Chapter seven: LavaClan's conclusion

The usual blah-blah-blah: I'm not Erin Hunter, I do not own Warriors, and I would like reviews

Enjoy!

"Flickerlight? Who's that?"

"He's the AuroraClan medicine cat. It makes perfect sense now," Smokestar continued, eyes blazing. "He crossed the border to steal herbs from us. Stonejaw found him, and he killed him."

"Are you sure?" Saffron asked.

"My mentor Eagleclaw told me himself that Flickerlight was the one who crossed the border."

"But, could a medicine cat kill someone?" Saffron argued. "Pinewhisker told me she has no training as a warrior."

"A cat of DreamClan told me himself, Saffronpaw. Believe me, he is the killer."

But Saffron's mind was rushing. Something that Smokestar had overlooked…why did she always jump to conclusions?

"Saffronpaw, we must return to the LavaClan camp. They must know."

"Why?" Saffron demanded. "They'll lose their wits and go charging after Flickerlight and kill him! Then your cats would be murderers!"

Smokestar didn't answer him. She stood up and stalked out of the grove into the black of late night. Saffron followed her as they crossed the plains and the forest before reaching the camp.

As soon as he'd crawled out of the tunnel, Saffron made a dash for the fresh-kill pile and wolfed down the freshest squirrel he could find. As he did so, Pinewhisker approached him; she looked like she'd been missing sleep. Everyone else was still asleep, as it was still dark.

"Did you see anything, Saffronpaw?" she asked tiredly.

"Some stuff about the Clans being formed or something," he replied dismissively. "Those kittens giving you trouble?"

"I'm worrying too much about them," the medicine cat sighed. "Did Smokestar find out anything?"

Saffron glanced down at his paws. "I've got a feeling you're going to find out soon." He looked up over his shoulder; Smokestar and Emberheart were talking in low voices.

As the sky turned grey with pre-dawn light, cats began to emerge, even though it wasn't even time for the morning patrol. Some went straight to the dwindling fresh-kill pile and began gulping it down.

"Seriously, Saffronpaw, what did DreamClan tell Smokestar?" Pinewhisker demanded in a low voice.

Saffron took a deep breath. "One of LavaClan's old warriors told her that Flickerlight crossed the border the day Stonejaw died."

Pinewhisker went stiff. "So that means Flickerlight killed-"

"No, it doesn't mean Flickerlight killed Stonejaw! Think, Pinewhisker! Think! She's doing it again. She's jumping to conclusions!"

"Well, even if he didn't actually kill Stonejaw," Sprucestripe announced, sitting down next to her sister and dropping the mouse she'd been carrying on the ground, "I still blame him for Stonejaw's death."

"Hey!" Saffron snapped. "Who invited you into this conversation?"

Sprucestripe ignored him. "Flickerlight's a medicine cat, for DreamClan's sake. He could've saved Stonejaw; they were in an herb patch."

"Sister," Pinewhisker mewed softly, setting her tail on Sprucestripe's shoulder, "Not every injury can be healed."

"You've never lost a patient."

"I've just been lucky," Pinewhisker mumbled. "One of these days…I know I will."

Swallowwing joined the group that was slowly forming. "Hey, have you heard that Flickerlight of AuroraClan killed Stone-"

"That's what Smokestar thinks, anyway," Saffron interrupted him loudly.

"Well, didn't DreamClan tell her that?"

"Indirectly," Pinewhisker pointed out.

"It wasn't Flickerlight, it was a fox!"
"Did DreamClan tell you that?"

"My nose told me that!"

"Your nose can talk?" Spiritpaw asked curiously as he drifted over to them.

Saffron sighed and shook his head. "It means I know this because I smelled fox-scent on Stonejaw's body."

"So maybe a fox delivered a fatal blow to Stonejaw, and Flickerlight found him dying and failed healing him," Pinewhisker speculated.

"But we've found no other signs of foxes on our territory," Sprucestripe pointed out.

"Foxes are cunning," Swallowwing reminded her.

"Yes, but they also leave scent," Sprucestripe argued.

"Maybe that's why this one attacked Stonejaw in an herb patch," Saffron added.

"That would have to be one really clever fox," Sprucestripe mewed doubtfully.

"What are we talking about?" Spiritpaw asked curiously.

No one answered his questions; Swallowwing took advantage of the pause in conversation to eat his mouse.

"Murderers!"

The yowl echoed across the LavaClan camp; Saffron looked over to see Jadepool keel over, eyes full of grief and shock.

"They killed him!" she wailed. "Oh – oh – how could they?"

Mousenose rushed over to comfort her, murmuring words Saffron couldn't here, helping her to her paws.

"AuroraClan! I hate them!" she screamed. "Code-breakers! Rouges!" And with that, she bolted out of camp. Her voice could be heard among the trees. "You'll pay, Flickerlight!"

"They can't be allowed to kill any more innocent cats!" Mousenose roared, and he shot after Jadepool, down the tunnel and into the forest. LavaClan cats scrambled after them, not with the intent to stop them from going completely berserk, but to help them attack AuroraClan. Somehow remaining calm, Smokestar and Emberheart followed the crowd, clearly planning to let their Clan attack.

