A Spotty Commotion, Volume 2(OPEN)

Spotpaw trudged into camp with a grim expression on his face. Only his chest fur had blood on it. The swipe of Brightpaw's paw had left a red stain. A bloody, limp body rested on his back. It was the body of Brightpaw, his brother who was dead. Spotpaw was crying, but managed to yell out, "I- Ivystar! Jaystream! Heck, all of Riverclan come! Something horrible has happened!" He was still shaken from the encounter.(me in real life actually. Yes, it hurt me that much to let Bright die.) He slid the body down in front of him. Then it came to thought to call his family. "Silverfang, Reedclaw, Frostpaw! You need to see this too!" His voice betrayed his pain and grief. Brightpaw was dead, and bleeding from a thousand scratches. Brightpaw's rib was broken and had been coughing blood. None of it mattered now. The only wound on Spotpaw was a scratch on his chest given by Brightpaw with his last words.

The queen woke a few minutes early when a shivering ran through her back. She somehow knew that something was wrong but nothing was different in the dark nursery. Was their imagination? Why did she feel a soft pain in her chest? Her odd eyes looked down at Petalkit and Darkkit, making sure they were okay. Then... Spotpaw's voice was heard and... the warrior knew that this was what was wrong. "Stay here, Petalkit and Darkkit. Don't leave the nursery until I tell you." She mewed strictly to both of her kits.

Slowly, the she-cat stood up and walked to the exit of the den. Outside... the scent of blood overwhelmed her. And then, her heart stopped for a second that seemed endless when she saw the body of her son lying limp on the ground, covered in his own blood. Something inside Silverfang's chest cracked and a yowl of pain was all that came out of her throat as she rushed to Brightpaw. "NOO!" She cried as she collapsed right by his side, her muzzle touching his cheek gently like she was trying to wake him up. Anger and frustration filled her mind as she clenched her fangs with frustration and anger. Tears ran through her cheeks silently. First, it was Raccoonpaw... and now her dear Brightpaw. "Don't make me this... Brightpaw... You are still... so young..." Silverfang cried, her paws trembling.

Spotpaw let the tears flow. "He- He's dead, mama. And I couldn't save him. I didn't...
I didn't do anything. I was a coward, and now he's dead!" The only blood left on himself was from Brightpaw's final action, to reach out to Spotpaw with a paw soaked in blood. I should have done something while I could...

Petalkit worriedly watched her mother leave the nursery, and the only thing keeping her in the nursery was her mother's command to stay. She heard her mother and brother's distraught voices from outside the nursery, but she listened to her mother. "Is everybody okay? What's going on?" She called, concern in her voice.

Wolfsong came running out of the apprentice den as he heard Spotpaws yell. "Wha-what happend?! Was it one of those fox-hearted Thunderclanners? If it was then I swear I'll rip them all apart!" he growled loudly as he looked at dead body, he felt bad for Spotpaw he had seen so many die. He was starting to belive that the cats from the Dark forest where the ones doing Starclans job.

'Something horrible has happened.'
Oh, dear StarClan, please don't let it be another one... please, please, please...
Duckpuddle immediately darted out of the warriors' den after she heard Spotpaw's alarming call. Fear flooded her entire body from the tip of her ears to the tip of her tail as she joined the group of cats that were beginning to gather. Oh no, oh no... no, no.
RiverClan had lost another cat.
Darkflight, Fawnsong, Rowanpaw... and now, Brightpaw. The she-cat glanced over at Silverfang with sympathy glittering in her sharp green eyes. To Duckpuddle, hearing the grief-stricken cries of a mother mourning their kit hurt more than seeing the dead body itself. The warrior had thought that everything was over and done now that RiverClan had consulted ThunderClan face to face, but it was if it hadn't happened at all. Were any of the other Clans losing cats so quickly?
"Another one bites the dust," Duckpuddle whispered to herself, sadly, "StarClan, why are you being so cruel to us?"
Afterward, the brown warrior looked over at Brightpaw's mother once again, "I'm so sorry, Silverfang..."

