Redfeather's ears flattened as the scream rang through the camp. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise, trying to forget the words that had just slapped her in the face like an eagle's wing. Falconstar was dead?
The strong, clever Falconstar, who had led the Clan for season after season, was dead?
The medicine cat could hear cats whispering and growling, clearly not believing this news. She hardly believed it herself; how could Falconstar be dead? There hadn't been anything wrong with him...had there?
I'm such a terrible medicine cat!
Closing her eyes, she shook herself and padded outside to where the cats sat in a huddle outside the den. They were clearly trying to get in and see for themselves if their leader was really dead, but two senior warriors Stormsky and Ferntail were standing in the way, blocking any cat who tried to make a move to get inside. Redfeather pushed her way through the crowd of cats, who parted to let her go through, and was met by Ferntail, who grudgingly let her pass. She could hear some cats protesting, but ignored them and went inside.
Yarrowleaf and Runningstream were already in, pacing around a dark shape on the floor, mewing something to each other. The dark shape, Redfeather realised, held the form of a cat's body, sprawled stiffly across the hard stone of the den. She padded forward to stand beside Runningstream, who looked up in surprise, then relaxed when she saw who it was. "Thank StarClan you've come," she meowed. "We have no idea what killed him. All we can see is that he's been coughing up blood, but because of what, I have no idea."
"Let me see." The medicine cat took a step forward so she was closer to her dead leader, feeling chills ripple up her spine as the scent of death came at her in waves. She sniffed at his dull fur, trying to find any signs of illness, and then let her eyes travel up towards his head. Runningstream had been right; there was a thin trail of scarlet running from his mouth and trailing for about a mouse length on the ground before finishing. She bent down and sniffed it, then half recoiled in shock.
"What's wrong?" Runningstream asked fearfully. Redfeather could feel her sister shaking beside her. "It's...it's..."
The word she was looking for seemed to be stuck in her throat; she couldn't bring herself to utter it. How could the red string be what she had smelled while checking him over?
However, her nose never lied.
She swallowed. "It's deathberry juice."
For a moment, there was silence in the cave. Redfeather's ears were ringing; she was practically begging in her head for some cat to say something when Yarrowleaf spoke for the first time. His voice was rough and scornful. "Deathberries? Redfeather, are you really mouse-brained enough to think that Falconstar would've eaten deathberries? He wouldn't-"
"Since when did I say he ate them on purpose?" Redfeather interrupted, a little louder than she had meant it to come out. "Hang on; I need to check something."
She padded around her leader's body, examining the area around him. The floor was gouged and scratched by Falconstar's claws; probably made when he was struggling after eating the berries; but that wasn't what Redfeather was looking for. The medicine cat finally saw it, kicked aside in a corner; the half-eaten remains of a rabbit.
She hoped with all her heart that her theory wasn't true, and that the rabbit was just something that Falconstar had eaten earlier, but as she rolled it out with her paw, her nose told her that the scent clinging to the carcass was unmistakable. It matched the scent on the scarlet trail coming from Falconstar's mouth, and as she peered at the rabbit, she noticed that its belly had been neatly slit. Inside was a half-eaten deathberry, a whole one and a large mess of blood and berry juice, which was noticeably brighter than the blood itself. Closing her eyes briefly, she raised her head and looked back at the two cats in the den. "Come and see this."
Runningstream half eagerly, half fearfully padded over to the spot, while Yarrowleaf followed behind, his eyes dark. Redfeather showed them the rabbit; it didn't take any words to tell them the obvious.
Runningstream was the first to speak. "A-are you saying that someone from WindClan...?"
The medicine cat gave a tiny nod, unable to speak.
"We can't be sure a WindClan cat did this," Yarrowleaf began, but he was cut off by the medicine cat.
"No," she corrected him. "The scent on this," she gestured to the rabbit, "is purely WindClan."
"But who in WindClan would try to kill Falconstar?" The other she-cat's tail swished in fear.
They didn't get any further with the discussion. A light cough from behind them made all three of them turn their heads. A shape was standing at the entrance, which Redfeather recognised as Stormsky, one of the cats who had been guarding the entrance. "Marshclaw's about to address the Clan," he announced. "Everyone's gathering below the Tallrock. You need to come now." His tone was brisk, and his face was unreadable.
"We'll come," Redfeather meowed, "but first we have to-"
"You can come back to what you're doing later," Stormsky growled, an edge of impatience to his mew. "Marshclaw has some important announcements to make. Every cat must come to listen."
Redfeather opened her mouth to protest again, but Runningstream nudged her. "We'd better go," she whispered. The medicine cat reluctantly agreed and shut her jaws, turning away from the rabbit. The scent of death still hung strong in the air, masking any smell of poison, but as Redfeather turned away, another scent wafted into her nostrils. She froze, turned back sharply to the prey and sniffed deeply. Her eyes widened. There were two more scents on it besides the deathberries...
"Redfeather!" Stormsky's voice was sharper now. "Marshclaw's waiting!"
