When Age Forces You Home {Open}

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    Nettlepelt, a silver and white tabby tom, stalked across the ThunderClan border, his muzzling grey with coming age. Sighing he sat down to recover from his long walk, his sides heaving and his gaze dulled.


    He had once been part of ThunderClan but left after disagreeing with their ideals. He had saved clans from danger, became a hero to some... even practiced being a father to some kits who shared no blood with him. Though he had created a hero and villain from it.


    It was now that age had caught up with him making his joints stiff and reducing his strength. He was hungry and couldn't hunt to keep himself alive. It was time to pack it in and return home...

    Among the shadows and the undergrowth of ThunderClan terrtiory, the aging cat was not alone in his wandering.


    He expected a wandering loner here and there when he patrolled, but this one seemed very odd..as if he knew where he was going. Duskfall may be a young ThunderClan warrior, but he had the smarts and physical scars to equal that of a senior Warrior. The smokey tom followed him silently in the Undergrowth, before circling and busrting out of a bushel of ferns to intercept the cat.


    "..And what, if I may ask, are you doing."

    Nettlepelt paused and turned his grey eyes on the young ThunderClan warrior. He didn't recognise him, he would have probably left long before this young tom had been born. "I'm returning home." He replied, his gaze tired and non-threatening.

    Duskfall narrowed his eyes even more, but said nothing. This cat did not seem afraid, which meant either he was stupid, or that he really did knew his way around here. "And who are you to stomp into ThunderClans territory as if StarClan had your blessing, eh? Speak now and I will not strike you." He meowed, challenging the tom. He hated Loners, who acted like they owned the territory, like it was just another Twolegplace for them. That was where they were wrong.

    "I am Nettlepelt, an ex-Thunderclanner, but I have remained on good terms with the clan. I am no stranger to these lands and I have decided to return. I can no longer live on my own." Nettlepelt spoke, staying calm and collected. Even in this condition he could still fight if it came down to it.

    Duskfall narrowed his eyes as the old Tom spoke his tale. Could it really be true, a cat from the Clans living to long and now..just coming back? But things as of late have been tricky, how could he believe him? "Why should I believe you? You could be an Elite spy for all I know." He growled, unsheathing only one of his paws. The last battle he had took half of his face off, he was not keen on losing more. "How can we know that you were ThunderClan once?"

    "I do not have to prove my blood to a mere child. Fetch an older warrior and they will be able to tell you exactly who I am." Nettlepelt replied, sounding a little more serious. Of course the young cats would be paranoid of danger, he couldn't blame them but he was in no mood to deal with it.

    "Hmph..." Duskfall snarled, but he knew better than to raise a claw aginst an elderly cat. What would the Warrior Code say about this? "I could take you to Wrathstar.." He pondered, "Maybe he or some of the other older cats could recognize you." The smokey tom only half-believed that this cat really came from here, but he was in no position to judge. He flicked a scarred tail and began to wander back to the camp.

    "Heh, I remember the days before Wrathstar. Though he should know of me, lead the way young one." Nettlepelt smiled a little, some life flickering back into his eyes. He stiffly followed along behind Duskfall, his back legs were giving him the most trouble. He couldn't help but notice the scars the young warrior held. "I'm guessing you've encountered war then?"

    "We've just been in a fight with BloodClan." He snarled, as if still feeling the wounds effects. Oh sure, Wolfsmoke had done his best to save what was left of his face, and yet..it still felt like the blood was pouring out of him. If he ever saw that BloodClanner again...he was not sure what he would do.


    "So if you truely are from ThunderClan...do you remember who the last Leader was before you left?" He asked. He could only guess that he knew, but he felt as though there was something..off about this person.

    "So BloodClan continues to cause trouble? They just don't know when to quit. Then again my main enemy is BoneClan." Nettlepelt bristled as he remembered Mirage, a large black and white tom, and Sandflare. They had tortured him and driven an entire clan into a battle that they were sorely outnumbered against, though StarClan that day had saved everyone and led to a victory over BoneClan.


    "I really couldn't remember, it's been so long and I knew the last leader so little. So many names stick in my mind, I doubt any of them are the old ThunderClan leader. Omenstar, Riddlestar, Flamestar, Lionstar... so many names of leaders I've met." Nettlepelt groaned as names filled his head to the point where it hurt. He paused and stared at his hairless front paws and memories of the fire swept over him. He would never forget that kit, he just wished he could have done more to save its mother.

    "Hmm...well, I bet many things have changed since you were here, or that very few cats recognize you now." Duskfall mowed, keeping his eyes strictly on the forest trail ahead of them. The sunlight dappled his already blackened pelt, as he looked back at the stranger again. "Were almost to the entrance.."

    Nettlepelt nodded as he followed along behind Duskfall, he knew it would be difficult finding a place back inside the clan. "The younger warriors may not know me but when I used to be here as a young warrior myself I spent a lot of time with the elders. The elders I knew are probably dead, but knowing them they probably told, or at least I hope they told, the newer elders. I bet some of your current elders were my littermates and old friends." Nettlepelt assumed this anyway due to his own age, surely the cats he grew up around were also facing the same decision. He breathed in the scent of the clan's camp, the old scents bringing up old memories.

    OOC: Leader thread http://warriorcatsrpg.com/index.php?topic=501985.new#new


    IC: Duskfall flicked his scarred tail as he made his way down the Ravine. The rocks fell with muffled flops into the muddy expanse around the gorse barrier, prickling his scars as he walked past. The camp seemed as ordinary as it was, besides the obvious absence of its Deputy, Shimmerstrike. "You would do well to stick close to me...our deputy, Shimmerstrike, had gone missing recently, and many cats are afraid." He started to make his way to the Leaders den.

    ((Okay.))


    Nettlepelt's eyes widened. "Shimmerstrike is missing?" The news haunted him, last time he had been here they had met though it wasn't exactly a friendly meeting but it wasn't a violent one either. His paws guided him along the familiar paths into the camp.

    Wisefoot purred and butted nettlepelt gently on the shoulder, Careful not to agitate his friends stiff joints "Youve been gone for ages, And i have two young cats who want to meet you" he purred as his son Badgerkit and daughter Brindlekit pounced on him

    Badgerkit looked up at the older warrior "Are you Nettlepelt?" he mewed
    Brindlekit purred "Yeah are you?" she asked

    Nettlepelt stumbled slightly due to his back legs where the worst of the pain was, his joints stiff. He glanced round at Badgerkit and Brindlekit, joy filling his eyes. He turned to Wisefoot. "They're beautiful." He commented then turned back to the young cats. "Yes, I am Nettlepelt. The wandering hero who has saved countless clans and lost souls." He chuckled, striking a brief pose. Looking at the two kits only reminded him of Moonlight and Hollystorm, his adopted children, each following their own paths in life.