In the morning, Shadowclaw was the one to wake and collect Cloudpaw. By the time she was awake, Moonpaw had already awoken, and he was out in the clearing, speaking with the warriors that he was hunting with.
The air was uncharacteristically damp and heavy. It was as if the earth itself had witnessed the tragedy the fox wrought and was grieving along with the Clan.
Mothspeckle was nowhere in sight, but Cloudpaw supposed that was not so surprising. If she and Cloudpaw switched places, Cloudpaw supposed that she would want to lay curled up in her nest with her other two kits huddled close to her. She's probably in the medicine den, Cloudpaw thought. She remembered one of her siblings telling her that she'd gotten hurt, presumably protecting her kit from the fox on her own.
When Cloudpaw met up with the rest of the patrol, Shadowclaw took the lead, and the cats followed her out of the camp and through the tunnel. In a hushed voice, the black she-cat said, "While we are out on patrol, keep an eye out for chicory and coneflowers. Mothspeckle requested them for Turtlekit's burial."
Shadowclaw looked as serious as ever, but her voice was quiet and solemn. No one was immune to the heartbreak that Turtlekit's death had brought.
A thick silence hung over the patrol as they walked. Every so often, one of the cats would separate from the group to gather the flowers that had been requested, but aside from that, the cats moved on a miserable, morbid quiet. No one wanted to talk about anything aside from Turtlekit, and at the same time, no one wanted to talk about Turtlekit. It wasn't fair. He had been such a sweet, lively kit. No one doubted that he would have made a good apprentice, and then a wonderful warrior.
The only talking done on the patrol had been from Brookleap, and all he had to say was a few quick instructions about how to scent mark different border landmarks, nothing more, nothing less.
When they got back, the entire Clan was gathered in the center of the clearing. They sat in a circle, with Turtlekit laying still in the center. Shadow obscured most of the clearing, but soft, cold light filtered through the tops of the cliffs and shone on Turtlekit, making his fur glisten and shine. From where she stood, Cloudpaw could not tell how he had been killed. Had the kit's family groomed his fur to try and hide it? Was the wound on his other side?
When Cloudpaw's patrol came through the tunnel, the Clan turned to look at them. Cloudpaw could see the anguish in the eyes of everyone gathered. She spotted poor Mothspeckle and Flamewing through the sea of cats, nestled together on either side of their son.
Shadowclaw lead the patrol to the circle of cats and gently shouldered through them. The black she-cat touched her forehead to Mothspeckle's head. When the grieving queen saw the flowers in the jaws of the patrol, she bowed her head and tucked her face into her paws, as if not being able to see them would make this all some horrible nightmare.
"It is time," Plumpelt rasped softly. "His spirit has arrived in StarClan… He must be buried."
The old, brown medicine cat stood, and she helped Mothspeckle to her paws. Plumpelt kept close beside her so that she could walk. A wound on Mothspeckle's flank had been patched with cobwebs, and the injury caused Mothspeckle to walk slowly and laboredly. Flamewing, Turtlekit's father, reluctantly rose to his paws and he touched his nose to his child's forehead, his face twisted with pain. He stood this way, still, for a few moments before taking a deep breath to steady himself. He then took the kit's scruff in his jaws and lifted him. He padded beside Plumpelt and his mate, and they walked forward.
Once they were two tail-lengths away, the rest of the kit's family - his siblings, followed by aunts and uncles - followed. Then, when they were two tail-lengths away, the rest of the Clan followed. The Clan followed the medicine cat and grieving parents to a large clearning not too far from camp. The walls surrounding it were tall, enough that no outside cat would be able to safely jump into it, but low enough for sun to reach the bottom.
The clearing was a stark contrast to the rest of the canyon. A small stream cut around it in the back, and vines twisted up the walls, and a soft bed of grass coated the ground. Wildflowers poked up all over, and every few tail-lengths, there would be a small gathering of stones, marking the graves of lost cats. Near the stream, in a shady spot, was a pre-dug hole for the kit in Flamewing's jaws.
A choke rang out through the clearing, from Mothspeckle. Her head hung low as she approached her son's final resting place. Flamewing stepped up to the hole and gingerly placed his kit in it. He and Mothspeckle stepped back, and Rosekit and Clearkit padded over to their parents. The four of them crouched down and leaned into each other for comfort as the elders, Twigtail, Skydapple, Swiftriver, and Rowansplash, filled the hole in with dirt.
Cloudpaw leaned into her brother, and he rested his chin on her head. All was silent until the hole was properly filled and gently patted down. Then, in near perfect unison, the gathered cats let out sad, mournful yowls.
The cats who had gathered chicory and coneflowers on the patrol stepped up and walked to Turtlekit's grave, gently placing them all across the dug up dirt, so that no brown shone through. Then, every cat present stood and gathered a stone. They took their stones and placed them around Turtlekit's grave in a rectangular pattern. When every cat had placed their stone, they stood silently, as still as possible, almost holding their breath.
