Homecoming [Open]

Seven moons. It felt longer. Briarthorn was sitting at the edge of the moors, three kits around his paws. After Hollyhock had told him that she was pregnant, he had told her of his past. His time as a medicine cat, StarClan telling him to become a Warrior, the fights he had gotten into, the life he had taken from Ivystar... Despite all that, she wanted him to take their kits with him to WindClan. Briarthorn wanted her to come with him, but she had felt torn between her new family and the life she had lived at the barn. It was her home, and she couldn't leave it. When the kits were old enough to take the journey, they said their final farewells, and he found himself doing something he never thought he would. Returning to WindClan, his home.

As the sun began to peak above the horizon,  Briarthorn stood. "It's time to get up, little ones," he said, gently nudging his kits to their feet. "The sun is rising. Don't worry, it's not much farther now." They had done well with the trek to the moors, one that had taken him many days by himself. They started through the tall grass, slowly but surely. As they neared the camp, he became increasingly worried about what his clanmates would say and do. They knew what he had done, would they even accept him back? He stopped at the entrance to camp, finding himself too terrified to enter. No. I said that I would do this! If not for me, then... for her. Briarthorn walked into camp, the kits trailing tiredly behind him. Most of the clan was awake, sharing tongues, eating from the fresh kill pile, getting organized for patrols... Multiple heads turned towards him before he even spoke. "WindClan, I... I'm home."

It was certainly an odd sight seeing a strange cat at her camp, let alone one with kits. Still at any rate, she couldn't refuse the tom help, and he clearly needed it, too. So, singling for her Clan to maintain a distance, as there was no use overwhelm the stranger, and she approached.

"Greetings. My name is Lilacstar, I am the leader of this Clan. May I ask what brings you here? You called this place 'home', were you a WindClan warrior previously?"

This loner was definitely an intriguing one, and she wanted as much information as possible. Smiling at the kits, she bent down to be at face-level with them. "Hey, guys! Why don't you go get some fresh kill from the pile? I bet you guys are so hungry after finding your way here! One of the warriors could help you, if you'd like. Your father and I are going to talk. It seems we have much to discuss."

Looking back up at the tom, she nodded her head to a more comfortable location. "Shall we?"

Despite the signaling to keep at a distance, the sight of her half-brother, whom she regarded as her full kin, caused her to bolt forward with more speed than she had in many moons. "BRIARTHORN! Oh, Briar! You're back! Where've you been? Oh-- oh stars, you don't know. I'll tell you later. Quickly, my de-- er, uh, Smallbean's den, now. I'll.. uh, he'll check you over, but don't worry; I'll be there." Quickly, Softbreeze realized she was rambling, but a happy rumbling noise came from within her throat, and she led him forward, forgetting about Lilacstar's presence near entirely.

"Things have... changed, but we're still WindClan at heart. When you disappeared, I think Lilac was a kit in the nursery. She's... Leader now, um, it's.. A long story. OH MY STARS ARE THOSE YOURS?!" Her statement ended in a joyful yowl as she looked down at the bundles of fluff at him paws. "Oh my goodness.." She mewed, breathless in wonder. "You all must be so tired, and once you're settled.. I'm afraid I'll have to share some bad news, Briarthorn. I missed you, don't ever leave us again."

Goldenkit hugged close to her father’s hind leg, wary of all the new smells and sounds. There were so many cats... what was this place? Why were they here? “Is Mum coming soon? I miss her. I’m tired.” She pouted as she mewed pitifully. Her father moved them along anyway and she kept her complaints in her mind. The cream kitten scuffed her feet when a pair of older cats approached, and one of them got closer to the ground to speak with her and her siblings. The molly was friendly and Goldenkit was pretty hungry, but she wouldn’t leave her dad’s side. “Dad, why is she yelling?” She whispered when the second she-cat responded for loudly upon seeing the kits.

"I-I'm sorry, Goldenkit. I don't think that your mother's going to be joining us here. She... she had things that she needed to take care of back at the barn." Briarthorn watched as an unfamiliar she-cat padded towards him, introducing herself. She doesn't recognize me... Does she know? He started to speak but than paused, noticing the name that she had called herself. "Lilac...star?" he started, confused. "Wh-what happened to Olivestar? And why didn't Wildflower become the next leader?" Before he could say any more, a joyful yowling of his name caught his attention. He turned just in time to see Softbreeze, his half sister, running towards him. Tears filled his eyes at the sight of his kin, not seen in many moons. "Softbreeze! It's so good to see you again." Briarthorn listened as his sister spoke, directing him towards the medicine den, which apparently wasn't hers anymore. ...Smallbean's den? Did she retire?

Before he could ask her any questions, Softbreeze noticed his three kits. Briarthorn gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah, these are mine." He leaned down to his kits when Goldenkit asked why Sofbreeze was yelling. "Don't worry, she's my sister and my friend. She's just really excited to see us. Why don't you go get some food like the nice cat suggested? You must be really hungry and tired. Don't be scared, this is where I grew up! You'll be safe here." He stood up all the way, turning to his sister. From the reactions of Softbreeze and his clan, it didn't seem like they knew what he had done to Ivystar. As much as he wanted it to stay that way, Briarthorn knew that he needed to tell them. He nodded as his sister continued to speak. There were more things she wanted to tell him, bad news that she needed to share. "I have some things I need to tell you too, Softbreeze. I should probably tell Lilacstar as well."

