to go where i cannot follow [closed]

Hearing soft pawsteps a short distance behind him, Ashflight glanced over his shoulder and was a bit surprised to see Perchfall hovering close by, a silent presence that he realized made the tension in his shoulders begin to relax.  He smiled at her, this one much more relaxed and genuine, and slowed his pace to walk beside her.  He didn't feel the need to exchange words right now, just simply walked alongside the deputy with his eyes and nose scanning the area, looking for any possible clue.  Jaystar's words rang in his ears; anything that might show us how Ivystar could've ended up in the river.  Keeping that in mind, he kept wandering along the waterline near where Otterpaw had found the blood and overturned stones until, finally, something caught his eye.  "Hey Perchfall, are you seeing what I am?"  Coming to a halt and bending down, Ashflight examined the marks in the sand closely.  "It looks...like pawprints.  Yes, and it's definitely a cat's.  It looks like its claws might've been unsheathed too, look.  There are some thin, deep marks there. "  Pointing at the sun-hardened sand,  Ashflight's jaw was set in concentration.  He knew this had to connect to Ivystar's death, it was too close by the other evidence.  There was one thing he was confused about though.  "It seems maybe like a cat was trying to drag itself back onto the shore...was it Ivystar?  Or another cat?"

The member 'RainyHeart' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 4

After taking a moment or two to clear her mind, Mallowpaw instead opted to observe the rest of the party. Certain clues were being discovered close to a particular section of the riverbank, and she opted to tred carefully around that area. Curiosity carried her paws closer to the other cats, peering around their frames to determine just what was going on. Her head flicked in the direction of Jaystar, her head giving a miniscule dip in response.

Ashflight's comment upon finding something gave her a sense of direction as to where to go. Her snow-tinted pelt easily maneuvered closer to where the tom had ushered his call, and her own observations were made. "It definitely looks like a cat's struggle..." Afraid to say anything out loud, she kept a few tail-lengths back. Instead, Mallowpaw opted to scan along the rest of the riverbank for any other clues of the same nature, only to be unable to truly find anything.

The member 'Kitty' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Otterpaw resisted the urge to look proud of his discovery as Cloverheart approached, instead keeping a solemn expression on his face. He nodded along as she examined the scene he’d uncovered, offering her a weak smile. ”Cloverheart, you don’t look too good. Are you alright?” Genuine concern was easy to pick up on in his tone, but he knew she probably didn’t appreciate him asking. She was a medicine cat, after all… She’d know if something was wrong. He supposed it still didn’t hurt to check in every now and then, though. When she suggested looking for a trail, he nodded and began looking again. After a few moments of careful watching and investigation, he saw a small trail off to the side that lead closer to the riverbank, eventually dropping off into the river itself. ”Uh, Cloverheart? Could you come here again? I think I found something else…” Otterpaw made sure not to touch the trail at all, standing clear of it by at least a tail-length. ”I looked for a trail like you said, and for a while it’s harder to see but it definitely picks back up right here. It drops off into the river… Do you think someone intentionally drowned her? I thought she had more than one life, though… This is weird. There’s got to be more to this.”

The member 'Maple' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Seeing Ashflight's eyes brighten up a little bit and his shoulders hunch less made Perchfall feel considerably better. Obviously, the presence of someone he considered a friend wouldn't fix any sorrow he may feel at re-investigating the loss of his mother. However, she could at least help, and for that she was grateful. As the tom spoke, she realized she hadn't actually been paying attention to why they were there. I need to concentrate and help. Her ear flicked, showing she was listening, and she moved over to where her friend gestured. There were indeed claw marks.... "Definitely noteworthy," Perchfall murmured, eyes narrowing as she scrutinized the faint scrapes in the sand. "It certainly suggests foul play. I don't imagine many cats have been here since Ivystar, let alone with claws unsheathed. But who would do such a thing?" Did Ivystar have enemies? Was it a rival Clan? A predator? Or someone else entirely?...

