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[smear:f3e471]Fallenleaf
[/smear:f8c56a]

~~~~~~~~~

"StoneClan! Retreat!"

The words still rung in the senior warrior's ears, brought into existence by their deputy, Wolfclaw. Pale yellow eyes flicked to catch sight of the great gray warrior as he desperately attempted to herd the entirety of StoneClan into an unknown territory. Her ears were deafened by the wailing of kits, hanging from the jaws of any apprentice or warrior who was still fit enough to carry one. StoneClan's deputy seemed to be doing a thousand things at once, juggling the duties of both leader and deputy for a Clan who had just been chased from their home.

Her eyes shifted from the deputy to Hawkstar, the leader of the battered Clan. The tom was leaning heavily upon a battle-scarred tom by the name of Eagletalon. The pair struggled along over the rocky terrain, the giant sandy brown tom staggering and tripping at every raised piece of terrain. The tom's amber eyes were exhausted, drained of almost all life, as though he were just barely managing to function in that moment. She noticed his eyes roll, and Eagletalon quickly ducking to compensate, and pull the tom back to his paws. She remembered the horror that had spiked through her as he fell beneath the razor sharp teeth of RainClan's deputy.

She moved numbly, her senses exhausted to the edge of her functionality as she moved along near the outside of the group. She'd been one of the 'lucky' ones, she supposed. She was bleeding, but there was no limp to her step, all the scratches having been shallow ones, just barely breaking her skin. Not like some of the rest of StoneClan. She was still alive, and still walking under her own power. She was set up at the edge, along with a few other functional warriors, as guards, protecting the old, the injured and, of course, the queens.

But she was numb inside. She had seen her brother, StoneClan's medicine cat, fall beneath the paws of another. Her pale gaze had moved to the ground once more, the senior warrior having to force herself to pay attention to their surroundings. They were at their weakest, stumbling through a terrain they didn't know. There was no telling what dangers awaited them, lurking just out of their sight. Anything could happen, and after what they had just been through, the thought was horrifying, chilling to the very core of her numbed soul.

"Stop! We can't keep going like this!" Eagletalon's voice caught her attention, dragging the tired she-cat's gaze to the center of the group. Hawkstar was on his knees, his sides heaving, with his best friend standing above him, trying to coax him to his paws once more. Eagletalon's eyes were focused upon Wolfclaw as StoneClan's deputy stood motionless, almost... Distant. Some part of her realized that neither of his parents were still with them. She followed his gaze as his eyes moved to make sure that his sister, Pantherstep, who stood near the middle of the circle, was alright.

Finding her voice, she managed to rasp. "Eagletalon is right, Wolfclaw. Hawkstar needs to rest." Another voice rose into the air, and the senior warrior recognized Riversong's eloquent dialect. "We all must rest." As Fallenleaf gazed upon her Clan, from Cricketleap's shattered appearance, to Melodypond's defeated stance, she realized that even those who had been assigned outer guard seemed exhausted. She felt it weighing heavily in her paws. They wouldn't be able to move much further and still safely reach a place to stay. For a moment, her gaze rested upon Skunkkit, one of the many kits involved. I hope they're alright...

When she pulled her gaze back to Wolfclaw, briefly skimming over Blacksmoke's quiet form near the outer edge of the circle, Fallenleaf noticed the deputy dip his head before his voice rose into the air once more. "StoneClan! Stay together. We'll rest here, until we're strong enough to move on." There was only a moment of silence before Riversong's voice broke the air once more. "Beneath the overhang. We will be safer there." The she-cat's suggestion made sense, and no one seemed to have any disagreement to raise. Slowly, the battered Clan began to stagger towards the overhang, Riversong's body quickly pressing up against Hawkstar's other side.

As the sandy brown tom was lifted to his paws by the combined force of Eagletalon and Riversong, Fallenleaf had to stop herself from falling into step with Dustshimmer. No matter how much she wanted to give her old apprentice some form of comfort in this dark time, she felt the need to stay in the position she had been assigned, guarding those that were in the center of the circle. It wasn't until the whole of the exiled Clan had finally made it to the overhang, their bodies sinking to the ground that anyone seemed to relax even fractionally.

She surveyed them for a moment, noticing how each one of them seemed broken in some way or another. Hawkstar, too exhausted to hold himself up, even with assistance, collapsed onto his side, chest heaving, mouth open in an attempt to draw in air. Some cats, like Melodypond, seemed to just sit and stare at the ground, while others, like Cricketleap, searched for some form of comfort. A sadness gripped Fallenleaf as she watched the newly named warrior curl herself around her younger siblings. How had an entire Clan been reduced into what was left? They had lost lives during that battle. And as she moved her gaze to the trembling form of Cloudkit, she realized that those who had made it out alive had lost their sense of security.

StoneClan had seen the brunt of the world's cruelty, and it had left them shattered. With a silent sigh, she turned away from the Clan, her gaze sweeping over Batear, who stood nearby. She didn't really see them, but she was aware of both Blacksmoke and Batear at her side, or near her, standing guard for their wounded Clanmates. She wondered how long they would last here, in a foreign territory.

Fallenleaf had shifted slightly, to lap at one of the deeper cuts on her body, which ran over her flank. It was perhaps for this reason that she was not the first to scent it. It was Blacksmoke's attentiveness that first picked it up. Fallenleaf noticed the she-cat straighten suddenly, alert to something that the senior warrior had not detected. Uncurling herself and parting her jaws, the pale furred she-cat soon caught the scent that must have been bothering Blacksmoke. Her pelt prickled slightly as she slowly rose to her paws, tail curling, and then uncurling before she took a step forward.

"Batear, Blacksmoke... Cover my spot. I'm going to go check it out. I'll be right back." When she heard Batear mutter something along the lines of "Yes, Fallenleaf.", the senior warrior padded forward, weary of the unknown surroundings. Pale yellow eyes peered about, careful to examine every nook and cranny that she might wander past. It took a moment or so of searching, but finally she found the source of the scent. A tom stood not far away, causing the fur along Fallenleaf's spine to stand on end. For a moment, nothing was said, until finally Fallenleaf spoke up.

"Who are you?"

[Fate Admin]

Maverick had watched the procession of cats traveling farther into the mountains from an outcropping of rock some distance higher into the mountains. His pelt smeared with mud to both better mask his scent and provide camouflage for mountain hunting, there was no way any cat below could have hoped to spot him, even if they had deigned to pay much attention to that above them. He was concerned for them. They seemed to be spending very little time looking skyward. In the mountains, danger dropped from the sky like lightning, striking without warning and soaring off again with a cat clutched in unimaginably sharp talons. In the mountains, you always watched the sky. Maverick took it upon himself to watch it for them as he wondered where they were going.

They were Clan cats. That much was clear. But he had never seen a whole Clan come to the mountains before. Sometimes a small group would travel into the mountains for reasons unknown to Maverick, and then they would head back home. This was not a small group. And even from his height it was not hard to notice that they were not in perfect health. An injured cat should be wandering the mountains. They were inviting eagles to descend upon them. They would be easy pickings in their current state. His tail swished uneasily as he watched them stopping, heard them calling faintly to each other but was unable to make out much more than vague cat sounds. If they were stopping perhaps now would be a good time to see if they needed any help, and to offer them some advice for further travel through the mountains.

He picked his way carefully down from his perch high above, taking his time. He was sure these cats were not about to start moving again anytime too soon and taking a tumble down the mountainside was not about to help anyone. He stayed well away from scree as he descended, he did not want falling pebbles to startle the cats below and put them on edge… well, more on edge than they probably already were. He padded quietly around the group’s temporary camp; he wanted to find a cat he might be able to speak with without causing too much alarm to anyone. He wasn’t sure if the Clan’s healer… no… it was ahhh… leader. That was what the Clans called them. He wasn’t sure if this Clan’s leader was among them, or who it might be.

He ducked behind a boulder as a she-cat padded his way, peering around. Well, this cat seemed as good a cat as any to introduce himself to. At least she was alone and a short distance from her Clanmates. He could talk to her without alarming any other cats. He stepped out from behind the boulder but did not move closer, not wanting her to feel threatened if he were to approach her. She appeared rather haggard and his gaze softened sympathetically as she stared him down. “Who are you?”

He dipped his head at the spoken acknowledgement of his presence, “I mean you and your… Clanmates… no harm.” He was still guessing, but who else could they be but Clan cats? “I am Maverick,” he extended his paw in the way of the Tribe’s greeting. Old habits die hard. “Are you this Clan’s… leader?” He tilted his head ever so slightly, “I watched your progress from higher in the mountains. I wish to help in any way I can.”

He paused and decided to explain about himself a bit more, about how and why he may be able to help when he was only one cat, “You may have heard of the Tribe of Rushing Water. I was born there. I know mountains… how to survive in them. Your Clans live much easier in your valley. I wish only to help.” In his mind a battle waged. On the one paw, he wished to invite them back to the Oasis with him. It would be safer there. On the other paw… he could not justify doing so without alerting his fellow MountainClanners first. His ears flicked, unsure, but his posture remained neutral and nonthreatening, his fur flat and smooth and his pale yellow-green eyes warm and honest.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:f3e471]Fallenleaf
[/smear:f8c56a]

