Well, kudos to everyone that reviewed. You had many guesses as to who the killer was, many said Hazeldawn or Tawnypaw because of the 'wn' at the end. I'll tip you off on a little hint, those letters might be grouped together, but they can also be apart. Plus, the name of the cat could not have the letter 'w' in it, but the letter 'n' in it. Remember, she was dying, her words could be a bit gibberish. Well, arigato gozaimasu to Kawakage, lugirox, Cinderpaw11, Hawkfire111, silverstarfan, Darkness of the Eclipse, Cloudstep, and Loststream for reviewing. Enjoy~!

Chapter Five

Hawkpaw looked up at the leaders. He tilted his head to one side, and was very confused. The leaders of the clans he had heard of were Onestar of WindClan, Leopardstar of RiverClan, and Blackstar of ShadowClan.

None of the cats matched the descriptions he had been given. They actually matched the descriptions of the deputies. He sighed, and thought that he could've been given false information.

"I'm sad to announce that Leopardstar passed away. She caught a rare sickness, and it wiped her out," a bluish gray she-cat, the new leader of RiverClan sighed. "My new deputy is Reedwhisker."

"Congratulations, Mistystar," the gray tabby leader of WindClan mewed. Hawkpaw recalled from the conversation Bramblestar had shared with her earlier, that her name was Ashstar. "As you can see, Onestar is no longer with us. He was brutally killed by a dog."

"We also feel your loss," Bramblestar mewed. "Firestar was murdered," he admitted reluctantly. "He was found in his den, his body gouged. Leafpool and Dustpelt were also killed. I think a rogue has been doing it, so keep your eyes open."

"I'm so sorry," the ginger ShadowClan leader mewed. "Blackstar left. He was on his last life, and he said that he couldn't take clan life any longer. When I consulted StarClan about getting my nine lives, Blackstar gave me one of them, so he passed out in the woods somewhere."

Hawkpaw leaned over to Copperpaw, and whispered, "Who is that?"

"Russetstar. She used to be Russetfur, but she's leader now," he murmured back.

Ashstar started announcing the new news first. "My new deputy is Owlwhisker. We have a queen that just moved into the nursery."

The clans murmured their congratulations to Owlwhisker as each of the other leaders stepped up to speak. RiverClan cats swam back to their camp, while WindClan and ShadowClan warriors waded through the shallow waters back to their territory.

Bramblestar looked from cat to cat in the clan, seeing if every cat was present. He held a confused look on his face. "Didn't Poppypaw come with us to the gathering."

Hazeldawn spoke up, "Yeah, she was with me when we first arrived. Want me to go look for her?"

"Sure, take Thornclaw with you," Brambleclaw nodded. The two disappeared into the brush, and shortly afterwards; Hawkpaw heard a startled shriek come from Hazeldawn.

Not thinking, he dashed in the direction of the squeal, and pushed through the gorse. In front of his paws were the heavily beaten up and slashed bodies of Poppypaw and a RiverClan apprentice.

Hazeldawn looked dizzy, she had mentioned to him before that she easily passed out at the sight of blood. "I'm gonna go back to Bramblestar," Hazeldawn rasped, and rocked back and forth as she walked back towards the leader.

Hawkpaw grabbed Poppypaw by the scruff, and picked her up. She was heavy, he had to admit that, but she was his Clanmate, so he'd carry her all the way back to camp if necessary.

Bramblestar looked at the limp body of Poppypaw, and sighed. "The rogue struck again. If it is a rogue, come on; let's get back to camp. There's a shallow strip through the lake, we shouldn't have to swim for more than a moment at any point."

The patrol, starry eyed, followed Bramblestar, shocked that they had lost another cat. Hawkpaw glanced over at Hazeldawn, and she was incredibly grief stricken. She and Poppypaw and been denmates for ages.

"I'm sorry," Hawkpaw meowed to her. "I know that she was your friend."

"That's alright," Hazeldawn cried. The two had been the closest of close, and Hawkpaw couldn't even imagine the pain she must have been feeling. Worst of all, the family at home didn't know.

Sorreltail, Brackenfur, Cinderpaw, Molepaw, and Honeydapple would be aching, surely enough. Her mentor, Thornclaw, would be upset that she never completed her training, and Rainwhisker and Brightheart would also be sad about losing a niece.

Hawkpaw let Bramblestar carry Poppypaw, and Brightheart carried the RiverClan apprentice. His name was Sparrowpaw; Bramblestar confirmed it.

Hawkpaw winced as the cold water dampened his fur, and let off a slight shiver. He shook it off, and was soon paddling through the current. Most of the warriors didn't swim at all, and Hawkpaw was jealous of that.

He was still small, and his legs didn't reach as far down as they should have. As dry land approached, Hawkpaw let off a joyous purr, and climbed up onto the shore. He fluffed up his pelt, and gave it a quick lick over.

Bramblestar was already very far ahead, and Hawkpaw was pelting to catch up. Hawkpaw as thankful for his small size in one way, he could easily fit through the gorse tunnel without the thorns snagging his pelt.

Inside, most of the clan was asleep, except Chicorykit, Saffronkit, and Adderkit were bouncing around outside the den. Hawkpaw padded over to them, and peered inside the nursery.

Honeydapple was asleep, and Hawkpaw gave her a nudge. She sleepily blinked her eyes open, and looked up at him. "Hawkpaw, what do you need?" she yawned.

"Two things. One of them is bad news, the other is about naughty kits," he whispered, not wanting to wake up Ferncloud or Daisy.