"I- stars you really have been away a long time. Olivestar and Wildflower, they're-" She couldn't bring herself to say the words. She still didn't want to believe it. But why would StarClan call upon her to be leader otherwise? Still, the word itself remain a lump in her throat she still could not voice. "They're gone. I'm so sorry. I have no doubt you cared for them during your time here. Olivestar, she was my mother, and Wildflower was my mentor and friend."

As it was revealed that Briarthorn was Softbreeze's brother, Lilacstar felt her heart drop. If they were siblings...... stars, he had to be told of Goldengale. She was his sister too. But perhaps she would leave that news to the cats he was closest too. "Briarthorn was it?" As if Softbreeze had not yelled to the entire Clan the name of the tom. "Would you also wish for Downtuft to be here, as well? I am sure he is available, although I do not believe anyone else will be able to join us, at the moment. A lot of cats are quite busy at the moment, and I am sure you wish to keep the crowd small anyway."

That reasoning would have to do, for now. In technicality, she had not lied. And it was clear that Softbreeze was going to tell him anyway. But she would not force the information to be shared prematurely.

"Oh, stars, you're right, Lilacstar. I'll be right back! Down's sleeping his tail off in the medicine den right now!" With a hop, skip, and a quick nod to her brother, she dashed off into the den she'd called home for moons. Downtuft had wrenched a claw while snagging a large magpie from the sky earlier that day, but he'd no doubt want to be there. "Downtuft! Down! DOOOWWWWNNN! Briarthorn-- he's back!" She huffed, and the sandy ginger warrior looked at her in shock, as if he hadn't quite heard her correctly. The eager light in her eyes told him everything he needed to know, and the mossy mess he left made it appear as though some cat had been strangled there.

It was merely a flash of cream and ginger as they raced back to Briarthorn and Downtuft cried for the fourth time in his life. Her reared up on his hind legs, loosely wrapping his forepaws around Briarthorn's neck. "Briarthorn.. Brother! I-I feared you were dead. You absolute foxhearted fool! Then again, knowing you, Asylum would've killed you first and-- oh." Finally, it seemed, realization dawned onto Downtuft and he realized: Briarthorn didn't know what torture WindClan and the other Clans had endured. "You.. You might wanna sit down." He mewed, voice gravelly and grave, shutting his eyes briefly.

Gently, the siblings led their half-brother over to a sandy area to sit, leaving Lilacstar to take care of showing the little ones where to find the fresh-kill pile.."There's no easy way to say this, so I'm going to be completely honest with you, Briarthorn. WindClan isn't the same Clan as when you left. We're still fractured and grieving, and you'll notice we're short several cats you knew and loved." Softbreeze started, voice shaking.

Downtuft placed his tail tip on her shoulder, "The predator cats returned. Theron, the one who escaped, she came back-- but with an entire group of cats. They called themselves Asylum and they attacked in the dead of night. They killed-- They killed G-goldengale.. And they attacked Hayglow. They forced us to surrender, and when we revolted, they blinded Dappleshine. Two foxhearts destroyed Softbreeze's herbs and.... And Dappleshine died." Downtuft stopped abruptly as a sob shook Softbreeze's shoulders  "I caused her death, Briarthorn. If I'd kept my mouth shut, they wouldn't have harmed her. Raventail wouldn't had run away, and he wouldn't have been killed."

"It was awful, Briar. We were like prisoners in our own home. We couldn't leave without one of them, we couldn't go to Fourtrees or the Moonstone, we couldn't even talk to cats at the border. And if someone got upset and made Asylum angry they took them away and prisoned them in thorny cages in Fourtrees. You should've seen Deerhawk and Fawnstep, they looked so thin and were little more than sticks. Olivestar and Morningdove left.. I think they went to try and find Asylum's source. Wildflower.. She disappeared shortly after three of our kits did. We later found out Asylum stole our own kin, and trained them to detain us, lying to them for their whole lives. Personally, I wouldn't put any of them above killing Wildflower. Maplewhisker was made deputy, but since she helped Morningdove and Olivestar escape, Asylum maimed her and she was unable to become leader."

"StarClan showed us a sign, and Lilacstar was made leader. Dayspring, Downtuft's former apprentice, is deputy now. Thalia, one of the stolen kits, killed Gingertalon after Ginger scratched her cheek, and so Lilacstar exiled her and forced her to leave. I was forced to take Smallbean on as an apprentice, but he actually came to enjoy it, and he is skilled. Eventually, Beecloud learned they wouldn't stop border fights, and eventually they defeated Eris, Asylum's head, in Fourtrees. Beecloud died, but in his death he took Eris with him, and he freed us."

Softbreeze's voice was little more than a whisper, as she finished, and she wasn't able to look Briarthorn in the eyes. "I'm sorry you had to learn all of this after just arriving.." Downtuft murmured, usually sharp emerald eyes softened as he reached a paw out.