Goodbye, Cougarfang.

[Ashley[l0ckd0wn]]

Avenspelt held his chin and tail high. This was the first time he had ever gotten to be the oldest on a patrol!
Laurelstar had just ordered him to take Cougarfang and Ripplepaw out to patrol the ThunderClan border. The two younger cats followed closely behind, rolling their eyes at Avenspelt's behavior.

So far, so good. ThunderClan hadn't crossed the border recently, which was good news. It was sunny out, and prey was plentiful. What could go wrong?
Apparently, a lot.

"I smell dog," Ripplepaw pointed out. Avenspelt sniffed around until he, too, detcted the scent. Even more alarming: It was fresh.
"It's close by..." Cougarfang growled, looking from side to side.
"Maybe we should head back--" a loud barking and crashing in the undergrowth cut Avenspelt off.

From about ten fox-lengths away, a huge black and brown dog charged towards them, howling repeatedly. Avenspelt had never seen a dog like it. It had many wrinkles in it's skin and very long, floppy ears. Still, the DarknessClan warrior did not have time to ponder about how strange this dog looked. It was howling for their blood!
Instinctively, the three cats turned and ran.
"Head in different directions!" Avenspelt called, unable to tell whether he could be heard over the dog's howling. From somewhere in the distance, he could hear twolegs yowling excitedly.
Avenspelt stopped dead, realizing the dog was nowhere near him. Instead, it was chasing Cougarfang right towards the Thunderpath. Avenspelt darted towards them, hoping to draw the beast's attention away from his Clanmate, but he was too late. Cougarfang was already on the Thunderpath, with the dog a mouselength away.
From around the bend, a huge monster, bigger than Avenspelt had ever seen, came speeding right at the two animals.

The rest to Avenspelt was a blur. The roaring and screeching of the monster, the howling of the dog, Cougarfang's terrified shriek, the dog's twolegs yelling.

Then the noise stopped.
The brown tabby warrior looked up. The dog's body lay broken and twisted, many yards away. Avenspelt saw immediately that it was dead. On theThunderpath was a bloody heap of light brown and white tabby fur.
The monster was gone, and two twolegs stood over the dog's body.

Avenspelt was hardly aware of Ripplepaw trembling beside him.
"I saw it..." she mewed, her voice barely a whisper. "That monster...it ran right over him. Avenspelt, he's dead!"

[~:.Silent.Step.:~]

It was right in front of her, she was going to get this one, it would not get away like the black bird, oh no, no it would not. All her anger from the previous loss wrenched itself into her claws, ready for action. Creeping forward with the lightest steps, cautious not to scare it away.

All of the sudden, a ruckus startled the starling and it darted away. As well as scaring the prey, Silverstorm nearly jumped from her skin. The ferocious growl and bark of a dog triggered her instincts and guided her up a tree. A crash in the distant undergrowth sent off the hisses of three cats. Three very distinct hisses. From what she could tell, it sounded like Avenspelt's patrol of himself, Cougarfang, and Ripplepaw, the She-cat of whom she was very fond of.

She shared the attitude of courage and arrogance, that of which loomed in her air, as it did Silverstorm's. It was agreeable that the two were very much alike. She knew Ripplepaw was destined to take her fathers place as leader, and she thought of the day Ripplestar would take throne over the clan. Ripplestar. It flowed. Like it was meant to be.

Another ferocious growl and the crumple of smaller paw steps brought her back to reality. Avenspelt rushed past, the other cats out of sight. Suddenly, he veered toward the thunderpath, and in the distance, she could hear the roar of a monster. A screech from it erupted a ways down, and the yelp of a dog, the hiss of a cat. Something was wrong, horribly, terribly wrong.

Avenspelt had just been hit my the monster. She had watched him run past. She hadn't even tried to stop him, it was her fault.

She lept form the tree. Her claws pulled at the fallen debris and dug deep into the soil, churning it over and over as she propelled herself forward, faster, and faster yet. In only moments she was there. The sight that met her terrified eyes had not been the one she had anticipated. And even though a tragedy stood before her, relief was let through her lungs as she saw Avenspelt alive and well, for it was Cougarfang who had been hit.

Fear then gripped her. Even though Avenspelt was okay, Cougarfang lay unmoving on the black retched path. Ripplepaw sat trembling off to the side, fear stricken as well. "What..."she began, but stuttered to finish her words. "wha-what happened..,." she had not the words to continue. Avenspaw's eyes didn't flicker, they only rested on the dead bodies of the dog and their clan mate.

[Ashley[l0ckd0wn]]

Avenspelt gazed off into the distance, his yellow eyes like hollow orbs [haha].
Ripplepaw prezzed her muzzle into his flank, then turned to her friend, Silverstorm.
"th--the dog came out of n-n-nowhere," the apprentice's voice shook and her whole body trembled. "Avenspelt told us to split up, but Cougarfang had barely started running when the dog was nearly on top of him. We both felt the ground shaking, he knew the monster was coming. Cougarfang knew what was going to happen when he ran for the Thunderpath. He died to save us."

[~:.Silent.Step.:~]

As the monster drove off, Silverstorm snapped back to reality. Cougarfang was dead, and there was nothing that could do to fix it. Taking control of the situation, she meowed instruction. "Avenspelt, help me get his body off the Thunderpath, quickly." She sniffed the air before putting paw to the acrid black mess. The ground did not tremble and the consuming stench of an approaching monster did not enter her nostrils, only the past stench of the one who had just hit Cougarfang and the dog. She dashed into the open and grabbed the young warrior by the scruff, trying to be as gentle as possible in getting him back.

[Ashley[l0ckd0wn]]

Avenspelt got shakily to his paws and helped Silverstorm to delicately drag the body to the edge of the Thunderpath. His eyes were wide and hollow, and his tail drooped.
Ripplepaw felt an aching in her chest, accomanied with the urge to vomit. She couldn't believe what she'd just seen.

[~:.Silent.Step.:~]

S I L V E R S T O R M
Taking action, Silverstorm meowed "Avenspelt, run back to camp and tell Laurelstar what's just happened, explain everything." Turning to Ripplepaw, she meowed "Help me get Cougarfang back to the camp, no protests. Understand?" She took on a stern voice, telling the apprentice she wasn't about to deal with an attitude. She pushed her head under the limp, broken body of her clanmate, and slid the front half of his body onto her back. "You do the same."

[Ashley[l0ckd0wn]]

Ripplepaw was in too much shock to protest, and she obediently slipped her clanmate's still-warm body into her back.
Avenspelt dashed off to camp. This had been his first time being head of a patrol, and Cougarfang had been kille.d. How could Laurelstar ever trust him to do anything responsible after this?

[~:.Silent.Step.:~]

S I L V E R S T O R M
Silverstorm stopped in the center of the camp as cats started to gather around and stare. "Alright, down slowly now." she meowed as she knelt down to lower Cougarfang from her back.