Welcome Home [Open]

By the time the small patrol returned to camp, the afternoon sun had begun to hang lower in the sky. Only two cats had left camp, and now they were returning with several. The deputy's mind was clouded with several dark thoughts. Finding his kin had been such a relief. For a couple moons, he had given up hope and assumed they were dead. However, Ratkit and Blurrykit had been destroyed at the sight of Bear's death. Their time with the rogue group had certainly affected him. But, as they neared camp, hope rose in his chest. If everything went well, they would fit in just as well with every other Skyclan apprentice.

Behind him, was Jazz and maybe others and the kits. Next to him, was Cherrymist. His mate's frailty bothered him. As soon as they got back to camp, he would make sure she ate well. Thankfully, Bear was no longer around harm his family anymore. A sigh escaped him as they went through the entrance. It had occurred to him how Crowstar might respond to his offer for the rogue to join. Jazz had turned against the vicious rogue that had plagued the clans. She deserved a better life. Bear had hurt both rogues and clans alike. His eyes darted behind him to look over to look at the loner she-cat. Whatever happened, happened, but Rippedsky would try to do what he could to offer her a place in the clan.

"Crowstar," Rippedsky called into the leader's den, "We're back."

As soon as Crowstar heard his deputy's call the black fluffy leader stepped out of his den to see familiar faces, and he was so relieved. They were home. His missing clanmates were home. "I'm so glad you are back, Oceanlight and Rabbitfoot are ready to see any of you that need healing or some other medicine." His yellow eyes scanned the cats looking over for injuries, but then he saw the rogue. "Who is this?" He asked. He didn't know why there was a rogue in his camp, but he figured Rippedsky had a good reason. Hopefully.

Cherrymist padded close to her mate's side, head bent down while she ushered her kits to go faster. They had never left the barn before, besides training with Bear, and the journey from their birth-place to SkyClan camp must have felt huge. The white she-cat felt familiar hard-packed earth beneath her paws and lifted her head to scent the air. The voice of Crowstar reassured her as she dropped down ifrom her paws in exhaustion, resting her head on her mate's paws.

~~

Ratkit snarled as she saw the older, larger black cat. He reminded her of the big black dots she sometimes saw soaring above the barn. Was he one of them? She approached, one tiny pawstep at a time, and when she was close enough, she tilted her head back to look at the leader. "Excuse me sir, are you one of those flying things that used to pass over the barn?"

Blurrykit tottered after his parents. He had soon found out who Rippedsky was, but he still didn't like him. The young kit glared angrily at Rippedsky, then darted ahead after Ratkit.

Blurrykit shook his head as Ratkit spoke. "Mousebrain! He's obviously a cat, like us!" he hissed glaring at her. The tom looked at Crowstar, and he could almost sense his power and importance. It seemed far bigger than Bear's. "I'm, Blurrykit and this is my mousebrained sister, Ratkit." he meowed rather quietly for him.

Pansyface padded up from behind the group, dipping her head in a friendly greeting to Crowstar.  Standing beside her sister and the kits, the young she-cat gazed around the camp and watched as her friends and family emerged, her heart filling with overwhelming joy.  We're finally home!  Her green eyes bright, she couldn't help but laugh at Blurrykit and Ratkit's innocent antics.  She loved her little cousins, and hoped that someday when they were apprenticed she could mentor one of them.  Though they were influenced a bit by Bear's training, she was sure they would settle right into SkyClan, and become great warriors.

Moonlight padded into camp with the group, for the first time since Cherrymist was kidnapped clearly relaxed and happy. And to top it she came back with her two grandkits, Ratkit and Blurrykit. The battle had been a huge success and everyone was free now, and now they even had a couple of potential clanmates…though she still wondered how some of the cats would react to the rogues, between them her mate. Rippedsky probably thought it was ok, but she knew how much some of the cats hated to have rogues around.

As soon as she saw Crowstar she greeted him with a respectful nod, looking at Ocenlight and Rabbitfoot as he told them to see them if needed. Yeah, she had a scratch or two, but nothing serious. Rippedsky definitely needed more the attention of the Medicine cats than her.

