"Yes," Bloodystar answered, squinting slightly as he looked at the silhouette of his sister in his den's entrance. His paws were strained black by the soot he'd been spending the past few hours cleaning out, but there were fruits to his labor, as all of the flooring and walls - save for the ceilings he couldn't quite reach - were clear of the black dust.

As the red-furred tom approached Innocentlament the dark rims around his eyes were more than apparent and he was limping slightly, not due to a wound but from sheer exhaustion. He hadn't truly rested a single night since SunClan had left their camp and it showed, "How has the rest of the camp cleaning been going?"

"No, I should go. I can't rest until I know SunClan territory is secure anyway," Bloodystar said, padding past Innocentlament and into the intense sunlight. The one last steady factor in his life was the sun in the sky, if he didn't have that they perhaps he would believe the Sun God was dead, and then what?

He took a few steps down the pathway then glanced back at his sister, he seemed a little annoyed but was too tired to get angry about it, "Are you coming?"

She sighed "only so that I can carry you back here when you collapse" she retorted, but his sister was already making her way to his side "The others are waiting for us outside the maze" she let him take the lead, but only so that she could keep a close eye on him. They met the others going on the patrol, turning to face the new initiate "Yes, the more paws the better" she answered for Bloodystar bluejay
--------------------------->Slight time skip - anyone can join in

Innocentlamment's feet came to a stop as they neared what should have been the burial grounds. What used to be a field of sunflowers shielding the ceremony springs from view was now nearly flattened. Burnt charcoal stalks jutted out of the ground, and ash covered the ground. The hill of the ceremony springs jutted upwards from the barren landscape, and while the river had protected it from much of the flames the heat and dried out the many herbs that once grew there. Only a few patches of green remained. 

And yet... That wasn't the most disturbing part. What had stopped her was the bones that were jutting out of the ground, a paw reaching upwards to the sky still coated in soil. Charred roots still wrapped around it's paws, and it wasn't the only one. Corpses once buried under the sun flowers, lied scattered across the field. Some had only managed to just break the surface, while others had managed to escape their graves. It would be an all to real reminder to the cats of SunClan of what had happened on the blue moon. Apparently it wasn't only the dead in MoonClan's territory that had risen that night...

But upon closer inspection, the cats would notice something odd about the corpses. Thick roots and stalks from the sunflowers had been wrapped around the charred unrecognizable bodies, almost as if the sunflowers had fought to keep them in their graves. Innocentlamment forced herself to take another step forward, only now seeing the sprouts of the green that poked through the ash, a promise that even after such devastation they would return.
[For those of you who don't know, this is a reference to our halloween plot --- link] 

Lucien’s hackles raised as he surveyed the sight.
“Wh-what happened here? What could have done this?” He stammered, a shudder running down his spine. He eyed one of the skeletons partially out of the ground, the jaws locked open with thick roots curling out. His ears flattened and he looked away, trying not to be sick.
“It looks like the flowers fought back.”

A loud wail filled the air, Ferventprayer collapsing to the ground at the terrible sight before them. Tears streamed down here face at the charred bodies, and bones jutting from the ground. The flattened sunflower field that had always been her escape. She had already felt responsible for the dead rising in MoonClan, and now her heart sank even farther "I'm sorry" she replied between sobs "I shouldn't have prayed like that... I should have had the strength just to let my sister go" the boned paw sticking out in front of her nose "Im sorry... I'm sorry..." 

[MILD GORE WARNING]

Bloodystar was at a loss for words as the barren landscape came into full view. The sunflower fields were SunClan's most sacred part of their territory. They were not only a place of beauty but remembrance of the chosen's lives lost over hundreds of generations... and now it was nothing but a horror-scape. Bodies twisted and tangled in the roots of the scorched sunflowers, bones melted down and twisted like wilted petals. Some skeletons were fully formed; others were practically dust, either from the start or the fire was anyone's guess. It reminded him of that nightmare he'd had back in MoonClan... back then the bodies had still had flesh and instead of sand and roots it was blood and vines... Go on, look upon their faces, the rotting apparition had said... and before his eyes the faces of cats long lost appeared on the scattered skulls around him.

