Baronne de Fleur (death topic)

Darkness filled the den as the sounds of sniveling finally stopped. The rest of her day following Cedarstalk's death had been filled with tears, and it was only now that her sadness began to lift. The presence that she had grown to seek out just as much as Copperlark, her first and best friend... The memories that flooded her brought the sadness back, and this time it felt like that feeling would never go away. Cedarstalk had left a hole in her life and possibly in her heart. While that couldn't be fixed, she could still send a gift to Starclan with him, or wherever that mongrel would end up after tonight.

With teary eyes Shrewpaw placed her peony and lily gently on her nest. They were delicate and lovely, but she would need to be fierce tonight. Staining her keepsakes with the revolting blood of a creature that should have been dead would be an insult to them. Slipping quietly from the den Shrewpaw gazed at the stars above. Somewhere up there Cedarstalk was watching her. The apprentice cleaned her eyes of any lingering tears as she padded out of camp. A scent trail left by the tom's blood still lingered, offering Shrewpaw a path to follow. Eerie silence filled the forest as the molly made her way, and for a moment fear almost took over her. Would she really be able to succeed in what Cedarstalk hadn't? Was she just walking toward her own death? No, there was no time to be doubting herself. Firefly had praised her and told her she fought like a true Thunderclan warrior, that alone meant she would be enough to finish off one mangy fox.

Shrewpaw's pace slowed as the scent of fox pierced her nose. She crawled along the ground until a red form appeared. It was breathing heavily, or was it licking itself? It was hard to make out exactly what the fox was doing in the dark, but that didn't matter. Shrewpaw leapt for the fox with a loud screech. Claws tore easily into the beast's pelt as it shrieked in surprise. Teeth snapped wildly for Shrewpaw's head as she bit deep into the fox's throat, only for it to buck her off immediately. It seemed the fox had been able to regain some of its strength, but she knew that it was close to falling. Shrewpaw dove at the fox again, this time sliding under it and raking her claws along the length of the beast. As blood rained down on the apprentice she knew victory was close, just a little more and-

Rough teeth latched on to the back of Shrewpaw's neck and dragged her out from under her enemy. "What the- stop that! Who-" Someone had come to aid her, but they also didn't know that they had just stopped her from performing a finishing blow. "Hey!" Shrewpaw flung a paw at the cat. Fear was all she felt as a narrow red face pulled back. Before she could flip herself to face the new challenger a pair of fangs found their way into her neck. Panic struck the molly as she realized she could no longer breath. Golden limbs flailed as the beast's grip got tighter and tighter, and soon another pair of fangs found their way into her stomach. No! Shrewpaw's mouth opened to scream, either in pain or for help it didn't really matter. A paw landed on her face and the tugging at her neck ceased. While the bloodied mess of a fox still worked away at her gut the one that stood above her head seemed content with whatever was in its mouth.

Feebly, the molly tried to growl at her attackers. Nothing came but a gurgling sound, and the pain that her mind had blocked out finally rushed to meet her. It ran all along her body in searing strips. I'm sorry, Copper.

Starlight flooded Shrewpaw's vision as a cat greeted her with a smile just as radiant and dazzling as when he was alive. "What kind mouse-brain tries to take on two foxes?" Cedarstalk's tone was affectionate, though it held a sadness to it as well. "It's good to see you again, Shrewpaw. Ready to go?" No, not really. She still had to say goodbye to Copperlark and Firefly, apologize for leaving them like this. Shrewpaw knew there would be no time for that though, and while Copperlark knew how much her sister loved her Firefly would never know just how much she had come to respect her. Maybe some day she would get to welcome them to Starclan just as Cedarstalk was doing now.

Hesitantly, the molly nodded her head. "I told you you couldn't get rid of me." A smile finally found its way to her face as she spoke, and Shrewpaw followed the tom as he guided her toward Silverpelt.