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Nightheart padded into camp with a large squirrel in his jaws, the coarse fur tickling his muzzle. He fought the urge to sneeze as he ducked to enter the Thunderclan camp. A wall of dense, stressed atmosphere hit him as he brushed past the brambles, immediately setting his hackles on edge. The camp, usually buzzing with life, was quiet save for tense murmurs coming from a crowd of cats near the base of highledge. Nightheart placed the squirrel carefully on the top of the fresh kill pile, then padded towards Sunbeam and Frostdawn, who was visiting from Riverclan.
As he skirted the edge of the crowd, he heard snippets of worried conversation. "What do you think happens now-?" Cinderheart's soft voice drifted up to his right ear, quickly followed by Lionblaze's low worried mew, "I don't know." "Holy shit..." Fernsong breathed next to them, making Nightheart glance at him in surprise. Fernsong never even said fox dung when he missed prey! His golden fur was pressed against his mate as he huddled up to Ivypool's rigid body, who seemed to be frozen, unable to process the horror in front of her.
Nightheart hurried the rest of the way, sitting down so close to his mate that the fur on their haunches were intertwined. "What's going on?" Nightheart asked in a low, worried voice, pressing his muzzle into Sunbeam's white patched shoulder. "There's been a disaster," Frostdawn mewed, while Sunbeam nuzzled Nightheart's head comfortingly. "The Twin Towers..." her slightly raspy voice trailed off. It never did recover from the second wound... Nightheart felt a pang of anger and regret, like he did every time her voice cracked or broke. Sunbeam picked up the story, her voice grim. "They've been hit by a plane." The last word sounded harsh and confusing to Nightheart, and he looked up at Sunbeam's worried amber eyes. "What's a "plane"? Do you mean an air monster...?" Frostdawn rolled her dark blue eyes, flicking her fluffy gray tail irritably. "Who gives a shit, this whole thing's inconsistent."
Bayshine, who was sitting near them in the main crowd, looked back at them, waving his white-tipped tail to get their attention. "I think Squirrelstar's getting more news!" He mewed in an urgent, hushed voice. "People closer to the front are saying she got called away. It sounded really important." Frostdawn and Sunbeam exchanged a worried glance, bright amber meeting dark blue. There was a moment of tense silence, only broken tentatively by Sunbeam. "... what... What could be worse then what's already happened?" She shook her head defeatedly. Bayshine glanced towards the highledge, expression troubled. "I don't know."
Everybody's eyes were fixed on the highledge, so nobody was surprised when they saw movement. Squirrelstar emerged from the shadowed leaders den, her head low. She padded slowly across the rock ledge, her fluffy tail dragging through the grit as it hung lifelessly behind her. Once she reached the edge, Squirrelstar raised her head, taking a deep, steadying breath. Immediately, she seemed to transform, raising her head confidently. Her chest broadened, and her large dark ginger tail raised high, commandingly. When she opened her eyes to address the clan, though, the dismay in her green eyes didn't match her fake confidence. "My fellow Thunderclan. I have tragic news. News that will no doubt shock and distress you. We will get through this, as a clan. I promise." She took a final deep breath, before mewing in a grave voice,
"They hit the second tower."