Hawkstripe steeled himself as he approached the nursery. He could hear the loud mewls of kits even from where he stood, about a fox-length away. The brown tom masked his expression carefully and entered the nursery. Brownlight was inside, with an orange and white kitten on his back. He stomped around the nursery like a badger, and the kit was squealing in delight. In a nearby nest, an orange queen was curled around a dark brown kit. She fondly watched Brownlight playing, and her expression nearly made Hawkstripe want to retch.
"Father," he interrupted calmly. Brownlight stopped stomping and smiled at his son, sliding the kit off his back. The brown tom took a few steps up to Hawkstripe.
"You've grown," he commented proudly. Brownlight stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him. "Nearly as tall as me now."
Hawkstripe growled, and the light faded from Brownlight's eyes. "I'm not here to talk about how long it's been since you drove apart my family."
Brownlight sighed, shaking his head. "I see you still believe in those kit tales to make yourself feel better. Anyway, what do you want then?" Let me think about that . . . I want to turn back time, I want you to jump off a cliff and die, and I want my mother back. That too hard?
"We need to talk about what happened," Hawkstripe meowed through gritted teeth. When Brownlight made no move to talk or exit the nursery, he glared pointedly at the orange queen and her kits. "Alone."
Brownlight nodded and moved to quickly touch noses with the orange she-cat. "Let's go outside." Hawkstripe followed him out of the nursery and into the still-bustling camp. It seemed like a few cats had gone to sleep, but most were still awake despite the hour. Involuntarily, Hawkstripe yawned.
"So," Brownlight started, "what is it?"
"I want to ask you a few questions," Hawkstripe answered.
"Hawkstripe, you know what happened with your mother wasn't my faul-" Brownlight meowed.
"About Reedpaw's death!" Hawkstripe snapped. "Or were you too busy with your new mate to notice that one of our apprentices was murdered?"
Brownlight looked taken aback and narrowed his eyes. "You think I did it?"
"It's a possibility," Hawkstripe returned. "Considering what you did to Goldenstorm and I."
"Enough about that!" Brownlight ordered, a familiar tone of rage entering his voice. "What's done is done! I was younger and foolish then."
Hawkstripe sighed, pushing down his own anger. "What were you doing at midnight?"
Brownlight eyed him warily before sitting back down tensely. "Minding the kits while Emberwing went out for a walk." A walk, hmm? Well, it seems like he was of some use after all.
Hawkstripe nodded. "Okay. That's all I wanted to know." He turned to leave without saying goodbye, not looking back to see his father return to his family. All done. Hawkstripe yawned. Now time for a quick nap before sunrise . . .
oOo
"Hawkstriiiipe," a long, drawn out voice called in a sing-song way. "Wake uup."
Hawkstripe's eyes snapped open and he glared at the white tom. "StarClan, Snowclaw, grow up."
"But we're friends!" Snowclaw protested, a glimmer of hurt in his eyes.
"Possible partners in crime-solving," Hawkstripe corrected. "Emphasis on the possible."
Snowclaw perked up at this, exclaiming, "Hey, let me tell you what I found today! It's really interesting, I swear. Let's go outside." He hurried outside without waiting for Hawkstripe, disappearing in only a few seconds.
Hawkstripe reluctantly heaved himself out of his nest and plodded after the energetic white tom. "I suppose so." When they stepped outside, Hawkstripe had to blink a few times to get used to the sunlight. The sky was streaked with red and orange, and the sun was sleepily peeking over the horiozon.
Contrasting the slow sunrise, Snowclaw was already half-way out the entrance by the time Hawkstripe caught sight of him. The deputy led him out to the lake, where the water was reflecting the sunrise.
"What have you found?" Hawkstripe asked, sitting down beside Snowclaw.
"Well, most cats said that they were sleeping, which is kind of suspicious," Snowclaw started.
"It was midnight," Hawkstripe exasperatedly reminded him. "Most cats would be sleeping." Maybe he didn't do as well with this as he thinks.
