Review Responses

Bilbz: Yes, Addertail is way nicer in this one. Also, we'll see more of Firepelt later. Yellowstar face-palming is the best part of Nightfall, for sure.

WyldClaw: Yep, Sandfur did present her evidence well. The problem was she wasn't supposed to do that, even though, come on Yellowstar, that's a bit unreasonable.

Guest #1: Chapters 1 and 2 have been updated a bit, I'm hoping to rewrite them since I wrote them around 6 months ago I think.

Guest #2: I think I might make more mysteries surrounding Sandfur and Nightstorm if I can think of any more, I have one good idea. Maybe I should write it into "Sunfall".

"Until we finish this investigation, and determine the true cause of death, we aren't blaming anyone," finalized Yellowstar.

"Fine," growled Moonstar.

Yellowstar breathed a sigh of relief as an uncomfortable silence rang over the rock. Sandfur suddenly realized everything she had said to the other leaders. I just disobeyed everything Yellowstar told me! Sandfur felt her heart drop and she almost collapsed on the weight of what she did. Crystalstar still looked unsatisfied. "Is that it?" she questioned.

"That's… it," replied Yellowstar.

"Well, I guess the gathering is over then," snarled Crystalstar, stepping down from the rock.

Sandfur stayed in place, still a little breathless from the argument. "Come on…" meowed Yellowstar to Sandfur.

Sandfur instantly followed and jumped down, hoping not to anger her mother further. She heard a familiar voice call out randomly. "Yellowstar!" shouted Graywhisker frantically, "It's Nightstorm! Something's wrong!"
Sandfur felt empty for a moment, forgetting all of the problems with the case and running to where a group of cats was gathered. She pushed through the crowd, seeing Nightstorm on the ground, his eyes glazed, clearly unconscious. Addertail rushed through the crowd as well. "What, is it a seizure?" asked Whiteheart nervously.

Addertail took a deep breath. "I'm not sure."

Addertail started shaking Nightstorm, but he did not wake. Addertail started panicking. "I need to return to camp now!" he voiced.

Nightstorm suddenly coughed and re-awakened, gasping for air and instantly standing up. His gaze was frightened. Addertail breathed a sigh of relief, despite Nightstorm's clear discomfort. "Nightstorm, are you okay?" asked Sandfur.

Nightstorm didn't seem to notice her. Sandfur was finding Nightstorm's behavior bizarre. She knew he was stranger than the other cats, but a seizure had never happened before. "What happened?" asked Sandfur to Nightstorm.

Nightstorm caught his breath, not acknowledging her. Sandfur watched him feel the ground with his paws, digging his claws deep into the dirt. Nightstorm sighed in relief. "Nightstorm, what happened?" asked Sandfur once more.

Nightstorm finally noticed Sandfur trying to talk. "I-I don't know!" he replied, breathing heavily.

"We need to return to camp immediately," said Addertail.

Yellowstar nodded. Sandfur was confused and frightened by what had happened. Why had Nightstorm… done that? Was it something serious? Dangerous? Would it interrupt the investigation? No, that didn't matter. What mattered was whether Nightstorm was okay.

When everyone had returned to camp, Nightstorm was instantly taken by Addertail to the medicine cat's den. Sandfur let it happen without protest but realized she had something else to deal with. Yellowstar. As soon as Sandfur turned around, Yellowstar was waiting for her outside of the leader's den. Sandfur took in a deep breath, prepared to be yelled at by Yellowstar for the whole night. Sandfur slowly approached the den, Yellowstar sitting with a disappointed gaze. "What?" asked Sandfur, trying to deflect the obvious problem.

"What? What did I tell you to do?" questioned Yellowstar.

"Don't tell the Clans about the murder…" replied Sandfur, clearly annoyed.

"And what did you do?" asked Yellowstar.

"I told the Clans about the murder- but, it was justified," Sandfur quickly finished the sentence to make sure Yellowstar didn't cut her off.

"No, it wasn't justified. I gave you an order, and my word is what you follow."

Sandfur grew angry at this remark. "Everyone mocked me! They said I wasn't fit to investigate this if I didn't even have a reason to investigate it! What am I, just the leader's daughter? No, I'm an investigator and I present the evidence no matter how complicated it is."

Yellowstar wasn't phased by this rant from Sandfur. "Clearly you cannot handle public speaking. You will refrain from presenting your evidence from now on. If you continue with this behavior of telling the other Clans what we know, then you may not investigate for much longer."
Sandfur opened her mouth to protest, but Yellowstar continued anyway. "I have tried so hard to give you this position and to let you do what you want, so you must prove to me that you deserve it."

Sandfur felt a pulse of anger. Give me this position? She smirked and realized something that would anger Yellowstar. "I bet you wouldn't care if it was Lighthaze," she remarked.

Yellowstar dug her claws into the ground. "Your sister is very, very different from you. I can't emphasize that enough. You need to be your own independent figure, and not rely on her. She won't listen to anything I tell her, but you'll take the opportunities I give you. That's why you're a hard worker and a good warrior!"

