Return of a Queen [OPEN!]

The flood was difficult. It had been raining for so many days which was especially hard on WindClan with very little covering offered on their territory. She had awoken to water pooling around her in her nest, carefully chosen next to her favorite brother, Goursepaw. As they tried to flee the camp, a large crack had been heard. Her life ended as the water hit her.

Blackness consumed her as she tumbled around, gasping and gagging on the water. Sandpaw was tossed against rocks and branches and who knows what. Her lungs screamed, desperate for air. Time seemed to slow for the apprentice as the fuzziness in her head grew, the pain in her chest roared. Desperately, she paddled. Her large, webbed paws fought the current.

Breaking the water barrier, Sandpaw gasped, filling her lungs with much needed water. But she wasn't out of the blue. Desperately she kept up her paddling, swallowing water as her golden head bobbed beneath the waves. Finally, her claws connected with something solid. Wood. Her claws sunk in and with the last of her strength, she heaved herself up onto the floating branch. Panting, she clung on for dear life.

Eventually, the water slowed and Sandpaw's branch nudged against the newly made shore. Her body ached as she crawled off, collapsing on to solid ground for the first time in who knows how long. Even though the sun was high now, all Sandpaw could think of was sleep.

Glancing around with her blue, weary eyes she desperately searched for a safe place to sleep. She would deal with everything else when she woke up. She couldn't even think of anything else besides sleep.

Her eyes settled on a thorny bush with pretty flowers clinging to the branches. They were destroyed, though, from the harsh rains. But the petals below would give her a good enough bedding… not that it mattered. Slowly, Sandpaw crawled to the shelter. As soon as her head rested on the ground, her eyes were shut.

-

Sandpaw had no idea how many sunrises passed when she woke up. All she knew how hungry and thirsty she was. Luckily, her thirst could easily be solved. Slowly, she crawled to the still coursing river and lapped up the water as if she had never tasted anything better in her life. The cool liquid hit her tongue and already she could feel the strength come back to her. After she drank her fill, Sandpaw set out to hunt. It was difficult with her weakened state, but eventually, she managed to wrangle a shrew. With her meal still clinging to her jaw, Sandpaw weighed her options.

It was clear. She couldn't stay here with no company, but the fact that she had no idea where she was clearly aware that there was no way back to the clans. "Sandpaw? I guess I'm just Sand now." She muttered, the dark cloud of helplessness settling in. But, as she walked to bury the bones of her kill, a new hope slowly crept up on her. She wasn't a clan cat anymore, but she wasn't dead. There was a reason for that, and she will find it.

--

The next morning Sand woke with determination. Today she would walk until her paws hurt. Then sleep. And repeat until she found more cats. All she needed was company, and she could thrive.

With the threat of insanity from loneliness, Sand set out after a quick meal of some bird she didn't recognize. She walked, she walked, and she walked. Thankful for the stamina of a WindClan cat, she made it pretty far.

The days kept going like the first. She walked and walked. The quietness of the world around her kept pushing her forward. The young she-cat had lived every day with her brother and sister by her side, so the loneliness was eating her alive. She had to keep walking.

--

After about ten sunrises, a new scent hit her nose. Tasting the air… it was DIRT! For the first time in her flood, she wondered if maybe she had wandered back to the clans. Surging forward, Sand sprinted up the crest of the hill to overlook something she had never seen before in her life. All around her tiny two legs were in dirt. They were quiet, with only a few shouts in their angry language occasionally. There were sleeping monsters in the distance, but they were asleep. Curiously, Sand stepped forward.

"Aye! You!" Sand jumped as a loud voice came from behind her. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with a cat. Finally! "Whaddya doin here?" The brown tabby cocked his head, sitting back. His demeanor was friendly, so Sand felt safe.

"I'm lost." Sand said simply, turning to glance at the two legs below in the glorious dirt. "What is this?" She couldn't stop staring. They seemed to be… Digging.

"Oh the upwalkers? Yah they're just digging for bones and ancient ol stuff. Names Mud Pit. What's you?" Mud Pit casually swiped his paw over his ear then peered back to Sand.

"Oh, I'm Sandpa- I mean Sand. I was swept in a flood, and I'm looking for others. Is it just you around here?" Sand didn't know if she could trust Mud Pit, but Mud Pit was all she had. Her stomach rumbled, quite loudly.

Mud Pit casually stood and stretched before standing and flicking his tail as he passed Sand. "Of course, follow me." He glanced back, a soft smirk on his face. "We have food too." The Tom took off down the hill, towards the upwalkers. Sand followed cautiously.

At the bottom of the tall hill, Mud Pit led her to a structure that could only have been made by the upwalkers. Even though Mud Pit and Sand were only mere tail lengths away, the upwalkers paid them no mind at all.

"Welcome to the shed." Mud Pitt called out as he entered through a hole in the walls. With her muscles tense, Sand entered after the tom.

She was greeted with at least five pairs of eyes. "That's Rock Pile," he motioned to a silver tabby. "Murky Water" Another brown tabby dipped her head. "Broken Wing" A tiny golden tom flicked his tail in acknowledgement. "Cracked Twig" A scrawny she-cat, also a brown tabby, ran up next to Mud Pit. "And finally, Fallen Rose." A bulky, white scar tom dipped his head to Sand. A whole… clan. "Everyone, this is Sand. She's one of us now. We'll think of a new name later." One of them? Well, there it was. Her new family. For the first time in the flood, happiness filled her chest as her new family swarmed her, greeting her and licking her dirty pelt. It was so close to a clan ceremony.

As the moon began to rise, the cats settled in as Sand told them about her journey, the flood, and clan life. By the time they fell asleep, it was as if she was born with the others.

