Shattered Roots #1: The Last Leaf

Chapter 5

"What happened?"

"Are you hurt? Did something injure you?"

"Where have you been?"

"What did you find? Was there an intruder?"

Endless questions and murmurs from the Clan seemed to overwhelm the light gray tom. He shook his head in confusion.

"Let him talk," Pebblestar demanded, looking at Swiftstrike with her usual cold stare. "What happened, Swiftstrike?"

Swifstrike opened his mouth as his body trembled. "I was out hunting near the Stream Of Leaping Fish. It was all normal until... I s-s-saw... Runningspirit. His body was laying on the ground with a large cut on his neck. I ran back to camp as soon as I could with his body." He  gently placed Runningspirit's lifeless body onto the ground. There was a deep slit on his throat along with a myriad of fresh scars. His mouth and eyes were wide open, as if his attacker surprised him before his death.

The whole Clan meowed with sadness and confusion. Even though Leafpaw had never met him, she still felt a pang of sadness, causing her to lower her head.

Pebblestar stepped towards Runningspirit's dead body. "Runningspirit was one of the bravest warriors in the Clan. I wish for him to hunt happily in LightClan together with our ancestors." She gave his fur a lick and looked up towards Swiftstrike.

"Swifstrike, do you have any clue of who possibly did this?" she asked the senior warrior.

Swiftstrike shook his head slowly. "However, I did smell strange scents that does not belong to any other Clan I know. It smelled like fox dung and it was fresh by the time I saw Runningspirit's body." Pebblestar nodded in understanding. She walked away to let cats see Runningspirit one last time.

Foxtuft ran to his body, tears pouring from her eyes. "R-Runningspirit! No, no!" She placed her head on top of her mate's neck. Leafkit felt bad for Foxtuft. 'She lost a cat she deeply loved, I can't imagine how that feels,' Leafpaw thought.

"I will never forget ya', my love. I will pass down yer' stories to our kits, Blazekit an' Owlpaw," Foxtuft cried. "I hope ya' are in a better place now, watchin' us all from above."

Blazekit and Owlpaw approached their mother. Grief was seen in Owlpaw's eyes. However, Blazekit looked more confused than sad. The two cats approached their father's body and sat next to it.

"What happened to Runningspirit?" she mewed. "Is he asleep?" The fluffy kit nudged Runningspirit's body repeatedly, trying to wake him up. "Come on, get up! Get up!"

Foxtuft put her tail around her kit. She whispered, sobbing as she spoke each word, "He's dead, Blazekit. He's now a star in the sky, just like our ancestors who have passed."

Blazekit lifted her head. "Will he ever wake up?" Foxtuft shook her head with sorrow.

"I think they'll have a vigil, or at least Foxtuft will," Morningpaw said.

"What's a vigil?" Leafpaw asked.

"From what I've heard, when a cat dies, Clanmates who feel that they are close to that cat will have a vigil."

Leafpaw pitied the mourning cats. "I feel really bad for Foxtuft. She and Runningspirit must've been so close to each other!" Morningpaw nodded in agreement.

Doehoof walked to Leafpaw with her head lowered. "Runningspirit and I used to be very close friends. We hunted together a lot and shared many stories," she mentioned. "I will have a vigil with him tonight as well."