Heyo.

Sorry for late chapter. I got really sick, and, well, I went on yet another weekend trip.

Only 3 reviews? Sorry if I sound a bit needy, but maybe 4 reviews might be better next time? ;) (edit: some people may not have gotten a notification for the last chapter. But that's okay)

Dragonemperess: Hmm, I'm not entirely sure which test you may be talking about. I've already taken a few of those tests, but I'm not sure if I could trust them or not.

Starrysong Likes Spring: Thank you (3

Flameboltz: Aw, I hope you get better! And it's prefectly fine (3 and yeah, I'm still getting to reviewing the new chapter, sorry. And I'm trying to get more of Flamepaw involved! ;)

Chapter 23

"..hey. Psst. Riversong?"

The bluish tabby felt a shiver pass through her fur as warm breath ruffled her ear. Flicking it and groggily getting up from her moss-padded nest, Riversong's blue gaze met a green one. The owner of the eyes was Willowflight.

"What do you want?" Riversong growled at her sister, arching her back in a stretch. "Don't you know that it's still night out? You'll wake all the warriors."

Willowflight blinked. "We know." she whispered. "B-but.. we think another cat was killed. W-we don't know who is the killer. It might be too late before she- it strikes again."

"Who's we?" Riversong muttered, feeling her mind race at the thought of another murder.

The big grey she-cat flicked her tail back and forth. "Some cats are missing. Haven't you noticed?"

Riversong narrowed her eyes and scanned the den around her, her eyes widening. There were more empty nests, some scents being fainter than the others. Most of the younger warrior's nests were empty.

"And by we, I mean Newtheart, Mistfur, Flamepaw, Featherfrost, and Aldertail." Willowflight whispered, flicking her ear as the older warriors shifted in their nests, mumbling under their breath.

The smaller tabby frowned at the names, pondering on the decision. "Another mission?" she growled quietly. "I don't want to go on another one, after the one Newtheart and Violetpetal and I went on ended up in f-finding.. Ebonysha-"

"Curse the murderer." Willowflight cut Riversong off with a quiet snarl. "He didn't deserve to die. I swear on my life I will take them down."

Riversong blinked in surprise, confused and feeling a pit in her stomach. "I don't think we'll ever find out who did it."

Willowflight narrowed her emerald green eyes in a strange, fearsome glare. "If you- we do, the damage is done under my paws."

...

"I don't know if I want to do this." Featherfrost, a former loner, mewed as she shuffled her paws on the hard, cool stone below her.

Aldertail sighed, staring at his paws, before looking at Riversong determinedly. "If we want to catch the killer, we have to find them."

"Do you know who we're looking for?" Featherfrost shot back, resulting with Aldertail raising his chin up high to look Featherfrost in the eye.

"Yes." he growled. "It's Chiveclaw, Shadefur, and Flamepelt."

"Three cats?" Riversong gasped, making the group look at her in a grave manner. She slowly lashed her tail.

Flamepaw nodded. "And Maplefoot. She wasn't in her nest, either." his blue eyes betrayed worry, and his black paws shuffled.

Willowflight stiffened, her eyes suddenly flashing. "We need to hurry." she growled. "If those four are missing, we need to find them. And fast."

...

"I found a trail!" came Newtheart's cry, making Riversong's head snap up in surprise. Mistfur let out a cry of hope, most likely because Chiveclaw, one of the missing cats, was her father.

Her thoughts from her meeting with Windfall flashed in her mind again. 'I'm sorry if this offends you, Riversong, but it might be a cat from CascadeClan, especially since they're only happening in your Clan.' Windfall said. Riversong shook her bluish grey tabby head and narrowed her blue eyes. It couldn't be. Which one of the Clan cats would think to murder their own Clanmate in cold blood? But Riversong could only think of one thing now. Could it be Ivyheart, one of the most snappiest cats in the Clan? Maybe, even Maplefoot?

No. Maplefoot's missing, too. And Ivyheart is in the nursery, taking care of kits, for StarClan's sake!

