The Long, Painful Journey Home

Dappledlight kept her gaze forward as she plodded through the unfamiliar forest along with her apprentice. From a difficult climb through the trees, she could tell there were mountains in the distance. She only hoped that they were Highstones. Cobwebs were plastered over the large wound on her side, along with the few herbs that she could find. It still burned with every step. They would get help, once they were back in the clans. If we make it back to the clans, that is, a small voice whispered in her mind. She tried to push the thought away, but it always lingered in the back of her mind. She needed to survive, not just for herself, but for Lightpaw.


Dappledlight felt the soft morning light wash over her pelt. She sleepily blinked open her eyes, expecting to see the warrior den’s wall. She was momentarily surprised to see treetops. She still hadn't gotten used to the fact she was lost. She looked over at Lightpaw and noted that she had still been sleeping. Dappledlight removed the old cobwebs from her wound. It seemed to be healing, but she couldn’t tell. I do need to get some real help, she thought. The spotted molly wandered out in search of more, but her paw caught on some brambles. She tried to pull it out from the thorns but slipped on the muddy ground. The brambles tore at her paw as she rolled down the brush-filled hill. Once she had finally reached the end of the hill, Dappledlight got up and grumpily shook out her pelt. She was aching from the tumble. "I'm fine," she softly meowed, trying not to show the pain she was in. She tried her best to pick out the burrs stuck in her short fur. In the process and from Lightpaw's comment, she noticed that her wound had started to bleed again. “Oh great,” she hissed under her breath, “That’s just what I needed.” The scent of mouse wafted through the air, and she heard her stomach growl. The tempting smell made her forget about the recent event, and she set off to find the prey. She had noticed that Lightpaw had caught less than her, and she pushed a plump mouse she caught towards her. She needed it more than her.


Four sunrises had passed since she had first been washed away, and her paw pads felt raw from the nonstop traveling. They had crossed a thunderpath earlier and reached the base of the mountains. She had begun to lose hope, but the sight of them sparked determination in her. Hopefully, these were Highstones, but they couldn’t have gone that far, right? Her injury didn’t seem to be getting much better, maybe a bit worse, but she would get help once she was back in the clans. There was no use stopping. That’s just what she had to keep telling herself. The high peaks intimidated her a bit, though she ventured farther towards them. They had reached a rocky path by the end of the day and a break in it stood before her. She scrambled up to the first ledge and leaped towards the next one. Once she had safely reached it, she judged her next leap. Shooting pain in her leg made her stumble, nearly falling off the ledge. Dappledlight desperately clawed at the stone to keep herself from falling. She managed to haul herself onto the outcropping, but the scare left her gasping for air. She gave a small nod in response to her apprentice's concerns. She finally leaped onto the next two ledges and waited for Lightpaw to cross over as well. She quickly fell asleep under a dead bush, hoping to gain a little cover.


Dappledlight awoke the next morning in a cold sweat and her pelt felt like it was on fire. She gasped and looked around, trying to find the problem. She noticed her injury looked red and inflamed. She felt absolutely horrible and wondered what could be wrong. Is it infected? Should I wait and find some herbs? No, I don’t know any, what if I make it worse?!, her mind raced. She tried to calm down and think of a solution, Well if we're so close to the clans, wouldn’t it make more sense to just keep going? Hopefully, we could make it back in a few sunrises. She got up with a wince and limped off, hoping not to tear the skin anymore. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's fine. Plus, we're hopefully close to the clans!" she lied, with a halfhearted smile. Lightpaw didn't have to worry for her health, she did enough worrying for the both of them.


They had finally crossed through the mountains, and relief washed over her as she saw Mothermouth. So she was right! The pain in her side had become unbearable and she felt sick to her stomach half the time, but she couldn’t stop now. They were so close! She bounded forward, trying to keep a fast pace despite her pain. From her Moonstone journey, she knew could make it back to ShadowClan by the end of the day! She threw back her head to check on Lightpaw every now and again, to make sure she hadn't fallen behind.


ShadowClan’s marshes were too flooded for her to feel safe, so Dappledlight followed the edge of the Thunderpath. Exhaustion weighed heavy on her mind and the edges of her vision blurred. Still, she couldn’t give up at the last moment. If they just kept pushing, they would be at ThunderClan’s camp by Moonhigh. Dappledlight slipped through the tunnel under the thunderpath and ventured into the forest beyond. She hoped that ThunderClan would let her seek refuge.

