Yarrowheart woke, slowly, her eyes thankful to be met with darkness rather than light beaming in. She slowly rose to her feet, dimly aware of the sleeping form next to her. She walked out through the slightly lit hole infront of her, stretching her limbs, stretching her jaws wide in a silent yawn.
She reopened her cloudy eyes, blinking out the still-remaining morning wetness, waking up fully now, then turned back to where she woke up, remembering where she was and where she had slept the night before. Foxtail was still asleep, curled into the curved corner of the small den, his bright orange tail curled over his face.
Yarrowheart looked toward the dimly glowing hole to the right, and padded over. As she made her way out of the hole, she found nobody but Branchtrot and a brown brindled she-cat, the same one he was talking to yesterday, she recognized. She walked over, and sat.
"Oh, good morning, Yarrowheart," Branchtrot turned and meowed groggily,
"Goodmorning." the she-cat meowed,
"oh, Nice to meet you . ."
"Brindleheart," Branchtrot supplied the name of the she-cat,
"Nice to meet you, Brindleheart"
"Same to you, Yarrowheart" Brindleheart meowed, a slight revulsion in her expression, seemingly at the 'Yarrow' in her name,
Yarrowheart turned her gaze away from her face, to Branchtrot "We should probably be going now, Branchtrot" she meowed.
"Oh, well . . . Yeah you're probably right. See you, Brindleheart" he turned and meowed warmly to the brindled she-cat, who turned and walked off.
Yarrowheart looked around, seeing nobody else in the cavern-like camp awake, and walked over to the circle of beaming early morning light, the floor slightly dampened with dew. She leaped out, and sat on one of the rotting trunks next to the opening, licking her paw and running it over her face, as Branchtrot followed, looking around.
After a beat of silence, Branchtrot meowed "Uh, Yarrowheart, which way did we come from?"
Yarrowheart froze. I don't remember. she thought, holding back a frustrated growl. "I haven't a clue. We'll just have to wait for somebody to wake up - either that Calico from yesterday, or Foxtail."
Yarrowheart's eyes were closed, as she was laid bathing in the warm morning sun above, sprawled ontop of the log, when she was startled by a meow.
"Don't know which way to go?" a gruff voice meowed teasingly, and Yarrowheart quickly sprang to her paws, fur bristling, and locked eyes with the stranger. His pelt was long and gray, and his face was covered in scars.
" . . No, do you?" Yarrowheart meowed, glancing at Branchtrot next to her, who was still sprawled out in the damp grass.
"Autumnpelt said you came from that way." he meowed, nodding north.
"Ah, thank you." she meowed, unsettled slightly by this tom, eager to leave. "Branchtrot. We're leaving now."
Branchtrot raised his head, opening his golden eyes, before stretching his jaws wide in a yawn. He then rose, blinking the sun out of his eyes.
Yarrowheart began walking off, into the ash-laden forest, keeping her steps reserved and her head raised, before Branchtrot sprinted over next to her, sending ash flying into the air, catching in her lungs. She coughed and spit, hacking up the fowl black dust, before turning and hissing at Branchtrot, who was also coughing.
"S-sorry! Forgot about the ash . ." Branchtrot meowed when he got a breath.
"Be careful," Yarrowheart meowed, before continuing walking, paying attention to the slow paced sound of Branchtrot's steps.
Yarrowheart and Branchtrot came back to the cliff from yesterday, and Yarrowheart stopped - then noticed that Branchtrot didn't. She watched, as he continued forward. She quickly dashed forward, and caught his tail in her teeth right as his front half plunged below the edge. He yowled in terror "HELP! HELP ME!" Yarrowheart dug her claws into the soft earth below her and tugged with all her might. She struggled to pull his lean body up, her muscles straining and burning in protest to the sudden weight. Her teeth slipped slightly, but she quickly bit down harder, her heart pumping harder. His struggling helped her, slowly managing to get him back onto the ground. She flopped onto her side, panting slightly, glaring up at Branchtrot, whose fur was bristling, eyes wide, breath fast. "You need to watch where you're going, Branchtrot."
Branchtrot huffed, flattening his fur, then dashed forward, leaping across the cliff into the green bush on the other side.
Yarrowheart growled slightly, then stood and reared back, before throwing herself over the cliff, plunging into the ash-less green, happy to feel the dew washing a bit of the gray powder from her pelt.
