Chapter 7

I woke up at dawn. I walked out of the den. Duskpelt was waking the cats doing dawn patrol.

"Silentstorm? Has anyone seen her?" Duskpelt asked.

"Songheart isn't here either," Pineclaw said.

"Silkshade is gone too," Duskpelt said. "Where would she go off to in the middle of the night?"

"Where ever they are they're probably together," Pineclaw said.

"Silentstorm was supposed to go on dawn patrol," Duskpelt said. "No matter. Pineclaw you can do it."

"I'll look for them while I'm out,"'Pineclaw said.

The dawn patrol left and there was gossip spreading around the camp like wildfire. Some cats believed Silkshade left with her friends. Others believed they went out for the night and would be back. A couple thought Silkshade left and Silentstorm and Songheart noticed so they left to get her to come back. None of this was helping Duskpelt.

Wingstar padded out of her den. "The whole clan is up and awake. What's going on?" the leader asked him.

"Silkshade, Silentstorm, and Songheart aren't in camp," Duskpelt reported.

"This isn't good. She asked me after the Gathering if it would help if she left. Did I not convince her I wanted her to stay? Even if she hadn't asked, where one of those three go the others follow," Wingstar said.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Duskpelt asked, seeming more worried than before.

"We need to search for them, but I don't want cats searching off NightClan territory. We remember what happened last time. Past there we can only hope they come back on their own," Wingstar said.

Duskpelt got to work sending cats out to search. He wanted warriors who knew how to track well for this.

"Wingstar!" Dawnfur called to the leader as she went back to her den. "May I have word with you?"

Did Dawnfur have a vision or something? I really wanted to know. I shouldn't spy on the leader's private conversations. Silkshade shouldn't have left either.

Before I could have done it Boulderfang called for me. "Deathpaw!" He called. "Despite all of what's going on we need to train!"

"We're going to hunt today," he said as we left camp. "Duskpelt had me promise we'd keep an eye out for Silkshade."

"I'm worried," I found myself admitting to him.

He met my gaze. "It's normal to be worried," Boulderfang told me. "Silkshade is your friend and your family. Both Songheart and Silentstorm are your friends. I find myself worrying about my sister." Fear flashed in his eyes.

"I know all about what Flurrytail does," I said to him.

"I see something dark within her that scares me," Boulderfang admitted. "Tallblaze and I are both worried about it. We refuse to believe it until we have to." He paused for a moment. He continued in a whisper. "What happens when it gets too far?"

We walked in silence for a moment. Almost everything that has ever happened to Silkshade had Flurrytail somewhere behind it. They haven't told me every detail, believing I was too young, but they have told me that much.

"When I was younger, Tallblaze and I listened to everything she said. One day, a couple days into Silkshade's apprenticeship, we went to tell Flurrytail that Silkshade was not in the den. She had us convinced Silkshade shouldn't be in our clan. She was with Coldclaw. He was Coldpaw then. Flurrytail had found her when we arrived. She said 'We make it look like an accident'. Tallblaze and I knew what she was talking about. We wouldn't believe it though. I said that would scare her enough. Flurrytail didn't think so. So she held Silkshade underwater. I was scared she would keep Silkshade there until she drowned," Boulderfang told me. "That's why we were made warriors. Because of Flurrytail's lie about the story. I've never felt like I deserved to become a warrior."

"You saved a life that night, whether you want to say it or not," I said to him. "Flurrytail would've murdered her. You completely deserve to be a warrior."

"Let's start hunting," he said.

"One more thing," I said. "Why'd you tell me all this?"

"I don't want to tell any cat about Flurrytail that doesn't already know. Silkshade and her friends haven't exactly forgot about some of the things I did when I was younger. Tallblaze never wants to talk about this," Boulderfang said. He got quiet. "And I've never had a friend besides my littermates."

"You can always talk to me," I told him. "Now let's hunt."