Returns[o]

Her travels had took her far. Farther than she planned, but she realized if she was to find her son her best chances were to retrace their journey's steps. She had only spent half a moon in the Twoleg place. She just couldn't stand the hectic place and it was clear nobody there had any information. So, she turned back to their great journey towards the lake.



It wasn't bad at that point, in some regards. It was peaceful, being alone. Doing what she wanted and had no cat who was basically a kit telling her where she should be and when. It was easy to see the appeal of being a loner, when filtered through that lense.

But what did not appeal to her was the lack of her family. The family she had fought tooth and nail for and experienced so much loss for. As the moons passed, the thought wore her down more and more until one night, it fully hit.

She was laying under the stars, staring up at them. Wondering if the stars above her were her missing kits or the loved ones of some other group of cats. As she gazed at them, the realization that she had ignored for so long finally settled into her chest.

The dead were dead. And the living were still living, waiting for her.

Turning to her side to hide from the watchful nature of the stars, Coyotegrin instead stared at a bush. In finding her dead children, she had left her living ones alone. There was no telling what had happened when she was gone. Maybe they too, had joined the stars and she didn't even know.

The next morning, her race back to WindClan began. It was a straight path now, with very little stops to explore. Search. There was no more searching anymore.

Her children were dead.

It took many sleeps to get back to the moors, and Coyotegrin stood on the edge of the moors to collect her thoughts. Whatever had happened, she would deal with.

Her journey also taught her more things than the sense of freedom. Her self pity had to go. Her self absorbed nature had to go. When she was a young warrior, all she cared about was WindClan. Over the moons that had turned to selfishness and scorn. She herself was the oldest warrior had seen so many things, experienced so much more than most of those who walked the moor. Instead of keeping her wisdom inside her out of contempt, she will mow share it so WindClan could hopefully flourish once more.

A few days travel away, Coyotegrin found someone. Someone who wasn't missing but was now, she supposed. Until Leopardwind explained that he, too, was looking for their missing clan mates. Coyotegrin looked at him with a sad look and shook her head, explaining that she had looked everywhere and found no trace. After their conversation, the tom decided to return with her as well.

Making quick work of the last stretch of her journey, Coyotegrin was home. As they neared the entrance, the tom called out and let her know that he'd be in after a second. Shrugging, she finally emerged through the entrance of the camp and soaked it all in. It was quiet. The scent was still strong, so it wasn't abandoned. But something felt off.

"Hello?" She called confidently, her voice ringing against the walls of camp. "It's Coyotegrin. I'm home!"

Cloudjumper rested under the shade of the camp wall after a hunting patrol, eyes lifted to watch the sky idly. The recent disappearances had left the warrior oddly distracted and quiet.

So distracted she didn't notice the figure standing in the camp entrance until a voice rang out over camp. Cloudjumper well, jumped slightly, green eyes turning immediately toward who had spoken. "Grandma..?" Cloudjumper blinked at the cat who stood in the camp entrance, "You're back!" She approached the older calico, half-hoping that she would see a familiar face in tow behind her. She was glad that her grandmother was back, of course... But she missed Leopardwind. She couldn't quite mask her disappointment upon not seeing him behind her, though tried to with a smile.

"I'm glad you're back. Dad was worried about you, I think."

What she had known to be true had come to pass. Tigerstar, gone. Carried away by the wind that lent thier clan its name. Not only that, it had taken his scent. Had taken Creamlily's too, and then her siblings. Moosepaw, Redpaw, Quickpaw. So much loss, and so fast. Viperpaw's heart was heavy, weighing her down, keeping her body slumped on the ground. Her golden tail wrapped around her face, obscuring the depths of her loss. She wasn't crying, no, the once fiery she-cat hadn't shed a single tear. Which was worse to drown or to be faceless? Perhaps it had been her self absorption that had prevented her from acting, and now she wallowed in self pity. Loepardwind, despite the fact they were cut from the same stone, had at least managed to word into actions. Though, had that done him any good? It wasn't like he'd been here to prevent what happened to their father, it was better ti blame anyone but herself, even those who could not show up to their trial.

The camp entrance rustled and a single large ear twitched, but she made no move to remove the barrier over her eyes. Patrols weren't due back, and the scent it was WindClan, but... Well, she was disappointed because this, this cat was not one of hers. She could here Cloudjumper celebrating, among others. How lucky for them, how joyous. Her internal voice was full of scorn. Even Thistledown, in all his tact, pretended this was what he had hoped for. It wasn't that she didn't want Coyotegrin home, that she wished her pain on others, just that her selfish heart wanted reprieve for her own condition. Viperpaw was content to stay where she was, faking slumber, despite the fact such a luxury was rare. the nest next to hers had been empty for many moons, but she knew in the warriors' den that there would be an empty nest waiting for her, next to someone she hated to miss. Knowing now that the nest she was going to move into was now next to an empty nest... Sleepless nights were most common. However, leaders did not mope, and this was one of those moments where cats would care, when there was an established pretence.

