#>pebble

Greydrizzle was of no help, neither were Perch, or Mothleaf. Even Fallowshell, when she was alive, had no help to give. They all had conflicting diagnoses, opinions- none of them helpful. It got worse when Warmpaw's eyes were clawed at by a hare- the dreams came every night, disrupting his sleep. It felt like torture. They did manage to recover, with both eyes intact, but that helped little. The only thing that helped was being with Rainflick. He helped soothe their worries, and was just overall a good cat to vent to. 

So that was the name they screamed when the soft sands of the eastern territory caved in, plummeting her into the unknown. Thankfully, she didn't land on anything hard- only sand. It was plush, soft, and warm- like a nest laid out in the sun. They struggled to their feet, shaking off the sands clinging to his pelt like fleas. It felt... less intense than their dreams. Now that he actually knew what falling felt like... it wasn't that bad. But then, there was the issue of getting out. 

The cave was dark, with only the light of midday to guide her. There were sandstone walls, clawed at by small, desperate claws, leading to a tunnel. At the end of that partially dug out tunnel was the mummy of a cat. ‘Flailpaw,’ Warmpaw knew instantly. His body was small, hardly apprentice sized, and clearly malnourished. How long did the poor thing spend down here? How long would Warmpaw? 

Warmpaw refused to let this cave remain a graveyard for apprentices. They, very carefully, dug around the corpse of the kit, and easily- at least, easily in comparison to Flailpaw- began to dig a good enough tunnel to the surface, just barely wide enough to fit themself. It took hours, long into the night, until Warmpaw finally broke through the dirt and soil to the surface. The tunnel ended along Nettleclan and Bigclan's border. 

With no strength to haul herself to camp, she rested under the roots of a scraggly scrub-tree. When he woke, it was barely dawn. Using what strength they had gathered in the night, she went back into the cave to gather the remains of the departed. In the mouth of the tunnel, he set Flailpaw. They knew, somewhere in that death trap, Pebblespeckle's remains were lying. Perhaps, that was why she was being tormented. So in the sand, they dug, smoothing down the fall, removing stones and beach rock that made a fall into there deadly. The rocks were shoved onto the walls, reinforcement like no other. Warmpaw felt like she was making a den out of the sand cave. 

By the time she heard her name being called by a terribly worried Rainflick, she had found every bone from Pebblespeckle's skeleton and placed them in a shallow hole for the time being. It was nearing night by the time Rainflick’s voice pierced the skies. A cry of Come Home! Her legs burned with effort, but the thought of stopping for a moment hurt worse, so they kept moving. They dug more of the tunnel out, to where she could finally bring out the malnourished Flailpaw and herself in a single trip. He'd have to bring a basket for Pebblespeckle, unfortunately. 

