Return [Open to TC]

It had been long enough. Eight sunrises had passed since the Gathering, and so Darkstar ordered her clan to return home. She knew that some of her Clanmates were irritated that she'd bent so easily to the RiverClan leader's demands, herself included. Thoughts of stepping down were becoming more and more frequent. It would be better for ThunderClan to have a stronger leader than herself. She would have to talk it over with Blizzardshine soon enough, she couldn't hold this for much longer.

For this moment, however, they were back home. Although the clearing was almost alien now due to the lack of vegetation, much of the ash and soot was gone. All that was left was the charred husk of a tree. It was hard to ignore the bone sticking out from under it. "We're home." She put on a smile for her Clanmates, surely they would be happy to return.

Falconpaw's face contorted with worry. The camp was not welcoming just yet. Who knows what had settled in the ruins... A family of foxes in the leader's den? A dog lingering around for them. The scent of the freshkill pile was digusting, charred and rotted. "Where d-do we even start?" He murmured. The tom seemed ready to leave already. Desperately wanting to see the outcome of his mother's grave after the fire.

Hawkpaw took in a breath of the deathly quiet core of ThunderClan. The sight of the destroyed dens made him worry a bit. They'd be very busy. They'd be very hungry too. He padded past what remained of the freshkill pile to the shambles of the nursery. He wanted that to be his top priority. Scooping out old moss, soot, branches, char, bugs, whatever. He didn't waste any time with his work. He would always thank Bear for that part of him, no matter what else he had done. All the cats in his kithood really had been hardworking with jobs to do, schedules to keep up, and then cats to care for afterwards. He was their example in the forest blood.

Leafpaw felt himself relax for the first time in a long time. They were home, back in the forest where Thunderclan cats belong.
The large tabby tom nudged Hawkpaw gently. "Work already?" He chuckled.
He turned to Falconpaw with a small shrug. Yes, the camp was destroyed. That much he knew. He sighed. "I don't know," He mewed. Hawkpaw knew what he was doing, but the more Leafpaw saw of the camp, the more he wanted to leave. Everything was in shambles, covered in ashes and dust.

Shadowleaf stepped into the camp following the two apprentices. She couldn't help but over hear their conversation. "Well you can start remaking the elders' den or the nursery. A place for them is the most important." She hoped she was right about this. This was their process whenever the tribe had settled down somewhere new on their journey. She could go out hunting later.

Leopardclaw pushed his way in behind the others, face grim at the sight of the horribly destroyed camp. The beautiful home he was adopted into now looked strange and unwelcoming, everything covered in mummifying ash and soot. With a grimace he tried to ignore the sight of Sandblaze's remains, for the first time glad that Cloudstorm wasn't here. The sight of her beloved brother reduced to bones would've broken the she-cat's heart...

There was no time to dwell on the past though. Much work needed to be done so they could live in their rightful home again, and Leopardclaw was proud to see his apprentice Hawkpaw was already starting to clear the remains of the nursery. Stepping up beside the Tribecat Shadowleaf, he nodded in agreement to her proposal. "Yes, if everyone pitches in we should be able to rebuild those two dens quickly. The warriors and apprentices can sleep in the clearing for now, later we can gather what moss and ferns that remain for nests. I doubt there will be much to find though...." Heaving a deep sigh, after a moment the large spotted tom-cat went over to the remains of the elders den, beginning to pull out the burnt rubble as Hawkpaw was doing for the nursery.

"Where are we?" Coyotekit mumbled absentmindedly. It was mostly to himself. The tiny, tabby tom had simply followed the clan along. Everything felt strange. He missed Wolffang constantly and thoughts of running away from the rocky camp had constantly flooded his mind. And then they moved. The whole clan had come this time. Something different than what they normally did. This wasn't just any patrol. He had managed to reason through that much. But it didn't make sense why they were abandoning the den. His eyes scanned the burnt clearing as his ear twitched. It had not been long since he had been left here by his mother. Although, in that short time, he had grown quite a bit. Coyotekit was certainly almost old enough to join the apprentices. Clan life still confused him, and everything felt wrong without mother, but he tried for Barkpaw and Blizzardshine's sake.

Feeling a bit awkward in the whole situation, he padded over to the edge of the clearing and settled back. The tom pulled a neutral face, not betraying his complex thoughts. Hopefully, some cat would tell him what to do or where to move. As of right now, Coyotekit simply felt out of place. His amber eyes glanced at Leopardclaw who seemed to instantly know what to do. Should I be helping him? Would that be wrong? Will they yell at me? Every cat here had seemed far nicer than Reno ever was. But it did not stop the pangs of anxiety that welled up in his chest.

Reedpaw followed the group of Thunderclan cats back to the burned camp. He lowered his ears sadly, staring at the destroyed dens and ashes that covered the ground. It was really this the home where he was born? All seemed so different and gray that it was depressing. However, the apprentice still felt that it was his home... the home of everyone and it felt nice to be back even with its new appearance.

He saw how some apprentices started to work immediately and then he heard the instructions of the cat that he respected more. He shook his head, keeping the depressing thoughts away and followed his father to the destroyed elder's den, helping with him to clean up everything so they could start rebuilding everything as soon as possible.