The apprentice rose to her paws, her steps delicate, enough to be called timid, if it were not for the rigid royal poise she could never forgo. A smile, albeit a small one, wormed its way on to her face. Given the air of mourning the motion felt entirely alien, but Coyotegrin deserved a welcome party. She would be furious if this were her sibling, and no one showed up with warm eyes and open arms. "It is good to see you in one piece, Coyotegrin." There was more rustling, followed by the rushing of a familiar scent.

It took everything in Viperpaw to forget her practiced etiquette, but she could not hie the sudden light in her eyes. Her chest constricted, and her paws stilled. She did not want to ruin this. Leopardwind... Alive... Home!... Changed? It ws him, no doubt about it, but he was... solemn, weathered... Fractured, he looked how she felt. The molly blinked rapidly, finally getting her feet to move so that she was within her brother's line of view. "And you too, Leopardwind..."

Accursed appearances, Viperpaw's tail lashed, her ears falling against her skull, before she surged forward. Leopardwind was home, and she was going to make sure he didn't run away again. If anyone said anything, if she was teased, she didn't care. This past moon had woken her up to the fleetingness of life, and her brother's return was the greatest gift she could have been given. The molly buried her head in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent and immortalising it. "Just because I missed you doesn't mean you're better than me." she snapped, though her usual bite was lacking. Viperpaw pulled back, sadness flashing across her face. There was much they needed to talk about, especially as the most sensible of their siblings, and much he didn't know. "Once you're done basking in all the attention from coming home, we need to talk, please.

Eaglefly was currently working on ideas for how he could play his next big practical joke on someone. Part of that meant figuring out what prank to pull and part of it meant figuring out a target... someone who knew how to take a joke well ... he flicked his tail lost in thought about that.

That was, until he heard a voice he would recognize anywhere. His ears shot up and he bolted upright a large goofy smile over his face as he raced over towards the excitment.

"MOM!!!??" he ran right up to Coyotegrin and was soon nuzzling his forhead gently against her shoulder in a warm greeting. "I missed you so much" he declared. The others around he paid little to no mind on, to him it was Coyotegrin and him back together again. He wouldnt be left behind ever again.


-----

Rapidfire was alerted soon after of the news and walked over towards her now returned clanmates, seeing both of them was a very nice sight for sore eyes. Her facial exprecions clearly displayed happiness but were tainted with the unmistakable amount of tiredness and exhaustion. Ever since Tigerstar's disappearance she was working double the amount of taking on both jobs.

Having two warriors back home was a wish come true, not to mention windclan now had their most senior warrior back into play, she was sure that Coyotegrin and her would be discussing matter very soon, but for now she was just happy to see them both. Her apprentice she could have sworn he had grown during his time away.

"Welcome home you two. I will not pester you with too many questions but there is one urgent one... did either of you come across any scent or sign of tigerstar?" The pair of them were likely exhausted, and she did not want to delay them getting some rest, but any news of Tigerstar needed to be acted on as quickly as possible.

She wasn't expecting this, although she wasn't expecting much since very little cats even came to see her off. But looks of pure disappointment should have been something she was prepared for. Yes, she didn't come home with anyone, but were they really more important than her too? Were all of these cats just simply more important than her? As Leopardwind finally came in, Coyotegrin stood there awkwardly, shifting from paw to paw. Finally... A sound she was excited to hear came charging towards her and her heart burst with the happiness that she had been missing. "Eaglefly!" She said happily, a giggle escaping from her lips even she didn't recognize. Letting the moment simmer, the words of Rapidfire finally settled in. "Tigerstar is missing? Since when? And... no. We saw no traces of anyone. Not the entire time. Not a single cat. No rogue or loner saw anyone either." Her face settled into a frown, only breaking for another favorite voice of hers.

"Mom!" Came Kestrelchirp's honey-laced voice as he emergeged behind her from the camp entrance. Doing his normal patrol duties, he had caught the scent of his mother on the border and plunging through the territory. He raced as fast as his paws could carry him. Joining his brother, he pressed his head to Coyotegrin's other shoulder and having to lean down to do it. He would crank his neck to the ground if it meant he could do it over and over again. What mattered was that his mom had returned.

Cloudjumper blinked apologetically up at her grandmother, though her attention was immediately captured by movement behind the older she-cat. A familiar dark pelt had appeared in the camp entrance, and it took everything in Cloudjumper's power not to bowl Leopardwind over. She hung back, giving Viperpaw and his family space, though her green eyes had brightened considerably in a way they hadn't upon seeing Coyotegrin. "Leopardwind! Welcome home!" The last thing she wanted to do was bring up Tigerstar now missing as well, but even had nobody else brought it up, it would have been obvious sooner rather than later. In a way she was almost glad she wasn't the one to bring it up, that she didn't have to be the one to break Leopardwind's heart with the knowledge his father was gone.

Who else? "Gorsepaw is gone." Cloudjumper rasped, somewhat hollowly. Grandma was back, Leopardwind was back... And yet others were still missing. Still, she was simply relieved to see the returning cats today. That offered hope for Tigerstar, for Gorsepaw... For the other missing as well.

"I'm just glad you both made it home." She mewed softly.