Chapter 11

                                    

                                          
Chapter 11
                          
Sparrowstripe watched as his Clanmates carried Goldenshade's body from the camp. From the looks of it, she had been brutally killed. A few others took Longclaw's body, but Sparrowstripe sat by Ravenheart's. Nobody had come to bury her yet. Even though she'd been quiet, he knew that she wouldn't want to be buried. Alone in darkness was a scary place.
                          
Emberpaw joined him, her scent washing over him. No blood scent came with it, and he looked toward her, surprised that she was unharmed. Almost no cat came out of this battle without a scratch, he thought.
                          
"I'm sorry," she mewed, and he could tell by her cracked voice that she meant it. She was grieving for her Clanmates, and worried about him.
                          
He said nothing, just pressed his nose to Ravenheart's pelt and breathed in her scent, quickly fading, being replaced by the scent of death.
                          
Adderstrike joined them, and Sparrowstripe felt his former mentor's tail resting across his shoulders. "Loss is a hard thing," he meowed solemnly, and Sparrowstripe recalled the large tom losing two of his kits.
                          
Sparrowstripe stood up. "Yeah," he mewed. Emberpaw nodded from beside him, but he didn't feel any comfort in the motion. What has she lost?
                          
Annoyance prickled his pelt, but he said nothing more and allowed Adderstrike to help him pick his sister up. She was light, and Adderstrike hardly needed his help, but he came anyway. Emberpaw helped to bury Ravenheart as well.
                          
When the forest was quiet, and Adderstrike had left, Sparrowstripe rested his head on his paws. Emberpaw was beside him, but she had fallen asleep against him, her pelt rising and falling. He truly felt alone, even if Emberpaw said she loved him.
                          
But he would get over it. He was a strong warrior, even if he had lost his sister, twice. She had stopped talking all together moons ago, so why would her loss stop him now?
                          
Suddenly, he heard a screech of dismay coming from the camp. Emberpaw woke with a start, nearly crashing into his side, and then took off toward the camp, Sparrowstripe quickly passing her. Has RiverClan attacked the camp again?
                          
He flung himself into the camp as he heard Icefrond's cry of terror, high-pitched. The white she-cat was nudging Greenpine fiercely. "Wake up," she wailed.
                          
Sparrowstripe recalled that Greenpine was her mother. Standing beside Icefrond, Stormflash stared coldly at her sister. Sparrowstripe recalled Icefrond and Brackenblaze antagonizing the she-cat before she became a warrior just because Darkstar was very interested in her combat skill. But even though she was skilled, she was reluctant to hurt her sister. Sparrowstripe could see emotion in her gaze, and the she-cat placed her tail on Icefrond's shoulder comfortingly.
                          
Tigerlily, who was hurriedly trying to stop the bleeding of Hawkflight, turned her head, her eyes flaring with horror. "I'm sorry...There was no cobweb left, and no way to have helped her," she explained to Greenpine's kin. The two she-cats hung their heads with grief. Around the camp, cats were preparing to bury the rest of the dead; Brokenleg, Pebbletooth, Eaglewings, and now Greenpine.
                          
Sparrowstripe felt his heart pounding. So many have been killed, and for no reason, he thought. Minnowstar's desire for revenge has left ShadowClan with fourteen warriors and no deputy. 
                          
He looked over at Darkstar's form, slumped against the foot of his den. He expected Goldenshade to be at his leader's side, but she wasn't. Sparrowstripe was a bit surprised; Goldenshade was an excellent fighter. But he remembered that RiverClan had been merciless, which was confusing him. They hadn't seemed too eager to fight at the Gathering, but when they'd attacked ThunderClan, they seemed to have forgotten all about it, like ShadowClan cats often did. The cats who love to fight, like Sharpfang, Sparrowstripe thought.
                          
He heard a raspy gasp and turned his gaze to where Hawkflight was laying. His plump belly was still gushing blood, and the cobwebs were thin and laced with red. The tom convulsed before his eyes dulled, and Tigerlily let out a wail.
                          
"It wasn't in your power," Adderstrike reassured the orange tabby, but his eyes were wide with concern. Sparrowstripe watched his mentor anxiously as he let out a sigh.
                          
