Finding Her [closed]

It rained that morning.

When it finally stopped, a breach in the cloud cover, Ferretnose hummed on her way to the apprentice den. They often retreated there, in the moments when the constant rain was too heavy to venture out, and they gossiped about things that apprentices generally gossiped about. She swore she heard a comment about herself and Beartooth as she nudged her head inside, but she didn't let it ruffle her feathers. There were better things to worry about than a bunch of youths speculating on her love life... like where her apprentice had gone. Hazelpaw and Duskpaw were a wily pair, of course, taking after their father. Ferretnose had given up long ago on stopping the constant wandering. Even so, to wander off on a training day was unacceptable!

There was an odd feeling in her gut about all of it. It wasn't like Hazelpaw to blow off training. Ferretnose elected to ask her sister. When she came across Duskpaw in camp, she mewed to catch the younger she-cat's attention. "You haven't seen your sister today, have you?"

As the apprentice responded, Ferretnose felt the worry grow in her gut. So nobody knew where she'd run off to? "Well, I'm going to look for her. I'm a little concerned about her wellbeing, going off in the rain like that. Go fetch Dawngaze, you can both come with me. Hopefully the rain didn't wash away the scent."

The short warrior sat down for a minute to let her heart catch a break. It was silly to jump to conclusions. Apprentices, however, did not wander off for multiple hours at a time. They did not disappear for entire days. No, she decided. Stay calm, Ferretnose. There was no reason to panic. For all they knew, she'd be outside the camp entrance when they were on their way out. Of course, it had to be her apprentice. It couldn't be Harefoot's or Bushfang's. What a day!

On top of it all, a sudden droplet hit her nose.

It rained that afternoon.

Duskpaw laid on the ground while her moss nest was hung over her ears, a meager protection from the rain, but it was the thought that counted. She remained in a light sleep until the sky opened up, the crashing of droplets soon turning into calm. Instead, only the leaves dripped, puddles remained in camp but Duskpaw opted to keep her mossy blanket. Ferretnose peaked through the ferns and Duskpaw meant her gaze, green eyes peering out from beneath her cover. The warrior wished to know where her sister was, but the apprentice didn't know. "No." She spoke simply, standing up on tired legs. In a stretch, her moss nest rolled off her fur and Duskpaw ran a licked paw over her ear. She thought Ferretnose's worrying was silly, but went to go and fetch Dawngaze anyway. The sky was gray and light, clouds splitting with the cold rays of sun. Droplets sat on the grass and the ferns, dotting Duskpaw's fur as the rain began to patter again. She wondered what kind of beasts liked rain. The badger she had fought wanted the earth. But maybe tigers would live in the storms. Duskpaw smiled as she thought of it, ducking beneath the warrior's bush and padding to Dawngaze's side. "Hello." She whispered, tracing all the stripes in Dawngaze's pelt with her eyes. They reminded Duskpaw of the badger. "Ferretnose is going on an adventure in the rain. Do you want to come? I want to find a tiger." Her head tilted in curiosity until the tabby-tortishell rose from her bedding. Excited now, the apprentice skirted out of the den and ran to Ferretnose's side. Duskpaw's face wrinkled as water droplets hit her pelt. It was cold today. Cold and the leaves fell from the trees.

Dawngaze was licking excess water from her thick coat when Duskpaw entered the den. She was a little bit strange. A daydreamer, perhaps. Spoke often to warriors and to herself of 'beasts' and traipsed through the territory alongside Dacepaw and Houndpaw; a more youthful trio Dawngaze never knew. But her own apprenticeship and kithood was rife with death and punctuated by the flood that some older warriors still whispered about. There was no room for youth. She stood and followed Duskpaw out, back into the rain, at a walk. She dipped her head to the other warrior. "Duskpaw tells me we are hunting tigers." Her voice was dry and not amused despite the humorous sentence. Ferretnose would not have sent Duskpaw to fetch her if it wasn't important, or so she hoped.

Flintfang had been Burntstag's dearest friend. He was a dreamer, too. Like her brother. When she looked at Duskpaw, she could only see Littlesun, even if Littlesun was much more timid. They weren't alike, but the two daughters were the only connection she still had to her sister. Dawngaze didn't know how she felt about that; she mostly tried not to feel anything these days. In the back of her mind, a bitter voice told her that her niece would likely fall victim to the delusions of grandeur that Burntstag died for. It seemed she did feel something after all, but she didn't yet know what.

Ferretnose rolled her eyes. She should have expected something like that from wee Duskpaw. She lowered her voice to a murmur to keep her words out of the apprentice's ears. "It's very suspicious that nobody has seen Hazelpaw all day," she sighed, "And even if she's fine, which she probably is, she has to understand that this is no time to be leaving camp! Leafbare is coming fast, and there's all kinds of predators out. It's not safe!"

