The Liberation of Windclan [Clan Plot Topic]

Downtuft could hardly believe his ears, but he knew that if Zinnia and Hayglow said it, it must be true. "You're serious? It's... It's over? No more death?..hah... Hahaha... Hahahaha!" Tears whelmed up in his eyes as he laughed, more than likely looking insane, a wide grin on his maw. They were free. WindClan was free. The Clans were free.

Not yet. Eyeing some of the Asylum cats occupying WindClan's camp, he reared up, tackling one to the ground. "You heard them! Go, run away! Leave or I'll kill you myself." He hissed, and watched with satisfaction as the cat beneath him wriggled free and scampered away.

"Shyfawn... We did it. We're free. We're free! Softbreeze.. Softy!"

Like a hare, Downtuft broke off and ran for the medicine den, spotting Softbreeze. Without hesitation or thinking, he leaped for her, effectively waking her up. "Softbreeze it's over! Asylum have fallen! We're free!"

Softbreeze could only stare at him as tears fell down her cheeks, a small on her maw for the first time in moons.

"...what?" Her mew was the first to break the ringing silence, as the tumult of paws grew closer to the camp. Everything seemed to blur, and crash into eachother; pelted cats scattered, and she was sure it wasn't that chaotic, but her mind was fuzzy from sleep. Inhale, exhale. Small movements were all the confused warrior could handle as she gazed around the camp. There was someone, though, who she wanted to see. Needed to see.

The brown and white pelt of Fawnstep came into view, and she sprinted towards him, knocking him into the ground and burying her head in his fur. "Fawnstep," she whispered, purring softly. It was an unusual show of affection, reserved for no one but him. "You're such a rabbit-brain, but I love you anyway." Snowbrair allowed him to moment to stand and recover himself. He... didn't look great. Malnourished, matted, exhausted, wounded. Her eyes begged for an answer to the unasked question: what did they do to you?

There was no celebration for Hayglow. Slowly she trudged after Zinnia, tears still fresh on her face as her gaze was focused on the ground beneath her. There was no denying the blood that had stained her paws and she knew - she knew she wasn't the only cat to have killed. She had seen the still bodies but...She... She hiccupped, ears slicking back. "I didn't..." She recalled when, so shortly after her arrival in WindClan, she had been offered fresh-kill to eat. She had been horrified, never having once entertained the idea of killing and eating another living creature while she had lived as a kittypet. When she had been told she had to kill to hunt - when Dappleshine killed that goose in front of her. She...She had come to terms with prey, but the idea of fighting and killing another cat was...Sickening. And now she wasn't sure if she could ever wash away the scent of blood that stained her pelt. But still, there was some relief as they entered the camp...Before she fell forward into a collapse, blinking as if she was suddenly recalling her deep wounds. "...Ow," was all that she managed, not having the strength to even call for her friend.

Softbreeze stumbled out of her den, and the first thing she saw was Hayglow, her best friend. "Hayglow!" She cried, and fumbled back into her den, grabbing a couple herb parcels. Nearly falling as she made her way over the her friend, she quickly worked on patching her up. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Using cobwebs, she wrapped them around the scratches on her head, smearing marigold onto them before doing so. Her shoulder wounds looked pretty deep, so she gently licked them clean first before applying a poultice of marigold and comfrey. Making sure to smooth it into an even later, she moved onto the claw marks upon her back, grounding up cob nuts to help ease the pain of the scratches. Same as before, she applied the herby poultice of marigold and comfrey, adding in some goldenrod, bandaging it up with cobwebs and this time adding catchweed to ensure it wouldn't rub away.

"Here, Hay, eat these." Giving her two poppy seed, a single juniper berry, and a couple burnet leaves. They'd help to give her strength and to ease the bleeding, as well as calm her nerves as she seemed... Unstable.