Around him, he noticed that the camp was nearly entirely cleared. His eyes brightened as he saw Darkstar stirring, using a lot of effort to climb to his paws. Sparrowstripe noticed that the tom's muzzle was turning gray, and he felt a twinge of surprise as he thought about how many lives Darkstar might have left.
                          
He watched as a few cats padded into the camp. Grayfern padded in the front, while Paleleaf followed. Shortly after, Icefrond trudged in, and Stormflash followed, her head low. Sparrowstripe felt the misery hanging in the camp and shuddered.
                          
When Paleleaf saw Hawkflight's dead body, she let out a shriek. "Not Hawkflight," she cried. Rushing over, she leaned beside him, nudging his head with her muzzle. It lolled back to his shoulder.
                          
Darkstar's voice called out behind them. Silhouetted by a moon that wasn't quite full, he puffed out his chest as he stared down at him. His Clanmates gathered around.
                          
"I have called you to address my choice for a new deputy," he meowed hastily. His ears swiveled nervously, as if he expected Minnowstar to leap from the pines and attack his Clanmates. "I call upon my ancestors as well, to approve my choice. Sunfade, would you be up for the task of being ShadowClan's deputy?"
                          
The skinny golden tom, sitting near Sparrowstripe, looked up at his leader, his amber eyes gleaming. "Yes, Darkstar," he mewed. He opened his mouth to speak when a yowl interrupted him.
                          
Mintfoot leapt across the clearing, her eyes narrowed. "My mate has no time to be your deputy," she hissed. "Sunfade, you have to take care of Floodkit and Thistlekit! What kind of father would you be if you only cared about your duties?"
                          
Sparrowstripe, bewildered, flashed a glance at Emberpaw. Sure enough, the ginger and white she-cat was flexing her claws, her ears laid back at Mintfoot's words.
                          
"This is my choice, Mintfoot," Sunfade explained. "You have no right to interrupt the ceremony."
                          
Mintfoot blinked, and hurt filled her eyes. "You don't care about me, or our kits," she muttered. The clearing became silent, and Sparrowstripe turned his gaze to Darkstar. The jet black tom was simply letting them speak their problems to each other.
                          
"When have I ever said that?" Sunfade demanded. "Mintfoot, you know I would never stop grieving for you if you died."
                          
"No, I don't know. Prove it," Mintfoot growled, curling her lip.
                          
"I'll prove something to you," he snarled.
                          
They simply glared at each other before throwing themselves at each other. Mintfoot let out a screech as Sunfade pinned her on her back and struck her with his claws. Mothshadow and Blackfeather moved to pry them off of each other, but they continued to battle. Mintfoot lashed out at Mothshadow, and the calico tumbled backward, Emberpaw helping her to her paws immediately.
                          
Sparrowstripe bounced back as the two cats crashed on the ground where he had sat before. His yelp was lost in a sea of chaotic voices.
                          
Then, the voices quieted. Sparrowstripe's eyes flicked to the two cats, and he saw Emberpaw positioned between them, her sides heaving with the effort it had taken to pull them away from each other.
                          
"Fighting with your Clanmates solves nothing. You probably would have decreased our number of warriors by two if I hadn't stopped you. You two must learn to control yourselves," she snapped. Sparrowstripe heard a growl rising in Sunfade's throat, but he said nothing.
                          
Darkstar let out a heavy sigh as his cats turned their attention back to him. He was tense, his fur ruffled. "Sunfade, you are mostly a loyal warrior and I know that when I die, you will do well leading ShadowClan," he uttered. He turned his head as a cry of protest erupted from the crowd, but it was Mintfoot, and he didn't seem to care. He leapt down from the branch and touched his nose to Sunfade's ear before stalking off to his den. Sparrowstripe watched as Grayfern touched Mintfoot's ear with her nose before he moved toward his nest. A chilled wind buffeted him before he got there, and he shivered. This Leaf-bare has been so long and cold, he thought anxiously.
                          
Once he settled down in his nest, he went right to sleep, haunted by the sudden deaths of his Clanmates.