Oh. It's me. Hi. This chapter took longer because of a thing I was doing for a week, but yeah, I hope you enjoy.

Nightstorm stared at four leaves together. Two big leaves two their sides, and two small leaves in between. One of the small leaves was torn up, then it was pushed away by the wind. The wind pushed away the last two leaves, leaving only one small one.
Nightstorm wearily entered the snowy camp, since the patrol had tired him out. It was currently past sun-high, and all he wanted to do was to eat something. As soon as he walked into camp, Whiteheart walked to where Addertail was eating and whispered something to him. Addertail got up and headed to where Nightstorm had grabbed a mouse near the fresh-kill pile. "What?" asked Nightstorm impatiently.

"Whiteheart told me you had an 'incident' today. Is that true?" questioned Addertail.

"I… don't know what she's talking about…" Nightstorm was trying to think of what this 'incident' was that Whiteheart referred to.

"She said someone mentioned a name to you, and you acted strangely," explained Addertail.

"Oh…" Nighstorm had completely forgotten about that happening on the patrol earlier that morning, "Yeah, it was just a bit of a cramp in my chest, but I'm fine now. I'm not sure what the name was…"

Addertail slowly nodded, clearly thinking of something. "Here, come to my den for a little bit. You can eat afterward."

Nightstorm sighed and dropped his mouse. Of course… every day… Everybody is just… After me! Nightstorm thought angrily to himself. The air of the den was cool and damp when Nightstorm entered. Addertail was mysteriously reaching his paw into something in the back of the den.

"What are you getting?" asked Nightstorm, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Addertail took a clump of greenish-brown herbs from the tiny hole in the rock, and wedged a stone back into it, practically concealing it. "That's a secret compartment I have… I can keep herbs in it like catnip, so other Clans or pesky warriors don't steal it."

"Do… Do I have greencough?" Nightstorm gulped, knowing what catnip was used for.

Addertail laughed a little. "No… but you've had a lot of stressful times and I'm giving you a little clump to… help…"

Addertail seemingly realized something, and his expression became sadder. He dropped the clump on the ground for Nightstorm, using his nose to move it closer to Nightstorm. "I don't need it," stated Nightstorm.

Addertail shut his eyes in seeming frustration. "Just take it," said Addertail.

Nightstorm felt a little intimidated but held his ground. "I really gotta get going… I'm fine, it was nothing."

"Very well," murmured Addertail disappointedly.

Nightstorm thought about saying "okay" but instead just left the den silently, clearly finding the encounter strange. He went back to the mouse that laid on the ground, instantly washing away his worries. "Nightstorm!" called Firepelt unexpectedly.

Nightstorm put the mouse down from his jaw, annoyed that Firepelt had stopped him from enjoying his nice meal. Firepelt pointed his tail to Snakefang, who was talking to another warrior. Nightstorm sighed and came up to Snakefang, who laid eyes on Nightstorm strangely "Well… Nightstorm… What did the CaveClan patrol you encountered say to you?"
"Nothing much. The main problem was that Oakshade wanted to 'find' whoever killed Lakeheart," replied Nightstorm nervously.

"Or whatever killed Lakeheart," retorted Snakefang.

"I guess…" quietly meowed Nightstorm.

"That's all. Go back to your meal," ordered Snakefang.

Nightstorm happily went back to his mouse. He noticed Addertail walking away from his food. Addertail turned around, seeing Nightstorm. "Oh, Nightstorm. I wasn't sure who this was…" explained Addertail, "anyways, I have got to go. Have a good day!"

Addertail walked away, but Nightstorm didn't care. He just wanted to eat. He settled down with the mouse. It only took a few large bites to finish eating it, and by that time Nightstorm was full and happier.

It was the next day, and much of the snow had melted around FireClan camp, which was a huge relief to Sandfur and her clanmates. She had been ordered by Yellowstar to meet her in the leader's den. As Sandfur waited, alone in the den, she wondered what she could do next to solve the case. Maybe some more digging, maybe questioning more cats. Nightstorm had also seemed more cheerful lately, which Sandfur was happy about. She was feeling a little guilty she wasn't spending as much time with him. It did annoy Sandfur that Nightstorm kept having to go to Addertail, the medicine cat who was too stubborn to take an apprentice, and who hadn't had to solve any problems for many seasons.

