A Stranger Met By The Wind (Open - WindClan)

“I want my mom…”

A young kit sobbed into her paws, her breaths coming in hiccups as she was gentle rattled by the movement of whatever she was in. She was caught, surrounded by flimsy pale brown walls that acted to confine her, the only glimpse of the inside of something still was that she could grab was the roof high above her. She cowered in the corner, fur fuffied in terror as she struggled to make sense of everything that had happened.

She had been playing with her siblings, her mother contently watching as the scampered along the floor of their housefolk’s den. A shadow fell over them, the tom housefolk having approached. He carefully had scooped her up, nothing being done as she was carried away. She had been held in their strange, hairless paws before and it had been pleasant...But when she had been placed into the box and left the safety of the den for the first time...She had known something was wrong.

She had cried for answers, to be put back with her siblings and mother but her housefolk had ignored her pleads and now she was left questioning what would happen to her. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, finally breaking free of her sadness to throw herself at one of the walls. It shifted beneath her weight but held strong. “Where are we going?” she mewed, waiting for answers...Only to curl up once again when nothing came.

Other than for the rumbling of whatever was shaking her prison, it was pure silence and she soon started to drift off into sleep - the terror of the situation having worn her out. Then the rumbling stopped, and there was a creaking noise...And her whole prison shifted. The kit yelped, scrambling to keep herself from sliding as she felt the same odd sensation as it was simply the flimsy floor of her container that was holding her weight - making out the underside of the scruffy furred chin of her housefolk.

“What is going on?” she cried, pawing at the side of the box in an effort to get his attention but still...Nothing. Slowly, her prison was lowered to the ground...And she watched as her housefolk turned and walked away, disappearing from sight. “Wait, no, don’t leave me here! Where is my mom? Where are my siblings?” she demanded, her voice struggling not to break as terror gripped her heart, throwing herself into the brown wall.

There was a faint rumble, the ground shook...And then true silence fell upon her.

“N-No…” she whimpered as she scrambled to the back corner, eyes wide as she stared up. She could see the sky for the first time, truly. She had seen it before from the inside of the den but she had always been protected...The sky was dark with clouds, swirling above her until… Drip. She shook her head in surprise as a water droplet hit her square in the muzzle. Drip. Drip. Drip. More started to fall from the sky, splattering the floor around her and turning the light brown slightly darker.

Slowly it started to build, the droplets becoming more frequent and her eyes widen as she spun, starting to throw herself against the wall. She wasn’t protected, she wasn’t protected! The rain was growing stronger as she clawed at the side of the box. Finally, she dropped into a crouch and threw herself in an effort to leap over it - if she could get out, perhaps she could find somewhere to take cover… She hit the side of the wall, her paw barely catching the top. Her back feet kicked and slowly the world turned as her whole prison fell to the side.

She hit the ground hard, breath escaping her as she blinked open her eyes. Blackness. There was a stretch of blackness in front of her, a terrible scent wafting toward her and causing her nose to scrunch. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. The rain was nearly a downpour at this point, hazing her gaze as she pushed herself to her paws. What…? She put a single paw onto the black ground. It felt...Weird.

She was about to take a second step when the ground started to rumble. Her eyes widen as a light cut into her vision, a roaring sound growing louder and louder. She stumbled backwards as the rumble threatened to throw her to the ground, her pawsteps still uneven from kithood as suddenly something large and loud tore past her vision. She yelped, scurrying into the far corner of the box. The rain was now a downpour, the top of the strange object she was in was starting to bow from the wetness.

“I...I…” she felt confused as she curled into a ball, hiding her head beneath her paws. Why? Why had her housefolks, who had been so kind before, do this? Why hadn’t her mother stop them? Did her family not even care? Why was she alone? “I wanna wake up,” she hiccuped quietly, praying that this was a dream.

Because she was certainly in a nightmare.

