Icestar had finally given her an answer a few days later; after she took Stoatberry's advice (grudgingly) and stopped asking about it. Soon, he had said. Very soon. It was vague, but it was better than the nothing at all she'd had prior. Soon, Dappledpaw could work with.

She endeavoured to keep her head down and work hard in the meantime, and had urged Sedgepaw to do the same. He'd been more serious since Kowhaifall's death, it was true, but the last thing she needed was his smart mouth offending Weedfur and stopping him from being assessed alongside her or something. She'd hate for him to be left behind.

Dappledpaw had been given the morning to hunt freely; Icestar said he was busy. With what, he did not elaborate, but that was typical. She'd decided to give up being annoyed by it. He was the leader and he knew what he was doing, no matter what Stoatberry said.

She took a meandering route through the scrub forest to the north of their territory; skirting the cliff sides that rose up into the great mountain range that bordered clan territory. At this time of the year, this should be a good place to find prey like small birds, maybe some lizards basking on the scattered rocks.

There was a slight breeze swaying the short trees and shrubs. As it changed direction, something in the wind caught Dappledpaw's attention. She lifted her head and sniffed in the direction it was coming from. Rowanfall? Wasn't he supposed to be on dawn patrol? There were no other cat scents with him, and besides, they should have only just got back to camp around now. Ordinarily that meant a meal and rest. So what was the warrior doing out here on his own?

She abandoned the small flock of finches that had her attention, and changed course. She couldn't help but find out what he was up to. Utilising the stealth practice Stoatberry had been drilling into her during their training, she followed behind him; close enough she could keep up, but far enough behind he couldn't detect her unless the wind changed. He was out of sight, but she could start to figure out where he was going. He was heading for the Flaxclan border…

He finally stopped up, and so she pressed herself down to the ground and crawled closer to get a better look; hiding behind a small mound of earth. Wasn't this around where that patrol found Ringkit? Rowanfall was ahead, sniffing and looking about, a thoughtful expression on his face.

She weighed up her options for a moment, then decisively stood. "What are you doing?" She barked out, causing Rowanfall to jump; his bushy tail fluffing out.

"Dappledpaw!" He spat, somewhere between surprised and annoyed as he whirled around to face her. "Sun's flaming eyes, don't sneak up on a cat this close to the border!"

"Why are you so close to the border?" Dappledpaw didn't budge, and the red tom narrowed his eyes.

"None of your business." He huffed back. "Go back to hunting patrol, like a good apprentice."

What Stoatberry had failed to mention back when she was talking about Icestar's stubbornness, was it also applied to Dappledpaw. "I think it is my business, actually, what with everything going on. You coming here on your own looks shady."

Rowanfall considered her silently for a moment, gaze filled with a certain exasperated loathing. "Fine." The word dragged out from between his teeth.

"Was that so hard?" She purred teasingly, padding the short distance to him.

"Exceedingly." The tart reply only amused her further.

"But seriously, why are you sneaking around here?" She looked him up and down as she approached.

"I think there was more to what happened here; how we found Ringkit, than it seems."

"On what basis? Is this to do with how Kowhaifall was acting when you guys got back?" Dappledpaw asked as Rowanfall went back to poking around in the bushes, trying to look for tracks perhaps.

He nodded distractedly. "When we were heading back to camp with Ringkit, she asked me to sniff him; if I could pick up an identifying scent."

"I thought he just smelt like the rogue queen and blood?"

"Exactly. That's what I said, and Kowhaifall accepted that but she just seemed… thoughtful, the entire way back. Like she had picked up a scent the rest of us missed. And then after she spoke with Icestar, she wouldn't tell me what it was about, that it didn't matter, but it seemed to make her pretty down." He shrugged his shoulders. "It makes me wonder… What if that fall wasn't an accident? What if she knew something about Ringkit she should have?"

"So someone killed her?" Dappledpaw looked at the tom with a long sideways glance. "That's a real stretch Rowanfall… I know that you miss her but making up wild stories to find meaning in her death isn't healthy. Accidents happen."

