RiverClan Camp

Lunapup wagged her tail with excitement when Frozenpup agreed that he'd play. She sprinted after him as he ran outside the den. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" she yipped upon hearing Pantherpup. She slowed to a stop as she finally reached where her three other siblings were, her tail still wagging. "Can we start now?" she asked. She glanced towards the mossball that was now at Frozenpup's paws, ready to catch it should he toss it in her direction.

Twistedfoot frowned when she saw Moonbreeze's expression slowly change as she realized the gravity of the situation. She never found it easy to break the news to a wolf's loved ones. She knew that it needed to be done, however. "I'm sorry, Moonbreeze," she started, nudging the queen in the direction of elders' den. "I'm really sorry, but Forsakensoul is dead." She kept her voice low so that the pups wouldn't overhear, knowing that Moonbreeze would probably want to tell them herself. The medicine wolf started towards the elders' den, stopping by the entrance. She wasn't certain how Moonbreeze would react to seeing Forsakensoul's body and wanted to be there for her. "I don't think that he felt any pain," she murmured. There didn't appear to be any signs of a struggle. Instead, he looked almost peaceful, as if he was just taking a nap and would wake up at any moment. She hoped that she hadn't been too blunt when informing Moonbreeze, but warmth and gentleness were not her strong suits.

It had been some time and no one had called him to go out on patrol, so Iceflood finally decided that he was free to do what he wanted for the time being. Good. I'll visit the river first. Iceflood loved visiting Perch's Flow. Listening to the splashes and babbles of the river was quite relaxing, and he also had a fondness for swimming. He could get some fishing done while he was there, too. He started towards the camp entrance and waded out into the lake that separated the island from the rest of the forest. It was an easy swim across, and from there the warrior made his way over to the river.

Flamepaw was quite nervous as he swam out from the camp island for practice. The moment when his paws no longer brushed against the rocky ground was terrifying, for he knew that he could drown should he not be able to locate the camp island. The lake being shallow comforted him a little, but he could still feel his heart thudding in his chest. Flamepaw swam out a bit further until he thought that he was about halfway from the shore and then turned around, paddling back. Am I going the right way? I should be. Still, it was hard to tell. He couldn't distinguish the camp island from this distance, only being able to tell a sea of blue.

Flamepaw was beginning to grow more worried when he finally felt his paw brush against the ground. Letting out a sigh of relief, Flamepaw waded forward and soon afterwards found himself on land. He shook out his cream-and-gray pelt before trying to locate the path that led back to the camp entrance. He lowered his nose to the ground, beginning to walk when he tripped over a rock. He muttered in frustration, quickly afterwards getting up and continuing to search for the entrance. He somehow swam a bit down-shore of where the trail was, which was worrying. If he didn't know exactly where he was swimming it would be dangerous. He decided that he'd had enough practice for one day and followed the path back to the camp when he ran across it.

Slipping into the camp, Flamepaw made his way over to the apprentices' den and sat down just outside of it. He'd noticed the temperature drop a little, but assumed it was just because his fur was still wet from the lake. The apprentice was just glad that he hadn't needed to be rescued, but it was apparent that he still needed to work more on his direction.

The playful retriever had slept in that morning, missing a lot of the action, but she'd eventually emerged, giving her curly coat a shake in the sun. Sitting down to watch the clan for a moment, her gaze lingered on the playing pups, half wanting to go and join in. She was still very much a puppy at heart, and was always happy to play with the little ones if they wanted someone to play with. Shivering as the temperature suddenly plummeted, she looked up at the sun briefly, instinctively looking away when it hurt her eyes. There were no clouds in the sky, why was everything going dark? Unsure what was going on, Follyfoot cast her gaze round the camp, wondering who to ask, or whether it would even be a good idea to ask anyone. She knew that Twistedfoot was often grumpy and irritable, but this strange weather was spooking the normally carefree dog. Gathering her courage, she padded over to the wolf, hovering a respectful distance away from her while she spoke with Moonbreeze about whatever was concerning them. Easily startled at the distraught howl, she took a few steps forward, her instincts telling her to comfort whoever it was that was so sad. She hadn't known Moonbreeze or her mate and pups very long, but it was long enough to know that the two adults had loved each other very much.

It was hard to watch Moonbreeze's reaction, especially so when Twistedfoot didn't know what words she could say to comfort the young warrior. She could hardly imagine what it must have felt like to lose one's mate at a relatively young age, and supposed that she'd never know. "I'm sorry," she murmured, repeating the words once again. She knew that they'd soon need to bury Forsakensoul, but wanted to give Moonbreeze more time to grieve. She decided that it would be best to give Moonbreeze some space for now, knowing that she wouldn't want a medicine wolf hovering around her at a time like this. Twistedfoot began to turn around but stopped when she realized that Follyfoot had come over. "Did you need something?" she asked. She wasn't certain if the retriever had come after hearing Moonbreeze or if she required the assistance of a medicine wolf for some other reason. It was at this point that she realized the darkening sky and dropping temperature. How... odd. She wasn't certain of the cause of it. Had she somehow lost track of time?

