All was dark; sure, Ash knew that he had died when the dog flung him against the trunk, felt the sickening crunch of bone as he made impact; wandered in... wherever he was. But what was new was whisperings. Had he died after all? Had those pathetic Clan cats served to keep him alive where they murdered his mother? He got closer; the whisperings grew louder and louder as he padded steadily toward them.
He could see something. It was the silhouette of a gnarled tree, roots encased in sucking mud. He scrambled forward to meet it, finding himself suddenly in a misted forest; the scent of rot filled the air. Before him was a dark tabby, eyes scarred over.
"You hate the Clans too, huh?" The figure growled.
"With all my heart."
"My name is Brokenstar – the Clans stole my eyes and my rightful leadership."
"They took my mother."
"And judging by the fact that you're here, you were a former Clan cat? What's your name?"
"They lured me in with honeyed words and promises of glory. I woke up when my mother was left to be ravaged by a dog. I am Ash."
"Ash, huh? Well, I can train you to be the best fighter you've seen to take back what you've had stolen. And who better to enact justice than one of their own? I will give you a Clan name, to remind you of exactly what that scum stole from you."
"Thank you." Ash said.
"You will be known as Ashfur. May every hair on your pelt be consumed by the desire for justice."
Then, the mystery cat slipped away into darkness, leaving Ashfur alone with his thoughts.
Back in the world of the living, Stoneteller sat in the Cave of the Pointed Stones. Brook's leaving was regrettable, but his Tribe was already weak. They couldn't afford to take on a wolf.
Just then, the moon came out and Stoneteller saw something in the water. Wolf's eyes – half-blind. Scarred skin and red fur. And three flashes of fur – one brown-and-cream, two gray – and Stoneteller understood.
The Clans had driven off the beast – but at a terrible cost.
The other Clan cats had left after ascertaining that there was nothing specific that they could do to help. Leafpool stepped up to the middle of the Clan, calling for order.
"All injured cats form a line here in order of most to least injured. Those who are relatively unscathed, please collect rosemary, mint and marigold for burial and disinfectant purposes. Cinderp-" She broke off, starting again. "I will be there to treat the wounds with what we have."
Just then, Berrypaw, Mousepaw and their mentors arrived, staring at the ruined barrier and the blood on the floor.
"What happened?" Mousepaw asked.
"A wolf. That's what happened." Hazelpaw, littered with small scars, came near to her brothers. "And don't worry about the badger in the treatment line; she's on our side."
"Can you get new thorns and brambles for the camp barrier?" Dustpelt asked.
"On it." Mistleflight said, leaving with Berrypaw. Clearbrook went over to Stormfur, silently inviting him to come with her. Stormfur blinked gratefully, then set off with her and Mousepaw to fetch thorns for the barrier. Sunblaze, Shrewnose, Barleypelt and Sootfur set off to fetch the herbs Leafpool requested.
Meanwhile, Leafpool was busy treating injuries – everything from minor scratches to a major laceration on Ravenflight that would require overnight observation. Finally, after sending Birchpaw away with a cobwebbed nick in his ear, she took most of her remaining marigold and approached Midnight.
"Thank you." Midnight said, as Leafpool slathered the poultice onto the gash on her back.
"It was no problem. You helped us, so we'll help you."
Then, Midnight dipped her broad head to the assembled crowd, and walked through the barrier's tattered pieces to get to her home near the sun-drown-place.
Immediately after Midnight had left, Brackenfur left the nursery, mixed emotion prominent in his eyes.
"How are they?" Leafpool asked, noting that the golden-brown tom had some scratches to treat.
"Lavenderfur and Ferncloud pronounced them healthy."
"I'll dress your wounds; I still have a bit of marigold left. Then I can bring Sorreltail some borage."
"Thank you." Brackenfur blinked gratefully at her as she brought out the last of her marigold and started to quickly dress the wound. Once his scratches and wounds were treated to her satisfaction, she padded inside to the medicine den, pointedly looking away from Cinderpelt's nest, to fetch borage. The stock was well-filled, seeing as Acornkit, Barkkit and Lakekit had been recently weaned, so she grabbed a mouthful and made her way to her friend's side. Sandstorm and Thornclaw were busy using moss to scrub the blood from the floor of the nursery while Sorreltail watched her kits fondly.
"I've brought you some borage." Leafpool placed the pile by Sorreltail's side as Brackenfur padded in, laying by her side.
"We've named them." Sorreltail said without preamble. "The only tom of the litter shall be called Molekit, the tortoiseshell is Poppykit, the one that looks like Brackenfur is called Honeykit... and the gray she-cat here's name is Cinderkit."
Leafpool felt tears welling up in her eyes. She looked to Sorreltail and Brackenfur, both of whom had emotion plain on their faces.
"That's perfect." She managed to whisper, before slipping out of the den. The patrol had come back with the burial herbs and the marigold, and she thanked them duly. She stored the herbs she would not need to use quickly in a shady spot for preserving later and took the burial herbs into her mouth. She went outside to see that the bramble patrol had returned, and already Dustpelt and Brackenfur were directing reconstruction efforts.
Firestar turned to the side where Graystripe would normally be, seeing nothing there. His ears drooped and he went down to the bottom of the Highledge to organise patrols. In the end, Brambleclaw took Birchpaw, Brightheart and Larchpaw on a border patrol, while Mousefur, Silverstream and Barleypelt went to hunt prey to replenish the pile.
As Leafpool deftly wove the burial herbs into the fur of those that had died, taking extra care to cover the ugly wounds on Doeflower, their families and friends gathered for vigil. Cloudtail and Stonespark padded demurely to Doeflower; Cloudtail's rage had ebbed and he now looked defeated. Acornkit and Barkkit, despite Sunblaze's best efforts, lay beside their grandmother as well, while Mistleflight groomed the body of her mentor. Firestar and Whitewing were split between the two bodies; Brightheart, Brackenfur and Thornclaw sat around Cinderpelt. Leafpool finally finished weaving rosemary and mint into Cinderpelt's fur and gathered around Cinderpelt with the others.
Squirrelflight curled up with Brambleclaw after the latter had returned from patrol; both were exhausted, but somehow too shaken to sleep immediately. They both saw Stormfur and Silverstream in their nests, sitting vigil for Graystripe, and sadness coursed through Squirrelflight.
They had all lost so much.
Everyone: *Tributes/Angst*
Stoneteller: Three flashes of fur and a wolf's eyes. The Tribe of Endless Hunting really has something to say. Hmm, I wonder what it is?
Everyone: *Stops angst, looks at him incredulously*