She entered the den and saw Fallenpaw cleaning his pelt. She flicked her tail at him, "Hey fallenpaw"

The chocolate tortoiseshell tom dipped his head, "Hey Wildpaw, How is it out there?"

Wildpaw shrugged her shoulders, "As good as it can be. Everyone is mourning for Runningflame."

Fallenpaw lay down, tucking his paws under his body, "Poor Runningflame. He died in such a terrible way. Deerfoot told me that even a patrol of senior warriors are endanger when coming across a dog. I can't believe he tried to fight one all by himself"

The ginger and white apprentice lay in her nest, nodding her head slowly. "Yeah. He was really upset when I saw him earlier too. Because of Dawneyes and everything. I hope that had nothing to do with the decisions he made today."

The shadowclan tom tilted his head in curiousity, "Why? What happened?"

Wildpaw sighed, "Well Dawneyes is his Mothers sister. And apparently they were twins. And his mom died a while ago, before we were born. But her death really changed him, And he started to purposely do stupid things so he could hang out in the Medicine Cat den with Dawneyes." She paused when she heard someone pass by the den, turning back to fallenpaw she lowered her voice, "And earlier today, He left really upset. Saying that he realized that being around her was hurting him more than helping him. And he wanted to get away from her, so he went out on a walk today with your mom."

Fallenpaw listened carefully, his eyes sad, "My mom is really upset. She won't even talk to me. I know she tried her hardest to save him. But if what you're saying is true, He must've wanted to die. And there's nothing she could have done."

Wildpaw looked at her friend sympathetically, Starlingtail was affected the most. Dawneyes blamed her for Runningflames death and some other cats in the clan were whispering about her. She got up and set herself next to the tortoiseshell tom. He immediately looked forward nervously and wildpaw lay her tail on his back.

"It'll be ok, Fallenpaw." She mewed, "Everyone will forget about this whole thing soon. I'm sure everyone will be able to understand soon that it wasn't your mother fault. Plus I'm sure that your dad, being the deputy, will help the gossip die down."

Fallenpaw glanced at her and smiled, "Hopefully." he mewed. He set his head hesitantly on hers and they sat there in silence for a few heartbeats.

Wildpaw began to feel very nervous and embarrassed and she cleared her throat before getting up, Fallenpaws blue eyes followed her with a warmth in them that made her heart race. She smiled awkwardly before mewing, "Um, Well, I'd better go then. Nightscar might need me for something."

The shadowclan tom nodded his head, his eyes sad as she turned and quickly padded out of the den. Her heart was racing quickly as she tried to breath and find her mentor. The black tom had just stepped away from the body of Runningflame and turned toward her when he saw her.

He blinked his blue eyes and mewed, "Wildpaw. Is everything alright?"

Wildpaw nodded quickly, trying to conceal her nerves, "Yup. Just wanted to know if there was anything you needed me to do."

Her mentor stared at her for a few seconds before stating, "Well, I think the elders still need their ticks removed so you'd better get that done."

Wildpaws tail drooped when she remembered her task was still not finished. "Sure….I'll go do that then", she muttered.

Nightscar nodded, padding past her to the warriors den. Wildpaw sighed as she headed over to the medicine cat den. Peering inside, she saw Soulpaw fixing up the nests. "Hey soulpaw, can you still get me that mouse bile for ticks?" mewing softly, trying not to catch the attention of Dawneyes who she saw at the very back of the den, laying in her nest.

Soulpaw looked up at her and nodded. She padded quietly to the back and gathered the mousebile on a big leaf. Passing her mentor, she put down the leaf in front of Wildpaw. The blue apprentice whispered, "Just put a dab of it on your paw, onto the flea or tick and it should drop right off. When you're done, wash your paws or else you'll smell like crowfood for a long time."

Wildpaw nodded and looked past her to Dawneyes. Before leaving she asked, "How is she?"

Soulpaw looked behind to her mentor, "Not so good. She hurting a lot. I don't think she's fit to be healing anyone right now till she gets better. So if you could tell everyone to come to me if they need anything. I just know she'll rip someones ears off if they ask her for something."

Wildpaw nodded, dipping her head to the apprentice before picking up the smelly leaf and heading to the elders den. Dipping her head as she entered the den, Mothstrike raised his head, "Wildpaw, What is it?" he mewed in a gruff voice.

Wildpaw set down her leaf, sneezing from the strong smell, "I'm here to get the ticks and fleas off of you."

Mothstrike smirked, "Oh good. I've got some big ones on my back that I can't reach. Better get started."

Eeljaw dipped his head to the apprentice as she padded over to mothstrike to start her smelly task. He mewed while she worked, "Better check him good. This smelly old fox is covered in them."

Mothstrike let out a growl, "Oh don't even start. You're just as bad."

Eeljaw chuckled and licked his paws. Peering outside the den he sighed, "A sad thing that happened today huh?"

Wildpaw dabbed off 3 more fleas before answering him, "Yeah. I had just seen Runningflame this morning. It's quite shocking."

The old brown tabby tom sighed in relief as he felt Wildpaw crush a few more fleas on his back, "Well, you better get used to death. A warriors life isn't all flowers and butterflies."

Wildpaw grunted in agreement as she moved up from his back to his neck where she found a couple more ticks. Eeljaw nodded, "He shouldn't have gone so soon though. He was a great warrior before he started doing mousebrained things. Foxstar had even talked about him being a deputy if anything were to happen to Needlepelt."

The ginger and white apprentice finished up on mothstrike and moved her leaf to the elderly black toms side of the den. Mothstrike licked his pelt and answered hotly, "That mousebrained tom threw everything away for two dead cats. "

Eeljaw gave the tabby a hard look, "Having a parent pass away is hard. And to have them pass so soon between each other is even worse. You can't blame runningflame for not coping well."

Wildpaw nodded in agreement as she combed through eeljaws fur. Mothstrike snorted in annoyance, "He could have made them proud by becoming leader. Not giving up and not doing a thing in his life."

Eeljaw went to answer back but couldn't find anything to say. Instead he was silent, staring out at the camp as they prepared for Runningflames burial.

Wildpaw quietly finished up getting rid of the fleas. Wiping her paws on the leaf, she said her goodbyes to the elders and padded out of the den. She gave her left over bile back to Soulpaw and asked Nightscar to accompany her to the lake so she could wash her paws.