Back To The Start (Book 3) (S1 Finale) (A Warriors Cat Story)

Chapter 26: They're Back!

There was silence for just a few moments, as none of the cats said a word to each other. I knew what was going on, and I wish that I could calm them down, because I knew that they must be a bit scared at the sight that they saw in front of them at the exact moment.
I knew who it was, I had recognized the voice of the cat right away from the moment that she had spoken to all of the others. I knew that it was not a surprise to Owl, as he had spoken to the cat once before, but to the others it was all new to them.
I was not sure how they could even see her in the first place, I knew that if a cat did not believe in starclan, than they would not be able to see them in the first place. I was quite sure that none of the cats in my clan had quite gotten to the point where they would believe in starclan, but maybe I was wrong...
It was silent for a few moments, as I was quite sure I knew why that was so as well. I knew that they must be a bit scared at the fact that it seemed like somewhat of a normal cat, except you could see through her body a little bit, and the main part was the fact that there were stars all over her.
I tried to speak, but all I could let out was a quiet ghasp, as I seemed to hear the cat in my head speak to me, telling me to not even try... I kept my eyes closed, as I just sat there, wondering how this was going to play through in the first place.
After a few more seconds, I then heard one of the cats, as he had made the bold decision that he was going to be the one that was going to step up and speak in the scary situation that he was currently in as well, and I had to give him credit too. I listened to the cat, as it was just about all I could do anyways in the first place.
"Are you... Are you the starclan cats that Moon told us about?" He said with quite an unsteady gasp in his voice when he said it as well, showing to all of the cats that he was not even sure if any of this was really happening to himself in the first place.
I wish I could make him feel better, because I had the exact same thoughts when I had first seen one of those cats. I did not believe that it was real, and it was worse for me too, as to the fact that I had never even heard of starclan in the first place.
It brought me back to how I had even gotten into this situation in the first place. How I had gotten to the lake, in such a long journey, and how I had brought so many other cats with me as well. It was crazy to think about too, as I wondered how I had even gotten this far.
I then shook my head, as I listened to the starclan cat speak up to Silent, who had just been the cat that had just spoken to her just a few moments ago as well. I kept my ears and my mind on her voice, as I listened to what it was that she had to say back to him.
"Yes... I am Squirrelflight, and these are my friends... We are here to help you get Moon out of the rocks... Because of you 4, we would never have been able to get here, as we thank you for believing in us." She said to not just Silent, but also to the other 3 as well.
It was not as big of a surprise to Owl to see her, but I knew it was still a surprise to him for her to show her face to all of the other cats too. Both me and Owl had several meetings talking about what it was that we could do to get the cats in our clan to start believing in starclan.
It seemed as though this was the first step, and though I was in quite a lot of pain, maybe this was what we had needed to happen to us in the first place. I knew that Limp had taken Shilo and Steve back to the camp, and that they were okay now.
If this is what we needed to start getting the cats in our clan to believe in starclan, than be it so. I hated that it had to hurt me so much, but that was my role as to being the leader of a clan in the first place, things were not supposed to just come easy for me.
There had been a few moments of silence, as I then heard a gasp from all of the others once again. I was not sure as to what it could be so that had made them gasp, as to the fact that I was stuck in a rock, and I could not see, nor could I smell anything.
I just stayed there, as the pain seemed to be getting worse and worse by every moment as well, as it was now getting very hard for me to breath in the first place. I tried to relax myself, though it was in fact quite hard to do so. I shook my head, as I then heard another familiar voice of a tom cat, as he then stepped up and began to speak.
"We have to hurry, we do not have much time, he is dying with every second that we waste." I heard the voice of Jayfeather, as he stepped up to all of the others, and then he spoke to each of them as well. I thanked him for it too, as I knew he was right.
I heard a bunch of voices all around me begin to speak, and then I heard the footsteps of many others as they stepped up above me. I was a bit scared at the same time as well, for a feared that so much weight above me might make the rock collapse even more above my head.
But I seemed to feel no weight above me, as it seemed as though the starclan cats did not even exist in the first place. I shook my head on that thought though, as I knew that if I thought like that, than they would just as soon disappear.
I stayed still, as it all of the sudden seemed to get quite a bit silent once again, as I began to get a bit worried about all of this at the same time as well. I then relaxed myself though, as I heard the familiar voice of Squirrelflight step up to all of the others and begin to speak again.
"Everyone on 3! Ready?" She said to all of the cats that were there with her. It seemed as though I almost felt each one of the cats then nod back to her, as she then began to speak again, just like Owl had done a few moments ago. "1... 2... 3!"
I sat there for a few moments, feeling a sharp sting of pain, as it seemed as though it was only getting worse for me now. As I heard the groaning of so many cats, as it was clearly a very strong and heavy rock for however many other cats were with them.
I sat there for a few more moments, as I then heard their heavy breathing once again, as it seemed as though all of the cats needed a break. It did not seem to feel any better for me either, in fact, it seemed to almost feel even worse than it had felt a few moments ago.
