A Home-Coming of Sorts

[Wandering Moth]

Colorless eyes blinked slowly as a soot-colored she-cat paused at the fringe of red trees, towering trees. The roamer opened her maw and the old scents of RedClan floated and caressed her scent glands, making a sharp prickle in the back of her eyes as a vision of Jasper came into sight.

The old tom was murmuring reassurances and pressing into the forest confidently. Moth of Wandering Flight, or Mothwanderer, stared with slightly pained eyes at the reddish-hued shadows of the forest where Jasper had disappeared.

Moth sighed and turned, opening her mouth to speak, but no one was there. Where did Cricket go? A sudden panic flared into those icy eyes and she leapt to her paws. Did he go ahead into the Clan's territory?

"They'd make crowfood of him yet!" she hissed softly and leaped forward, her paws making no sound as waves of memories of this forest drowned her and immersed her with forgotten knowledge. Moth slipped between clinging thorns and even dared to call a low, "Cricket!" before she became annoyed. She didn't even want to come here and remember Jasper or the Clan. She didn't even know if Fernstar was still alive... The Clan didn't hold any love for her then, they probably wouldn't now. All Moth wanted to do was show Cricket the beautiful red and purple forest where she had trained for a few moons and then possibly take him to the Tribe...

But now this?

[Cricket]

Cricket sighed as he paused to stare up at the red. If he squinted and tilted his head a bit, they looked like clouds. Clouds the color of blood spilling out across the tree tops, flickering and waving and clinging to long bony branches. But now that twilight was fast approaching, scarlet was dimming to mute violet-red in places of shadow. Softer colors were sent sprawling and curling in less lit areas, but he had to wonder if he really cared about the details.

The tortoiseshell craned his neck even further, catching glimpses of sky. After a moment he raised a pair of feline eyebrows and dropped his gaze, coming to the conclusion that, at least for the moment, scenery was nice but boring. One could not have an engaging conversation with a tree, nor could one make a pebble laugh. Cricket wrinkled his nose and started forward again.

Really, maybe he shouldn't have left Moth's side to chase that spider. But sometimes, his attention span just couldn't take it. That cat needed to learn how to converse better. She'd been a real drag lately. In Cricket's opinion, she shouldn't let the past weigh her down so much. Jasper this, RedClan that. He was being a good sport by even listening to all that reminiscing. Ergh, he didn't want to think about it any more.

With a flick of his tail, he started off in Moth's direction. Or, at least, he hoped he was heading toward the she-cat. The wind wasn't exactly in his favor at the moment.

[Galestar]

His whiskers twitched, as the smell of unfamiliar cats tickled his nose. There were two, loners, as they didn't carry the scent of another clan, but Galestar stalked through the underbrush just as weary. He was on his back to camp, when the strange scents arose. It seemed an intelligent move to take a closer look.

Galestar noticed a tortoiseshell cat in the corner of his gaze, but the sound of a voice coaxed his ears forward, and he realized that he had found at least one. It took a moment to locate the ash-colored she-cat, but finally she too had been spotted. Another, weaker, meow came from her direction; but he couldn't make out what she had dared to say.

"Excuse me," he bellowed, lifting himself from the ferns and standing tall, "but what exactly are you doing on RedClan territory?" His eyes swept from the she-cat, to the dense foliage where he could just barely make out the darker coat of the young tom. The gray-furred she-cat looked slightly familiar, but he couldn't place a name on her.

It had been several good moons since he'd last seen her, but even then he had just been a simple warrior. The gray and white tom narrowed his eyes, the tip of his tail twitching impatiently.

[Wandering Moth]

A long forgotten scent drifted to her and rustling sounded to her left. Moth whirled around just as a cat with much authority stood tall and asked why she was here. Moth's clear eyes were wide... Was this...? It was!

"Galestripe?" she mewed in incredulity. He seemed so much more... powerful. "Galestripe, is that you? It's me; Moth... wanderer," she added, forgetting the Clan's custom of names for a split heartbeat.

The wind shifted ever-so-slightly and Cricket's scent came to her. "Cricket!" she cried in relief. Moth took a step towards him, but then did a double-take. Galestripe --if that's who it was-- probably didn't remeber the former tribe to-be and then Clan apprentice who came here long ago. It had been a long time.

"Um... Sorry, Galestripe, but I was just showing my friend Cricket the trees of RedClan, and then I planned to take him the the Tribe, but he must have wandered in... I'm sorry for intruding." Moth dipped her head to show respect, the customs once more slipping back into flimsy place.

[Cricket]

The cat yawned monstrously, tail lazily wavering behind him. After meekly clamping his jaws shut with a tiny click, he sniffed. Was that Moth's voice, was it? Sounded a bit too worried for his liking. Cricket scrunched up his face, slinking forward.

Oh oh, that's right. He was in Clan territory -- an important thing to remember. Didn't want to be ripped to shreds for trespassing, now did he? The tortoiseshell snorted softly at that. He'd gotten himself out of mountains of trouble before he'd met Moth. He'd been able to live to tell the tale up til now, he was sure he could deal with whatever misfortune might come his way. Clan cats? He could deal.

Cricket sniggered lightly to himself as he peeked through the underbrush. Hazel eyes blinked at the scene they were met with, ears swiveling to prick forward.

Caught already? The tom hesitated only slightly before slipping out of his little hiding place, coming to stand closely at Moth's gray flank.

[Galestar]

Galestar blinked awkwardly, twitching his whiskers in a thoughtful manner. Of course! There had been so many wanderers and loners through out the moons...the poor tom couldn't be responsible for remembering them all, could he?

With a firm, thoughtful smile, the leader nodded his head in greeting to the ash-colored she-cat. "Ah, I remember you," he meowed, "But it's not Galestripe anymore. You can call me Galestar." His ear flicked to the side as the tortoiseshell tom approached. The clan leader quirked a brow, blinking awkwardly at the young cat.

"Any friend of Fernstar is a friend of mine, but I'm afraid she's no longer with us." He dipped his head for a moment, before bringing his attention back. "I'm afraid I've few choices to offer the two of you, even if you mean no harm to my clan. I have to ask you to leave, or come with me to camp..." The tom rolled his shoulders, as his pale golden eyes rolled from she-cat to tom.

"I will make sure that RedClan doesn't harm you, but the other clans I can have no say in. A patrol may find the two of you, if you happen to leave. Other cats will not be so kind, so be warned." Galestar turned his gaze upward, to see that the sun had passed the mark of sunhigh. He sighed and offered another small smile to the pair.

[Wandering Moth]

Moth smiled and dipped her head to himbut her breath caught. The friendly she-cat who had let her come into her Clan was... gone? The she-cat blinked in confusion. "G-Galestar?" she stuttered and then frowned. "I'm sorry for asking this... Galestar... but w-when did she pass on?"

Now the young roamer felt guilty; she should have paid more visits to her former foster home. Moth closed her eyes in slight pain and then opened them with a smile. "Well, congratulations, Galestar."

She turned to Cricket. "This is my friend Cricket. Cricket, this is Galestar, the leader of RedClan. And if you would like, and Galestar wouldn't mind, would you like to stay for a while...?" In all honesty, this proposal pleased Moth to no end.