Ivystar looked like a creature from the Dark Forest as she leapt towards Spotpaw, her fur bristling and bright green eyes aflame with anger. Brightpaw's young life had been snuffed out of him. Whoever had done this would die, she would break their necks herself to make them pay for her clanmate's death. The leader was tired of seeing her closest of kin die time after time. She would make them all pay, or die trying.

"Who did this? Spotpaw, tell me the truth!" She didn't mean to yell at the apprentice, he'd shown his true loyalty to RiverClan already, but she was frustrated. She felt so helpless despite her nine lives.

-

Otterleap lumbered over to the dead apprentice, feeling nothing but pure sorrow at the sight of his limp body. The senior warrior chose to take the time to lick the deceased apprentice clean, so that the clan didn't suffer through looking at his mangled body. They would all mourn this...

OOC: you said "her limp body" and "her mangled body", Brightpaw was a tom, correct me if that was intentional but isn't it supposed to be "his mangled body" and such?

IC: Spotpaw looked down at his fallen brother before looking up at Ivystar. "I- I followed him out of camp because I wanted to talk to- to him, and then there was a fox, and I thought he could handle it because the battle- the fox looked like it was losing, and wouldn't want me to help, an- and I thought he'd like to boast about it later, and I- I told myself I'd help if something was going wrong, but... but then it was all so fast and by the time I made it to him, he was dying... and then his last words w- were that HE was sorry... He was coughing blood and bleeding everywhere, I couldn't do anything... He did drive off the fox, and- and his last act was to reach out to me..." His voice was soft and regretful. Now his voice was merely more than a whisper. "He's dead, because I didn't do anything."

Reedclaw (who appeared when his name was called) stood near the back of the crowd of cats.  He said nothing, and felt numb.  His own brother was dead.  The warrior did not know how to feel about the whole situation.  Reedclaw listened to the reason his brother laid lifeless before the clan.  He shook his head, and finally he spoke up.  "A FOX?!  You mouse-brained apprentice!  Of course he couldn't defeat a fox by himself!  You are lucky you are alive!"  He fell silent, and began pacing back and forth, trying to wrap his head around what had happened.

Dewpaw looked at Brightpaw's body with horror. The mouse she had caughr dropped to the ground in front of her before she stepped forward. This was terrible, awful, and nothing would make it better. As she listened to the reason, she wanted to blame Spotpaw.. but was that fair? Spotpaw was only an apprentice as well, and what if the fox came back? The worry nagged at her, and she felt terror sink into her further, but... she looked around the camp warily. If there was a fox out there...

"A-are you sure it's gone?" She asked Spotpaw. Her blue eyes looked at him directly. "It won't come back later?" She reaffirmed her question. She hesitated, then looked away from the others who had gathered as she padded a couople paces around Brightpaw. "We should make sure right?" She glanced towards the nursery. There were helpless kits there, and horror flooded her as she thought about a fox getting into camp.

Goldeneye rushed out at the scent of blood, and an overwhelming amount of it too. The she-cat curled her lip as she padded to Spotpaw, her paws working to make sure there was no pulls or hidden injuries, lapping away the blood she looked down at Brightpaw's mangled body. So many casualties as of late, so little herbs to treat them with. Goldeneye's fur bristled as she turned to glower at Ivystar. Getting to her paws she met her leader face to face. "You need to do something. Your clan is dying, there are no herbs to treat your clan-mates with apart from the ones Skyclan has graciously gifted us, and at this rate, by the end of Leaf-bare the whole of Riverclan will be under the dirt and rotting. That is what I predict." She spat, her tail lashing, she did not care at the moment that she was giving her own leader attitude, what was really important was that Riverclan was dying.

"We could always ravage Windclan or Shadowclan and rip their herbs from them, or, Cloudstone and I could go to Windclan, Skyclan, and Shadowclan and ask for their herbs. We've lost the most, other than Thunderclan, compared to every other clan in the forest, Ivystar. Any inaction on your part will most certainly prove fatal to Riverclan, yet a battle may risk any recovered herbs we could possibly obtain." She hissed, moving from her position and carefully arranging Brightpaw's legs under him, tucking his tail next to him so the apprentice appeared to be sleeping. She gave Otterleap a nod and brushed her shoulder against his in a thank you before she turned to look at Ivystar, awaiting her answer.