The clearing was filled with an eerie rattle of death as cats with no throats opened their jaws gasping for air. Some moaned for their lost bodies or loved ones, some cursed Bloodystar for leaving them unprotected for so long, allowing this to happen. What was earlier were scorch marks were now oozing sores of blood and puss, they gave off of putrid scent of rot, so repulsive that Bloodystar gagged and stumbled backwards. His paws gave out beneath him, slipping in the decomposition liquid and falling, hard, on his shoulder. The High Priest let out a pained yelp and scrambled back to his feet...

... and all he heard now was the quiet weeps of Ferventprayer, the murmuring of Perfectstorm... the air smelled only of smoke and ash, the ground dry as the bones that littered it...

Bloodystar took a deep breath and was silent for some time.

"Cats of SunClan..." He began suddenly, his eyes closed, not that many would be able to tell from his current vantage point, "Before us is what happens when a High Priestess turns her back on the Sun God. In slaying him she not only damned the living, but also the dead, whose spirits wander between the Isle and the Dark Forest, their afterlife stolen away from them by one cat's selfishness. However..." He finally opened his eyes and grasped the steam of a sunflower, "... The Sun God's love is only weakened, not lost. For while his absence allowed for the wickedness of the Moon Goddess to raise our dead, he held them in their graves, protecting both the living and the dead."

The sunflower erupted into fire in his paws but he didn't even flinch, "All cats who are able are to rebury the bones of our ancestors. Those who cannot should focus on collecting sunflower seeds to replant the fields. This is our first priority, even before restoring our own camp, for if our ancestors cannot rest, then neither can we."

Bravepaw looked rather horrified at the scene before him, as though, despite the fact he'd not spent as much time among these fields as your average SunClan apprentice, he felt the pain as deeply as any cat. It unnerved him, seeing the bodies of not just the dead that hadn't been buried, but generations of ancestors before him, barely restrained by flowers that kept them from descending upon SunClan while they spent their days in MoonClan territory. He glanced at Soaringpaw when she spoke, giving her a grave nod. "Let's hope you're never in a situation where that's even a consideration." He answered, his voice quiet so that only she could hear it. Jadie

Innocentlamment’s fur brushed against Bloodystar’s as she moved silently to begin reburying the dead. Not everyone here would be strong enough to do so, but it had to be done. She worked along side the others, listening to the quiet murmurs as they worked. It wasn’t clear exactly what had happened here, and as far as they knew the only witnesses were the spirits that once rested here... “The bodies that lied here were merely shells. The souls of The Choosen are still safe on the isle” she tried to sound convincing, but uncertainty still creeped into her voice.bluejay @atomheart

Ferventprayer  pulled away from her brother, nearly crawling to where Bloodystar stood “Daddy please” she choked out the words, though she could see it in his eyes. He was somewhere else, lost in his own thoughts “”I have to fix this, it’s all my fault... please... tell me what I need to do. Punish me if you must, I just want the dead to be able to rest again”

"Weirdo," Soaringpaw said to Bravepaw, lifting up a paw and lightly smacking him on the head, "Quit thinking about what might happen someday and worry more about what you can see, feel and touch right now. Anyways... let's go bury some bones, k?" She didn't give him any time to properly respond before she padded away and began to get to work on a skeleton that had a root growing through a crack in its skull. Honeystorm


"First, get off the ground," Bloodystar said sternly, but as he spoke he gently cupped the side of his adoptive daughter's face with one paw, gently smudging away her tears, "You offend our ancestors when you grovel and cry, especially here, at their resting place. You are one of the chosen. Don't forget that."

He then helped Ferventprayer to her paws; Perfectstorm was right there, slouching slightly as he so often did in Bloodystar's presence, and helped hold her steady as Bloodystar continued, "Next, do as I ordered and help then return to their final resting places. They will be grateful for it. When you are done, all that is left to do is pray. My daughter, there will be times when you try to do everything correctly, but you will never know for sure if your actions were right or wrong. In times such as these all you can do is pray to the Sun God. He can see things about you that even you do not know, he knows your heart, your intentions. He will never give up on you unless you give up on yourself." racer