Author's Note:

Hello readers and welcome to Chapter Twenty! I bring many great gifts, including a continuation of the plot last chapter brought up.

What exactly do you guys think Shade will do with Nightfang if he gets him? Will Achilles be involved?

This chapter will include POVs from Dawnlight and Shade as well as Nightfang, so be ready.

Let's start with our resident investigator Dawnlight.

Chapter Twenty:

Dawnlight looked back into the camp, making sure her mate hadn't woken up and wandered into the clearing. She sighed in relief as she didn't spot him.

Over the past quarter moon, he'd been with her nearly every second he could, making sure she was "safe" from something. He'd made sure she'd never go out alone, and that she didn't work border patrols as often. Rumors had spread around camp, the cats wondering why Nightfang was being so overprotective all of a sudden, when they'd been such perfect mates for three moons.

Dawnlight slipped out of the camp silently. She knew Nightfang had been hunting along the border when he'd started acting weird, so maybe he'd seen something that'd scared him. Maybe she could find it too. Then she could talk to him about it.

Eventually, she made it to the edge of the border. A sick scent hung in the air. A moment later, Dawnlight realized it was the smell of rotten crowfood. Wrinkling her nose, she followed the scent until she reached the source of it. A decaying, uneaten rabbit lay before her. Through the smell she could detect Nightfang's scent. Why had he left this prey?

"Why hello there!" A deep, friendly voice came from behind her. Turning, she saw a scary sight. The friendly voice belonged to a herculean cat with many scars crisscrossing his pelt. The tom simply held an intimidating aura around him, and it affected Dawnlight.

"Who-who are you?" She stammered, completely forgetting that she was supposed to chase intruders away, not exchange pleasantries.

The tom grinned, "My name is Spot. Nice to meet you..." He paused, implying that she was to reply.

"Oh! My name's Dawnlight!" She replied with little hesitation. As she said her name, something flashed in his eyes, but she must've imagined it, because it disappeared a heartbeat later. She had been snared in by this seemingly bewitching tom.

"Would you like to share a mouse with me?" Spot mewed, the grin still on his face.

"I don't know..." Dawnlight muttered. However, when the tom seemed extremely disappointed, she sighed and mewed, "Alright then."

Spot had her follow him to a small den with a mouse in it. She followed his lead after he took a bite, but her bite seemed to taste really weird. Suddenly, she realized what the tom had done. "You fed me poppy seeds!" She slurred, her tongue and head heavy already.

"A large mouthful," Spot mewed, still grinning. "Oh and by the way," he mewed, "My name is Achilles." Dawnlight wanted to respond, but she just couldn't. A wave of poppy seed-induced drowsiness was rushing towards her, and when she stopped fighting, her world went black.

Nightfang's POV:

Nightfang yawned as he opened. Everything seemed normal, until he turned over to see that Dawnlight was gone. Where could she be? It was barely past sunrise.

Sighing, he got up and padded into the clearing. Seeing Blackclaw eating a rabbit, he bounded over to him and mewed, "Hey Blackclaw, have you seen Dawnlight?"

Blackclaw shook his head, "No, I haven't. Sorry." Nightclaw growled inwardly. Where was Dawnlight? Maybe she was agitated and she had gone for a walk. He'd have to wait a few hours. Hopefully the rogues wouldn't get her.

A few hours later...

Nightfang sighed in frustration and fear. Dawnlight still hadn't come back, and Nightfang was still trying to reassure himself she was probably just walking still. However, he'd decided to ask Bramblestar to send a search party.

Nightfang jumped up to Bramblestar's cave, nervous. "Bramblestar, may I come in?" He knew Bramblestar would be suspicious of him and what he wanted, but Nightfang couldn't risk losing his mate.

After a short pause, Bramblestar replied, "Come in." Taking a breath, Nightfang slipped into the leader's den. Bramblestar was sitting up with his dark eyes directed to him. "What brings you here?" He asked.

