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Don’t compromise yourself - you’re all you have.

✦･ﾟ:* ☆ *:･ﾟ✦

Stepping onto twoleg land wasn't a necessarily foreign concept to Robinpaw, she had come this way for catnip many a time before, but to live here... that would be a different thing entirely. Lucky no many had been injured in the scuffle. But that didn't mean some would come back with injuries. So she still prepped with whatever herbs that they were able to take, comfrey... poppy... kit's ear... and more, thankfully Robinpaw had the time to at least prep the things they would need. 

With a soft sigh, she followed in behind Tigerrush. It wasn't as big and homey as ThunderClan's camp, but they had no choice, so this would do. Her eyes clouded as she looked around the new placement camp, there were hardly even dens, where would they keep the herbs? Where will the sick and injured rest. A low rumbling threatened to push its way out of her throat, but she held the growl down. The whole clan knew what an annoyance SkyClan was, she didn't need to say it aloud.

"When the rest of our Clanmates get back." She stated to the sentries, "Send them in to me and Tigerrush." She added before meeting with Tigerrush in the makeshift camp.

Even a flame that burns softly can still bring warmth through the darkest nights.

⋆⊱༻𖥸༺⊰⋆

Moosestar's body had begun to drag, and Orchidflame's limbs began to ache under the weight of the former leader, but she trudged forward in tandem with Wildcry. She didn't really look at Wildcry, or Gingerthrash's corpse, or at anyone in particular except searching for two cats, more so, who these cats were carrying. "Coyotebloom, Spidertongue, when Bravesong finds a safe space, you can transport Weaselkit and Skunkkit to him." She meowed in a tone that matched near identical to a whisper.

She glanced at the chocolate tom in her jaws and let out a sigh, placing him in the center of the makeshift camp, just as tradition declared. The clan needed to share tongues with their dead. And now that they had a camp, a safe space to keep what was remaining of ThunderClan, traditions like this needed to be followed.

Orchidflame began, giving Moosestar a soft press of her nose and letting out a sigh into his fur. "May StarClan light your path, Moosestar." She whispered into an ear that would no longer hear her. Then she looked to the sky, fading light displayed for all to see, she sighed. "...and ours."

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

⋆｡‧˚ʚ ❀ ɞ˚‧｡⋆

Giving Bravesong a shoulder to lean on was easy enough while carrying the little ginger tom-kit. At Orchidflame's request, she gave a slight dip of her head, as to not disturb the kit dangling absently in her jaws. She hoped to StarClan that the journey wasn't too harsh for them.

The it came to her mind that this would have been their first time seeing what the territory would look like... they should be seeing the territory when they were apprentices, not being forced into it at such a young age. Great StarClan... Coyotebloom swallowed a growl and a curse to SkyClan that would have come with it. 

And upon Orchidflame's request, she waited for Bravesong to find a spot addequate enough to keep the kittens at least safer than anything else in this makeshift camp. Then she would offer Weaselkit back to him. Of course.

But then, she heard a barrage of pawsteps...

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

∙∙• ☾ •∙∙

A shoulder wound should have made Greypebbles slow, but he got there well near when Rimepaw and Finchpaw had, and the two were supposed to be leading him as well as the ThunderClanner's that had fought at the stream clearing. 

A new red line just beneath his eye throbbed slightly in pain as he glanced around what remained of ShadowClan. He searched and searched for specific cats that he knew more than anyone, but where were they? "Leopardrose? Smallbird?" He murmured, almost inaudible but shook his head. He turned to Robinpaw and Tigerrush first. "Help Oaktall first. He was swarmed by RiverClan warriors." He meowed, ears pinning back looking behind him to see where exactly Oaktall was standing if he needed any help making it to the faux camp.

Then, they grey spotted tom's eyes landed on another body, his short tail tucking as he recognized the shape of Gingerthrash hanging lifelessly over Wildcry's shoulders, he wanted to go up and share his condolences, but she never thought much of him, so he decided to not start more arguments today.

Frost-kissed fur hides a fiery spirit
⋆｡°❅°｡⋆ ⭒ ──● ❄ ●── ⭒ ⋆｡°❅°｡⋆

Rimepaw came skidding into the makeshift camp chest heaving from the long run. Her ears were still pricked toward the forest, half expecting another rogue or bird to carry on after them. ThunderClan was scattered beneath the Twoleg trees. When she spotted her mother and uncle she moved over without a word.

He was supposed to see her as a warrior and her jaw tightened. Before she could think she was pressing her muzzle into his cold fur, whispering something incoherent to all those but her mother.

When she lifted her head, she cast her mismatched guys towards Kestrelswipe. "This is everybody that were able to come from Stream Clearing." Assuming he'd want some sort of status report. Oaktall was much too wounded to answer to anyone and it was a miracle that he was able to follow at all.

