The saddest visit ever (Open--Cherryblossom kits and Leafstorm needed)

Annabelle was almost done with her long trek through SkyClan and ThunderClan territory. She had had to run from many bugs on the way, avoided many mud spots, and had had to fight a leaf that attacked her, but now she was almost there. Once she saw Cherryblossom again, this would all be worth it. She had smelled the change in territory at the border, and she smelled the scent that had been on Cherryblossom´s fur after her meetings with her mate coming strongest from one point. And now she had picked up her daughtetś scent, though it was faint. She had never had the best nose, but she would recognize the scent of one of her kits anywhere. She started trotting fast, until she smelled the scent of cats so strong that it was overwhelming. She came to the edge of a ravine, and inside were so many cats that held the scent she was following. This was where Cherryblossom´s scent was strongest. The kittypet´s heart skipped a beat.
¨Cherryblossom? Leafstorm? Are you here?¨

Specklefang was basking in the evening sun, her belly full and plump with promise. She was completely and utterly relaxed, despite her freshly torn ear and crick in her tail from a nasty fox. Though the wounds themselves weren't looking too good, with no medicine cat or apprentice to treat them she was going to go without care, even if Skyclan was still helping, after her encounter with the three Skyclan cats in Thunderclan territory she felt as if they shouldn't be there anymore.

When a filthy rogue barged into Thunderclan camp, calling for Cherryblossom and Leafstorm she was up in an instance. She had heard what had happened between the two, and she kept her nose out of it but now it was becoming more of a bother. Hissing and spitting the plump she-cat strode towards the rogue, dwarfing her with muscle, fur and size. Her apprentice would probably come out to investigate, especially if she heard her parents names being called out for.

Specklefang wanted as little contact between Cherrypaw and her possible grandmother as she could get, because she didn't want her apprentice tainted by this scum. She was finally shaping up to be a good warrior and they were making a lot of progress. Claws unsheathing Specklefang's teethed bared as she glowered down at the rogue. "Leave." She spat, her voice gravelly and low. Specklefang placed one of her large paws next to the she-cats dainty ones, as she slowly pushed her back.

"Specklefang, hold on a minute."
The grizzled tom padded forward, shooting a sad glance at the warrior. "She deserves to know. Cherrypaw!" He called. "You need to meet someone."

He dipped his head. "You must be Annabelle. Cherrybl-"
The young warrior took a small breath. "Cherryblossom told me all about you."

"No, I will not have my apprentice be ruined by outside influences, she is under my care right now so step down. You will make her entirely too soft for this world, she's at enough risk right now by being blind. I know what's best, and you don't." Specklefang spat, her tail lashing as she glowered at Leafstorm but never left her position.

Annabelle took a few steps back, gaze turning confused at the cats large size. She didn know it was possible for a cat to be that big. But then she started speaking and pushing her back, and the she-cat couldn stand it. She was not going to let any cat, no matter their size, keep her away from her daughter. Nothing could come between her and the ones that she loved. Though she was unnerved by the size of this cat, her motherly instinct let her push past that fear. Remembering her encounter with SkyClan so long ago, she decided to use the same approach on this ThunderClan cat.
"Leave? I thought wild cats could say more than one word sentences. Guess I was wrong," the sandy ginger she-cat mewed dismissively. Then Leafstorm stepped in, and Annabelle felt relieved that the cat that Cherryblossom chose seemed to have more sense than the average clan cat. Though his words did confuse her. Who was Cherrypaw, and why did he seem sad talking about her daughter, and his mate?
"Leafstorm! I recognize your scent! Wait, who's Cherrypaw, and where is my daughter?" She noticed the big she-cat who Leafstorm called Specklefang was talking again. Good grief, she wasn't smart at all if she couldn tell this was family business. She decided to use Specklefangś name to creep her out.
"Specklefang! Can you see this is family business? I already informed you that you aren't smart, so don't go make it worse!" she scolded the large warrior. Then turning back to Leafstorm, she spoke again; "Now, who is blind?"

Leafstorm's eyes widened and he stepped forward slightly.
"Annabelle, just a moment." He mewed gently.
He turned to Specklefang- His friend, his protector.

"Specklefang, this isn't about Cherrypaw. I know you know what you're doing- I think a bit of toughness is just what she needs -but this is about Annabelle. She deserves to know what happened, and to see Cherrypaw."
The tom sighed. "D'you remember Lionspark's face when we came home? Can you just take a moment to imagine what would happen if you hadn't, and she had lived her whole life not knowing? Do you know what that can do to a cat?"
He crossed, trying to gently nudge her aside.
"I feel that, every day. Just waiting for Sunpaw to come. I don't know where she is, I don't know if she's even alive.
"Why would you treat Annabelle any different?"

Cherrypaw had been in the elders den changing out the nest despite her blindness. The small tortoishell she cat blinked and looked up as she had exited the elders den. The blind apprentice could tell their was a strange scent in the camp. That was until she heard her father call her over and then she heard her mentor,Specklefang. Quietly she made her way over tail flicking just ever so slightly. She looked ,well she couldn't see,to where the strange scent was strongest. Her milky green eyes focused on the stranger "what's...going on?"She mewed.

Specklefang let out a growl as she glared back down at the rogue. "Oh I'm sorry to intrude on family business, but it seems that you're trespassing on Thunderclan territory. You disrespectful piece of carrion, I'm involved in this because this is also Thunderclan business, after all we can always just tear you apart right here, right now." She spat, her cricked tail shuddering with barely controlled rage.

