It was hard to imagine that she'd spent the last moon living like this. The cold set in painfully, hurting her inside. Her breath froze around her in white mist, and Starkit waited at her paws. Ripplekit waited beside Starkit, albeit more impatiently. His tail was flicking and his cheeks were puffed out.
Moonstar still hadn't announced the new deputy. According to law, she had to by tonight, but it was just another source of stress on the camp. Clawpelt was brooding around, confident he'd be picked.
Phoenixwing, unable to bear it anymore, stepped into the den. Swallowfern pushed her back, wild dark circles under her eyes. "Get back, now."
"It's my kit you're 'taking care of'!" she spat, her fur bristling. Starkit stepped away in fear.
Swallowfern, frustrated, simply growled and continued tending to the coughing, wretched little kit.
"Branchkit..." Phoenixwing cried out to her, but she showed no sign of noticing her mother.
Reluctantly, Phoenixwing turned away to find that Ripplekit... was gone. Again. Even though it hadn't snowed, so the paws prints weren't clear as possible, she could still trace him. Smell him.
Without stopping to tell anyone where she was going, Phoenixwing bolted out of the clearing, fast as a cheetah and twice as deadly. One kit would not survive until the next sunrise.
Panting hard, she chased the smell, which was now mixed with another. A familiar smell. A smell, that with Nightsky's constant bickering about it, she had come to hate. Silentpelt.
She squinted her eyes, looking for pawprints in the hazy undergrowth. Brushing through it, she saw a small camp of cats, all packed together on the few dry bits of land. The whole place was flooded, and their skin stuck to their ribs, making them look fierce and slightly insane.
Ripplekit darted among them, going for a small silver she cat with cloudy blue eyes.
"Mistpaw!" he said with a huge smile, "Nice to see you!"
Mistpaw beamed upon seeing him. She croaked happily, "You too!"
Silentpelt stood by them, listening in. Eventually, he turns, uninterested, to his mate, Longclaw, flicking one ear.
A black she-cat stood in the eye of the storm, watching the malnourished cats. With a strong "Ahem", all the cats gathered around her, watching anxiously.
"As you all know, our deputy has been sick for a while now. Marshfoot has just informed me that he will be stepping down from his position as deputy. In his place, Silentpelt will be our new deputy."
The clan droned, "Silentpelt! Silentpelt!"
Even Ripplekit joined in. Phoenixwing felt sick. One pair of eyes fixed on her. It was her foster father, Jayclaw. He opened his mouth, and without thinking, Phoenixwing ran like the wind back to the only place she belonged, heart racing faster than the wind.
She finally returned home, the sound of crickets chirping around her. The early newleaf was still cold, but the snow was gone.
Swallowfern was sleeping. Phoenixwing crouched into the den. Raindrop was nowhere in sight. The air smelled too sweet, like herbs hiding the smell of something else. Branchkit opened her eyes when she saw her mom.
"Mami," she went into a coughing fit, "p-please promise me..."
Phoenixwing watched the tiny kit continue to cough until blood ran down her throat pitifully.
"Promise me... you'll tell him... I love him."
Phoenixwing nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Branchkit smiled up at her mother one last time, and said, "Good."
Phoenixwing left the den, not eager to catch the cold herself. Starkit watched her with a smile, oblivious to it all. "When is Branchkit coming out?"
Phoenixwing held Starkit close to her and cried.
"All cats gather here below the Great Tree for a clan meeting!"
Everyone hustled to the tree, knowing what came next.
"Lightningstrike was a great warrior, and... a great mate. We all remember his first mate, Shadowpanther, and we all remember her betrayal. Lightningstrike was able to overcome that and live to fight another day! We brought SkyClan to their knees, with him at the helm!"
The clan cheered.
"So over his body, I choose a deputy worthy of following in his pawsteps. May StarClan hear and approve my choice. Clawpelt will be the new deputy of DragonClan!"
"Clawpelt! Clawpelt! Clawpelt!" Clawpelt lifted his head high, a smile on his face. The clan was full of hope and light. It was such a stark contrast to the half-dead RainClan cats. Why would Ripplekit ever want to go there? Phoenixwing knew she should tell Moonstar, eventually if not now. But for Branchkit... she would hold on a bit. Just a bit.
The next morning, red blood stains streaked the horizon with the rising sun. Raindrop ventured into the nursery, and screamed. "No, it's not possible! No, no, no!"
Phoenixwing, knowing what had happened but not wanting to believe it, ran to the medicine cat den. There sat Branchkit, dead in a pool of her own blood. Around her, Swallowfern lay silent, trying to protect the little kit for their journey to StarClan.
The last two stars faded away with the dawn, a kit and an old medicine cat ascending into the heavens above.
