A Beginning, an End [OPEN, SITEWIDE]

Quailprowler stalked a little behind Mottlestar, keeping her eyes peeled. Last night, she had been made warrior but was excused from her vigil due to the journey. The new warrior had taken it upon herself to make this her vigil. Thr clans would be tense at first, Gathering and just... walking together. Quailprowler had only attended one gathering- the last. She had excluded herself but now they were all here. The chatter was almost excruciating.


Burdockroot was with the ShadowClan huddle, bundles of herbs shoved into her mouth. Swear by StarClan, if she had to travel the entire way like this she would poison someone. Her badgerpelt held down more herb bundles, making it difficult to move well. She truly looked Ike a badger lumbering along.

Swiftheart gave one last look to her camp, the place that she had called home for her entire life. It was time to leave but as she stood at the camp exit watching all her clanmates shuffle out, a bitterness would not leave. Perhaps everyone else had forgotten of night or maybe moreso they did not care what happened to him at this point. But not her. She had looked for him for so long after the rat attack but never did find out what happened to him, and now with the clan leaving perhaps she never would. It felt like leaving him behind just as much as it felt like leaving home behind. Two possibilities now remained neither of which was a comforting thought. 1 option was night had died, the rats had gotten him and that was that. The second was that he was still alive but if this was the case why had he not come home sooner? Even the optimistic swiftheart was slowly now realizing that the odds of her ever seeing her brother again were near zero. ”goodbye may we meet in the stars one day”

She had to force herself to turn away from the camp and walk to catch up with her clan. She would see if anyone needed help along the way, perhaps heather and burdock needed help carrying herbs or maybe pine would like help with keeping an eye on all her kits during this, anything to distract her from her current thoughts would be nice

Goldenfern listened to Mottlestar's words with a grim look in her eyes. The forest was where she grew up in, and where many of her loved ones' bodies now laid. It felt wrong to leave them there, but she knew unless they wanted to join their ancestors so soon they had no choice but to go on this journey. As the tortoiseshell leader began issuing roles for her fellow clanmates, Goldenfern made her way through the crowd of ThunderClan cats to the rear. She would stay here, in case any kit or apprentice lagged behind.

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Flysnap's paws were tingling as their journey finally began. He had only ever heard stories of what lay beyond the Highstones, and it was with excitement in his eyes that the dark-furred tom followed his clanmates.

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Finchspeckle stayed close to her clanmates, pelt prickling with unease as gazes from other Clans occasionally landed on her. She knew that they were simply curious about the other Clans, but did they really have to stare? The dappled she-cat crossly stepped closer to Nectarflower, sticking to her mother's side like a leech.

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Larkpaw padded alongside Sweetpaw, only focusing on her sister and Mottlestar whenever she spoke. Things were moving slowly, the other Clans unfamilair and almost odd. It certainly made the fur along her neck rise. She pressed close to Sweetpaw, for her sister's comfort as much as her's.

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Berrykit was struggling to keep up with her mother, having been born just half a moon ago. Stubby legs could only get her so far, and soon the creamy kit slipped out of her parent's sight and into the crowd of legs and fur. Berrykit looked around, trying and failing to locate the familair pelts of Lavendercloud and Fuzzface.

Lavendercloud gave a grateful nod to Sootstorm as she gave a little nudge to her kit.  It was understandable that Berrykit was tired already... Come to think of it so was Lavendercloud!

She purred and slowed her pace a lot so the kit could have an easier time.  "one step at a time my kitten" she meowed, she hoped that her kits could walk a little ways before needing to be carried but it seemed that distance was now coming to a time when they might need a lift as well.

Where was that flea coated mate of hers anyhow? (jokingly and light hearted btw)

with a sigh she glanced around to see if his plump pelt stood out at all. "Fuzz? do you think you can carry Berrykit? I will get Daisykit" she meowed hoping he would hear.

She turned to Soot and offered a tired expression of a half smile, kits were rough and combined with a journey sleep wasnt really a thing she knew anymore.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on them, do you think you could carry molekit if he gets tired here soon?" she knew that was a bit to ask of the warrior but he was the clans protector and clan dad sort of nicknamed so.  And besides he could always say no.