Sandfur heard a rustle from behind her and watched Yellowstar enter the den. "So as you know," spoke Yellowstar right away, "the gathering is tonight. The Clans will want to hear the latest news on the case, so we're going to discuss how we will talk about that."

Sandfur shifted her weight from one paw to the other. "W-will I be speaking?"

"Yes… It's a good opportunity, and you can give them some good information," the leader seemed to ruminate on those words for a moment, "However, we want to keep details scarce."

"Does that mean I can't tell everyone what I've found?" questioned Sandfur.

"For now… though you have made some good discoveries. We want to keep it as an accident… Perhaps Lakeheart simply fell in the lake?" wondered Yellowstar.

"I could just tell them the evidence without accusing anyone," suggested Sandfur.

"No. We are keeping this simple, so a war doesn't wage between us. Present all the facts about the bear and Lakeheart falling to her death," ordered Yellowstar, "Speculation leads to accusation. Accusation leads to tension. Tension leads to conflict."

Sandfur took a deep breath, trying to hide her frustration. "Alright," meowed Yellowstar, "That's it. I'll see you there."

In the woods, far away from anything else, there was Nightstorm and Mintbreeze, simply walking. Most of the snow in the woods had melted, though many of the trees still held a white glitter. It had been a few days, Sandfur had continued the investigation, but hadn't spent much time with Nightstorm. Despite this, Nightstorm still kept a positive attitude, and had mostly been talking to Mintbreeze.

Nightstorm realized they had reached the edge of a sharp rock jutting out of the ground. He looked up, seeing the small cliffside above them. Mintbreeze looked up to the small slopes of the mountain of rock in front of them, clearly intrigued by its magnitude. "Wanna climb up there?" she asked.

Nightstorm was great at climbing. He could practically climb anything, despite the

surface of it or how many grips there were. "Sure!" he answered.

Mintbreeze smirked excitedly and instantly ran up the small cliff, but couldn't find a grip and slid back down, rolling into some bushes. Nightstorm chuckled, then attempted it himself. He ran up the rock slope, and when it became too steep, he jumped up and grabbed the top edge of it with his claws, pulling himself up. "Come on Mintbreeze, this one is easy," taunted Nightstorm.

Mintbreeze recovered, and ran up again, this time jumping up like Nightstorm did. She reached the edge as well, but couldn't find a good grip and would slip off soon. Nightstorm helped pull her up, Mintbreeze breathing a sigh of relief. The surface of the mountain was rocky with some grass, but still had a lot of snow that Nightstorm trotted through. They continued walking along the edge of it, near a cliffside. Nightstorm got curious and cautiously peeked over the edge. There were only rocks below. It was a long drop. "Oh yeah, why were you seeing Addertail so much?" asked Mintbreeze curiously.

Nightstorm stopped looking and turned to Mintbreeze. "Uh… just weird stuff… y'know the usual… ever since Lakeheart…" explained Nightstorm.

"Oh, so why did you freeze on the border patrol?"

How would you know about that… Now the whole camp probably knows… "I don't know. The apprentice… What's her name… Oh StarClan I don't remember… She said something to me and I don't know, I just froze up. Nothing serious though, Addertail seemed to think it was fine," said Nightstorm.

"Oh good, Addertail knows a lot of that kind of stuff. Since he's helped you for a while, it's good he still knows what he's doing," meowed Mintbreeze positively.

"Yeah, ever since… All the bears…" Nightstorm trailed off a little.

"Did you remember anything about the bears?" asked Mintbreeze.

Nightstorm didn't reply, instead staring across the landscape. He didn't remember much about the bears, and he didn't want to. Addertail told him to forget, so he did. It was only a burning memory, like all of this. The murder… The body… It's all only a burning memory. It will be over soon.

Nightstorm had returned to camp. He noticed Sandfur seemingly waiting for him near the entrance. She seemed to be interested to finally be able to talk with him since she had been so busy with her investigation duties. "Oh, you're back! Where were you? I was getting a little bit worried…" meowed Sandfur.

Nightstorm was surprised by Sandfur's sudden enthusiasm. "I was just climbing up the mountain a little bit, not that high. Though, it looks a little dangerous up there near the cliffside," he replied simply.

