Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Erin Hunter does.

The party continued on, with Morningflower once more leading them though Clawface trying to tell her to keep an easy pace for Sandspirit's sake. The pale molly knew that he was just trying to allow for her injures but after rotating her shoulders, the ThunderClan warrior spoke up.

"I'm fine, I can keep going at the same pace as the rest Clawface. I won't slow any of you down." The group all nodded to this before moving on. The group walked from Barley's farm until they reached the shadow of Highstones. Clawface lingered here for a moment, looking towards the direction of Mothermouth.

"I wonder if Brother has made it here yet. I just know that he will receive his nine lives, ShadowClan will be restored to a proper Clan with him in charge." The burly tom purred as he spoke about his brother, knowing, in his mind, that Nightpelt will set his Clan on the road to redemption.

Heartseeker was the one to nudge the darker tom, nodding her head to Morningflower and Sandspirit. "While it's nice that you have faith in your brother, we must focus on the task at hand. Come."

Clawface took a moment longer to stare at Mothermouth before following after Heartseeker, seeing the sense in her words. He knew that he would have a happy reunion with his brother once they came back.

After that, the party went on, Morningflower leading them further and further away. After a while, they came upon a Thunderpath and the group fanning out and sniffing around with Clawface calling out that he found stale WindClan scent.

He looked to Morningflower, who nodded, pointing with her nose before explaining. "We passed the Thunderpath and moved further on. The place...the place where we disbanded was by tangle of Thunderpaths. One even rose into the sky."

"A Thunderpath in the sky?" Clawface repeated, sounding as if he was having trouble believing her. Sandspirit tilted her head too but before Morningflower could say more, Heartseeker stepped forward.

"I've seen the Sky Thunderpaths too. They seem to fill the air with more of their noise and the smoke they spew seems worse the higher up they are. They are just as bad as the ones on the ground, even if they are in the sky. We should be just as wary of them as the normal Thunderpaths."
Morningflower shot her a grateful look before turning the hard road, huffing softly. She looked around before streaking across the surface, her body seeming to became a blur before she slowed quite a few paces away from the Thunderpath. She turned smiling to the others before gesturing with her head. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
Only Clawface and Heartseeker seemed unaffected by Morningflower's turn of speed. Sandspirit stood gaping, even after the others moved on. Was this WindClan's skill? She had heard whispers of their legendary speed, it was the only reason why they above all Clans could live on the moors. But to see it first-paw? Sandspirit was hardy able to track Morningflower!

"Sandspirit, let's go! We can't wait for you!" Clawface called to her, his tail waving behind him. The pale molly shook her head at that before looking both ways and crossing the Thunderpath with no trouble. Heartseeker smirked at her before taking off after Morningflower and Clawface.

As they walked, the ShadowClan cat tried picking up on WindClan's scent, becoming distressed as he found that it was fading. He moved faster, unknowingly overtaking Morningflower and searching into the bushes beyond. The molly sat while the male worked himself into a frenzy trying to find the scent again.

"We have to find it! Even if it was stale, it was our only clue! You lot, help me!" the male urged, his voice rising high as the others simply sat and watched him, though Morningflower's whisker's twitched before outright laughing softly. The dark tom looked around at her while Morningflower continued to laugh.

"We were trying to run from you! Do you really think that we would make it so we could be tracked?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. The light teasing in her voice made Clawface flinch but he felt no real malice in her tone.

He sat down, his tail flicking before sighing softly. He lowered his head despite Morningflower not seeming to be angry. "I'm sorry, I just...I just want to do what is right."

Sandspirit walked up to the older warrior and gently reached out a paw to touch his shoulder. Clawface looked comforted by that. "You're not alone in this, Clawface, We will find them. Together."

Clawface nods to that and the group takes up walking again through the night. When the first fingers of dawn appeared, it was Heartseeker that called a halt. The whole party looked tired and Sandspirit herself leaned against the tabby once they stopped.

