Cradlegrave blinked as Scout collapsed to the ground, like a puppet with cut strings. He froze in place, watching as her body—no longer Scout, only the vessel through which she moved through the world—sank onto the ground, hitting the floor with the sound of a sack of bones thrown from a balcony. It echoed in his mind over and over, lasting for what felt like an eternity. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. It echoed over and over, until he couldn’t take it any more. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Over and over, echoing a ridiculous amount. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Echoed some more, to the point where it was getting absurd. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Kept echoing, to the point where he was sure it was going to stop. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. It stopped for a bit, then kept echoing again. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. It stopped for, like, a second, but then it started echoing again for the second time. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

She gave a few final twitches, merely the work of muscles that hadn’t caught up to her brain, before she ceased to move entirely. He padded across the short distance between them, pressed a paw against her throat. Waited one second, two seconds, three. Another six seconds, just in case he’d missed it the first time. Then, just in case he’d missed it the second time, another twelve seconds. Then, just in case he’d missed it the third time, another twenty seconds. No matter how long he waited, there was utter stillness beneath his paw. No telltale heartbeat, no rush of blood under her fur, no disgruntled comment telling him to get his grubby little meathooks off her neck right this once. Just in case he’d missed it the fourth time, he waited another minute. Then, just in case he’d missed it the fifth time, he waited another three seconds, but there was still nothing.

There was nothing he could do.

Cradlegrave was not so arrogant to think that he was the only SwiftClan member who’d experienced death up-close. Cats of all backgrounds and families came to SwiftClan, from the most naive of kits, the most battle- worn warriors, and the most jaded wanderers. He’d never been sure of where to place himself on that spectrum, though. He was young but not that young, jaded but still had hope for a better future. Still, he was sure that he was one of the members with the highest body count. Cradlegrave had been his homeland’s own personal reaper—or rather, he’d been one bounty hunteer competing with every other bounty hunter in the desert for the highest kill count. He’d taken on jobs that he didn’t think he’d live through, just to prove that he could. He’d hunted cats for sport—cats who had done things to deserve it, but regardless, he’d always been too callous about it. He’d enjoyed seeing them die, seeing the blood of a stranger drain out in pretty rivulets across the scorching desert he used to call home. Watching their expressions freeze in that expression that had eventually become burned into Cradlegrave’s head. Shock, fear, and something he’d never been able to parse.

He looked into the corpse’s eyes, eyes that had once belonged to Scout. Would he be able to decipher the final part of that expression now, when it was no longer the eyes of a stranger, but the eyes of a friend?