No cat really liked to patrol in the rain - save for perhaps RiverClan with their webbed paws and oily fish-pelts - but it was the reality that Clovertwist faced alongside his small patrol of Clanmates as he made his way along the border between WindClan and ShadowClan. He considered this one of the worst borders, as it reeked as well as costing lives in the past and overall just being a bit unsettling. The earth was often extra wet and gritty near the Thunderpath during a rainstorm, and it had been raining a lot more often. Clovertwist glanced back to the cats around him and called back with playful whining, "Alright, I don't know about you guys but I'm drenched. I'm getting pretty tired of the rain, and it's barely even newleaf yet." As leader of the patrol he considered his options and said, "We'll finish the Thunderpath but make a hawk's line straight back to camp. Another dryer patrol can handle what we didn't catch."

So for a while Clovertwist and his patrol walked along, marking a few places that had limited protection from the downpour. The sound of a monster was drawing nearer, but to Clovertwist's confusion he thought he heard a wail of fear. A moment later the monster roared by, deafening him briefly. The WindClan warrior raised his kinked tail to his companions. "Did you guys hear that?" he asked, glancing around. Without waiting, Clovertwist continued forward. He had a strange feeling that something wasn't quite right at the border. Despite his dripping silver tabby pelt, which looked dark gray in the rain, he carried on, distractedly marking a place here or there. As he broke through some taller grasses he spotted a strange wet brown thing, like a flimsy tree stump. Inside he heard a soft sound, like a hiccup, or a whimper perhaps, and Clovertwist tilted his head.

He edged forward, concern on his face. He could scent nothing through the rain or the acrid, overpowering stench of the Thunderpath. Clovertwist pawed at the box, edging the opening towards him. It really was like the flimsiest stump he'd ever seen, with a hole in it. Cowering inside was a kit. Clovertwist gasped. Again? he thought with concern and confusion. Who's out here abandoning kits? He tried to gather himself and asked kindly from the opening, "Hey, little kit, what's happened?"

Buttercup, the young kit, stirred at a new sound beneath the pounding rain. The sound of...Pawsteps? They were light, tickling the edge of her hearing as she scooted further back into the corner of the strange...Thing she was in. There was a long silence as she waited before a shadow fell across the opening. Her eyes blinked, fur standing on edge even when she made it out to be another cat. She stumbled to her paws, pressing her side to the back as she arched at his words, a soft hissing escaping her mouth.

She didn't know him, he could be dangerous. Her mother had always warned her that other cats wouldn't be so nice, mostly those who didn't live with housefolks. He certainly didn't look like he had housefolks so he had to be dangerous! She didn't respond to his words, quivering on her paws as she tried to figure out how to run. She...She was stuck. Cornered - the tom took up most of the entrance and she was certain that he could wiggle himself in here. He could get her, she wasn't safe. She wasn't...

The next noise that left her lips was a battle cry, shifting modes. If she couldn't run, then she would fight. And so with all the force that she could muster, she threw herself at the stranger's face. Dull claws pawing at his forehead as her back paws kicked to find purchase. Her tiny, sharp teeth snapping at his closest ear in an effort to gnaw on it. She was going to defeat this strange cat! Even...If she had no idea what she was doing.

Softpaw had some free time, so she'd decided to join Clovertwist's patrol. "Atleast it'll help the herbs grow and replenish,"she remarked, an attempt to lighten the mood. As her brother made an executive decision, she nodded, as he was leader. ""Good idea, I don't feel like treating a bunch of colds with a cold myself!" She teased, blue eyes matching the color of the rain. Her ears were sensitive, and so when a pitiful mewing sound echoed through the rain, she'd heard it first.

Her medicine cat instincts took over common sense and she broke into a sprint. Clovertwist seemed to hear it too, but she took no notice, as she was already several fox lengths away. She reached a flimsy brown thing and sniffed it. Clovertwist came a heartbeat later, and then a tiny wet ball of fur attached itself to his face. Softpaw blinked in surprise. "Easy, little one." She mewed, gently taking it by the scruff. This was a kit, and a half-drowned one at that.

Her urge to help the kit was too strong and she began licking it's fur the wrong way to warm it up. Her medicine cat training came to her as easily as a warrior's battle skills. She simply couldn't ignore a cat in need.

Spotlake had come on the patrol mostly because she was put on it and she was feeling better. Aspenheart did give her the clear. But it wasn't so effective since she still stayed in camp. So when she was put on a patrol she knew that she didn't have an excuse. She wasn't expecting kits and the kits she were taking care of were nearly apprentices. And Windclan needed all the warriors despite leafbare slipping away.