Heartseeker allowed the contact while looking around for a place to rest. Morningflower was looking at some bushes while Clawface was checking over some spaces among some tree roots. Both seemed good enough places and Heartseeker chose Morningflower's spot, simply because it was the closest.

All three mollies curled under the bush, each soon falling asleep peacefully while Clawface stayed outside. There was space for him, but he felt reluctant. It was the same at the barn, he couldn't bring himself to be that close to Morningflower, not after what he'd done to her Clan. The big warrior instead went to his tree root nest and circled three times before settling down to sleep. His final thoughts were of his brother and the forgiveness he could one day earn.

XxXx

It was a few days later and the party had come no closer to finding WindClan. Even with Morningflower guiding them, there was no trace of the missing Clan. Clawface was starting to think of trying a different direction when Morningflower looked up, the tip of the Sky Thunderpath could just be seen! They were so close to where WindClan was disbanded!

Forgetting herself, Morningflower rushed on, quickly becoming a blur then a tiny speck as she raced to where where she had last since her Clan together. It took a long time before the rest joined her and when they did, they were all panting. Morningflower barely apologized before sniffing around, trying to snort through the semi stale scent of blood and fear. There were scents going in all different directions. There was no way to track them all.

Realizing this, Morningflower froze and looked around the empty wasteland, where could they go from here? The lone WindClan molly kept looking back and forth, even taking to a few steps to one end of scents before returning back. "We won't find them, not all of them. WindClan can never come back. It really is dead!" she wailed softly, collapsing to the ground. Sandspirit walked over to her, but it was Clawface who reached her first. He briefly, hesitantly placed his paw on her back, however she flinched at the touch.

At first when Morningflower turned to face him, both Sandspirit and Heartseeker inched forward, thinking that she was going to attack. But Morningflower only sighed and shook her head, sighing softly.

"Don't give up, Mornigflower! We're not beaten yet, not by a long shot. We will find them, I promise. It will...just take a bit longer is all."

He was cut off by a scent on the wind. It was sour with sickness and hunger but underneath, there was a something that couldn't be mistaken. The very presence of it filled Morningflower with hope.

WindClan.

Morningflower immediately stood, trying to pinpoint the scent, without thinking, she took off once more. Heartseeker looked to Sandspirit, to which she did the same to Clawface. All three smiled at each other before rushing to join the other molly, hoping that this single scent would lead to something more.

The foursome came to where the Sky Thunderpath was closer, actually moving under the arch and seeing a few holes in the ground. Morningflower ignored the holes in favor of the many cat tracks dotting the ground. Clawface, while keeping his distance from Morningflower, checked the holes, seeing that they looked to be tunnels. Sniffing inside for a moment, he caught a stronger scent of WindClan. This was it!

"I think I found them!" he called out, before slowly sliding into the tunnel, taking a few cautious steps inside. It was quiet but as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, Clawface could hear scant whispers and the sounds of paws running. Following the sound, he soon came upon a gray molly, who whirled around to face him while letting out an alarm call. Furthering in the dark, he could hear other cats moving, preparing to defend themselves.

Clawface squares his shoulders but doesn't move. "Wait! Wait, please. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to bring you back home to the forest."

"Home?"

The word echoed among the WindClan cats and finally the same gray molly tentatively walked over to Clawface, sniffing him and pacing around him. "ShadowClan," he muttered to the others. Clawface tensed up at that, but when nothing happened, he dared to relax somewhat.

"We expected you, but never really thought you would come. How did you convince Brokenstar to let you go?" the molly asked, tilting her head.

"The tyrant has been disposed. We ran him out with the help of ThunderClan. Our new leader is Nightpelt. Believe me when I say that we want to bring you home. ShadowClan wants to right the wrongs we did while under the leadership of the tyrant."