~~~~~~~~~

The she-cat lowered herself into a seated position, simply to avoid the chance that her limbs might collapse on their own accord if she remained standing the entire time. Pale yellow eyes regarded him warily, her cream and white tail settling over her paws. She listened politely, though her slightly stiffened stance gave away her hesitancy. After everything that StoneClan had been through recently, however, could you really blame the senior warrior for being a little on edge?

She could feel the exhaustion beginning to settle in her limbs, making them heavier than stones. She was glad, in that moment, that she wasn't moving, or she probably would have been dragging her paws, tripping over the terrain much like Hawkstar had been doing under the care of Eagletalon during their journey. When he finished speaking, she watched him silently, taking him in for a moment or two. The words he had offered were mulling in her head as she tried judging just how true his words were. He could easily be lying to her, and she might not see it through her weariness. Her jaw tightening slightly, stifling a yawn before it could even think about blooming to existence.

"Do pardon me, Maverick..." She started, her voice a little hoarse, though she did her best to mask it. "But I have a problem trying to decipher why a stranger would wish to aid our Clan. I will spare you the details, but we are not at out most trusting in this moment." She regarded him a little harshly, taking in his size. She knew that if he decided to attack her, she would stand very little chance. Her limbs were simply too sore, and he was much larger than she was. She would put up the greatest fight of her life, for her Clan, but she would more than likely end up failing.

Straightening slightly, she locked her yellow gaze with his, almost imagining how Hawkstar would stand had he been in her position. Even Wolfclaw would help in this situation. Steadying her voice, she began once more, slowly rising from her seated position, willing her tired muscles to hold on just a little bit longer. "And what if I was the Clan leader? What would be your purpose in learning this information?" She was fully aware of the fact she had yet to reveal her name. She wasn't sure if he knew of the Clan traditions, especially following their names, but she didn't want to risk it.

If he knew how their naming worked, and she told him her name was Fallenleaf, he would know she was not the leader. And she couldn't bring herself to state her name as Fallenstar. And so, her name could remain an element of mystery, at least until she figured out just what it was that was going on here. Oh StarClan... I hope I'm doing the right thing here. Please, even just for a brief moment... I need you to light my path.