Chapter Text
The bright sun beats down harshly on the exhausted cats of MapleClan, loose pebbles from the rocky mountain ground dig uncomfortably into their paws as triumphant howls echo in the distance. The pain of losing their forest home to a pack of mangy dogs hangs in the air, most cats keeping their head down in mourning. The sloping path is treacherous and none of them have ever been past their borders, heeding the warnings of cats who came before them, the mountains are not safe.
They have no choice, there's nowhere else they can go where the dogs won't follow. It's a bitter feeling yet they march on with a spark of hope in their hearts, there must be something beyond the perilous peaks, perhaps a new forest they can call home?
At the end of the line, an apprentice walks alone, a gray tabby molly who's light blue eyes haven't been able to turn away from the familiar trees behind her, slowly getting smaller the further MapleClan walks. A large part of Pebblepaw still want to turn back around and teach those dogs a lesson, but she knows that MapleClan's leader would never allow the Clan to endanger themselves like that. She sort of understands why, she'd been part of the battle that tried to drive the attacking pack out and seen the damage their sharp claws and teeth could do but she still wishes the fight had ended differently.
Her mind occupied and unfocused, she doesn't notice the ground slipping away beneath her paws until its too late and the only thing she can do is let out a shrill cry before she's tumbling down into the valley below, tiny claws attempting to crab onto the cliffside but unable to find purchase.
She falls, ears barely picking up on the shocked gasps of her Clanmates through the panic as she slams into a hard object, pain blooming in her head and paw, eyes slipping closed as unconciousness takes her.
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When Pebblepaw finally opens her eyes again, the sky above her is dark. Sticks and leaves stick to her fur as she stands up, her head still feeling sore and her left front paw tinging with pain as she tries to put weight on it. There's no one else around her, she can't spot any of her Clanmates as she lifts her head to scan the mountain path she'd fallen from, they've left her behind.
A growl begins to build in her throat, anger rearing its head as she sniffs - and definitely doesn't muffle a sob -, it seems MapleClan's leader really doesn't care as long as the majority survives. Well, she doesn't need MapleClan anyway, she should start her own Clan!
Her stomach chooses that moment to remind her she hasn't eaten since this morning and her throat feels dry with thirst, the cold of night makes her shiver so maybe she should figure out how to solve those problems first.
Looking around, she spots a dense group of fir trees on the other side of the grassy valley, standing tall against the mountain. A large lake lays a little further down - a family of swans calmly floating upon the water surface - connecting to a river leading into the dark gaping maw of a stony cavern.
Where should she go?