The First: Gentledoe.

[lio]

Face your fears.

Was ThunderClan the same since she had gone?

Bumblestar, oh, how Gentledoe missed her. How she missed Asterdance, how she missed all of ThunderClan. It had been… a long time since she had vanished, leaving the Clan impulsively once her insecurity had become too much to handle. A coward- that was what she was. Running away from her problems, all because she was scared. It was almost laughable.

She had grown thin in these last moons. Her fur hardly helped against the harsh cold of Leaf-bare, freezing alone each night, wishing for a Clanmate to cuddle by her side once more. Oh, how her heart ached to return. But… even if she were to go back, would Bumblestar accept her? Would she be shunned away for her cowardice, for abandoning her Clan due to something as silly as self-doubt? No, no. It wouldn’t be so easy. Obviously not. ThunderClan needed more, deserved more than her. Gentledoe had done little to prove herself, only to run away the moment things became too stressful. How could she possibly hope to be accepted with open paws if she couldn’t even accept herself?

Curled up in a rotten, frozen tree stump, the one-eyed she-cat allowed her thoughts to wander. Her stomach gurgled. The cold seeped into her fur, leaving her entire body shivering. Oh, how Gentledoe hated Leafbare. But as she thought and thought and thought, her mind drifted to a former conversation. Leafbare, snow… snowball fights. Ah. She had never experienced one. Bumblestar had said she would surprise her with one, but she had left before that could happen.

A snowball fight would be… nice. Maybe it would have allowed her to like Leafbare a little more.

Sighing, Gentledoe rolled onto her back, looking at the soggy, rotting wood of the stump. Her tail twitched idly behind her, rustling the ground below. Yeah. She missed it- being part of a Clan. Being around others she cared about. Gentledoe wanted to go back, even if only to see ThunderClan again. Huffing, she rose to her paws and stretched. Maybe just a visit would be okay? Yeah, maybe.

So, she began to travel, making her way through the Outskirts and toward ThunderClan. Thinking, thinking, thinking. When she was a Hornet, Gentledoe had promised to herself to work harder. To prove herself as useful, as worthy of her rank. But she had failed. She had run away. She had gotten scared.

Another sigh left the she-cat. She wanted to change.
As she walked, Gentledoe drew closer to a foul-smelling path. It was rumbling, leaving her squinting at it with her remaining eye. Cross this, and she would be closer to ThunderClan. She wanted to see her home again. She wanted to become a warrior that would do anything for her Clan. She was tired of being a coward.

With a step onto the rumbling path, she swore to face her fears.

She wouldn't be a coward anymore.

Snowball fights, cuddling, she hoped to do it all...


...if not for the lights barreling toward her blind side, would Gentledoe have returned home?