Death is hard to deal with...(OPEN and Ivystar needed)

"Ivystar! Jaystream! Hurry!" a voice yowled out. Heronpaw was walking, dragging Rowanpaw's lifeless body. "Rowanpaw's dead!" he called.

Smokewish had just been strolling around camp, bored out of her brains. The patrols had been sent out. She was free. She had just laid down on a rock and closed her eyes when she smelt it. Blood. Death. It was a repulsive smell, and scared her. RiverClan had suffered too much death recently. Her spirits went lower still when she heard the call. Rowanpaw is dead. No. Was StarClan trying to punish them all!? She leapt from her rock and looked to the entrance of camp, walking over. She refused to believe another cat had died. Not until she had seen it with her own eyes.

And then she did.

Rowanpaw looked so small in death. Utterly defenceless, with blood in his fur and dull eyes. Smokewish bent her head in respect to her former denmate. "May StarClan light your path." She whispered.

"Rowanpaw's dead!"

Dead?
No...
Duckpuddle's head immediately poked out of the warriors' den in shock and fear. The scent of blood was strong, and she could smell it even before Heronpaw had called out. Now, it felt as if all of her legs were heavy and stiff as she padded over towards the dead apprentice. It was all too soon... first Darkpaw, then Rowanpaw. The brown she-cat lifted her eyes up towards the sky with a wary and sad expression.
Are my suspicions right? The warrior thought, StarClan, are you punishing us as revenge for the death of that ThunderClan apprentice?
Was another apprentice going to die soon? What about a warrior? How many more lives would be taken from RiverClan? Rowanpaw could've been an amazing, talented, and valuable warrior of the Clan... but he had died too soon. While Duckpuddle wasn't related to the tom, and she didn't know him well, the sight of a dead Clanmate still filled her heart with grief, and she couldn't find the strength to say any words.
StarClan, why?

Spotpaw opened his mouth and rushed towards Heronpaw, eyes wide and staring down at Rowanpaw. "H- how? We've lost so many so fast... Are one of us next? It feels like he was just a kit yesterday... and now he's dead. Which cat did this?" He recognized the look of cat scars rather than animal ones.

No... Not again.

The tom turned his head toward the entrance when he heard the call of his own apprentice. He widened up his eyes in the moment he saw the dead body of another apprentice being dragged to the camp. Jaystream couldn't believe it... why were they losing so many young lives? First Darkpaw, who was murdered by a predator. Then Fawnsong, who was taken away from them by Thunderclan cats and now... Rowanpaw.

The large deputy made his way toward the group that was starting to form around the dead tom. His paws trembled because of his frustration. He could perfectly remember the day he made him an apprentice... his face when he got the chance to start training. This was so unfair.

After dipping head with respect for his fallen clanmate, the warrior fixed his eyes on Spotpaw, noticing what he meant with his question. The rebellious apprentice was right. His wounds weren't from a predator. Those claw marks belonged to a cat. "Heronpaw... where you with him when he died? Where did you find him?" His apprentice didn't have any wounds so he probably wasn't there when Rowanpaw was attacked. Why was he alone in the first place? Apprentice should be accompanied by warriors every time they left the camp...

Ravenflight's eyes blinked open. She stood up and stretched, padding towards the exit of the warriors' den. Duckpuddle had left in a hurry, and now the grey warrior could here anxious voices in the center of the camp chattering about Rowanpaw. She shook her head to clear her muddled thoughts and wake herself up. Rowanpaw, Rowanpaw... What about Rowanpaw? She didn't know him well, and had hardly even said a word to him. One look at the scene in the center of camp told her exactly what was happening. Rowanpaw lay limply on the ground, surrounded by a knot of other cats. His dull eyes and the scent of blood were enough to tell her that he was dead. She bowed her head in respect as she joined her Clanmates around his body, silently waiting for an explanation.

When Heronpaw heard Jaystream, he explained everything that happened.  "Well, I was just going on a walk around the river, then I found a tuft of ginger fur with a stale scent of RiverClan.  I followed the river downstream, and then I found his body." he told the gathering cats.  "I didn't even know that a cat attacked him, I just thought it was a fox or something."

OOC: Rowanpaw's eyes are closed. Like somebody closed them!

The blue-grey tom hissed softly. A predator leaving its prey in the middle of leafbare? That's nonsense. They are as hungry as we are. He thought bitterly as his apprentice continued talking. But what really increased his anger was when Heronpaw told him that he found it in the river. That could only mean that the cat who did this dropped him there and... the murderer was probably a clan cat. The only options were Windclan, Thunderclan or Skyclan. However, Skyclan didn't have any reasons to murder his clanmates, unlike Windclan and Thunderclan.

The tall deputy remained quiet, analyzing the situation the best he could. Jaystream was completely sure that one of those fox-hearted warriors did this to their apprentice because of Thistlepaw's death... but two murdered apprentices? That was insane. Youngblood shouldn't be spilt like that, no matter the clan. However, even if he wanted to share his suspicions, the warrior stayed quiet. This was an issue that should be seen by Ivystar first before they could discuss it.