Back in the Clan [Snowkit, Mountainkit, Open]

[hi]

The large she-cat walked across the normally soggy ground. Now, however, the land was a sheet of ice, the crisp air freezing the liquid in the ground. Her claws were out to gain some sort of traction on the slippery ground, seeing how her large, fluffy paws offered little to none. Atleast the fluff that made it hard to walk kept her relativly safe from the cold wind that whipped across the Riverclan territory.

She was worried, however, about her young kits. The beautiful she-cat looked back, watching her two kits. At least they had inherited her long, thick coat, but even that was no enough to protect them in this weather. Leaf-bear was hitting hard this year, and fast. Worry filled her as she watched her young. Come on, Mountainkit, Snowkit. Stay close to me please. We don't have much farther to go.

The she-cat lifted her pink nose. Ah. This smell. It was her home, and she was finally back. She didn't know why she had left in the first place... yes she did. Young love. How stupid of her. Following some loner tom, only to bear his kits and have him leave. Stupid, stupid! But now she had her two kits, and she was glad for that. She really did love them, more than she could love anything else. But she was back now, and that was all that mattered. Hopefully her clan would accept her into their ranks again, not for her sake but for the kits. There was no way they would be able to survive without the clan's help.

As if to remind her of the dire situation she was in, a large snowflake hit her nose. Following it was another one, and then another. Soon, she was surrounded by white fluff. She just about blended it, as did Snowkit. Poor Mountainkit, he stood out like a sore paw. She looked around franticly. Come on, lets hurry up and get to camp and out of this weather. she told her kits.

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Dappledleaf was padding through the territory, the calico she-cat's green eyes looking around curiously. She was going hunting, even though she was technically still a queen. Lymrickit padded along behind her, the dilute tabby little tom keeping up with his mother easily. Dappledleaf stopped though, her ears pricked forward. Lymrickit's folded ears swiveled forward, his focus going to where the unknown voices were. Dappledleaf padded forward slowly, cautiously, flicking her tail back and forth. Lymrickit stayed close behind his mother, his eyes peeping out from behind her legs. "Honeydew?" the pretty calico's voice rang out in the cold winter air, the soft lilting cadence of it carrying on the air to her. The scar that littered the calico's shoulder told of the bullet she had taken, the muscles telling of the battles she had fought. She had come a long way since their apprenticeship, but she recognized that she-cat all the same.

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Snowkit stumbled behind her mother, barely raising her paws off the ground with every step. The small white kit felt her paws slip from underneath her and soon, she was sprawled across the ice, her small frame skidding across the ice. She tried to get to her paws, but every time, she fell back down.

"I want to go back!" she wailed in a high pitched tone. "Mommy, I don't like it here!" The snow white she-cat began to sob, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

"I can't go any faster!" she protested. "I don't want to go to camp, I want to go home!"

Then, two cats appeared up ahead. One, a pretty tortishell and white she-cat, and the other, a tabby tom. He didn't seem to much older then herself.

Snowkit, finishly managing to get up, slid to her mother and buried her mussel in Honeydew's warm fur, whimpering in fear.

[hi]

Honeydew listened to her kit's complaints, her face softening. She liked her daughter's small head, then rested her nose on it. I know honey, I know. But we can't go back home. Besides, this is where I grew up. Don't you want to see where I lived when I was your age? Honeydew knew it was a weak attempt at making her daughter feel better, but it was all she had.

The beautiful she-cat looked forward, her eyes trying to focus through the blowing snow. Suddenly, a form appeared, then another, much smaller one behind it. Slowly, a cat appeared, a pretty calico, much like Honeydew herself. The scar on the cat's shoulder puzzled the queen. She didn't know of any cats in Riverclan with that scar. Then, Honeydew heard the voice, and she knew who it was. Dappledleaf(paw?)! The she-cat squeeled in excitement, her paws itching to run to her former clanmate. She couldn't however, because of the kit pushed up against her. She then saw the little kit beside her formar friend, and confusion swept over her once more. Dappledleaf had a kit?