Swiftheart turned to Tawnyshadow and "hey yourself you" she chirped and playfully tapped her friends nose with her tail.  This was not an easy time for either of them as leaving meant leaving skunk and night behind.  Regardless, perhaps now was the time to stick close to friends.  Tawnyshadows gesture of looking out for her was well received and understood. She figured, night and skunk were on their own now for better or worse, nothing at this time could change their situation and worrying about them wouldnt do any. Perhaps now it was best to try and focus on the ones she still had. She glanced around wanting to keep half an eye on Frostpaw as well. "I wonder how far we will have to go?"
she meowed quietly to Tawnyshadow just trying to keep some amount of small talk going


Bluepaw scampered to the call of mottlestar as he listened to her instructions, he nodded and upon spotting his mentor Goldenfern going to the back he chased after her.  "Goldenfern, wait up! he called reaching her side. "Can I help you with Brightpaw? Since he has a hurt paw?" he asked looking to his mentor.

Frostpaw had stuck close to Swiftheart at the very beginning before being called over to help carry some kits. At long last, a warrior had turned up to relieve her of her duties, and so the small apprentice hurried over to where her mentor stood talking to Tawnyshadow, deciding to trot along at her side like a silent little shadow. She… did not know what to think of any of this. Leaving the only place she’d ever known? Worse still, leaving along with a crowd of other cats eddying about her, and the sound of them; the yowling of cold hungry kittens, the muttered complaints of old sore elders, and above and beneath it all the wave of talk that clogged her ears and swept over her, spawning a thrumming ache in her skull. She did not like this.


Goldenpaw had meant to stick close to Tallpaw and Nectarflow like she might’ve been told to, but now she somehow found herself in the middle of a sea of unfamiliar pelts. Oh well. With a shrug, she trotted onwards, figuring that she’d bump into someone she knew eventually. This was kinda exciting, though, a whole new adventure that, while she wasn’t sure she liked it, as long as it was as temporary as everyone promised it would be, it’d be fine. Maybe she could fight some dogs along the way, or even a Twoleg? Yeah. Who knew what exotic new adversaries the trip would bring?

Acornstem, likewise to her leader, was also a bundle of nerves and anxiety. She had barely managed some semblance of sleep - if only because she had ended the night collapsed in her nest with exhaustion over the last sunrise of preparation. Checking in on the apprentices, making sure the rough plan was known, helping where she could with preparing Fawnshine's and Echosong's herbs to be fit for travel. Acornstem had lend her paw towards every little thing in an effort to make sure nothing was overlooked and yet...

The worry still remained. Had they done enough? Were they truly going to leave the camp alone? What if rogues moved in while they were gone? What if predators? What if some disaster came along - a forest fire? What if they didn't even have a camp when they return? But every single 'what if' that buzzed in her mind paled in a single truth - her Clanmates were dying. They couldn't stay even if they wanted to - not if they wanted to live. The state of their future camp mattered not a lick compared to a life of her Clanmates.

It did little to ease the fretting, but it was something to weigh her down, give her focus despite the rapid fluttering of her heart as she gazed out at her Clan - ears twitching as beside her, Mottlestar raised her voice to address the entirely of ThunderClan. She listened dutifully, even if she was already familiar with everything the leader had to say as they had spoken at length about it in the sunrises before. There was to be no trouble among the Clans, a few cats would be assigned to keep an eye on how the other Clans were doing for the health of all and two would be assigned to scout ahead...

Her job was simple, but the same as it always was...Keep an eye on her Clanmates while Mottlestar dealt with the bigger picture. Her eyes fell down to the somehow smaller leader, sensing her anxiety to start moving. Of course, it mattered little until the other Clans where here and a headcount was done to make sure nobody was left behind. But she knew Mottlestar would be busy with speaking with the other leaders - forming plans and discussing the future. How they would survive together while Acornstem would keep her Clan together in the meantime.

Mottlestar would see to the Clan as large surviving, Acornstem would see to the members itself - with stepping into each others' territory as they saw fit. They were a team after all, neither could take on the task alone and their burdens would be shared... She only prayed that they both had the strength to carry the burdens until the Clan was safely in their temporary territory...Then they would rest while their Clan prospered on thriving land...

