Echoflower's body was dragged out of the nursery gently by Fogstorm and Crowbite; her father and her brother were deeply affected by her death. Swiftkit and her solemn littermates followed behind, their heads down low. The camp clearing was buzzing with injured warriors, Baydawn and Brookpaw padding around. But the sweet tom's blue eyes rested upon his older sister, and the herb in his jaws was dropped.
As Fogstorm and Crowbite held Echoflower, more and more cats began to notice the death of their clanmate. Redstar was talking with Snaketail, but when he turned his head, he yowled, "NO!" He darted to his mate, his green eyes wide with fear. His nose nudged her cheek, her nose, her ear, anything for a response. But the pretty she-cat did not respond. Baydawn hurried over, and his ears flattened against his head. For comfort, Swiftkit ran to Redstar, rubbing her cheek against his forepaw. Maplekit slowly followed behind, while Webkit and Ripplekit remained beside Echoflower's dead body.
Gently, the two black toms put down Echoflower's body, and Redstar lifted his muzzle to let out a cry. The clan remained quiet, watching as their red leader rested his muzzle unto Echoflower's back. "May StarClan guide you," he whispered to his mate, before closing his eyes to breathe in her scent one last time.
Crowbite and Baydawn lowered their heads to groom Echoflower's pelt clean of blood, so Swiftkit and Webkit did the same. Ripplekit just stared at her body, his blue eyes blank. After a couple of heartbeats, Dapplefur emerged from the nursery to bid Echoflower good-bye. The tortoiseshell queen stopped beside Baydawn and advised gently, "You should get the rosemary," And so, the small tom dragged his paws back to his den.
Swiftkit kept her eyes low. What am I going to do without you, Echoflower? She thought, holding back a sigh. Maplekit pressed against her, and they both shared some warmth. Ripplekit and Webkit soon joined them, and Swiftkit expected Redstar to wrap his tail around his kits, but there was nothing.
~
The long night of keeping a vigil soon passed. The warm sun was rising in the sky when Fogstorm and Mousetail dragged Echoflower to her burial spot. Her black and white pelt was placed with rosemary to hide her stench of death. Tiredly, Swiftkit nudged her sleeping sister, and urged, "Come on, Webkit. Let's go back to the nursery." Ripplekit and Maplekit slowly made their way back to the nursery. Swiftkit lifted her head to look around.
Redstar had left his kits once the sun began to set, so he slept in his den. Lionstripe padded out of the warriors' dens with Pricklepelt, Mosspelt, and Mistfur for the dawn patrol. Mudstrike, Hailfrost, Splashfur, and Carptooth groggily padded into the warriors' den too, since they finished their warrior vigil. Some of the dawn patrol looked at Swiftkit and her littermates, but didn't say anything. The only one to approach them was Pricklepelt.
He lowered his muzzle to comfortingly lick Swiftkit's head, before he went back to Lionstripe; the small warrior didn't even stop him from going to Swiftkit! The calico kit bid him farewell quietly, before walking alongside Webkit into the nursery.
Maplekit was resting in their nest, but the scent of Echoflower still lingered. Ripplekit was with Dapplefur, trying to listen in on her lecture about losing their mother, but he seemed in a daze. Swiftkit laid down beside Maplekit, but Webkit whimpered, "It's more colder now..."
"Come closer to us, Webkit," Maplekit spoke for the first time since Echoflower's death, his green eyes blinking comfortably. The small she-kit now wedged herself between he and Swiftkit. Soon, Ripplekit came over and pressed up against Swiftkit, and the older she-kit could feel him trembling.
Swiftkit calmly set her head unto his shoulder. Since Echoflower was gone, Swiftkit swore that she would look after her littermates.
~
Redstar started out steady. At sunhigh when Swiftkit woke up from a lack of warmth, she herself ventured out of the nursery to sit in the Greenleaf sun, but she spotted Redstar sitting on top of the Clanrock, grooming himself in the light. But he looked so distant up there, isolated from his clan, just staring into the horizon.
Below Snaketail was organizing several patrols, with her mate, Tawnynose at her side. Some cats stared up at Redstar, others tried to ask him to join their patrols. But he kindly declined. It was only Lichenface who got him to go hunting with her.
The gray she-cat slowly approached the Clanrock, and she meowed, "Redstar? Care for some hunting?" Her gray paws soon began up the rock, before the red leader meowed, "No thank you, Lichenface."
"You need to do something, at least! Come on, let's go hunting under the willows," she pressed on, and soon she was beside him on the Clanrock. He stared at her, blinking, before he lashed his tail. "Alright. Let us go." he gave in, a bit too easily (His littermate, Tortoisetail, pushed him hard to come down but it was no use), and she happily purred, leaping down from the rock. So Swiftkit watched as the two cats padded out of camp. Although Swiftkit didn't exactly keep track of how long they were out since she and her littermates began to assist Dovefeather and Dapplefur in the nursery, she knew they were out for a long time.
When Swiftkit was running to Brookpaw for some borage leaves, she saw Redstar and Lichenface enter camp, a fish in each of their jaws, but they were a bit closer to each other than before. But Swiftkit knew that Redstar's friend was just helping him cope with the loss of Echoflower.
About two days pass, Redstar no longer grew aware of Swiftkit, or any of his kits! He was busy going on border patrols to restore order between TideClan and BoulderClan, then hunting patrols for the fresh-kill pile, but Lichenface was always near him. Ripplekit and Maplekit would be play fighting in the small clearing by the nursery, both obviously trying to get their father's attention, but Redstar just couldn't hear them. The leader would just look away, or stare right at them.
But his personality changed as well. He no longer had long conversations with his clanmates, and he spent his time mostly alone. Whenever he was angry, he would still keep his temper down, but any cat he ordered knew he was angry on the inside. The only cats he really talked with are his deputy, Lichenface, and his littermate Tortoisetail. Soon, he even forgot some names of his clanmates. He accidentally called Sparkclaw Blazestripe! (The two toms were brothers, but they don't look that much alike). Meanwhile, Swiftkit already knew the reality. Redstar was losing his mind.
One day, Webkit marched right up to him. The she-kit wanted a change in him.
"Redstar, let's play fox tail!" she chirped happily, but her attitude changed when Redstar scolded her for distracting him from his leader duties. When he scolded her, his voice rang out throughout the whole camp; everyone heard. This made Webkit hunch down in embarrassment. Webkit then dragged her paws back to Swiftkit. The calico she-kit felt her heart swell in worry, but she let out a sigh in sadness. Was their father just going to forget about them?