~•••~ RIPPLESHADOW ~•••~

Red light draped across the sky and the sun gradually fell. All was calm, for a moment, and Rippleshadow almost nodded off; but a pained yowl split the air.

They must have found her, he thought solemnly. For a moment, a hint of guilt started eating him up, but he ignored it, nothing good ever came from being consumed by guilt.

If he just held on for now, nothing more would happen, no other cats would die. Everyone would move on in a moon or two and he could get back to his normal Clan life.

Maybe he would even get a new, better apprentice.

That was harsh. Dandelionpaw had been, for a while, a good apprentice. Rippleshadow was surprised by how much he already missed her.The party of warriors left the cave, interrupting his inner musings.

In the jaws of Bluebrook, held by the scruff, was Dandelionpaw. "I-I'm sorry Rippleshadow...we did all we could.", Eggsplash muttered gently, tears in his eyes."A brave soul was lost tonight.", Lightningstar announced solemnly, "But we must bring her body back to camp for the vigil."

And so the warriors trudged back to camp, the sky turning an inky black. Stars shone from above but somehow their light felt dim and colourless.

Rippleshadow had been sure he was fine but some part of him must have been upset. He could usually run with ease, travelling silently through the night. It was how he earned his name. But now his legs shook violently under him, as if only his body knew something terrible was happening.

He shook it off.

How ridiculous. He sounded wishy-washy. Just get back to camp...back to camp...back to camp...