Jazz was extremely tense the whole journey, jumping at every broken stick. What if Rippedsky wasn't actually sparing her? What if they will kill her? The trip seemed endless, going through the moor, a forest, and another forest. The area was slightly familiar when she traveled through after exiting the City. Did this Skyclan live in the City?
Jazz sighed internally when she figured out they just lived in a forest filled with tall trees. She found herself turning her ears toward the sound of the birds and staring at the tall trees bordering her. Suddenly, the trees almost seemed to part in front of her as a clearing opened up. It was majestic, even more majestic than the Barn. Her throat closing up, she stopped in awe. The bushes seemed to be organized, all the kittens sleeping in one patch of undergrowth while others slept elsewhere. She could smell strange, herbal scents coming in one direction and prey in another. They obviously thought of everyone and their needs here.
In her distracted state, she almost missed the large black tom looking at her. The cat somehow had an important air, like if he is the leader of this group. He probably is, she thought. Nervously she bowed her head in respect. "H-hello there. I-I am Jazz," she stuttered, "I wo-worked for Bear.. as an enforcer to keep everyone in line, bu-but I went against him in the battle. Just.. you're not going to hurt me, are you?"

Clearly Crowstar intimidated this Rogue. He didn't care for the fact that she was apart of this group that stole his warriors, but Rippedsky seemed to believe she had something good about her. The leader let out a small sigh. "No I won't."

The leader's attention turned to the small kits that approached him. He was amused by the kits question even if it wasn't meant in an innocent way. After all he was named after a bird. "Nice to meet you Blurrykit and Ratkit." He said with a slight purr. He had always loved kits. "I'm Crowstar. The leader of Skyclan." The kits had already been told this, but he wanted a chance to introduce himself.

He looked back to the rogue. "So Jazz.. I'm guessing you are here because you want to join us?" He wouldn't have after what happened with Rippedsky, but it seemed his deputy already promised something. "Alright. Fine. You will under go trials to deem if you are fit to join. Rippedsky here will be taking care of any training that happens outside of these trials. I will be the one running these trails, so when I say you are going to do a trail you will do it, I don't care if it's moon high or not." The leader said.

Rippedsky saw the conflict in his leader's eyes. He silently noted to apologize later on. There was no way he could have left Jazz out there alone. It was because of her he bared so little wounds. The only claw marks on his pelt were her's, save for a small one that had been inflicted by his own kit. If it weren't for the she-cat's change of heart, the deputy could have been way worse off. Besides, it was obvious after the battle that the clans were clearly not the only ones to be affected by Bear. Rogues had suffered too at his paws. As the leader spoke, Rippedsky nodded.

"Of course, Crowstar," The black and white tom nodded his head respectfully. Now that is was taken care of, there were other things Crowstar needed to know. Not wanting to be overheard by the rest of the clan quite yet, he padded a bit closer to the fluffy black cat. The whole clan could grieve later, but Crowstar deserved the right to be the first to know, "Snowstorm didn't make it... her body is just outside the camp entrance." His head dipped in a flash of sadness. Skyclan had lost another good cat. While they had brought the missing cats home, not everyone had made it back to enjoy in the victory.

I totally didn't forget to mention Snowstorm died or to drag her body back. What are you talking about?

Cherrymist gasped as she heard Rippedsky's grim news, and she lowered her head, trembling with grief and fear. The blind she-cat hadn't been able to help with the fight, maybe if she had, her granmother would still be alive. The strong, brave cat did not deserve to die like that. "Some cats need to bring her body in. For mourning. And Rabbitfoot and Oceanlight should wash the death scent off with some mint." the white queen murmured, eyes on the ground.

At first, Rabbitfoot hadn't even noticed the cats entering camp. With her nose stuffed in the few herbs that they had, she couldn't smell anything and she had been so focused on getting everything organized that the voices didn't ring a bell until they were nearly done talking. As soon as Rippedsky's voice traveled into the den along with a few unfamiliar ones, she she-cat could only expect that the group was back. With a gasp, she stopped what she was doing and darted into the clearing, stopping short of Crowstar and the few others. Her eyes scanned the area, stopping for a moment on the two kits and the strange rogue who smelled awfully like an outsider. "You're back!" she mewed, relief washing through her. However she quickly began looking over each cat, making sure that they were okay. "Let me check your wounds, please," she told them, so focused on her job that the poor medicine cat hadn't noticed the missing Snowstorm.

Breezekit, padded out of the Nursery, and arrived to the gathered cats, ''What's going on?'' the older she-kit was more big than Ratkit and his brother, her amber eyes where focused on the warriors, then she said to Rippedsky ''What is going on, Rippedsky?''