"Some say life Will beat you down Break your heart" Poor Cottonwoodkit. SRP Cott Sat unmoving. Her pelt was soaked and she was chilled too the bone. And yet she remained. Her mother's body had been moved long ago. The hard ground now devoid of her scent. Cott stared dully at the soil. She was numb all over. Inside and out. Her mom was gone. Gone. Rain dripped out of her fur and into her eyes, and Cott blinking it out. The ground was shaking . . . no, that was her. Everyone said the separation wasn't real. She'd see her Mom again. Quartzflood had been taken in by Starclan. Cott thought Starclan should give her mom back. Somecat led her into the nursery and Cott collapsed onto her mother's nest. Her mother's old nest. The scent was there but stale. Cott breathed it in, trying to memorize it. Trying to set a perfect portrait of her mother in memory. But it was already slipping. Somecat cleaned her pelt but Cott didn't care. It was all her fault. She was supposed to protect her family. It was all her fault. Her mom was dead. It was all her fault. Cotton vowed to keep her remaining family safe forever. No matter what. The broken, jagged pieces of what had been a happy family only a day before. As night settled, her eyes began to droop shut. The dam broke and sobs slipped out of her lips. "I want mom . . . Please. Bring her back. I'm sorry. I'm sorry . . . "
