Leaving the Barren Lands

[Longstorm]

OOC: So, yeah... Moonclan, bless their little hearts, have never seen two-legs before. Why is this relevant? Well, these cats need to get back in a few days but it a long walk.
What does this mean? You'll seeeeeeee - in a topic or two. MWHAHAHAHA.

IC: Jace, in a great group of cats, as many as the Questers had started with long ago in the beginning of all of this, was heading home.

[Meany]

The cats of Moonclan were following. Here, namely, was Spottedfern, a queen of her Clan, and her brother Cloudscar, a spotted warrior.
Following up behind them was Whitelight, a great warrior, and her sister, Goldenlight.

Blacklight was still in awe of the entire situation. Moonclan following us back... Wow...

[Longstorm]

Windface was having his whiskers blown flat against his cheeks now that they were in the open wind. He kept his eye narrowed as he strained to see past the flurries of snow.
They weren't traveling across the very tops of the mountains since that would come later, so they were almost level with the cloud bank.
The warrior could practically see the snowflakes being born in the swirls of gray.
He knew it would be stupid to ask if they could go lower since it was a long, steep way down and there weren't many obvious foot-holds.
The gray-faced tom sighed, his breath nearly stolen away by the whipping wind.

Leafheart, behind some cats, looked down the South side of the mountain - it was glorious. He could see another mountain range, the twin to the one they were walking across, only it lead more to the East than to the North. He looked down into a what looked like a vast valley and he wondered what could possibly be down there as he walked.

For the second time Icepaw looked down into the deep valley. He could see the faint, dark smudges of trees and maybe the fainter smudges of rivers, but they were very far up so he couldn't tell for sure.
The apprentice sighed, thinking wistfully of the warmth that would be down there and the fresh-kill that would be more abundant.
The tom suddenly hissed when a flurry of snowflakes began to fall from the cloudbank.
"Oh, just what we need," he grumbled.

[Loki]

So my mom was respected? That or a simple passer.
Joy's head was clouded with thoughts and she looked up as flakes began to fall like feathers from the sky.
She shook her body and yawned before letting herself slip back to the back, where it'd seem quieter.
No, she was quite anti-social when she wanted to be.

[Guest]

Stormstar, a bit further than the middle of the group, merely twitched a whisker to the flurries. What he was more concerned about was the snow shelves beyond the cloud bank - would they hold long enough for his Clan and their guides to make it to the straighter paths they spoke of?
He truly hoped so.

Sunclaw was closer to the back of the group, making sure no cat fell behind in the deep, cold snow. She sighed when it began to snow, the crackle of ice in her ears as she stepped on and over a small patch.
She kept her ears pricked towards the snow-shelves she knew lined these paths. She was very wary of them but she knew they couldn't be hurried along this old path.

Goldenlight, instead of walking with her mate, was walking with her sister. "I can't believe he'd want to stay," she was fretting. "Does it mean he doesn't want to be with me?"
Raineyes, near to the front, mewed to Cloudscar, "I don't know how to apologize, man..."

[Runfast]

Otterpool was occasionally asking cats whether their paws were hurting or if they needed to stop for a bit, or were they feeling air-lack sick.
All answers said 'no', but she suspected some cats were faking being okay - Tsk, warriors, she thought.

Raypaw was still padding alongside Talltree, not having the courage to face her mother or her sister, not even her aunt or - well, not really anyone.
I was a coward, she thought bitterly. I don't deserve to be an apprentice...

Cold looked down to the strange valley below. He wondered if any other cats lived there, if they were like their Clans or if they were just loners. Still, he thought, they'd have a wild story to tell, I'm sure...

Mosspaw didn't like looking down at the valley - she wasn't afraid of heights. She quite enjoyed leaping from tree to tree and climbing as fast as a squirrel. But the drop here was just so, so - unnatural.
She heard faint, squeaky creaking noises, but she shook her head, thinking it was her ears.

[Meany]

Whitelight put her tail on her sister's shoulder, murmuring comfortingly. "That's for you to discuss with him, sister. But if I know anything, it's that that tom is head over tails for you in love."

Cloudscar was saying to Raineyes, "Warrior-up and speak to her. Just apologize and spend forever making up for it and have a million kits."
Spottedfern was giggling. "Yes - yes, do apologize and mean every word of it."

Snowfeather's large ears caught a noise as she was padding along in the crunchy snow.
"I hear something." It was creaky and squeaky, just strange. "I hear something!"
Blackfire stopped, about to say she was just hearing things when he heard it too. "What is that?"

[Loki]

Joy padded with her head low and eyes staring at her paws. crack.
It was bearly audible and yet she still heard it. She looked around to see
who had slipped. no one?
Worried?
came the cold voice quite suddenly.
She jumped in shock, sidling into Sinewpaw
who fell sideways with a cry of shock.