As Riversong put one tabby paw in front of the other as she walked through the dark, quiet territory, she couldn't do anything but feel shivers pass down her spine, spreading to her paws and numbing them so much she could feel nothing below her pads. The only thing that helped her stay focused on the task ahead was Aldertail's comforting fur pressing against hers.

Pale willow trees whistled quietly in the wind, rustling in the steady breeze that was getting colder and colder as the pale, wide moon rose in the sky. It's nearly time for the Gathering, Riversong thought. And I hope we'll be able to discover the murderer by then.

"We should have brought Violetpetal." Newtheart muttered, his orange-and-black tail swishing behind him as he walked. "She would have found the missing cats by now."

"Does anyone else wonder why only senior warriors are missing?" Mistfur spoke up. "Other than Flamepelt and Maplefoot, of course. But Flamepelt's warrior ceremony was delayed."

Flamepaw's ginger fur stood out in the darkness, contrasting his black markings, as he turned to the white mottled she-cat. "I've been thinking about that, too. Isn't it even a slight bit suspicious? Maybe the killer has been tricking the cats to leave camp before killing them? It could be a possibility."

Featherfrost nodded along with Flamepaw's words. "It's all confusing to me." she mewed, flicking her white-marked tail nervously. "I just don't want any more cats killed.." she trailed off. Riversong blinked. She also shared the silver she-cat's feelings.

"We'll find them." Aldertail mewed, the brown-tailed tom's ears flat but amber eyes determined. "If we don't, what will happen to them? If they're alive.." his eyes gleamed with a new-found fear. "If they're alive, wouldn't they have come back by now?"

The group didn't say anything after that for a while. Riversong felt even more shivers go down her back, and she let out a deep sigh full of tiredness. Mistfur trotted alongside her, Aldertail on the other.

"Are you alright?" Mistfur mewed quietly, putting her tail onto Riversong's shoulder and looking her in the eye. "You've barely talked at all during the trip."

The smaller tabby she-cat snorted in annoyance. "It's not like there's missing cats, or anything, right? It's definitely going to work out in our favour. All four are going to be dead before sunrise, anyway."

Mistfur drew in a horrified gasp, stopping in her tracks, her blue eyes widened. "Chiveclaw is not going to die," she hissed. "We will find him, and the others!"

"We'll see about that," Riversong muttered, flattening her ears and feeling a strange kind of defeat and sadness start deep inside her chest. If Ebonyshade had to die, why not Chiveclaw?

"Oh, StarClan." Newtheart suddenly whispered, his emerald-green eyes fixed on a speck in the distance, at the edge of CascadeClan territory. Three dark shapes spotted the area, beside the river, making Riversong's heart skip a beat.

Mistfur let out a wail as she quickened her already-fast step, before stumbling over her own paws, collapsing onto the ground with her blue eyes still on the three distant specks.

"I see him!" she cried. "One of those were Chiveclaw!" Featherfrost came up beside the wailing she-cat and draped her plumy tail across the mottled white warrior's shoulder.

"We don't know that." the silver-and-white she-cat whispered, though her icy-blue eyes betrayed fear and knowing.

Riversong narrowed her eyes, squinting out at the shapes. They were definitely cat-shaped. She started to run towards the shapes, also noting the pounding pawsteps telling her Aldertail was dashing beside her.

Blurred streaks of dark colours raced past her as Riversong sprinted towards the three shapes, her paws barely touching the ground and plumy tail streaking behind her.

Approaching the shapes, Riversong brought in a breath, crouching and staring at the closest body in shock and fear. We were too late.

Flamepelt, Shadefur, and Maplefoot lay near each other, the river trickling close nearby, the slashes decorating their throats the exact same as Aspenfeather's and Ebonyshade's. Blood staining their necks, and all but Maplefoot's eyes were open in a frozen, clouded expression of fear.

Nudging each body hesitantly, cringing at the blood-scent, the rest of the group caught up with her. Gasps followed.