Lending an ear to the other discoveries being made, it seemed like they were getting somewhere. This was no accident. "Ivystar likely came alone," Perchfall almost whispered to herself, thinking. "But then she wasn't. Did someone follow her? Did they just happen upon her? Either way, some kind of scuffle ensued, and it ended in death. But certainly no accident was involved." The tip of her tail twitched as she concentrated. She knew so little about the former leader.... "I don't know whose the claw marks are. But they are definitely related to Ivystar's death."

Frosty reeds and river-foliage, bent and sour with the perpetually gathering weight of decay, hissed softly under the careful brushings of Jaystar; movements winding across the chilly riverbank with little thought behind such wanderings, bits and pieces of conversation drifting between the shaded reaches of his consciousness. It seemed as though one managed to turn up an evidently lost and unseen bearing of evidence, tremulous bits and pieces of a thin story weaving together in a secondary shaking of newfound input, all of which had gone unknown for countless sunrises now.

It was true they had originally only focused upon the act of recovery, but how could they have missed so many signs? The burden of proof scored straight into the riverside itself. The riverside which concealed what little remained of Kitefire.

An unblinking, wine-dark gaze fixed upon the carefully proceeding patrol members, predatory-like focus bearing down upon Cloverheart in specific, grim understanding brushing upon the high ridges of his features like fine constellation-like freckles. What little dreams his Medicine Cat had, what little words had been exchanged amidst the brevity of his sudden ascension served only to further his confusion. Why? Why hadn't they warned him? Why hadn't they sent a more clear sign to Cloverheart? Why was he forever burdened with StarClan's ever wise silence, when the burden of physical intervention was all he ever needed?

"Ivystar was not alone," Jaystar dolled out the grim simplification of what they had learned, distinctive selves at war within the darkest regions of him, "though I have little mind of who could've found themselves here within her company. Perhaps ThunderClan?"

Bearspirit watched as all of the pieces of the puzzle came together. His ears flattened against his head and his heart raced. Someone had killed Ivystar? How??? Why??? His tail lashed and he set his nose back to the ground, determined to find more answers. He would find out who did this. He wanted to track them down and ask why.

Despite his furious searching that otherwise would have been sloppy... Bearspirit noticed one last thing. A tuft of fur sitting on a rock. Gold and white... definitely not Ivystar's. The large tom moved quickly toward it and set his nose to work, even parting his jaws to get as much scent from it as he could...

Dawnhawk... He had no doubts. His face wrinkled into a snarl and his tail lashed through the air like a whip. His fur bristled as he gathered up the fur in his mouth. He brought it straight to Jaystar, his heavy paws stomping loudly with fury the whole way. He set it at his leader's feet and looked up at him with and endless rage burning in his peridot green eyes.

"I recognize the scent. Dawnhawk was here. Ivystar and myself found him at Sunningrocks one day when some dogs attacked. Ivystar wanted to take him back to Skyclan, but dogs attacked us and he helped us fight them off and ran. Maybe if Ivystar found him again she'd try the same thing... I..." Bearspirit clawed the earth under his paws. "I wouldn't be surprised if this was his doing... he's killed many cats."

He wanted to find him now more than ever. If only that Shadowclan cat hadn't attacked Swiftspirit he would have had him! He would have taken him back to Skyclan and Ivystar wouldn't have died!

This is the price I pay for choosing her over my clan... for caring about a Windclan cat.... My mother is dead. Both of them.

Before he drifted off, Otterpaw looked towards her with earnest concern, and Cloverheart could only manage to lower her ears and attempt a shrug in response. She felt exhausted– distant, too. She was quiet as he eventually padded away, watching as he nosed his way along the riverbank. It wasn't long before he was calling for her again, and almost reluctantly, she joined his side, looking over the scene. "I... it's very well possible. I don't want to say yes, but..." Cloverheart eventually rasped, shaking her head. She thought back to the way the river had pulled Turtlefur in, and a shudder ran through her–

Cloverheart lifted her head, standing straight against the thought, and turned to observe the rest of the patrol. She felt bad, somehow, looking at Otterpaw; bur when she turned, her gut dropped further. Jaystar's eyes were on her, unrelenting and unreadable. The medicine cat quailed, fur stiffening when she caught the leader's gaze, and she swiveled away with a huff. "Good find, Otterpaw," she muttered vaguely, unfocused gaze drifting towards Bearspirit. The broken tabby was shoving his nose through the earth, moving with little precision but obvious purpose. Eventually, he caught onto something– a scrap of fur, small and golden. We saw that... before, didn't we? She swore, she had noticed that when they'd first come looking. If I had, I would've said something, though. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her again.