The member 'Lilystorm' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Invasion Dice' :

Lightpaw winced as she looked at the wound on her mentor’s side. It didn’t look good. Not that her head was much better. Lightpaw had thankfully escaped without any seriously big wounds or broken bones, but she’d hit her head hard. Her ears rang, the light burned her eyes, and she felt dizzy and nauseous. But still she plodded on beside her aunt. They had to get back to the clans. Sometimes, though, Lightpaw felt like her body was screaming for her to stop. Her head would barely permit her to hunt, and so she grew hungrier and weaker as time wore on. Still, she pictured the rest of the clan, especially Snowfoot, missing her and Dappledlight, and she knew they had to try.

Once again, the silver apprentice awoke beneath the open sky, with only her mentor for company. Or not, the spot where she’d slept was empty. Slowly getting up, Lightpaw began to look for Dappledlight. Suddenly, she heard a loud crashing sound. Padding in the direction of the sound, she found her mentor lying in a heap at the bottom of a small hill. “Are you okay?” she gasped, then noticed something. “Oh no, you’re bleeding again! Where is Fuzzybelly when you need him?” Soon, she noticed the smell of mouse. It seemed Dappledlight had too as she padded off in that direction. Lightpaw tried to hunt, but she wasn’t all that successful, catching a single scrawny mouse and three beetles.

Time wore on, and Lightpaw’s head and Dappledlight’s wound got no better. Finally, though, the mountains were in sight. Wordlessly, the young cat followed her mentor, hope rising in her chest as she noticed a change in Dappledlight’s posture. Could this be Highstones? She didn’t ask though, because Dappledlight had lost her balance and fallen. Lightpaw helped her up as best she could. “Please don’t fall again,” she said. “We can’t have anything happening to you.”

The following morning, Lightpaw was awake first for once. Dappledlight seemed restless, and Lightpaw couldn’t help but notice the condition of her wound seemed to be even worse than before. “Snap, and we can’t treat that,” she said to herself. “We’ve just got to get home, no two ways about it.”

Finally, they crossed the mountains and clan territory was in sight. Lightpaw began to tear up. “I never thought I’d be this emotional over just the area itself,” she mewed softly. She sped up to catch up with Dappledlight, though her head was spinning and she felt sick. She kept her eyes on her aunt, or she wouldn’t even be able to keep running in the right direction.

In the end, their path led to ThunderClan as ShadowClan territory was still completely unsafe. Little did they know though, that a very worried family member of theirs was in the ThunderClan camp.

Patrolling alone had become a staple of Dayquill's routine since the flood pushed ShadowClan out of their home. He didn't mind the other Clan's presence much, and went largely unbothered by them, but camp had quickly become crowded. It was a relief to take some peace where he could find it, even if searching for that relief lead him to the roar of the Thunderpath.

As he drew closer, the tom hesitated in the brush, ears turned forward to listen for the sound of approaching monsters. There was no rumbling, only the half-faded, acrid stench that the monsters left behind. There was another scent buried under it, though he couldn't quite place it. Shrugging, Dayquill stepped out of the ferns, and was surprised to find himself face to face with an unfamiliar pair of cats. With a deep breath, he realized it was them that carried the odd smell. Mud, stale water... blood and sickness. And ShadowClan? It was hard to tell. His blue eyes flicked over the pair, eyeing their wounds before his attention settled on the older of the two.

"You're... hurt." He mewed plainly, tilting his head. "Are you ShadowClan? Because you look... pretty bad." Dayquill cleared his throat, shuffling on his paws. Even if the pair admitted to being rogues, he felt bad for them. They looked in horrible shape, wounded and haggard. Without waiting for them to answer, he went on softly, "Some of ShadowClan is already staying here, with ThunderClan. I can take you back to camp, and... and we'll get you both looked at?"

A warrior suddenly appeared from the undergrowth and startled Dappledlight. She should have assumed this would happen, but she was only thinking about getting to ThunderClan camp, so it never crossed her mind. He pointed out her wounds, and she looked over them. They did look quite painful. "Yeah... that'd be nice," she managed to mumble around a yawn.