Mistlight and Nightkit in DarkClan Camp

[Longstorm]

Mistlight had walked through the dark and the rain to reach the DarkClan camp.
And it was empty.
What?!?! She thought. Where has everyone gone?
Mistlight padded further into the dark, wet camp.
Mistlight sighed heavily as she stuck her head into the warrior's den. Nothing. Cold scents all around. Mistlight pulled back and looked back around at the camp.
She felt strange being in the camp alone in the dark. She hadn't been living in this camp for very long and she felt like a real stranger without anyone else there to validate her presence. Them being just gone didn't make sense to her. She hadn't a clue where they could have gone. Did they just not make it back to the camp in the first place?
Had they chosen to live somewhere else - no, that was ridiculous. The scents were cold, but they weren't THAT old.

After her family had went to sleep, Nightkit had gently squeezed out from inbetween Eaglekit and Dreamkit
She had quickly crept to the den's entrance, and after taking one last glance, taken off into the night and pouring rain.

...

Nightkit felt a slight breeze behind her as she continued to run through the mud, this time being careful of anything protruding from the ground. Nightkit shrugged off the strange thought, her attention was fully set on following what scent she could pick up on of Mistlight.
Very soon she stopped suddenly, causing her to slide slightly as she noticed a path that led downhill towards a small looking den of rock. Curious she began to follow the path, pausing and decided to leap down the decline. She pounced, then as she went to land she lost her grounding grip, causing her to tumble and roll towards the entrance.

"AAAAH!" The young kit squealed out in fright as she couldn't stop before sliding straight into the entrance.

Mistlight spun around at the sound. Her eyes focused on the scrap of fur on the ground before the camp entrance and her eyes narrowed to slits. Mistlight padded towards the scrap, and, when she stood before it, gave it a stern look. "Nightkit," she said scoldingly.
After hearing her name, Nightkit slowly looked towards the stern expression of Mistlight. "Umm... Sorry?" Nightkit nervously queried. It was then she knew she was in big trouble.
Mistlight shook her head disapprovingly. "Nightkit," she said again, "Your mother must be so worried."
"No, Momma's asleep." Nightkit spoke eagerly,but then suddenly remembered that she was in trouble, "I'm sorry Mistlight... I, I just wanted to see where you were going... I-." She quietly cut off, lowering her head and looking to the scratches she received from her unplanned tumble.
Mistlight noticed Nightkit noticing her scratches on herself. Well, that's no good.
"Tsk. We'll have to take care of those, you know," she said conversationally.
Nightkit raised her head at the different tone, "O- Okay." She quietly responded, slowly getting to her paws and approached Mistlight.
Mistlight nodded approvingly. "Okay. Let's go over to the healer's den," she gestured in a vague direction with her tail. Mistlight was fairly certain she remembered where the den was - she HAD lived in a for a little while when she was much younger...
Well, how hard could it be to find. It probably smelled like herbs, anyway.
Mistlight gestured for Nightkit to follow her past the dens.
Nightkit began to follow, "What is this place?" Nightkit breathed as she looked around the area in awe.
Mistlight glanced back at Nightkit and then checked in front of herself to make sure she didn't walk into a wall because that would be embarassing.
"This is DarkClan's main camp. The cats of DarkClan live here - though they're not here right now for some reason..." Mistlight trailed off.
She looked at one den with a low entrance. That seemed familiar enough. Mistlight walked up to it and ducked her head to look in. She inhaled deeply and regretted it. Smelled like cats. A LOT of cats. Smelly cats...Muddy cats.
Nightkit's eyes opened wider, "What's DarkClan?" She asked, as she turned her attention to Mistlight, her head was tilted to one side.

Mistlight looked at another den, one with a tall, thin entrance that was hard to see into. She stuck her head inside of that one and inhaled CAREFULLY. Ah. Herbs. Wonderful. What a relief.
Mistlight gestured for Nightkit to follow her into the dark little den. "DarkClan is one of the Clans," she said simply.
"What are the clans for?" Nightkit asked, squeaking as she almost tripped over her own footing as she continued to follow Mistlight, gently bumping into her as her eyes didn't adjust to the darkness of the den.

