Redshade was still shaking as she arrived back into camp. She wasted no time, turning her head and scanning around the camp.
"Redshade, you look stressed, are you okay?"
She shot around. The mottled brown and white warrior stood tall, his tail shaking slowly. "Talk to me in the willow tunnel," she whispered shakily. Sparrowstorm did not argue. Redshade could tell by his lowered eyebrows that he was surprised that the younger warrior had seemed so eager to talk to him.
Redshade wished for sleep. She wanted to rest, and see Spiderice, and tell him how she had faced her fears and confronted Emberfall and found out the truth without him having to tell her. She closed her eyes at the thought, but forced them open again as she was reminded of her situation from the willow thorns prickling her fur.
As Sparrowstorm sat down opposite her, she perched herself onto the grass, facing the inside of the camp. She twisted her head around Sparrowstorm, making sure that the coast was clear, and no more cats would be coming out of camp - and if they were, they'd have time to move.
"Well?" Sparrowstorm grunted. "I haven't got the entire evening."
Redshade nodded. She could feel her heart pounding underneath her fur. She was fearful, but this cat deserved to know the truth about his love, and his kit.
"I had a message from StarClan," she began shakily. She felt as if there was a thick, heavy lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow. Sparrowstorm's eyes pierced into hers, and his ears pricked with interest. "I-I know you lost a kitten," she continued softly, concerned not to anger the senior warrior with the memories of his past. "I don't know how to tell you this."
Sparrowstorm's eyes narrowed. She could tell that the warrior was getting tired of her rambling. She wouldn't be surprised if the senior warrior thought she was lying by now.
"They told me that your kit is still alive, Sparrowstorm."
Sparrowstorm stood up and shot back, his tail erect behind him. "How can that be?"
"I don't know," Redshade confessed, shaking her head and wrapping her tail around her trembling paws.
"How come StarClan told you and not me?" Sparrowstorm growled, slashing his tail against the thorns.
"I don't know!" Redshade repeated, raising her voice. "That's not the point."
"I'm sorry Redshade," Sparrowstorm grumbled. "But that's not true. The situation would mean that my kit couldn't possibly have survived."
Redshade panicked as Sparrowstorm picked himself up and turned away, padding slowly out of the willow tunnel. His pelt was ruffled and wide. Redshade felt awful for reminding him of his past. Thinking quickly, she searched her mind for something that she could say to bring the warrior back to where she was sitting.
"There was no fox attack."
Sparrowstorm froze, turning his head back around in uncertainty. "How would you know?"
"Don't doubt the word of StarClan," Redshade growled. "I even know about you and Wildflower."
Sparrowstorm jerked back around, approaching Redshade hastily, baring his teeth in a hiss. "How do you know?"
"StarClan spoke to me," Redshade repeated. As Sparrowstorm sat down again, his eyes narrowed to splits, she breathed quickly and told Sparrowstorm exactly what she had seen that night with Spiderice.
"Echofur..." Sparrowstorm breathed. He lifted his head and looked into Redshade's gleaming eyes. "Echofur is my kit!"
Redshade could not examine the emotion coming from Sparrowstorm as he spoke. "You can't tell her," she whispered. "I'll do that."
Sparrowstorm nodded reluctantly, pulling his tail around himself. "As if she brought me pain because she looked like Wildflower. I should have known."
"I agree," Redshade mumbled quietly. She felt her stomach crunch as Sparrowstorm immediately began swiping his eyes away, as if searching for Echofur to tell her the hidden truth. After a second, he calmly turned back to Redshade.
"And if you see Spiderice again, tell him that he is missed in RiverClan."
Redshade nodded her head quickly. She didn't know if there was anything more which she could say to the warrior.
"Don't worry," he meowed. "I'll make sure that Emberfall is made aware of the pain she caused me."
Redshade opened her mouth to reply, but her words were swept out of her mouth, distracted by the rustling of the thorns at the beginning of the entrance.
Emberfall's back!
Quickly she ran through the exit. She was relieved when she heard Sparrowstorm following behind her, as if he took the hint. But when she didn't hear Emberfall's voice, she paused. As she heard the cat collapse, she flinched.
She heard Berrystar's mournful wail strike the clearing. Immediately, her head shot backwards, and her eyes fixed on the warrior, who had been carrying a bleeding, tangled ginger figure through the forest.
No!
Redshade felt her heart skip a beat. She rushed towards the deputy, feeling her paws stamp against the moss. She could feel Sparrowstorm's tail flicker behind hers too.
"What happened to him?" Redshade spat, her heart nearly too wrenched to let her words exit. She lowered her head, letting her eyes focus on Streamspots again. His eyes were barely open, and his mouth had collapsed and was hanging unnaturally. His tail was crushed, and his hind left leg had been torn apart, leaving nothing but shreds along his fur.
"What happened?" Sparrowstorm urged. Redshade could tell that the warrior was trying to act bold, but his voice was thrown off with surprise and devastation.
Berrystar was silent. He hung his head mournfully into his friend's flank, wrapping his tail around his body protectively. "He couldn't get off the Thunderpath in time," Berrystar breathed. "I-I tried to save him."
"He's gone?" Redshade choked. Immediately, she lowered her head to the level of her deputy. She licked his cheek gently with her tongue, hoping anything would give him the tiniest sign of life. Nothing moved on his face apart from a single eye opening wider, revealing a twinkle in the brown.
"I couldn't have been a prouder daughter," Redshade whispered over Berrystar's second wail. She felt Stemclaw rush to her side, speeding to the flank of the deputy, saying nothing.
Echofur must have heard the commotion, because by the time she looked up, the sandy she-cat's head was placed on the thigh of the deputy, her eyes clouded with sorrow.
Starclan, why would you take our deputy at s time like this?
"He won't survive," Berrystar whispered at last, his head not moving from his deputy's flank. "Streamspots, I shall never forget you, and the sacrifices that you made for me. You weren't the strongest and bulkiest warrior, but you were intelligent and quick. I would have been proud for you to have become leader after me."
Redshade dipped her head in sadness. As she saw Sparrowstorm getting to his paws, she followed him. Berrystar must want to mourn his deputy alone, and ease his way to StarClan.
"No," Berrystar demanded. "We shall mourn him together."