Hopefully.

In the heart of the ThunderClan group, Blazefang raised her tail and nodded, meeting Mottlestar’s eyes in an acknowledgment of her duties. Quickly, she waved down her apprentice. “Fallowpaw,” she mewed, “would you mind walking with Dayquill and making sure he navigates the terrain?” She wanted to guide her mate herself, but for now personally sending her apprentice was the best she could do.


Lighttail hung on the fringes of ShadowClan’s party, always within sight of Stoatclaw in SkyClan. That is, until landmarks began to stir her recognition. With a quick glance at her mate, the silver tabby ran ahead to meet Leopardstar. “Hey Leopardstar!” she called. “I was wondering if I could offer my services as a scout for the clans. I’ve been out here before, after the flood, and I think I might know a few helpful things.”


Sunflare wrinkled his nose at the stench of all five clans, mewling kits and cranky elders included. Slithering through the crowd, he stopped by Burdockroot. “May I be of service?” he purred, motioning to a bundle at his feet. “I still have my trophies from the Twolegs, my own personal rite if you will, and I think I could fashion them into a carrier of sorts to take some of that load off of your back.”


Hanging back among the ThunderClan crowd, Sageroot’s heart pounded. Her world had been turned upside down in a matter of days, and now she was forced to leave the only home she’d ever known. Sure, she’d lived in the training hollow as a kit, but that was still safely within the boundaries of ThunderClan territory. Nothing about this was safe.

Wolfblossom padded with her clanmates, ears pricked and shoulders tense. Already, she deeply missed the familiarity of Skyclan's territory. She missed the towering trees and the call of birds, she missed the rock terrain beneath her paws and the soft murmur of the moonlit creek. But Skyclan's survival was more important than her nostalgia, however difficult a choice leaving the territory was, it was a better choice than seeing her clanmates slowly starve. Still, Wolfblossom was not at all happy about it, even so. A silver figure padded behind her, carefully centered among their clanmates with her head and tail down. As if she were trying to make herself invisible, yet every bone in her body was tensed as if in preparation for a fight. She had avoided crowds for a long, long time... This wouldn't be easy for her, Wolfblossom knew. Near, Graywind and Stoneheart walked, Graywind seeming to stick close to her siblings, but Wolfblossom could tell that there was an air of curiosity about the younger warrior as she gazed around at their unfamiliar surroundings. Stoneheart, meanwhile, seemed to be living up to her name, signature stoic expression firmly in place as she walked along with her clanmates.

Worst of all, though, seeing the kits trembling and unsure reminded her of those chaotic days at fourtrees, but at least, she thought, this flight from Skyclan territory was a little more organized, a little less chaotic. Bitterly, she wondered how long that would last. The kits were able to walk beside them, with the warriors taking turns picking them up to give their little paws a break. Cedarkit was beside her now, and Wolfblossom glanced down at her, trying to mask her own emotions with a gentle smile.

"We will go back, I promise you. We always do." Wolfblossom mewed, gently curling her tail over Cedarkit for a moment. "We will survive this." She added softly. Maybe if she said it enough, they would start believing it.

It wasn’t long after their kits were born that WindClan had joined up with the rest of the clans to go on this journey to a better place, or whatever. He wasn’t quite sure how long or grueling the trip would be, but for his young kits' sakes he prayed that it wasn’t too horrible. Well, so far it had proven to be a challenge simply due to the sheer amount of cats that had grouped together. It hadn’t taken long for him to lose sight of his mate, which made his heart pound a little harder, but deep down he knew she could handle her own.

After a few moments he was able to pick up her voice among the clowder of unfamiliar ones and pushed his way past countless pelts before finally reaching her. "Great StarClan," he huffed. "No wonder we ran out of food with so many mouths to feed," the plump grey tom mewed in a more hushed tone as him and his mate’s pelts brushed together. Matching her pace, he looked down to see his kittens trudging along and doing their best not to get stepped on or tripped over. While the WindClanner was usually a pretty glum fellow, seeing his family all together brought him a new found sense of joy. That being said, it hurt his heart to see that their small paws were getting more tired by the second and that they were clearly struggling to keep up, but luckily for them... he had an idea.

