Homeland [c]

She didn't know how many moons had passed, exactly, since she left. Now, though, as Spottedfrog lingered at the fringes of SkyClan's territory, and the wind whipped a fresh gust of scent towards her, the warrior - if she could even call herself that, anymore - found herself unable to press forward. Already in her not-terribly-long life, she'd spent so many nights away from SkyClan, so many nights without the shelter of these pines above her, that now, there was a strange mix of longing and claustrophobia as she stared up into their boughs. How she so desperately wanted to feel at home in these trees, to dance across their limbs in pursuit of prey, carefree again like she'd been so long ago.

Dark lids closed over her green-gold eyes, another soft breeze ruffling the fur on Spottedfrog's wet cheeks. Come home, it seemed to call... but was this home, anymore? Could it be again? The she-cat inhaled deeply, bowing her head as a wave of grief rolled over her. Her best friend was gone. He'd sacrificed himself to get rid of the very cats she'd followed when they took over the clans. Of course, she'd never had any loyalty to Morningstar or the Dark Forest, and her priority had been keeping her own skin firmly on her back, long enough to see her kits into this world, but still... they'd been on opposite sides when he died, and she hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.

She could hear him in her ear now, could see his cheeky grin in her mind's eye, "What'cha just mopin' 'round for? Go home already. They need ya."

"Do they?" she asked aloud, her eyes snapping open. She looked over her shoulder, desperately searching for his mottled pelt and coming up empty, like she always did. Frustrated, Spottedfrog thrashed her tail. "They barely know me, Newt!" The last few words came out raw and desperate, and with much less gusto than she'd intended.

"And whose fault is that?"

He was gone then, leaving her alone. Like everyone did. Like Cedar had, too.

Bitterness coated her tongue, and Spottedfrog practically leapt to her paws, shoving herself across the SkyClan border like there was a physical, painful barrier there to stop her. Once on the other side she paused, chest heaving, legs trembling, to catch her breath that had no reason to be coming in such short, urgent gasps. It was then that she heard the crackling of foliage underpaw, and her head jerked up towards it, her back arching instinctively. She didn't want to fight, especially not a SkyClan cat... unless it was Beechfang... but she would, if she had to.

"Spottedfrog?"

Crimsonflame had separated from his patrol briefly when he heard a voice along the border. He was delighted when he saw Spottedfrog, the first cat to truly accept him as a SkyClan cat. "Where have you been? Are you alright? Stars, it's been moons, you've missed so much! We need to take you to see Briarstar, she will be so glad you are back!"

He looked around the area, finding no one else, and his brows furrowed in confusion. "Who were you talking to?"

The cat that pressed through the bushes was not the one she was expecting, but nevertheless she was glad to see him. Noticing the friendly way he regarded her, Spottedfrog let the tension drain from her frame, offering him a weary smile.

"Yeah, it's me," she said. "It's good to see you, Aether." She took a step forward, the tip of her tail twitching. "And yes, I'm alright... just, tired, I guess." The she-cat sighed gently, suddenly glad to be in the company of someone other than her own thoughts... until he asked her a question she didn't want to answer.

Her ears flicked back, and she ducked her head a bit. "Just myself," her voice was low. "Hard habit to break when your only company is... well, yourself, for a while, you know?" She hoped he wouldn't press further.

Spottedfrog moved to stand beside him, ready to follow back to camp, or his patrol, or wherever he'd come from, and it was only then that her lagging brain registered what he'd said. She blinked dumbly, replaying the words in her head, and then turned to look at Aether with a squint. "Did you say 'Briarstar'?"

Crimsonflame couldn't help but chuckle as Spottedfrog questioned the name he had spoken. "Yeah, Bloodstrike and Beechfang actually aren't a part of the Clan anymore, it's a long story. I told you you missed a lot. Uh, I'm actually a warrior now, by the way. My name is Crimsonflame. And don't freak out, but there are also some ShadowClan cats in the camp, yeah so their camp got flooded so they are staying with us for now. Star, what else happened.. um, Fogfeather and Plumpaw are the new medicine cats, and Birdchaser is deputy. They're all Beechfang's kits, but I promise they are not as difficult as she was, for the most part. And I don't know what else to tell you, you're going to have to see everything for yourself, I guess."

Crimsonflame offered a sheepish grin, leading the way back to camp.

There was a moment of tense silence in between the time she asked the question, and Aether - no, Crimsonflame - answered it... during which Spottedfrog held her breath, pulse pounding in her ears. If her mother was leader, that meant something had happened to Bloodstar... and that might just be the last straw. Spottedfrog loved her father, and losing him while she'd been off searching for Cedar would have been intolerable.

But, no... he wasn't dead, he'd just... left the clan, apparently, which perplexed the tuxedo she-cat. She didn't speak for a while, just followed Crimsonflame in companionable silence. Eventually, as they tread deeper and deeper into SkyClan's territory, she cleared her throat and offered, "Congratulations, by the way. I'm... I'm glad the others came around." She gently slapped his haunch with her feathery tail.

It would take her some time to digest the rest of the information. Beechfang was gone, too - no real loss there - but her kits were medicine cats, and the deputy. Spottedfrog's ears slicked back, wondering after her own younglings and deciding not to press Crimsonflame for information. It wasn't his duty to be the bearer of news, especially after he'd gone out of his way to greet her. Spottedfrog sighed gently, waiting for SkyClan's camp walls to come into view ahead of them.