Like I've Never Left [O]

Nothing ever seemed to go Yarrowblossom’s way, did it?

First, he got terribly, terribly lost. He was never the most graceful hunter, but even a kit could have caught that trout, let alone chase its poor slimy tail all the way to the borders and then some. Then he fell in, naturally, because StarClan seems to hate him. His stupid, fox-ragged leg gave out and he fell in and couldn’t get himself back out because he was just too weak to.

He nearly drowned before he managed to crawl to the shore, water-logged and miserable. He would have been singing his ancestors praises if he had any idea where the river had taken him.

And then he got sick. Really, really sick. Cold and lost and barely conscious enough to keep dragging his soaked body onwards. Luckily he had washed up near some nice twolegs— he never would have called twolegs nice before, but Yarrowblossom was fairly sure that the dry, tasteless kittypet kibble they had left out for him at night was the only thing that kept him alive.  He never let them near him though; he had to keep his dignity somehow, no matter how miserable he was.

Yarrowblossom had very quickly lost track of time, but he was fairly sure at least a moon had passed since he had stepped foot on RiverClan territory. The moon was high and round in the sky again, the nights long and the days wet, miserable and frightfully short. He started his journey back when the moon was still waning.

It took a while because the storms started.

Storms that put Yarrowblossom exactly where he is right now— stuck in the mud and the reeds somewhere off the River. He had just made it to RiverClan’s territory that day, happy and exhausted. So happy. Elation had bubbled up and eaten away at all of his misery and suffering and he could no longer focus on where his paws hit the mud. And then he slipped, and then he fell.

StarClan must have it out for Yarrowblossom.

”Help!” the lanky tom squealed, wiggling wildly. Of course, this only tangled him further. ”It’s Yarrowblossom! I’m back! But— But I’m stuck!” It took a lot of effort not to add ”as expected” at the end.