Slowing his pace, he stepped behind Berrykit. Leaning down and doing his best not to trip over his own paws in the process, he pushed his flat face under her belly and lifted his head quickly. With a sort of clumsy-grace, he could feel the kit slide down his short neck and rest on his back. Before saying anything, he made his way over to Daisykit, in which he did the same with. "This is how you ride in style, girls," he chuckled to his daughters as he picked up the pace once more.

Turning back to Lavendercloud who was talking to the nearby Sootstorm, he appreciated the tom’s willingness to help, but he was sure that he could handle this himself. Before the fawn-pelted tom was able to grab his son, Fuzzface trotted over and scooping him up from the rump, he placed him onto his wide back with Berrykit. "We’ll call this… the Kit-Transporter!" he mewed with a slight grin. Turning to Sootstorm, he gave the tom a nod of thanks for looking after his kits prior to him catching up to his family. Thankfully for him, the kits were still small and hardly weighed the size of a vole, so carrying them wouldn’t take too much effort.

(OOC: fuzzface is walking beside lavendercloud and sootstorm amongst the other windclanners, and he scooped up all three of his kits onto his back (like a possum carries its young <3))


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It didn’t take long for the short legged, pudgy kitten’s paws to grow tired, and Molekit found himself lagging further and further behind his mother. All he wanted was to snuggle together with his family in a nice warm nest, why had they needed to leave? Fuzzface kept them all fed and he didn’t see the issue. Of course, it was hard to see much when he was no taller than a small stone.

Before he knew it, he was being scooped up and flung a couple worm-lengths into the air. "W-whoa!" he hollered in surprise. Clenching his eye shut, he plopped down onto something soft and instantly dug his needle-like claws in an attempt to not fall overboard. After a few moments of gently rocking back and forth, he pried open his eyes to see that he was resting on his father’s back, with Berrykit in tow as well. "Daddy… be careful, don’t go too fast!" Molekit cried out shakily. This was far more terrifying than simply walking, but the relief that he felt on his paw pads was enough to keep him still, for now.


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Curlyfluff had been assigned a task and if it had been in the past he would’ve lept at the opportunity with more enthusiasm. Right now though, he hardly had the energy to interact with his own clanmates, much less four other clans. But in the end, he had no choice. Whether he wanted to or not, he’d push himself to do what his leader told him to. For now he needed to fake it, or try to at least.

Having swiftly made the rounds to his clanmates and the foreign cats that surrounded them in large groups, he found his way back over to the tortoiseshell. "Everyone’s doing fine so far," he said shortly, his tone flat. Not waiting for a reply and hoping she didn’t try to converse with him, he made his way through the crowd and over to Firefly, who just so happened to be traveling next to his daughters. He couldn’t face Mottlestar; the mother whose kit he had given a death wish to by wanting a family. Not yet.

Keeping his head low in an effort to avoid Larkpaw in case she began glaring at him, he kept on trekking forward, drowning out the nearby voices and doing his best to stifle a cough that had begun to tickle his throat. Today their journey began and he wondered how quickly it might end, seeing as though life was full of unpleasant surprises. Nothing ever seemed certain and he wondered what StarClan had in store for them all.

(OOC: curlyfluff is now walking alongside firefly and his daughters amongst the other thunderclanners)


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"So many cats…" Sweetpaw gasped as her and Larkpaw padded alongside their clanmates and the mass of cats that had grown in what felt like just a few moments. While not much scared her, she did find herself ever-so-slightly overwhelmed with all of the new sights and smells, but with Larkpaw by her side she could do anything and wasn’t about to show any sort of weakness. Besides, they were all just a bunch of other clan cats. It’s not like any of them were any better than ThunderClan, that was for sure.

