"Yarrowbreeze! Is your head full of cattail fluff? Why are you out here?" Leapfoot chastised. Yarrowbreeze looked up at the huffy she-cat. "When you didn't return, I had to tell Fernstar what happened. You know you weren't even supposed to be out here." the she-cat continued.
Yarrowbreeze was still bleary with sleep, and she blinked a few times before squinting up at the ginger she-cat in front of her. "I-" she began.
"Sorry doesn't cut it, I'm getting punished for your mistake!" Leapfoot hissed.
Yarrowbreeze sat up, her tail flicked back and forth. It's not my fault you let me leave... She thought to herself. Yarrowbreeze realized that the thought sounded like something a disgruntled apprentice would say, and pushed the words to the back of her mind. Leapfoot glared at her with blazing eyes. "You're lucky I'm glad you're okay you mousebrain, or I'd claw your ear off worse than the way Fernstar will when we get back to camp."
Yarrowbreeze groaned and followed behind Leapfoot slowly. Her joints ached from being wet and cold all night. Despite her lack of physical energy, however, her mind was racing. How would she even begin to explain what she had seen to Fernstar? To Bearstrike?
The pair of she-cats entered the camp, where Yarrowbreeze was immediately bowled over by her brother. She gasped for air. "You aren't any lighter now than you were when we were apprentices." she huffed, pressing into Bearstrike's belly with her hind legs.
"Why did you leave?" He interrogated. Fear and hurt brewed in his dark eyes.
"I know it looks bad, but I promise, I didn't just try to disappear! I have so much to tell-"
"Yarrowbreeze!" Fernstar barked. "Come speak to me in my den."
The siblings exchanged worried glances before Bearstrike stalked back to the Warrior's den. Yarrowbreeze looked up at the den that Fernstar had disappeared into and gulped. She had never been in the leader's den before, and realized with a sinking feeling that her first time seeing the den would clearly be under poor circumstances.
Yarrowbreeze padded over to the Great Boulder, it's rain slick surface made safe with overgrown lichen and other mosses. At the peak of the Great Boulder lay a path that had been worn away by time and the countless leaders of Whispering Brook's that came before Fernstar. The leader's den was beneath a wide overhang in the rock formation. The sides were composed of smaller rocks and woven willow and brambles. Intricate patterns adorned the stone exterior, red from berries that had been used in their creation. Yarrowbreeze's pelt tingled with anxiety. "May I come in?" she called hesitantly.
Fernstars green eyes glinted in the dim daylight. "You may." she replied.
Yarrowbreeze stepped into the mouth of the den, where she realized how much room the leader had in her nest. There was enough room for two more nests in the space, and sure enough, two shallow divots existed in the space next to Fernstar's nest.
"What were you thinking leaving camp like that?" Fernstar asked, no hint of emotion in her voice.
"I just wanted to be out of camp for a while." Yarrowbreeze began. "It had been so long, and the kits… I just wanted to remember how it felt to be a warrior again."
Fernstar's eyes narrowed. "A warrior wouldn't abandon the cynn that needs them, nor recklessly leave the camp after I declared no cat is to leave alone."
Yarrowbreeze opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it. "I intended to go hunting, to bring something back for the cynn. I promise. But something else happened…" Yarrowbreeze's thoughts drifted back to Bug, and the body that still lay at the end of the creek.
"Well, what was it?" Fernstar pressed.
Yarrowbreeze sighed. "I know where the kits' mother is."
Fernstar's ears perked, and she drew herself up. The lanky she-cat looked even taller in the low cave. "Was she with you last night? Where did she go?"
"I can show you, but I want Bearstrike to come too. Some cat needs to watch the kits." Yarrowbreeze replied. Fernstar nodded. "That is fine, but know that you will be punished for leaving camp alone. I cannot afford to be lenient in the face of such turbulent waters."
The two cats followed the path back down the Great Boulder and into the heart of the camp.
"Bearstrike! You're coming with Yarrowbreeze and I. Rosepuddle and Whiskerpelt can look after the kits." Fernstar directed.
Bearstrike looked confused, but shrugged and nosed the sleepy kits into the Teller's den. He padded over to where his sister and leader stood. "Where are we going?"
"Your sister has something she'd like us to see." remarked Fernstar.
The three cats walked out of camp, Yarrowbreeze taking the lead. In the daylight it was much easier to maneuver along the path Bug had taken her on. The rain seemed lighter so far, and the clouds appeared to be less menacing. Fernstar and Bearstrike followed closely, the sound of their footsteps splashing in the mud drowned any other sounds out.
They continued on until sunhigh, where they reached the edge of the territory. "I didn't realize how bad the flooding had become." Bearstrike commented warily. Fernstar mumbled in agreement. "We have to leave the territory, but it's close by." Yarrowbreeze explained, pushing past the high grasses on the edge of the territory.
Fernstar hesitated. "We have to be fast, this territory isn't safe."
The three cats pushed on, until they reached the small creek. With the sparsely falling rain, the scent of death permeated the air even more than before. "Over the boulder." Yarrowbreeze said solemnly. The three cats slowly padded forward, the nauseatingly sweet smell of decay overwhelmed them. "There she is." Yarrowbreeze said, pointing with her tail.