"Naughty kits…" Honeydapple repeated, and gasped as she noticed her kits weren't at her belly any longer. One after another, the three kits trickled into the nursery, and Hawkpaw held in a laugh as Honeydapple scolded them.

She then turned her focus back to Hawkpaw. "What's the bad news?" she asked.

"At the island, Poppypaw disappeared, and when we went looking for her…we found her slaughtered like the others," Hawkpaw explained sadly. He hated to break the news to the queen, but he wanted it to be phrased gently, not as harsh as Bramblestar would put it.

Honeydapple's eyes clouded over, and she sank down in her nest. "Thanks for telling me, Hawkpaw," she sighed. "I guess it's better that I know now, rather than later. Is her body in the clearing?"

Hawkpaw opened his mouth to mew something to her, but Bramblestar's call interrupted him. "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting?" he yowled.

Hawkpaw padded to the edge of the nursery, and Honeydapple hissed to her kits to stay put while she listened to what Bramblestar had to say. The clan's eyes were dulled, most of them, if not all, had seen Poppypaw's body.

"The killer struck again. He, or she, took Poppypaw's life from us," Bramblestar started, choking on his own words. "I urge every cat to keep their guard up to the best of their abilities, and I order that there must be at least three cats on every trip out of camp. Apprentices can't leave without two other warriors, and kits will stay in the nursery, or very close to it," he growled.

A shiver ran through Hawkpaw's spine as anxious murmurs rippled through the crowd. Hazeldawn stood up from her misery, and called out, "The killer seems to ambush. We haven't once heard a cry for help, which would mean a quick death. Also, the patrol idea is a good one, but what if there are more than one?"

Bramblestar stopped, and really thought about what Hazeldawn had said. "You make a good point, but I won't let us be prisoners in our own camp. We'll just have to take the risk."

Some cats approved, some didn't, but the meeting was dismissed. Bramblestar walked into his den to contemplate the issues, and Cinderpaw, Molepaw, Sorreltail, Brackenfur, Thornclaw, Honeydapple, and her three kits came to share tongues one last time with their dead Clanmate.

Hawkpaw saw Brightheart sitting with her head down, and he padded over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm trying to decide if I want to go over there to share tongues with Poppypaw," she admitted. "I was never a very big part of her life, but she is my niece…I'm just not sure."

"Go share tongues with her," Hawkpaw mewed. "She is family, I think it would be right."

Brightheart nodded, and padded over to her niece to say a final goodbye.

Hawkpaw padded over to the cave that made up the apprentice's den, and saw Hazeldawn standing at the entrance. "I don't want to sleep in the warrior's den tonight. Could I sleep in the apprentice's den with you?"

"Sure," Hawkpaw nodded. It felt strange to be pressed so closely against Hazeldawn, but she was hurting inside, so he allowed it, just for one night.

*

Sneaking out of the camp in the light of the full moon, she let off a slight purr. Poppypaw had been killed successfully, and now two other family members would fall. Their names were similar to those of gorse.

Sorreltail, Brackenfur, and Thornclaw. Sorrel was a very leafy plant, bracken was a very long plant with thin leaves, and thorns were just annoying, thistle like objects that hurt if they got stuck in a pad.

Sorreltail had gone out to make dirt, and now she would meet her there. She ducked into the dirt tunnel, and found Sorreltail finishing up her business. "I'm sorry for your loss," she mewed honestly.

The she-cat nodded, and sobbed a bit more. "Can I go on a walk with you?" Sorreltail asked. To her soon-to-be killer's surprise, Sorreltail had lined everything up for her.

This death would be easy to line up, very, very easy. She wouldn't kill Thornclaw, just the upset mates. She set the path that they were walking on, and soon, Sorreltail tripped, and landed on solid rock.

Her jaw cracked, and she wailed in pain. Now it was her turn the attack. She was openly referring to herself as 'The Artist.' She flipped the unconscious she-cat over, and slashed her throat.

Hot and sticky blood oozed and bubbled out of her throat, and Sorreltail coughed some up. She let off a hearty laugh, and as she had planned, Brackenfur had gone looking for her.

She jumped to the side, her fur disguised in the smell of damp ferns, and watched as Brackenfur rushed over to her. He too, tripped over the hidden root, but didn't crack his jaw.

His hind leg was twisted in an awkward angle, and she lunged out of the gorse, slashing at his throat also.

This wouldn't be a work of art, no; this would look like the two mates killed each other to be reunited with their daughter in StarClan. The last light faded from Brackenfur's eyes, and she got to work.

Ever so gently she pulled some fur off of Brackenfur's pelt, and stuffed it under Sorreltail's front claws. She did the same with Sorreltail's fur, except it went under Brackenfur's front claws.

Pulling them close together, she stuffed Brackenfur's claws into the throat wound that had killed Sorreltail, and attached his other claws into Sorreltail's side.

She slid Sorreltail's right claws into Brackenfur's throat gash, and pushed her left claws into the top of his head. Now the two would be found, their lips pulled back in a snarl, seeming as though they killed each other.

A bit gory, eh? Yeah, well, that's all part of the fun! I'll update when I get 5 reviews. Also, can you please, please, please, please check out my story, Blue Moon Eternal???? Hardly anyone has reviewed it. (Thank you so much Kawakage and Darkness of the Eclipse, my constant reviewers X3) *Will be egotistic in 3...2...1...* It's a well written story too, so please just check it out *end of egotistic moments* Well, review both stories, ~Sayonara~!