The oak remembers the storms as warriors remember their battles.
──●◎●──

The journey east felt like an eternity. Oaktall kept his eyes fixed on the tails ahead of him, refusing to look too closely at the distance between himself and Greypebbles and Rimepaw. His paws just had to keep moving...

Each step sent a dull, spreading ache through his body. The wounds that had been hastily packed with moss and a spare Kit's Ear and bound as best as they could be were no longer quite as cooperative. Dampness seeped beneath the moss, warm against his fur but he felt cold...

Yet he was Oaktall. He wasn't going to stumble. Oaktall had spent his entire life being the one, he believed, to be a pillar of strength due to his size and presence. As he broke through the border to Two Leg trees, he saw his bedraggled Clan and followed after his Clanmates from Stream Clearing with grim determination and perhaps a bit of spite. The ground seemed strangly uneven in front of him but he could swear he spotted the brown tabby coat of Tiggerrush.

He spoke nothing about his injuries or about the blood that was missing from his body. He could only mumble. "W-We made it...Other - Others could not. We lost...so many."

Even the smallest pebble can make ripples that change the course of the stream.

∙∙• ☾ •∙∙

When Kestrelswipe spoke was Greypebbles was trying not to think about, his eyes clouded, widened as he simply... froze. Not possible... Leopardrose could have... she was Leopardrose, suddenly he shook his head vigorously, flattening his ears.

"No... no no no... no way! I'm going to find her!" He yowled his ears flat against his skull as the pain in his shoulder and snout was completely forgotten. His wounds didn't matter, nothing else truly mattered if Leopardrose wasn't here to make them sound like they did. "She's not dead..." He murmured before turning tail and dashing out of the makeshift clearing and darting towards the stream clearing.

His paws carried him faster than he had ever ran before, the wound on his shoulder might as well have been there since birth as it seemed to be completely forgotten in his desperation. "She's not dead." He told himself again, paws continuing to kick up dirt as he bolted to the stream clearing, he didn't care if RiverClanners or Rogues were there to slaughter him when he got there, but he had to try.

For his best friend.

[GREYPEBBLES EXIT]

Don’t compromise yourself - you’re all you have.

✦･ﾟ:* ☆ *:･ﾟ✦

Greypebbles' panicked exit was the last thing on Robinpaw's mind when she saw the likes of Oaktall, his condition was much more important. "Lay on your belly." Robinpaw commanded to the taller tom. His belly seemed the best option to avoid covering any of the wounds that she and Tigerrush needed to work on. Not to mention that it would prevent him from causing more injury from a fall if he happened to faint. 

Robinpaw noticed the dressed wounds that needed to be replaced immediately and turned to Tigerrush, nodding at her. The warriors had taken care of Oaktall until he got here. Now it was the medicine cats' turn.

When Oaktall would be laying himself down, Robinpaw turned to grab one of the packs she made, comfrey roots, moss and kits ear. Robinpaw carefully gnawed at the roots and changed the dressing mixed with the roots of comfrey, she packed as many of his wounds as she could before turning to Tigerrush once more. "I'm going to soak some of this moss in water. I'll bring it back for Oaktall." She meowed, grabbing a ball of moss before darting out of the camp in the same way that Greypebbles had, but this was to find something to treat a clanmate. Not to find one.

I da bravest!
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

Skunkkit let out a tired little whimper at the sound of his mother’s voice. His heart and scruff hurt from the travel. Thunderclan couldn’t be giving up! This defeat wasn’t possible! The stories said so! Yet here they were. The little tom’s blue eyes gazed around the camp as he hung limply from Spidertongue’s mouth. He was too young to have held on to the larger tom for the travel, although he had certainly tried at the start, trying to look like a big kit. Surprise flickered dully in the black and white tom’s eyes when he was put down and Spidertongue walked away.

Looking up to where his father was leaning against his sister and Weaselkit hung from her jaw, Skunkkit thought of sitting where he was until somecat picked him up again. Thinking of how strong Thunderclan was supposed to be though, the little tom took a deep breath and pulled himself onto wobbly paws. He would follow them to wherever he could sleep for as long as he could. Skunkkit looked toward where his mother was sitting with Moosestar. He didn’t really understand why she had carried their leader, nor why their leader hadn’t said anything for the whole trip. Death was almost completely foreign to the young tom, even though he had begun to grow used to eating prey and conceptually understood that they were dead. He just couldn’t yet connect the live birds that flew over the camp with the dead ones on the fresh-kill pile, and as such, the idea of Moosestar as dead like that fresh-kill didn’t really click in his young mind.

Don’t compromise yourself - you’re all you have.

✦･ﾟ:* ☆ *:･ﾟ✦

Robinpaw noticed how rigid her mentor was, but it didn't make her second guess herself, instead, inwardly admit that she did get a little overzealous for her rank and casting a look that told as much to Tigerrush, something of a wordless apology followed. But she had known that Oaktall needed help. He was growing colder and Skyblossom was not. Tigerrush was right, he could go into shock if not warmed up soon. She looked around the camp and saw Coyotebloom beginning to push her way to the larger warrior.

