Children of Dust & Ashes {closed for patrol}

Hawkpaw kneaded the ground with his paws, looking around the harsh stones of Sunningocks. He had told a few to meet him early for something important. He hoped this would help make up for some of his rash decisions.. besides that, it was something Pepper would want. In all honesty.. he missed his mother. He wanted to see her, this was his chance. Barkpaw and Blizzardshine were the two he felt most comfortable with his mother. Barkpaw may need the comfort of barn life if only for a moment. Blizzardshine was an old friend of her's. Leafpaw? He didn't know. He had never spoken to Maplecloud before. The tom had been tempted to bring Falconpaw along but, he didn't want to risk it, Rockthorn's delusional fatherly figure for him as over. He may try something if he stumbled upon the patrol. This was a deputy's job, he realized. Organization. He hoped he was doing it right.

Blizzardshine padded towards Hawkpaw, her usually spotless white fur looking dull thanks to the soot and ash on it. She had focused more on calming down the cats of her clan and helping everyone she could to take care of her pelt properly up to that point. She had groomed it somewhat quickly when she woke up, but after getting several mouthfuls of the bitter stuff she had decided to give up for the time being, knowing that if she cleaned herself completely it would take her most of the day and there were more important things to do. She just hoped that the stench of smoke would leave her long pelt soon…and that the couple areas that now had shorter fur thanks to contact with the flames would grow back soon.

She smiled kindly at Hawkpaw as she sat at his side, looking as cheerful as always was something she felt she had to, even if on the inside she was curled up and crying like a lone kitten. The clan was having it bad enough without having to see the real emotional state that their deputy was in. She had to encourage them to stay strong, not weaken them even further.

Though Specklepaw was having a rather rough time, she still forced herself to do her paws and get out to hunt for her clan. She'd often do it alone, despite the threat of Rockthorn in the air. Her chest still rattled and her coughing would easily cripple her for a period of time and ruin her hunts, often chasing away her prey. She wasn't going to let this stop her though.

Shakily padding up to Hawkpaw and Blizzardshine with a stern frown she looked to the already two gathered cat, no words being traded between the two. Her shoulders rolling as her uneven fur bristled, her mood turning sour as she looked at the devastation. She could see why no one was in the mood to be talking, she didn't want to talk either if she was going to be fair with herself.

The early morning was always a hard time for Barkpaw. He definitely was not a morning cat, but he was determined to go on this expedition. He hadn't been told much about what it was that they were doing, but the young tom had heard something about the barn and immediately knew that he needed to go. His memory of the barn was a bit fuzzy, but it brought a warm and comforting feeling into his chest as he thought about it: the hay that he made his home in, the playing he and his brother would do around the different areas of the barn, going outside for the first time with Bear... Those were things he would never forget. Maybe, just maybe, Wolffang would still be there waiting on him to return. He could still remember her every move that she made, but he was frustrated that even slowly, he was losing his memory of what she sounded like. He knew what she said, but he couldn't hear it anymore. Maybe this could change that.

Padding up to the group, he only looked up with his green eyes as he approached Hawkpaw, the burning sensation on his new naked right ear coming to the forefront of his thoughts. While escaping the fire, he had accidentally managed to get close enough for the fire to singe all of the hair right off his ear and leave him with several blisters that stung every so often. However, he tried his best to ignore it. "Am I the last one?" He asked, glancing between the cats, trying his best to just ignore Specklepaw and turn his attention to Blizzardshine.

Leafpaw scampered after the group, looking around in awe. He had gotten caught up in looking around to notice that the group had left with out him, but nevermind. He was here now. "That's everyone," He mewed, slightly out of breath.

Hawkpaw looked at them all for a moment. "We'd better move fast, we have to be past WindClan territory. We need herbs and I know where to get them from. When we have the herbs we bring them back to Cloudstone and the others who need them. There's little left to explain. Let's get going." He finished, hopping up and briskly leaving Sunningrocks, in the forest, it was silent. A hum of death like a fog over the ground. He stared at it all in horror. "Let's hope we have enough time to hunt there too.. we won't find anything here for moons." He murmured bleakly. Moving closer to Blizzardshine he whispered "Do you think it's time? You know.. for the truth?" He asked under his breath, thinking if his mother in the barn. He didn't want to wait too long.

Blizzardshine started to walk at Hawkpaw’s side as soon as he was done speaking, knowing exactly why he had gathered them and where they were going now. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit nervous leaving her clan behind during the long trip this was going to be, but she was glad they had at least one friendly place they could go ask for help on these harsh times. Plus, Hawkpaw was going to see his parents again, something she owed him from long ago but hadn’t been able to turn into a reality thanks to the whole fiasco caused by Rockthorn.

