ThunderClan Camp

A slightly steep dip in the ground, surrounded by fallen pine trees and brambles. Some trees have even fallen over top of the large dip, making bridges over the camp. The leader's den is a jumble of rocks with a tunnel under it that leads into a den. The medicine wolf den is the same as the leader's den. The elders' den is in a hollow log on the side of camp that has been filled up with moss and other soft bedding materials. The warriors' den is a large, thick bush with much cover, as is the apprentices' den, and the nursery is the same as the elders' den.

The strangers words didn’t help, her flowery words not doing anything to help the way she felt, lifting her head and sending a cold look her way, Bramblerose was up on her feet when she heard the thunderclan leader try to tell her wolves to escort her to the border like she was some kind of prisoner. Shattered and broken, she didn’t want anyone to talk to her, the coarse pain that was all concentrated in her chest, a sharp scream made her jerk back onto her paws it a rather small and pathetic reminder of the soul shattering, heart wrenching wailing scream she’d emitted when her soul mate had died. She had to leave now, on shaky paws she nuzzled her Jaydust one last time, inhaled his scent one last time, saw him one last time, the thought of never seeing him again made her heart break all over again and she had to keep herself from emitting the broken screaming wail again. Turning she managed to speak and didn’t recognize the cold, broken voice that came from her jaws “I thank you for your kindness Rosestar, however no escort is needed” everything was swirling around in her head and her heart, the sound he’d made when he’d been shot still echoing in her mind. Swallowing she put every last ounce of strength into walking out of the camp, she didn’t have the energy left to run, she felt drained, like she was falling through space. It was all too much, a sensory over load of the brain, she tasted metal on her tongue and her ears rang, the idea that she’d been happy a few hours ago was so peculiar, it was like she’d never been happy in her life the clawing raging grief, guilt, and more drowning out any memories of what it was like to be happy. Happiness, Happiness what even was that? She wasn’t sure, it was like some far away day dream, Bramblerose stumbled and for a brief moment felt as if someone was with her, looking around she halted despite still being on Thunderclan territory and looked about searching the darkness for whomever she thought was watching her. Was it Jaydust? No it was a large white wolf, muscled and looking like he had shadows for markings on his legs, he grinned at her and made out like he was going to attack her. The broken female just stared at him distantly before continuing on as if he wasn’t even there, and in a way he wasn’t, he wasn’t Jaydust, she didn’t care, the male seemed of the opinion she’d be more fun to be kept alive and so he left her to make her way back to the camp.
~Shadowclan Camp~

