The stars led me home [open]

Feeble dirt-covered paws stumbled across the land, pulling along a small, hunched-over figure. The figure was a familiar old face to some, and to others a completely new character, odd in size and nature. His body seemed to be withering away, it was obvious to any cat that he hadn't eaten in quite some time- not even his fluffy fur could hide it. The scent on his pelt suggested that he had been living off of herbs, or what little he could find, given that it was leaf-bare.

Despite how the many moons of training and hardships were shown through the scars on his flesh, the paws that carried him no longer held the capabilities to catch a mouse like they once did, the skill lost with extended periods of neglect. The only thing the tom could count on his paws for was to run, the only thing that reminded him on the blood that ran through his veins. And so that's what he did. From the moment he escaped that twoleg den, leaving Rookfire behind, he ran, through the wind, rain, and snow.

Now, Smallbean stood atop a large hill. Snow-covered paths were scattered over the territory. He hadn't seen these paths in moons, yet deep down he knew he had them memorized like the back of his paw, the trails mapped out before him in his mind. In the distance, he could see his destination, a large dip in the land, undoubtedly the Windclan camp. His bones ached, but the sight of the home he longed for so long filled him with a newfound strength, although he knew it was temporary.

Smallbean pushed himself further, through the tall grasses brittle with ice and over where the rabbit warrens surfaced. The scent of Windclan itself only grew stronger. Making a sharp turn on the path, he now faced a place he had only seen in his dreams for moons prior. "Home." Running as fast as his weakened paws could carry him, he ran toward the camp entrance, shouting the entire way, "I'm home, I'm home!" He pushed through the the camp entrance, ignoring the way his fur snagged on the gorse and stumbled into camp. "Daystar! I'm home, finally I'm home!"

Swiftspirit lifted her head at the sound of a familiar voice, tired gaze shifting towards the camp entrance. It wasn't long before the owner of the voice came into view, and Swiftspirit leapt to her paws, bounding towards the familiar patchy tabby.

"Smallbean!" He'd actually returned. That made two, in about as many weeks. "Stars, where have you been? You look terrible!" His fur may have been long, but it failed to hide just how thin the former medicine cat was. Thinner even than most of Windclan at the moment, which was no easy thing. Even with the gorge, prey was scarce and hard to find, evidenced by the scant fresh-kill pile.

Daystar... Well, Smallbean had certainly missed a lot. Swiftspirit's face fell a bit at the mention of her friend. "Dayspring is in the medicine den, she's been so sick recently..." She sighed, "Goldenfang should be making the trip to the moonstone soon. And Shrikestorm's her deputy now."

Smallbean's dark eyes lit up at the sight of a familiar face. "Oh, Swiftspirit!" He staggered over to the she-cat, meeting her halfway. "I'm so glad to see you- I'm happy to be back. I was trapped by a twoleg, and I had to leave Rookfire, and-" He paused as he noticed her expression. A nervous feeling began to turn in his stomach. "Wait, what happened to Daystar?" The tom expected some things to change while he was gone, that was inevitable. He had just hoped that nothing bad happened to those he cared about. Once Swiftspirit had explained to him what had become of Daystar- now Dayspring, his expression fell too. "Oh... I'll have to visit her soon, I just hope she's not doing too badly." He glanced over to the exposed medicine den, wondering who's paws it lay in now.

"So Goldenfang is the clan's new leader? And Shrikestorm..." He was surprised to hear the name of his former apprentice- not that he thought that he was bad for the job. Smallbean was certain that the younger tom would do well. Even if Shrikestorm was his apprentice for a little bit of time, he couldn't help but feel proud of him. "I'm happy to know that the clan is in good paws." Goldenfang was a very capable and respectable cat- at least as far as he remembered.

Speaking of Shrikestorm, he noticed the newcomer enter the camp. Although he looked so familiar... "Smallbean!" he gasped, rushing towards his former mentor. Smallbean looked worse for wear, as if he had been through the Dark Forest and back. "Thank StarClan you're back safe!" 'Safe' was some word to use, but at least he wasn't dead as feared. That was a relief. "You look like you haven't eaten in days. Come to the freshkill pile."

"Who are you?" the apprentice meowed from behind her mentor, trying her best not to let her slight disgust in the state of the cat's pelt show. Daisypaw was surprised by the warm greetings the stranger had received from both her mentor and the deputy. Could this be a warrior? Why was he so dirty? And why did he smell weird? Had he been held hostage by another clan?

“A fair question Daisypaw.” Goldenfang meowed to her daughter after leaving the nursery. She reached her head forward to meet Smallbean’s shoulder with her nose, however. A smile spread over her muzzle, slow, as if she wasn’t sure she was awake. “Fortunately, he is one of us. Smallbean, once our medicine cat. Having him back is a blessing we couldn’t have foreseen. Thank StarClan. You’ll have to tell us when and where you were captured so our patrols can stay on guard. But yes, you should eat and rest, there will be plenty of time for us to speak.” Goldenfang purred, thinking of the rest of the forest’s medicine cats due to leave in less than a day’s time.

It was almost as if Shrikestorm had heard him, because he was the next cat Smallbean saw. "Shrikestorm! I'm relieved to hear that you've been doing well. I didn't mean to be gone so long- well I didn't mean to be gone at all, but..." He trailed off, recalling the many attempts at escape he and Rookfire had failed at over the past moons. If only one of them had been successful, he'd have been back far sooner.

