(A/N: warning, pacinng and stuff kinda sucks because I haven't written a warriors story in forever)
The first thing North learned about the Clans is that they were where his father had come from. That didn't tell him very much, since his father had up and left them about a moon after Cryo had been kitted. Their mother, Wish, had renamed them three days after their father had left when she realized that he wasn't coming back. She'd thought that she was done with the Clans.
Oh, how wrong she was.
North had been the first to notice the coughing. Wish had tried to hide it, but there wasn't much she could do with the noise it made. North had suggested that Wish visit the Clans for some sort of medicine, but his mother had refused. She said that it was just a cough, and that she'd get over it soon.
She did not.
Wish's coughing got so bad that she was unable to eat or get up without throwing up. North had kept to the hope that she'd been better, but that hope had been shattered when she asked him to take Cryo and leave.
"Find RabbitClan." Wish's words were broken by coughs and wheezes, and North stood at the entrance of the den for fear of catching what she had. "Your father will be there. They'll take care of you."
"And they'll give us something for your cough, right?" North pricked his ears hopefully.
Wish held his gaze for a moment, then nodded.
And so six moon old North took his brother by the scruff and began his search for RabbitClan. The three had lived in the Stretch, a bit of land between RabbitClan and WildClan that was mostly wetlands. North had been all over the stretch since the time Wish had gotten sick, having to take up the responsibility of hunting for the three. He wasn't a good hunter by any means, but he'd often be lucky enough to catch a mouse or two for the three to share. The lack of food had all three thin and weary, and was perhaps the reason why Wish had fallen so ill so quickly.
In reality, it was RabbitClan who found North and not the other way around. He had been trying to teach Cryo how to hunt when he'd heard a soft chuckle.
"Is that how rogues hunt?" North pricked his ears when he heard the whisper, and flicked his tail for Cryo to be silent.
"I've never seen a rogue hunt like that." Another cat murmured, and then two toms stepped out of a patch of tall grass. Both were larger than North, and he flattened his ears.
"Hello." The largest tom flicked his ears. He had short, brown tabby fur and calm eyes that held curiosity. "My name is Littletail. This is Coldpaw. Who are you?"
Coldpaw, the other tom, tilted his head. He was blue-gray, though his haunches seemed to be a darker, almost black shade. His tail was light at the end, and he had white paws and gray eyes that shone with excitement.
"Are you RabbitClan?" North blurted out the question without thinking.
"We're a part of RabbitClan." Littletail purred, his whiskers twitching in amusement. "RabbitClan is bigger than two cats."
"We were looking for you." North stood. "My mother-Wish-she told us to find you. She said you'd look after us."
"I see." Littletail flicked his tail, which did look shorter than it should've been. "What's your name?"
"North." He glanced over at his brother, who crouched silently in the grass with wide blue eyes. "That's Cryo. You don't have to be quiet anymore."
Cryo stood up and skittered over to Littletail and Coldpaw, eyes wide. "You're RabbitClan cats? Do you know our father?"
North pinned his ears. "Cryo. Hush."
Cryo glanced over at him, confused. Wish used to talk about the two's father often, mentioning that he'd left RabbitClan for her before eventually going back. North wasn't sure if they'd known or not, but he didn't intend on telling them either way. He wanted to at least meet his father before he said something that might make him hate North.
"Your father?" Coldpaw tilted his head.
"No cat important." North brushed the question off, giving Cryo what he hoped was a stern look. "But our mother is really sick and sent us here. She said you could take care of us."
"Of course." Coldpaw purred. "We take care of all the cats in the Clan!" His eyes widened and he glanced over at Littletail. "Are this cats going to be in the Clan, too?"
"That's for Whistlestar to decide." Littletail chuckled. "We'll lead you to our camp, but it our leader tells you to leave, then you have to. No arguing, okay?"
North nodded.
Littletail turned and began padding towards where the sun had only just risen in the sky. "Follow us."
North nodded and followed the two, holding Cryo by his scruff. It was getting harder to carry him, since he was growing, and the group had to stop halfway because North couldn't carry him anymore.
"Leave him to me." Littletail dipped his head and lifted Cryo, holding his fur gently in his jaws. Eventually, the four came to a dip in the ground, and North stared, amazed. The ground sloped to reveal a large group of cats speaking to each other. North followed Littletail and Coldpaw to a small path that smelled overwhelmingly of conflicting cat scents, and into the heart of the camp. North took a deep breath and glanced around. He'd made it!
Littletail left Coldpaw with North and Cryo while he set out to find RabbitClan's leader, and North spotted several cats shooting them looks as they passed. There was one that sat beside a large rock at the edge of camp, staring at the three with wide eyes.
"Who's that?" North glanced over at Coldpaw, who puffed his chest out pridefully. "That's my father. He's the deputy of the Clan!"
North nodded as if he knew what that meant. "I think he's staring at me."
"Oh, maybe. Ravenwhisp stares sometimes, although never at a specific cat. Usually he just stares at the sky, or the ground."
North glanced over at Coldpaw. "Ravenwhisp?"
"Yep." Coldpaw purred and North's gaze drifted back to Ravenwhisp. The cat who'd left him and his family was only a few paw steps ahead of him.
The two's gazes met and Ravenwhisp looked away.
