#y2-lb

Tigerstar had tried to teach her names from his home, but staring at her kits, everything he had said slipped out of her mind like sand.

She didn't want to name them for him.

Instead, she studied the three tiny bundles nursing from her. Sasha was a kittypet before she was a loner — that was what Tigerstar called her — but she could still name.

"Moth," she said, for the she-cat. She reminded Sasha of the moths that flicked to Ken's lights, and her fur was already long.

"Hawk," she said, for the first tom. He looked the most like his father, but Sasha gave him a name for what flies above cats. Hawks, she knew, were the ever-vigilant, that which preyed on unwatched kits.

"Tadpole," she said, for the final kit. He reminded her of them, with his kit's tail sticking out like a burr.

Cresspaw's jaw felt tight. He was sitting between his surviving brothers, their sister and last brother's bodies laid in front of them.

"They died like warriors," Berrypaw said, his voice softer than usual.

"They died." Watchpaw said.

Cresspaw sighed, looking towards their mother. Applefur had her tail wrapped around her, in some last effort of comfort. She hadn't pushed them away, but she hadn't not, and they had agred, silently, to give her space.

"Cypresspaw, Sandpaw," she murmured. "May the stars recieve you well."

It was not her role to perform a funeral rite, but she was grieving. They were only barely apprentices.

"We could have died," Cresspaw said.

"We didn't." Berrypaw's voice was cold. "So don't say that."

"We could have," Cresspaw repeated. "They did."

"Is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and become an elder?" Leopardstar asked.

Heavystep sighed, looking at the empty den. It was built for him, frustratingly. TigerClan had caused the destruction of the old elders' den, dismantling what was left of Greypool's memory. Her shrine bore none of her trinkets, built after her body had been buried and her things carelessly discarded.

At least the same fate would not meet him.

Silvernose met his gaze, waving his tail encouragingly. He had been the one to push Heavystep into retiring, after Heavystep was so exhausted from a patrol that Silvernose was unable to wake him. Mudfur feared he had died.

Still, it felt wrong. Heavystep was young, and he could feel the strength that curled in him. He didn't know why he was so easily drained, and he longed to continue in duties.

But Mudfur was right. He couldn't be depended on in battle, and his Clanmates would have to expend extra time to make sure he hadn't injured himself on patrol or while fishing. Heavystep could no longer safely dive, and he had no skill for denbuilding. As an elder, he could fish when he wanted, and when he felt ready, without causing Stonefur headaches in organizing patrols.

It was the right thing to do. Heavystep would gladly tell stories to the kits — Mosspelt's litter was energetic, and he had helped teach them to swim in the shallows of the river. There was always something to be done in camp. Retirement did not mean an end to his duties.

primrosepaw also already died in y2-lb. and she'd be a warrior by now.

the dog plot concludes. brindleface dies. with no other nursing queens, her kits are weaned early, but willowkit dies. redstar still falls over the cliff, but he's not on his last life, so he survives.

whitestorm dies in the great battle, and one-eye dies during the season.

lostface has a litter of kits, after: lightningkit (pale, almost white tom with long fur), podkit (golden she-cat with long fur), and sequoiakit (red she-cat with long fur).

tigerstar is disposed of leadership, blackstar gets his nine lives, and makes russetfur his deputy.

applefur's litter becomes apprentices, but cypresspaw and sandpaw die in the great battle. berrypaw is apprenticed to jaggedtooth, cresspaw is apprenticed to brownthorn, and watchpaw is apprenticed to darkflower.

(i know jaggedtooth by every right should leave shadowclan, but let's say he plays both sides better. he's still a Bad Dude.)

streamkit and rosekit also die, for unrelated reasons.

tangleburr has three kits, rootkit, iriskit, and rainkit.

primrosepaw dies under tigerclan. things play out slightly differently, in that leopardstar doesn't tell stonefur to kill the apprentices (given that one is his niece), which enrages tigerstar and leads to him killing primrosepaw personally.

but hey, stonefur lives?

she doesn't show up yet, but sasha has her litter (tadpole, moth, and hawk). i'm tracking them under riverclan, even though they're still loners.

whitetail's litter becomes apprentices, echopaw to deadstar, noddingpaw to tornear, indigopaw to webfoot, and thriftpaw to ashfoot.

two of quailblossom's kits die, in place of gorseheart: cresskit and heartkit, which pushes her to fight in the great battle.

sorrelheart, echopaw, and quailblossom all die in the great battle. deadstar appoints onewhisker as deputy.