Here, Clawface bowed his head, showing no shame as he did so. Vaguely he was aware of the others sliding down the tunnel to join him, but he said nothing. He only raised his head when the molly seemed to calm down fully. Yet she went back to guarded as the others arrived, at least till she saw Morningflower.

"You... You came back...for us?" the gray molly asked, her tone wavering." Morningflower flinched slightly at that, as if this wasn't the greeting she was expecting.

"Y-Yes, I came back. I...we had to bring you home, all of you. I know we terrorized and killed you but...please, you must understand, we didn't mean too! I can never erase what happened, but I'm so sorry!" The demon molly let out a ragged sob, her shoulders shaking.

She was stopped by the other female leaning forward and nuzzling her gently, a small, almost shy purr wracking the gray molly's body. "We've had a long time to reflect on what happened. It was wrong of us to fear you. You demons of the Clan always worked hard to protect us and care for us. We know now that you never wanted to hurt us, it was your instincts, your will to survive that drove you to do it. We don't blame you anymore. Without you, we learned what suffering is. The loss of protection and the lost of our Clanmates tore us down to the very bone."

Morningflower let out a sigh before looking around the dim cave, noticing something. "Where are the others, the demons of the Clan?"

"They scattered far to the hills. We only saw them once or twice when hunting, but they never came close to us. But then...we don't know how many are left. We found many of their bodies." the gray molly explained, shaking her head.

"The only ones whose bodies who haven't found were Deadfoot's, Onewhisker, Ashfoot and Tallstar. We don't know if that's who's left or if the other are just keeping a low cover."

Morningflower turned to her party, her gaze growing resolute. "We have to find the rest of the Clan! We can't leave them!"

"And we won't, but it would probably be best if two of us stay here. These cats look like they could use all the help they can get." Sandspirit said, looking around her. Heartseeker and Clawface nodded. Though the tom quickly stepped forward.

"I'll go, I need to finish this mission, and bring back all of WindClan."

"I'll go with you. You'll need someone who's fast and perhaps, things will go better if I can get to them fast enough and keep them from running. Perhaps then, we can persuade them to come back with us." Morningflower said, getting to her paws.

With Heartseeker and Sandspirit staying behind to help the normal cats of WindClan, Morningflower and Clawface set off for the distant hills alone.

XxXx

"What will you do if they are...if they aren't around?" Clawface asked, stumbling as he was about to say "dead" but stopping himself just in time. Morningflower remained stoic as she travelled on, skirting around a large stone. They had been walking for a long time, the sun was nearly overhead.

"If we don't find them by the next morning, we will return with the cats we have. Some of the Clan is better than no Clan." she muttered softly, keeping her eyes straight.

"And you possibly being the only demon left in WindClan?" Clawface pressed, his eyes narrowing in worry for her.

"Then I will join ShadowClan." she responded without an ounce of hesitation. She stopped walking, looking right at Clawface, her amber eyes glowing with the bottom left showing a pale blue. There was no hatred or fear as she looked at the ShadowClan tom. Clawface noticed and dipped his head, deeply touched.

"If you truly decide that, then you are welcomed in ShadowClan." he whispered, his eyes closed and his voice humbled.

"Morningflower?" a soft yet exhausted voice called out, sounding from the shadows of the bushes. Morningflower turned at the sound of her name, only to see Ashfoot slowly peering out.

"Sister!" the tortoiseshell molly rushed the dark gray female, tumbling into her skinny frame and the pair ended up in a heap, purring loudly together. Clawface watched them for a moment, and when he looked at her, he could see the same pale blue swathe on the bottom of Ashfoot's left eye, though it was a bit harder to spot with the gray molly's over all blue eyes.

He backed away some when Ashfoot seemed to notice him and dipped his head respectfully. "Why is there a ShadowClan cat here?" the skinny molly hissed, acting brave despite her weaker body.

"He's come to help bring WindClan home. We're going home, sister, all of us." Morningflower said, licking her sister's ear in an effort to calm her.

"The tyrant is gone, you have nothing to fear from him. I, as well as my Clan, only seek to atone for what we did."