Spotlake had remained mostly quiet. That was until she heard a sound. The sound of kit. A sound she knew too well. She stayed behind them until she saw the kit. A wet kit clearly afraid. The kit's pelt color reminded her of Petalpaw's. Softpaw seemed to have things under control. And Clovertwist had found the kit. But Spotlake still padded forward and bent down. "Hello little one. We don't want to hurt you." Said Spotlake in a motherly voice.

Clovertwist didn't know how old this she-kit was, but she looked at him with more fire and fury than Mink ever had. In the two seconds he had his head in to look at her, he watched the she-kit's face switch from terror to pure fury. He recognized that she was going to pounce a breath too late. She was suddenly attached to his face, tiny little kitten claws grappling as she clambered her way onto his ear. Clovertwist couldn't hold back a yelp, feeling startled by the ferocity of her sudden attack. Pain jolted through his ear as she clamped her teeth down, and then the tom couldn't help but growl in discomfort as he winced and gently shook his head, trying to dislodge her.

Relief was soon to come in the form of Softpaw, Clovertwist's sister from another litter. She helpfully plucked the kit off his face, and the moment he was released Clovertwist moved back to assess the extent of the injuries on his face. It was certainly no battle with a dog, but kittens had sharp little fangs and claws; if she was trying to hurt him, she certainly had the tools to do so. Thankfully Spotlake moved in to intervene as well. She was a mother with plenty of experience with kits. The she-cats would be able to keep the kit distracted, hopefully. In the meantime, Clovertwist's kinked tail lashed with slight frustration as he tried to ascertain how badly he hurt. There were a few stinging cuts from where the kit had clawed her way up, particularly one across his lip, and he felt like she had scraped his ear pretty good, but all in all it was obviously just surface wounds. Clovertwist looked up to the strange scene again, curious now that he was certain he wouldn't be bleeding on everybody.

Buttercup had not been expecting there to be more cats, yelping as she was pulled free from the tom's face. Instincts commanded her to go limp, unable to put up much of a fight to escape as she tried to assess the situation around her. There was two - no three cats at least. All big and scary compared to her. At least the one behind her smelled...Nice. It reminded her of her mother, who always tend to bask near the flowers that their housefolk grew inside their large den and thus she had always carried the scent near her. She was gently lowered as the nice smelling cat started to lick her despite the downpour, warming her pelt slightly as she watched with wary eyes toward the other two cats.

One - the tom she had attacked - had a strange tail. It was...Weird, bent strangely and she watched it swish and lash and couldn't deny the kitish urge to try to pounce on it to look at it better. Another she-cat stepped forward, bending to look at her - she was far larger that the one that was grooming her. Around the size that her mother had been and ushed that they didn't want to hurt her. Buttercup...Wasn't sure she believed that. She didn't know what to make of these strange cats, so...Not soft like her family had been. Hardened, sharper. Dangerous. She scrambled backwards a bit, pressing herself closer to the nice-smelling she-cat as she glanced between the other two. "I..." she started, trying to think of what to say. But...If they were nice...She couldn't make it out here. She didn't know where she was. She... Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.

"I want to go home."

"Oh...."

Softpaw's heart swelled with pity for the little kitten who'd twolegs had abandoned it. "Clovertwist, please find some poppy seeds." She told him, without looking up for even a heartbeat. The little she-kit pressed closer to her and she wrapped her tail around the kit. While lacking motherly experience, she seemed to be a comforting figure to kits. Her cream pelt, which smelled like sorrel and lavender, seemed to mingle and mix with the kit's own pelt. The poppy seeds would help the kit deal with the shock of all of this.

"Don't worry, darling, everything will be okay.." By the scent of the kit, she knew it was a she-kit, and a kittypet, or a former one by the looks of it. Why were twolegs so cruel? Why would they leave a helpless kit out in the rain? What kind of heartless creatures would do that?"I'm Softpaw, that Spotlake, and my oldest brother, Clovertwist. We won't hurt you," she murmured, licking her head gently, "What's your name? Maybe we can hep you, you can trust us, medicine cat's honor."

