In The Dark - Warriors.

Chapter Twenty (FINAL)

Losthope looked at the broken clump of lifeless white and brown fur, all bloodied and scarred. She sat there, continuing to stare at the body before sighing and pulling herself to her paws. She continued searching for her other kits that she hoped were still alive, out there, somewhere. Clawkit, Skykit, and Sunkit. She continued walking until her paws ached and she felt as if she wouldn't be able to walk any farther without them falling off her very legs right at that moment.

Shaking her head, she kept walking. She was almost sure that she was most likely on another Clan's territory right now, she was so desperate to find her three little kits. Soon enough, she found herself walking in circles trying to find them. She could've sworn that she saw the same tree five or six times, but she didn't care. Sniffing, she thought about Lifekit and her lifeless clump of fur, her little, tiny body, that had been just laying there, decomposing, blood all around her ... shaking the image out of her head, she kept on.

Losthope looked all around her until she found a strand of light gray fur, like the fur of Clawkit's pelt, and sniffed it before picking up the scent and figuring out where Clawkit was at ... or his body, she realized, as soon as she saw it not too far away. Walking over, she sat and looked down at the now-straggly body that simply lay there, bleeding. The kit wasn't dead yet, she could tell, as it was mewling desperately.

Losthope picked Clawkit up from his position on the ground and then walked over to a pond. Taking a deep breath, she noted how her strongest cat in the litter had stopped breathing, so his heart had stopped beating. Dropping his body inside of the pond, she knew it was cruel, though now, nobody could eat him, like a fox or something like that. Unless minnows nibbled on body parts, she figured that Clawkit would be safe until he decomposed into the ground.

Then, she kept looking. Shortly after, she found Sunkit, who was, yes, dead. At the age of two moons, she had died. Perhaps Sunkit simply had not been meant to be ... she was probably never even supposed to be born, which was exactly the reason why the kit she had named Sunkit had died as well. 'Why am I thinking these terrible thoughts? Of course Sunkit was meant to live! StarClan can't control life and death, they can only warn us ... ' She repeated to herself over and over in her head. Yes, this was her way of saying 'no, StarClan is not horrible. No ... '

Skykit better be alive, she couldn't help but to think. If three of her kits had to die, she hoped that at least one would survive through it all. And so, she soon realized, her wish had came true. Skykit was alive, untouched, and mewling out there, under a tree. What a surprise that the weakest kit out of the litter, Skykit, had somehow managed to survive, when none of his stronger siblings like Clawkit or Sunkit had managed to do so!

Though she didn't dare to complain. Losthope picked the kit up in her jaws and then padded back to camp. Tears were in her eyes by the time she reached it. For some reason, the waterworks hadn't manage to spill out of the dam before she got to camp. She supposed she had been holding them in subconsciously, without even knowing that she was on the urge of crying and was only just holding them in.

She dropped the kit at the foot of camp. Everyone was alarmed as they saw her with that kit placed firmly on the ground in front of her. Rockfall raced over. "What happened?! Where's Clawkit?" He demanded. He didn't bother to mention the she-cats of the litter, Sunkit and Lifekit, just Clawkit. Losthope shook her head sadly as she thought about it.

"Dead. So are Sunkit and Lifekit."

"How did they die?"

"No possible idea."

"Well, at least drop Skykit off at the medicine cat's den so that Toadleap may take a look at him!" Rockfall growled. Losthope nodded and picked the tomkit up in her jaws before running over to the medicine cat's den, dropping him at the entrance, then walking back over to Rockfall.

However, all of a sudden, Froststar called a meeting. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" He called, and everyone gathered around quickly, fur bristling and all. "As you all can see, three of Losthope's litter - Sunkit, Lifekit, and Clawkit - have passed away, from what I've heard, similar wounds to those that were marked on Woodlash and Seedkit, all related to Sunflare. We will mourn later, even without their bodies visible." Froststar said. "Though I bring good news as well. Since Stormfast has retired from his position as deputy, I would like to pick a new deputy for MapleClan." His voice rose so that the cats could hear him better.

"I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of MapleClan will be Losthope." The whole Clan was silent. Even the she-cats. Eventually, however there was cheering.

Some of the cats were proud. Take Cherryflower, for example, or Pebblepaw. Then, some were angry - like Ravencall, Whiteclaw, and Smokesnarl. Surprised - Rockfall, Fernshade, and Milkdrop, most definitely.

"Meeting dismissed."