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Dappledleaf padded forward, her serene green eyes looking at Honeydew with a shimmer in them. "Hello, dear. How are you?" She purred, wrapping her tail around little Lymrickit. The little tom looked up at his momma, then back at the other she-cat. "Momma....who's that?" He asked softly, one eye looking at the other she-cat. "An old friend, darling." she said, licking the top of his head. Dappledleaf looked Honeydew and her two kits over. "C'mon.....lets get you back to camp." She said gently, moving forward to lick the top of her old clanmate's head. Honeydew had been one of her only friends when she was an apprentice, when she was gone she had gone kind of quiet. Now she smiled, purring softly. Lymrickit watched his momma warily, not knowing what was really going on.

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MountainKit slowly followed his mother, hating how the ice was making his pink pads so cold. He hated it. He disliked it. He wished the ice would go away. He wondered how his mother could handle it, along with SnowKit, his sister.

He was starting to run behind, for the cold air was just pushing him in all directions. It didn't help that his pads were starting to go numb... It didn't help at all. His sister must of came to her senses and realized how bad the cold really was. For she objected to go any further.

MountainKit hurried on up to SnowKit, even though is paws protested. He wanted to make sure she would still go on and not be left behind. He loved her. He loved his mother. He wouldn't let anyone hurt them. Wouldn't let anyone harm them. Wouldn't let anyone do much of anything to them.

"Come on... I don't want to either, but we gotta go..." he slowly murmured, "Don't worry, I'll stay by your side and I won't let anything hurt you."

He smiled softly, and nudged her shoulder rather gently. She had to keep going, there was no doubt about that. He wanted to go back too, or even just lay where he was, but he knew that he couldn't either.

His ears suddenly perked up by the sound of other cats. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.

He let out a growl, which didn't sound much like one, due to his age.

"Get away!" he hissed, taking a few steps forward, the ice crackling under his paws, "Stay away from my Ma and Sis!"

His fur started to ruffle and rise, the stripes along his fur starting to ripple, due to his skin twitching with anger. He wasn't scared. He wasn't. He knew he wasn't. No one could doubt that.

"I mean it..." he growled.

He ignored his mother's replies to the other she-cat, and the exchange of words. MountainKit still didn't trust anyone else besides his mother and sister.

He tried to rush up in front of his mother and sister, only to have his face slamming into the ice and snow. He tried to ignore it, getting back up and shaking out his fur.

"Now, leave!!!" he hissed, letting his little fangs show.

When the she-cat tried to lick his mother's head, he leapt up and tried to swipe at her muzzle.

"Don't touch her!"

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Dappledleaf looked down at the fiesty little tom that swiped at her muzzle. She felt the little kit's claws graze her chin before her calm green eyes rested on him. "It's alright, little one. I'm not here to hurt you." She said, her voice forever soft. "Do you want somewhere warm and safe to rest?" She asked him, looking up at his mother with a soft smile. "I can take you there. All the mice you can eat, birds too." She purred. Little Lymrickit peeked his head around from his mother's shoulder. He glanced at the other little tom warily, his folded ears fidgeting backwards and his tail flicking back and forth anxiously. "Momma......Can we go back to camp? I wanna take a nap with Stormkit, Gryphonkit and Tornadokit.........." He said softly, nudging his mother's shoulder with his muzzle.

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"What's all of the fuss about?" The tired and only slightly irritated call sounded from the small blue tom just a little ways off, although coming closer to the small group of cats with every advancing pawstep. His eyes looked simply from one cat to another, trying to somehow perfectly understand the situation with just a glance around. Some cats were familiar to him- Dappledleaf and her kit-, but the others were not. This new queen and her kits were strangers to the young medicine cat apprentice.

