Sunstar ran along the edge of the trees expecting to find some of his clanmates, but he still hadn't come across anyone. He couldn't help the bad feeling that welled up inside his chest.
His eyes widened and he turned sharply around a tree, catching the scent of blood.
Brownpaw was lying beside Blizzardpelt, who was bleeding heavily and mumbling incoherently.
"Sunstar!" the apprentice exclaimed with wide eyes.
Sunstar took in Blizzardpelt's condition seriously; he could tell she was badly injured and needed treatment fast. He crouched down by her body and gently lifted her onto his back with help from Brownpaw.
"We need to take her to Rosepaw quickly," he meowed gravely. "Follow me."
Brownpaw nodded and followed Sunstar back to where Rosepaw had set up her make-shift work area, his eyes never leaving his mother's body.
Rosepaw's ear twitched at the arrival of Sunstar and Brownpaw, and she quickly leapt to her paws and helped Sunstar lay Blizzardpelt down.
Rosepaw's eyes widened at the several gashes bleeding heavily on Blizzardpelt's body, and she rushed to grab some cobwebs and pressed them to two of Blizzardpelt's wounds, but the others continued to bleed.
'She's lost so much blood!'
Rosepaw frantically moved to the other gashes, but she wasn't able to get all of them. Blizzardpelt's body began to shudder and Rosepaw quickly gabbed a pile of leaves.
Sunstar watched Rosepaw's frantic movements with growing annoyance.
"What are you doing!" he snapped.
Rosepaw dropped the pile of leaves after Sunstar shouted at her and attempted to press more cobwebs to Blizzardpelt's wounds.
"I'm trying!" she meowed desperately.
Blizzardpelt shuddered and blinked open her brown eyes wearily.
"Brownpaw?" she whispered.
Brownpaw crouched down beside his mother as he heard her speak his name.
"I'm right here," he meowed, his voice cracking as he spoke.
Blizzardpelt reached over and touched her paw to one of his.
"Promise me you'll take care of Darkpaw," she whispered.
Brownpaw bit back his tears as he nodded at his mother.
"I promise."
Blizzardpelt smiled.
"Good."
The white she-cat closed her eyes and became very still.
Rosepaw gasped from where she was trying to stop the bleeding and rushed to feel for Blizzardpelt's pulse, but the she-cat was already gone.
Rosepaw's paws were stained red with blood, and she stared sadly down at the she-cat before crouching down in an attempt to hold back her anger.
She couldn't save her.
Sunstar watched the exchange with a serious expression, but said nothing.
"Where are the others?" he questioned.
The only cats there were Rosepaw, Brownpaw, Blizzardpelt, Longtail, and himself. Sunstar hadn't seen any sign of the rest.
With no response from the other cats, and a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, Sunstar stepped out into the open field and began to search.
After falling into the stream, Greypaw had been carried down the river and she wasted no time in swimming up to the surface and flailing toward the bank. She pulled herself out of the water and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.
Cherrynose.
Greypaw staggered to her paws and discovered she hadn't been washed down too far from the battle, she could still feel them nearby.
She limped forward with the intention on finding her clanmates, beads of water sliding from her shiny black pelt with each difficult pawstep.
Her mind wandered back to Cherrynose as she moved and she felt anger as it began to flow through her veins. Cherrynose had made the ultimate sacrifice for her clan, and Sunstar had agreed.
Greypaw bit back her tears of frustration for her lost mentor.
She didn't have to do that!
Greypaw drove herself forward with the thought of her mother; she had to make sure Longtail and the kits were okay, if anything had happened to them, she would never forgive herself.
Rosepaw sat wordlessly beside Brownpaw as they watched over Blizzardpelt and Longtail; both apprentices perked up at the sound of approaching pawsteps.
Darkpaw padded up from behind the log and stopped when he saw Blizzardpelt's body. Brownpaw's eyes fell as he followed noticed Darkpaw's line of vision.
"She lost too much blood..." he meowed.
Rosepaw watched silently, curious to see how Darkpaw would react, but the tom said nothing and padded silently over to his brother's side.
Rosepaw frowned, but continued to watch for their clanmates from her perch on top of the log.
From beside him, Brownpaw could feel how tense Darkpaw had become and knew he was holding back his feelings, always for the sake of his pride.
The cats looked up in surprise as a rustle came from a nearby bush and Greypaw stepped out from the forest, breathing tiredly. The apprentices blinked quizzically at her soaking wet pelt, but didn't have time to question her as she collapsed in front of them.
Rosepaw quickly rushed to her side.
'Not again!'
Darkpaw frowned and Brownpaw watched in concern as Rosepaw pulled Greypaw to lie beside her mother.
"Is..she okay?" Brownpaw asked with concern.
Rosepaw nodded at the silver tom.
"She's fine, just unconscious."
Brownpaw didn't look convinced, but decided it'd be better not to argue with Rosepaw. Instead, his eyes returned to his mother's rigid body.
'I promise.'
Lostpaw had quickly run to take cover in the trees when the landslide had come tumbling down. It had scared away the last of the TreeClan cats and signaled their ultimate retreat.
Now, she padded warily out from behind the trees and looked at her surroundings.
A large pile of dirt and rock now covered up a small portion of the field nearest to the cliffs, but, luckily, the wreckage had not blocked up the stream.