Clovertwist blinked sadly at the kit as she explained her dilemma, looking defeated as she shrank against Softpaw's lean body. Despite the stinging scratches on his face, his expression softened sympathetically. "Clovertwist, please find some poppy seeds," Softpaw instructed him without even glancing up from the kit. Clovertwist looked at her with confusion, stammering, "Um... I'm sorry, I'm... not really sure where those would be way out here. There aren't even any in bloom yet, are there?" Deep down, some part of him sparked with annoyance at her demand, however polite. It seemed like she was always sending cats away while she took care of things herself. He still remembered how she had sent Barleytuft away from the meeting to discuss what had happened between his youngest litter and Aspenheart.

Still, Clovertwist had agreed with her decision; it had been to protect Barleytuft. He was ill and needed to rest. It had been too little too late, but they had tried. Clovertwist stood and watched the proceeding, not knowing exactly what his sister wanted him to do given their situation. Softpaw was the medicine cat; Clovertwist had spent moons in the medicine den, and he'd learned a lot by proximity, but he was a warrior. It was what he'd always wanted to be. It made more sense for her to be the one searching for poppy seeds and for Spotlake to be snuggling the kit. Didn't it? Still, Softpaw introduced him and Clovertwist managed a smile.

Buttercup didn't believe the nice smelling she-cat - Softpaw, apparently. She didn't know where she was, what direction home even was. Her housefolk clearly didn't want her - but why? What had she done wrong? Why had she been left alone? Was her siblings going to be okay? Would their mom? Part of her knew that somehow returning home would be a far-off dream. As much as she wanted this to be over, to curl up in the warmth of her mother's love...She had doubts that it would ever come true.

She peered at the other cats, nose scrunching up at their names. Softpaw, Spotlake, Clovertwist... What kind of names were those? There was something about them that was...Weird. And medicine cat? What did that mean? She watched the group, shifting under the gentle licks of Softpaw as Clovertwist seemed confused on where to find...Poppy seeds. Everything these cats were saying was weird and she couldn't make any sense of it. What was a poppy seed? Finally she found her voice, raising a paw to scrub at her eyes.

"B-Buttercup. My momma named me Buttercup," she explained, tail curling around her as she bundled underneath Softpaw in an effort to escape the rain. "...I don't know here home is. I wanna go home but...I...I don't understand. D-Did I do something wrong? I don't..." She fell silent as she looked at her paws. She didn't want to trust these strange cats, they seemed...So unlike her momma. They were nice enough but they weren't as...Soft as momma was. Something about them seemed so...Seriously. But...What other choice did she have?

She didn't know how to fend for herself and even under the warming licks of Softpaw, she was still so cold from the rain. "...Where is your home?" she questioned, peering at the strange cats. Certainly they had somewere to hide from the rain. Someplace to spend the nights. She didn't want to be here by the strange black stripe any longer, not with how cold it was. If they had someplace to call home, she was desperate to see it if only to have somewhere to...Figure things out. "I...I wanna be...Safe. Warm."

Softpaw looked up to meet her brother's eyes, annoyance in her gaze. If coltsfoot was to be found out here, poppy seed would surely be found. But as she looked into his eyes, her annoyance was replaced with understanding. She was still grieving Barleytuft, and so was Clovertwist. The tiny kit introduced herself as Buttercup. It was a cute sounding name, however odd it was.

"It's okay, dear; sorry, Clovertwist. I'm just... Stressed, is all. I think that's a poppy head over there, by that big oak. I'm not trying to send you away, you've got more voice in this situation than I do. You're the patrol leader. Or if you'd rather, I'll leave this little one to add a couple more scratches to you!" She meowed teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, Buttercup, we have a home. It's very nice. We have a ton of very, very nice cats there, and I'm positive they'll help look after you." She meowed gently, trying to provide the young one with comfort. She glanced over to her brother and Spotlake. "We very well can't leave her here. If you do, you'll have to leave me here as well, or drag me back kicking and screeching the whole way." She mewed, stubbornly.

However, she knew Clovertwist could never, ever, abandon a lost kit. Finchstar would more than welcome, as would as of WindClan. "We'll keep you safe; medicine cat's honor."

