Caɾղaցe Ɱօօղ ~𝙰 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌

38 🌙

Crescentpaw swished her tail in an arch behind her, then began pacing in the trembling ryegrass.

"Are we burying them or not? Because if we aren't then... it would be best to go." She glanced at Hillflower, and the she-cat meowed in agreement.

Pepperpelt grunted and looked down at the Windclan cats, as if she hadn't thought of that.

"Why would we? They're so disgusting and crawling with maggots, they'd fall apart if we touched them!"

Crescentpaw lashed her tail. That wouldn't have been my choice of words, but okay.

"We shouldn't waste energy by burying their mangled carcasses. It would take at least a hunting trip's worth of time just to wrap their bodies and dig each grave," Pepperpelt meowed dismally.

Thick, tussocky grass whipped and whirled in the wind behind them. The branches of the mighty maple tree clattered together.

This wind was particularly strong.

Could Starclan have sent the storm?

Will it help protect us against the wolves or will it just make our travels slower?

The massing grey clouds were knotted together in billowing layers of fleece. They looked laden with rain.

"Let's just go," Jadestar said, finalizing the decision. "Somehow it feels wrong to disturb their bodies now, after they've become so decayed." The Skyclan leader sighed while Pepperpelt nodded.

"If we leave them here as carrion for the wolves, they might not follow our scent-trail back to Riverclan."

Silence fell, and whipping wind whistled into the cat's ears. Jadestar looked at the smaller grey she-cat beseechingly, but Pepperpelt didn't add anything else.

"That's disrespectful to these Windclan warriors," Trufflefur spoke up just as Crescentpaw turned toward their descent. The queen in turn opened her jaws to start arguing.

"One of them wasn't even a warrior," Pepperpelt patronized.

She felt her nerves thinning. Trufferfur was right, but couldn't he have argued later?

If I don't leave this awful rot-place soon then I'm going to freak!

"Shut up!" The fluffy apprentice snapped, lowering her head and lashing her tail.

"Stalkpaw died as a warrior if he died protecting his clan. You dare speak on the right that Starclan would give him? Of the title that they would give him?" Crescentpaw corrected herself. With her lip curled, her eyes bore into Pepperpelt's.

Pepperpelt had the gall to look ashamed. Jadestar's brazen look fell upon her.

"Crescentpaw's right. Even though we won't hold vigil for these cats or bury them, they deserve the respect of not being talked about in such a manner."

Pepperpelt shrugged with an ignoble pout. Flicking her tail, she passed the three other cats and set off downslope.

I'm sorry, Sunrunner and Stalkpaw. It felt wrong to just leave them there. Without any Starclan vigil, without any burial, without any hope left for them.