When Rosestar had brought Ghostwhispers limp body back to camp the black males jaw dropped open, he listened in silence as Rosestar had explained what happened. He'd barely known the she-wolf in her short time back with her birth clan however any loss of life was devastating and guilt filled his heart, if he'd gone out after Rosestar sooner perhaps Ghostwhisper would be alive and well. They had barely any reprieve when a red and white Shadowclan wolf entered their camp carrying Jaydusts body. Guessing from her eerie howling wails that she'd broken the warrior code and loved him, the coal black male lowered his head. Two dead in a matter of hours, what was going on? His heart ached as he thought about Jaydust who'd just been a young warrior who should have been able to have more time with his mate, have pups, live a full life and now he was gone. The pain in his chest was crushing, what could he have done to stop them? So much more, looking up again he finally noticed the small red wolf that Rosestar had brought back with her, a little wary of the stranger that'd appeared right after two wolves had died he kept his thoughts to himself. However true tragedy broke when Cherrypaw showed back up without Nettlecloud, instantly alarmed he got up onto his paws and was about to go find the old medicine wolf when the male himself burst into the camp looking like he'd been put through a shredder. He headed straight for Rosestar and spoke to her in her den, not long after he heard Cherrypaws piteous wail, it didn't effect him as much as the shadowclan wolfs, although he surmised that it was because Bramblerose had lost far more in one day than Cherrypaw had. Watching the apprentice speed out of camp despite her mangled paw, Shadowheart stared as Nettleclouds defeated body was carried out of the leaders den and arranged neatly beside Ghostwhisper and Jaydust. He flicked a glance at Berrywhisker as she approached Rosestar, he could have told her right then and there to go to Cloudwhisp as it was clear to him that the leader needed some space to mourn. About to pad up to her and tell her this, Angus turned and growled at her which he could understand, the dog was very much in tune with his mentors moods and from what he'd seen they'd likely end up a pair once he'd badgered rose into it. Getting up he interfered before it turned into an arguement, he spoke in his quiet calm voice "Come on Berrywhisker, we'll ask Cloudwhisp, I think Rosestar is a little over loaded right now" carefully nudging the red hued female away from Rosestar and Angus, he lead her over to where Cloudwhisp was and spoke once more "Berrywhisker and I are going to go bring Cherrypaw back, It'd be bad if whoever attacked Nettlecloud came back for her" dipping his head respectfully and waiting until Berrywhisker had done the same, Shadowheart turned and calmly walked out of camp not in too much of a hurry. To rush in the strange darkness of the eclipse which had made the moon vanish would be deadly, along the way he considered the fact that it seemed Berrywhisker wasn't even that upset over the loss of three wolves in one day. He hadn't seen any signs that she had felt anything about the untimely deaths, if anything she seemed perfectly normal, whereas he knew everyone else in the clan was not. Shadowheart wasn't quite sure how to take that, he mused over the fact briefly that the strange she wolf would be training Cherrypaw from now on and guessed that wouldn't go down well. Hopefully he and Berrywhisker would be able to bring Cherrypaw back, despite Berrywhiskers lack of grief about the tragic loss of three of their own she was a good warrior and he quite enjoyed spending time with her.
~Thunderclan and Riverclan border~

Rosestar had spent the rest of the night in Silence refusing to say anything or respond to anyone her thoughts circling around and around in her head, thinking it all through what she could have done better. Her ears lay bag against her head while she thought perhaps a sign of her unhappy mood, looking up as the sun began to dawn the ginger female had finally made up her mind. Standing she didn’t say anything, instead she picked up one of the bodies and carried it out burying Jaydust with the rest of his ancestors, she did the same for Nettlecloud and Ghostwhisper. Broken hearted over their loss, she still felt numb and was looking forward to breaking down in private later, but for now the clan had to be addressed, looking over at Angus she quietly blinked her eyes at him. What she was to do was for the good of the clan, and for the good of herself, turning and leaping up onto the rock where she’d made Blackadder and Lightfire warriors a few days ago now. Taking a long deep brreath she finally spoke feeling no need to address them with the usual call as they were all already gathered and present“Wolves of Thunderclan, Tonight I will journey to the moon cave with Song of the Sky. the sun has returned to us without its being covered” she looked over at Cloudwhisp and studied her unsure if her newly named Deputy would be ready for this. “I thank you for letting me serve as your leader, but after three deaths in one day it is clear I am not fit to lead this clan, I can’t handle the burdens and guilt of leading you all. So I will choose to step down and allow Cloudwhisp to come with us if she feels ready” Pausing her gaze became a little gentler as she continued “If Cloudwhisp dosent feel quite ready then by my right as leader of thunderclan Rainseeker will take my place and lead us all, she is wise and has seen much of the world and I feel she will do well leading us. Thank you” with that she leapt down from the great rock and flinched as she landed a little roughly, now she was stepping down she could let herself love, her attention flicked to Angus as she thought of that before she moved a little stiffly now over to Cloudwhisp and nudged her young deputy on the shoulder “Don’t feel pressured Cloudwhisp, there is no shame if you don’t feel ready yet” she murmured softly and after swiping her on the ear padded away to let her deputy decide on what she wanted to do. Wanting nothing more than to pad over to angus and lean into the dog she instead sighed softly and padded into the warriors den to curl up and rest from the night before, she’d have to travel to the moon cave to have her nine lives removed which would likely be far more painful than having them given to her. Curling up in an unoccupied nest the fiery red female closed her eyes and settled down, feeling bone tired and sore, she hadn't asked Cherrypaw to come with them as she believed that the apprentice needed time to settle down again and get to know Song of the Sky and accepting her as her new mentor before going to meet starclan