"Sorry for bothering you, but Dawnlight has been out of the camp for a long time, and I was just wondering if you could organize a search party?" Nightfang mewed, looking at his paws.

"Are you sure she's missing?" Bramblestar asked. Nightfang understood why he was asking that. He probably thought Nightfang had half-lost his mind lately.

"No doubt," Nightfang replied. Bramblestar him in the eye for a moment before getting up.

"I'll get a few cats to check around." Bramblestar mewed. Before he could leave, Bramblestar added, "Rest, Nightfang. You've been too worked up lately. Sleep." Nightfang hesitated, but nodded and left. Hopefully when he woke up he'd have his mate next to him.

Shade's POV:

Shade watched from his perch, watching Achilles' kit Athena play around. He'd been wondering for a while how much use she would be. Would she be a fighter, a sly temptress, or a skilled negotiator? Any would help her gain favor with the second tier guards, who made others earn respect before accepting them into their ranks.

Through all this thinking, he had also thought of something interesting. He would need a heir or a heiress to continue his legacy. A kit like Athena would be needed. Which meant he'd need a she-cat to mate with. "Any cat strong enough to kill gather around!" He called.

This call brought forth the second tier and the senior of the third tier to gather. Once they silently filled in, Shade called, "Any she-cats who are harboring a crush towards me, however small, step forwards." Surprisingly to him, five stepped forward, all from the third tier.

Clearing his throat, he continued, "Who of those who harbor a crush towards me and aren't great fighters, step forward." Three stepped forward, but he wanted to choose from two, so he added, "The two least intelligent cats step forward."

Shade inspected the two she-cats. One was a sleek tortoiseshell with bright green eyes, who seemed a bit older than Shade, but not by much. The other was a fluffy gray with icy blue eyes. However, this one had a smile that just wouldn't go away, which somehow irked Shade, so he decided on the other she-cat. What's your name?" He asked the tortoiseshell.

"Pepper!" She replied, her head perked up in excitement. Her brain must've known she was getting to be mates with her crush.

"Well Pepper," Shade leaned in so that only she could hear, "Do you want kits?"

Nightfang's POV:

Nightfang took a breath as he followed his mate's scent trail. The search party had told him Dawnlight's scent had gone to the border and then gotten overwhelmed by rogue scents. Where the scents met apparently lay a lot of blood. Their were fearing for the worst, but Nightfang wanted to see this himself.

Reaching the site, he gasped, there was indeed blood. Dawnlight had been killed, or if not, kidnapped. This was bad. Hyperventilating, Nightfang just ran. Ran and ran and ran. Eventually he stopped, exhausted, and laid down.

Not too long later, he heard a familiar voice mew, "You're on ShadowClan territory Nightfang." He turned to see Mintleaf.

"Go away!" He hissed half-heartedly. If he could, he'd stay there forever.

"What happened?" She mewed, sitting beside him.

Nightfang sniffed and looked at her, "Dawnlight was killed by some rogues."

She gasped, "That's horrible! Have you decided to go after those rogues?"

"N-no," he muttered. Admittedly, he hadn't thought of anything like that.

"Let's go," Mintleaf mewed assertively, nudging him, trying to get him up.

"Wait, what?" He exclaimed, "Don't you have duties? Who'll perform your duties?"

"My apprentice Firpaw and StarClan," Mintleaf replied.

"Why are you deciding to come with me now, when he haven't spoken in so long?" He asked, staring her in the eye.

She looked straight back, confidently mewing, "I'm joining you because I know you'll have to go with someone, and personally, I think I'm the best choice!"

Nightfang hesitated, "Are you sure?" He didn't want Mintleaf getting in any messes.

Mintleaf nodded, mewing,

"When do we start?"

A/N:

Wow! First, Dawnlight noses around and gets kidnapped, then Shade picks, yes, picks his own mate, the Mintleaf joins Nightfang on a possibly epic quest to kill the rogues who "killed" Dawnlight.

You'll find out how all that blood got on the spot where Dawnlight was kidnapped next chapter.

Remember, R&R!