Though she'd only known her for a short time in her Clan as a working member, the disappearance of the new apprentice cut Blazestar to the bone.
She blamed herself.
She had, after all, led the patrol that caused the apprentice to be snatched away; by what, StarClan only knew.
What was worse, the apprentice was her own daughter.
It pained her to remember her daughter's tufted ear; the curve of her tail; the blue of her eyes...
She closed her eyes in sorrow.
"Blazestar?"
Blazestar opened her blue eyes to see her mate standing there.
Nightfeather was a handsome dark gray tom with tufted ears and tabby stripes under his gray eyes, the former evidently a trait he passed to his daughter. The thought of her sent a pang through her very being. Nightfeather noticed her sadness and looked into her eyes. She saw in the back reaches in her mind a flash of blue. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, not returning the signal her mate gave her.
She felt his surprise and a sudden lurch of regret.
She felt his ears flatten and him turn away with his tail low.
"Nightfeather?" she suddenly called out.
He stopped and looked at her.
"We need to organize a search party."
She saw the confusion in his eyes, an orange. She knew he saw the lilac-a pinkish lilac, now- in his mind like she saw the blue.
"We need to find my daughter. Now."
End of Chapter 1