A few days had passed by in peace; Icestar ensured the patrols kept an eye out for any signs of strange cats. The extra patrols at Flaxclan's border had not ceased, even if he no longer expected Flaxclan to be about to attack them, these rogues might come from that direction to cause Gorseclan problems instead.
Dappledpaw continued to train hard, often alongside Rowanpaw and Sedgepaw. Icestar continued to be evasive about a new date for their warrior assessment. You'd think given how keen he was for more warriors he'd be rushing this? Dappledpaw didn't get it, and when she whined about it to Stoatberry; because she dared not anywhere she thought Icestar might overhear, the dark forest cat had only laughed at her. Gosh, she was really turning out to be a helpful mentor figure. Half the time she mocked her and the other half she only offered cryptic mousedirt in the form of advice. When she asked if the old herbalist was actually going to teach her something, she had simply told her that would come later. She and Icestar were as bad as each other!
Dappledpaw flipped over the mouse tail that was all that remained of her meal with a huff. Icestar had been out training with her, Weedfur and Sedgepaw that morning, while Rowanpaw went on a patrol with Kowhaifall and a few other cats.
As usual during these warmest months, with the lack of shade on their territory, the middle of the day was a time where cats returned to cats to rest and keep cool under stone overhangs and sheltered under the shrubs that protected their dens. Wattleflower and Blackbird were chatting, and by the glances then laughter towards Wattleflower's mate Kauribark as he spoke with Weedfur, Waspsting and Rimuleaf, it seemed it was about him. Much like their son Rowanpaw, he seemed a touch oblivious… Sedgepaw was sitting with his mentor, silent as the experienced warriors spoke back and forth. SHe couldn't hear them from here but could guess the subject matter based on the serious expressions. She could see Icestar in the mouth of his den, sharing tongues with Sorrelwind. Sagekit, Cavekit and Surgingkit were playing with Stonekit and Honeykit out in front of the nursery with their mothers watching on; the two nearly apprentice aged siblings playing the act of invaders of the very young kits to attack with soft paws and weak tiny teeth.
Shade was at a premium. She was tucked back into part of the apprentices den to keep cool. Sometimes she wished they had some of the forest over on Fernclan land. There were the mountains that towered over their camp, of course, but the area around Gorseclan territory was particularly steep and dangerous to climb. There was a long history of young apprentices daring each other to climb the cliffs, and more than one had lost their lives over the generations in those contests of bravado. She wasn't so stupid of course.
Suddenly a yowl breaks her sullen silence.
Rowanpaw burst through the main tunnel of gorse leading into camp, running at a steady jog. "We have a problem!" He called, alerting the clan. Icestar paused mid-conversation with his mate and deputy, slowly rising to his feet with sharp eyes. Hot on the young red tom's heels came Kowhaifall, Sheercrag, Spiderstrike and Horsefoot. Kowhaifall was carrying something in her mouth. Dappledpaw stood, narrowing her eyes as she padded out into the middle of camp, as did the rest of the clan. Bodies converged on the patrol, fur bristling and the scent of concern and then a spike of fear. Longfang's head appeared from the herbalist's den, large ears flat. Dappledpaw sniffed the air, and figured out the cause for all the panic… The patrol had returned smelling strongly of blood.
"Move aside!" Icestar's commanding voice boomed out over the heads of the clan. He projected authority, and calm as he strode out, Sorrelwind at his side. The clan parted for him to make his way to the patrol, some seeking reassurance from him by brushing tails or pushing heads along his white pelt. He responded with a steady thrum in his throat, but it was clear his attention was on the cats before him. Sorrelwind offered more thorough reassurance in his wake, returning the head touches and giving licks with the odd word here and there.
"What happened?" Icestar asked as he came to a stop. Dappledpaw moved around the murmuring congregation of her clan, trying to see. This was where it was difficult living in a clan full of large muscular cats! "What is this?" Was he referring to that furry bundle she had seen Kowhaifall carrying when they came in?
"We ran into a… snag… on the Flaxclan border…" Sheercrag's soft voice only just reached her ears. The apprentice huffed, deciding she needed a better vantage point. Dappledpaw arched around the crowd, heading up one of the stone outcrops that bordered the camp. Should be easy enough to see up there. The tortoiseshell scrambled up, and quickly noticed she wasn't the only one. Across the other side of camp, she had to resist a chuckle when she saw Honeykit and Pebblekit also climbing the rocks sheltering the nursery, Creampelt calling at them urgently to get back down, while Dappledpaw's own mother ushered her younger siblings back inside.
