Home Destroyed Home (OPEN/CLAN WIDE)

Entering the disassembled camp, Daisyflame's muscles screamed with exhaustion and he desperately wanted to close his eyes, but he knew he couldn't just yet. Lifting his muzzle, the ginger and white tom looked around for one cat in particular; Scorchstar. Ever since the two of them had been separated, Daisyflame hadn't thought about much else except getting back to the leader and the rest of the clan and finally they were home. But was Scorchstar here? Of course he was, he had to be. The dark pelted tom was one of the strongest cats he knew and just had to be alive. "Everyone, go find your friends and family," he mewed, turning back to the ragtag group of cats, some injured, others not. Thank StarClan the majority of them had made it back alive, even after the Sharptooth and dog attacks.

Mothpaw had grown a little less despondent with every step toward ShadowClan camp. Still, she wasn't quite herself... First, there was the journey. To be gone so long, and then turn away willingly once they returned... It was nice to finally be able to see the family she'd spent so long separated from. "Silentpaw?" she called out, hesitating just a little bit. "Dad...?"

More than that, though, the battle she'd witnessed wouldn't leave her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, it was all the saw. The bodies around her, cats and dogs and the Sharptooth... Though she wanted nothing more than to forget, her mind wouldn't let her. How she'd spent the fight on the sidelines, being tossed aside so easily... She'd been forced to watch, unable to act, when the fear of not being able to help was what had send her on the patrol in the first place. Now, all she wanted was to curl up somewhere next to her sister and not move until she absolutely had to.

She just hoped no one would ask her for any details. She didn't want to talk about it, not now.

Finally, at long, long last, they were all home! Poppyheart leaned against his mate Redwing's shoulder as he limped through the thorn barrier into camp, where he almost immediately collapsed. The patrol had encountered a pack of vicious dogs in the mountains, and he had been beaten to a pulp, but thankfully he hadn't been maimed. Everything still hurt from the attack, though, and he hadn't had the chance to recover his strength, for a large cat he had heard the Clan cats trapped in the mountains refer to as a Sharptooth had joined the fray. The dogs had attacked and possibly killed the Sharptooth, and it in turn killed at least most of the dogs.

Now they were home, and Poppyheart would be able to rest and recover from his wounds. He struggled to climb back up to his paws when he found he was blocking the entrance into camp, not wanting to get in any cat's way -- nor did he want any cat accidentally treading on him and reigniting the dulled pain all over his body -- but he didn't get very far before he saw a familiar bluish-gray tom racing up to him, frantically calling out his name.

---

Well, this certainly hadn't been what any of his Clanmates had expected upon returning back home. As soon as they had reached the thorn barrier, Scorchstar had discovered the flood water had entangled the brambles tight enough to close up the entrance. While he and his other Clanmates had worked at tearing open the entrance again while he himself watched over Tigerkit with Thornbriar, another kit he hadn't even noticed until it was too late had managed to wander over to an unstable tree. It had been uprooted due to the excessive moisture in the ground, and it threatened to fall on the kit, but Scorchstar had gotten there just in time to save it from death.

Unfortunately, he had been crushed underneath one of the larger branches, and he had tragically lost his second life.

His father was resting in the medicine den now. The Clan didn't have any herbs at their disposal, so there was nothing that could be done to help the ShadowClan leader regain his strength after StarClan revived him and healed the worst of his injuries caused by the tree's fall. All they could do was bring him plenty of food and water, and let him get plenty of rest. This time, it was Asterspark's turn to bring Scorchstar his dinner. Grabbing a pathetically small mouse from the small fresh-kill pile, he began making his way across camp towards the medicine den next to Jaggedrock.

He was about to enter the den when many familiar scents hit his nose. He turned his head towards the repaired camp entrance and, to his joyful surprise, saw his former mentor Daisyflame pushing past the protective thorns. He must have been one of the cats who were trapped in the mountains. That meant the patrol had been successful!

The moment he saw Poppyheart and the condition he was in, Asterspark dropped the mouse to the ground in utter horror. He looked like he had just been mauled by a giant predator!

"Great StarClan, Poppyheart!" Forgetting entirely about delivering his resting father his dinner, he sprinted across camp over to his collapsed brother, nuzzling him desperately. "Poppyheart! Bro, what happened?" He quickly spotted Poppyheart's lost mate Redwing standing next to him, and he shot up his head to look at her desperately. "Redwing! What happened to him? ...What happened to all of you?" It finally hit him that the large russet-furred molly was bearing similar wounds as well, as were many other ShadowClanners who had entered camp.