I wish that I could tell all of them to stop, but unfortunately, I could not speak because of all of the dust that was in my lungs at the moment. Nor could I move to even try to do something to get all of them to stop with what it was that they were doing.
This time I heard the voice of a tom cat, as he spoke up once again through all of this. It was a bit of a surprise to me that they had brought an elder here in the first place, but I was not really quite sure how many cats had been in camp when Limp had told them the news.
I shook my head, as I did not need to worry about all of that at the moment, as I knew that my thoughts just needed to be on how I was going to even possibly get out of this situation that I was stuck in right now. There was just simply nothing I could do... My body was stuck in place. I just listened to the voice of the cat though as he spoke.
"Come on guys! We are so close, 1 more try!" Venom yelled out to all of the other cats that he was with at the moment. I heard a bit of shuffling, as the cats were going to get into their postions, then I heard Venom speak once again, as he stepped up. "1... 2... 3!"
The rock began to crumble around me, and my body felt the most amount of pain that it had ever felt before. It felt like I was dying, and I wanted to scream to tell them too stop, but I still could not catch my breath.
But one thing that I was able to do now, was I was now able to move, as I felt my bottom legs begin to move around and throttle all over to place. I heard the groaning of all of the cats as they were doing their best to try to move the rock that was above me.
The rock now seemed stuck, as they were trying harder than ever, but it seemed as though it would not budge. But it did not matter though, as I realized that I could just pop myself out from the bottom of the rock now, as I pushed my head hard, and then I popped myself out.
As soon as I was out, my body then felt even worse than it had before, as I then felt like I was stuck again, though this time there was no rock above me. My body just felt so weak, and it felt so painful at the same time too. I opened my eyes, as I knew that I could now see, though I did not see any of the starclan cats around.
I saw the look on the face of Shrivel as well, as it seemed that she was thinking the same thing too. The rest of the cats had their eyes locked on me though, as my deputy, Owl, was the first cat that ran over to me to see if I needed help.
I groaned in a fair amount of pain, as I lifted my head up at him, as he moved close to me, though it was the only part of my body that seemed as though it wanted to move. I kept my eyes focused on him though, as the dust was finally beginning to settle and get out of my eyes the more I blinked.
He looked at me for a few moments, and then he looked over at my body, and then he looked at the others as it was clear he was not sure what to do at the moment. The others were already up on me as well, as he then began to speak to all of them.
"I cant tell if hes got broken bones, dislocated ones, or both..." He said to all of the others. They looked at me for a few moments, and then they began to stare across my body, as it was clear that they were thinking on what it was that Owl had just said.
I could see that all of them were looking across me, as it seemed like my entire body was torn in half at the moment. I wish I could tell them to go get Limp for help or something, but at the same time I just wanted to get back to camp as soon as possible.
It was not just the fact that I wanted to be treated there, but also even through all of the pain that I was in at the moment, I still wanted to make sure that things were going okay, and that the camp was safe after the few days that I had been gone.
I sat there for a bit longer, as no cat seemed to know what to say back to each other. After a few more moments, Shrivel then decided that she was going to be the one that was going to step up and talk. As it was still hard for me to try and speak due to the dust that I had inhaled into my lungs. I listened to what it was that he had to say though.
"We can go back to camp, and get Limp and bring her back here to see what might be wrong." She said to each one of the others as well. I saw that all of them nodded to each other, as it seemed to be a good idea to the rest of them.
I groaned a little bit, as it was just as I had feared, I did not want to be left alone right now. I lifted my head up to the others, coughing a bit at the same time as well due to all the dust that was in my lungs still, and then I managed to speak with a bit of a rasp in my tone as well.
"Please don't... I do not want to be alone right now, just carry me back to camp please..." I said to all of them. They looked at me a bit surprised that I had finally stepped up and decided that I was going to talk, as it seemed as though they were acting like I was already dead.
I looked at all of them, as I hoped that they would abide by the wish of the leader, but I also knew that I was not in the right condition to make those plans at the moment either. All of them made the smart move, as they looked over at Owl, as he was next in line to step up and speak.
He sat there for a few moments, as it was clear he was thinking of something to say too, as he then closed his eyes. I stared him down for a bit, as it seemed as though he somehow realized that to with his eyes closed, and he got a bit nervous.
After a bit longer however, he then opened his eyes, lifted his head up, and looked at me and squinted at me. I wondered what it was that he might be thinking about right now, but I shook my head, as I just wanted to get out of here, and I listened to what it was that he had to say as well, as he had begun to speak.
"He is right, it is smarter to take him back to camp, we will have to do that anyways... Limp has herbs in her medicine den." He said to us. I looked at him, and then I thankfully nodded to him as well. I then saw all of the others nod to him too.
They then all looked at each other at the exact same time, as they waited to see who was going to make the first move to help pick me up. Owl went ahead and stepped up like any deputy should, as he lifted me up a bit and then nodded to the others for help.