"The last time I saw Turtlekit was when Rosekit was taken to the medicine den," Skypaw began, her voice shaky. "A while before, Peachpelt and Mothspeckle had brought in a sparrow, to try and get Rosekit to eat. She didn't eat very much… She was too sick. Turtlekit and Clearkit whined about not getting any of the sparrow, so we went to get them something to eat. When we came back with a blackbird, Turtlekit leaped at the chance to eat, begged us to share, ran around us in circles trying to convince me it was a big enough bird for all of us to eat… Not realizing it was for him… He was so bright and energetic… The Clan won't be the same without him…"
Other cats spoke, sharing their favorite memories of the young cat. When they had all finished, Petalstar padded silently over to a rock that rose about three tail-lengths above the grass. She leaped up onto it, and spoke to her mourning Clan.
"A dear Clanmate has been lost… There is nothing more harrowing than the loss of such young life, especially when that life was so bright and full of excitement for his future. We gather to mourn and remember him and the joy he brought to our lives, to StoneClan. We gather, too, to celebrate the great warrior he would have become, knowing that is now who Turtlekit is in StarClan. It is tragic that this is how he gains his warrior name. He should have become an apprentice, trained, given the chance to show us who he could be… But we still know who he was. A kind, playful kit, with a desire to help others and be friends with the whole Clan. So, in honor of his bright, kind nature, we award him the warrior name Turtleheart. He walks with StarClan, now. May he guide our paws."
The Clan let out another mournful yowl, and after just a few more moments of silence, the cats turned to leave the burial grounds. Cloudpaw, Skypaw, and Moonpaw stayed seated just a moment longer, and Cloudpaw gazed at the family that remained curled up together by the grave of their lost kin. She longed to speak to them, to give them a word of comfort, but she felt as though there was nothing she could say to make them feel better. It wouldn't bring the kit back. So, after another moment of quiet, Cloudpaw rose to her feet and returned to camp.
The day wore on when the Clan returned to camp, but the feeling about the Clan remained heavy and miserable. The cats moved a little slower, were less enthusiastic about their duties. It was clear that the death of Turtleheart would not be let go of anytime soon.
Despite the misery, Ripplewhisker organized a hunting patrol with Shadowclaw, Littlepounce, and Cloverflower jumping at the chance to get out of camp and be distracted from what was going on. They were gone for quite some time, but their haul was good.
At sunhigh, clouds obscured the sun and darkened the camp before rain began to fall, the first storm of new-leaf. Cats took pieces of prey and took them back to their dens to eat. Cloudpaw noticed Sophie come out of the nursery, pick a piece of prey off of the fresh-kill pile and bring it to a small cave beneath an overhang at the corner of the clearing. Mothspeckle lay curled up with Flamewing and their two kits. She set the prey down in front of of them, and after a little back and forth between the family and Sophie, Sophie laid down with them, and it seemed like she was encouraging them to eat. After some more talking, Mothspeckle and Flamewing both took a bite of what she'd brought to them.
Cloudpaw thought it would probaby be a good idea for her to do the same with her siblings. It would do them no good to grow weak in their grief. As much as no one wanted it, they would have to keep going after this.
Cloudpaw padded over to the kill pile and sniffed at the few things that remained. She picked up a mouse for herself, a vole for her brother, and a sparrow for her sister. It was awkward, carrying them all, but she managed and she pushed into the apprentices' den, weaving her way back to her siblings.
She set the prey in front of all of them, and while they did not seem interested in eating, they did anyway. When the prey was gone, Cloudpaw laid her head down and snuggled into her siblings for comfort.
"It isn't fair," Skypaw said softly.
"He was so sweet…" Moonpaw agreed.
"I wonder what he's doing now." Cloudpaw ventured. "And what he looks like."
"He's the most handsome cat in StarClan, I'm sure," said Moonpaw.
According to Plumpelt, when a young cat died, they would appear in StarClan fully grown. That is why they are given a warrior name at their funeral. It was only right to give that to them. They would need it when they arrived. Still, even though he was now a full warrior of StarClan, it pained Cloudpaw that he would never be a full warrior of StoneClan.
"And Clearkit and Rosekit… They won't get to experience all of their milestones with their brother."
"It's horrible."
"Can we stop talking about it?" Plumpaw snapped from the other side of the apprentice den. "I don't want to keep hearing about it wherever I go!" Her tone was harsh, but there was a waver in her mew that betrayed the fact she was just as hurt as the rest of the Clan.
The cream she-cat tucked her nose under her tail and fell quiet. Newtpaw and Sparrowpaw peered over at them sympathetically before going back to comforting Plumpaw.