Mistlight stopped. Never before had been faced with such an existential question. What, indeed, were the Clans FOR?
Why were they? What were they for? Was there any true reason for the Clans to continue to be split up into factions and fight until the end of their days?
Eh. Whatever the reason, Mistlight thought, it was more important, and greater than any simplistic reasoning.
It was life. It was purpose. It was loyalty, faith, and family.
Of course, she didn't think a kit could comprehend that. MISTLIGHT didn't really want to comprehend that. So, she just said: "The Clans are different groups of cats that live all over. They have their own leaders and their own lives and their own families within each of these Clans. DarkClan is one of four. I am from DarkClan. Your mother, and you, are from a Clan called DewClan. They live down in the marsh at the bottom of this mountain. One day you and your family will go back to them, and I will stay with my Clan.""

Nightkit's eyes were wide in awe, "Does that mean I wont get to see you anymore?" Her voice was dull with sadness and potential disappointment.
Mistlight's expression softened. "I'm a healer," she explained. "Healers have different privileges than normal Clan members. So we may not see each other often, but I can visit sometimes."
Mistlight looked back into the den and inhaled the scents. She hoped what she wanted was inside.

Nightkit's eyes lit up. "And then I can come back here?" Her voice was full of excitement, "And we can play together?"
Nightkit began to gently paw the ground with her front paws, lifting each one in turn as she quietly purred to herself, thinking about how lucky she was to be in a clan of her own! She did wish to be in the same clan as Mistlight but she was super excited with the idea of still being able to see Mistlight when she visited.

Mistlight thought about her words carefully. "Well. IF you become a warrior you could only come into DarkClan with special permission. Only healers - or medicine cats - may come and go between the Clans. But even if you can't come to my home, I know you'll like your home even better than here. And you will see me now and again."

Nightkit nodded quietly, the pawing stopped. and she lowered her tail.
"What is my home like?" She asked curiously, at this a slight breeze began to blow, once again the kit ignored this.

Mistlight padded into the narrow entrance and looked around, her eyes adjusting to the greater darkness. It was nice to be out of the sleet, anyway. There wasn't much in the way of herbs there, unfortunately. She would make do, she supposed.
She looked at Nightkit. She tilted her head to the side as she tried to recall the details of DewClan. "Well...I know the trees are tall there, and the leaves are green and golden. Beyond the trees is a marsh - that's a place where grass and water are. Things like frogs and lizards live there, and DewClan eats those things." She didn't have a whole lot more to say about the territory. It wasn't her home.

Nightkit began to paw at the ground again, as she got more excited, the breeze began to pick up a little, she felt the breeze circle her a little before settling down, this time Nightkit was too busy with her excitement that she didn't pay attention to this abnormality.
Mistlight noticed the wind. What in the name of StarClan was up with the strange wind? She didn't care for it.

Mistlight discovered some dried, dusty marigild. Excellent. "This will be good for your cuts," she said in a matter-of-fact way. "But only after I chew them up." And with that she picked them up into her mouth and began to wetly chew on it.
Nightkit screwed up her face, She didn't know what to think of it. She didn't say anything as she waited patiently for Mistlight to finish what she was doing.
Mistlight looked around for a leaf but then decided that the stone floor was just as fine. She swept away some dust with her tail and then unceremoniously spat out the goop. And that is how a marigold poultice was made.
She looked at Nightkit. "Come over here," she said.

Nightkit looked on as Mistlight spat out the poultice. "That doesn't look very good." Nightkit squeaked as she slowly made her way closer towards Mistlight.
Mistlight chuckled. "True. So it's a good thing you don't have to eat it!" She dabbed at the poultice with a surprisingly dainty touch of her broad paw. "This goes onto your scratches. It will keep them from getting infected, and help them heal faster." She dabbed at one of Nightkit scratches with the poultice, and then another.

Nightkit flinched as the poultice was applied to her scratches. She then began to think about her mother and her siblings, Did they miss her yet? Are they still sleeping? Would Mistlight go back with her if she asked? She chose not to say anything.

Mistlight was quick and efficient with her work, and was finished soon after she began. "All done," she announced to Nightkit. "We need to get you back to your mother," she said, her voice somewhat stern again. "She'll be worried when she wakes up, you know. Though it is dark - and the wind seems to have picked up. So we will return at dawn."

Nightkit winced inwardly, she knew she was going to have to go back eventually, but she was so happy that it wasn't straight away. Nightkit was so keen to learn as much as she could so she could so she could tell Eaglekit and Dreamkit all about the new things she had learned. She nodded her head, happy to be able to spend time in this new place.