"What, by yourself?" asked Sandfur worriedly.

"No, no. Anyways, I heard there's a gathering tonight. Will you be there?"

"Yeah," said Sandfur a little nervously, "Actually, I have to speak in front of the Clans tonight, about the case. It will not be fun."

"Oh wow! That's really interesting!" Nightstorm tried to hide his slight disappointment; she wouldn't be on the ground with him watching the Clans argue over things like pointless borders.

Sandfur seemed to pick up this. "Don't worry, it will only be for a little bit. Then I'll be back on the ground."

LATER

The gathering was around a valley located close to the center of the Four Clan's territory. It was surrounded by the woods, with a massive rock in the middle for the leaders to stand on. Many cats had already gathered, though it was hard to see them due to the darkness. Nightstorm stayed back from the main crowd, standing off to the side. Sandfur noticed where he was waiting, and came up to him. "I'm so nervous about the announcement I have to give…" she meowed.

"You'll be fine, it's really nothing. All you have to do is explain the evidence, the suspects, the current theory, whatever you want. It should be fine. Any arguing can be handled by you, and if it gets out of hand you can just step down," Nightstorm said, reassuring Sandfur.

Sandfur smiled, though she didn't look convinced. "As long as I don't start accusing everyone around here, it should be fine."

Nightstorm noticed Oakshade appeared near Sandfur. "So," said Oakshade to Sandfur, "I heard you were doing a speech tonight. Is that true?"

Sandfur chuckled nervously. "Not really a speech… I'm just providing the evidence… and what we think the culprit was…" she explained.

"Well?" questioned Oakshade.

"U-uh," Sandfur stammered over herself, "What?"

Oakshade stared directly into Sandfur's eyes. "What was it?" he asked coldly.

"There are a lot of factors… I'll explain it when I get up there…" replied Sandfur, her voice shaky.

Oakshade didn't move, just continued staring at Sandfur, before turning around and stalking off.

"Sandfur, the gathering is about to begin. Come up now," snarled Snakefang, who had just come up.

"Well, that's me…" murmured Sandfur.

"Don't stress!" called Nightstorm after Sandfur, who had begun walking away.

Sandfur waved her tail with a weak smile. Nightstorm hoped she would help convince everyone and maybe earn some respect from her clanmates. Nightstorm watched as Sandfur climbed up to the rock, standing near Yellowstar and Snakefang. An unexpected voice rang out behind him. "Why were you all the way out here," Nightstorm instantly recognized who it was, "It took me forever to find you!" complained Mintbreeze, who promptly sat at Nightstorm's side.

Nightstorm ignored the remark. "Hm… I wonder if there'll be any fighting tonight… since the investigation and all," wondered Nightstorm quietly, hoping no suspicious Clan cats would hear him.

"If I know CaveClan, there will be. I bet IceClan will say FireClan is weak, and LightClan will try to calm everything down. They are so predictable!" ranted Mintbreeze.

"We'll see," replied Nightstorm calmly, "Looks like it's starting."

Sandfur tried not to shake nervously now that she was sitting on a rock, as an uncountable number of cats staring at her from the dark. Yellowstar, to Sandfur's right, looked to be formal and completely calm. Sandfur watched as Moonstar, a faded white tom that looked quite tough, sat in CaveClan's place. Another, Crystalstar, a gray-blue, sleek she-cat, got up in IceClan's place. The final was Harestar, a brown and white tom who appeared to be softer, and was clearly very old, having a separate warrior Sandfur didn't know to help him up.

"Well Yellowstar," Moonstar grumbled, "What news do you have for us, involving Lakeheart?"

Yellowstar glanced at the two other leaders. "Do you know of the incident yet?" she asked formally.

"I heard, but I don't know many details," replied Crystalstar.

"We know just as much," stated Harestar.

"Right," echoed Yellowstar, "The investigation has been going smoothly over the past few days. We have made steady progress, with our head investigator, Sandfur."

Sandfur tried smiling as every eye from every Clan went on her. "Really? Sandfur? Your own daughter?" asked Moonstar.

Sandfur chuckled nervously. Yellowstar frowned at this retort. "She's qualified for the job and has made good progress. I have my full trust in her," said Yellowstar.

