The War is Over and We Are Beginning (OPEN / CLAN MEETING / POST-BATTLE TOPIC)

With so many injured cats to be supported or even carried, the early-morning journey back from Fourtrees felt unbearably long, even to Leopardstar, who had suffered many such treks in his lifetime.  His mind raced with a storm of thoughts and emotions as he led the little caravan of warriors and apprentices through the silent forest, their paws crunching loudly on the fallen leaves that had begun to cover the ground.  Soon, leaf-fall would come to a close, giving way to the terrible grips of leaf-bare...but now that their homes had been rid of those who had tried to take it out from under their so-called 'unworthy' paws, the future seemed much brighter.  ThunderClan could face anything that was thrown their way because they were strong, united, and faithful.  He believed in his clanmates, even if in some moments, he had trouble believing in himself.  For as long as he lived, he would give his all to defend and help these cats he called family...and that started with getting them back to camp.

At long last, the gorse tunnel came into view, and Leopardstar couldn't hold back a deep purr of relief.  Glancing over his shoulder, he caught Marshstorm's eye and murmured; "Take up the rear and make sure no one gets left behind."  As his burned flanks brushed against the prickly thorns and leaves of the camp's entrance, he winced, though he tried to hide it.  He was in great pain, but he knew there were cats much worse off than himself.  The terrible image of Birdflight's mangled face filtered into his mind, but he shook it away.  He needed to focus on the clan right now...and how he would be able to help the injured.  Without a medicine cat, they were helpless.

Finally, after all the cats had emerged into the muddy but sunlit camp clearing, Leopardstar very carefully made his way onto the Highrock and called out in a very rough, smoke-stained voice; "L-let all cats old enough to catch their own prey g-gather in the clearing for a clan meeting!"  He broke off coughing yet again and lowered into a sitting position atop his leader's perch.  His strength was waning, but he needed to assure them that all was well and safe once more...at least for a while.

Leafstorm made his way slowly out of the Medicine Cat den, coughing as softly as he could. He had caught a small bout of whitecough- not lethal, but enough to keep him in a nest for the better part of half a moon. Saying nothing, the brown tom sat down slowly at the back of the group, watching as his exhausted clanmates dragged themselves into the clearing.
As cats gathered around him, he began to notice just how bedraggled they were. Blood, missing fur... it looked like a few of them had even been burned. Tufted ears twitching, Leafstorm winced as Leopardstar barely managed to suppress a cough. What happened to them?

Echopaw made his way out of the apprentice's den. He had been extremely disappointed when he wasn't chosen to fight in the battle. Why? Wasn't he good enough? As his gaze passed over the cats returning from the battle, he noticed something different about their wounds. There were the standard scratches and bites, but there were also burns. What?! Echopaw thought. Why are they burned? What happened? He looked up at Leopardstar, ears twitching as he eagerly awaited what he would say.

Violetfall emerged from the warrior den, tense and nervous. She had not been chosen to fight, and now she was seeing the results of the battle for the first time. "What happened?" she gasped softly. Her adoptive father sounded awful, as if he had been choking on smoke for far too long. It was hard not to stare at the battered pelts of her Clanmates as they filed into camp, seeming defeated. But they couldn't have been defeated, if they were coming back? She could barely keep from holding her breath, anxious to know what the outcome of this horrible war had been. She settled near the edge of the clearing, willing Leopardstar to begin addressing the Clan.

Gladepaw, since when did you get so fat?

If it were not for the fact that her mouth was full of her sister's fur, Hailpaw would have said the words out loud. The stocky she-cat half-carried, half-dragged Gladepaw's limp body through the gorse tunnel. White fur blended against white fur, almost causing the two she-cats to appear as one. When they emerged into the camp central, she couldn't have been more relieved. Setting the smaller apprentice down as graciously as she could manage, she plopped back unto her haunches. "W--why do you have to be so heavy...?" She spluttered. It was fair to say that she had underestimated the difficulties of carrying another cat. While a size difference existed, Gladepaw was still a half-grown cat. Her mass was heavier than Hailpaw had expected, and she had trouble walking straight. More than once, she had been tempted to ask for help. Even so, she had stubbornly pressed on alone. The result was her passionately protesting muscles. If the distance had been just a little greater, she might not have been able to make it.