Hayglow's ears twitched at the sound of Softbreeze but she didn't bother to make any attempt to look up until the pawsteps had reached her and she could feel her friend getting to work right away. "Thank you," she muttered softly, but that was about all the energy she had. She felt...Tired. Really tired, finding it now hard to grieve her actions because that took energy. She blinked as herbs was placed in front of her with the simple order to eat. Carefully, she leaned forward and lapped them up before she curled in on herself, rather content to just sleep in that spot and deal with the consequences of her actions when she had the energy to care again.

Pyrik trailed along behind the recently-freed prisoners. Not close enough to pose a threat (or so he told himself, knowing full well his presence alone was threatening enough), but close enough to spot any stumbling or reopened wounds. The fox pelt, damp and muddy from falling off during his fight with Eos, rested on his back once again. Asylum may have given him the knowledge and the opportunity, but he’d gutted that fox, cleaned it, patched it together with his own paws. It was his. He did keep his head uncovered, though. No more lies.

Roe had told them all to stick to their assignments one last time; after everything, that was the least Pyrik could do. He’d swapped enough stories with the other trainees to know that, though all of the Clans had suffered at Asylum’s claws, the takeover of WindClan stood apart from the rest. In his attempts to be a picture-perfect Standard, he’d played his part in hurting them. All the world’s good intentions couldn’t change that.

Besides, he had cats waiting for him. The pair of warriors in ShadowClan…and Thalia.

The snow and dirt beneath his paws turned into well-trampled sand. As the victorious warriors filed into their camp, WindClan flooding from their nests to meet them, Pyrik squared his shoulders and slipped through the gorse tunnel, one unsteady paw at a time, until he was just another fox on the rolling moor.

Lilacstar couldn't believe it. After so many moons, it seemed, the Clans were free! Her legs almost couldn't carry her as she ran, tearfully, into her mother, burying herself in Zinnia's fur. She didn't even have the strength to be mad that Zinnia and Hayglow had put themselves in danger without her knowing. They were safe, now. Her Clan, her family, they were safe.

Stepping away from Zinnia, she fixed her eyes on both of the warriors of the mouse hunt. "Cats of WindClan! Look upon these heroes! They have aided in bringing down the Asylum, liberated our Clan, and brought our warriors home." She looked at them, a sweet smile upon her face. "You four should go rest. You've been through a lot. The Clan won't fall apart in your sleep, don't worry. I will make sure of it."

But the four warriors were not the only ones to have returned this day. Lying on the ground, beaten and unconscious, was Raisha, or more commonly known by the Clan, Tawnykit. In the moments of the battle, she had turned her back against the Asylum after she had learned the truth of what they had done. Now, as she finally stirred, looking around the camp in a daze, only one thing was on her mind.

"Where is Brick?"

The triumphant cry woke Flurryfox from his dreamless slumber. His ears flicked and his eyes opened as he pulled himself out of the darkness. Initially, a twinge of irritation made his lip curl at the interruption, but he heard their words. Eris, dead? After all these moons? The little tom's head shot up as he glanced around the warrior's den before leaping to his paws. He pushed through the den entrance and gazed upon the camp clearing. Their Asylum captors had begun to scatter, and his clanmates had woken. He stood, confused, before moving fully out of the den. His tail hung low but his fur bristled around his shoulders. He felt almost numb to what happened around him. How had it happened? As an Asylum cat fled past him, he flinched and took a step back. Flurryfox couldn't believe what stood right in front of him. WindClan was free. The first thought that crossed his mind was to try and fight them off, but for the most part, the intruders had started to flee. He exhaled sharply. He couldn't fight them off anyways. Despite having a longer apprenticeship than other cats, the new warrior didn't feel confident in his skills. But maybe this would mark a change.

What now?

