Welcome Home, Kid [Open]

Ploverheart curled his claws into the grass, wet with snowmelt and the changing seasons. He shivered a little bit; he had spent a long while sleeping in brambles or under ferns or just out in the open, and Leafbare and New-Leaf had been hard on him. The sky was blushing pink and purple with sunrise, but he still felt the chill of last night in his bones. It had been longer than he could remember since he had slept in a den with the warm bodies of his Clanmates pressed around him, and he longed to feel that warmth again. He was so, so close--tonight would be the night. Homesickness tugged at his paws, and he pressed forward through the underbrush he had once thought so familiar.

Nosing a heavy fern leaf out of his path, he found himself facing the tunnel that lead to ThunderClan's camp. Out in the territory, the smell of the Clan lingered around borders and where cats often went on hunting patrols, but here, right outside the camp, it was overwhelming. A long while ago, it wouldn't have bothered him so much, but it smelled distinctly unfamiliar now. His whiskers twitched and he stared at the tunnel, willing himself to go in. Sucking in the deepest breath he could feel his lungs with, he plunged forward, not pausing to scare himself away.

The camp looked the same, but there was something so unfamiliar about it. He only moved through the tunnel enough so that he was visible up to his shoulders, and as he swept his gaze over the camp, he suddenly felt unkempt in front of all of them. He had been careful to keep himself clean, keep his long fur free of mats or tangles and so on. But there was something about the Clan that made them all look like proper Clan cats, and he felt grimy and roguish where he stood.

Not only did he feel filthy before them, despite his mostly tangle-free fur, he felt incredibly.. awkward. From where he had looked, he hadn't spotted a cat yet that looked supremely familiar to him. Maybe he just hadn't noticed, because he would admit that he was looking for his sister in particular. But he had not seen her yet, and he flexed his claws into the dirt anxiously. Sighing, he turned his search elsewhere, and he watched as a kit--the young cat looked old enough to be an apprentice, but the way he bounced and mewed with laughter said otherwise. When the little tabby noticed him, however, he squeaked in alarm and scrambled off to the nursery, further confirming Ploverheart's idea. With a rattling breath, he turned to face the Clan, ready for whatever they may say to him.

Leafpaw padded up to the tom, sniffing his fur in confusion. "Who are you?" He hissed, his fur on edge. He shifted so he blocked the rest of the camp from this stranger.

Sunpaw stood by, watching the tom curiously. He didn't seem dangerous, but you could never be too sure.

"Another one!?" Specklepaw screeched as she saw a big fluffy tom, actually much bigger than herself pad into the entrance looking very nervous. Nothing like the cool calmness of the other tom that had come into camp claiming to have come 'home.' Hissing the she-cat fluffed up her dark brown fur, ears pressing against her skull as she padded towards him with unsheathed claws. "Okay you better scat rogue!" Specklepaw snapped, swiping at the tom menacingly as her forest green eyes glared at the tom.

She turned her body side-ways, showing off her size as she towered over Leafpaw and Sunpaw and was almost half the size of Ploverheart. "I'll give you a nick or two!" Specklepaw threatened, taking a threatening step forwards once more. Tail high and fur bushed to it's fully extent with pearly white teeth bared.

"Specklepaw," Sunpaw mewed warningly. "We don't know if he's dange-"

Leafpaw cut her off with a hiss. He didn't dare attack until a warrior said so, but that didn't stop him from warning the loner how much damage his claws could do.

Ploverheart opened his mouth to reply to the apprentice that had come up to him, but he found himself ducking away from a pawswipe from another cat. She.. She looked just like Specklefur. He paused, seeming out of it for a moment, staring at the cat, smaller than him but bigger than the apprentices she stood near. She was big and rude and loud, and.. His ears twitched, and he looked between the three cats slowly.

"I'm Ploverheart," he answered slowly, nodding towards the first cat who had spoken. His voice was low and raspy, like he hadn't used it in moons, and there was a hesitance to it like a stutter he was struggling to hide. "I'm no danger, I promise. I used to be a warrior." He dipped his head to the miniature Specklefur, bowing his head low in an attempt to look respectful and harmless. He had expected to be met with resistance, but this was.. somewhat much.

