RiverClan Camp

Whiteshadow mood turned angry at Eaglepaw's words but then it dissipated when he said something was wrong with his eyesight. Whiteshadow didn't mean to make fun of or belittle the apprentice it's just he honestly didn't know about his condition. Whiteshadow was still somewhat new to the clan and honestly hadn't gotten around to getting to know everybody especially pups.  At Eaglepaw's words on sucking up to Graystar he was a little shocked. Whiteshadow wasnt sucking up to her and he has never done anything of the sort for anybody. In his opinion showing gratitude and sucking up to somebody were two very different things. Whiteshadow had to smile at the apprentice though as he successfully made it across the water and took of in the direction of the Gray's Beach. Calling out to Flamebreeze "I'm going to make sure nothing happens to him and it sounds like I owe him an apology. Sorry Flamebreeze I will have to catch up with you later." He told him sending the warrior and apologetic look before quickly swimming across to shore and following after Eaglepaw, intent on apologizing.

Gray's Beach

Although Lunapaw's and Eaglepaw's enthusiasm was amusing, it also was somewhat overwhelming. Flamebreeze had only just been named a warrior and he was already in charge of such rambunctious apprentices. He could only hope that they weren't like this all of the time and that it was just their excitement at getting to go on their first hunting trip. He turned towards Lunapaw when he heard her ask a question. "Um, we probably won't run into anything too exciting. Well, I mean, everything's exciting if you're seeing it for the first time I guess, but probably nothing dangerous." He could only hope not.

He perked his ears when he heard some splashing, trying his best to see what was happening. It seemed as if Eaglepaw was by the shore and he could barely see the blurry form of Lunapaw was hurrying over. Guessing that they were having issues with swimming, Flamebreeze was about to offer some words of encouragement but paused when Whiteshadow began to speak. He blinked in surprise at how blunt the warrior was being. Flamebreeze was sure that it came from a good place, although if he had been one of the apprentices, he would have felt rather intimidated. He frowned when Eaglepaw got upset and he perked his ears in concern when he heard splashing again. When the splashing sound stopped, he squinted in an effort to see if Eaglepaw had made it to the other side, but it was to no avail. He just couldn't see that far away.

He flashed a worried look to Whiteshadow, who stated that he'd make sure nothing happened to the apprentice. That sounded as if Eaglepaw had made it safely across. Letting out a sigh of relief, he gave a slight nod of his head. "Okay. I'll wait here with the other apprentices and we can get started when you two get back," he called after him. He turned towards Lunapaw and the other apprentices next. "So, uh, did any of you guys want any tips on swimming or hunting while we wait?"

Graystar was currently sitting in her den and her gaze flicked to the entrance when she saw Moonbreeze approaching. She greeted her with a warm smile, but her expression quickly changed when the deputy began to speak. She hadn't been expecting Moonbreeze's words, and it wasn't until several moments later that it hit her. "W-What?" she stammered, her golden eyes turning towards the location Moonbreeze had pointed out. Her heart plummeted when she saw her mate lying still beside a bush. She felt cold all of a sudden and time seemed to stand still. Stormblade... oh, Stormblade.... In that moment she wanted nothing more than to rush over to him, to press her nose against his. For him to wake up and look at her with his big, brown eyes, to smile and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

She could feel a cry building up in her throat but she swallowed it. She didn't want to show her Clanmates her pain, especially not Moonbreeze, who was overcome with grief herself. "Moon... Moonbreeze, it'll be okay." Her voice felt hoarse and she was doing everything she could not to sob herself. She reached out to rest her head on Moonbreeze's shoulder as a comfort. "I understand—" She exhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure. "I... I understand if you feel that you can't be deputy anymore. But... but I don't believe that Stormblade's... that his...." She trailed off. She couldn't bring herself to say the word 'death.' "I don't think what happened is because of StarClan." Her voice was getting higher in pitch as she spoke and she took in a deep breath. "You're a great deputy, Moonbreeze." She stepped back to look at her Clanmate in the eyes and attempted to offer a smile, but she just couldn't. "What happened to him?" Her last sentence was almost a whisper. A part of her didn't want to know. She wanted to deny that anything bad had even happened to Stormblade. Why couldn't this just be some nightmare?

Whiteshadow arrived back at camp and after shaking his fur out a certain smell that he was quiet familiar with entered his nose, the smell of death. Moving more in towards the source of the smell a sight hit him that made him feel like his heart was in his tail. Stormblade, Graystar's mate was laying there dead along with Graystar and Moonbreeze. He couldn't even imagine what was going through his leaders head right now, and by the sound of her voice she was really trying to keep it in. Whiteshadow knows from experience how if you keep it all bottled up it only becomes a heavy weight that you end up caring around with you. Going up to Graystar's side he gave her shoulder a comforting lick, "Graystar you can just let it out. You are amongst family and just lost your mate, nobody is going to judge you or think your weak. If you don't it will become a weight on you. Send Stormblade away with your love." He told her gently.

