A terrifying yowl rang through the camp, waking SparrowPaw up with a jolt. "What's going on?" The brown tabby apprentice asked the cats running past.

"It's AshPaw." An older tomcat shouted back before running in the directions of the screams. SparrowPaw followed the sound of the screaming to the entrance of the Warrior's den. There on the ground laid a jet-black tabby, rolling around in the dust, tears stinging his cheeks. He didn't appear to be hurt and soon SparrowPaw realised he wasn't screaming from physical pain. "AshPaw!" He shouted leaping towards the small apprentice and nuzzling him, trying to calm him down. "It's okay. It's okay. What's wrong?"

"She's dead! She's dead! Oh, Starclan she's dead!" SparrowPaw knew straight away who he was talking about, SwiftGaze, his friends mentor. Tears stung behind his eyes as he spotted the dead body of his former mentor lying on the ground not to far away. The she-cat warrior had been AshPaw's and SparrowPaw's best friend since they were kits. She was kind, caring and would always listen and give them advice, yet never judged them for their flaws. He didn't dare cry though, certainly not when every cat was watching him. Helping his friend onto his feet he began to lead him back to the apprentice den. "Show's over guys." He shouted over his shoulder, glancing at OakStar who had been standing at the entrance of his den, the light brown Persian cat's eyes were filled with pity and loss. Once in the safety of the apprentice den, he too collapsed on the ground and began to cry.

"That was too close. Way too close." An orange-reddish tabby with huge paws paced inside his leader's den.

"You must calm down HareFoot." OakStar watching his deputy with knowing eyes.

"Calm down? Calm down!" He shouted finally stopping to face the rather large Persian. "We cannot afford to lose another warrior to those disgusting Bloodclan warriors. Yet, they give us no choice we must attack."

"Do not forget your place HareFoot! You are not clan leader yet!" OakStar's strong voice rang out through the leader's den. There was a pin dropping silence, then HareFoot spoke. "My apologies OakStar." He ducked his head.

"I admire your bravery HareFoot but, we must remain calm and in our right minds. Charging into battle like this could means losing all of our warriors." OakStar stood up and moved towards his deputy, nudging him gently with his nose of his shoulder. HareFoot returned the favour. "Now let us join our clan, the time has come to share tongue with SwiftGaze one last time." All the clan's cats raised their heads as the leader and his deputy glided out of the den and into the clearing. OakStar stood above the body of his former clanmate. "SwiftGaze life was a long one, yet not long enough." He called out to the clan, SparrowPaw and AshPaw sat closest to their mentor. "She was a brave, loyal and caring cat. She fought for her clan bravely and she will always be remembered, may she run with StarClan tonight and join our warrior ancestors." The Persian cat moved forward and began to share tongue with the dead she-cat.

Cats began to move forward one by one. First her mother PetalPelt, then the warriors LionEye and DarkStripe, then her mate ArrowFur whose eyes were red from crying and then finally her apprentices AshPaw and SparrowPaw. The seven cats stood vigil for SwiftGaze, leaving all the rest of the clan cats to eventually stumbled back to their dens and sleep.

This would only be the start to many restless nights...

Picture of SparrowPaw made by 21Asian_ways

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