You Feel Your Sins Crawling Down Your Back (OPEN - Ivystar needed)

Snailbelly came back into camp, having discovered Swanpaw, who had long been missing. He had been worried sick about her and there was so much to fill her in on. First thing was first, though... he had to talk to Ivystar. She had to know that one of their apprentices was back and what had happened to her.

"Ivystar!" he called, "Swanpaw is back!"

"Back? She's not dead?" Ivystar meowed in surprise, stirring from her place in the weak Leafbare sun. Her tail was held high with inquisitiveness as she approached the warrior, her eyes scanning the camp entrance for signs of the long lost apprentice.

In that moment, as she stepped into RiverClan camp, Swanpaw looked nothing like her namesake, or even like herself.

There was no grace to her movement, no confidence there. She was a few moons older, but other than her being slightly larger than when she had left (and not by much) it looked more like she had worn out than grown older. She had been alone long enough that it showed.

"Ivystar," she greeted with a slow nod of her head. The warrior-aged apprentice couldn't bring herself to say anything else. It felt... Strange, being back in her Clan. Being around cats she knew, had known most if not all of her life.

Was this what coming home was supposed to feel like? She didn't know the answer, and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to.

Spotpaw had been laying on a rock when they came in. He sat up, confused. "Swanpaw? I don't think I've seen you before..." He had never heard of this cat before. "Where was she?" He asked Ivystar, hoping his leader would know the answer.

"Swanpaw... Is that really you?" It was jarring for her to see the apprentice alive, she wasn't used to having her clanmates return to her after being lost. Reedfang, Lilacpaw, Chimepaw, Possumpaw, the list went on and on. All those who disappeared would never return, lost somewhere out in the wilderness or more likely, dead. To see Swanpaw again, clearly moons older but so visibly alive, it had to be dream. She was afraid to reach out and touch her, to find out it was a cruel joke and have the apprentice disappear before her eyes. "Who...? What happened? No, you need to eat first. Snailbelly, get her some freshkill, and Spotpaw, get Cloudstone. Are you okay, Swanpaw?"

Spotpaw stood up, still confused, but followed his orders and ran to the medicine den. "Cloudstone?" He asked. "Cloudstone, Someone named Swanpaw has returned, we need your help!"

Snailbelly hurried to the fresh-kill pile and scooped up what he remembered to be Swanpaw's favorite fish. Surely, she had missed the river, being a RiverClan cat like she was. He returned and dropped it at her paws, looking at her pleadingly to eat.

Swanpaw looked at Snailbelly thankfully, taking a bite of the fish. It was... Familiar, yet not at the same time.

As she ate a little more, she felt a little bit of her old self coming back to her. "You're all acting like I was dead," she said drily. She could kind of understand why - it had been long enough that there were apprentices that didn't recognize her, and that she didn't recognize - but at the same time, being assumed dead wasn't the goal she had set for her life. Oh well.

She looked to Ivystar, wanting to answer her questions one at a time. "I think... I think I'm okay," she began. "I was... Walking, I remember... And then... Twolegs," that part she remembered, as clearly as if it had been only moments earlier. There was a venom in her voice as she spoke of them. "They grabbed me, and... When I finally escaped I didn't know where I was anymore. So, I started trying to get back... But I couldn't figure out what what I was going, or what way I should have been going." The hopelessness. Believing she would never see her home again, nor her mentor - the only living family she had, blood or not. "And, eventually... I ended up here again."

Her entire life, right now, felt like a cruel joke played on her by StarClan. Like there was something tied to her, and they were yanking it around for fun. She really hated that thought. That her very existence - that every cat's existence - was a game the star-dwellers played to entertain themselves. But she had started to believe it.

(OOC: Nice reference in the title! :D)

Sweetheart blinked curiously as she approached the gathering RiverClan cats. She spotted a cat she wasn't sure she had ever met before, and she smelled strongly of Twolegs. However, they all said her name was Swanpaw, so perhaps she was a RiverClan apprentice who was just captured by Twolegs? How dreadful!

"We thought you were... I'm sorry," Snailbelly murmured. "I'm just glad you're back when everything's settled down, after the battle and all."

"Swanpaw?" Nutfur ran out of the warrior's den at the mention of her name and the apprentice's scent. A smile crossed her face when she saw that Swanpaw really was there. She wasn't dead! Maybe now she could be a better friend, and keep her safe like she failed to do with her mother Flowerpetal. She listened to the apprentice's story, sorrow gripping her heart. She had been captured by twolegs? She remembered how the same thing had happened to her. She looked down at the long scar across her paw that she would always remember the trip by. She padded over to her old friend. "I'm so glad your back! I remember when I was captured by two legs, I thought I would never make it back. Anyways, a lot has changed. I'm Nutfur now."

Swanpaw? The name sounded vaguely familiar, yet Ravenpaw was sure she had never met this apprentice. The pale grey she-cat was thin and tired-looking. Swanpaw's story was brief and undetailed, leaving Ravenpaw prickling with curiosity. Why did she leave in the first place? How did she get away from the twolegs? A million questions filled Ravenpaw's head, but she kept her mouth shut, waiting to see what would happen.

Heronpaw walked up to Ivystar, Snailbelly, and this new she-cat who his clanmates called Swanpaw. Well, let's see what's going on, he thought to himself.

Rowankit strutted out of the nursery and stared at the gathering cats.

OOC: Short post

Cloudstone's head raised when Spotpaw entered. 'Swanpaw?' The tom peered out and lo and behold, it was true. 'I thought she was dead too,' he thought, shaking his head. He took what he could from his store, two juniper berries, and gently carried them towards the apprentice. "Well, whatever happened," he let out a sigh. "We're glad to have you back, Swanpaw."

Spotpaw sat back down. "Who exactly are you Swanpaw? Were you in Riverclan before the Twolegs took you? How old are you?"