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"The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief – But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love."

Rattlefang • Female • 40 Moons • Rubble of the Tallstone
Mentions: All of Cloudclan

"Dead."

The word rose from the rubble, somber and serious. A cold, empty atmosphere filled the air. Translucent fog settled inches above the cracked, ashy pavement. Cloudclan cats, covered in ash and dried blood, looked like vengeful spirits. They might as well have been. Sounds of bowing steel and crumbling stone still haunted Rattlefang's mind, accented by the yowling of cats now gone. The calico molly, tasting for herself the stale bitterness of old blood, ash, and the one thing she'd never thought she'd sense from Pigeonstar: terror. The Leader's corpse was heavy and limp in her jaws, his pelt a patchwork of blood, dust, and fur. He was a handsome tom, covered in thick black fur and blessed with intelligent, thoughtful green eyes. At the time, Rattlefang hadn't felt that strong of a love for anyone before, but now, as she dragged her mate in front of the silent clan, his muscular body battered and ragged, her soul felt only emptiness. "Starclan," she choked, laying the corpse down gently, "Could not have prevented this. They must not be blamed for our innumerable losses. Pigeonstar -- my love -- died doing what he had pledged to do: protecting his clan." She sat, decidedly resigned, and bowed her skull. Whether or not the cats that had followed Pigeonstar's direction would follow her in her silent prayer, Rattlefang didn't mind. For now, she would only pray for her mate's safe voyage to Starclan's lands and an honorable life there until the calico molly herself would flee this mortal coil and join him happily.

• Shadowwatcher • Male • 34 moons • Among the rubble • Rattlefang, Pigeonstar(Both indirectly)

Shadowwatcher's eyes were wide, the prickled fur of the dark pelted tom ruffling in the breeze, caked in dust and particles of what remained of the once grand camp. Blood trailed down from the left side of his head, running over his eye and forcing him to squint it shut, the blood moving down to his muzzle and dripping off. His jaws remained parted ever so slightly, the shock still frozen on his face. "Duckwing...?" He said, his voice trembling as he got to his paws again. His ears flattened back as he leaped onto a large block of their home, looking down. "Duckwing?!" He yowled, his voice echoing through the once eerily quiet air. The tom tried to move pieces of rubble, looking for the queen's body. "Duckwing, please- Starclan.." he scented the air, trying to catch even the slightest hint of her scent, but the bloodied bodies and ash blocked his senses and made him wheeze.

The tom tried to force pieces of rubble out of the way, scraping his paw-pads against the stone. His panicked breathing and wide eyes showing how terrified he was of the thought of loosing his mate. He could feel his heart beating in his chest so rapidly it felt like it was crawling up his throat, which was now croaky due to the volume he'd been calling for Duckwing. It had been a whole day since the fall, but at least Rattlefang found Pigeonstar's body. Shadowwatcher needed to know she was gone- or better, alive- but dread, Starclan, the dread that pulled on him made sure he knew she was in Starclan, whether he finds her body or not. But if there was a chance she was alive- that he could spend her final moments with her, here or curled up in the elders den, he wanted to be there.

He let out a yowl as he slipped off the piece of rubble, his bloodied paws leaving a smeared trail. He shook the dust from his fur and looked around, tears welling up in his eyes. He was shaking. He let out another yowl, the volume not as powerful as it tore at his vocal cords. He was farther away from the other clan cats- unless there were others digging through the rubble with him. He looked like a mess, exhausted from digging and searching for so long, dry blood still sticking to his pelt.

Fogcloud • Female •13 Moons • Rubble of the Tallstonee

The world was literally crumbling around her. At least, that had been Fogcloud's first thought when the Tallstone began to fall, and now that it had fallen the feeling had not gone away. After all, it was true, wasn't it? Her friends, her family, even Pigeonstar. Nothing and no one had been spared. She used to dream of something like this happening, back when she was still an apprentice. An apocalyptic event, something to put the entire clan in danger just so she could go on a grand adventure to try and save them. Except in those daydreams she'd always succeeded, returning home victorious to a grateful world, everything still intact. Pigeonstar would make her a warrior, and Swallowtail would feel stupid for wasting her time with cleaning dens. He wouldn't say it, but he'd smile and lay his tail on her shoulder and they'd both just know he was sorry. And Blossompaw, who would feel so impressed and just a little jealous that she'd become a warrior first.

Fogcloud felt a twinge in her chest. Blossompaw. Her warrior ceremony had been less than a moon away. Fogcloud had become a warrior first, and Blossompaw had been jealous, but she'd also been so proud, and only a couple moons behind her big sister. The leg injury that had put her in Petalstream's care had been healing nicely, and she'd been practicing relentlessly for her final test. Not that it mattered anymore. Nothing mattered. She, like Pigeonstar and Swallowtail, was gone, along with so many other cats. Like their parents, her body hadn't yet been found, but a full day had passed. By now, if the initial collapse hadn't killed her, the injuries it left would of. Fogcloud squeezed her eyes shut, the memory of Pigeonstar's lifeless body and Rattlefang's anguished cries still burned in her mind. She wasn't sure she wanted to find Blossompaw, not really. To see her small frame so cold and broken like that... Fogcloud's shoulder's slumped, suddenly tired.

"Everything," Fogheart told the pile of rubble in front of her, "is in ruins."

The ruins did not respond, leaving her to sit alone with her thoughts in the vast and empty silence. She thought that she heard a sound nearby, perhaps another cat, maybe Rattlefang or another come to gather her for a clan meeting. But then again, what did she know? It could have just been the sound of her own heart breaking.