Crowstar's Mission {COMPLETE}

Chapter 31

Crowpaw gave his wound a tender sniff. There was no scent of infection, it still had a slight ache to it but he couldn't put off going home any longer. He had to start his journey back to MoonClan, lives were depending on his message. He had used marigold as instructed by Mosscloud to treat his wound, and now he felt ready to venture on. He had made his home in a small den outside the twolegplace.

Most nights he found hard to sleep, everytime he closed his eyes he pictured Ivy. He wanted nothing more than to hold on to her memory, and to believe that she was watching over him, but his heart longed for her. It was painful, everything he did brought intense pain to his heart. He thought about his father, about Ivy and about Cooper and the rest of the loners.

Cooper hated him, but what did the others think? He never had the chance to say goodbye to any of them, they had been his family for several moons. Crowpaw looked towards the direction of the forest. Goodbye, friends. He thought painfully, taking a moment to remember their faces, including Cooper's. He hoped that Starling, Firefly, FInch and Buttercup would grow up safe and healthy.

Crowpaw took a deep breath and stepped out of his den into the early morning light. He had to remember the path he took to get here, and he knew it was a long way away. He took a single paw step forward, and the only way to get home was to just keep walking.

Crowpaw walked on the outskirts of the twolegplace, he wanted to avoid running into Ripper or any of the other rogues. He knew that beyond this twolegplace was a moor, but that moor was where he had an encounter with a coyote and beyond the moor was Sheba's home. If it was nighttime by the time that Crowpaw crossed the moor, perhaps he could stay in her barn again. He didn't want to encounter the twolegs again, but he would be able to hide easily.

Crowpaw heard movement in the twolegplace, the shouts of twolegs and the barking of their dogs. He tensed and slunk lower to the ground, he really didn't want to encounter a dog at all.

He spotted the twoleg, walking with a long-haired golden dog. Crowpaw tensed and jumped to the side, slipping into a hedge and waiting patiently for them to pass. Once the twoleg and the dog vanished from his sight, he skirted along the edge of the twolegplace quickly until he neared the edge of it. He looked from side to side and darted across the thunderpath and onto the moor.

Crowpaw happily breathed in the scent of heather and rabbit. His stomach growled at the scent, he had hardly eaten the last few days and figured he should. The journey itself wasn't actually that long, but he had lingered in a few places for several days. He recalled his river den, he wondered if it was still overrun with twolegs.

Crowpaw scented and caught a rabbit for himself, he couldn't force himself to eat the entire thing, but ate until he knew he would have the strength necessary to continue. As he crossed the moor, the sun started to slowly fall. He wanted to get out of the moor before night to avoid the coyotes. He didn't want to encounter the disgusting animals again.

As the moon overtook the sky, Crowpaw could see scattered twolegnests along the horizon. This is where Sheba's home is. He crept in silence, hoping to avoid being seen by any other twolegs until. He kept his nose in the air, catching the light scent of cat. He followed it until he arrived to the strange, yet familiar structure of Sheba's barn. He looked around, hoping that the she-cat hadn't gone to bed already.

"Hey there, stranger!" An eager voice spoke, Crowpaw looked to his side and saw Sheba ducking out of a strange hole in the twoleg nest. "You're Crowpaw, right?"

Crowpaw nodded. "Yeah, it's nice to see you again Sheba."

"You too!" She flicked her tail and purred. "I've been telling all my friends about the cool forest cat I met, but they don't believe me. I didn't think you'd come back."