With that settled enough, Robinpaw made her own way to Skyblossom. "Let me clean your wounds." She stated plainly, flicking the tip of her tail as she used the remainder of the damp moss to clean the dried blood that clotted the strands of blue fur. "Missing left ear. Torn right ear." She commented out loud as she cleaned the wounds. She knew Tigerrush was listening and what she needed to hear was the state of Skyblossom's injuries. 

"Flank and Belly are torn, deep enough to soak the field herbs." She added as she cleaned around the fur, the taste of blood felt bitter on her tongue as she moved to more minor wounds, the major ones listed aloud "Smaller flank scratches. They've stopped bleeding." she responded there was little to clean up around the smaller scratches, but the ears and deeper wounds were two separate issues needing to be tended to.

If a flower can flourish in the desert, you can flourish anywhere.

⋆｡‧˚ʚ ❀ ɞ˚‧｡⋆

At Tigerrush's warning of shock, Coyotebloom was the first to rise to the task, after all, she needed to make up for one life by saving another... surely. "I'll do it." She stated before giving her true family a nod and curling her mid-furred body around the shorter furred Oaktall. She wrapped her tail around the chocolate tom tightly as she possibly could to lend him her warmth.

And it was then that Coyotebloom fell into a lull... she shut her eyes and let her thoughts do laps in her mind. Why had Kestrelswipe simply given up ThunderClan's camp so easily? What did the rogue group's coordinator mean by 'secret'? When were they going to gather up their discrepancies and take their camp back? Would the cats returning from battle even survive any of this?

But in the end, Coyotebloom couldn't help but mouth silent apologies, to StarClan, to ThunderClan, to Gingerthrash, to Moosestar, to every cat that had the misfortune of interacting with her. She couldn't think straight, but she never let go of Oaktall. He needed her warmth.

The oak remembers the storms as warriors remember their battles.
──●◎●──

Oaktall barely registered the commotion around him. The journey had taken what little strength he had left he bacially collapsed at Robinpaw's direction. For a moment, he tried to push himself back up but he had no more energy.

He could feel Robinpaw working over his wounds. There was no strength left for protest and he was beginning to understand just how badly he had been hurt. Kestrelswipe's question reached him through his head haze, and struggled to comply.

"L-Larchsong..." He swallowed, throat painfully dry, jaw trembling. "Quailcall... Fallstripe...Leopardrose. Shadefrost...a-and Brindlespice. D-Dead." They were his kin, his Clanmates. He may or not have been close with any or all of them, but they were ThunderClan.

Oaktall had nothing reassuring to offer. He could only lie there, breathing unevenly beneath Coyotebloom's tail, his eyes fixed on some indistinct point ahead of him as he grunted a pained thanks at the lilac she-cat even as his throat was still dry. At least he was warmer.

Bloodlines of strength ignite fierce souls
──●◎●──

Wildcry watched Rimepaw approach and for all the fury that had consumed her daughter there was something deeply familiar in the way she pressed her muzzle into their fallen kin's fur. Wildcry's expression softened. A bit.

She was relieved to see her daughter alive. The sight of her more or less unscathed offered some small comfort amid the ruin of their Clan. Stormfall's words drew her attention next. She regarded the wounded tom, noting the strain in his movements and the weight behind his words. "He certainly did."

Even though her voice still held some bitterness, it was quieter. "He'd have sooner torn out his own claws than let those rogues see him beg." A dry grin creased her maw. Her uncle had always been a difficult tom, but he needed to be - for them. "None of this should be for nothing...Some humiliations will be easier to forgive than others." Her eye flashed accusingly towards Kestrelswipe.

It was a bitter sight. "We have a long road ahead of us, and I'd rather not bury any more of our kin along it...That includes you." A pointed look switched to Stormfall as she rested next to them, Stormfall, Rimepaw, and Gingerthrash in vigil.

Bloodlines of strength ignite fierce souls
──●◎●──

Wildcry weighed Stormfall's words. There was truth in them, even if the bitterness behind them made her jaw tighten. ThunderClan had not been beaten cleanly...This was something that seethed, something that scattered and divided them.

"But honorable or not, they drew blood. They've killed a good deal more than just Gingerthrash and Moosestar and drove us from our homeland." She growled. "I won't make the mistake of dismissing them simply because they fought like cowards." As Stormfall priased her, a clear flicker of pride steeled her expression. There was no question she came from good stock.

"She will be." Her word seemed absolute. "And we'll get our vengence. ThunderClan will be stronger for having survive this." She couldn't wait until she could dig her claws into some rogue pelts, preferrably with her kin at her side - but if needed, she alone could be the force of reckoning her Clan deserved.