Frustration welled up through the medicine cat; couldn't she just check the rabbit for scents quickly? But the tom's face held a warning look, and she decided to abandon the investigation for the time being, and go back to it afterwards. She grudgingly followed the tom outside, her tail flicking in annoyance. Marshclaw was grooming a sticking-up patch of fur underneath the rock, his eyes gleaming slightly, making the hairs on Redfeather's neck prickle. She shook herself and padded over to sit with the Clan, positioning herself next to Ferntail who was watching the scene with her ears pricked. Marshclaw finished with his fur, stood up and leapt onto the top of the rock in one smooth motion. He dug his claws into the rock to keep his balance as his eyes swept over the cats below him.
The whole camp was silent, waiting for their new leader to speak.
Memories of the scents on the rabbit came back to Redfeather, but she pushed them away.
"Cats of WindClan," Marshclaw began, his deep and clear voice ringing out around the camp. "Falconstar has just died, and as his deputy, I have no choice but to take on leadership of the Clan."
"How did he die?" a cat yowled from the crowd. This was followed by several more yowls, which Marshclaw silenced by growling and raising his tail. "That is a very interesting question, and one I would very much like to know the answer to." His gaze cast around the group, and finally came to rest on Redfeather, who suddenly felt as if the whole sky had gone dark except for a beam of light which was fixed on her. His gaze seemed to strip her of all dignity, and she suddenly felt as if the whole world was staring at every hair on her pelt. She barely heard Marshclaw speaking. "Redfeather, I understand that you, Runningstream and Yarrowleaf went inside the den to look at Falconstar's body and check for things that may have caused his death. Could you report what you saw for us?"
Redfeather swallowed and looked down at her paws, her belly churning. "Th-there was a rabbit there..."
"Speak up, we can't hear you," an impatient elder named Mallowclaw yowled from the back.
She raised her head and cleared her throat. "There was a rabbit there," she said, her voice shaking. "There were..." Her voice suddenly went quiet; she could bring herself to say the word.
"What?" Thistlefur spoke, an edge to her mew. "Tell us, Redfeather."
"Deathberries inside," she whispered, just loud enough for the front row of cats to hear.
It was enough. The word 'deathberries' spread through the Clan like wildfire, and soon the whole clan was talking and protesting loudly, saying that there must've been some mistake, that it must've just been drying blood; or discussing who put them there, if they were from WindClan or otherwise. Her mew was drowned in a wave of other voices, until she heard Blackear rasp loudly, "Quiet! Let Redfeather speak!"
She blinked gratefully at him. "The scent on the rabbit was definitely WindClan's," she announced, her voice clearer now. Her paws tingled. This was the moment; the moment when she could tell them that the cat they trusted most was a murderer, that he had put the berries in the rabbit, and his scent had been all over the fur, mixed in with another, much fainter scent...
"So who was it?" Marshclaw asked calmly, not seeming to be fazed by the fact that he was just about to be revealed in front of the whole Clan.
Redfeather looked up at him on the rock, and immediately regretted it.
The look in his eyes froze her on the inside. It burned into her mind, warning her, telling her that if she even said anything...
She couldn't do it. Her mouth wouldn't utter the words. She just stood there, frozen with her mouth half open, about to utter his name but unable to form the words because of the look that was paralysing her tongue.
But the other scent.
"It was..." She swallowed. Could she do it? Or would she face the wrath of their new leader?
However, she knew that even if she decided to reveal who the true murderer was, she wouldn't even be able to form the words, let alone say them to the whole Clan.
"Cheetahpaw," she meowed in a very small voice.
All eyes turned to the spotted apprentice, who was standing, his eyes widening as more and more eyes fixed on the place where he stood. Even from here, the medicine cat could see he was shaking. Guilt welled up inside her. I'm sorry! she wailed inwardly. I'm sorry, Cheetahpaw. I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry.
"Cheetahpaw," Marshclaw growled. "I would have never expected that of you."
He even manages to act mildly surprised!
The apprentice hung his head. Redfeather stared in at him in shock. Why doesn't he say anything?
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
Cheetahpaw gave a tiny shake of his head.
"In words, apprentice."
"N-no, Marshclaw..."
"Listen, Cheetahpaw," he growled, his tail swishing. "I have no idea why you would do such a thing to Falconstar, but whatever the reason, the punishment is simple. You must be exiled from WindClan."
"No!" a she-cat wailed from the crowd whom Redfeather recognised as Leafheart, Cheetahpaw's mother. "Th-there must be some mistake! Why would Cheetahpaw try to kill Falconstar? Please, Marshclaw, have some sympathy-"
"Enough!" Marshclaw's snarl made all the cats in the clearing freeze. None of them had seen him get this angry at another Clan member before. "Cheetahpaw, I've nothing else to say to you. Go."
The apprentice stared at him, looking dazed as if he couldn't believe this was happening to him.
"Go, you unworthy rogue," Marshclaw hissed at him.
Cheetahpaw blinked at him, then got shakily to his paws and padded over to the camp entrance. He paused, turned, and just before stepping out of the tunnel his eyes came to rest on Redfeather, yellow merging with green.
However much she tried to tell herself otherwise, Redfeather knew that the look he gave her would stay in her mind forever.
The apprentice stared at her for a few more moments before turning and vanishing out into the forest. The last they saw was the black tip of his tail disappearing into the gorse.
Marshclaw's gaze swept around the cats once again, and then fixed Leafheart with his amber stare. "And now," he growled, "to deal with you."