Ivystar was caught between a rock and a hard place. What could they do without showing their weakness and having the other clans flay them alive? ThunderClan was weak, but they were dangerous to provoke. Skilled at spinning stories about their birthright and StarClan. WindClan, they were much softer, Ashstar had proven herself to be addled brained, too quick to fight in losing battles and risk her clan for little gain. But to get the herbs, that would mean a battle to the death. They would spark another feud just after ending one. ShadowClan had been quiet about an alliance, showing weakness was too dangerous. And finally SkyClan, they'd given them herbs before when Tigerpaw was ill, but they were also friends with ThunderClan...

"Nevermind that, Spotpaw, you tried your best. Go rest in the medicine cat den. Everyone else, we must clean him up and bury him far away, we cannot risk attracting more predators to our camp." With that said, she made it clear she was dismissing them with a flick of her tail. "Goldeneye, bring Cloudstone and meet me outside camp. Jaystream, come with."

Everything around Silverfang was silent, despite the multiple cats gathering around her and her dead son. She only lifted her head when she saw someone approaching. Protectively, she embraced her son in her paws but she relaxed when her eyes met Duckpuddle's, who was only trying to give her some kindness. In her regular state, the she-cat would have probably yelled at her and say that she didn't need her pity. But... she couldn't find that usual anger, that fiery energy. All inside her was sadness.

With a soft hiss, the young warrior stood up when she heard the cause of Brightpaw's death. "A fox..." She growled, her fur bristling. A sudden desire of blood filled her veins and she only wanted to leave the camp and murder the predator who did this to her kit. However, Ivystar's command was first and she knew that Brightpaw deserved a proper burial. Licking the dirt and blood from the apprentice just like she used to do when he was a kit, Silverfang cleaned Brightpaw, containing any other tear. She couldn't be weak now. Weakness would only lead her to her own destruction and she knew that she had to live, for Riverclan, for Tigerfur,  for Spotpaw, for Reedclaw, for Darkkit and for Petalkit. She still had a family to protect.

Grabbing his limp body by the scruff, the she-cat started carrying him away from the camp but not before giving Reedclaw an angered look for yelling at his brother for something he didn't cause. Now... Brightpaw was walking among the stars along with Raccoonpaw. There was nothing she could do now for him but to bury his body.

---------------

Jaystream arrived the place a few moments later than Goldeneye. He looked at the injured body of the young apprentice he named and he stayed in his place, in shock. Another young death... Why were so many young clanmates dying this leaf-bare? He looked at the broken mother but he soon turned his head away. It was painful for him to see a fellow warrior suffering so much.

The deputy heard the words of the medicine she-cat about the future of Riverclan and he didn't like it. No herbs, too many predators lurking in their territories, young deaths... This leaf-bare was harsh but the tom disliked the idea of taking herbs by force from other clans. They couldn't risk their clanmates lives in another war... that's why Lionspark was their hostage, to keep them safe from Thunderclan. Another battle against a clan meant more hate to Riverclan, which might cause more death and suffering. Stealing herbs was not the answer for the tom.

And he really hoped that Ivystar wouldn't even consider the idea of a battle for herbs when she called him for a meeting with the two medicine cats. Quietly, he followed his leader after giving Brightpaw a proper and respectful farewell before Silverfang could transport him outside the camp.

Spotpaw licked Brightpaw one last time before reaching down to bury his face in his brother's now cold fur. "May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep, Brightpaw,
my dear brother. I wish I could have saved you. Let the sun warm your back and the fish leap into your paws. Goodbye." He whispered this and stepped back. He looked up at Ivystar. "Could... Could I sit vigil for him? I can rest later." His eyes darted down before he looked back to his leader. He didn't want to leave Brightpaw.

Reedclaw listened to proposal from Goldeneye to storm WindClan or ShadowClan to fatten up the herb stock. He calmed himself and sat towards the back of the group of cats. He received a look from his mother that reprimanded his outburst. After the cats dispersed the warrior moved towards his brother, "I'm sorry, Spotpaw" Reedclaw assisted in cleaning Brightpaw, he knew that there was nothing either of the apprentices could have done to defeat the fox. "Should a patrol make sure the brute is gone?" The dark tabby asked Ivystar, or Jaystream.