When he awoke the next morning, Covestripe found the cavern all but empty.

       As it turned out, the better part of BrineClan had decided to stay and bid them farewell. He leapt from the ledge and tread across the floor to Mudnose and Owlettail, who were waiting for him in the center of camp, fur groomed flat against their muscles. As he came to sit beside them, Raingorse and Stormwhisper emerged from the gathered felines.

       In Raingorse's mouth was a matt of leaves and berries. He sniffed at the three, while Stormwhisper grinned cheerily, bounding around them with clear excitement. Covestripe couldn't suppress a smirk at her antics.

       Thornsky soon came out from behind them, approaching the three with calm, gray-toned eyes. He swished his tail and nodded to each in turn before talking.

       "Wavestar wants to wish you well on your journey," his tone didn't waver once as he spoke, "Be safe." The deputy then tapped his snout to Covestripe's head before turning away, returning to his spot below the Overhang. The medicine cats drew near once more and ushered the three back.

       As Covestripe rose to begin padding away, Mudnose falling into step next to him with Owlettail right behind, their Clanmates began to holler farewells; good lucks, goodbyes, and well wishes. Covestripe's heart swelled as the pride of belonging to BrineClan filled him.

       Once they'd exited the cavern, he reveled in the beauty of the beach after a storm. Puddles littered the moist sand, and the sun sparkled off each one in turn, as though they were all miniature oceans themselves. The sea was gentle now, its waves lapping steadily at the shoreline with a soft, murmuring whoosh. Fallen pinecones from the nearby trees and seashells lay half-exposed on the coast, and Covestripe observed every one as they passed by. His paws left shallow imprints that intermingled with the other cats'.

       Once they reached the lower cliffs, those that were only two or three tail-lengths high, all five cats climbed up and into the land of scattered pine trees, their long shadows showing sharp against the grass in the light of the rising sun. Covestripe's nostrils flared and he opened his jaws, sweeping the familiar smells into the glands there. He noticed Mudnose bat a pinecone aside ws they walked.

       Covestripe felt the fizzing excitement in him build as they neared the WoodClan border, then veer right. He looked up to see a black-and-white magpie flutter around in the high branches, and suppressed the fear of being crushed - he reassured himself that, if those trees lived through the storm, they surely wouldn't fall on five casual BrineClanners. Hopefully.

       After a while more they came upon a thick tangle of thorns and brambles. Covestripe paused, and the others did so as well. Raingorse drew forward to stand in front of the three. He placed the herbs before each cat in turn.

       "Sandyflight told me what she saw," he grunted, "The field's past this." He motioned with his tail to the thorns. "I don't know if Onepaw went past the field, so you'd better eat these while you can." Raingorse sat down, Stormwhisper coming up beside him, her tailtip flicking his side relentlessly - he didn't seem to notice.

       Covestripe felt a jab of concern at the notion his daughter was farther out than he'd formerly assumed, but pushed it away. The field can't be that big, he assured himself, we can cross it in a day if she did. Crouching down to the herbs, he recognized burdock root, bits of chamomile, wheatgrass, and some red berries. He lapped them up and tried to ignore the odd taste. The rest of the herbs came easy.

       Standing, Covestripe waited for his companions to finish their own bundles. Once they had, Owlettail stepped forward, touched her nose to Raingorse's chest, and started through the thicket. Mudnose went next. Covestripe waited for a couple moments, feeling a strange desire to stay still - but then he remembered Onepaw, and padded up to the medicine cat, muttering a short goodbye before forcing himself through the thicket. He hissed as thorns raked across his back.

       Wriggling onto the other side, he gasped at the landscape. It was a place he'd never seen before. Fields of tall, yellow-green grass caked the open hills, glowing a soft gold as the sun creeped up into the sky. The fronds rippled like the sea, pushed this way and that by a gentle wind. The far horizon was obscured by a high row of hills and Covestripe couldn't tell where it ended - he couldn't tell if it ended, actually.

       Mudnose was the first to move. He began down the hill with careful steps, blue eyes glimmering like twin skies. Covestripe and Owlettail followed at his heels. As the three started into the great field, he sniffed the air, and was dissatisfied to smell only petrichor and plant life.