"I'm not just making up wild stories!" Rowanfall snarled, the fervour of his voice taking Dappledpaw by surprise. Even when he snapped at her before during their back and forths it didn't quite take on this almost desperate tone. "Something rotten is going on… something about all this doesn't make sense."

"Icestar's theory about what happened makes sense to me; the ginger tom you guys chased off killed the queen and the other kits… he was probably about to kill Ringkit when you arrived and startled him."

Rowanfall stomped his foot in frustration, like she was missing something he saw as obvious. He came off as being completely irrational to her. "But why?! Why would a rogue randomly kill another one on our territory; a nursing queen of all cats? Even a rogue killing kits…!"

The sleek she-cat scoffed, her tail flicking in agitation at Rowanfall's raised voice. "Why does how rogues act have to make sense? They act out violently at random; maybe the queen scorned him somehow… and who cares?! The only thing we should worry about is keeping them out of our territory; protecting ourselves…"

"Who knew you would be so willingly ignorant as everyone else?" Rowanfall hissed at her, his head low as his green eyes leered.

Dappledpaw glared back, not appreciating his tone or word choice. "Because your theory is emotional nonsense; logically the obvious explanation is the right one."

"You mean Icestar's explanation is the right one?"

"Yes." She growled back at his flat question. "What, do you have a problem with Icestar now too?"

This made Rowanfall hesitate for a moment, his eyes looking away in a conflicted thought. "Maybe." He bit out eventually. "I don't know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She was genuinely confused.

"You wouldn't get it."

"Try me."

Reluctantly, he slowly replied. "You ever get the feeling of something being… off."

"All the time; the camp feels very on edge at the moment. The agitation in the air is probably hard on you at-"

Rowanfall scrunched up his face, and shook his head. "No not like that, this is more specific."

"You are going to have to be more specific."

His tail flicked with frustration. "It's like… this feeling of danger. A crawling up my pelt and a voice screaming there's a threat. It started a few moons ago, now and again before something bad happens…" He looked down and his voice grew quieter. "I felt it right before I found Kowhaifall; it pulled me forward towards the source of that feeling. Other times it's helped me avoid it."

Dappledpaw wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this. "So you have strong instincts. Icestar always said-"

"It's not just instincts!" He broke her off for a second time, starting to pace as standing still couldn't contain his agitated feelings anymore. "It's something else… I told you I can't explain it! This is why I didn't want to tell you; you're making that face like you do when you think I'm being irrational! That you think I'm stupid."

Dappledpaw glared back at the accusation, then paused and took a sighing breath. She wanted answers from him, there was no point escalating like they normally did. "I don't think you are stupid; well, I do sometimes, but not at the moment. I'm just trying to understand. What, is this feeling of yours telling you Icestar is dangerous? Is that why you said you maybe have a problem with him?"

"Why would I tell his number one loyalist if I don't trust him?" Rowanfall shook his head again. "You know what, forget it. It's probably nothing and I'm just paranoid, like you said." He padded forward and stalked past her. "Go back to hunting, apprentice. I'm going back to camp."

"What, you're just leaving?!" Dappledpaw snapped after him, huffing angrily as she watched his bushy tail vanish over the rise. "Like a tantrum throwing kit." She growled to herself, staring at the spot where he'd disappeared for a moment. Whatever. He wanted to act all weird and keep things to himself? Let him. Why did she care what delusional conspiracy he was tracking to nowhere? She had to focus on herself, her assessment would be any day now.

She decided she might as well follow the Flaxclan border south now she was here; there could be some good hunting down this way. She padded in a circle, then headed off; her pawsteps heavy with residual annoyance.

As the apprentice walked though, her mind wandered back to one of the things Stoatberry had told her. Don't take things at face value. It made her second guess if Rowanfall's investigations and his "mystery feelings of danger" were really just an emotional response to find some meaning in Kowhaifall's death… Was there actually something more going on here? Icestar's assumptions made logical sense, after all. Rowanfall not trusting Icestar because he had a bad feeling? That was crazy; Icestar had done so much for Rowanfall during their training…

If only Ringkit could talk… She wished they could have found that ginger tom that ran off, so they could have heard what he had to say.