"Welcome." Sunpaw purred. She shot a look at Leafpaw and Specklepaw before approaching him again. "I'll tell Darkstar you're here," She offered, "Or you could go get fixed up in the medicine cat den..." She looked at the stranger trustingly.

Leafpaw hissed angrily.

A well-groomed, sleek tom who looked electrifying padded up to Ploverheart and eyed him. "Well, um, you are our second returning warrior. Welcome back, I suppose." Blacktwig said. He stood in the center of the crowd, but somewhat near the front. These were the same apprentices who had welcomed and... well... resisted Palegaze when he came.

Sunpaw shot a look at Blacktwig, begging him not to talk about the... Palegaze incident? The she-cat had been in a bad enough mood that day, with everything that had happened. When the new cat came, adding on so much stress, the young apprentice had just snapped. Luckily, now she was wiser.

Ploverheart raised his head, looking at the new cat. He could tell from looking at him that tha cat was older and wiser, likely a warrior for a long time. Ploverheart murmured an apology, ducking his head again briefly. "Oh. I'm so sorry if I came at a bad time," he mewed softly. He sounded more like a kit than an oversized and trained warrior. He paused, then looked to the one cat to be friendly except for the mottled tom. "Thank you so much. I'd love if Darkstar knew about me."

"That's what the last one said!" Specklepaw snapped again, before spinning on Sunpaw again. "We don't know if he's any danger? Is that what you were going to say? Look at him! He could squash you like a beetle! I can't believe this!" She spat, tail lashing and no way to expel her anger she scratched the ground like it insulted her.

"You too Blacktwig? We just accept whatever they tell us? You're an idiot, Sunpaw you're an idiot! This Ploverheart guy is an idiot!" She ranted, pacing back and forth now. But with a big sigh she shook her head, as if giving up on everyone. "Whatever! Welcome in all the rogues and 'returning warriors', my opinion doesn't matter at all. Let us all get slaughtered in our sleep because we were such mouse-brains we trusted strangers." Specklepaw spat, sending Ploverheart a harsh glare before going to the fresh kill pile and basically puppy-guarding it.

Sunpaw's eyes widened at Specklepaw's outburst, looking at Polverheart apologetically.

Blacktwig coughed. "You're right, Specklepaw, but a nasty approach is not the way to go." Blacktwig said in response to her rebuke. "We should find a way to verify their authenticity. But this is mostly for Blizzardshine and Darkstar to decide, no?" Blacktwig was very calm.

Ploverheart's fur bristled, his hackles rising with fear and a little irritation. He understood the distrust, but did he really look like a cat that came here to kill them all? Well, if he did, he definitely didn't feel like one. He felt awkward and scared and too big and gross. Not murderous.

"Thank you, all of you" he started, giving a smile to the cats who remained after the other one marched away. With a pause for thought, he broke into an amused purr, looking at the other apprentice who had refused to trust him. "And thank you for protecting your Clan!" The thought came to him that it was his Clan, too, their Clan, but he had been gone so long.. was it really his anymore?

Sunpaw flicked her ears, nodding in agreement with Blacktwig. She eyed the cat's matted fur with curiosity.
"What happened? Why'd you leave Thunderclan?" The small apprentice asked the stranger.

Leafpaw whirled away, padding off to the apprentice den to lay and sulk.

Ploverheart watched the little cat, feeling his heart sinking into his paws. Then he looked to the two cats that remained, his ears flicking slowly. "Well," he started slowly. He ran the different ways he could tell this story over in his head--it was simple, but it sounded simple enough to make him see stupid. "I went out hunting, when I was sick. I was sick a lot as a young cat, which was.. unfortunate. I thought I had recovered enough to catch a few mice and come back to camp, so I could feel like I was providing for my Clan a little bit, yeah? It was Greenleaf, though, and I guess the heat got to me. I passed out somewhere near the edge of the territory, and woke up.. much farther away. I never came back, well, unto now."