       Covestripe's narrow paws squelched in the wet soil as they entered the growth. High-reaching fronds arched almost above their heads, so they'd need to crane their necks to see over; dripping grass brushed Covestripe's flanks and he shivered, desperately wishing he were instead treading the pine fields or beach, where hardly anything obscured his vision.

       "How do we get through this?" Mudnose uttered, mostly to himself, beside the pointed tom. Covestripe turned his head to look at his brother. In front of them, Owlettail had taken the lead, shouldering past grass fronds and stamping down lower-lying weeds. Covestripe uncertainty hoped nothing else was nearby.

       After perhaps another ten minutes of walking, the sun inching higher and higher, the three paused. Turning, they realized their path had closed up; the land was in a valley-like formation now, and as Covestripe looked over the grass he realized nervously that he couldn't see the thicket or field end anywhere. The others acknowledged this with ear flicks.

       "I suppose we keep going," Owlettail said, "I... think we were headed this way." She turned around and began pushing forward again, somewhat dismayed. The two brothers followed at her tail. Covestripe's ears flicked back at the distant call of some strange bird, off somewhere unseen.

       The three cats began growing exhausted by midday. They'd wandered in what felt like perpetual circles, and the imposing walls of plants seemed to grow higher and higher with each passing minute. The whistling of stalks and the concept of them never finding an end had gotten to Covestripe, and now he hurried alongside Mudnose on shaking paws, eyes wide and anxious. He nearly leapt a tail-length in the air when a clump of freed grass blew across his hindquarters.

       "This is useless," gasped Owlettail as they slowed to a halt. "We should just turn around and try to go home. We can't stay out here all day." She dragged her gaze around the surrounding grass, fur prickling.

       Covestripe hissed at her words. "Owlettail, we cannot give up." The she-cat prickled at his tone. The heavy weight of tension filled the air, until Mudnose leapt up and thrashed his tail, spitting out, "Quit it, fighting gets us nowhere. We-" He broke off suddenly, head swiveling around to stare into the fronds. His pupils dilated with interest. Almost instinctively, the other two followed his actions.

       Wind ruffled the grass. Still air blew across their ears, signalling nothing new.

       Then there was a rustle.

       Covestripe tensed, muscles tight under his pelt, prepared to bolt at any instant. Then a round, pale head popped from the fronds and they flinched back.

       "Who're you?" the mysterious she-cat asked, voice calm. Mudnose took the invitation to speak first, "We're just passing through. We have to find somebody, but we got lost. Greatest apologies." Dipping his head, Mudnose twitched his ears back, clearly trying to signal that they weren't threats to her territory or possible kits.

       To their slight surprise, she just stepped forward, revealing slender forelegs with smooth fur. Her eyes, a blue pretty as the sky, had a friendly gleam. "It's okay. My name's Lilac, I live out here. Come on, come to my den, there's plenty room!" Turning back into the grass, her tail waved them onward. The three cats didn't so much as glance at each other before following.

       Lilac led them on for a while, glancing back every so often to make sure they kept up, her rounded, fuzzy belly swaying as she walked. The loner obviously had a good memory of the field, as she traversed it with a high head and proud air. Covestripe silently wondered if his Clanmates and he walked the beach like that.

       At last, she shoved aside fronds and ushered them forward, into a small clearing full of grass that had been forcefully stamped down. A scraggly juniper bush grew in the middle, two tipped rocks leaning against it, creating a sort-of cave inside; the depths of its shadows suggested the earth below was tunneled into, forming a reasonably-sized burrow. The whole place stank of cat.

       "Asher! We've got company!" Trotting forward, Lilac ducked her head into the den and called cheerily in. Covestripe and his Clanmates followed, more slowly.

       Just then, a ruffled gray tom, his fur striped with swirling lines, emerged from the shaded cave. His eyes caught the sunlight and flashed a dazzling green. He glanced at Lilac, questioning, then noticed the strangers. His tail went up in alarm and he scowled.

       Covestripe didn't have time to explain himself before the tom leapt at Owlettail.

--- author's note ---

huge thanks to @Tytowarrior for the new cover!