Clovertwist felt his fur prickle further with frustration when, a moment after explaining his confusion, Softpaw turned to look at him with a flash of annoyance in her deep blue gaze. The siblings locked eyes for just a moment, a battle of temper and patience, before the medicine cat's softened, and Clovertwist's did the same. For a moment, the situation was put on hold as the little kit raised her voice over the sounds of the rain to introduce herself. The WindClan tom turned his gaze onto the little soaked scrap, ears perked attentively. Buttercup, he remarked to himself. Is that like a butterfly? She's about as small as one. The little she-kit explained her predicament again, sounding even more exhausted and frightened then before, and Clovertwist frowned sympathetically as Buttercup went silent and looked down.

He looked at Softpaw as his sister spoke up, then, addressing the poppy seeds once more. Clovertwist dipped his head in acknowledgement of her apology, letting that momentary misunderstanding pass, and then he lifted his head to turn in the direction of the oak tree where she thought she'd seen poppy. He snickered at her playful threat of letting him handle Buttercup instead of the poppy seeds, and he awkwardly waved his knotted tail dismissively as he began to treak through the wet earth around the clustered she-cats toward the indicated oak. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I only take scars from dogs," Clovertwist answered with a chuckle, and he moved away from the group to search.

Fortunately, though Clovertwist wasn't a medicine cat, a fresh poppy head was something that he could recognize from his time in the den, and Softpaw had been right that one was waiting at the base of the oak. The silver tabby tom kept his ears swiveled back to listen to his kindhearted sister as she spoke to Buttercup. He turned back and returned to Softpaw, the poppy head held in his teeth. He blinked in agreement as she stated they couldn't leave Buttercup, but then he rolled his eyes in mild exasperation as Softpaw declared what she'd do to defend the kit. Clovertwist sat the poppy head down in Softpaw's reach and assured, "That won't be necessary, Softpaw." His sister turned back to Buttercup then, promising the little one safety.

Clovertwist nodded his dark striped head deeply and offered a smile to the little kit. "We've got a nice warm nursery full of soft nests and nice queens." He glanced meaningfully aside at Spotlake, then looked back at Buttercup again. "We're a big family, and we always take care of each other. We'd love to take care of you, too. We can keep you safe until the storm ends, and then we can try to find out where your home is. Does that sound okay?" He blinked, waiting patiently despite his deep desire to get back to camp and out of the darn rain.

Spotlake curled her tail around the kit. Spotlake let Clovertwist and Softpaw speak before she spoke. "Yeah. You can sleep in the Nursery and like Clovertwist said once this storm passes we'll find you home."

Buttercup watched the cats in silence, ears slicked back as Softpaw explained what their home was like, with the other two both speaking up in agreement. It sounded...Nice. Nicer than staying out here, for sure. The idea of other cats - so many other cats - by their words terrified her thought. These three seemed nice enough but they were wild cats, weren't they? Faint stories from her mother rung in her head, tales of vicious cats who did not have any kind housefolk taking care of them that would do anything to protect their territory. It had always been a warning to never try to escape their den, to stay inside where it was safe and warm. ...But what good had that done her? She had done her best to listen to her momma's words and be the best daughter ever but her housefolk had left her here to fend for herself.

There was some nice relief in how Clovertwist and Spotlake spoke of finding her home once this...This storm had passed but...Part of her knew that it wasn't possible. As much as she missed her momma and siblings, her housefolk didn't want her and she didn't even know what direction it was in, much less how far she had been taken. But that only drove in the point - she couldn't say no to them. She wouldn't survive, she was already so hungry and if she ran across mean cats, she... She swallowed, eyes falling to her paws. ...Was this going to be her life? Why? She didn't understand what she had done wrong, if anything. "...Yeah," she finally squeaked, looking up as she glanced at each of the three cats. "That...That sounds nice. I wanna go with you. I wanna see your home."

Softpaw smiled softly as the kit accepted their offer. "Alright, dear. These poppy seeds here will make you feel better, it'll help ease the shock, alright?" She explained, sliding two little black seeds to her.. She then looked up at Clovertwist. "How are we gonna bring her back? She's in too much shock and far too weak to walk the entire way back to camp. I'd carry her, but I'm rather short. Perhaps she could ride on your back?" She suggested, tilting her head at her brother inquisitively.  "Or we could take turns carrying her? Either way, we've got to get her dry, warm and fed. Do you think we have time to catch a sparrow or rabbit or something before we go back to camp?"