Her eyes scanned the scorched lands that not long ago had been full of greenery and prey. For Newleaf, this was definitely going to be a tough time for the clan, maybe even worse than Leafbare if they couldn’t find at least one place with enough prey to keep the clan from starving to death. Yes, they could try to mimic RiverClan and resort to fishing if things took a turn for the worse…but she had no idea how to do it, she had never found any reason to learn how to fish before after all.

She was pulled out from her thoughts by Hawkpaw’s whispers, causing her to lower her head to be able to hear whatever he was trying to say. The question he whispered was exactly one of those she had feared to most he would ever make to her. Under normal circumstances she would’ve advised him to hold back, wait until he had proven his loyalty to the clan and earned his warrior name thanks to it, but the circumstances were far from normal. Letting out a deep breath and lowering her ears she gave him a quick nod “Just…be prepared. In our mental and physical state they may not take it well…” She could feel her heart racing as she spoke.

c'mon grease lightning, letss gooo))

Barkpaw followed behind the two quietly, nervously leaving Sunningrocks. As they padded through the forest, it was hard to look at what was left of Thunderclan. Everything was scarred and burned and nearly unrecognizable. It made the young tom's stomach drop as they padded through, making their way to the barn. Instead of focusing on the blackened landscape, the apprentice turned his thoughts onto their adventure. He was about to see the barn again. There was a secret excitement within him.

OOC: sorry for shortness ;; and also sorry about not posting I kinda maybe sorta possibly forgot about this ;w;

boop

Specklepaw padded after the group in silence, her breath coming in rasps as she followed. She barely kept pace with Barkpaw, her ragged fur prickling as she looked into the decimated forest. Disgust curdled in her belly and her claws unsheathed with rapidly growing anger, how dare this happen! How dare some.. some scoundrel do this to Thunderclan! How dare Starclan not prevent this destruction while Skyclan wasn't left to burn as much as Thunderclan did! Specklepaw stopped in her tracks as she looked around the burnt territory, spitting into the dirt like it was cursed.

Plodding heavily up after the rest of the patrol she stared straight ahead, nothing seeming to quench the lit soot in her belly.

Leafpaw kneaded the ground anxiously with his paws. "Let's just get this over with." he mewed. He hated the idea of visiting the barn.
OOC: SHORTNESS

Hawkpaw couldn't help a nervous exhale, a sharp response of 'Slim pickins'.' died in his throat. None of them seemed happy about being in the territory. With a grunt, he trotted, building into a run. With a heavy heart at his second home as the broke away from ThunderClan and he could see Fourtrees, he saw the scorches in the valley grasses as they came into the view with WindClan scent. Shuddering at it, he wondered if the clans were out of a home forever. The sun was a bit higher and the Thunderpath to his right rumbled with the occasional monster.  The group would need to carry on only a bit longer. He stood at the tree break with what only felt like moments. He stared over at Highstones and the barren earth before Mothermouth. 'We were right next to it the whole time?" turning into the ring of tree, his fur settled and warmed. Padding towards the barn he spotted the black pelt of his father, he was piling mice together, his mother wasn't seen until he grew closer. "Well, here we go. Let's hope there's enough to go around." he groomed his whiskers with a swipe of his tongue to look a bit more presentable.

Bat shifted a mouse with his paw when the scent of ThunderClan hit his nose. He twisted to see a patrol, one on the young side it seemed... He stood up and searched for any familiar face, happy to see Blizzardshine along with his son. A much bigger version of his son!Pepper, we've got company."

The she-cat dragged herself to the barn door to see what this was all about, the worry unwinding into a warm smile. "Thank StarClan they're safe.. that blaze was something awful." Much to the surprise of her mate, she slowly began making her way over to them.

Hawkpaw swallowed back a purr, glancing over the group, his gaze lingering on Barkpaw, wanting a good response to their old home, then, to Specklepaw, who he hoped would hold back of opinion of this type of blood. He stepped forward, fighting for a word that wasn't just an explosion of purrs. "We need herbs, there's nothing left for ThunderClan." He said, relieved by the soft nod Pepper responded with.

Leafpaw tilted his head as he noted how Hawkpaw's face had lit up at the sign of the rouge cats. He stifled a grin as he imagined Sunpaw here, by Hawkpaw's side. She would probably be just as excited as he was to meet rouges- if it made her friends happy, it made her happy.
He shook himself and dipped his head so his whiskers brushed the ground. Then he walked next to Hawkpaw, the larger tom's brown tabby fur brushing the rouge-born's pelt. He shot a glare to Specklepaw, daring her to say a word against the rouges.

OOC: Maplecloud was totally there the whole time ;;

Maplecloud felt her heart racing, not keen on the thought of visiting the barn. Because of the recent fire, everything had been burned to ash, which didn't make anything better. She crept up next to Blizzardshine, one of her newer, closer friends, hoping she didn't look too nervous. She had never really been out of the territory like this, and it made her extremely uncomfortable.