Rainseeker made it into camp and she stumbled hearing that they had lost 3 wolves while she had been gone. Her breath caught as her ears flattened as she sat down heavily with a faint whimper of sorrow. Her eyes looked around widely to see who was missing but before she could work that out she heard Rosestars announcing that she was stepping down. "No Rosestar." she whispered but she was sent reeling when the ginger female said that if Cloudwhisp didn't feel ready that she was being chosen to become leader. The patched female was left reeling by the information for a short while before she stood and padded over to the deputy. "If you chose not to step up Cloudwhisp know you won't be replaced as Thunderclan deputy. You are a fine deputy." she said softly. Turning the stunned face made her way to the other side of the clearing where she sat with her head down grieving for the lost lives silently.

He marched into camp with the apprentice in his jaws, not letting her go as he was somewhat worried that she’d try and skip out again he was silently pleased to see that the others had been buried. It would have been disrespectful to leave them out there any longer, noticing that song of the sky was still there he flicked his ears a little surprised that she had stuck around. Unsure of himself he considered it before padding over to the apprentice den, she hadn’t been accepted by starclan yet so she was still technically a warrior apprentice. Setting her down in the Apprentice Den and noticing Maplepaw fast asleep in there he lay down infront of it prepared to stop Cherrypaw watching her he sighed and spoke to her softly “Loosing someone you care about is hard cherrypaw, trust me I know, I lost my mate and my pups. Its so hard that you feel you can’t go on, but you must, to cherish Nettlecloud and his memory you must live for him. Be the best medicine wolf apprentice you can be alright? Also, I need to tell you, you’re never alone alright? You’ll have the clan and me” the warriors voice was soft and gentle, it was clear to tell that he genuinely cared for the ginger female, he'd never really talked about what had happened to him before he'd joined Thunderclan, it was something that hurt to talk about but it seemed she needed to hear it. She was young but she had a good heart, and she wanted to help others, that was something he respected immensely especially when it came with the tag of not being able to have her own family someday. He’d been asked to mentor Cherrypaw, but he hadn’t felt upset when she’d chosen to become a medicine wolf, if it was something her heart desired then he was happy for her. She had also been the first apprentice he’d been tasked to mentor, and so somewhere along the way she’d become somewhat like a daughter to him, which was why he’d agreed to go with Berrywhisker to bring the heart broken female home. She had to be sensible, she couldn’t just take off into the forest on her own, for one it was against the warrior code and two it was so dangerous for her, he hadn’t been able to teach her much about fighting and defending herself.

Fast asleep suddenly there was the smell of someone else that awoke her from her sleep, blinking she opened her eyes and looked up, starting back a little recognizing the big brown wolf who’d taught her something at the border she studied him a little frightenedly before deciding that since he’d helped her before she’d trust him now. Perking up as he mentioned training her, the pretty red apprentice stepped forward and stood neatly infront of him with her long tail wagging. Despite the darkness of the forest, the curly furred female glowed with enthusiasm at the idea of being able to finally learn something else! Anders had started to teach her some battle things perhaps the larger wolf would be able to teach her more, swiping her tongue over her muzzle the sweet natured a little too trusting and rather naive she wolf figured that the male must have died and that he was now visiting her from starclan which was nice. She felt good having someone that cared about her, as this wolf obviously did or he wouldn’t be here right now, she couldn’t wait to learn something and almost adorably did a rather puppish im so excited dance with her front paws her jaws parting in a sweet natured grin.

