It had been decided that they would not send some cat after Tinyflame for help. It would only take longer trying to fetch her in the pouring rain and swathe of fog.

So they lifted Lagoonstripe onto the most able-bodied warriors shoulders, then carried her slowly back to the medicine cat's den.

There was nothing anyone could do. Tinyflame could not resurrect the dead.

When Crescentsky exited the medicine cat's den some time later alongside Jadestar, Quietdew and Tinyflame, she was met with distressing calls.

"Cats are being preyed upon before sunset more often now. We need to make sure that no one splits up on patrols from now on. No matter what!" Pepperpelt sounded uneasy.

"We needed Lagoonstripe! Without her there's even less hope!"

"So she's really dead now?" Velvetpaw asked.

"I thought Lagoonstripe would've become leader, once Starclan had given us some real answers and led us to a new territory..."

"Who will assign the patrols now?"

"It'll be alright." Crescentsky tried to gather herself. Then she lifted her muzzle and began to reassure them.

"We can figure this out.

We might not have all of the answers right now, but Alpinefog can assign patrols until further notice."

She tried to keep her paws from buckling beneath her. The inflammation raging in the she-cat's hindleg made her grit her teeth in turmoil.

Just hold it together a little while longer, Crescentsky.

"Alpinefog was already helping arrange the clan duties before."

"Where is he?" Tinyflame asked, glancing over the crowd.

"He's on a border-marking patrol with Racoonstripe and Trufflefur," some cat answered. "They're by the Windclan border."

"In this rain?" Pepperpelt asked.

"Cats still have to patrol and hunt, mom!" Oatpaw rebuked. 

"If you ask me, we should cut out the border patrols." Jadestar interluded. Crescentsky's forehead was pounding, as the same old sharp pain kept digging into her haunch.

"And now we pray that the wolf didn't cross their path in its retreat. You should've chased it past Riverclan's scent-lines. There was a whole team of warriors, so what stopped you?" Sootface bellowed.

"We were more focused on protecting Lagoonstripe's body. You know, from the wolf who wanted to eat her!" Crescentsky snapped.

Cheetah touched noses with her and laid her tail across Crescentsky's, looking genuinely mournful.

"I'm really sorry about Lagoonstripe, Crescentsky. She was a great mentor to me as well, even if not officially." Her muzzle was pulled down in a melancholy frown.

A pitiful "Thanks," was all she could muster. Cheetah pressed her flank against her friend's.

If it was okay, then I'd say it was.

But it isn't. So I'll just say nothing right now.

Her vision swam just then, and wouldn't fully focus.

I'm too tired for this. Or ill, I guess. Probably both. The tabby-and-white warrior stayed leaning against Cheetah for support and reassurance.

She didn't know if it was her wounds troubling her anymore, the pure exhaustion, or the affliction of Lagoonstripe's loss. It could be all of it.

Tinyflame came to join them just then, wrapping her tail around the two and gazing across camp through the hazy pattering rain. It was finally dwindling down towards a drizzle.

"Sister, I need to treat your wounds and give you a poppy seed," her littermate muttered softly. "We can worry about... Other things, later."

"I'll bring you some prey when you wake up!" Cheetah mewed, more lively.

Emberfawn came to sit beside Cheetah, and Oatpaw followed as well. And eventually Rainstrike scooted in beside her and Tinyflame, so that their six-cat huddle was like a tiny solace of warmth from the sorrow.

Crescentsky didn't move from that spot just yet, despite being utterly drained. She was getting something that she couldn't get from curling up in a nest alone. This was some other kind of relief.

"I liked Lagoonstripe." Oatpaw said in a meek tone. It was the opposite of his usual demeanor.

"She stood up for Rainstrike and me against Jadestar, even though she had no real reason to. She wasn't our clan or kin," he finished.

"I understand what he's trying to say," Cheetah put in.

I do too, thought Crescentsky. She dropped to her belly, too exhausted to stand any longer.

"Lagoonstripe was one of the best Riverclan warriors I've ever met. She was the model of what a Riverclan warrior should be, I think. And you're following in her pawsteps already, Crescentsky." Rainstrike aimed the words around Tinyflame's shoulder at her. She sounded a little awkward as she said it, but her voice remained mostly steady throughout.

Quietdew spoke up and interrupted any response that Crescentsky might've had. Her loud voice was aimed at anyone who was listening.

"Alpinefog is going to be so upset when he gets back... He really cared about his sister. They always worked together to run the clan, and he gained most of his confidence from her. There's no other kin of his left in the clans."

Some of the cats tossed Quietdew a disdainful glance.

The gray-and-white warrior sat down next to her son. A sticky layer of cobweb and herb-mixture was fastened across the wounds on her foreleg and back.

Crescentsky and the other clan cats waited in conjoined silence for several long heartbeats. No one seemed to want to say more.

Lagoonstripe said 'After we go to Starclan' before she died.

I think her soul left her body soon after that. Mourning tore at her heart.

Oatpaw had weaved the silver she-cat a fresh nest just yesterday. And Lagoonstripe had said she planned to start implementing battle training that was focused on cat-and-wolf combat again this morning, too. (since more warriors had arrived on Riverclan's land in the form of Shadowclan loners.)

