You'll Never Understand The Cause Of Your Grief

Eaglekit struggled through ShadowClan's marshy territory, hardly managing to keep his mother in sight as she bounded over the ground agilely. Struggling out of a pit of mud that had tried to swallow him whole, sucking him in tail first, he ran after. His legs had grown longer since his first time out of the nursery, but not nearly long enough to traverse the territory without worry. He edged closer to her as she slowed down, her pace slowing to a trot then a leisure walk. She lifted her head in sudden alarm and stared at a rustling bush. A strange, unfamiliar bush wafted into Eaglekit's nose and he stared, shuffling back into a bramble bush.

In the shadows crept another cat that was well hidden because of the mud that caked his fur. Other than that his brown fur blended well with the wetlands of the Shadowclan cats. Silently he crept closer to the cat that invaded his territory that he invaded. Well that meant it was time for a change. He was aware that the she-cat had caught his scent but he could still take her by surprise. He then pushed himself forward out of the small brush, and onto the she-cats back digging his claws into her fur, and skin drawing blood from the cat.

Eaglekit gasped with shock as his mother let out a ferocious yowl, instinctively flipping onto her back to basically crush the rogue.

Zeno let out a growl as he felt himself hit the ground, but the rogue quickly got out from under the she-cat, and pinned her to the ground. "Big Mistake she-cat" He growled before taking a bite out of her throat. He then lofted his head blood dripping from his muzzle, his ears flicked once her heard something rustle in the bushes not to far away. Quickly, Zeno ran from the scene, towards the former Skyclan territory.

Eaglekit raced out before the cat's tail tip even disappeared into the ferns and put his paws on his mother's shoulder. He violently shook her, tears welling in his eyes. Climbing behind her he grabbed her ear and tugged, then went back to shoving at her shoulder. "Mom! Momma wake up! Please!" he wailed, pressing to her neck. Most of his head and shoulders got caked in blood as he sat there, sobbing and pleading for her to wake up. "Momma..."

Not a moment later another cat came walking out of the ferns. This time it happened to be a Shadowclan warrior, Smokefang. The She-cat looked at the scene with horror on her face, before she slowly made her way over to the little kit who had suffered. She sat down next to the kit, with her head down. "She's gone...." Smokefang mewed in a loud whisper for the kit to hear.

Eaglekit shook his head desperately, lifting his blood-soaked head to stare at her with wide amber eyes. "Uh-uh. She's not gone. Momma's just tired. She's just taking a nap, right Smokefang? Right?" he choked out, hard pressed to believe himself. He pressed his head close to Smokefang's leg, his tiny body racked with sobs.

Smokefang shook her head not wanting to believe it herself. A shadowclan warrior down just like that..., but the kit had to face reality. "I am sorry Eaglekit... I am afraid to say no she isn't.. She is with Starclan now..." THe Shadowclan warrior sighed. She wrapped her tail around the little kit trying to calm him from his racking sobs, but the kit had just lost his mother nothing would be able to fix that immediately. The smokey she-cat looked up from the kit, and glanced around the area. They would have to track the rogue as soon as possible, it's foul smell filled the area, and covered the fromer Shadowclan warrior. For now Smokefang would have to sit with the kit, and hope he would be able to leave his mother soon to get back to camp.

Eaglekit's sobs died away eventually, all the tears drained from his body. "Can she at least go home with us? Like the other cats that go to StarClan?" he begged, staring up at Smokefang with eyes still glistening fresh with tears and fur still ruffled from the shock.

Smokefang looked back down at the kit, "Yes she can go back home with us. We need to sit vigil with her after all.." She mewed the sadness apparent in her voice. She held some sympathy for the kit. It must have a been a great pain for him. She couldn't even begin to compare.

Eaglekit nodded, scrambling over and grabbing her scruff between his tiny teeth. He struggled to pull her backwards and moved her maybe half an inch before giving up, falling back on his haunches with an exhausted huff.