Badgerpaw didn't see what the big deal was about Olivepaw. What was so bad if he wanted to go explore for a bit? He might just be sleeping at the Sunningrocks. Actually, that sounded right. Badgerpaw swallowed his squirrel and groomed himself, then stood up and padded out of the apprentice's den.
He ran out of camp and raced towards the Sunningrocks. He skidded to a halt when he got to the Sunningrocks. He gazed open-mouthed at the empty rocks. He thought for sure Olivepaw would be here! Badgerpaw sniffed the rocks, but there was no scent of any cat being here for days. The days had been getting shorter and cooler, but instead of warming up in the sun, most cats had hid in their dens.
Badgerpaw didn't know where Olivepaw was; if he wasn't in camp and he wasn't at the Sunningrocks, where could he be?
Badgerpaw looked up as he smelled Rainpaw, Cactustail, and a queen, Wolfwhisper. Badgerpaw was surprised Wolfwhisper was with them. She was supposed to be looking after her kits in the nursery! Perhaps Sunspiral, her mate, was caring for them while she was gone.
But Wolfwhisper seemed frantic. It took Badgerpaw a minute to understand why she must be so nervous. Olivepaw was her oldest kit. Maybe Bitterpaw had told Smokestar about Olivepaw's disappearance.
"Badgerpaw! Badgerpaw, have you seen Olivepaw?" Wolfwhisper asked, rushing up to him. She must have smelled him. Her fur was sticking out all over the place and her eyes were watery. Badgerpaw felt a pang of sympathy towards the queen.
"I'm so sorry," He meowed quietly. "I was looking for him, but I can't find him. Is Smokestar organizing patrols?" Rainpaw nodded. Her and Cactustail had come up behind Wolfwhisper.
"Blackice said he found a scent trail. Shall we go and help him?" Cactustail mewed.
"I think so. Blackice is better at fighting, not tracking scents. He may need some help," Rainpaw replied. Cactustail nodded.
"What if it's not him?" Wolfwhisper sobbed. Her eyes had shined with hope for a second, then became sad again. "Or what if the scent trail leads us to a fox den, where a nice fox family had just enjoyed him as their dinner?" Her voice grew quiet with grief.
"I'm sure he's not dead," Badgerpaw meowed. But he wasn't so sure himself. This may well be Olivepaw's first time out of the den. What if he had run into a fox? Badgerpaw finally understood why Bitterpaw had been so worried.
"He may be, if we don't hurry!" Wolfwhisper hurried off in a random direction.
"Wolfwhisper, Blackice said the trail led this way!" Cactustail ran after Wolfwhisper and pointed towards the ShadowClan border.
"Oh no," The queen whispered. "That's the ShadowClan border! My poor kit probably has no idea what ShadowClan smells like. What if he's in their territory?" Badgerpaw expected her to lay down and attempt burying herself in the dirt, but Rainpaw nudged her shoulder and Wolfwhisper started padding slowly towards the border, whiskers twitching with nervousness.
Badgerpaw raced up to his mentor when they reached him. "The scent trail leads into ShadowClan territory," Blackice muttered into his ear. Badgerpaw was surprised to hear fear in Blackice's voice. The thought of Blackice being scared made Badgerpaw tremble with fright.
Normally, Blackice would have scolded Badgerpaw for acting like a scared kit, but instead, his mentor just trembled beside him. "ShadowClan could have done anything to him if they found him on their territory. What if he was hunting their prey? He doesn't know much about the warrior code, seeing as he hardly ever leaves his nest."
"Are we going to go in ShadowClan's territory?" Badgerpaw asked. His mentor nodded.
"We have to. I'm sure if ShadowClan saw Olivepaw on their territory they wouldn't give him some fresh kill and let him on his way," Blackice meowed. Badgerpaw gulped. "Come on," Blackice meowed, flicking his tail for his apprentice to follow. They padded into ShadowClan territory.