Hesitating a little more, the retriever padded over at the question, dipping her head a little in respect before sitting. “I was just wondering if what the sky is doing in normal,” she explained plainly. “Something feels wrong.” The young warrior shivered, her curly fur standing on end. “It's barely sunhigh, but it's so dark. Do you know what's going on?” The usually calm dog was quivering slightly, but she managed to keep her voice low so that only Twistedfoot could hear her, unwilling to panic the rest of the clan if this wasn't a normal thing that was happening.

Graystar finally arrived back at the camp, glad that they had been able to return safely. No one seemed to be very alarmed or worried by what was happening, much to her relief. "This is our camp, Ted. We—" Her voice broke off when she heard Moonbreeze's howl. It sounded full of sorrow and pain. Something horrible must have happened. She gave Stormblade and Ted a quick look. "Please excuse me," she told them both. She saw that Moonbreeze was in the elder's den, where only Forsakensoul stayed. He hadn't been in too good of shape the last time Graystar saw him, and she grew dismayed as she realized what had likely happened. She quickly hurried over to the den and stopped at the entrance, shortly afterwards confirming her suspicions. Graystar frowned, knowing how distraught Moonbreeze must be feeling now. Forsakensoul was a good and kind wolf, and the Clan would surely miss him. She thought that it would be best not to disturb Moonbreeze for the moment and decided that she would offer her condolences after the young warrior had had time to process it all.

She turned to head back to Stormblade and Ted, giving a glance to Twistedfoot as she passed by the medicine wolf. She was currently conversing with Follyfoot, so Graystar decided that she'd speak with her immediately afterwards to see if she had seen any signs from StarClan as to why the sun was covered or the river was empty. "My apologies, Ted. I would give you a tour of the camp, but I must attend to some other matters first. I will point out that our fresh-kill pile is over there, and if you're tired, our warriors' den is right there," she said quickly, gesturing towards what she was speaking about. She turned to Stormblade after she'd finished. "We should probably send out a patrol to Perch's Flow." It was likely that the water level had dropped there as well. She could only hope that it wasn't completely empty.

Twistedfoot shook her head at Follyfoot's words. "It's definitely not normal. I've never seen anything like this in all my life." She'd kept her voice low as well. There was no point in worrying the entire Clan, at least not yet. At the warrior's next words, Twistedfoot decided to have another look at the sky to see if she could determine the problem. There weren't enough clouds present to cause the sky to darken so dramatically. She finally turned her gaze to the sun, blinking as she saw that it was covered by something. What that something was, she had no idea. "It seems..." She paused for a moment, surprised by what she had seen. "It seems as if the sun is being blocked. I'm unaware of what exactly is causing that to happen, or if this means something for the Clans." She had not shared dreams with StarClan recently and had not noticed anything of alarm until today. If this was a message, it surely did not spell a bright future for the Clans. "If I'm being honest, I'm not sure what this means. However, I will try to see if I can interpret anything about it." Hopefully her words weren't too blunt, but she always thought that the truth was best no matter the situation.

Iceflood quickly ran into the camp, panting as he slowed to a stop. He still couldn't believe that the river was gone, just like that. He quickly gazed around the camp to see if Graystar had gotten back yet; he was relieved when he spotted her. Before he could say anything, his former apprentice's howl pierced the air. He wasn't fully certain what had happened, but knew that it wasn't good, whatever it had been. He felt somewhat conflicted, uncertain if he should see what was wrong or tell Graystar what he had seen first. He hadn't much time to make up his mind when Graystar returned and mentioned something about sending a patrol out to Perch's Flow.

"I was just there. The water is gone. The fish are flopping about in the mud. I came back here as soon as I saw it," he told her. He was somewhat confused as to how Graystar would have known about checking on the river, but figured that it didn't matter. "If you send a patrol back there, I'll go on it," he added, before dipping his head respectfully to excuse himself. Moonbreeze was a friend, and he knew that he should see if everything was okay with her. He hesitantly poked his head into the elders' den and quickly realized what was wrong. Although he hadn't been close friends with Forsakensoul, it was always sad to lose a Clanmate. "Sorry," he told Moonbreeze, his voice quiet. He hoped that he wasn't bothering her in case she wanted to be left alone, so he stayed by the entrance.

Lunapup wagged her tail when Frozenpup tossed the moss ball towards her. She quickly batted it back, this time towards Pantherpup. They hadn't been playing long when Lunapup heard their mother's howl. What had that been about? She frowned at Pantherpup's words, before giving a small nod in response to Oceanpup. "Coming," she said. She could sense that something was really wrong and her prior excitement and happiness had faded away. She walked after Pantherpup, stepping past Iceflood to enter the elders' den. Moonbreeze looked very sad, but Forsakensoul wasn't moving. Was he asleep? "Is something wrong?" she asked Iceflood, her voice quiet.