They quickly came over to me to help him pick me up, as it did not take but a few moments to get me lifted up onto the back of Owl. Owl sat there for a few moments, as I could tell it was weighing him down quite a bit as well, as he then began to try and walk.
But he wobbled around, and nearly dropped me on the ground. Luckily for the both of us though, Silent was quick on his paws to come and help him carry me. I groaned a little bit, as it hurt me a lot to be moved around, as they began to walk a bit.
I closed my eyes for just a few moments, as I tried my best to shake away all of the pain that was going through my body at the same time as well. There was silence, as I felt them walking slowly, as I knew that I was not exactly a little cat, and it was hard to carry me.
We kept on going for a short period of time, until we suddenly stopped in place. At first, I did not think that much on it, as I was just too lost trying to push off all of the pain I was in, but that was until I realized that I was slowly being set onto the ground.
As soon as I noticed it, I quickly opened my eyes a bit confused as to what it was that was going on in the first place. I looked up, and saw that both Owl, and Silent were looking at me, as I was on the ground. I was lost, and I had no idea what was going on, until Silent turned his head to the others and began to speak.
"We need to dig a hole to get him through, I will need your help." He said to all of the other cats that he was with. I turned my head, as I realized what was going on, and I looked over at the fence that was beside me. I looked at it for a few moments, and then I realized that something was familiar about it.
I looked below, and I saw an already small little dug up spot, that they were digging up even more, and memories came back to me on where I had remembered it from. It was the day we were looking for Youngtail, and we had to dig out a hole for Mint to go through.
I suddenly realized how hard it must have been for Mint to keep on walking for so long, day in and day out. I felt a bit bad for it as well, as I realized that maybe I should not have been pushing her so hard. I was lucky to have such an amazing and strong cat as my mate as well.
I shook my head, as I saw that they had dug out a spot for me to easily fit through, then they went back over to me at the same time too, and they began to push me through the little make shift hole that they had just made for me.
I yelped loudly in a fair amount of pain, as it hurt me a lot to be moved at the moment. I was quite sure that it was not just dislocated bones that was my problem at the moment. Venom jumped back a bit, as it had scared him a bit, and then he began to speak a bit apologetic to me.
"Sorry! Just trying to get you through." He said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, as I was not sure what to respond to him with. I just nodded to him, as it hurt me to even to that in the first place as well. As they then kept on pushing me through, until I was at the other side.
I sat there alone for a few moments, as I realized that I was on the Windclan moor at the same time. I sniffed in the sweet scent, as it seemed to relax me a bit too. I then turned my head back over to the fence, as I saw the others hop over it and then head over to me.
I looked at them for a few moments, and then I managed to give them a bit of a smile, though I was in quite a lot of pain at the moment. I knew it was what they all needed at the moment, as I knew that they were all scared, and they were not sure what to do.
Owl and Silent then stepped up and lifted me upon their backs once again. It made me feel a bit better again, as I was now not on the ground. I sat there for a few moments, until I realized that I smelt a familiar scent of prey, and I realized how hungry I was too.
At the same time though, I realized that it was freshly killed prey as well, as it meant that someone had just recently killed it. I did not smell any unfamiliar scents around me, that might have killed the rabbit that I smelt. Maybe it was some sort of gift from starclan.
I hoped it was not an omen again, but I shook my head as I realized that we were now walking, and I should say something about it, just in the case that it was some sort of omen. I then spoke up to each of the other cats that were with me.
"I smell freshly killed rabbit... Did someone kill it?" I said to all of them. I then looked at each one of them, one at a time, to see if any of them were going to step and and say that they had killed one. But as I looked at them, I saw that they were in fact as confused as I was.
I then began to fear that it was an omen, that was, until I looked over at Shrivel, and saw that she had a bit of a surprised look on her face in the same instance. She then lifted her head up to me, as she then went ahead and nodded to me, as she then began to speak as well.
"Yes... I nearly forgot that I had killed one for you!" She said to me with a bit of a smile on her face at the same time as well. I looked at her for a few moments, a bit surprised that she had done so for me. I realized the perks of being a leader as well, though I knew that you should do that for any cat none the less.
I then nodded to her thankfully, as I saw her run off, over to where I then saw where a dead rabbit was hiding, as she then picked it up, and then ran back over to me. I saw Silent roll his eyes, as he cracked a bit or a clever grin as she got back over to me.
I looked at her for a few moments, and then I nodded to her thankfully as she lifted her head up, and then she handed it up to me at the exact same moment. She nodded back to me, and then the group kept on walking, and I smiled as I began to eat the rabbit...

I had nearly fallen asleep, after I had finished eating up the rabbit, as it had taken quite some time for us to get back to camp, thanks to the fact that they were carrying me on their shoulders, but thankfully I did not, as I smelt the familiar scent of my clan mates from nearby me.
I opened my eyes, and I looked around me to see what was going on. I realized that we were walking past the briar patch that defended our camp. I looked in through the entrance of our camp as well, as I saw the face of Flame, as he stepped up a bit excited to see my face, as he then began to yell loudly.
"Everyone! Hes okay! They're back!"