The mention of the fresh-kill pile pulled his attention. "Fresh-kill?" Smallbean had almost forgotten how hungry he was despite the claws of hunger actively raking at his stomach. The thought of eating actual prey after moons of just kibble and herbs was mouth-watering. "If you have any to spare, that would be... nice."

Before he could make a beeline to the fresh kill pile, a smaller voice spoke up. An apprentice poked her head out from behind Swiftspirit, one he didn't recognize.  "Oh- um, hello." He meowed awkwardly. He expected to see some new faces, but he hadn't thought about how he would deal with them. He was about to explain himself to the unfamiliar apprentice, but before he could another cat walked over. He smiled and looked up at Goldenfang, greeting her with a warm smile. "Hello, Goldenfang." He listened to her as she spoke, dipping his head to the she-cat when she turned to him "Of course, once I'm able to I can show a patrol where I was taken. Thank you, Goldenfang."

Without wasting another moment, he resumed his rough dash for the fresh-kill pile. He looked over the modest pile, expecting nothing more given that it was leaf-bare. The small amount there seemed like a feast to him, though. He carefully chose a small rabbit and drug it over to a corner of the camp that was empty, the same corner he would often eat before he was captured. He let out a sigh of relief before he dug in, relishing the taste of the meat on his tongue, something that he longed for the entire time he had been separated from the clans. For the first time in moons he felt at ease, like he wasn't always waiting for something bad to happen to him. It was nice.

Batpaw looked at the stranger shyly... who was this cat? She queitly walked over keeping to the outside edge of the crowd that had gathered around him. She was super shy but was able to pick up that Smallbean must have been lost for a long time. She was glad he was home... and what was that? he was a medicine cat too? That was good news. As much as she loved Dovefrost being around and getting to go herb hunting with him, windclan could not always rely on having a Thunderclan medicine cat.

She nodded her head shyly in respect to the long lost Smallbean Welcome home! she purred softly

Smallbean looked up from the rabbit that lay strewn at his paws to see yet another unfamiliar apprentice. He smiled nervously at the younger cat, unsure of what to do. The apprentice seemed just as nervous as he was. He tried greeting her but his words were muffled by the rabbit, so he paused for a moment to finish chewing before he spoke. "Thank you, uh..." He trailed off for a moment. "...What's your name?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. "I'm Smallbean, by the way.... Just in case you didn't know." He added quickly.

Batpaw shuffled back and forth on her paws shyly she was not good at meeting new cats. She was plenty friendly but was just super shy around anyone she did not know well.

I-i-m.... I'm Batpaw she stuttered shyly in a whisper.

she gave him a grin. I'm glad you got home safe after being lost for so long she continued being as nice as possible. She was indeed happy... for smallbean she heard had medicne cat training something their clan was in desperate need of. Berrypaw was still an apprentice and Dovefrost could not stay forever with them as much as Batpaw would have liked him to.

Wh-w... what did you do on your long jorney and adventure? she asked him

she normally would not speak this much... but the curiosity of wanting to know all his adventures made her willing to come out of her shell... even if just for a little.

Smallbean smiled at Batpaw. She reminded him of himself when he was an apprentice all those moons ago. "Nice to meet you, Batpaw." He appreciated the apprentice's curiosity, it kept him from having to carry the conversation- something that he was not at all good at. "Well... I don't know if you'll find it all that interesting, but I was captured by twolegs on the outskirts of the territory- by the Thunderpath. It was a while ago, I think. Then they put me in their monster and took me to this strange place, it was really bright and they had a bunch of little suns all over the white sky and the air smelled really strong, it burned my nose."  Just the thought of the smell made him want to gag. "Then they poked me with silver sticks and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was with Rookfire, Shadowclan's medicine cat. We were trapped in a twoleg den together, and I was there until I escaped a week ago." Guilt ate at his stomach. He wanted to go back for Rookfire, but he knew that there was no way for him to help if he was just lingering around outside the twoleg den. Something told him that Rookfire wouldn't stop trying to escape until he succeeded. Any day he felt like he'd see the tom show up- hopefully.

"From then I had to ask around the twolegplace to see if any cat knew where the clans were. I tried to hunt but uh.." He lifted his paws. "I don't seem to be very good at it anymore, so I just ate herbs so I could get home. Thank the stars that I did, I missed this place so much."

Smallbean let out a content sigh and took another large bite from what remained of the rabbit. "So, who's your mentor? D'you think I'd maybe know them? I know there's a lot of new cats since I was last here."

Batpaw nodded listening to the story. The twoleg place did indeed sound frightening and she was glad that smallbean had found his way home.

Wow that is a wild adventure she purred nodding. She grinned thinking about how cool it would be to be on such an adventure.

Hmm yeah alot has changed probably since you left... We have a new leader and therefore also a new deputy she informted him

I am the new deputies apprentice Shrikestorm she informed him

Hes older than I am so maybe you knew him before you were kidnapped by the twolegs??? she asked curiosity still burning... maybe Smalbean could tell her crazy stories of what her mentor was like when he was yoiung.

Tell me... Did Shrikestorm get into trouble when he was younger? she asked grinning a little showing a bit of mischvious side of her slightly.