"So you'll just let her do whatever she wants?"

"Not whatever she wants. One day she'll learn responsibility, however, that may be. You are my responsible one, so stay that way. I'm sorry I have to take away your public speaking, but I have many responsibilities. You wouldn't understand... you're too young. Now, I don't want to hear another word, and you need to sleep. You're dismissed."

Sandfur stood in silence before she curled her lip and left the den. She thought long and hard about what Yellowstar had said but ignored it anyway. She removed it from her mind.

Nightstorm wasn't exactly fine. He didn't feel fine. All he thought about were the things he saw. A few cats had helped him along the way to camp, but he was mostly able to keep himself walking. Addertail had told Nightstorm to meet him in the medicine cat den so they could figure out what happened.

Back at camp, most of the warriors instantly went to sleep since it was so cold out. Nightstorm headed to Addertail's den, though he felt like the bitter, unforgiving cold of the dark place he went still lingered around him. Nightstorm entered the den, Addertail having sat and waited for him near the back. Addertail opened his jaw to speak. "Describe to me what happened, before and after you went unconscious," requested Addertail.

"Well… I was talking to Mintbreeze… We were watching the gathering," explained Nightstorm, his voice shaky, "Then a few cats started asking if I was okay or not, and everything became so loud. I felt a ringing in my ears, and my vision started to become blurry. And then I woke up."

Addertail tilted his head. "Woke up?"

Nightstotrm continued. "Nevermind that. I was in a dark place, nothing else there besides me. It was so cold. I saw Lakeheart… and then I was on a giant tree in our territory, I could even see the gathering place. But then it all lit on fire, and everything was on fire!"

Addertail looked to be contemplating this. "Continue…" he said.

Nightstorm took a deep breath, afraid to remember what happened last. "I woke up in a dark piece of the woods. A part of our forest, but I could barely see anything. There was something else there, I could feel it. It said to me, 'You don't see us. We see you. Sandfur saw us. You will see us soon.' Then I woke up."

"Fascinating," replied Addertail under his breath.

"What?" asked Nightstorm.

Addertail started talking quietly to himself. "Could this be real? It's been so long…" Addertail turned back to Nightstorm, "Nightstorm… I think this was a vision."

Nightstorm blinked. "What's a vision?"

Addertail chuckled. "You young cats wouldn't know. It's a message sent from StarClan, and I know what it means."

Nightstorm had only heard of stories of StarClan from elders when they were kits. "StarClan? You mean the legend?"

"StarClan isn't a legend," started Addertail, "But… the Clans have forgotten about them because of how long it's been since they talked to us. Seasons before you were born. They finally sent a message!" Addertail seemed to think of something else, "Ravenlight would have been so happy with this news…" Addertail murmured to himself.

"Who's Ravenlight?" asked Nightstorm.

"My old mentor… But that's not important."

"So what exactly does the… 'vision' mean?" wondered Nightstorm, a little suspicious.

Nightstorm had only ever heard of StarClan as a legend. No one had ever told him it was real, and he wasn't about to believe just one cat, even if Addertail was trustworthy. Addertail was getting old, after all.

"Well…" said Addertail, "Think of Lakeheart's death. First, you saw her… correct?"

"Yep."

"And then you saw the entire forest being set ablaze. The final thing you saw, and heard, was deep within what you described to be an incredibly dark forest. Correct?"

"Correct…"

"Perhaps it's a warning. First with Lakeheart's death, then to the forest being set ablaze. Maybe there's a new threat we haven't realized yet. I remember my mentor who told me of an old threat, which I think lurked in that forest. An ancient evil," Addertail stared at Nightstorm, not an ink of sarcasm in Addertail's eyes.

Nightstorm could tell Addertail truly believed this but Nightstorm was still speculative. "I don't know… look, maybe I just…" Nightstorm couldn't figure out what to say it was.

"Exactly Nightstorm. You can't figure out what it was, because it isn't normal."

"I'm supposed to be different," meowed Nightstorm, "I'm supposed to be the weird one, that's what everyone else says. Why isn't it just that?"

"Maybe you aren't an outcast," said Addertail, "maybe the reason the Clans believe you are strange is that the things that happen to you are because of StarClan! I suspected this once before… when you were a kit… but I let that suspicion go. Now I think I was right all along… Anyways, you can leave and go to sleep. I'll have to think about this vision more…"

Nightstorm nodded and left as he walked to the warrior's den. Maybe Addertail was right, and Nightstorm was different for a good reason. His thoughts were interrupted by Sandfur waiting outside of the warrior's den. He could barely see her sand-colored pelt in the dark, but he had noticed the green eyes that illuminated the area. "Oh… what did Addertail say?" asked Sandfur, clearly worried.

"It wasn't dangerous. Actually, Addertail thought it was a…" Nightstorm trailed off, wondering if he should tell Sandfur.

"What did he say?"

"It was… because of how stressed everything has been for me. I had some sort of reaction, but it was nothing."

