Shadow sat in the to-be den, staring out at the camp, which had turned pure white. She stuck a paw out to sniff the white substance and instantly brought it back in. It was cold and wet and she didn't like the feeling of it.

"It's just snow." A warm mew interrupted Shadow's thoughts. "It won't hurt you."

Shadow looked up to see her mother, Leaf, sitting not far from the den in which she lay.
"Good morning mother." She purred, twitching her whiskers in greeting.

Leaf padded forward, touching her nose to her daughters forehead.
"And the same to you."

For several heartbeats, there was an awkward silence. Then Leaf announced "I heard you're having your final assessment today."

Shadow's eyes glowed at her mothers words.
"Yes! I'm going to be a real Cave-guard!"

"You sure will. You're getting so big." The calico she-cat gave her daughter a lick before flicking her tail towards the camp entrance. "Your mentor's waiting for you."

Shadow nodded in thanks to her mother and raced towards Pebble, who was waiting by the camp entrance. She tried to ignore the snow as it froze her toes.

                              ***

After a little walking, Pebble and Shadow reached a clearing by the thunderpath. Pebble turned to face Shadow.
"You ready?"

The Blue-grey to-be was startled.
"H-here?"

"Yeah, you can take your assessment while getting used to fighting around loud noises."

"A-Alright."

She crouched down in front of Pebble, her back to the thunderpath and began to creep backwards. If she could get a good run up, she might be able to leap onto Pebble's back and attack him from above.

Shadow was so focused on her run up that she didn't notice the sound of the roaring monster and the acrid smell of the thunderpath beneath her feet until it was a too late.

It all happened so fast. She felt Pebble's strongly built body as he knocked her away from the monster, causing her feet to leave the ground. The wind whistled in her ears as she soared through the air, before hitting a tree trunk with loud 'THUMP!' Everything went black.

            ***

Shadow opened her eyes to the sweet scent of herbs. She was lying in the cave of the pointed stones amd Stoneteller was gently tucking warm moss around her.

As she gained consciousness, she felt an aching pain in the back of her neck. When she turned to lick it, she felt a sticky substance move with her. Cobwebs.

"Shadow" Stoneteller purred. "You cut your neck on the bark of the tree."

Shadow blinked. What tree?

Suddenly everything came back to her. The monster, the thunderpath, the tree. Pebble had saved her life.

"How's Pebble?" She asked, flicking her tail with curiosity and anxiety.

Stoneteller bowed her head, her glossy black fur prickling with grief.
"He's.... dead."

"No!" The Blue-grey to-be cried, attempting to jump to her feet, but falling back down as she felt pain shoot through her neck.

Stoneteller touched her nose to Shadow's flank.
"He died bravely. He will always be remembered." She whispered comfortingly.

Tears began to well up and the to-be's eyes and they were soon rolling down her cheeks.
"Why did it have to be him? Why not me? I was the one who stepped in front of that monster in the first place!"

The sleek black leader gazed sympathetically at Shadow before turning to leave the den.

"We'll mourn him tonight." She mewed before slipping through the entrance.

                             ***

Pebble's fur almost twinkled with starlight as the cats of The Tribe of Metal Ores gathered round to mourn him.

Shadow buried her muzzle in his soft pelt, tears dripping down her cheeks and dampening Pebble's chest. She had had a close bond with her mentor.

The blue-grey to-be had almost forgotten the pain in her neck due to her grief.

A warm pelt pressed against hers and she looked up to see Spark standing beside her. She purred as he rested his tail on her shoulders.

The ginger tabby tom dropped a vole at her feet.
"For you." He whispered, licking the she-cat's shoulder.

Shadow smiled faintly and tucked the vole safely behind her leg. She could eat it later.
"Thank you" she murmered, before burying her muzzle in Pebble's light grey fur yet again.

After a few heartbeats, she felt another tail on her shoulder. Then another and another and another. Almost the whole tribe had gathered round her. She looked up to see who was there.

There were her parents, Leaf and storm. There was Glow, Pine, Flight, Cloud and many more of her tribemates.

It made her happy to think that so many cats cared about her.

However, as she was looking around, she spotted Heavy standing on the other side of the camp, as far away from Pebble's body as possible, glaring at her. What had gotten into him lately?

Shadow looked away from the dark grey tom and turned back towards Pebble; for the first time spotting his mate, Wind.

She hadn't even thought of how hard this must be for her! The white kit-mother was curled up in front of her mates body, her nose touching his cold flank and her brown eyes filled with grief. Frost, her kit, was tucked under her tail, a little confused.

Shadow moved away from the crowd of cats who had gathered around her and lay down next to Wind. She draped her tail over the white she-cat's back and whispered comforting words to her.

At that moment, Frost ran over to the to-be and leapt on top of her, straight onto the wound on her back.

The blue-grey she-cat let out a yelp of pain, causing the little kit to leap straight off.

"Are you okay?" Frost squeaked, her tiny tail lashing with worry.

Shadow licked the she-kit softly. "I'm fine."

She turned back to her mentor and once again rested her muzzle on his flank, remembering all the happy times they'd had.

Frost cuddled up to her and fell into a light sleep, her snores gentle and quiet compared to the sounds of the forest.

Yup! The first death and it's only chapter 2. We didn't know Pebble that well.... or you didn't know Pebble that well, so I'll probably make a super edition on him!

Any feedback would be great!

Also, I'm going to try and set my self a schedule... probably won't manage to stick to it, but I'm going to try. At least 1 chapter every 2 weeks. (Hopefully)