On one side of the sisters was Firefly, one of their father’s close friends, and on the other side of the scar-faced molly was Curlyfluff, sulking as usual. It took a lot for the high strung apprentice to not be constantly annoyed by the curly tom’s dreary presence, but luckily for her there were currently plenty of distractions. Her father seemed distracted as well, having been given a task from Mottlestar herself. His mind never really seemed to be all there, it wasn’t like she’d known what he’d been like prior to their birth…

Shaking away those glum thoughts, she took in a deep breath."Hopefully wherever we go is cooler than home," the spunky mink-pelted apprentice began to Larkpaw, holding her head and tail high. "I wanna fight a sharptooth. I bet bringing one of those back would be enough to feed all of ThunderClan for an entire moon!" Sweetpaw giggled, thinking about how totally awesome it would be to be able to take down a beast such as that. Peeking up at Firefly from the corner of her eye and puffing out her chest fur even more than before, she hoped the gruff looking warrior could tell how strong and fierce she was.

(OOC: sweetpaw is walking with larkpaw, firefly, and curlyfluff amongst the other thunderclanners)

Oh shut up. Just... Shut. Up. Darkspirit thought bitterly when Mottlestar finished her speech. The moons on the edge of Thunderclan life had done absolutely nothing to quench the inferno that was his rage and resentment toward his clan. His tail lashed before he began to surge ahead, though he remained on the very outer edges of the clans as if he belonged to none of them. Moons of silence might have made some believe he was mute, but Darkspirit had been sure to talk to himself from time to time, for sanity and for his voice's sake.

Maybe the forest is rotting because you're an idiot Mottlestar, ever consider that? The voice inside him growled almost as loud as his belly. May the Dark Forest claim the lives of all of those who are loyal to you and love you. Even he was taken aback by his own fury, but at this point he was inconsolable. Any attempts at conversation or affection, he pushed away. He didn't even allow his siblings to comfort him anymore. His simply hissed and shrank back into the darkness. His eye had healed, but there were marks over it, and not pretty ones, where Starlingflare had left his final insult.

Darkspirit remained at the edges of the cats, barely following the masses, but acknowledging no one.

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He'd been sick since his birth. Twilightkit was old enough to be an apprentice, but he'd never had a ceremony due to his weakness. The large kit looked like a sack of bones as he struggled along with the rest of Thunderclan. The young tom forged onward with a blank, deadpan stare. Life was nothing but pain. It had been for him his entire life. He watched his siblings grow and become apprentices without him. He'd been alone in the nursery from time to time, only to become less and less interested in the kits that came and went within it. He grew older, but never moved forward. To be forced onto this journey should be the end of him. Maybe it would be.

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Lionstripe trudged after Skyclan, at first with a lowered head and a defeated posture. Leaving home was painful, like removing a piece of himself from deep within. His heart had been left behind, not just the trees. However, it was clear to him that Wolfblossom was trying to keep the clan hopeful. He wasn't doing his part, looking as defeated as he felt. His eyes met her's briefly... and the young tom reached deep inside himself to find the courage to at least fake it as much as she was.

Lionstripe brought his head up and he forced an encouraging smile onto his face. Ignoring the weight of the burning boulder within his chest as he yearned for the familiarity of home, he strode forward with a confident gait.

"It won't be a problem for us!" He assisted Wolfblossom to the best of his ability. "Skyclan is tough! Some stupid little journey isn't a big deal." He surprised himself with how confident he sounded. He just hoped the feeling would be contagious and spread to everyone else.

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The white and gold tom's eyes flicked around in a level of hyper vigilance that only the most guilty renegades and the most prepared warriors would. There was experience in his eyes, experience that didn't match his youthful face or his body. What made it worse was seeing his kits again... Darkspirit, Dayquill, Comfreyheart... Not like at a gathering... but close enough to touch. Yet so far away. How was he supposed to just stand this? Furthermore, there were other faces in the crowd that were not so welcome... faces that threatened to unleash the slumbering Dark Forest warrior caged deep within him.

Stop thinking about that. Just focus on putting one paw in front of the other... It was a phrase he kept repeating in his head... albeit uselessly. He feared that if he didn't have at least something to think about, someone outside of Skyclan would suddenly and magically know who he was. That was ludacris of course... as certain clans would probably be more focused on the fact that Beechfang was among the Skyclanner's once more. He was just Falconmoon. That's all.