"Oh," Snowclaw meowed. After a small pause, he continued, "Anyway, there were a few cats who said something different. Emberwing," You know what, Brownlight? I just thought of something else I want instead. I want her to dump you and then push you off that cliff, "she said that she got Brownlight up so that he could watch the kits while she went for a walk. Uh, Miststep, she said that she was out at the lake, but she was the one who reported seeing the murder. I'm not sure why she would have been down there in the first place though."
"She's down there every moon," Hawkstripe supplied. "I've followed her, and she just stares out at the lake all night and comes back at dawn."
Snowclaw gave him an inquisitive look, but didn't ask any questions. "Okay. So, Goldenstorm was also helpful. Kind of. I mean, when I asked her where she was at midnight she went all snarky on me and was like, 'I was busy being woken up by all of you mouse-brains who are fussing over nothing'." Typical Goldenstorm. "But then she settled down and told me that she noticed Sandheart's nest was cold when everyone was woken up. Sandheart had told me before that she was sleeping all night."
Hawkstripe nodded and smiled to himself. Looks like we've got a suspect. Thanks, sister. He turned to leave, intending to go and find Sandheart.
"Where are you going?" Snowclaw asked.
" . . . To question Sandheart," Hawkstripe deadpanned. "Obviously, since she seems the most suspicious."
"So I found the first suspect!" Snowclaw exclaimed happily. "Does that mean I passed your challenge?" Hmm, foxdung. I was hoping he wouldn't ask, but . . . I suppose he did pass. Although I would still give credit for the suspect finding to Goldenstorm, not this overly hyper twerp.
Hawkstripe gave one firm nod to Snowclaw before leaving him. The deputy quickly caught up to him, and they entered the camp together. The dawn patrol was assembling near the entrance, and Snowclaw's eyes suddenly went wide.
"Mousedung, I forgot!" he cursed. "I have to organise the morning patrols now, so you're on your own. Tell me what you find!" he called over his shoulder as he ran off to find Poolstar.
"What makes him think that I'd prefer him to tag along?" Hawkstripe muttered to himself. "The mousebrain barely knows how to sort out the patrols, let alone run the Clan or help me catch a murderer."
Feeling slightly lighter now that the irritating white tom wasn't shadowing him, Hawkstripe set off to find a certain pale she-cat. He quickly spotted her near the fresh-kill pile, watching the kits playing with a fond expression.
"Sandheart!" he called, effectively catching the she-cat's attention. Sandheart turned to face him and smiled warmly, gesturing for him to speak again.
"Shame what happened last night, don't you think?" Hawkstripe asked casually, sitting down beside Sandheart.
The pale she-cat nodded in agreement, eyes softening, if that was possible. "Reedpaw was such an energetic and promising cat. Do you know what happened to her?"
"No, but I was wondering if you did," Hawkstripe replied. "I was sleeping at the time, so I didn't really get a good understanding of what everyone found. Where were you at midnight?"
Sandheart averted her eyes, answering, "Sleeping as well, of course." She gave a small awkward laugh. "Where else would I be?" When Hawkstripe didn't reply, she shuffled her paws slightly. Looks like someone's not telling the truth.
"Where were you at midnight?" the brown tabby repeated. Sandheart looked up, panic flooding her soft features. "I know for a fact that you weren't in camp."
"Don't tell anyone!" Sandheart suddenly blurted. "I didn't mean to cause any harm!"
Hawkstripe narrowed his eyes. Is this a confession? "What did you do?"
"Nothing!" the pale warrior denied. Her face remained stoic for another heartbeat, before she put down the mask again. "Just don't tell anyone, please!" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I could be kicked out of the Clan. What would my mother think of me? A traitor, that's what they'd call me. Hawkstripe, I do believe that I'm doing the right thing. Just give me a chance to explain tonight. Meet me near the ShadowClan border, down mear the lake." Her eyes were wide and pleading, although that wasn't what made up Hawkstripe's mind.
She was hiding something, and if she was willing to reveal everything because she thought that he already knew, when if fact he had no proof that she had killed Reedpaw, then he wasn't going to pass up that opportunity.
"Please?" she repeated.
"Alright," Hawkstripe agreed. Let's shed some light on a few things.