"How could this happen?" Flamepaw breathed, his blue eyes narrowed in a concerned, shocked gaze. He scanned over the bodies, and approached Maplefoot's with a sorrowful expression.

Riversong willed herself to nudge Maplefoot's fur, and she gasped when the pale red she-cat stirred.

"Mm.." the pale red she-cat muttered, her amber eyes fluttering open in a state of shock. She sat up straight, her eyes cloudy, until she spotted Shadefur and Flamepelt, then Riversong. "I'm alive." she whispered. "How?"

She turned her head and looked in Willowflight's direction for a second, before looking at Flamepaw. The tom's mouth was wide open.

"Where's Chiveclaw?" Mistfur let out another wail, her fur bristling. "Did his body fall into the river?"

Willowflight's gaze was hard. "We need to report this to Honeyfang and Silverwater." she growled.

"The killer." Maplefoot rasped in a strangely exaggerated tone. "It had green eyes. I saw them.. green eyes.." her head lay on the ground, her breathing starting to slow. Riversong let out an alarmed gasp and rushed towards her, her vision spinning.

"Stay awake!" Riversong growled, absent-minded to the fact this cat had always insulted and teased her. "You need to stay awake until your neck is healed!"

Maplefoot didn't reply, but her chest was rising steadily, making Riversong breathe out. "She's only sleeping." she said to herself.

The group murmured in reply, and Aldertail picked up Shadefur, a dark brown tom, by the scruff, hauling the body onto his back. "He's heavy." the orangish-brown-and-grey patched tom growled dully.

Riversong gulped as she approached the other dead cat, Flamepelt. The sweet red-and-orange splotched she-cat with a white underbelly never talked to Riversong, but the pit of sadness still resided in Riversong's belly.

Then, there was a scuffling sound in the gorse bush nearby her, and Riversong dully noted that they were on the border of BreezeClan territory.

"Attack!"

The tabby she-cat let out a squawk as something pressed into her, and she let herself go limp, rolling away and finally catching her attacker's gaze. It was Windfall. The cat who would always beg to meet Riversong, against Clan law, until she finally accepted for a dark reason. It's a BreezeClan attack!

Windfall's clear amber eyes were narrowed in a look of malice, and Riversong flinched. What is he doing? The smoky-grey tom, whose mouth was drawn back in a snarl, slashed at her with unsheathed claws, making her cry out as claws ripped into her skin.

Crouching hesitantly, Riversong screwed her eyes shut, feeling her barely-used battle skills flowing back into her mind. Memories flashed in her thoughts, about her first battle, and her last, before she was kidnapped by PeakClan. What actually happened to that PeakClan she-cat, Leopardspot?

Pushing the thoughts away and lunging at Windfall with a new-found determination, listening to her Clanmate's battlecries, Riversong gritted her teeth and swung her unsheathed paw in Windfall's face, feeling content as her sharp claws sliced through his fur, popping into his skin and making him struggle. Biting into Windfall's shoulder, Riversong scraped her paws along his flank, forcing him to fling her off with an unexpectedly powerful shove.

As Riversong bared her teeth in his direction, Windfall suddenly backed away from Riversong, his head bowed and tail low. Feeling surprise and confusion, Riversong let herself slump, her claws still unsheathed and blood-stained.

Then, Windfall bunched his muscles, and leaped over Riversong in a powerful leap, resulting in Riversong ducking in instinct. What in StarClan..?

The tom clung onto her back, his claws ripping into her fur, and he scraped his hind legs along the back of hers with his claws. Gasping at the painful feeling, Riversong struggled away, her legs and flanks feeling scraped and bleeding. She spun around, looking at Windfall in shock.

Is he trying to kill me?

I'm now experiencing another writing spree.

I just accidentally deleted one of my best save files on my favourite game and now I'm really sad. Rip my perfect house. Rip all my extra items.

Qotc: Should I remake the book cover? Like, draw my own?

Qotc2: (Optional) Do you understand the story so far, or do you think it's getting too confusing?

Fav and review! ;)