She padded out of camp with both of the she-cats behind her and slowly shut her eyes. It was something Beartooth taught her. She stepped forward without looking, the ground tough under her paws. Something drifted on the wind, very faintly. She took a deep breath. Something. Opening her eyes, she followed the scent into the territory. After a brief walk, they reached a place where the smell was strong, but ebbed on the other side. It was as if she had stood in that place for quite some time and then suddenly left. A tuft of fur was caught on the brambles to her left. Brow furrowed, Ferretnose turned to Duskpaw. May as well make it a learning opportunity.

"Dear, why don't you follow the scent for a little while? You know her better than anybody, I'm sure you'll find it!" she said brightly, waving Duskpaw after the rest of the scent trail. When she turned to meet Dawngaze's eyes, she was more serious and professional. "Why don't we survey the area? She can't have gone far from here."

Duskpaw trotted out into the territory contentedly, tail high, head swinging to and fro. The leaves dripped from high in the canopy, soft pattering of rain as it landed on her pelt. Duskpaw giggled and thought it reminded her of Houndpaw. Rainpaw. That is what she called him when he took her from camp. But now Duskpaw was an apprentice, and she didn't need the supervision of the big-eared tom. Ferretnose and Dawngaze padded farther behind, speaking quietly about something Duskpaw didn't listen to. They were probably discussing the squirrels or the excess water that now laid in puddles around the territory. The apprentice hopped onto a fallen tree, surveying the surroundings with noble green eyes. She hoped they'd find a tiger today. Her confidence had only grown after fending off the badger with her friends. And yet there was more to learn ever still. She wanted her claws to be as sharp as Beartooth's. And perhaps this time, if they found a tiger, she'd get a scar. It was very inconvenient to have to press herself against other cats, gazing at all their battle wounds for inspection. If Duskpaw could achieve her own, there'd be no need to look at others'. She'd imagine she'd sit in her next and trace the broken skin with her eyes. Scars were very interesting things, like the worms in the dirt.

The apprentice was about to turn and ask the two she-cats if they'd like some worms, when Ferretnose spoke up. She mentioned a scent, and sure enough, Duskpaw lifted her nose and caught whiff of her sister. "Alright." She answered to Ferretnose, tone neutral, but eyes bright. Most warriors didn't let her wander off. But Ferretnose was kind. Duskpaw decided she liked the warrior.

The ground was muddy, and squelched between her paws as she walked. Hazelpaw's scent floated through the undergrowth, reminding her of their nest, and the mice the used to share. Perhaps tonight Hazelpaw would like a mouse again. Duskpaw always would opt to give her sister rodents, as squirrels remained Duskpaw's first favorite. Sticks snapped under her feet, and dew brushed over her long fur. There was a pep in her step as the apprentice walked, catching every movement with glee.

Dawngaze nodded slightly as she caught on to Ferretnose's words. She had the concern of a good mentor, the kind of concern that Dawngaze would tuck away and hide from the world if Dacepaw found herself in a similar situation. "Probably just a young she-cat shirking her responsibilities." She responded quietly, trying to find a reasonable explanation for the apprentice's disappearance. They'd find out soon enough. The trio set off into the territory, and Dawngaze remained patiently behind the other she-cats as they searched for clues. She kept her own nose to the wind, but Duskpaw and Ferretnose would know the scent the best. The other warrior seemed to have found a trail.

She paused when her eyes landed on the tuft of fur. A positive track. Hopefully Hazelpaw wouldn't be far. Dawngaze watched Duskpaw head off, impressed with how sweetly Ferretnose addressed her, and then flicked a tufted ear in agreement. "You're right. The three of us spread out will cover more ground." She said and then turned to examine the bushes in the area to see if more fur had been caught or recent paw prints laid.

"Hazelpaw!" Ferretnose mewed, "Come on, it's pouring out! Your sister is with us!" The ground squished under her paws, spraying mud out behind her. A piece of wet fur lay strewn across the path in front of her. Tortoiseshell fur. Her pace quickened, desperation filling her chest cavity. That wasn't good. That wasn't normal. That wasn't-

A flash out of the corner of her good eye. A raggedy-looking thing was hidden in the undergrowth. They were surely at the edge of territory now, near Snakerocks. She didn't dare move closer, but her paws moved of their own accord. The drumming in her ears, throat, lungs, stomach, pushed her forward. She slowed to a stop and recognized the positively mangled form of her apprentice. The shock pushed her backwards onto her haunches, her head swimming as she forced herself to look away. It was practically just fur and bones. Hazelpaw's lifeless eyes bored into her very spirit. She was eaten, and the stench of fox penetrated the rain. Hyperventilating, she couldn't even call for help. She sat, claws digging into the mud, heaving as sobs mixed with precipitation and fell down her muzzle.