"This isn't good," Sprucestripe pointed out. She was among the few cats left in camp, along with her sister, Saffron, Spiritpaw, Swallowwing and the queens, kits and elders. "Someone could get hurt!"

"Yeah!" Spiritpaw piped up. "Someone could slip and fall and the other cats could stampede over them and-"

"Not to mention AuroraClan's going to get flattened," Saffron added dully.

"Well, who cares?" Spiritpaw argued. "We don't need them, do we?"

"We don't need them? We don't need them?" in an instant, Saffron found himself standing over Spiritpaw, every fur in his body bristling. "You think its okay for a bunch of cats to die simply because we don't need them?!"

Spiritpaw shrunk away from him, quivering in fear.

"Okay, even if Flickerlight did kill Stonejaw," Saffron continued, voice still hot with anger, "That doesn't mean that every cat in AuroraClan needs to die!" He stepped away from Spiritpaw and headed for the hollow tree tunnel. "I'm going after them. They're overreacting; one cat died, and they're going to butcher an entire Clan for it."

Saffron raced after the LavaClan vigilantes; they weren't hard to find. He could hear them, screaming about how Flickerlight and his Clan of code-breakers would pay for the death of poor, poor Stonejaw. Unluckily, they knew the forest much better than him, and he found it much harder to keep up with them.

They reached the AuroraClan stream long before he did. However, rather than crossing it and continuing into AuroraClan territory, they simply stopped and stared into its waters.

"Are you still going to go after Flickerlight?" Saffron called. Several cats turned their heads to stare at him.

"Well, that's going to be kind of hard," Mousenose mewed bluntly, "because he's already dead."

A sort of jolt hit Saffron. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, ignoring the angry protests of cats. Floating in the water was the body of a ginger cat.

"You're not just going to leave him there, are you?" Saffron demanded. He stepped over the stream; it wasn't very wide.

"Saffronpaw!" Smokestar's voice called from over the gasps of LavaClan cats. "Get back over here! You're breaking the code!"

Saffron ignored her. Bracing himself against the icy cold water, he reached into the stream and pulled Flickerlight's body out of it, leaving it on the rocky pavement of the riverbank before stepping back over to LavaClan territory.

"There," he purred softly. "Then they'll be able to find his body now." He slipped through the crowd of stunned, silent warriors and headed back into the forest.

The moment he was among the pine trees, he ran. Behind him, he heard a yowl and knew that several LavaClan warriors were after him, but he didn't care. If they came, he wouldn't run; he would fight.

Mousenose leaped, but he didn't land on Saffron; instead, he landed in front of the golden tom, teeth bared. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out of here," Saffron growled. He also bared his teeth.

"Saffronpaw, put those claws away or you'll be in even more trouble than you already are," Emberheart growled from behind him.

"No." Saffron was surprised how strong his voice sounded. "You can't punish me anymore."

"We can and we will!" Emberheart roared.

"No," Saffron repeated. "I'm leaving LavaClan. I'm going to somewhere where I won't be bossed around by you cats."

"You can't leave, Saffronpaw!" he heard Sprucestripe mew. "At least, not yet! You have to fulfill my sister's prophecy!"

"Maybe Sprucestripe is the cat with the stars' eyes!" Saffron pointed out. "She has visions, I don't! I'm just a cat with a funny marking who wants no part in any of this! Have you ever considered that?"

"But you are," Firewish called. "DreamClan guided your pawsteps to us, after we had received the prophecy about you!"

Saffron snorted. He'd never heard such a ridiculous declaration in his life! Guided him? He'd gotten himself into this mess on accident. "Coincidence," he pointed out.

"There is no coincidence in DreamClan, only fate and destiny," Jadepool mewed sagely. Considering the circumstances, she sounded awfully calm.

"Who put them in charge of handing out fates?" Saffron demanded, secretly laughing at Jadepool and her stupidity.

"Show respect for our ancestors!" Emberheart barked. "They're wiser than you'll ever hope to be!"

"Being dead doesn't make you smart," the star-eyed tom argued.

"Oh, Saffronpaw, be quiet for your own sake!" Spiritpaw yelped. Saffron started; he hadn't realized that the tom had followed him to the AuroraClan border. "They're probably going to make you take care of the elders for a half-moon or something."

"Not if they can't catch me!" Saffron growled, and sprang at Mousenose, knocking him to the ground. He jumped over the toppled LavaClan warrior and ran. Once again, he heard the yowls of 'Stop! Stop!' Once again, he ignored them.

He shouldn't have.

Never once had anyone in LavaClan told him that the mountain that their forest ran up against had its own inhabitants. Even if he had been warned, he probably wouldn't have known that, if a deer fled onto LavaClan territory, these creatures had no scruples crossing the border.

Saffron had seen dogs before; he'd even fought one once. He'd heard stories that dogs had nastier, fiercer relatives that lived far away from twolegs. He even knew their names: wolves.

But he'd never dreamed he'd be face to face with one.