Stormflame's P.O.V:

Stormflame woke up in his nest and yawned. He got to his paws and shook out his pitch black fur. He glanced around the empty warriors den. "Huh, they all left without me." He muttered and padded out of the den.

The cold air hit him quickly and he shivered, Greenleaf was already coming to an end. A breeze had picked up and the wind blew into camp. Stormflame sighed and looked around the empty camp, "Where is everyone?"

Then a sound made Stormflame prick his ears and turn to the medicine den. There was something in there. He padded slowly to the den and peeked inside. "Oh." He whispered inaudibly. Everyone was inside the den.

The cats were crowding around a body on the ground of the medicine den. Silverstar was at the front, head lowered. Had another cat died? He pushed his way to the front to see who the cat was.

Once he could see the cat and immediately looked away in disgust. The cat lying on the ground had been sick all over itself and its fur was a mess. Its mouth was wide open as it panted for air and their sides heaved with the effort. Stormflame looked again and realised it was Poppyfire, the elder with Whitecough. It was probably Greencough by now; the cold weather during the night most likely sped up the process.

Stormflame padded away from the zombie-like cats and out of the stinking medicine den. He breathed in the sharp, fresh air and sighed in relief. The smell of that den was horrible.

He padded to the fresh-kill pile and sat beside it but didn't eat anything. He just lay there, thinking.

He had never really met Poppyfire properly since he came to the clan. The old elder had always been intimidating towards him so he stayed away. He guessed that she didn't approve of bringing in another stray cat.

But Clearlight had told Stormflame that Poppyfire used to be a rogue named Poppy who was barely alive when she arrived at the clan. How can a former rogue be so aggressive towards a fellow rogue?

Stormflame shrugged to himself and yawned again. His muscles ached from the battle just the night before and he felt like sleeping again. But he should probably wait until Poppyfire either got better or went to Starclan.

He sighed and closed his eyes as the wind blew constantly through camp.

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Waterfly's P.O.V:

The clan sat a silent vigil around the dying elder as they waited for her to finally let go and leave them. Poppyfire wheezed as she fought for breath. She was holding onto her life by a thread.

Waterfly kept her head dipped in sadness for the elder. Silverstar had called the clan to send her on her way like an honorable warrior. Poppyfire deserved it; she had fought her last battle with Magiclan and beat her enemies bravely.

Time passed slowly for Waterfly. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. She dared to glance at Poppyfire and quickly turned away. The poor elder was so sick; it would be kinder for her to be killed brutally in battle than suffer through the immense pain.

Waterfly peeked at the cats around her and noticed a black cat darting out of the den. A new scent hit her nose, Stormflame. Stormflame's scent still carried a soft trace of twolegplace. So did Cloudwhisp's.

After another long agonising minute, Poppyfire finally let go. Her breathing stopped, her chest stopped rising and falling and her body grew still.

The clan raised their heads slightly and a few mutters passed through the cats. Silverstar raised her tail for silence, the leader meowed softly as if she was trying not to disturb anyone, "Slowsky, Bigstep and Cloudwhisp. Take Poppyfire to be buried in the forest. Would anyone like to go with them?"

No cat spoke up. Everyone had already payed their silent 'Good byes' to Poppyfire as she lay in the den. Now the warriors turned away and padded out of the cramped den to make space for the three elders to carry Poppyfire away.

Waterfly sat back and watched silently as Silverstar reached over and picked up Sandkit's limp body from a nest beside her and carried her out of the den. The three elders carried Poppyfire out and the four cats disappeared into the forest to bury the dead cats.

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Clearlight's P.O.V:

Clearlight padded out of the den. He spotted Stormflame fast asleep beside the fresh kill pile. Ashkit and Cloudkit were stalking the sleeping tom. They hid behind the fresh kill pile and got ready to pounce. Clearlight decided to sit back and watch the kits to see how they did.

They were both nearly 6 moons; it was time for them to be apprentices. It was a shame that Sandkit would not be with them but she would watch her siblings from Starclan.

Ashkit signalled to Cloudkit to pounce and together, they lunged for Stormflame. They landed squarely on his back and the black tom shot up, alarmed. "Hey!" Stormflame hissed and fluffed up his fur.

The two mischievous kits laughed and Ashkit yelled, "Oh no!! The monster is awake!! Run!" The kits squealed and ran around the fresh kill pile. Stormflame finally got the jist of it and started chasing the kits, a grin forming on the young warrior's face.

