that WindClan is dead! We can't stay together, leave me!" the demon, Tallstar, snarled. His claws were out but Deadfoot, his former deputy, didn't flinch. He only limped closer to Tallstar, resting his forehead against his leader's.
"Even if you run again, Tallstar, we will follow you. Even if WindClan is no more, we must still remain together. We are still Clan."
"No...we can't be...we hurt them. We weren't strong enough..." Tallstar growled, trying to get away from Deadfoot and Onewhisker.
"We could try to be better, Tallstar, but running won't help us. It hasn't helped you." Onewhisker spoke, moving to stand close to Tallstar who hissed but couldn't do anything.
"We can become stronger, together. Let us help you and ourselves."
Tallstar said nothing but didn't push the others away. They weren't sure how long he would stay with them but they knew that if he tried to run again, they would chase after him.
WindClan may be dead, but they still had each other.
A/N: 'Nother short one guys. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter diving a little deeper into Tallstar's mindset. The next chapter will be ShadowClan and ThunderClan meeting up and heading out to find WindClan. So until then, as always, enjoy.