Not that Cradlegrave really thought he could call Scout a friend. He was fairly confident that Scout would bite his head off if she heard him calling her a friend—or worse, mock his way of speaking to anyone that happened to be passing by. The two of them had never gotten along, and Cradlegrave had never quite been able to understand why. Sure, he understood the surface reason behind her dislike of him. She was kind of a weirdo and didn’t like the fact that he was a scout, because....she was also a scout? He didn’t know. He could never understand her. How had everyone else felt about Scout? Did she have any friends, or had she driven everyone away? He thought about the other members of SwiftClan, each one of their faces flashing through his mind. Chimerastar. Beestripe. Firetooth. Freckledfairy. Shatteredshine. Lightdawn. Aviur. Cerebusspirit. Fuzzypeach. Tinybreath. Pygmyprawn. Demonicchicken. Lamb. Calamityshrine. Scorchsoot. Squirrelpool. Steepfall. Evelyn. Beastrefrain. Thunderrumble. Tuskblood. Batseeker. Luckywillow. Swiftriver. Heatedrampage. Speedhawk. Lobsterdeath. Jaggedpuddle. Skeletonpanda. Skiprose. Fireflyfrenzy. Owlflight. Peachblush. Lionblood. Badgerbee. Seasquirt. Sliprabbit. Cradlegrave. Wait, that was him. Not Cradlegrave. Lovearrow. Rustyheart. Midgefly. Juniper. Pineapplebreeze. Luca. Blacksky. Otterpaw. Happypaw. Mistpaw. Galepaw. Stygian. Spiritpaw. Rushingriver. Ophelia. Wildrain. Brownie. Indigopastels. Jetfire. Nib. Romulus Fauna. Mothkit. Goosekit. Stormkit. Doekit. Seakit. Fawnkit. Secretkit. Sparrowkit. Grumpykit. Vulcan, if ghosts counted. The characters from the Discord server he’d never roleplayed in. He thought about them all again, since the list was so long that by the time he’d gotten to the end of it he’d forgotten the Clanmates at the start. Chimerastar. Beestripe. Firetooth. Freckledfairy. Shatteredshine. Lightdawn. Aviur. Cerebusspirit. Fuzzypeach. Tinybreath. Pygmyprawn. Demonicchicken. Lamb. Calamityshrine. Scorchsoot. Squirrelpool. Steepfall. Evelyn. Beastrefrain. Thunderrumble. Tuskblood. Batseeker. Luckywillow. Swiftriver. Heatedrampage. Speedhawk. Lobsterdeath. Jaggedpuddle. Skeletonpanda. Skiprose. Fireflyfrenzy. Owlflight. Peachblush. Lionblood. Badgerbee. Seasquirt. Sliprabbit. Cradlegrave. Wait, that was still him. Not Cradlegrave. Lovearrow. Rustyheart. Midgefly. Juniper. Pineapplebreeze. Luca. Blacksky. Otterpaw. Happypaw. Mistpaw. Galepaw. Stygian. Spiritpaw. Rushingriver. Ophelia. Wildrain. Brownie. Indigopastels. Jetfire. Nib. Romulus Fauna. Mothkit. Goosekit. Stormkit. Doekit. Seakit. Fawnkit. Secretkit. Sparrowkit. Grumpykit. Vulcan, if ghosts counted. The characters from the Discord server he’d never roleplayed in. He was still having the problem where he forgot the cats at the start of the list by the time he reached the end, so he thought about all his Clanmates in reverse order. The characters from the Discord server he’d never roleplayed in. Vulcan, if ghosts counted. Grumpykit. Sparrowkit. Secretkit. Fawnkit. Seakit. Doekit. Stormkit. Goosekit. Mothkit. Romulus Fauna. Nib. Jetfire. Indigopastels. Brownie. Wildrain. Ophelia. Rushingriver. Spiritpaw. Stygian. Galepaw. Mistpaw. Happypaw. Otterpaw. Blacksky. Luca. Pineapplebreeze. Juniper. Midgefly. Rustyheart. Lovearrow. Not Cradlegrave. He didn’t have to say Cradlegrave again because he was going in reverse. Sliprabbit. Seasquirt. Badgerbee. Lionblood. Peachblush. Owlflight. Fireflyfrenzy. Skiprose. Skeletonpanda. Jaggedpuddle. Lobsterdeath. Speedhawk. Heatedrampage. Swiftriver. Luckywillow. Batseeker. Tuskblood. Thunderrumble. Beastrefrain. Evelyn. Steepfall. Squirrelpool. Scorchsoot. Calamityshrine. Lamb. Demonicchicken. Pygmyprawn. Tinybreath. Fuzzypeach. Cerebusspirit. Aviur. Lightdawn. Shatteredshine. Freckledfairy. Firetooth. Beestripe. Chimerastar. He did it again, because he’d done it in the proper order twice and it felt unfair to only do it in reverse order once. The characters from the Discord server he’d never roleplayed in. Vulcan, if ghosts counted. Grumpykit. Sparrowkit. Secretkit. Fawnkit. Seakit. Doekit. Stormkit. Goosekit. Mothkit. Romulus Fauna. Nib. Jetfire. Indigopastels. Brownie. Wildrain. Ophelia. Rushingriver. Spiritpaw. Stygian. Galepaw. Mistpaw. Happypaw. Otterpaw. Blacksky. Luca. Pineapplebreeze. Juniper. Midgefly. Rustyheart. Lovearrow. Not Cradlegrave. He really had to remember to stop saying his own name in these lists. Sliprabbit. Seasquirt. Badgerbee. Lionblood. Peachblush. Owlflight. Fireflyfrenzy. Skiprose. Skeletonpanda. Jaggedpuddle. Lobsterdeath. Speedhawk. Heatedrampage. Swiftriver. Luckywillow. Batseeker. Tuskblood. Thunderrumble. Beastrefrain. Evelyn. Steepfall. Squirrelpool. Scorchsoot. Calamityshrine. Lamb. Demonicchicken. Pygmyprawn. Tinybreath. Fuzzypeach. Cerebusspirit. Aviur. Lightdawn. Shatteredshine. Freckledfairy. Firetooth. Beestripe. Chimerastar.