"Warmpaw?!" Yowled Rainflick, backed up by Lavenderstep and Billowspot. They all stopped in horror when Warmpaw emerged from the earth, holding an apprentice-sized body in her large jaws. "What..." Rainflick was immediately by their side, as the two apprentices fell to the earth - one exhausted, the other... 

~~~

When Warmpaw woke, she was in a hospital nest, lying at the back where it was coolest. The only cats in the Hospital were Nettle, Sleepykit, and Octopuskit. Nettle was assisting the two newborn kittens in eating their milk (totally not stolen from the cows that roamed the border of the clans. Totally)

Nettle used her foreleg to dip a paw into the milk, then allowed a kit to nurse off her. Gross- but surprisingly effective. Warmpaw purred while watching, which caused the injured molly to look up, and she smiled at Warmpaw. 

"You're awake." She said, matter-of-factly. "You've slept through two moonrises." She looked back down to Octopuskit, who finished suckling with a full, sleepy look. Instantly Sleepykit was trying to latch, mewing pitifully. Nettle had to gently push the kit off with her nose, then wetted her paw. Warmpaw laughed a little.

"Mothleaf has milk, " Warmpaw croaked, "why are you feeding them?" 

"Mothleaf only has so much. She's weaning her kits, and isn't making as much as the new ones need." Nettle said, helping Sleepykit suckle. "So I am filling in. My previous colony did this for the orphans. If not with milk, then with prey-blood. Didn't… always work, but it was better than letting kits starve." Warmpaw didn't speak after that, a bit sheepish at being corrected. Nettle sure was a strange, but wise cat... 

Warmpaw only meant to close his eyes for a minute, but when they were open again, a bowl full of Nettleclan's signature clam chowder was resting to the side of her nest. It was still steaming, so Warmpaw wasted no time in lapping it up. Out of the corner of their eye, she saw Mothleaf curled around her kittens, along with Lavenderstep and Honeypelt's. Despite the two or so moon difference, they were all curled up like siblings. Greydrizzle was nearby, preparing a salve for storage and replacing what looked like an old, moldy one. Warmpaw didn't know- she's not the medic here. Perch emerged from the entrance of the Hospital with a wad of fresh moss to line the spot where new patients lay. He was the one to notice Warmpaw awake. 

“Warmpaw, ye be in a world of trouble. Rainflick’s mighty cross wit’ ye, and Juniperstar be too.” He said as Warmpaw ate. Their ears lowered instinctively, and they bashfully looked away. “But-” he started again, “yer heroics be not ignored. Peace has come to the Starred Clan, and Wayfinders of the Lost be taking back their charges. Yer punishment be delaying yer warrior naming ‘til the next moon.”

“Th-thank you, Perch. I- I didn’t mean to worry everyone! I- I swear! I just- fell. It was like it came out of nowhere…” Warmpaw huffed, but honestly was thankful there wasn’t any real punishment. “... Did they get Pebblespeckle’s bones? I- I had them all collected ‘nd ready to take out-”

"I'm Flailpaw, the first Nettleclan Wayfinder." Says the young tom, helping Longpaw to his feet. Longpaw feels overwhelmed by everything... but at least these new, strange cats aren't crowding him.

"What's a Wayfinder?" He asks, as Pebblepaw stands close to him.

"I find the dead cats in the waking world and bring them to the Sea." Flailpaw has a big smile on his face as he speaks. "Whether or not they're a clan cat doesn't matter. Everything goes to the Sea. Just depends on the location." Longpaw felt his pelt prickle.

"Is... T-that sounds sinister..." He can't help but say.

"AHAHA- yeah, it's supposed to." Flailpaw's smile grows, all teeth, and nudges the worried Longpaw with his hip.

"You're weird... And a little skinny..." He thinks aloud. Flailpaw shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

"Wow, thanks. I starved to death in the sand caves." Flailpaw shrugs.

"I fell on a rock!" Pebblepaw interjects, happily. Longpaw gives him a worried look.

"Is... that why your face is wet?" Longpaw lifts a paw, to touch his own face as a gesture.

"Mhm! Every Death Wound a cat gets turns into their own little mini-sea! I keep bluegill and catfish in mine. We can find you your own fishies to keep for yours!" Pebblepaw touches the back of Longpaw's head, to which he shivers.

It's wet. He can feel the cold-yet-warmth of Pebblepaw's toe-pads on the surface of his wound, rippling around like a proper body of water. Is that really what he died from!?

"Don't do that, Pebblepaw, he's still fresh." Firestripe finally says, batting away Pebblepaw's intruding hand. "We can worry about all that later... I think he should get some rest. A-and let him adjust to all this... The Sea knows how long it took for me to adjust..." Firestripe lays his fluffy tail on Longpaw's back, and leads him away from pure blue space they were at.

Longpaw watched, as Firestripe walked over and sat next to Fennelspots. He wrapped his tail around theirs, but they didn't respond. Longpaw hurried over to his siblings, pressing his pelt against Honeypaw's. He shivered, and looked around. There was no wind. Longpaw frowned, but... He wanted to be there, for his siblings, even if it was his own funeral. He watched as Meadowshade and Juniperstar jumped out his grave, and they took his body, and took it down into that sandy hole. Longpaw cringed at seeing his head bust open at the back. He felt ever more aware of his personal ocean as it dripped down his shoulders, uncomfortable.

As they moved to a more familiar location, Longpaw recognized it as the beach just outside the clan's camp. He could see Greydrizzle, Meadowshade, Juniperstar, and the rest of the clan huddled around his body. Honeypaw was there, too, leaning on a sobbing Mousepaw. Meadowshade was digging a hole for his body, deep into the sand, with Juniperstar helping.

Meadowshade and Juniperstar, his mom and the clan's leader, began to speak. Remembering the little things, crying, telling everyone how loved Longpaw was. He tucked his head into his chest, feeling warmth as everyone had something to say. Firestripe even muttered what he liked about Longpaw when everyone had finished, leaving the living to bow their heads in mourning.