"Don't let Duskpaw see!" she hissed to Dawngaze, wherever she stood. Ferretnose's eyes remained wrenched shut. "I don't - What do we - StarClan, she's dead. She's dead. Do you smell the fox? Like Ridgelight's - Oh, stars." Wretching, Ferretnose spun on her paws and staggered away from the mutilated body. She leaned against a tree to keep from falling over. Each time she blinked, she saw her apprentice's blank stare, jaw wrenched open in a wordless scream. Ferretnose had never been so horrified to be right. "Dawngaze, should we even bring her back to camp? Look at her!"

Rain patters dripped over leaves, soft thumping that made Duskpaw giggle. She pranced over the foliage, wondering where her sister could have gone. Perhaps if she found Hazelpaw before Ferretnose did, they'd have time to play before the silly warriors dragged them back to camp. Duskpaw hoped she would find a worm. The young she-cat learned that worms liked the rain, just as she did. However the scent weaved through the forest, under ferns and over logs. It mixed with something metallic that set Duskpaw's fur on end.

She knew this scent well, and it stuck to her paw after the battle with the badger. Blood. The sticky water inside their bodies. Harefoot had blood, and Emberheart, too. The she-cat wrinkled her nose as she wondered what spilled their blood this time. It wasn't a very good idea to let the sticky stuff come out.

Two shapes stood in the distance, and the apprentice realized she had gone in a circle, following the scent. Ferretnose and Dawngaze seemed sad like Beartooth did, moans coming from their maws, voices cracking. Duskpaw sniffed in curiosity and made her way over, the coppery scent growing ever stronger. The warriors blocked her view and yet she was too quick for her own good. Duskpaw split between the two she-cats, gazing down at the horrid site below. Red, beautiful red all over the forest floor. It reminded her of the sun and the beasts she had fought. And Hazelpaw was there, too. Dead.

It was a strange concept, because Hazelpaw wasn't old. Emberheart was old, and she had gone on all the adventures life could give, so she said goodbye. But Hazelpaw was an apprentice, and there were many more adventures Duskpaw would have liked to have taken her on. She grew angry first, claws digging into the dirt as horrible tears gushed from her eyes. Duskpaw stifled the sob and choked on her sorrow, snorting out her nose in a strange, foreign way. It was evil, to bring someone to death before they experienced the world. Hazelpaw spilled too much red, and now was quiet, like Emberheart had been. But she never got to show Hazelpaw her worms. She never got to catch a squirrel for her sister. Oh... her sister. A quiet moan leaked from Duskpaw's maw as she collided into the side of the nearest cat, burrowing her twisted face deep into Ferretnose's pelt. The moan grew louder, and escalated into a sorrowful yowl, pointed at the sky as tears dropped to the forest floor, twins with the rain.

"I...I..." Duskpaw choked and shredded the leaves beneath her, insane. "I'm gonna kill! I'll kill Hazelpaw's murderer! They... how... they are EVIL! I'll tear their throat out... I'll... I'll feed them deathberries. Hazelpaw!!!" Her voice fell into chaotic sobs as Duskpaw threw herself to the ground, broken, shattered. Death came to soon to her sister. So Duskpaw would bring death to the perpetrator in return.

Dawngaze's attention was grabbed by Ferretnose's quiet hiss, and spurred on by curiosity, she followed the other warrior to Hazelpaw's body. Revolted, she stepped back with a quiet gasp and wrinkled nose. 'Fox.' The word rang through her mind as clear as though it had actually been spoken. The sight was brutal and Ferretnose was right in questioning whether the body should be brought back to camp; letting Duskpaw see would be traumatic, and subjecting the kits and elders to such a terrible view would be equally as terrible. She glanced between Ferretnose and the body. They could tell Oakstar what happened and he would understand if they didn't bring her back for the traditional mourning period. "We should send Duskpaw back and bury Hazelpaw--"

She cut off as Duskpaw slipped right past her. Dawngaze hadn't even heard her approach. Perhaps she was too distracted by the smell or the sound of Ferretnose gagging. Either way, she watched the apprentice's reaction with a weary gaze. She'd screamed and clawed and cried like that over her brother's death; Duskpaw. But she didn't have a body to mourn. Maybe that was a mercy that she'd despised in the moment and only now came to be grateful for. She didn't have anything to say. How could you soothe an ache like untimely death? You didn't. So she let Duskpaw thrash and scream and weep until the scent of death and fox became too much to bear.

"If you take Duskpaw to camp... to the medicine cat den... I will bury Hazelpaw." Dawngaze meowed softly to Ferretnose. She would respect it if either of the other she-cats wanted to stay and help, but if they needed to escape the pain, she would let them. Maybe the living sister would make good on her promise, but first she would need to survive today, and digging Hazelpaw's grave with her own paws might hinder that. For all of her dead siblings, Dawngaze never dug their graves. But maybe she hadn't really survived, either.