What was his point? He’d completely forgotten. All that name-listing had made him want to take a nap, or something. Oh right, Scout was dead. Did she have any friends, or had she pushed everyone away? Did she have family here? A mother? A father? A sister? A brother? A grandfather? A grandmother? An uncle? An aunt? A son? A daughter? A cousin? Two cousins? Three cousins? A cousin, once removed? A cousin, twice removed? A cousin, thrice removed? If she did, then they weren’t speaking up. Maybe they were all dead, like Cradlegrave’s own family. Was this where the Swiftscout bloodline ended? Had Scout even wanted kids, wanted to keep her family’s legacy alive? Did her family even have a legacy? Did she even have a family, as opposed to suddenly falling out of the sky on SwiftClan’s doorstep one day? There were so many things he hadn’t known about Scout, and now he would never get to know. They were forever secrets now, kept by the universe under the earth where her body would lie, sealed by lock and key. And lots of dirt. The sound of her body hitting the ground started up again, echoing over and over. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. It echoed over and over, until he couldn’t take it any more. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Over and over, echoing a ridiculous amount. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Echoed some more, to the point where it was getting absurd. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Kept echoing, to the point where he was sure it was going to stop. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. It stopped for a bit, then kept echoing again. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. It stopped for, like, a second, but then it started echoing again for the second time. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Please just go away, he thought, and to his surprise, it did. All that thudding, and all he’d had to do to get it to stop was ask politely. Maybe if he’d been more polite to Scout, she wouldn’t have keeled over like that. Maybe she would still be alive, nagging him about something completely unimportant.

Is that what he’d done? Had he killed her?

Did it even change anything? He’d always been a murderer—only this time, he’d killed a friend instead of a stranger.

Cradlegrave couldn’t even bring himself to be surprised. At the end of the day, death had always followed him, like flies on a corpse. He’d brought death and destruction to the desert while he still lived there, and then led his community to their own end at the hands of Twolegs through his own mistakes. He’d attacked a baby Twoleg during his own escape, left it bleeding on the ground for its parents to find and had barely looked back. He’d killed cats as he’d made his way to the forest—sure, they’d attacked him first, but all he’d been looking for was an excuse to kill again. Even during mundane activities, he couldn’t stop it from following him, like the corpse of a stranger that he and Frenzy had found when the chimp was on the loose. Just by staying in SwiftClan, was Cradlegrave dooming his Clanmates? Would death come for them too, just because he was too close to them?

He looked around, seeing no one else come forward to grieve for their deceased Clanmate. Maybe he was the only one who could bring peace to her, the only one who could send her off into the afterlife?

He checked her pulse once more, hoping to feel that something had changed. Waited two seconds, three seconds, four. Another five seconds, just in case he’d missed it again. Still nothing.

Cradlegrave let out a deep sigh, and closed her eyes gently. “I did the best I could,” he whispered, “but sometimes our best ain’t enough to save someone. I really am sorry, Scout. I hope you’re scoutin’ up there in StarClan now, or whatever you Clan cats believe.”

Peachblush coughed loudly. “I’m sorry, did Swiftscout just die in front of everyone and we all just stood here while Cradlegrave inner-monologued for twenty minutes?”

“Yeah, but I got this post to two thousand words, so, you know. Worth it.”

“Oh.” Peachblush looked confused, but eventually he nodded. “Yeah, I think so too. Whatever that thing you said about posting means.” Then they kissed.

"Iconic," Midgefly acknowledged. "He really did seem to try his best."

"And it was really on brand for SwiftClan," noted Demonicchicken.

"I'm hungry," said Fuzzypeach with great sadness.