Ashfoot only snorted at that but looked to her sister and purred again, her whole body leaning against her. Morningflower enjoyed the moment but soon had to ask. "Sister, have you seen anyone else around here. The others said we could find you and the rest by the hills."

"The only ones left are Tallstar, Deadfoot and Onewhisker. The others succumed to hunger and other, stronger demons a long time ago. Tallstar doesn't like to be with the others and constantly moves. Deadfoot and Onewhisker stays with him the most. I joined them some time ago but...soon I got too hungry to stay with them. I don't know if they are together, but they stay on the hills alright. I wish, I could go with you, but hunting has been so poor and I can't...I won't..." she trailed off and Morningflower, knowing what she meant, huddled closer to her sister.

"She needs someone to look after her. Clawface..." Morningflower looked up at the male who only smiled gently and nodded.

"Don't worry. I'll bring them back." the tom then left the pair to re-connect while he finished the mission

XxXx

Clawface continued on, now alone and without his group, he felt oddly lonely. It had only been a few days but he had to admit that he had gotten used to the other's presence. He would have liked it if Morningflower had at least stuck around but he of all cats understood the love between siblings.

Besides, as he slowly made his way closer to the hills, he started to catch three distinct male scents on the wind. He guessed that this was Tallstar and the others. He was getting closer. Moving a bit faster, Clawface wished there were shadows that h could use to travel into, it would make this much faster but this place didn't have many trees, and the few there were the shadows were too light and too far apart. The most he would be able to do was hide within them. And he didn't need that.

Sighing, he ventured that he would just have to keep going the normal way and hope things would work out.

By the time he made to the foot of the hills, the sun was lower, almost directly in front of him. Shoulders sagging as he looked up at the towering bit of land, Clawface's body trembled greatly as he thought of climbing it. Shaking his head and letting out a sigh, he decided to stop here to sleep. He didn't need his body to give out from exhaustion at the most crucial time. So, he went and scrapped together a meager nest before falling into it, his body letting out a long sigh as he fell into slumber.

When he woke, it was dark. Which suited Clawface just fine. He was born in the dark and as part of ShadowClan, he was a part of it. He started up the hill but stopped when he smell a pair of scent coming towards him. Non-Clan cat. Not demon either.

His belly rumbled as he realized that he how hungry he was and crouched down, waiting for the cats to come near. He didn't have to wait for long before they showed themselves. Two mollies strolling together. Wasting no time, Clawface rushed into them, giving them no time to react. Killing one for himself and chasing the other, herding her towards the others and hoping that they would be able to catch her. With that settled, he went back to his catch, enjoying his first true meal in days.

Once he's eaten his fill, Clawface went back to the task at hand, and now with a full belly and rest, he was able to move faster. Going uphill, he contanstly took in scent, noting the faintest scents of Onewhisker and Deadfoot and underneath that, even fainter still was Tallstar. He used this to guide him, cresting the hill after long while and coming to a dip in the land immediately after. Here, despite the dark, Clawface could see the large expanse of land as while as feel the wind constantly blowing up here.

There was a small glistening spot near on the bottom and Clawface had to think of it as a water source of some kind. Looking more, he saw the the rolling hills ended with the lush fields turning into a more moorland type area, both were perfect for WindClan.

Shaking himself, Clawface put his nose to the ground, noting that the scents of the WindClan males were getting stronger. He followed them down the hill, making sure not to slip and fall to the bottom. Here the scents were fresher and led him on a clear trail. He walked for about two more hours, coming across the pond that he could now see was a decent size. He even looked into it to see fish swimming about. Tilting his head with a small smile, Clawface moved on, though he didn't have to go far at all.

There in front of him just a few paces away, was Onewhisker and Deadfoot curled together in sleep and Tallstar, sleeping as well, a good few paces away.

Clawface blinked as he took in the sight of the three males. He had did it, he had found them.