In her sleep, unaware that Cherrypaw had growled at her and was resenting her for something that she couldn't change,
maplepaw just curled up tighter in her sleep and sighed a soft smile flicking onto her muzzle

Awaking just after sunhigh, Rosestar freed herself from the nest and Angus rather reluctantly, affectionately nipping one of his ears she spoke quietly to him “Keep an eye on Cherrypaw when we leave she shouldn’t be alone in her grief” after all she wanted to bring Shadowheart with her and the others during the journey to the moon cave. Exiting the den she noticed Rainseeker waiting for her and gathered that Cloudwhisp had obviously decided that the time was not right for her to become leader. Dipping her head in silent acceptance of what had come to pass she could only think in her head that this was the right thing to do for her clan and for herself, spotting Shadowheart she flicked her tail at him silently ordering him to come over. Finally she lead the pair over to Song of the Sky and spoke quietly to her “it’s time, Its quite a trek there, just stick with us and you’ll be alright” She’d been to the moon cave several times before and so knew more about it than most of the others in the clan. Than everyone in the clan now that Nettlecloud was no longer with them, guilt and grief entered her expression at the knowledge that her old friend was now trapped in the dark forest, pushing the feelings away as best she could Rosestar flicked a final glance back at Angus contenting herself with the fact that she could lean on him for support and vice versa. Scowling somewhat at the warm alien feeling that filled her chest at the thought, rose tilted her ears backwards and huffed telling herself off for such a stupid thought, flicking her tail harder than she needed to, she lead the way at a smooth fast walk that she was well aware that she could keep up for ages. Rainseeker would lead the clan well in her stead, and she could serve the clan better as a warrior, of this she was certain, more than prepared to keep the knowledge that loosing her lives meant extreme pain far worse than gaining them as she’d once asked in a dream. No one needed to know, just like no one needed to know in the leader den, alone her dreams of her brother had grown worse, but it wasn’t worth thinking about that right now, right now she had to focus, focus! Mentally slapping herself, she cast a single glance at Cherrypaw, it’d be best to let her remain a warrior apprentice under Shadowheart until she’d learnt to accept Song of the sky, with that last thought she exited camp heading straight for the moon cave unaware she would miss Dragonsteel, Ivyshade and Tremblepaw by mere minutes.
~The Moon Cave~

Rainseeker had eventually fallen into a doze as she spent the night under the stars not moving as she had taken to spending her nights out of the den once more. She had slept in the dens while Mustangspirit was beside her buy since his disappearance and believed death she found it suffocating. She was up with the dawn trotting out of camp and going a short distance to hunt some fresh prey. She returned a short time later with some squirrels who had been down seeking food in the early light. She didn't eat as her nerves rippled through her churning her stomach as she waited for Rosestar. Cloudwhisp had informed the patched female of her decision so when the ginger female emerged she rose to meet her from where she had been laying grooming her pelt. She followed her over to Song of the Sky and dipped her head to the other female. "I am right behind you Rosestar." she told her leader as she picked her paws up and trotted out of camp following the older female towards the Moon Cave.

~Moon Cave~

He'd spent most of the day resting there listening to Cherrypaw cry and just silently being there for her, he wasn't quite sure what else he could do after all. A flick of an orange pelt caught his eye and the golden eyed warrior lifted his head as rosestar exited the warrior den with Angus soon scampering out after her, a warm amused smile dragged onto his lips, the intelligent but somewhat baby brained dog was good for her. they obviously cared about one another, remembering that he was wanted to go with the patrol to the moon cave, the dark warrior stood and stretched himself out a little stiff after spending all day lying about. Moving over to the small patrol and thus leaving the apprentice den open for Angus who soon slipped in after him, he was aware but paid no attention to the glance the red she wolf had given him. As far as he was concerned, she was the new medicine wolf of the clan and thus he'd respect her as such, although Cherrypaws attempts at insulting Song of the sky had irritated him slightly they were also amusing as it was achingly clear that the petite female was no rogue. Not that bothered by the idea of the long trip to the moon cave if anything it would be refreshing to stretch his muscles, he'd never been to this supposed sacred place either so it'd be his first time. Following out after Rosestar he absently kept pace with song of the sky, not exactly wanting another medicine wolf killed he hung back waiting for her whenever she paused to pick up a herb and slip it into the nifty little bag she carried with her. He offered her a polite yet kind smile whenever she caught up and continued walking with her quite content to walk in silence as they left the camp and thunderclan territory far behind them
~The Moon Cave~