It was quiet now and Lostpaw found herself standing in front of the water, looking out into TreeClan territory. It looked like they really had gone.
She suddenly winced as her eye burned once more, and she could feel the blood that had begun to dry and cover her wound.
The wind blew lightly with an eerie silence and Lostpaw looked down at her bloody paws.
All blood in her veins seemed to have turned to ice and she wordlessly dipped her paws into the flowing water and watched as the red was washed away.
Lostpaw pulled her paws out of the water and blinked as the surface settled, staring into the reflection looking back at her. Her eyes were the same emotionless shape as ever, and they fell on the reflection with those horrible eyes everybody seemed to hate.
She frowned at the large scar now stretching across her blue eye and she slowly began to open the eye, ignoring the slight sting, relieved to find that her vision didn't appear to be damaged in any way.
The battle left her feeling numb as she sat watching reflection.
'Am I really so...different?'
It was still dark, but Lostpaw suspected the sun would rise soon. The stars in the back of her reflection shimmered in the water causing Lostpaw to raise her head and stare up at them.
Lostpaw knew she should feel bad about taking the life of another, and inside she did, but it was almost as if she couldn't feel it. She knew she should feel horrible, and she did, yet she couldn't outright feel it. It was hard for her to understand.
Her head fell and she shakily brought herself up onto her paws; she knew she had to find the rest of her clan, but she couldn't leave Ivyfoot behind.
Lostpaw walked across the grassy field as fast as was possible in her current state to where Ivyfoot lay on the earth.
It was her fault she couldn't save him. She was too weak and now he was gone, just like her mother. She'd always wondered why he was so kind to her, no other cat had ever treated her like he had, and she had been happy.
For one of the few times in her life, Lostpaw had felt like she wasn't so different from anyone else. She had let herself become too happy and carefree, and in the end, something bad had happened, just like it always would.
She stopped walking when she saw another cat standing over Ivyfoot's body.
She recognized Sunstar's golden pelt and watched quietly from behind, knowing she probably shouldn't go any closer.
He stood silently, perfectly still, for several minutes; his back was turned to Lostpaw and she was unable to see his face, but finally, the tom began to move and grabbed hold of Ivyfoot's fallen body.
When Sunstar turned, Lostpaw could see the dark shadow under his eyes and at that moment he looked frailer than she had ever seen him before. He froze as he spotted her watching him and his eyes instantly became dark, sliding over the scar on her face.
Lostpaw wondered if he would say anything, but was quickly answered when Sunstar turned away from her and began to return to the forest. Although he hadn't said a word, Lostpaw knew he would lead her to the rest of the clan and followed quietly behind him, mourning her losses.
Greypaw slowly blinked open her eyes, finding herself inside the medicine cat den. She instantly shifted when she felt movement beside her.
"Greypaw, honey, are you awake?" Longtail meowed quietly.
Greypaw gently pulled herself up and turned to her mother.
"You're okay..." she meowed tiredly, the happiness evident in her voice.
Longtail smiled. "The kit is fine too, but..."
Greypaw's ear twitched at the sound in Longtail's voice and listened as she rose to her paws. Greypaw could immediately tell something was wrong. It took Longtail a great effort to stand up and she hissed painfully.
"Mom!" Greypaw exclaimed, jumping to her paws to help to support her. "Are you okay?"
Longtail let out a deep breath as she stabilized herself and nodded. "It's my leg, it was shattered in several places; according to Rosepaw, the bones haven't healed right..."
Greypaw could feel her anxiety rising. "But- You're okay, right?"
Longtail sighed. "Sunstar has relieved me of my warrior duties."
Greypaw's eyes widened in disbelief; she opened her mouth to question Longtail more, but froze when the night's memories suddenly came rushing back to her. The fight, Eaglepaw, the cliffs, the landslide, Cherrynose-
"Where's Cherrynose!" Greypaw suddenly exclaimed, moving around as she tried to find any sign of the she-cat.
Longtail watched her daughter sympathetically as she paced around the den.
"Is she here?"
"They couldn't find the body," Longtail meowed quietly.
Greypaw froze.
It couldn't be true, she had to be okay.
Longtail sighed. "Sunstar wanted to bury her and Ivyfoot together, but it was impossible to find her body in all the rubble."
Greypaw turned to her mother in shock. "Ivyfoot is dead?"
Longtail nodded.
"Yes. And Blizzardpelt is gone as well..."
Greypaw could hear the remorse in her mother's voice at the name of her old friend.
She couldn't believe it, so many were gone.
The medicine cat den became very quiet as the two cats sat in silence.
"What time is it?" Greypaw meowed quietly.
Longtail glanced outside the den.
"The sun is about to rise," she answered.
When the cats returned to camp, the first thing they did was hold a short vigil for Blizzardpelt, Ivyfoot, and Cherrynose.
Sunstar had immediately ordered all cats to be seen by Rosepaw during that time and to return to their dens after saying their goodbyes.
Lostpaw watched the vigil from her hidden spot as always, wishing she could see Ivyfoot one last time, but Sunstar made sure she was to go nowhere near the bodies. In the end, the black she-cat walked numbly to her den to get a few hours of rest before she would have to wake up in the morning.
Sunstar had proceeded to take the bodies away one after the other by himself to the burial place while the clan slept.
He returned to camp looking more disheveled than ever and leaped onto his den, letting out a loud yowl, calling all cats to the clearing.
