The Return [OPEN]

Beechfang had been all too happy to split from the patrol the moment she was able, breaking away to bound between tall, snow-covered trees and through the rocky gullies of Skyclan territory. It wasn't that she didn't like the other medicine cats... Well, she didn't. At all. Except for Dovefrost and maybe Basilbloom herself. And she was sure Dovefrost and his clanmate were eagerly awaiting a chance to split from the patrol when they reached Thunderclan territory, as well. Not that Beechfang could blame them. Between having to put up with that obnoxious Windclanner, her niece and that filthy excuse of a Riverclanner, she was very glad to get away from them and be on her own territory once more. She'd found Basilbloom's coneflower, there was no reason for her to stick around as they made their way back into clan territory. It was good to finally put distance between herself and the others. She hadn't slept well at all on the trip to twolegplace, tense and unhappy with being around cats she either didn't know or didn't like, as well as uneasy with being away from the clan at all for this length of time. Her dreams were seldom pleasant to begin with, but lately... Beechfang shook her head. The search for the herb had taken a bit longer than expected, in part due to the Windclanner's injury and Thrushnose falling ill. In short, she was tired. Muddythorn could see the others off or join her as he pleased, she didn't much care either way.

It wasn't long before she found herself in front of the camp entrance, and Beechfang was glad to be home finally. The camp lay covered in snow, a few warriors milling about. Her eyes scanned for Bloodstar, or at the very least Ashstorm, and she waved her tail once she spotted one of the two, continuing forward towards the medicine den.

"I found Basilbloom's herb. She called it coneflower, it treats whitecough and greencough." She greeted unceremoniously, words slightly muffled by the bundle in her jaws as she beelined for the medicine den to store them properly. "We can scatter the seeds along the great ridge, let them grow and not have to drag ourselves to twolegplace every time we need them." She added once she set the herbs down among the rest of Skyclan's... very pitiful stores. She'd found a bit of catmint and tansy that she'd brought back home as well. Good thing, with how low they seemed to be on everything.

Not my problem. Beechfang reminded herself, turning away. "If I never have to see Ashfall or Cloverheart's filthy hide again, it'll be too soon." She muttered, "Please tell me nothing happened while we were gone." That fear had been at the forefront of her mind just as it had been with every trip to the moonstone. By the looks of things, nobody was sick or too terribly injured at least... Though with how scarce prey seemed to be, she imagined most cats were out on patrol hunting. She hadn't bothered seeking out anyone on the way, had simply beelined for camp itself.

Bloodstar had been near the medicine den, peaking in and sighing at the... yes... pitiful stores. He had given Murkystar what he could. The guards at the entrance to camp made a bit of a commotion and Bloodstar turned his head to look. His eyes landed on Beechfang. An immense weight lifted off of his shoulders and he sighed with relief. Dawnhawk nor his delinquent children had found her. She seemed fine. He approached her with a smile and kept quiet so she could share her news. He eyed the bundle that Basilbloom had given her.

"Oh okay... good." He didn't have much to say on that matter. He thought there were already herbs that treated Whitecough and Greencough... but oh well. "We should wait until the worst of this leaf-bare has passed before we scatter them. With our luck the harsh cold would just kill them." Speaking of their luck... of course Beechfang had to ask. He sighed, but he wasn't going to lie to her. She was a warrior... she would probably have to face the new threats eventually.

"Well I do have some news." He nodded toward the medicine den and walked inside. He sat down, hoping she would be content to sit as well. "I was attacked by a group of rogues when you left. I lost a life." He looked down, clearly ashamed that he was just as able to be killed as someone else. "I'm fine... but the attack wasn't random. They were Dawnhawk's kits. I know this because Shadowclan killed one of them at their border... and you know how vengeful Dawnhawk is. He lead an attack on Shadowclan and his group was large enough that Shadowclan... did not fare well. Murkystar came to me asking for any herbs that we could spare. I gave her what I could... We were very worried that the group was hiding in twoleg place and would have found all of you. I'm glad you're safe." And he meant it.

"So... Dawnhawk is still alive and well despite the harsh leaf-bare. He has a large family of his own now it seems... and he is teaching them to hate the clans. Or at least Skyclan. If anything else requiring our warriors or medicine cat to be called away comes up again, I am going to refuse. At least until this threat is taken care of." He knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear, but someone had to tell her.

When Beechfang had abruptly left, Muddythorn had no choice but to give a hurried farewell to the rest of the group before following in her wake. He originally was going to try and catch up, or ask the warrior to wait, but it was clear from her pace that the only thing on her mind was making it home. Unlike the tom, Beechfang seemed to have a short limit on how long she could tolerate certain cats (or sometimes anyone at all), and had openly disliked several on the patrol. And so the medicine cat walked by himself, small bundle of their precious collection in his jaws. Even though he had no quarrel with anyone in the patrol, it was very nice to set his paws on familiar territory once again.

"We're back!" He called as he crossed through the camp entrance. He arrived only moments after Beechfang, and their paths crossed briefly as he went to place his bundle in the medicine den. He couldn't help but notice how there were less herbs here than when he left, and hoped that nothing too bad had happened. Bloodstar joined them in the medicine den, and Muddythorn took a seat to listen. 

Lost a life? It was one thing for a leader who had lives to spare, but for any other cat, it was not as light a matter. What is poor Basilbloom going home to? Shadowclan'd had rouge issues in the past, but this was so much worse. Dawnhawk would always be a great threat to Skyclan, given his want for vengeance. He had taken enough of their cats already. And Muddythorn wasn't even going to cover the fact that Dawnhawk had a family now. In some ways, he felt bad - these kits were young and probably had no idea how many lies they had been told. Even then, many would never let them feel wanted, like how Tornshadow had left moons ago.

"That seems fair Bloodstar. And thank you for giving herbs to Shadowclan, as I am sure Basilbloom would do the same for us. If Dawnhawk's group really is growing, the clans will have to stay on good terms with each other. That was one of the reasons Asylum's rule was effective for so long." He didn't want to repeat what his grandfather already knew, but he felt the need to speak what was on his mind.

At his comment, Beechfang merely nodded. It would be too cold to put those seeds out now, that was true. Still she could almost hear the thoughts that Bloodstar didn’t speak. Probably because she had had the same thoughts. Maybe they were similar. "It might have more uses, too. We didn’t exactly have much to test on aside from poor Thrushnose and the idiot Windclanner. Got his leg snapped by a dog." She couldn’t have had a lower opinion of anyone in Windclan if she tried, and Beechfang didn’t care at all about hiding it. She flicked her tail at Muddythorn’s words, a flash of disapproval crossing her expression at the mention of giving Shadowclan herbs. It was their fault they didn’t have any medicine cats to help!

"Told her something would happen while we were all gone." Beechfang growled, ears flattening as Bloodstar spoke. "Send all the medicine cats and capable warriors away during leafbare. Because that never had any potential to leave the clans vulnerable. I bet Murkystar must be proud." Her lip curled. Perhaps they shouldn't have gone at all. Shadowclan had been attacked? Bloodstar had lost a life. How many lives had she been doomed to watch Wolfstar lose because of Dawnhawk? How many would Bloodstar lose to his own son? How many else would he take down with him? "The forest would be better if they were all dead. The last thing anyone needs are more Dawnhawks running around." One Dawnhawk was bad enough, thank you.

"We didn't come across any rogues in twolegplace at all, let alone his scent... He must have found somewhere else to hide." Her tail lashed at the idea unhappily. This needed to end, someone had to kill him. And by Starclan Beechfang would be the one to do it if she ever saw him again.