Down below, she finally had a good look at the patrol. Sheercrag, as the most senior warrior in the group, was addressing Icestar. Rowanpaw had moved beside his mentor, looking at what she was carrying with some concern. Finally, she could see just what it was. A kit; a tabby. Her eyes widened in alarm at the strange kit's presence. Where did that come from?! While the smell of blood clung to the patrol members, none of them appeared injured. She strained her ears to hear just what had happened out there.
"We were halfway through our patrol when we noticed a strange scent on our side of the border, not Flaxclan either." Sheercrag was explaining to a stony-faced Icestar. "I sent Spiderstrike ahead since he's the best at going undetected, and he came back reporting a strange tom hunched over the body of another cat." Sheercrag's small ears flicked, the only part of his body language showing his unease. "We charged them. The tom ran; ginger fur. Not a Flaxclan cat; I didn't recognise him and his scent was wrong. I sent Horsefoot and Spiderstrike after him, but they lost him across the Flaxclan border. I didn't think it was wise to allow a trespass to chase him down."
Icestar nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful, angry and concerned. "I agree."
"And so how did you come by this?" Sorrelwind inquired after the kit squirming slightly in Kowhaifall's gentle grip, mewling occasionally.
"The other cat lying there was a dead nursing queen. Another stranger." Sheercrag huffed sadly. "Three dead kits as well, this one was the only one alive… It was a rather horrific scene, if I'm honest. They weren't clean kills." Gasps and horrified mumblings moved through the clan, cats pressing themselves against family and friends for comfort. Even Gorseclan, rough around the edges as they were, never would wish harm on a queen and kits, no matter where they came from.
"You think that ginger tom did it?" Icestar muttered, bending his head to look at the kit for a moment, taking a small sniff. It squawked in response. The kit was very young, still blind, Dappledpaw now noticed. It would need milk soon.
"Possibly, though we can't know for sure. He had blood scent on him though, and was clearly terrified." Horsefoot was the one to answer, as one of the cats who had pursued the tom, his deep voice was rough with emotion. "Two of the dead kits were ginger like him though."
"His own kits and his mate…?" Sorrelwind seemed horrified at the very thought, the fur along her spine rising slightly even though her stoic demeanour.
"There may be no connection; the fur could be a coincidence…." Icestar rumbled thoughtfully. "These rogues sound dangerous, based on what the messengers from Tussockclan told us. It could be a disagreement between two of them… or perhaps a loner queen in the wrong place at the wrong time." Loners were scattered across clan territory; usually passing through between twoleg settlements. It wasn't impossible, though it would be unlikely a queen with such young kits would be on the move, especially on her own. "You buried the bodies?"
"Yes, at the edge of the border." Spiderstrike answered. Looking at his paws, and those of Horsefoot and Sheercrag, Dappledpaw now noticed the dirt and dried blood sticking to their fur there. No wonder the scent was still clinging to them.
"Good, even if this cat and her kits were not one of us, a burial is deserved… Regardless, this kit needs seeing to." Icestar continued. He glanced over his shoulder to where Longfang was lingering on the fringes of the crowd. "Longfang!" He barked, making the herbalist jump. "Come and check this little one over." The clan parted to let the blue tabby through, slinking past his clanmates in his usual nervous way. His expression changed to one of more intent as he came up before Kowhaifall and the squirming kit still held in her jaws. The young warrior had been oddly still and silent through the exchange, Dappledpaw noticed. Rowanpaw too, had stood beside his mentor, occasionally giving her a furtive glance she didn't seem to notice. She seemed to be lost in thought, but perked up as Longfang approached.
"Let me see him." The herbalist sniffed the kit and inspected him gently as Kowhaifall held him up for Longfang. He hummed to himself. "He seems unharmed, but he will need to nurse soon. He's too young to go without milk for long." He turned to Icestar. "Wekadash has plenty of milk, with only Boarkit to feed. And he's not much older than this one."
Icestar didn't take a moment to decide. "Then we shall take this kit in, clearly they have nowhere else to go… I'm sure Wekadash will have no objections."
Creampelt, who had long since given up on getting her own children down from the rocks and had approached to hear the story with the rest of the clan, came forward. "She will take him, I know. I will take him to her." Kowhaifall passed over the kit to Creampelt with the utmost care. Kowhaifall watched him go with some reluctance, glancing at Icestar then to Creampelt's retreating back as she trotted across camp to the nursery.
"Alright everyone, I know this has been upsetting, but please return to enjoying your day!" Sorrelwind called out to the gathered clan. She dropped her voice to speak to Icestar. "Do you want extra patrols?"