Sandfur breathed a sigh of relief. "Good! Now go to sleep, it's already too late."

Nightstorm didn't want to lie to Sandfur, but she would be concerned about Addertail's theory. She already despised Addertail, and she didn't need to try to slander Addertail. She was the leader's daughter, after all, and wouldn't believe Addertail's theory.

"Look, I'm sorry if I've been kind of… busy lately," said Sandfur.

Nightstorm wasn't very happy with Sandfur just now noticing how busy she had been. He didn't want to fight with her, so he replied, "Sure."

Sandfur looked a little surprised by the blunt answer. "It's just the investigation… and you know how it is. I didn't realize it would stress you so much, but we can go hunting tomorrow if you want."

Nightstorm felt a surge of excitement go through him. "Really? You can?"

Sandfur nodded her head. "Yeah, as long as nothing comes up."

Suddenly Nightstorm realized something. The only reason she's doing this is because of the vision. It took a crisis for her to remember me." Why didn't you do this before?" asked Nightstorm, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Sandfur tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You've been constantly working on this investigation and ignoring me," when Nightstorm said this, Sandfur shook her head in confusion, but Nightstorm continued, "I heard what you said at the gathering. You're not going to have anything less to work on. So why is it that… When I… for all we know… could've died, suddenly you remember me. You didn't care before that, all you cared about was your… investigation."

"That's not fair!" protested Sandfur, "The investigation was important to me, and surely you can handle a few days where I can't talk to you as much! You having your… whatever that was… didn't 'make me remember', I was meaning to do something with you already!"

Nightstorm dug his claws in the ground, trying to keep himself calm. "That's not true! All you've been doing for the past few days is just working on your 'investigation' and talking to Graywhisker!"

"You think Graywhisker has anything to do with this? Look, I know that you're tired, and I know that this whole thing has been hard for you. Especially you. I want to help you and support you, but I can only do my best. I also have needs, and even then I'm still offering to go hunting with you," Sandfur sighed, then continued, "Soon enough this will all be over."

The two stood in tense silence for a moment. "I'm sorry if I got angry…" murmured Nightstorm, realizing he had just ruined hunting tomorrow, "Goodnight."

Sandfur disappeared into the warrior's den, leaving Nightstorm alone. The night was cold, and the ground was even colder. Nightstorm wanted to think. He wanted to have a chance to be alone throughout all of this unending madness. He came to the camp entrance, where a guard stood. Nightstorm waited patiently to be let out. "Why are you going out so late at night?" asked the confused guard.

Nightstorm shrugged and walked past him. The guard looked back but didn't care enough to stop Nightstorm. And so he walked through the night woods, the cold barely bothering him. "What are you doing out here?" called a voice from behind Nightstorm

He turned around to a barely visible Mintbreeze. Nightstorm curled his lip. "Why weren't you there when… I woke up from that thing at the gathering?" he asked.

Mintbreeze didn't seem to process the question. "I didn't realize it was a vision... uh... Are you and Sandfur fighting?"

"Yeah… It's annoying," replied Nightstorm, growing angry for a moment, "Isn't it such a good coincidence that the one cat I will normally be around is swept up in the most convoluted, complex, and basically unsolvable murder case there is!"

Mintbreeze was silent for a moment, but then she spoke. "That's the difference between us and the normal Clan cats like Sandfur. You don't care about your duties, neither do I. The Clans are horrible, they never treat cats like us fairly. StarClan... All I want to do is run away and live freely outside of this territory. Anyways, Sandfur only wants to be leader and just wants to be popular. She doesn't care if she has to abandon her friends to do that…"

"I don't think she's that malicious," muttered Nightstorm, a little irritated that Mintbreeze had taken it that far, "I just want the whole thing to be over. Whether or not it's a murderer or a bear, or something out of this world, I don't care."

"Fine," said Mintbreeze, "If you keep trying to chase a friendship, it doesn't end well. See you."

Nightstorm watched Mintbreeze disappear into the night.

Nightstorm continued walking aimlessly through the dark wood around him until he heard the crack of a branch behind him. He shot around instantly but saw nothing in the black undergrowth.

Suddenly a deep feeling of dread came over him as he stood frozen, trying to not make a sound. His pelt was black, no one would be able to see him anyways. The bush where the sound had come from kept its place ominously, swaying with the breeze occasionally. Nightstorm heard a low hissing sound, and he crouched down, trying to duck out of sight. The wind only grew stronger, and he almost jumped when a huge gust hit his pelt. He started shivering from the cold as he realized the woods around him felt eerily familiar. Not as dark as the woods he saw in his vision, but similarly terrifying. Too afraid to move, he peered at the bush ahead and nearly gasped. It looked like a large claw was grasping the tree behind it. It started to slowly reveal itself from behind the tree, but Nightstorm wasn't about to see what it was. He turned around and sprinted through the woods towards his Clan, not looking back.

Stressed Tensiosn refers to how Sandfur's and Nightstorm's problems are created by the stress of the case, and how there is now tension between them.