Whiteshadow got angrier and angrier the longer he heard Moonbreeze speak. Two times that day all he did was be nice to everybody and twice now it has been thrown back in his face. Well he could take an immature apprentice disrespecting him but he wasn't going to allow her to talk to him this way. Whiteshadow got up from his leader's side to face Moonbreeze. "I was not talking with you, so do not concern yourself with what I tell others. And I will not be going anywhere unless my leader or deputy tell me to. And as i have heard you are no longer our deputy because you are too broken to do your job properly. You know nothing about me Moonbreeze and the pain or lost that I have felt. So take your angry and sadness out of somebody else, preferably the one that killed our leaders mate, you know the one you failed to capture. Since I know you are hurting Im not going to continue this argument, this conversation is over." Whiteshadow was angry but he understood that she was just hurt. He turned back to Graystar. "If you need a friend I'm here for you, but for know I think I need to take a walk." With that said Whiteshadow silently walked back out of camp and headed in the direction of the borders.

Riverclan and Windclan borders

Graystar was finding it hard to focus as Moonbreeze explained what had happened to Stormblade. All she could think about was 'why?' Why Stormblade? It hurt her further to find out that Stormblade's death had not been accidental. Someone had killed him, on purpose. "It's not... it's not your fault," she breathed.  "You didn't know." She lifted her head slightly when she noticed Whiteshadow's presence, and nodded slightly. "I guess you're right," she murmured. RiverClan was like her family, after all. To her dismay, Moonbreeze snapped at the other warrior, which in turn upset him. She didn't want to have to deal with an argument now.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was having trouble finding the right words. She wanted to convey that it was fine that Whiteshadow wasn't so sociable, but also that it wasn't Moonbreeze's fault for failing to catch the murderer. Before she could say anything, however, Whiteshadow said that he was going out for a walk. She nodded, and then let out a deep sigh. "Moonbreeze, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I'd... I'd like to say... to say goodbye to Stormblade." She shakily got up to her paws, walking over to where the Irish wolfhound was lying. She buried her nose in his pelt as she started to sob. Oh, Stormblade. I can't even begin to think about how much I'll miss you.

Lunapaw had been excited to race her brother down to the lake. In her hurry to get there as quickly as possible, she failed to notice Eaglepaw's hesitance at entering the water; she'd only noticed that he'd made it there first. Thus, Whiteshadow's words had taken her by surprise. She was equally surprised when Eaglepaw took off. For a moment, she considered following him—he was her brother and her friend, after all—but from what Flamebreeze said, it appeared that the other apprentices were to remain behind. She let out a long sigh.

She didn't hear Flamebreeze's question, and her attention soon turned towards her mother when she saw Moonbreeze dragging in Stormblade. She tilted her head before she realized what had happened, and let out a gasp. Forgetting about Flamebreeze and the trip, she hurried over towards the leader's den, but hesitated outside. She could hear Moonbreeze sobbing, and Graystar seemed upset too. Her gaze flicked up towards Whiteshadow when he returned; she sent a hopeful glance over her shoulder to see if Eaglepaw was back yet, but she didn't see him. Lunapaw perked her ears when she overheard her mother snap at whatever Whiteshadow said—now she sounded really angry, too. Deciding that it didn't matter whether or not she was allowed in the den, Lunapaw hurried inside. "Mom? Are you okay?" she asked, snuggling up beside her in an attempt to offer some comfort.

Violetpup heard the commotion from within the nursery. Ears pricking up with curiosity, the pretty young pup poked her head out from the den. She strained her ears in order to listen to the older wolves speak. From the tone of the wolves, she knew something was wrong. The pup watched the warriors closely, noting that the leader seemed rather upset. Her ear flicked in concern; it was then that she noticed how hungry she was. The she-pup attempted to carefully slink to the fresh-kill pile in order to avoid attracting the attention of the mourning older wolves. She then quickly grabbed a small fish from the pile and scurried back to the nursery's entrance, laying down and biting into her meal. Still, she was awfully curious as to what was upsetting the warriors. 'I hope everyone is okay...' she thought to herself as her violet eyes flicked across the wolves in the camp.

Whiteshadow returned back to camp and saw Graystar sitting vigil over her mate and Moonbreeze with one of her pups. He simply made his way over to the fresh kill pile where he selected a nice vole and made his way over to the space between the nursery and the apprentice den. For once he had had enough of other warriors at the moment. After finishing his prey he turned to the little pup that was sitting at the nurserys entrance. "Hello little pup, whats your name?"