Spotlake had been sleeping, as peacefully as she could under the Asylum's rule. Well their former rule. At Lilacstar's call, Spotlake shot up, and padded out towards Zinnia, Hayglow and others. A smile grew on her face, as she realized what had happened. The evil cats of the Asylum were gone, and Windclan could peacefully again! She turned her head towards Zinnia, and Hayglow, bowing it respectfully. "Thank you, both." She meowed, gratefully. A new dawn was beginning in Windclan, and it was hopefully, going to be filled with peace.

The Asylum was defeated. Theron was defeated, dead and gone, never to haunt WindClan again beyond their nightmares. Now there was time for celebration, though it was perhaps laced with melancholy - they had won their battle in the end, though only after paying a great price.

Zinnia looked to her daughter with a small smile, having remained close to the once-WindClan cat she'd helped bring back to their camp. "There is something else, Lilacstar... This is Raisha," she explained. "Once known to us as Tawnykit, but... Well, her name is her own, I should think. If she answers to it, then that is all that matters. Those we lost were with us all along, raised by the Asylum." Confused at the stirring she-cat's words, she turned her gaze to Raisha again. " Are you alright, dear? ...And, ah, who is Brick?"

Raisha looked at Zinnia, recognizing her vaguely as one of the cats who had stormed in with the other Clans cats during the battle. Somehow the older cat had known her Asylum given name, although she had no idea how. And she also called her Tawnykit, which made her do a double take. She knew enough about the Clans to know Tawnykit was a Clan name, so did that mean....?

"Brick. She is my sister. We were fighting Lyralei and I guess I blacked out. Please tell me she is okay! If anything happened to her...... Please, if anyone deserves to die, it is me. I'm the bad sister, Brick has never done any wrong in her life. Let her be okay."

She locked eyes with Zinnia, pleading with her. She seemed to care about her, so she took a wild shot. "You're my mother, right? That is how you know me? Well Brick is your kit too. At least, Roe said they never lied to us about our siblings. Please, I am begging you."

Lilacstar watched the exchange with shock. It was clear to her that Tawnykit was speaking about Henkit, as the two sisters had been lost together. She was honestly at a loss for words. The desperation the young she cat had broke her heart, and she looked to Zinnia for guidance. Tawnykit clearly trusted her more, anyway.

"So Brick is your sister? I see. I'm sorry, dear... But I'm not your mother," Zinnia shook her head. She was sorry to admit it, with the desperation on the young cat's face, but she hoped what she had to say would at least make her feel better. "My son, Finchkit... He was stolen from WindClan at the same time as you and your sister - we knew her as Henkit. But I do know your father- Ah, where is Deerhawk? I could swear I saw him... And since you wish to see your sister, do you know where she might be found?"

Raisha let out a half-hearted chuckle, the effort hurting her sides. "Knowing Brick? She could be anywhere, and I would not be able to follow. I have made more than a few enemies. Why are you all being so nice to me? I was Asylum. I've, uh, I've done very bad things." She wasn't going to name killing Shrikefrost, it would be best if they didn't know that. Although Flashlight will probably tell them anyway.

After Softbreeze has finished treating Hayglow, she looked up, and the first thing she saw was a face she never thought she'd ever see again. "Tawny...kit? Is it... Really you?" She stumbled through her words, voice still awkward from not being used in moons. "S-shyfawn! Some cat get Shyfawn and Heatherrain!" Softbreeze cried, now certain the cat before her was the very same cat who'd gone missing so many moons ago. Then she realized she was hurt, and her eyes widened, "Don't worry I'll get herbs!"

Shyfawn stood at the nursery, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "Heatherrain, darling, they aren't dead." The elderly molly mewed, and she stepped forward slowly towards Raisha. "You said Raisha is your name? Oh, sweetheart.. We've missed you so much. We looked everywhere for you-- those cruel pelt wearers didn't harm you, did they? Were you fed properly? If they starved you in any way I'll hunt them down myself!" Nevermind the fact that Shyfawn was an elder with arthritis.

"You were... All assigned to Clans right? Which Clan was Henki-- I mean, Brick, assigned to?"