☁ 𝒜𝓈 𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹𝓈 𝒞𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓀𝓎 ☁

Chapter 29

𝒯𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓁

~ ✵ ☁ ✵ ~

Twitchtail was still depressed over what had happened to Reedrunner a few days before, but despite that, she forced herself to trudge on after her clanmates as they searched for new territory.

To distract herself from her grief, she had decided to think about what may have happened the night before at the gathering. Were they worried about FlameClan at all? She guessed StreamClan and BreezeClan may have been, but she highly doubted CliffClan did at all. Well, CliffClan's leader at least. If the clan's members were anything like Petalwish, she could assume that at least a few worried about the absent clan.

They had now stopped to rest for a bit though, and the healer hoped it wouldn't be long now until they found a suitable home for her clan.

"Hey, Twitchtail!" She spun around to see Pounceflight bounding toward her. "Smokeflight and I were planning to go hunting. You wanna join us?" She asked.

She shrugged, "Sure, why not?" If anything, it would distract her from thinking about Reedrunner so much. I hope he's alright... Living right next to twolegs for her entire life had made her see how terrible they really could be. She couldn't even imagine what her brother was having to go through. Hang in there, Reedrunner!

"Great! The more cats, the better." The deputy replied, distracting her from her thoughts. She flicked her tail in excitement and she was practically bouncing on her paws. Twitchtail found herself smiling. Even in all of the grief and loss the clan had been through recently, she was thankful at that moment that Pounceheart was still trying to cheer the other FlameClan warriors up and see the best in their current situation.

Burningstar sure made a good choice when she chose to appoint Pounceflight as the clan's deputy. She thought, racing after Pounceflight as she and Smokeflight began to leave their clanmates in search of food.

It felt so good just to get a break from walking all day, even if she was still on her paws. Anything other than aimlessly walking was fine with her. She parted her jaws, taking in the scents of the landscape around her. Almost immediately, she could scent a finch nearby as well as a mouse. The three hunters split off in different directions to cover more ground and discover more prey.

Aha, I've found you! She thought triumphantly as her eyes caught the mouse she had smelled. It was nibbling at something, distracted from its oncoming pursuer. She licked her jaws as hunger clawed at her belly, lowering herself to the ground and into a hunting position. She dug her claws into the ground preparing herself. Then she leaped at it.

Before she could get her claws on it though, it scurried away and into some thick shrubbery, out of reach. She let out a sigh of disappointment, but all hope wasn't lost. She followed the smell of the finch she scented earlier, praying to SpiritClan it hadn't flown off just yet.

It must have though because as much as she tried to find it, the bird was nowhere in sight. I sure hope Smokeflight and Pounceflight had better luck than I did. She retreated to where she had left the two hunters.

Pounceflight was there when Twitchtail caught up, a fat rat in her jaws and a dead snake beside her.

"Woah, I've never seen a snake before!" She mewed, not even trying to conceal her surprise. She pawed at it, feeling the thick scales beneath her paw pads. A shudder went through her pelt. "Blech. Is this even meant to be eaten?" She asked.

Pounceflight shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've never exactly eaten one either. In fact, the only time I've ever seen one is when I met a CliffClan hunting patrol at the border. Apparently, snakes show up there sometimes and one of their warriors caught one." She explained to Twitchtail. "I'd be careful though if you happen to see one. They could be venomous."

She shivered once again. Now she really didn't want to test her luck with the dead reptile.

After a bit of waiting, Pounceflight mewed, "I sure hope he's managed to catch a moon's worth of prey with all the time he's taken."

Twitchtail couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Do you think he's alright?" She asked in a more serious tone once she had regained her composure.

"Might as well go check up on him," Pounceheart answered with a shrug and Twitchtail followed the deputy towards the direction Smokeflight took.

Her heart began to flutter in a panic once she heard the hiss of a snake lurking somewhere and she jumped, her fur bristling in fear. But the sound was followed by a growl of a cat, which she could only hope belonged to the FlameClan messenger.

They burst through the undergrowth to find the silver-gray tom's paws flailing and before he was a snake, long fangs bared, and its neck raised as it stared threatening into the FlameClan cat's fearful green eyes.

Pounceflight leaped at it, immediately pinning it to the forest floor, careful to avoid its jaws as it tried to snap at her. While it was distracted, Smokeflight took the opportunity to claw at its long neck. It slumped to the ground, knowing it had been defeated.

"Are you alright?" Twitchtail rushed to the warrior's side to check him for any wounds. But he shook her away. "I'm okay. I made sure it couldn't bite me." He assured her. "Now let's get to the others. They'll be impressed once they see our haul!" He meowed proudly, puffing out his chest.

Smokeflight was right. They were impressed. And just as Twitchtail had been, they were nervous to eat the snakes the two hunters had caught.

Twitchtail felt guilty that she hadn't been able to catch anything. She had wanted to help Pounceflight and Smokeflight but perhaps she shouldn't have joined the hunt at all. But at least it distracted me from everything else going on.

As if no time had passed at all, they were on their paws once again, endlessly walking. But it wasn't long before they came across a clearing with a single tree towering above, reaching toward the sky with its branches. The clearing backed up to a wall of rock, so steep it seemed to Twitchpaw it would be impossible to climb, especially with the odd niches and nooks in the stone.

"I think this is it." Burningstar mewed, looking back toward the FlameClan cats behind her. "Welcome to our new home."