Icestar grunted, his tail flicking. "We've already doubled them on the Flaxclan border. If we work the warriors much harder they will be too exhausted if a fight comes…" He elected to then address the clan again, who seemed reluctant to disperse. "We will stay vigilant for this ginger tom… If you so much as see a tuft of fur, you are to report it. And if you see him, catch him alive, within your own safety. I want an explanation…" He looked over his cats, ever confident and projecting his usual collected air, though Dappledpaw knew him well enough to see the tension in him. "Now please, allow yourselves to relax and rest." He bumped heads with Sorrelwind. "Meet me in my den after you make sure everyone has calmed down."
And his deputy did as she was bid. While Icestar padded away, cats approached her and she moved among them offering reassuring licks and words that Gorseclan would survive these clearly dangerous times. Many of the clan were clearly especially disturbed by the deaths of the kits on their land.
Dappledpaw decided it was time to come down from her vantage point, as cats broke off into their friend groups to discuss the events. As she did, she happened to glance up again to see Rowanpaw say something to Kowhaifall, concern clear on his face. She shook her head, said something to him that Dappledpaw couldn't pick up from this distance, then she headed off without her apprentice. Rowanfall watched after her, his bushy tail doing that upward twitch at the end he did when he was agitated for some reason. Maybe he just wanted reassurance from his mentor after a traumatic experience, but something told Dappledpaw that wasn't the case. He didn't look that scared.
Dappledpaw followed the young red and white warrior's progress across camp, curious when she did not stop next to her mate Horsefoot or her brother Rimuleaf, only offering them quick meows she would be right back. She was heading for Icestar's den, where the leader had just entered moments before.
Now what did Kowhaifall need to go speak to Icestar privately about? Dappledpaw hopped down to the ground from her rock, and watched the warrior's tail vanish in the entrance, thoughtful. Was there something else that happened out there? The reason Kowhaifall was so quiet? She was dying to eavesdrop, but Icestar's den wasn't exactly the most inconspicuous place in camp to be lurking outside of.
A dark-pointed pelt came weaving through the dispersing crowd. "That sure happened, huh?" Sedgepaw joined her with a small shake of his head. "You had the right idea getting up high, I could barely see anything behind Waspsting's fat head." She could smell the stress coming off her brother's pelt, but as he usually did, he deflected his stress with humour. She purred a small laugh and rested her chin on his back a moment. She felt him let out a deep exhale. "Kind of scary stuff huh?" He muttered.
"Yeah. I really hope that the tom they saw isn't the father. If he can do that, imagine what else he is capable of." Not a cat they wanted at large in their borders, that was for sure. As if Gorseclan didn't have enough to worry about!
"You think he'd come into camp looking for the last kit?"
"Like he'd get that far." Rowanpaw's gruff voice broke in.
Sedgepaw and Dappledpaw edged out of their embrace. "Don't stop your little sibling cuddle time on my account." The other apprentice continued. "I just wanted to ask you something." He was looking at Dappledpaw directly.
"What?" The demand came out more impatient than she intended. Probably. The tension in the air was getting to her, maybe.
"Did you notice Kowhaifall acting a little off?"
"Yeah, actually. She seems really worried about that kit." Which was natural, sure, any cat would want to protect a kit, but she didn't seem to want to pass him over to Creampelt even.
"That could just be because she's going to have kits of her own but-"
"Wait what?!" Sedgepaw exclaimed. Dappledpaw blinked a moment. No wonder Kowhaifall didn't want to roughhouse mock battles the other day!
Rowanpaw hissed and flattened his ears. "Don't go blabbing, frog-breath! She's only told me, her brother and Horsefoot so far."
Sedgepaw lifted his paw to his mouth in mock shock and offence. "I won't tell a soul."
"You better make sure he doesn't." The red tom reinforced, this time looking at Dappledpaw, who nodded.
"Hey what side are you on-!" Dappledpaw flicked her tail in Sedgepaw's face to silence him.
"So, you think there's something else than just a maternal instinct?" She spoke over her brother who huffed indignantly.
"Maybe…" Rowanpaw replied in a distantly thoughtful voice.
"Care to share with the rest of us?"
The young tom perked back up, then shook his head with a little smirk. "Another day, perhaps. When I feel like it." And before Dappledpaw could get another word in, the other apprentice slunk away.
Dappledpaw watched him go, then stamped her foot. "Damn him." She spat. "He just wants something he can lord over both of us. He knows that knowing something I don't will drive me nuts!"
"Petty." Sedgepaw agreed with a solemn nod.
