**Elmshadow & Sunsetpaw**
Elmshadow started at the entrance to the camp, paritng his lips to bring the scents around the well-worn pathway over his tongue. The multitude of scents of every Shadowclan member were strong and fresh, and indiscernible from one another. He thought back to where he'd last seen his daughter. It was the same place Goldenstep had said she'd last seen her: at the clan meeting. That didn't give him much to go on and didn't give him any hints as to where she may have gone outside of the camp. Though her mentor was missing too so maybe the two had gone out for some training. Though what would've kept them so long.
He decided to check towards the training cliffs first but as he drew closer he didn't get any scent of Sunsetpaw. So he tried another approach. It wasn't uncommon for mentors and apprentices to go on border patrols together. It was a good learning experience beyond just staying in the heart of their own territory. He padded towards the border that lined with the outskirts, the territory belonging to none of the clans. His straight line was interupted as he caught a faint, stale scent. He stopped abruptly and parted his lips to take in a deep breath. It was Sunsetpaw's scent, no doubt, but it seemed like she'd been alone. He changed his course and walked slowly, following the scent trail as best as he could. Every now and again he had to stop and back track to pick the trail back up again. The tedious work was soon paid off as the scent slowly grew stronger.
The air was crisp and the sun was already sinking down, dropping a chill into the cold leafbare evening. He knew he couldn't turn away now. He knew he had to be close. He was more concerned now that he'd found her scent and desperately wanted to bring home good news to his mate, but what good news would have kept their daughter away from camp while still on the outskirts of their own territory?
Elmshadow slowed to a stop as the shadows of the trees in the waning sunlight contorted his depth perception, making an illusion of a drop off up ahead. He squinted and ventured cautiously forward. It
was a drop off. The pit was not wide but he couldn't see the bottom from the shadows cast over the ground.
The sound of falling debris startled Sunsetpaw awake. She'd spent so much time sleeping, she didn't know how long she'd been stranded or even what part of the day she was waking up to this time. Her hopes didn't spike like they had in the beginning at every sound echoing down into her prison. She looked up, ready to see the sky punctuated by the overhanging pine branches through the small window above her. She squinted her eyes, not ready to believe her eyes, but the figure didn't go away. She made out the distinct shadowed shape of a bulky head pointed by two ears. She shifted and moved herself onto weak and sore paws. Recognition slowly dawned on her as the shadows lifted and she made out her father's grey and black fur.
"Elmshadow? Is that...is it real? H...help." Her voice came out wavering and foreign to her after days of not hearing it.
Elmshadow was about ready to turn away until he heard the rasping voice and his eyes noticed the flicker of movement from down below. Upon closer inspection he noticed the walls around the rim of the hole had gouges of claws marks that had dislodged the loose edges. She must've been trying to escape until she couldn't any longer. Elmshadow's emotions stayed level, he responded coolly,
"Stay put, I'll get you out."
He turned from the hole and searched for a long tendril of anything. He found a long branch and returned to the hole dragging it in his jaws. He lowered one end slowly. Sunsetpaw saw the thick branch coming down and shifted her body so the end would touch down on the solid ground beside her and not on her.
"Grab hold and I'll pull you out. Unless you can climb out."
Sunsetpaw, without responding right away, took hold of the branch between sore pads, stiff with dried blood from attempting to claw her way out of the hole, and tried to climb her way up the branch but her muscles shook with starved lack of energy. The roots jutting from the ground around her were gnawed down to the dirt wall. They'd served as her only source of food and moisture since she'd fallen in but they did nothing in lending her the strength she'd grown accustomed to. She shook her head, holding back tears at the frustration of her own inability.
"I...I can't," she squeaked before taking as firm a bite into the wood as she could manage.
"That's okay. Hold on, I'll lift you out." Elmshadow took the branch in his jaw and leaned his weight down and back, digging his claws into the dirt for traction as he slowly made his way backwards, pulling the branch back out of the hole. He watched the branch emerge until a browned white paw, and then another, popped out grasping for the side of the hole. He dug his claws in harder and pulled the branch clear of the hole. Sunsetpaw collapsed, panting, on the ground. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving save for the deep rise and fall of her chest and the flare of her nostrils. She was skinny, skinnier even than the rest of the clan coming out of leafbare, and her paws were battered but otherwise she didn't have any obvious injuries.
Elmshadow stood over his daughter, looking down at her.
"Let's get moving. We'll take you straight to Bounceberry. Are you okay to walk yourself?"
Sunsetpaw forced her eyes open and looked up at her father,
"Thanks for the concern, father. Though truthfully if he'd been doting over her she'd be far more concerned about her own state of wellbeing. Maybe he'd still be indifferent if she was lying there dying, but he surely wouldn't show any sort of emotion for anything short of that. She sighed and nodded. Cringing against the pain, she put one paw down and then another as she tried to push herself up to her paws. Her muscles froze then quavered, before giving out and throwing her back down to the ground. She grunted her frustration and tried again. This time, as her muscles threatened to give way, she felt Elmshadow's broad shoulder press into her flank and suddenly her weight wasn't so much to bear anymore. Her legs straightened. She glanced at Elmsadow but he was staring forward,
Right, he'd do the same for any clanmate... She nodded and the two made their laborious way over the cold and unforgiving ground back towards camp.