---

Scorchstar hated this. Oh, great stars above, how he hated being this unproductive. He was ShadowClan's leader for StarClan's sake, he shouldn't be just laying here in the medicine den while the rest of his Clanmates fixed up camp, restocked the fresh-kill pile, and licked their wounds. Wildstrike must be incredibly stressed with having to direct so many cats at once -- even if it was just half the Clan. So what if he had just lost a life to a fallen tree? After losing his first life to disease, he should've learned how to recover quickly from death by now! Apparently he hadn't, though. Did that make him a weak leader?

He had insisted on helping his Clanmates clean up the camp despite the bad limp in his right foreleg that StarClan hadn't healed when reviving him, but nearly every one of them had told him to rest in the medicine den to recover. Sure, he could have just ignored them and done as he pleased as he was ShadowClan's leader, but ... he didn't want to put anymore stress and worry on them, especially with half their Clanmates still gone. He had no choice but to put their minds to rest and lay helplessly in the medicine den. Stars, he hated being useless.

"Great StarClan, Poppyheart!"

The sudden shriek had come from Asterspark, and it sounded like it had come from just outside the medicine den. Scorchstar lifted up his head, startled. Poppyheart had been one of three cats from ShadowClan to have traveled back up the mountain to find the rest of their missing Clanmates. Did that mean the patrol had returned? ...What had happened to his youngest son?

He didn't care what his Clanmates wanted anymore. He needed to be there for his son, and for the rest of the Clan that had returned.

He struggled up to his paws, spitting in pain when he lost balance and forcibly fell on his injured limped leg, agony shooting up his limb like lightning. Lashing his tail to and fro, as if staring down a predator while protecting an injured kit, he gritted and bared his teeth as he limped painfully out of the den and into the open.

He saw it. Poppyheart was collapsed near the entrance of camp with Asterspark next to him, as well as his daughter Mothwing and his son's mate Redwing, the latter being one of his missing Clanmates. And next to them ... was Daisyflame. His best friend was alive. He was alive! Oh, how he wanted to race up to him and embrace him. But his son needed him first. He limped rather quickly over to the returned cats, stumbling on the way there and hissing quite loudly in pain for all the Clan to hear. Cursing himself for not being stronger, he continued his way over to them in spite of his pain. "Asterspark, help Redwing bring Poppyheart to the medicine den. Redwing, Mothpaw, you two head there as well. You two look almost as beat up as he does." He turned his head and called out, "Wildstrike! Round up the rest of our Clanmates! Help our returned Clanmates to the medicine den! If no more can fit after it's been filled, bring them to the elder's den!"

Then he turned to his best friend. His eyes pricked with the threat of tears as he limped painfully over to the fluffy white-and-ginger tom. "Daisyflame.... Oh, Daisyflame, I was so scared I'd never see you again! Are you okay? Do you need to rest in the medicine den, too?"

Crowfur slowly made his way over to his brother, dull eyes reflecting some relief. Most of his clan was okay. "Scorchstar!" rasped the tom as he neared his sibling. "Haven't seen you in a while..." he trailed off as he observed the cats around him. Some had been with him during the fight while others had been here with Scorchstar. Being honest, they looked terrible. He hoped that none of their injuries were life-threatening. The warrior winced and let out a pitiful cough. Oh boy... Here comes the dreaded illness again. He had caught something when he washed up on the shore. It had left him alone for a while but returned a little after the battle with the dogs. The journey home had been absolutely the worst. He felt like dirt and his injuries screamed for him to rest for a long while. He couldn't. He had to go home. He managed to push aside the ache and agony for a decent chunk of the journey. Now, it decided to show its ugly face. He shuddered but managed to put a lazy smile on his face. Oh Starclan, let everything be okay from now on.

Spotting Scorchstar, a rush of relief and happiness flooded over the white and ginger tom.

Embracing the leader's familiar and much missed scent, the two large toms pressed their heads against each other's cheeks, purred erupting from their throats. "No, I'm fine," Daisyflame mewed softly. "Great StarClan, I've missed you so much. There's so much to tell you," he purred, lifting his head back to look at the leader. While at the cave, he'd been troubled with the thought of never seeing his best friend again, but now, all of his worries were wisped away like leaves floating in a mid leaf-fall breeze.

Having noticed that the leader was visibly hurt by the way he'd limped over to him, Daisyflame couldn't help but ask what had happened, though he was just personally glad that the dark pelted tom was alright now. "What happened? Was this from the flood?" he mewed worryingly, pointing his muzzle to Scorchstar's side.