Clearlight held back a chuckle and felt a cat approach him. He turned to see Waterfly. The medicine cat rolled her eyes, "Those kits are getting too old to play games. It's time for their ceremony."

"Yes, we should mention it to Silverstar." Clearlight twitched his whiskers, "Kits are so mischievous."

For a moment, Clearlight saw a flash of longing on Waterfly's face, "Yes." She meowed softly. "It must be great to have kits."

Clearlight realised what he said and groaned, "I'm sorry Waterfly, I didn't mean to."

The medicine cat shook her head, "It's fine. I knew what I was getting into when I became a medicine cat and I knew that I couldn't have kits."

Clearlight kept silent. He felt awkward now that the conversation had changed. He lowered his gaze and felt his tail droop slightly.

Waterfly sighed, "I'll be in my den." And she padded away.

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Silverstar's P.O.V:

Silverstar arrived back at camp with the elders trailing behind her. Even Cloudwhisp seemed empty after Poppyfire's death and he only knew the she cat for a very short while.

She winced slightly from the sharp pains in her claws as she walked. Silverstar had ripped a claw while buying Sandkit and her claws were filled with dirt.

Silverstar settled down at the base of the Hightree and began cleaning her claws. She managed to get all of the dirt out but her ripped claw still stung. She should probably get her claw checked out but it didn't seem bad enough to waste Waterfly's herbs.

It was already sunhigh but the sun didn't give much warmth. Silverstar looked at her clan mates at they padded around camp. Everyone seemed healthy and well-fed but what made Silverstar worry was that Greencough had already hit the clan and it wasn't even Leaf-bare yet. What would happen to the clan when the weather got colder?

"Silverstar?"

She looked up at the cat who was addressing her. It was Sparklingfish. "Yes?" She meowed.

Sparklingfish dipped her head slightly, "Should I send out a hunting patrol? The fresh kill pile is getting low." Her sparkling blue eyes glittered in the weak sunlight.

"Yes." Silverstar nodded, "Take three warriors with you."

"Ok, Silverstar." The she cat nodded and trotted down the small slope into the middle of camp. She called the cats for her patrol and they raced out of camp.

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Stormflame's P.O V:

Stormflame rushed to join Sparklingfish's hunting patrol. He yowled, "Wait for me!!"

Sparklingfish spun around and stopped the patrol, "Oh! Stormflame, hello. Come to join us?" She smiled kindly at him.

Demonpaw hissed, "What's he doing here?" The feisty black apprentice flicked her tail irritably.

Stormflame returned Demonpaw's gaze and growled, "I felt like joining you on a hunting patrol. If you have a problem with that, you can tell Silverstar."

Demonpaw lowered her gaze slightly and frowned. It worked! So the clan really had realised that Silverstar seemed to favour Stormflame. It was a good excuse to use to get out of arguments; he could just say that he'd get Silverstar involved and they immediately backed down. But Stormflame didn't want to abuse the excuse otherwise the clan would grow to hate him even more.

Mousenose and Stormwhisker stayed silent as Stormflame joined the patrol.

They set off again through the forest towards the abandoned Deathclan border. Clearlight had explained to Stormflame about a new clan that joined with a group of foxes to create Deathclan but they were quickly chased out and the territory was abandoned. Lightclan had tried to claim the territory but so did Magiclan and Monsterclan. In the end, they agreed that no cat would touch the territory over Greenleaf but in Leaf-bare, when prey was scarce, the three clans must hunt there in peace with no fighting. The camp of Deathclan was now used as a placed for gatherings.

Stormflame had never been to a gathering before but, once again, Clearlight had explained it all.

So, Sparklingfish decided that since it was already getting cold, they might as well stock up with fresh-kill using the Leaf-bare Hunting Grounds.

Stormflame was excited since he had never been there. He trotted to the front of the patrol so that he could get a batter view of it.

Once they reached the border between Lightclan and the Leaf-bare Hunting Grounds, Stormflame gasped. It was so big! It was a wide field that spread out for so long. He glanced at Sparklingfish for her permission for him to enter the empty territory. She nodded and meowed, "Everyone split up and hunt alone. Meet back here once you have caught all of your prey."

Stormflame nodded and pranced into the territory happily.

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