Warrior's Vigil [Open to Clan]

[Redfern]

Redfern padded into camp, the battered form of Raggedwolf laid over her back. She hoped Flintpaw was still behind her and wasn't struggling too much under the burden of Snailtail. When the red deputy reached the middle of camp she laid the warrior down, arranging his body neatly. She watched on with great sadness as the clan began to arrive from their dens, then let out a loud, grieving wail.

"Snailtail and Raggedwolf are dead. Tonight, the clan will mourn for them.'
It seemed like a terrible sign, since they were about to move from their territory and had now lost two of their warriors.

[Jollyberry]

LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH

"Snailtail!"

Jollyberry howled at the crumpled body of his son, lurching forward. He barely saw his mother as she spoke, focusing instead on nudging the silver tom's fur. He was broken and lifeless, and misery filled Jolly's gaze. "Oh no, no," he crooned, wishing Lyricwhisper was still by his side. He couldn't handle this alone. His only son...gone.

He crumbled beside the two dead warriors, still uttering a low keen as he grieved.

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[Flintpaw]

Flintpaw carefully placed Snailtail down in front of Jollyberry. The apprentice felt numb from his head to his toes. Hearing the dead warrior's father grieve made him take a step back. He felt dizzy now. The apprentice had never experienced death before. He had never experienced tragedy before. Flintpaw shook his head and laid down roughly, then looked down in shock.

[Snakekit]

Snakekit waddled out of the nursery, ignoring the calls of the queens to stop. The kit saw the bodies and felt his fur rise on his back. Why was everyone so tense? He didn't understand. The small red brown kitten eventually made it over to the bodies. One of them smelled really familiar. "Snailtail?" He felt emotions rush through him but he just stood still.

[Lyricwhisper]

is it true.

Lyricwhisper didn't know what had happened. All she had done that day was sleep, and she was just waking from her nap when she heard some sort of commotion in the camp. The gray and white she-cat stood and poked her head out of the den when she heard her mate's crippling cry. Her son's name...

"Snailtail..." His name left her lips as a whisper, but she darted over to the tom quickly. "Snailtail!" she cried out, her heart shattering in her chest at the sight of his dead body. Lyricwhisper crashed down beside Jollyberry, feeling numb. "Jolly..." was all she could whisper, frozen in complete shock. How could this have happened?

PYXIS ★

[Weaselkit]

"FAAAAATHER!" Weaselkit screeched. He'd spent the better part of the morning attempting to climb the outer wall of the nursery, having succeeded just as the party returned home. He had a clear view of the crumpled body of Snailtail, as well as his father's old mentor Raggedwolf being brought into camp. His eyes were wide with horror at the scene, enough so that he barely heard his brother's words from down below.

The ragged tabby set about trying to get himself down, carelessly slipping and sliding over rock before dropping harshly to the ground. He raced across the clearing, limping slightly, and buried his nose into Snailtail's silver fur, crouching beside his grandfather. "What happened?" He echoed numbly.

[Dawnkit]

Everything had been so peaceful. Everything had been quiet, and Dawnkit had been enjoying his time in the sun when the patrol of cats came back to the camp. He assumed they had just been hunting, but then he realized that they were not carrying prey. No, they were carrying... Dad? The ginger cat slowly stood up, taking a few steps forward when he heard Weaselkit screech to their father. A sense of dread filled the tiny tom's stomach.

He gradually reached the body of the silver tom, seeing him still and unresponsive. He wasn't breathing or talking... "Wh-what happened? Why is he... why isn't he..." They were so young and already lost their father. Dawnkit wasn't sure what to do or feel. It was all so strange, seeing someone dead in front of him and that cat being his father. 

[Cloverstar]

Cloverstar had thought things were going poorly enough already, but of course fate had to prove her wrong. Her ears pricked at the sound of Redfern's wail, dread forming a sinking chill in her stomach before she stepped out of her den. Something inside her, however, dropped completely at the sight. Not one, but two dead warriors.

Raggedwolf and Snailtail. She had never known them personally, but she had seen them out and about and alive. Seeing them lifeless on the ground was almost surreal. It felt like an ominous omen, given the timing, but Cloverstar immediately shoved it aside. Now was not the time to dwell on that.

She spotted Lyricwhisper near the bodies and felt a pang. After what she'd done for RockClan long ago, she didn't deserve this. Some kits had gathered as well, either painfully oblivious or already in the throes of grief. She also recognized Flintpaw nearby, seemingly in shock. Silently, she approached the gathered cats and sat down to bow her head in vigil.

[Flintpaw]

Flintpaw's head lifted at the scent of Cloverstar. He felt himself rise and go to her side. What would she think of him? He was asked to go out on a simple border patrol and he comes back with two dead warriors? He made himself appear small as he spoke. "We-We.." He thought for a moment. "Snailtail decided we should go hunt in the field...with those...things.." He was referring to sheep. "He-He saw a rabbit and chased after it.." His yellow eyes were full of pain.

"Those..things.. started running together." He choked on his words. "Raggedwolf went after Snailtail and by the time I got to both of them they were..." He closed his eyes. "Like that." Flintpaw leaned his face onto Cloverstar's shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."

[Coyotekit]

Coyotekit had been in the nursery all day, when he wandered out to see... He wasn't sure what he was seeing, exactly. He didn't have much of a concept of what dying really meant. He blinked, confused on what was going on. There was something wrong with Snailtail, his dad....

He walked past and approached Snailtail's body, ears folding back. "Dad...?" He asked softly, lightly prodding the body, almost recoiling at the lack of warmth. His Dad... Almost seemed like a piece of prey, rather than the cat the young tom-kit knew him to be. He didn't understand. What was wrong?

[Brackensky]

Brackensky had been simply sitting in camp, looking at the sky, occasionally casting a glance to the medicine den. She didn't put it past Anemonemist to try and pin her down again, the vaguely prickly medicine cat didn't seem to take to the silver striped queen too kindly. 

But then she'd seen Redfern come in, Flintpaw in tow. Her eyes widened, seeing the bodies that had been laid on the ground of camp. Snailtail. She... Knew that he'd been the father of her latest litter of kits... Who unfortunately had all seen Snailtail's dead body. She approached the tom's body, but stopped a distance away, not daring to get too close. Her ears folded back. He'd been... He shouldn't have died. He'd been young. The screams and confusion that rang around were painful. She closed her eyes and looked away. 

There wasn't any point in dragging the kits away now. They'd already seen too much. 

[Geckostep]

Geckostep had been considering the silliest of things when screams took over the RockClan clearing. And nothing could have prepared the warrior for what she saw before her. Nothing could have shattered her as badly as the lifeless bodies of Snailtail and Raggedwolf.

"Snaily...?" she breathed, approaching the gathered cats almost skittishly. She didn't know any of them personally-- heck, she didn't even know her best friend was a father. But in that moment, Geckostep could have cared less about her Clan.

'Everyone goes poof. But this is different than a friend disappearing.'

The usually hyper and weird she-cat stumbled over with a blank expression, loss of any emotion, but shrouded in one word -- empty. Without a word, the tabby took a seat next to Snailtail, staring down at his still fur. She hadn't seen her friend in so long, but... he... he had been alive at least....

Her eyes glanced at Raggedwolf. That tomcat wasn't her best friend, but he still was considered... an old friend, at least.

River-blue eyes returned to Snailtail. 'You weren't suppose to die, Snaily. You were suppose to tolerate me for a few more years, at least.... How could you leave so many cats behind like this?'