Gulping, she savored the deep breath of clean air. Leopardstar's voice was particularly worrying. Even a half-brained fool would be able to tell that that was not what his normal voice sounded like. Of all those in ThunderClan, the golden leader had probably suffered the worst of the smoke. She could see the burns in his pelt, and it was not a pretty sight. Would he really be okay? Her bright gaze swept across the camp, an uncharacteristically solemn expression crossing her features. Apart from Gladepaw, Bearpaw and Pricklepaw were also badly injured. Of the four siblings to participate in the war, she had been the only one to escape completely unscathed. Now that the adrenaline of battle had long worn off, she couldn't help the threads of worry that crept in. ThunderClan had no medicine cat. She didn't mind in the least when she got hurt--put some moss over it, maybe add a marigold poultice or two, and go to sleep. The problem would be mostly solved after some rest. This time, however, she wasn't the one wounded, and that made all the difference.

Falconpaw slid to the Highrock. By some miracle, she hadn't been significantly injured in the battle. Gaze looking up to Leopardstar, her tail twitched. Beepaw would have loved it. She sighed, tail gently flicking.

His body ached. His skin felt hot and sensitive as he carefully padded beside the form of his beloved mate towards the ThunderClan camp. Taking great care to avoid damaging her broken leg, uncaring that his own burnt pelt was in great pain. The sight of it brought a flood of relief, as did the soft light that streamed through the canopy for the first time in what felt like moons. At last, true sunlight. He couldn't express how much he missed it. His amber eyes looked at Leopardstar's as he smiled grimly despite their war-battered state. He couldn't be happier that it was over.

Yet a churning in his belly made him consider the cost. Too many cats had died. Too many had been injured. There had been a terrible price to pay this day, and although he had done his best to minimize his clan's injuries by plunging into fires and ash, pulling cats free of the roaring blaze and away from battered opponents, he still felt like too many had been far too injured considering their perdicatment. He waited patiently for the other cats in the clan to pass him on their way to camp. Standing guard tail-lengths from the entrance, ready to help the injured make it back in. His eyes landed a few times on Dustcloud's scorched pelt. He had almost lost her. The realisation made his heart sieze in his chest. He had almost lost his mate, his love. It had been all too close, and thanks to the dark forest.

He limped in slowly after the last cat had pulled themselves past him. Lingering behind until they cleared the bramble barrier before he padded on aching paws to his place below Highrock. Breaths wheezing, though not as bad as Leopardstar himself sounded. The dark tabby tom blinked as a rush of emotions flooded him. What had happened on top of the stone at four trees? He prayed that Leopardstar hadn't lost a life.

---

Ridgepaw bounded up to Hailpaw. The thunderous crashing had kept her wide awake, and despite her best efforts, no cat would let her leave camp. More than likely realising exactly where she would go. The sight of the wartorn group hardly took away her enthusiasm, the body of Gladepaw did that. She blinked at it, her eyes wide with shock for seconds before she smelled him and realised that no... no Gladepaw wasn't dead. Just injured. She turned towards the medicine cat den... where no cat resided, then turned back to Hailpaw and Gladepaw with a huff.

"Awwwww. I can't believe you guys got to go." She whined as she rubbed up against her sister. Small undercurrants of concern made her want the contact, just to make sure Hailpaw was really there as she looked around for Pricklepaw and Bearpaw as well. Did all her siblings survive? Thank StarClan. "You can put Gladepaw in my nest, it's nice and warm! I even added some extra feathers before you all left!"

When Pricklepaw had awoken in the midst of battle debris, lying trapped under Beetlemask's dead body, spots in his vision, most of the cats in his Clan had already started back to the camp. No one had stayed to help him. He managed to drag himself out of the clearing that stank of death, pelt sticky and matted with blood that was only partly his own, and followed the distant pawsteps of his Clanmates to ThunderClan. It took every bit of energy left in him not to just lie down and wait to come back till the morning. When he finally did make it to camp, he collapsed, out of breath and stamina. At least all of his siblings were alive... unfortunately, Bearpaw was still there too. Hopefully, none of his Clanmates were dead. Completely exhausted, the enormously fluffy apprentice lay still in the middle of camp, wishing they had a medicine cat.