Bug's body lay where Yarrowbreeze last saw it. Her white pelt had begun to slip into the water, leaving her exposed flesh to be devoured by the elements. The stench was almost unbearable, and Yarrowbreeze's eyes watered.
"Her name was Bug." Yarrowbreeze blurted out as the cats took in what lay before them. Bearstrike wrinkled up his nose as the humid air clung to the scent of decay.
"We should bury her." Yarrowbreeze decided. Fernstar hung back, and Yarrowbreeze watched carefully as the Whispering Brook leader hesitantly stepped closer. "How do you propose we get her out of the water?" The leader asked, clearly unhappy with the idea of walking into murky corpse water.
Yarrowbreeze paused in thought for a moment. The sound of picking up a rotting corpse in her jaws didn't sound too appealing to her either. Sorry, Bug … She thought, remembering the spirit cat's comment about being polite. Yarrowbreeze continued to rack her mind for any ideas to drag the body out of the pond.
"I have an idea." Bearstrike announced. The two she-cats gave him their attention. "If I can bite down hard enough on the branch, we can snap it off of the tree. Yarrowbreeze, you hold the other side of the branch in your mouth, so she doesn't slide into the water." The tom directed.
Yarrowbreeze reluctantly padded into the water up to her belly. She looked down at the water and watched it swirl with clumps of loose hair and maggots on the surface. She wanted to retch.
"Concentrate!" Bearstrike called from much deeper in the water. Yarrowbreeze willed herself forward, until she and her brother were on opposite sides of the branch Bug hung on. She held her breath and lowered her jaw until she could scoop up the branch between her teeth. She gagged as the lukewarm pond water filled her mouth around the branch as she lifted it back out.
She could feel the vibrations rattling through her every time Bearstrike bit down on the branch. Soaking in the water had softened the wood, making it easier to destroy. Yarrowbreeze tried to draw her attention to anything other than the stench of the rotting body next to her, or the tang of the water in her mouth. She looked out to where Fernstar sat, watching the two siblings. I wonder what she's thinking… Yarrowbreeze thought to herself. Something else caught her eye, further behind her leader. A blur of movement in the tall grass on the edge of the territory. Nauseated, Yarrowbreeze brushed it off as prey, something she had no desire to eat anytime soon.
"Got it!" Bearstrike grunted through his teeth. Yarrowbreeze was almost dragged into the water by the weight of the waterlogged body being freed. She grimaced and strained to keep her body above the water, not wanting to get another taste. The siblings trudged through the murky water carefully, until they could drop the branch beneath a nearby alder. The siblings gasped and spat as much as they could to get the taste out of their mouths. Out of the water and in the warm air, the stench was even more unbearable.
Yarrowbreeze observed the body, now removed from it's watery grave. Most of the soft, exposed areas had already been picked at by scavengers. Yarrowbreeze's heart sank as she noticed the splintered, jutted claws, forever reaching for her kits. Oh, Bug…
"What did you do to her?!" Came a horrified screech from the hillside.
The three cats whipped around to see Willowkit and Sunkit, watching on in terror.
"You shouldn't be out of camp!" Fernstar snapped.
"You're hurting her!" Sunkit wailed. Willowkit was silent.
Bearstrike rushed over to block the kits, not wanting to expose them to anymore. "You can't be here right now. I'm sorry, but we didn't do this." He pleaded to the kits.
Sunkit tried to barrel forward, but he was no match for the bigger warrior. Yarrowbreeze had no idea what to do. Should the kits be able to say goodbye to their mother? Would they ever forgive her for finding her like this? She felt frozen in place. Fernstar padded over to her. "You have to go talk to them. Help them understand." Fernstar directed.
Yarrowbreeze had no desire to move, or try to explain to a pair of orphaned kits why their dead mother was being dragged around. She wanted to run away, far from here. Far from the flood, from the cynn's problems, from her own problems.
"I can't." Yarrowbreeze choked. "I can't do it."
"You don't have a choice." Fernstar hissed under her breath, and nudged Yarrowbreeze forward. The she-cat took her place by Bearstrike's side, blocking off the rest of Bug from view.
"I met your mother." She said quietly. "She loved you both very, very much."
Sunkit glared up at her, fury and hate burned in his eyes. "Then why did you kill her? She was the best, way better than either of you!" The kit exploded.
Yarrowbreeze was taken aback. "We didn't do anything to her! We never asked for any of this. We never asked for you!" Yarrowbreeze regretted the words as soon as they escaped her jaws.
Bearstrike turned to face her. "That's enough, Yarrowbreeze."
Sunkit continued to look on with hatred, but Willowkit looked even more sullen than before.
"I- I'm sorry." She sobbed. "We didn't hurt your mother. Last night, when I left camp, I met her spirit, and she showed me where to find her. I'm so sorry kits. She loved you so much. I'm sorry you're stuck with us. I'm sorry you're stuck with me. I'm no replacement for a mother, especially not someone who loved you as much as Bug did. I'm so sorry." The words poured out like the tears that streaked down her face.
"We came here to bury her, so she could watch over you." Bearstrike added sorrowfully.
The two kits head's drooped. "I just want her back." Sunkit whimpered. Bearstrike pawed the young cat close to him, and the kit sobbed into his belly fur. Willowkit ran up to Yarrowbreeze, pushing his face into her fur. She licked the kit's head comfortingly. Like any mother would, she thought to herself.