She watched as Bearspirit marched over to Jaystar– recoiling slightly as she looked again towards their leader –and shrank further at the tom's announcement. "That's Dawnhawk's fur?" Her voice rose, thin and worried. A flash of familiarity, deeper than the general announcements given about Dawnhawk's reputation, bolted through her. Dropping her head, Cloverheart looked to her paws, muttering to herself as her gaze flicked over her scars. "But he couldn't have drowned her. Right? He– I would think he couldn't beat a RiverClan cat against the... well, river." Her voice had dropped again, a barely audible murmur.

The reality of all their finding slowly began to sink in for Ashflight, and as Perchfall and Jaystar spoke his thoughts out loud the warrior felt the thick fur on his shoulders begin to bristle, and smooth claws sunk into the cold soil.  I knew she couldn't have drowned on her own...but at the same time, I didn't want to think of her being murdered.  Who would do such a thing?!  Heartbeat quickening, the stocky gray-furred tom watched through narrowed green eyes as Bearspirit found something else, and chills rippled down his spine.  Of course...that piece of Asylum fox-dung!  Cloverheart's soft, anxious voice rang through his ears and Ashflight responded in a much gruffer tone than usual, memories playing through his mind.  "No, we found blood didn't we?  The monster probably killed her onshore and then dropped her into the water to...get rid of her."  His voice bubbled in his throat and Ashflight turned away, walking past Perchfall to the bank of the river.  There were tears in his eyes, lots of them, and he didn't want them to see.  She must've been so scared and in so much pain...she didn't deserve this.

The alabaster bleakness of the somber morning made the formal proceedings feel as though one was being made to march to the awaiting maw of an unmarked, shallow grave. There was little recognition of all the newfound stimulus outpouring into the tightly-clinched confines of Jaystar's pounding skull, dark gaze impassively fixed upon the flicking shapes of his Clanmates features; mottled nostrils flared under the sharp pretense of an unseen strain descending upon the bleached remnants of his failing bodily systems.

The apprehensive chattering of his Clanmates, bound by both obligation of shared heritage as well as shared parentage in dissimilar blood, echoed hollowly as he made to process everything- the humming rush of the dark riverwaters gurgling on roaring to life with a life-threatening intensity. He could not breathe. Dawnhawk. Blood. His mother's bloated corpse in the water. Jaystar's dark gaze fixed upon Cloverheart for several liminal heartbeats, consciousness suddenly blooming to life at the mention of drowning, pupils expanding with the hazing guise of awareness.

Dawnhawk. Blood. His mother's bloated corpse in the water.

Teeth sticky and clogged with the sour burden of building bile washing out upon his tongue, the dark-furred tom's unkempt coat rose into a prickling crest of unease, sparsely dotted with the careful intricacies of a constellation-like webbing of frost. Dawnhawk. Blood. His mother's bloated corpse in the water. The roaring of the steadily-drifting currents was bellowing sharply within the hollow resonance of his pricked ears, throbbing sharply alongside the intricacies of his pulsing circulatory system. Signs of a struggle; blood and crushed foliage. A bloated corpse left trapped beneath branches left to rot in the waters. A tuft of fur. Cloverheart's dreams.

"To drown a RiverClan cat would be.. difficult, though not unprecedented." Jaystar's heavy voice held all the grace of lasting death-throes, "Though our restless quandaries can be laid to the earth- Dawnhawk killed Ivystar. It seems as though SkyClan was hardly exaggerating after spending all these moons stressing the danger."