chapter 1.
Moonfire sat shivvering quietly in the bush, paraying to StarClan the large tom didn't see her. After it scented around for a few terribly long moments he finally seemed satisfied with finding nothing and casually padded away. After he was out of sight she finally slowly creeped out of her hiding place and as quickly and silently as possible made her way back to the clan camp. "DappleStar, DappleStar! I NEED to speak with you!" She called out as soon as she came within the safety of the camp walls. Other clan mates clustered around, looking nervous at the urgency in her voice.
DappleStar hirried out of her den, confusion lighting her gaze. "What's going on?" She questioned. "Can we talk about this in private first. I'd rather not alarm the clan if it can be avoided." She said quietly. DappleStar nodded and turned to lead Moonfire into her den.
As soon as they entered Moonfire started pacing, thinking of a uniform way to tell her clan leader that not only was one their clan mates dead, but the cat...thing... that killed him was still in their territory. "When I was out in the forest, a cat, non-clan, killed SandStripe. It tore him apart, DappleStar, it was terrible, horrifying. He didn't look natural." She almost wailed. "And I wouldn't dare go up against it alone. It had the claws of other, bigger animals covering it's own. We will need at LEAST a full patrol to get rid of him I'm sure of it." She finished, huffing from speaking so quickly.
DappleStar rested her tail on Moonfire's shoulder. "Calm yourself, Moonfire. I will make an announcement about this, and don't worry, I'll do it in a way that won't alarm the clan too much. We don't need them all to panic just yet."
Moonfire dipped her head to her clan leader "Thank you DappleStar. But what about SandStripe? Shouldn't we bring him back to camp and bury him?"
"Yes, But in the morning. I don't want a patrol going out blind in the dark." I will have KestrelGale put a patrol together at first light. Until then let's focus on protecting the living members of our clan." She said finally.
"Alright." Moonfire agreed and padded out of the den.
DappleStar headed out after her and leapt onto the tree stump in the center of camp. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the tree stump for a clan meeting." She yowled, letting the clan saunter out of their dens, away from their posts at the camp entrance and away from the freshkill pile. She motioned for WillowDusk to stay in his spot near the camp entrace and listen from there just in case.
"SageClan, I have some very bad news. SandStripe has been killed..." She paused to give her clan a moment for her words to sink in. After a few moments of shocked silence and then quiet murmurs she continued. "Moonfire has informed me that the cat who murdered him is still out in our territory and is very dangerous. We will need a full patrol to either run him from this area or kill him, and I don't want any other cat harmed. You will not leave camp alone, none of you. And in the morning I will send KestrelGale out with a patrol to retreive Sandstripe's body. There will be at least 2 guards at the camp entrance at all times. And the kits will be guarded as well until this threat is eliminated."
The clan shifted uncomfortably and the murmurings became louder, one bold clan member, StormFeather, a long haired silver-gray tabby tom, called out. "So we're just going to cower in fear in our camp until we can get a big enoguh group to track this cat down during the day? He's ONE cat, he can't be THAT dangerous." He called skeptically.
"He had large claws like from other animals sheathing his own, like the stories of Scourge's BloodClan from the forests of the 4 clans that were brought here by the travelers. And he looked crazy. He was bigger than you, StormFeather." Moonfire called back. Other clan mates murmured agreement with the outspoken warrior but no others would speak aloud their doubts, they knew better than to question their clan leader's decision.
A while later the clan was despersed, Moonfire had been put on camp entrance protection with Frostclaw. A white furred she-cat with ice blue eyes. She was a short tempered cat with a quick wit and a feirce fighter. the rest of the clan was sound asleep, or most of them were, besides the few apprentices scared by the story of the killer cat prowling their territory.
"Why in the name of Starclan didn't you try to fight him and help Sandstripe before he was killed. The two of you could have taken that cat on. It's just another cat." Frostclaw hissed, her words as sharp as her claws. Moonfire had forgotten that FrostClaw was SandStripe's mate. She suddenly understood the resentment she heard in the other she cat's voice.
"Listen Frostclaw..." Moonfire began softly, "I'm so sorry, but there was nothing I could do. By the time I saw Sandstripe the cat was already almost up behind him. He was being killed before I even had time to warn him." She paused. "That cat, looked unnatural, Frostclaw. His fur looked burned and patchy, the white fur was singed away to skin in spots and it almost looked like some cat took their claws and slashed his mouth open wider than it should be. his eyelids were singed black, it didn't even look like he could really close his eyes and he barely had a nose. There was blood matted all over his fur, like he'd killed others. I couldnt risk trying to take him on when he had already killed SandStripe. I needed to warn the clan or he probably would have killed more than just Sandstripe tonight. He looked completely deranged."
Frostclaw nodded quietly, her temper temporarily forgotten in mourning her lost mate. "I see. Well I will help kill this intruder. There's no mercy for a cat who doesn't follow the warrior code and kills other cats so easily, especially if he ambushes them. No matter what DappleStar says I WILL make him pay for killing my mate." She looked up at Moonfire, determination in her tear stained eyes.
"I will help you if I can, FrostClaw, you have my word. But I won't go against DappleStar's orders I'm sorry. She's a good and just leader and I can't disobey her wishes. She's only trying to keep her clan safe and her warriors honorable."
"Yeah, yeah, honor, the warrior code, blah blah, I get it. Thanks anyway, Moonfire." She said sarcastically, but a glimmer of gratitude shone in her ice blue gaze.
A few hours later the two she-cats were laying by the entrance, Moonfire yawning with tiredness and trying hard not to fall asleep while FrostClaw still looked resolute, even if her eyes were starting to droop just the slightest bit, when a yowl rang out from the apprentice's den. It sounded terrified and mournful. The two cats raced for the den, wide eyed. They entered to see the apprentice Owlpaw, KestrelGale's apprentice, standing over the limp, lifeless body of Redpaw, StormFeather's apprentice, laying in a pool of his own blood.
There was a large hole in the back of in the brambles that made up the wall of the den.
"How did that cat get in here without alarming any cat? Surely he would have made SOME noise, enough to wake up another apprentice." FrostClaw mummbled worriedly.
DappleStar pushed through the cats who had gathered around after hearing the distressed wail of the apprentice who had found poor Redpaw. KestrelGale had also entered the den and was comforting her apprentice and nefew Owlpaw. His mother had died of greencough the previous leaf bare and his father was a rogue. He was sobbing softly into her shoulder fur.
"How did that cat get in here to do this?" DappleStar demanded angrily, a hint of fear evident in her voice.
"We aren't sure, DappleStar, he didn't use the camp entrance and we didn't hear anything. We swear to you we were awake and alert and there was no sign onf a camp intruder." FrostClaw answered. She never lied, so DappleStar nodded sadly after a few moments and rushed back over to the tree stump to call out the words for another clan meeting.
"This is two deaths in one night and no more will be tolerated. We are not prey and we will not submit to simply being slaughtered. I want one or two warriors awake and on watch in every den all night. And in the morning we go on a little hunt. No one kills an apprentice that ruthlessly for no reason and gets away with it. This cat won't be shown mercy when we find him. I was going to consider it if Sandstripe was his only killing but this? I will not lose any more of my clan mates to this cat." DappleStar yowled, her voice shaking with anger, looking to the sky, to Starclan. She hoped her words would become true.