Wanderer [OPEN]

Fog, nothing but fog, everywhere. It clung to the trees, the ground, the dens, the whole world. Muffling. Suffocating.

A young warrior stalked through the early morning mist, casting its tendrils aside carelessly and sending waves rippling in his wake. His fur was ungroomed, like usual, and like usual, he hardly glanced around as a stream of chattering apprentices pushed past him.

Lynxtail sighed. He padded wordlessly towards the camp entrance, sitting down beside the bramble tunnel to wait for the rest of the patrol. His gaunt face was turned towards the leaf-strewn ground. His mind was silent.

Amber eyes gleamed through the mist as it rolled through the camp. It’s ghostly touch leaving behind a small chill in the air. Truth was, Oakstar found it refreshing. The rain that had been plaguing the territory was abated for now, and the damp ground was prime habitat for prey. He stepped out from the den, stretching his muscles when he noticed a shape in the fog.

He padded up to the brown furred tom. The green eyes told him who it was. Young Lynxtail… who’s sister had recently left to see the world beyond the forest. He blinked slowly, then nudged the other tom’s shoulder comfortingly.

"She’ll be back,you know." He meowed, remembering their last conversation as she left the camp. His heart hurt to see his former apprentice leave to a world of unknowns… but he had faith she’d return. He had to. "Its too cold to sit by yourself." he sat down next to Lynxtail, wrapping his tail around the other in a small attempt to share warmth.

Fur ruffling slightly, Lynxtail turned to stare at the shape that emerged from the mist. It was Oakstar.
The young warrior turned away again, keeping his green gaze trained on the ground.
Lynxtail wasn't sure how to feel about the brown tom. It was difficult to think of him as Oakstar the leader, especially since he'd grown up around Uncle Marshstorm. Part of him wanted to continue to see him as an uncle, just like he'd seen Leopardstar as a father first and a leader second, but it almost felt like he'd be betraying his father by doing so. And if something happened to Oakstar... It would be easier, safer, if Lynxtail stayed distant.

Lynxtail nodded numbly as Oakstar sat down. Batbite would return eventually- she'd promised, after all. But what if something happened to him before she got back? What if she died somewhere, alone, without anyone to protect her?
The golden warrior shut his eyes tight for a moment. The only way to take away the pain was to stop thinking about it. Death was a fact of life. They lived with it, danced around it, every day of their lives.
But it was so easy to forget.
"But the others," He grunted before he could stop himself. Leopardclaw. Sparkfrost. "They won't..." He paused, struggling to suppress the pain, to shut off the burning and return to the numbing stillness. "They won't come back."

Oakstar blinked quietly at Lynxtail for a moment. The young tom’s words were laden with grief that he felt echoed in his own chest. He rested his head on Lynxtail’s for a moment, a brief moment of comfort that he could offer. He had thought of Leopardclaw as a brother, even down to the moment that his body was brought to camp, bloody and wounded. Dead, but he had saved many lives by driving off that fox.

"No. They won’t." He sighed, as he lifted his head. Turning it upwards, though there was no hope of seeing any stars. "They don’t need to come back… because they are already here." He looked down at the younger tom. A sad smile on his muzzle as he thought about his mother, his family. All the cats he had seen in StarClan, and all those he knew and met on his long journey.

"The stars are everywhere, Lynxtail. They shine even when we can’t see them. In the lightest of nights, and the darkest." He stood, padding to sit in front of the tom. "No matter where your sister goes, they will watch her. The rest, are already here. Because you remember them. While it’s not the same as being able to curl up next to them, or share prey, their wisdom and words still echo in you." He smiled, gesturing upwards with his muzzle. "...and you can always talk to them up there."

Eyes bright with hope, the young tom raised his head.
"They don’t need to come back... because they are already here."
Lynxtail felt his heart flutter. Did Oakstar mean what he thought he meant?
Leopardclaw, Batbite, Sparkfrost– were they alive? Perhaps Batbite had returned, and was waiting to surprise him... it was just like her to keep him waiting. If Lynxtail turned around, perhaps she would be standing behind him with a grin on her face.
Maybe she'd met Sparkfrost while traveling back and helped him recover. How wonderful would it be if they had already met? It would save him an awkward introduction... And Leopardclaw, too, must be waiting somewhere nearby. He'd been so foolish to think that all three of them would leave him without a second thought.
A soft breeze tickled the back of his neck. He could've sworn it carried the scent of his sister, his father. The young tom nearly rose to his feet right then.

"The stars are everywhere, Lynxtail. They shine even when we can’t see them. In the lightest of nights, and the darkest."

Lynxtail's smile hung haphazardly on his maw, confusion casting his face into shadow. What did his sister's return have to do with the stars?
His shoulders slumped forward as the rest of Oakstar's words sank in. He was right about one thing, at least.
It wasn't the same.

Remembering someone did nothing to bring them back. All it did was dig up old prey, rotten and scarred and best left forgotten. It was a painful distraction.
The memory of his mother haunted him still. Even now he could see her, eyes wild, lip lifted in an expression of disgust. He remembered clearly the sting of terror as she bore down on him, one paw raised, her claws gleaming dully in the faint leaf-fall light.

Fear. Even now, that was all that remembering brought him.

There was a moment of silence. Lynxtail's gaze wandered towards the stars and the inky-grey mountains just before them.
And suddenly, Lynxtail realized what he'd been missing.
Oakstar was right. Leopardclaw and Sparkfrost now walked in the stars as warriors of Starclan. What was stopping him from visiting them? Lynxtail had been to Highstones before, and he knew the way, although not well. His moonstone journey had happened long ago, but he could recall the rocky path up the slope of the mountain, the dizzying walk through the tunnels, and of course, touching the moonstone and being lulled to sleep.
It was simple, really. The golden-brown tom nearly laughed at himself for forgetting. All this time, he could've talked to them, said what needed to be said, and be done with it.
"Thank you, Oakstar." He said earnestly, meeting the tom's amber gaze.