Ironic as it was, Crescentsky had been excited to join in after she was healed. If she ever did heal.

Plus, her mind had explored the option of training with her clanmates in the body of her wolf. If they could ever trust her as much...

It wasn't just those things that were utterly ruined now, though. Lagoonstripe's perch was still lying somewhere out there in the forest. And there might've been hope for her to have a mate and kits one day, like she'd wanted. If only the she-cat had lived long enough to find one...

None of that matters now. But it should, Crescentsky thought as she huddled beside her friends and littermate.

"Well, I'm going to try my best at treating your wounds now. You can't just lie there bleeding out. Some of the bite marks on your back look-."

"I'm telling you, Racoonstripe." A grovely voice spoke up from beyond the camp walls. "You need to do more in the way of being alert on patrol. It's not exactly a carefree early leaf-fall right now."

The entrance shivered as three toms made their way through it. Rowanpaw trailed after them, her eyes bright and her tail bushy.

Crescentsky narrowed her eyes at the she-cat.

Great Starclan, I actually forgot about her.

But now isn't the time to do some big reveal. There's been another death in Riverclan.

So I expect she'll keep her mouth shut. And yet; Crescentsky could hardly put it past a cat like her.

"Think of it this way; we're sharing a territory with them. They could show up at any m-..." Alpinefog leaned down abruptly with his nostrils flaring. He straightened after seeing the droplets of blood on the grass.

"Some cat is injured." His ears twitched. "The wolves? Not in the middle of the day again!"

"Remember how I said I needed to tell you something important? You wouldn't listen because you were too busy lecturing Racoonstripe."

The voice was Rowanpaw's. But as soon as she'd spoken, the russet-furred apprentice was interrupted and ignored.

Alpinefog gasped as soon as some cat told him. Then he raced into the medicine cat's den, leaving Racconstripe, Trufflefur and Rowanpaw standing there.

Crescentsky shivered between Cheetah and Rainstrike. The dwindling rain that fell all around them was making their fur sodden, but that wasn't what made her shake. She felt that things couldn't possibly get anymore dreadful.

And underneath it all was the same pressing, gnawing, throbbing white-hot agony that threatened to engulf all of her senses.

There was no getting used to it. It felt like some cat had paws wrapped around her throat, and her head and her chest- tugging and clawing. Her ears went flat with pain.

"Alpinefog!" Rowanpaw called when her mentor slipped out of the den.

"Say what you need to say and then put a fish in it, Rowanpaw...!" The gray mentor snapped.

"My sister is dead. She was the last thing holding this clan together." He boomed with his ears pinned back, the anguish clear on his face.

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that I have something to say. And my name isn't Rowanpaw anymore.

I named myself Rowanfrost, no thanks to you."

Rowanfrost lifted a forepaw before she swiveled, taking a step closer to the main throng of gathered cats.

"Since every cat is already here, Riverclan needs to know something. In fact every clan does- since a lot of you seem to worship the very ground that Crescentsky stalks upon." Her gaze slid over to Oatpaw and Rainstrike, who were sitting close beside the tabby she-cat. The pale yellow tom and grey she-cat pricked their ears.

"What are you talking about?" Sootface raised his voice over the numerous growls of annoyance.

"I'm talking about the fact that Crescentsky and Tinyflame are liars! They've been lying to us all this time, about things that we can't even begin to imagine."

She turned her smug, challenging gaze on Crescentsky, who flattened her ears and met all of the stares that fell upon her.

"They've faked escaping the wolves time and time again. They've lied about hunting and lied about their warriors vigil. They probably feigned going to the Moonpool and meeting with Starclan as well. And you want to know why?

It's because they don't have any claws!"

Heat flushed her pelt and set it alight. Crescentsky jumped to her paws, tail bushed out like a pinecone.

"Wait!" She hissed, while so many of them looked at her incredulously.

"I'll tell you the truth. I'll tell you how everything really happened."

___________
THE END 🌙

Wait to see the scene following this one in "ROWANFROST'S JEALOUSY"

Trufflefur's Bonus Chapters are out now. Feel free to read in your own time

About Book 2: Rowanfrost's Jealousy (name in-workshop)
-(on hold for Lethal Desire (Jadestar's POV) mini-story completion)

What to expect in Book 2:

-the complexities of why Vixeneye left her kits behind (Rowankit Tinykit &Crescentkit)

-parts of Rowanfrost's kithood and why she is the way she is

-a resolution to Jadestar and Sootface, regarding the negativity and oppositions they bring

-focus on things that were not so included in Carnage Moon like motherhood, mate dynamics, and kin/family bonds

-more side and supporting characters having their moment to shine and become more developed (this goes with the entire rest of the series)

Rowanfrost Moodboard by lavenderfrost990

Cheetah's Moodboard by the same person

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Note:) I want to say that I know Carnage Moon is not the best, especially pacing wise. But that it was my first step into warriors fanfiction writing. Thank you for giving this book a chance. (I hope to only improve from here on out!) And for all of your kind&insightful comments, I am grateful 🩵

Thank you sincerely to everyone, be it silent readers or avid commenters. I appreciate you.