turn back the clock [OPEN]

It was good to be back?

That was what Frond felt certain he should be saying right now. He’d been gone for moons after all, stranded on the dirty rat-infested streets of Twolegplace until he was no different from the rogues that lurked in the shadows- but that was it. The problem. He’d let go of everything he’d learned here in order to survive, and now that he was once more in camp, none of it felt real. It was a fever dream, a delusional fantasy, and it wasn’t real.

It didn’t feel like home.

He’d slept, and eaten, and now he felt listless. The ThunderClanners around him smelled dissimilar. None of the apprentices were even close to his age. He was a full-grown tom, scarred and worn from his long journey, while they were little more than fresh-faced kits. Was his old mentor even still around? No one had come to fetch him for patrols or hunting, so for now, Frond lazed in the sun, tucked away in a corner of camp, letting his aching paws rest for a little longer.

Just a little longer.

A fluffy fawn tabby padded up to Frondpaw, the living proof of something he hadn’t noticed. One apprentice was still his age. Of course, he didn’t necessarily know that yet.
“Hey, Frond,” she mewed. “Good to have you back. I’m still Sagepaw, by the way. How’re you doing?”

Frond raised his head slightly at an almost-familiar voice. S- Sagepaw, wasn’t it? “Still an apprentice?” He asked, sitting up and fixing her with his forest-green gaze. How the stars was she still an apprentice? It had been moons- surely- how? She must’ve gotten in trouble somehow. Weird- she shouldn’t still be an apprentice. It bothered more than he knew how to explain, like something that- the rest of the puzzle fit, maybe, and he just didn’t care to notice that he was the only ill-fitting piece. Humph. He didn’t know how he liked this. He remembered her, yeah, slightly, but it was just- wrong.

ThunderClan was different, but some things were the same, and it was just a shame he wasn’t one of them.