Thistlepaw was eating a puny mouse when his fellow clanmates dragged their tired paws into camp. His eyes scanned through the scorched cats? He glanced towards his mentor who looked sick and then towards his leader who had called for a clan meeting. He quickly gulped down the rest of the half-eaten mouse before burying the remains. Then, he padded towards Highrock and settled towards the back of the group of cats.

Lichenfang blinked hearing the call. Quietly the young elder pulled herself to her paws and limped out of the Elders dwn before quietly sitting down her back leg sitting out at an awkward angle that Lichenfang had long since gotten used to.

Pantherpaw made her way from the crowd and sat down quietly.

Frostpaw padded from his den, blinking away the sleep from his eyes, but snapping them wide open at the sight of the battered, bruised, scarred cats. What had happened?! Surely there was a battle... but there were burn marks.

He puzzled over this for a moment as he looked over the throng of wounded cats, not knowing the names of them all. He had trouble with that since he was a kit, even though he had been with them his whole life.

...Hadn't he?

He vaguely remembered the scent of two other cats, his mother...and...and...a sister? Yes! that was it! A sister. He idly wondered where she might be as his attention returned to the marred Clan.

The sudden change of height, and impact as she hit the ground, woke Gladepaw. The concussion, she had received from the battle was beginning to fade, but everything was still a little fuzzy, and her ears constantly ringed. She barely managed to catch Hailpaw's words. "Well exuuuuse me, Hailpaw, I saved the whole forest it's because of me you're still here, and to answer your stupid question, it's probably because we're practically the same size, you're barely a whisker taler than me, mouse-brain." she grumbled coming to her senses.

Gladepaw's green eyes flickered open, and she briefly regretted it, as light flooded in. She hadn't see sunlight since... Since she was a kit, it felt so unfamiliar, so unnatural. She could barely recollect the memory from her kithood. The red hue was practically all she knew. Her eyes adjusted to the light, just as Ridgepaw ran over. A warm smile, graced her maw. "Sleep is for the weak... And I am not weak. Weak cats, don't save the entire forest, like I did. You wish you were me, don't you, Hailpaw? Wish you were the one to single handedly save the clans, mhmm." she grumbled, tail flicking against Hailpaw. "Weakling..."

Leopardstar's voice rang out, across the clearing. Gladepaw's ears pricked, excitedly. "Watch this, Ridgepaw. He is going to announce how I, an apprentice of mixed blood, saved him, saved us! Wait until mum hears! She'll be so proud, but I bet, she knew the moment I was born, I'd do something great like this. I bet, the reason dad came to our forest, was cos' he received a prophecy about me. " she announced loudly, sitting up. "Do I look okay? I need to. Heroes should never look bad, it is part of the hero code, that I just made up."

Ridgepaw looked over at her sisters with a blink. A small smirk on her muzzle as Gladepaw prattled on about being the savior of the forest.
"Oh, wise and noble Gladepaw..." She bowed with an exaggerated flourish. "I think you bumped your head a little too hard sis." with a chuckle, her tail brushed the top of Gladepaw's white fluffy head. Dislodging some fur and making it stick up slightly.

Well, her fur would have been white if not for the soot. Now that she looked closely at both of them... they were more grey tones than white. The slowly climbing sunlight made it more evident.
"Hailpaw, have you seen Bearpaw?" She meowed, her gaze suddenly pulled away to look for the large tom. How did he look in all this sunlight? It was strange, almost as if the camp was being seen anew for the first time.

Falconpaw noticed Thistlepaw and immediately perked up. "Thistlepaw! Thank StarClan you stayed home from the battle, it was horrid. So many cats died, mostly Exiles, although many from the Clans, too." She nuzzled the younger cat, long tail gently waving.

Thistlepaw greeted Falconpaw with a friendly lick behind her ear. "So how did cats get burn marks?" He asked wide-eyed. He shuddered at the thought of his own fur being scorched off. Somehow the she-cat's presence reassured him enough for his fur to lie down flat.