"I have every right to be here, after all Cherrypaw is my apprentice." She spat, but when Leafstorm spoke and she'd be lying if she said his words didn't affect her. "She would have moved on, not rotted in her grief." She hissed but moved aside, turning to look at Cherrypaw as she padded up. Striding up to her apprentice she meowed.

"Whatever this stranger will say, you will always be a clan cat. Don't let her poisonous words taint you, come back to me once you're done with this scum." She spat before striding towards Blizzardstar's den, the rage in her making her shudder. "Blizzardstar? It seems we have a visitor." She meowed, hopefully Blizzardstar would remove the she-cat from the camp. A rogue just couldn't walk into Thunderclan camp and leave unpunished after all.

Annabelle stood, concerned, while Leafstorm talked to Specklefang. What was going on? Why was everyone talking as if Cherryblossom wasn't there anymore? Finally, she let out an annoyed huff. She needed answers now, and she was going to get them. When Specklefang started shouting at her, she just blatantly ignored her.
"Can somebody just tell me where the heck my daughter is?" the kittypet nearly shouted. Her demanding nature and her worry about her daughter made her sound like a force to be reckoned with. Suddenly, her confusion grew but her anger changed when the young she-cat walked out. She smelled like a mix of Cherryblossom and Leafstorm, though she was coated with the scent of another cat. Realization hit her when she realized it was Cherryblossomś daughter. Her granddaughter.
"Are you Cherryblossom and Leafstorm´s kit?" she asked the young cat softly.

Blizzardstar was on her den, spending some time on her own as she thought about ThunderClan’s situation. From the mist and the missing cats, to the worryingly slow healing of the forest that could mean her clan would be forced to face starvation during Leafbare if they didn’t do anything about it. While most of the time she preferred to talk this with another cat to have a second point of view, there were times when she needed to have some time on her own, get a mind as clear as possible and make her own conclusions.

She was curled up with her long fluffy tail hiding her face when Specklefang stormed into her den, making her look like nothing but a fluffy white ball with silver rosettes, deep in thought. So as soon as the warrior’s enraged voice reached her ears she raised her head immediately, half startled and half curious. She had been taken off-guard not only by Specklefang’s voice itself, but also by its tone, and she couldn’t help but feel curious.

As she stepped out of her den her eyes landed on an unknown she-cat standing on the entrance of the camp. However, her glossy fur nor her lump figure were the things that drew her attention, but the blue collar tied around her neck and the strong scent of twolegs that came from her. She could feel her whole fur standing on end and her heart beating faster. How? How could a kittypet find their way to ThunderClan’s camp? Where they seriously that unprotected after the fire? Where they so easy to find that even a cat whose whole life had been spent in a twoleg nest without any kind of training nor experience about the world beyond the fences could track them down like this?

Swallowing the lump forming on her throat and trying to ease the nervousness on the depths of her stomach, she padded towards the supposed visitor, making a mental note to find a way to protect the camp even more to avoid anything like this happening again in the future “Who are you? What are you doing in ThunderClan’s camp?” After making the question she stopped in front of Anabelle, her eyes falling on Leafstorm and Cherrypaw for a couple seconds before returning to the kittypet. The fluffy white leader looked down at the kittypet a she waited for an answer, the only one bigger than her within the small group being Specklefang.

Annabelle looked at the fluffy white cat when she was addressed, determination burning brightly in her eyes. "I am Annabelle. I'm here to find my daughter, Cherryblossom. To be clear, this is just a visit, I'm not moving here, or invading, or taking anyone back with me. I just want to know if my daughter is okay."
The she-cat hoped that she would get to see her daughter, or at least know where she was. Hopefully, all this confusion and anger would be over soon.

Cherrypaw blinked ears flat but she nodded to Specklefang when she had walked off. She then turned her head to the new voice."i...yeah....but how would you know that"She mewed tail flicking before she fell quiet and her head turned to the oh so familiar scent of her adopted mother,Blizzardstar

"Cherryblossom is dead." He mewed forcefully, feeling a familiar swoop of sadness rush through him.
The tom shook himself, blinking. Saying her name wasn't going to bring her back.

"Anyways, you shouldn't be here." He took a step forward.
"This- This is clan territory."

"Because you smell like your mother. I am you grandmother," she replied to her descendant, who she was pretty sure was named Cherrypaw. It felt nice to know that she had a granddaughter, even if she still didn't know where her daughter was. In fact she was feeling nicer than--
"What?" Annabelle collapsed at Leafstorm´s words, the air feeling like it had been crushed from her lungs. Her daughter couldn't be dead, how was this possible? The she-cat let out pained yowl, misery, pain, and heartbreak filling it to its capacity. How could her only remaining daughter have died? It didn't make sense. "Wait! Before I leave, can you tell me two things? How did she die, and was she happy before she..." The kittypet couldn't bring herself to say it. Her daughter was dead.

Blizzardstar lowered her ears when she heard the news. Kits losing their mother, mother losing their kits, both awful scenarios the white leader hoped never had to happen but here she was, having to experience firsthand the grief of a mother whose daughter had died. She tried her best to keep her composure, knowing that as a leader she couldn’t show weakness to outsiders she didn’t even know to avoid bringing any extra threats to her clan…but her kind heart ached in her chest at the sight. If things had been any different she would’ve rushed to comfort the she-cat the best way she could, but at the time the only thing she did was give her a comforting look, having to hold back to not get closer and place her muzzle on her head.

“Cherryblossom died shortly after giving birth, we tried our best but there was absolutely nothing we could do to save your daughter. However, I can tell that she was as happy as a queen could be before she left us” Her voice kept the polite and serious tone of before, but now was somewhat close to the usual kind way of speaking that was so characteristic of Blizzardstar.