She purred slightly as she pushed her way in through the bramble opening of the Fringe camp, the warm dawn sun beating down on her still-grayed pelt from the ash. Branchtrot walked over to the Stoneclaw's den. Yarrowheart looked around, spotting Cloudystar and Tuftedpounce talking among the roots of the Talltree. Hm. My pelt is still grey, maybe . . . she slipped into a shadow, sneaking behind the root to overhear them, hidden better due to her grayed pelt.
"- update on the border. The Crow cats appear to not have come onto our territory at all, and the area around the Flurry territory is marshy and flooded still." Tuftedpounce was meowing, seemingly recounting the dawn patrol.
"Hm. Thank you, Tuftedpounce." Cloudystar meowed in reply, "You may go now."
Tuftedpounce turned and left, and Yarrowheart slipped out beside Cloudystar "We're back," she meowed, noticing a slight startle in Cloudystar's gaze.
"Oh, hello Yarrowheart. How did your little expedition go?" the leader meowed, flattening her slightly raised fur.
Yarrowheart sat, nestling her paws among the soft grass, before recounting the events. From the Blackpath, to the cliff, to being attacked, to the camp, to learning of Whitespeckle, to the wait for directions, to the return, to Branchtrot almost falling off of the cliff, to now.
Cloudystar paused for a beat after Yarrowheart finished, then meowed, "Hm. A 'lost group', you say? . . . In an ashy forest? hm. Quite interesting, Quite interesting indeed."
"I think, maybe, that Tuftedpounce is the brother of this Whitespeckle." Yarrowheart meowed,
Cloudystar thought, then meowed "If that were the case, don't you reckon that they'd know of Tuftedpounce? and . . Hm, I do recall that Tuftedpounce moved here from being a rogue while i was still the Steelclaw. Pinkstar was a very quiet, but intelligent leader, and saw that Tuftedpounce, despite being a rogue, would make a fine warrior."
Hm. Used to be a rogue? Looks like a she-cat from another group? interesting. Yarrowheart thought, looking over at Tuftedpounce, who was sat at the entrance to the Stoneclaw den, speaking to Snailback. "Am I crazy, or does Tuftedpounce's face look more rounded than squared, like a she-cat?"
Cloudystar looked past Yarrowheart, narrowing her eyes. "Hm. You may be onto something, Yarrowheart."
After a longer beat, Cloudystar meowed again, "Are his shoulders oddly slim to you?"
Yarrowheart's tail flicked slightly, "You're right."
Cloudystar meowed "Do you reckon we try asking him, rather than continue to sit here, gossiping about his form like kits?"
Yarrowheart's skin heated slightly in embarrassment at Cloudystar's poking comment, "Yeah. Good idea." she meowed, before rising to her feet, Cloudystar doing the same, and then walking over to Tuftedpounce.
"Tuftedpounce. If you're not busy, could you come meet me in my den, with Yarrowheart here?" Cloudystar began,
"Hm? Of course." Tuftedpounce meowed, a hint of surprise in his tone.
Yarrowheart sat in the corner of the dark den, next to the opening, eyes adjusting to the darkness.
Cloudystar sat on her raised bedding, Tuftedpounce sat in the middle of the den.
Cloudystar meowed "So. Tuftedpounce." she began, softly, "We have a few questions for you, on account of a few things Yarrowheart has discovered. I recall you asking about where she had gone off to, yes?"
" . . . Yes?" Tuftedpounce meowed suspiciously
"She was across the Blackpath. Among the ashy forest. I suspect you know something of this place. Please, I would like you to tell us what you know."
Tuftedpounce's fur bristled slightly, and his tail flicked slightly, "Uhm. Well . . . There's a group there. A group that at one point was a part of the forest." his tone remained steady, his body language betraying his unease, "They were seperated from the forest when the Blackpath was put down."
"And you know this, how, exactly?" Cloudystar cut in,
Tuftedpounce stopped, and glanced back at Yarrowheart, then next to her - Yarrowheart only then noticed a longhair brown and white tabby molly sat across the room from her, sat next to the opening.
"Well. I . . . Came from there." Tuftedpounce meowed.
"And, why exactly aren't you there now?" Cloudystar pressed
Tuftedpounce shifted "That is a . . Long story . . . Uhm. I assure you I played no part in any espionage."
"None of the cats there knew of any Tuftedpounce." Yarrowheart cut in,
Tuftedpounce stared back at her for a moment, breathed slowly in, then exhaled. "I . . . Was not born a Tom. I fled because my group - Those Among the Ashes - didn't quite like my . . Need to be a tom."
Yarrowheart felt her fur raise in surprise, and Cloudystar's eyes widened slightly. Tuftedpounce's tail flicked nervously.