[squidz]

— STAGHEART —

very large, muscular, & scarred light brown tabby tom with stark blue eyes and a torn ear; killer aptitude t3 | just a scratch

[ riverclan warrior | tomcat | 55 moons | gruff & battle-hardened, heart o’ gold; loyal to a fault ]

—

 

Originally Posted by XmasMangoBear

Willowtail raced forward with a choked sob. Looking frantically for Stagheart. "STAG!!" the warrior wailed. "Stormy no. Come on Storm you can't be gone please Storm please....come on....you said you'd always be there for me.....you helped me when my mother passed please don't leave me now!!" She wailed

@squidz

Stagheart had come into camp later, a scrawny vole hanging from his jaws from a solo hunt. The tom had had a lot on his mind, and he'd been needed some time to himself. The early leaf-bare chill managed to wake him up a bit, to break through some of the thoughts he shared to no one but himself.

But he was hit with the overwhelming stench of blood and fear, making his fur stand on end before he'd even approached the camp entrance. His vole dropped from his jaws without him even realizing, racing full-pelt and bursting through, his claws instinctively unsheathing. Blood, fear, wails ringing in his ears... oh, stars, what was happening, were they being attacked the one time he'd decided to step out—?

Stagheart skidded to a halt once he saw the assembly of cats, all crowded around a lump of fur he couldn't quite make out. His fur flattened somewhat, at least grateful to see that RiverClan wasn't being invaded; it would just be another thing to add to their growing list of recent tragedies. But his relief didn't last long as he realized that the wails were not just of fear and disbelief, but... of grief. And his stomach sank with a cold realization.

Whichever cat that was in the clearing... was dead.

Using his larger stature to his advantage, Stagheart managed to shoulder his way through the throng, muttering an 'scuse me here or there. And when he finally broke through, his eyes were first drawn to the medicine cats hunched over, distraught, staring blankly down... then his blue eyes fell to the actual subject of suffering. And his breath hitched in his throat.

No...

Stormstar.

The battle-scarred tom froze and, in a rare moment for the stoic warrior, found himself unable to move. It was similar to when he'd seen Weepingpaw, a tall young tom who'd become an adopted son to him. But this death tacked on the additional cold trickle of despair as he realized that his beloved leader, the one responsible for restoring RiverClan's stability and strength, who'd reignited his full faith in his Clan... now lay, cold and dead. Almost in disbelief at first, his incredulous gaze flicked to Berryshine, but... he saw the resigned, distant grief in her eyes, and he knew. He knew that the healer had already done her inspection and found out the worst.

Numbly, Stagheart padded forward, stopping a respectable distance away from Stormstar's body to pay his respects as if he were on autopilot. He guessed by the space around her that someone had asked everyone to stay back. He couldn't take his eyes off the motionless gray fur, stomach churning as if he were sick. This looked... wrong. Stormstar had been so full of life and fire, a force to be reckoned with, one that could even intimidate him if he were honest; if there were more like her, especially with the tenacity she'd had as a warrior and deputy, the forest would either be bursting with life and chaos or on fire. Her passion and loyalty had been infectious, helping further inspire his own.

And now... those blue eyes that had looked at him with an affectionate sort of respect, that voice he remembered telling him that he was a good warrior that she trusted, that she truly appreciated, were forever quieted and dulled.

"By the stars..." he whispered, shaking his head as if unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Claws curled into the grass in frustration and grief. What could've done this? All he could smell was blood and... what was that scent... coyote? That was unusual. And it was still daytime. He spied Owltalon interrogating Seabreeze and briefly put together that the ex-Lionheart must've been there, especially for the haunted look in his gaze. Could they ever get a break for more than a few moons?

Before he could properly even begin to process the shocking fact that Stormstar was gone, before the denial could properly give way to pure anger, he heard a familiar wail. Turning, Stag's eyes softened as Willowtail raced towards him, sounding desperately panicked as she tried to register the corpse before her. It was eerily similar to the look of despair that he'd seen in her with Weepingpaw. Immediately swallowing down the groan of grief he'd wanted to utter, the tom rose to his paws, meeting Willowtail without hesitation and pressing his flank against hers to keep her steady. Perhaps she could barely feel the faint tremble of his own paws, though it was subtle as he held himself together as well as he always did.

"She... she's gone, kid. I'm sorry," Stagheart whispered thickly, trying to ease Willowtail down to sit, speaking through a tightened throat. He had to be the rock once more, and he could do it. He glanced around for Daisypaw, wondering how Willow's sister was faring with this as well. "Stars, this is..." he started to mumble something like 'unbelievable', 'horrible', whatever... but no proper worse fell from his maw. He could only shake his head in grief and reluctant belief, his heart slowly coming to terms with the awful truth before him, before hanging his head low.