Now, the normal and first thing to do would normally be to chase the strangers off without question. At least, that was what the numbskull warriors saw to. But what good would that course of action do if no knowledge could be gained from it? No, better to talk things over first. That was the way Pebblepaw saw things. If there was any information to be acquired, it must be done quickly and promptly, for it could always slip away before achieved.

Finally reaching the unlikely group of cats, the tom stopped in his path, and began speaking. "Dappledleaf. Do you know these cats?" He flicked his tail in the little family's general direction, while keeping his blue eyes trained on the familiar she-cat. "They smell of loner lands. Do they have a purpose here?" The tom's tone was not accusatory in the slightest. He had no reason to show aggression. It wasn't in his nature, nor in his role in the Clan. It was only a queen and her kits, of course. No reason to get his fur ruffled.

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"PebblePaw!" a voice rang out, the voice being rather kind and gentle, "Where are you?"

A tortoiseshell she-cat padded out, who looked rather small. She barely looked like she could harm a fly, and that was true. She was the Medicine Cat of RiverClan, and she was clearly trying to find her apprentice. He disappeared.

"There you ar..." her turquoise eyes laid upon the new queen, and gasped, "HoneyDew!!! Look at you, all grown up and having kits!!!"

She couldn't help but squeal. She loved HoneyDew, and she was curious to where she went. It was so odd, with her leaving and everything... Then again, it seemed to be like that with a lot of cats lately..

MiracleFur took a few steps towards the she-cat, to give her a friendly head-bump, only to have MountainKit lash his paw at her muzzle.

"Ooh, fiesty little one.." she murmured with a giggle.

"Stay away from Ma and Sis!" he hissed, his tail lashing back and forth, "I just wanna go home and you guys to leave us alone!!!"

MiracleFur looked over at HoneyDew, and then back at the little kit. She smiled lightly. Ah, he seemed like he would be a great warrior.

"You guys may go home, but you should really stay in our clan for a little while, so you don't catch a cold," she murmured gently, "We have fresh-kill, warm bedding, dens... and even some kits to play with, along with apprentices!"

She purred, trying to cheer the kits up.

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Pebblepaw glanced over his shoulder calmly at the sound of another familiar voice. He knew who it was that had called out before he caught sight of her face, of course. It was Miraclefur, his mentor. She seemed to have gone out looking for him. Perhaps he should start making a habit of actually telling her when he was going in the future. "Over here," he replied with a flick of his tail, stretching his voice only just a bit in order to catch her ear. But it wasn't a heartbeat after he spoke up before Miraclefur's attention was quickly drawn away from him and over to the strange family. But something was strange about her reaction. It was as if the medicine cat recognized the queen.

The blue tom looked from Miraclefur's eyes to the she-cat she had called 'Honeydew', and his own eyes narrowed. Not in anger or suspicion, but rather confusion. Yes, she definitely knew this cat- The affectionate gestures said that clearly enough. But how so? She smelled of loner. Perhaps they had once been friends? There were a number of possibilities, but Pebblepaw had no way of finding the correct answer amidst the masses.

So what better way to find out than to ask again? Dappledleaf had failed to respond to his initial question, and waiting around for her to do so would do him no good if he could instead just ask a second cat in hopes for a quicker answer to satisfy his mind. "Miraclefur, do you know this cat as well?" he mewed with a touch of insistence. One of his ears began to flick back in forth in wait. He wasn't about to object to his mentor's proposition of bringing the family back to camp, considering the worsening weather, but he first wanted his question answered.

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Dappledleaf nodded. "Yes..." she said softly, her eyes turning from the cats and a nudge to her kit sent him shivering into her side. "Come little one.." She said, a sad tone in her voice. She picked up her kit, padding back into the snow that had brought her here. What had brought about this sudden change in Dappledleaf? This she-cat that was usually so bright and happy, so sad now, with a depressed expression..

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(( OOC: Continued here:
catsoftheclans8.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rccamp&action=display&thread=4507&page=1#1294246524 ))