--

The next day, Mud Pitt showed her around the 'dig sight' and taught her everything she needed to know.

"This is scaffolding." Mud Pitt said with a casual flick of his tail. "It holds up the dirt."

He told her about the upwalkers, and how they would feed them sometimes and let them help dig, as long as they were careful.

By the end of the day, Sand was adjusted and okay with the life she would now live.

--

A moon passed, and Sand was loving her life at the dig sight. The upwalkers were kind to her, and she had learned how to dig softly as to not disturb the dirt around where she was digging. Sand was quite a favorite, and got much attention from the upwalkers and the other cats.

In fact, she had grown quite close to Mud Pit.

And that's why it hurt so bad.

The sun was starting to set and the upwalkers were leaving the pit for the day when Mud Pit called a group meeting. Sand settled down next to Murky Water as Mud Pit took his place in front of the small crowd.

"I asked yah all here today because we've all decided on Sand's new name." Sand pricked her ears. She had no idea this was coming. Purrs Rose from the crowd and the wave of acceptance washed over her again. "We'll call you Sandy Bones from now on, al'ight?" Sandy Bones. The name suited her. With pride, she raised her spotted head as her family called her new name. Her former clan and her family were wiped from her mind. She couldn't be happier.

"An'," Mud Pit continued. "Cracked Twig and I are expecting." Sandy Bone's heart dropped. The high of her new name, ruined with heartbreak. Half heartedly, the she-cat yowled her congrats along with the others.

She went to bed alone that night.

-
More moons passed. The shed was awoken with a painful shriek. On high alert, Sandy Bones jumped up. Soon, the noise was spotted and she relaxed her muscles. It was just Cracked Twig going into labor.

Through the night, Cracked Twig was screaming and yowling. Mud Pit took a seat next to her, and was comforting her. It was different than in the clans. There was no medicine cat to help ease the pain, walk the queen through the labor.

It didn't end well. Sandy Bones was taking her turn trying to help when the blood wouldn't stop.

"Cracked Twig? Cracked Twig wake up!" Screamed Mud Pit. Finally, one single kit tumbled out, and Sandy Bones nipped the sack for a yowling, golden kitten. Much like her pelt, but also much like Broken Wing's…

"Cracked Twig is dead!" Mud Pile was sobbing now, but Sandy Bones couldn't feel present in the moment. Her head was fuzzy as she stared down at the two bodies. One alive, one dead…

She did her best to care for the kit through the night.

-

Mud Pile refused to name the kit for the first whole week in grief. Murky Water, with kits on the way herself, had managed to produce enough milk.

"Mud Pile" Sandy Bones approached the grieving tom one day. "It's time to name the kit." Her voice was soft and gentle.

The tom's golden eyes met her blue as he let out a loud sigh. "I want to name it something strong."

"Well, we used to tell tales of the first cats. This little one fits the tail of a Lion." Sandy Bones offered, nudging the little scrap toward his father.

"Lion…" Mud Pile said softly, his eyes glazing over as he looked at his 'son'. "Lion's Skull. That's his name. Because he brings death." With that, Mud Pile rolled over, turning his back to his son.

--

Lion's Skull had finally been weaned off milk and had moved on to fresh kill when the upwalkers left. Their tools were one day, and the next they were gone. The cats became weary around the pit. Scaffolding had been left behind, but a lot has been damaged by monsters as the upwalkers left.

The other cats in the group had surprised Sandy Bones. Despite the golden kit being just that, a kit, they had all shamed him. It seemed as if the blame of Cracked Twog's death had been passed on solely to Lion's Skull. It was unfair, and the pity gnawed at the she-cat, so she took to mothering the kit herself. Finally, after Mud Pile shoved Lion's Skull off a ledge she had enough.

"Mud Pit!" She approached the Tom, thick claws drawn and teeth bared. She stood in front of the whimpering Lion's Skull. "What in the bone pile's generosity do you think you're doing? He's a kit, you could have hurt him! He's your son, or have you forgotten?" Her long tail swept the kit closer to her back paws as Mud Pile casually glanced at her direction.

"That's no son of mine." He said lazily. Rage burned through Sandy Bones. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Come on Lion's Skull. We're leaving." Gently, she picked up the kits scruff as he cried out. The she-cat stormed off, up the hill she hadn't climbed since she descended it. Her ears angled back, expecting herself to hear pleas for her to stay. She heard none.
-

The journey was rough with a very young kit. Sandy Bones decided that she would head back in the opposite direction of what she came. That would lead her back to her clan, right? Hopefully.

Lion's Skull would not eat. She tried everything, begging the young cat to eat. Eat anything. He turned down every piece of fresh kill. Fish, birds, frogs, snakes. She caught it all and offered it. Nothing. Well, nearly nothing. Every other moonrise or so he would take a small nibble. The poor thing was nothing but a scrap now. Desperation pushed her on. She had to find WindClan.

-

It was the tenth sunrise since she left. As she did every morning, Sandy Bones hunted. Today, she brought back a large, plump squirrel. “Lion’s Skull!” she called out as she entered the make-shift den. With no response gracing her ears, she panicked. Nudging the kit, her worst fears were coming true. “No, no! No no no no no!!” The tom that was like a son to her was dying. Not responding. She was skinny herself, but no, she refused to believe Lion’s Skull was dead. “Please, please eat!” She bit into the squirrel, tearing off a small piece and shoving it into his mouth. “Eat! Swallow! Chew! Now!” Tears streamed down her face as the squirrel fell out of his mouth. Refusing to believe the situation, Sandy Bones scooped up the tom in her maw, exited the den, and ran.