"Well…" started Sandfur, "As for the investigation… we've made some discoveries… It's just hard to know exactly what happened, that's all."

Moonstar tilted his head. "Why don't you tell us then?"

Sandfur remembered what Yellowstar had told her about keeping this only a bear incident. That would be the basis of her current theory, as far as the other Clans knew. "Lakeheart's body was found in a large oasis. There was a hole in the roof that we hadn't known about before, so we think she fell through it-" Sandfur was cut off by Crystalstar.

"What was a CaveClan cat doing in FireClan territory? Are your borders really that insecure?" questioned Crystalstar.

Sandfur rolled her eyes. "That is… well… irrelevant," Sandfur turned to Yellowstar who gave her an approving nod.

"Anyways," said Sandfur "we think she fell through it. The pool of water in the oasis is underneath the opening she fell through, and it was freezing cold. Since it's leaf-bare, and we believe this happened at night, it's safe to say she would have frozen to death. Since she was in an unknown territory, and in an undiscovered system of tunnels, she was probably lost. But, we think she also could have hit her head when falling, perhaps on a rock beneath the water…"

"So how was she killed?" asked Harestar.

"I'm getting to that…" replied Sandfur, trying to think of what to say next, "The patrol and I found a splotch of dark blood on a wall near the oasis. So we think she left that there, perhaps stumbling and falling against the wall, since the blood was more contained, and not a splatter. This means she left the blood on the wall from her head. This lines up with her injuries, as she was bleeding from the head somewhat. After this, she most likely froze to death."

"Then what's the big deal? Just an accident?" complained Crystalstar.

"Her chest was ripped apart when we found her," replied Sandfur.

Crystalstar widened her eyes. Harestar appeared shocked. "Now… we found multiple tufts of bear fur around the area…" echoed Sandfur.

"A bear? We haven't seen one of those in seasons!" yelled Harestar.

"Exactly. The wounds were obviously of a bear-" Sandfur was cut off unexpectedly by Moonstar.

"So doesn't that mean it's just a bear?" asked Moonstar suspiciously, "Why are you investigating this?"

"I-I we're still trying to figure out the true cause of death-" Sandfur was cut off by Crystalstar this time.

"You're wasting our time. It's only Yellowstar trying to make her daughter important," snickered Crystalstar.

"There are other problems!" yelled Sandfur, "There was catnip everywhere, perfect for disguising scents! Lakeheart had a cat-made scratch on her! There was an adder killed to the back of the neck nearby, by a cat!"

Sandfur heard suspicious murmurs all across the clans that surrounded them. She took a deep breath, realizing she had just revealed all of the sensitive information in front of many, many cats. Yellowstar put her paws in her face, clearly annoyed that Sandfur revealed the information. Sandfur didn't care, she needed to explain herself to actually get somewhere with the mouse-brained leaders.

"But how would some cat get bear fur? There haven't been any since a long time ago; since I was a kit," Sandfur continued, trying to make her voice not shake, "Right now I'm trying to question friends, or family, or any cat that knows Lakeheart. If there was a killer, they would have a motive. Maybe someone who hates code-breakers."

"Are you calling Lakeheart a code-breaker?" questioned Moonstar angrily.

Sandfur gulped. "You know the rumors… right? She was in a cross Clan relationship, and I've already questioned Firepelt about it-" Sandfur suddenly stopped, realizing what she had said.

Yellowstar put her paws in her face again, taking a side look at Sandfur, clearly upset. The crowd around them rumbled. "He must be held responsible!" shouted one voice, "Firepelt did this?" shouted another.

"Enough!" voiced Yellowstar, sending the crowd into silence. "Firepelt will be held to the code, but he is not responsible! Whatever did this, bear or not, was after a code-breaker. Firepelt could have been the planned victim for all we know!"

"A CaveClan cat would have never betrayed their Clan like that," growled Moonstar, "Firepelt twisted her mind… and manipulated her!"
Sandfur became a little defensive, forgetting her nervousness. "You really think that? Firepelt is a stumbling fool, he's not a manipulator… he's the one who would be manipulated! That doesn't mean Lakeheart was in the wrong, but can we just accept maybe two young, stupid cats did somthing dumb and somebody wanted them to pay the price for it?"

