Slugman: Homecoming [o]

OOC: Hopefully I'm using this dice correctly. Slugkit, adopted son of Snowfoot, is trying to return home! I don't expect for the dice to succeed, but if it does he'll be looking for his mother first. If it fails, anyone can intercept before he finds camp and can do whatever they want. Go crazy!

"Ma'ma?"

A grimy, muddy figure trudged through the swamp, only just recognizable as a cat. He looked a little over six moons, but his once-grey fur was so tangled and matted he might as well have lived in a cave for the past decade. He wandered the land in search of a place he barely remembered from his childhood, pawprints left as signs of his journey. His name was Slugkit, and he was looking for Shadowclan. Home.

"Ma'm?" he mewed again. He knew he was getting somewhere: the scent of cats was strengthening, but what direction was it coming from? He could visualize the muddy hollow in his head, with its bramble walls and the nursery, but Starclan knew where it was in this swampy labyrinth. All he could do was meander around and around in circles until-

Wait. Those pawprints on the ground weren't only his. And they were all headed...

Gears clicked in his head. "HOME!" he cried-- too loud to be stealthy-- and began trotting in their direction with a renewed vigor. Now he was going from "going in loops on the edge of territory" to "barreling straight towards core Shadowclan lands like a very muddy puppy," and there was no telling how the warriors would respond. But Slugkit wasn't thinking about that: he was thinking only of his mother and her soft black fur and her gentle voice. He was thinking of love.

He saw the bramble barrier appear on the horizon, and then he was spotted.

The member 'Lizz' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Camp Invasion Dice' :

“What the fox? INTRUDER!!” Lightpaw yowled. The silver apprentice had grown up a lot in the past few moons, and so had her brother. “State your purpose here,” she snarled. “You don’t smell like a Clan cat, are you a rogue? And what is in your fur?” Wait, something seemed a bit off here… “Are you… No, no way. Slugkit?”

Lightpaw's warning cry had Sablepaw moving immediately. Were they really under attack? The young apprentice would not forgive any cat that tried attacking them. With hackles raised, he charged through bramble barrier, eyeing the filthy intruder. "Slugkit? You know this... cat?" It was hard to tell through all the grime, but it seemed like a cat.

Slugkit practically tumbled over his muddy paws when Lightpaw appeared, yowling to the high heavens. "Oomph! Uh..." He tiptoed backwards, tail tucked under his body in a clear sign of submission, warily watching his sister. Unlike her, he could recognize his littermate anywhere, but something in the snarl of the tabby's voice scared him.

"Lightkit?" he meowed, then a little more confident once she recognized him: "Yes! Lightkit, it's me, your brother!" He stepped forward with a nervous smile, briefly flicking to look at the unfamiliar black cat before back at Lightpaw. He wanted to nuzzle her, but now that he could see the stark difference between his condition and hers... he felt a little self-conscious.

"You must be an apprentice now! Oh, I've missed so much. I got lost and then it rained so hard and... and..." he shook his head. "Could you two lead me to Froststar? I want to come back home. I want to see Ma'ma again."

“Slugkit!” Lightpaw cried out, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “We - we thought you were dead! Oh, where are my manners? Yes, I’m Lightpaw now. And this-“ she playfully ruffled the fur on the younger apprentice’s head, “-is Sablepaw. He’s my - our little brother! Sablepaw, this is Slugkit! Of course, you’re not much of a kit anymore, are you?” At the mention of Froststar, Lightpaw’s expression grew more somber. “Well, uh, that might be difficult. You see, Froststar… well, he’s gone. But yeah, you can come in. I’m sure Nightstalker will welcome you, or Mother will make him!” she chuckled a little.

"We better not be inviting strangers into Shadowclan camp, Lightpaw." A deep voice rumbled, as Shadowclans leader padded up to the slowly gathering crowd of youths. Piercing amber eyes narrowed as he regarded a cat that might as well have been a slug monster, his lips twitching as he struggled to keep his hostility in check. Nightstalker lifted his tail as he commanded silence amongst the apprentices, he quietly inspected the cat that had walked up so close to his clans camp, memories of the Forbidden Order themselves had gotten almost as close, and it sent a bad feeling down his spine, chilling his heart with his fear.

But he couldn't let any of them know that the sheer proximity that this cat had gotten to the camp had scared him. Recognition flashed across Nightstalkers gaze briefly, the name they had all been crying finally attaching itself to the cat in front of him. "Snowfoot will be happy to see you. Come." Nightstalker meowed, beckoning the whole party to follow. He'd be talking to them later about security.

Sablepaw stared at Slugkit, slightly confused. So it was a cat, and appearantly his older brother. This seemed to happen way too often. Snowfoot had never told him about Lightpaw, and now Slugkit? How many more siblings did he have? "I guess we have some catching up to do." Turning to lead Slugkit into the camp, Sablepaw froze. Nighstalker had come, and he did not look pleased. "Nightstalker, he's not-" the leader's gesture cut him off. Sablepaw could not ignore the order for silence. Holding his breath, Sablepaw waited for his mentor's judgment. As Nightstalker beckoned them towards camp, the young apprentice let out a deep sigh of relief. Part of him had expected this to end poorly.