[Longstorm]

Jace and Icepaw stopped, swiveling their ears to try and pinpoint the sound which was complicated, due to the wind.

Windface wasn't hearing much of anything - the wind was in his face! "What is it," he yowled over his shouder.

Leafheart stopped walking. "That... doesn't sound good," he whispered. "Quiet," he snarled to the warrior.

[Guest]

"Silence," Sunclaw hissed. Everyone fell relatively quiet - the creaking seemed to stop for the moment.

Stormstar knew exactly what it was. "Head down the slope," he commanded his warriors. "Head for the valley if you value your lives," this was to everyone. "- slowly. And quietly."

Goldenlight, with her sister, slowly began to inch down the slope. "There's another ledge not too far down," she whispered.
Sunclaw, hearing, passed it on to the others. "There's a slope - go on. Be careful."

[Longstorm]

Leafheart swallowed nervously as he slowly made his way down the steep slope - if he missed the ledge he'd have a ways to fall before hitting the next one. And if he were to cry out? He shuddered silently, remembering the screams of fellow apprentices as they were caught by an icy wave of rocks, trees, and snow.
He looked to the Questers. "Come on - this way," a hushed whisper.
Jace, beginning to sense the danger of the situation, carefully followed the young warrior down the slope.
Icepaw, wanting to be more independent, made his way down a different way. I'll be fine, he thought. I was a loner before - I have experience.

The Burnsky noticed ahead that the path she and Brush would walk was shadowed by snow shelves. "The shelves must be shifting," she whispered to Brush, seeing the strangers and Moonclan begin to make their way down the steep slope in silence. "We musn't disturb the snow."
Brush nodded. He'd never seen and avalanche and he really wasn't looking forward to the possibility.

Windface looked to Otterpool and Beampaw and offered a helping paw, making sure they had a safe-ish path down the mountainside.

[Guest]

Raineyes followed quickly - though as carefully - as he could. We shouldn't have come...

Stormstar watched as his cats and their guides began to make their ways down - only when some of them began to near the ledge did he start to make his way down.

[Runfast]

Mosspaw had never heard of an avalanche, so she didn't know what the danger was - but she followed anyways. The Darkclanners seemed to know, so she saw it as sheer stupidity not to heed the warning.

Cold, with his reinforced claws, began to pick his way down the mountainside - he suddenly caught Mosspaw's tail when she lost her footing and she squeaked - he froze... Nothing.
He let her go, giving her a look, and went on.
Mosspaw watched him for a long moment, feeling gratitude, but she knew it was the wrong time to display it.

Talltree, Raypaw, and Barkfur followed - Barkfur one of the last cats, making sure her Clanmates got ahead.

[Loki]

Joy had grabbed Sinewpaw by the scruff before he could fall.
He hissed in an undertone, "Your fangs are digging into my scruff!"
"Oh... sorry," Joy mewed warily, releasing him.
She jumped dainty onto a ledge bellow. To her fear and shock it wobbled but was still after a moment.
Sinewpaw shook his head and jumped towards the ledge where Joy was.
"Not this one!" She hissed through gritted teeth.
But he couldn't stop, no not in mid air!
He landed.
The ledge shook violently and began to slip.

[Meany]

Jazz had followed Jace and the rest of the Moonclanners, and Snowfeather had made sure cats had begun to make their way down before she did.
Then it was just Blackfire and Stormstar, then just Stormstar, then they were all headed down.
"Icepaw," Blackfire hissed to the apprentice, "don't go that way!"

Snowfeather gasped when she saw Sinewpaw and Joy on a separate ledge, and how it wobbled.

Spottedfern and Cloudscar sighed in relief as they reached the first ledge. "One down," the warrior gasped quietly.
Whitelight was like glue to her sister, the two making their way down together.

[Longstorm]

The Burnsky and Brush made their way down the slope - the Burnsky gasped when she saw, in the shadow of the snow-shelf, the two young cats falling.

Of course Sassypelt had been making her way down as well - but then she slipped, and no one was near enough to catch her. She slid along on her rear without sound, even in her fear she was aware of the dangers of noise, having been raised in the mountains.

Icepaw turned to look at Blackfire and he snapped, "I'm going this way - I have experience - " he lost his footing. He let out a long, loud screech as he fell, scrabbling for a foothold but finding none.

"NO," yowled Leafheart, lashing, trying to grab him but failing.

Thus, the damage was done.

[Guest]

"No," cried Stormstar and Sunclaw - then everything seemed silent for the longest of moments, the echoes of the falling cats everywhere and nowhere.
There - the creaking was back, turning to cracking, turning to snarling, turning to - silence.
"EVERYONE - LET GOOOO!" yowled Sunclaw, and she let herself fall/slide/tumble down the mountainside, the other Moonclanners following.
Then a thunderous roar deafened everyone, and a shadow began to chase them all.

[Sponsored content]