- Jan 13, 2023
- 358
- 77
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No one had ever told her she had run too far before the dawn of the clans. Her freedom was once a guaranteed thing, now, she would be hard-pressed to find any territory that hadn't been taken up by StarClan-fearing felines. When Chilledstar had told them to flee, she'd expected to be at the Horseplace by nightfall with the rest of her clan, only as she turned her back on the winding moorlands was she reminded that there were limitations as to where her clan could go - where she could go. Memories of her conversation with her mother played on repeat in her head, she had a home back on the road now the 'hardship' was coming to a close, and the Lead Warrior found herself chewing her tongue in thought. Would ShadowClan even notice if she slipped away to return to her family, never to come back? Quite quickly, she came to a conclusion that it would be less about whether they noticed and more about whether they cared, but that was a question that left her shaking with fear of the contrary.
A staggering canter took the ShadowClanner through familiar patrol paths and towards the Carrionplace, where she presumed she would find her clan resting amidst the shiny beams with piles of rats by their feet. It was there for but a moment as she moved, a dark shape in the undergrowth caught at a glimpse by sharp green eyes. Something, or someone, was watching her. Ferndance ground to a halt and whipped her body around towards the being, large ears pinned back as she tried to make sense of the shape. It was simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, a shape which should've brought relief but instead, caused the warrior's head to tilt like an owl. A ShadowClan apprentice? She hid her white forepaw behind a cinnamon-striped one and pointed her head downwards towards the youth. Black fur, smelling of the forest but not of ShadowClan, she remembered a similar situation from days gone by. "Oh my gosh, are you a bear cub?" Ferndance asked, eyes wide with faux surprise. It was a creature too skinny to be one of them, but either made up by her or sincere, there was a tension in the air that came with crossing strangers, one she sought to diminish as quickly as she could - she figured she could do that by giving the stranger the lead in the conversation.
"I've always wanted to meet a bear cub. Well, I sort of did, but... I'm sure that's a story for another time." She gave an otherwordly smile as she awaited the young cat's answer.