Ravenstar was the first cat to reach the patrol, though she had been the furthest from them. Firefly was close behind. The spunky female looked supremely worried and she hovered over Midnight, worry clouding her emerald green eyes. Ashrain's hissing could be heard from within the pack of cats. "Let me through!" The crotchety old cat emerged from the throng, fur fluffed out. Littlepaw tumbled out after him, landing on her face. Ravenstar blinked at the pair and then backed up so the medicine cat could examine Midnightstorm.

" Alright.. " Ashrain paused looking around at the assembled cats. " You two- " he gestured to Nettlepaw and the newly assigned Burnpaw. " -to my den. " The small procession: 3 apprentices, one medicine cat and a distraught warrior made their way to Ashrain's den. Ravenstar watched as the group of cats cleared a path. She cleared her throat and they fell silent. " Quickbreeze, Commettail, Tangleweb, Redhawk and I will go see what has become of Snake Rock. " She paused. " Shadowspirt and Twilightmagic… begin your vigil.. " The lithe leader turned to leave and then paused, her eyes searching for Rosepaw. " Rosepaw.. Where is Swiftfoot? "

The Persian like female looked back at her leader, ears flattening against her head as she did so. " She slipped.. And fell.. Hit her head on a rock.. I tried.. Really I did, to pull her body back out. But I couldn't do it.. Not with my paw twisted.. " Ravenstar dipped her head and inhaled deeply. She didn't say anything else before turning and leading her patrol out of the camp at a run. Thank god they were all conditioned for distance running.

---

The land would be scared for months and months to come.

Snake Rocks was completely gone. There was nothing there except for a crater. Creatures littered the ground, most of them were dead, some of them were even missing body parts. There was a dying bird that was missing both its feet. Commettail quickly killed it to put it out of its misery. The coopery tang of blood was so overwhelming that it made Ravenstar gag. The whole in the ground was huge and sharp chunks of rock stuck up from the diseased ground. The group of felines approached the edge of the crater cautiously.

Ravenstar peered down into the hole and wasn't surprised to see more animals blown to chunks. So much prey had been lost. The earth under her paws was soft and it felt as if it would give way any moment. She backed her warriors up and continued to gaze at the whole. "Who's coming down with me?" She asked in a distracted manner. Redhawk and Tangleweb offered and the 3 cats cautiously descended into the crater of doom. Swiftfoot's previously magnificent coat was dirty and tarnished. Her head lay at a peculiar angle.

One of the toms grasped her neck, Raven and the other male took the fur on her back. Heaving and cursing, the trio managed to get out of the crater. Dragging the dead cat a good distance from the hole, Raven and her group paused. " What do you think caused this?" Quickbreeze asked when the silence had begun stretch. "Twolegs.. " Redhawk responded without even taking a breath to contemplate it. What else could have caused such devastation? Such horror? Such death? No one else responded, but it was obvious that Ravenstar didn't agree.

---

Ravenstar led her bedraggled group back home, dragging the heavy body of the old female cat, slowed the patrol down considerably. The cats stumbled over their paws as they entered camp. Swiftfoot's body was deposited in the center of camp and the clan cats approached it cautiously. Because the body was not exactly nice to look at, the Queens kept their kits hidden away as they came forward to pay their respects to the once beautiful warrior. Ravenstar moved toward the rock, ears flattened against her head. Swiftfoot had been her sisters, abet a very older one.

Redhawk moved away from the body, immediately looking for his uncle. The red cat's ears twitched and he stood cool as a cucumber looking at his mother. Redhawk was not one for public displays of grief. He would grieve later, silently when there was no one around. The rest of the adult cats in the Clan filed silently past. The overall mood was grief and shock. It was one thing to be killed by a raid or during a fight, but to fall into a hole and die was completely different thing. It was so foreign and none of them really understood it.

"ThunderClan… " Raven's smooth voice rang out in the silence.

She gazed at all of the faces which had turned toward her. She smiled sadly, and then flattened her ears. "Swiftfoot's death weighs heavily on all of our minds, but we have more pressing matters to discuss. " Raven paused here, unsure of how to proceed. The discomfort in the assembled cats was so great that it was basically palpable. The young leader shifted her weight in an obviously uncomfortable manner and gazed down at her deputy for a moment before blurting out. "Snake Rocks will never come back. Where it once rested there is a hole. " She threw a pointed look at the apprentices. "None of you are to go there without a warrior under any circumstances. She looked toward the two heavily pregnant queens seated uncomfortably in the back, "When you're kits are born, keep them with you at all times. No exploring until we figure out what has caused that. "

There were nods form all the cats seated below her. Ravenstar gazed toward her senior warriors next, her head tilting slightly. "I would like to see all of you in my den, immediately. " Without another word she bounded off the rock, Tangleweb, Redhawk, Snowfur and Comettail trailing after her looking very confused. The cats entered the den after their leader in a very cautious manner, and seated themselves around her. The feline gave each of them a long look.

"We need to figure out what did this." she murmured, obviously throwing the statement out there in a hopes to get their input.

"I thought we already decided that it was Twolegs!" Redhawk hissed, flattening his ears.

Ravenstar shook her head, "I don't think they could even cause that much destruction, and besides they've never actually blown anything up before. "

"Well whatever it was must have used the storm as cover…" Snowfur through out the statement.

Redhawk glared back at his oldest friend, eyes still glassy from his tears. "What else besides Twolegs could have killed my mother Ravenstar? " the tom spat. Ravenstar drew back, instinctively flattening her ears and fluffing herself up. The female reminded herself then that her oldest friend was suffering more then anyone else from the loss. Even Snowfur was not grieving as much as Redhawk.

"I don't know Redhawk… I don't know…" She said, looking down at the ground and then back up at the assembled cats. "Maybe the other Clans can offer ideas at the gathering tonight. All of you and your apprentices will be coming. "

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Eh ; filler chapter.. Sorry so short.