Moonstar glared at Sandfur, but kept quiet. "Until we finish this investigation, and determine the true cause of death, we aren't blaming anyone," finalized Yellowstar.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Nightstorm was listening to the leaders argue with Sandfur. He was still fairly far away, and was intrigued at what was happening. He only heard faint shouts and saw Sandfur getting more aggressive. "I can't hear, we should get closer," murmured Nightstorm to Mintbreeze.

"Ugh, really? You wanna listen to a bunch of entitled leaders yell about stupid stuff?" complained Mintbreeze.

"Come on," meowed Nightstorm, motioning his head to the rock the leaders were on.

"Fine…"

Nightstorm ran with Mintbreeze following behind him until he reached the edge of the rock. Sandfur didn't notice him, she only had her eyes on Moonstar. "You really think that? Firepelt is a stumbling fool, he's not a manipulator… he's the one who would be manipulated-" yelled Sandfur.

Nightstorm was surprised at how Sandfur was going on the offense. He hadn't heard much about the case, but Sandfur seemed pretty convinced it was a murder. "Yeah, I doubt Firepelt of all cats would be the killer," commented Nightstorm to Mintbreeze at his side.

"What?" asked Whiteheart, who was nearby.

Nightstorm tilted his head at Whiteheart, then turning back to Mintbreeze. "He's too quiet and nervous…" he said.

"He does seem suspicious though, maybe too nervous," meowed Mintbreeze.

"Nightstorm," started Whiteheart again, who was closer this time, "Are you okay?"

Nightstorm hesitated, processing the question. "Yeah?" he replied, confused.

The crowd around them only grew more loud and restless, yelling accusations, insults, and anything they could. Whiteheart called Graywhisker, who also came over. He visibly looked concerned as he approached Nightstorm. "Where's Addertail?" asked Graywhisker to Whiteheart.

Whiteheart shook her head. "I don't know," she stammered. "What? I'm fine," Nightstorm stated.

Suddenly the voices around him became slightly more echoed, and the noise grew. He could barely hear Graywhisker or Whiteheart, who were both talking to him and each other frantically. "Can you hear me?" questioned Graywhisker loudly.

"Will you… be quiet… I can't hear… anything…" Nightstorm felt wheezy, like he couldn't talk.

He stumbled backward, more and more cats staring at him. Nightstorm felt an unexpected emptiness in his stomach like he was starving and his legs were weak. His chest compressed, and he felt lightheaded. The echoed noises around him became the only thing he heard, unbearably loud. They became more and more distorted while his sight became more clouded. The chaotic sound became nothing more than a high pitch ringing in Nightstorm's ears, as he pressed his paws over them and tightly shut his eyes. The ringing stopped unexpectedly. Nightstorm cautiously opened his eyes and took his paws off his ears. He was in an empty void of darkness. He saw nothing, and the only thing he heard was his own panicked breathing. He felt a chilly breeze and smelled fresh blood. Something seemed to appear in front of him, though Nightstorm could barely make it out. He realized it was a familiar-looking cat, lying splayed on the black ground. It was Lakeheart. Her face was still frozen, her eyes still blank. She still was ripped apart, but there was no blood spilling out of her.

Lakeheart's body went up in sudden flames that grew taller than Nightstorm, who backed away, frightened. They started to surround him, growing taller than many of the trees in the woods. He unexpectedly was lifted up and fell onto a thick tree branch, nearly sliding off, but Nightstorm caught himself and clawed onto the bark, pulling himself up. He smelled smoke and felt a large amount of heat. He looked around from the tree he found himself on, in the woods that were covered in fire. The camp was completely engulfed, and the gathering place from a distance away was gone. The great rock was shattered into tiny fragments of charred rock. The tree beneath him unexpectedly splintered and broke apart, Nightstorm hopelessly trying to grasp the air as he fell to the ground, but passed through it. Instead, he hit the ground painfully and found himself in a dark patch of wood. There was no fire and no snow. It was clearly nighttime, as Nightstorm could barely see anything. A strange voice rang out from beyond the woods. Nightstorm. He turned around to face where the voice was coming from. You don't see us. We see you. Sandfur has seen us. You will see us soon.

HMMMM