Chapter Thirteen
Interuption

Featherpelt gulped. That was the last thing she wanted to do in the world, even though it might clear her name with the clan. Be brave. She thought to herself as she trudged towards Skystar. Her side was still sore from her fight with the tom.

Hawkclaw gave Featherpelt a menacing look as she joined the leaders. "Well, Featherpelt?" the deputy said, gruffly. "What happened this morning?"

Featherpelt resisted the urge to shuffle her paws in the dirt. I can't look nervous, or he'll think I really am guilty. she thought. She, instead, relaxed her shoulders and looked at Hawkclaw in the eye. She opened her mouth to tell him about what had happened that morning when a wail cut her off.

Hawkclaw's glare quickly morphed into panic as he sprinted towards the nursery. Featherpelt and Skystar followed. Blossumleaf and her former mentor Hollyblaze – the clan's nosiest cats – had been watching the scene with interest until Hawkclaw shot them a mind-your-own-business look.

"You stupid cat! How could you lose Acornkit?" Cloudflight yowled at Grayheart.

The queen stared dolefully at her denmate; her body trembling. "I'm sorry, Cloudflight," she whispered, "I had them all with me after the battle ended, but –"

"Cloudflight, that's enough," Hawkclaw said, his voice firm and full authority, though his face did not reflect it. He seemed as scared and distraught as Cloudflight felt.

Featherpelt's heart, regardless of her suspicions, went out to her friend. She remember feeling scared when Sunstrike as a kit disappeared from the nursery one morning. She was so scared and sick with worry, she practically tore the nursery apart looking for her son. Eaglestar had sent out search parties and found the kit in the sandy hollow playing with Foxpaw.

"But she – she lost our kit!" Cloudflight screeched.

Hawkclaw stepped towards her; their noses almost touching. "It's not fair to blame her," he remarked, his voice barely audible. "We know how much our son loves to explore. With a battle that just happened in camp, it probably made him want to follow our enemies."

"How can you be so calm?" she demanded, taking a step back from Hawkclaw.

"Do you not think I am scared? Cloudflight, I am terrified of what could happen to him! Standing here arguing with me and Grayheart is not going to find him faster either. What we need to do is send out some search parties to find him."

Cloudflight sniffed and stared at her paws. Hawkclaw wrapped his bushy tail comfortingly around her shoulders and leaned against her. "It's going to be alright," he murmured. "We'll find him."

He then leaned away from his mate and addressed the crowd of cats that had gathered around the nursery behind Hawkclaw's back. "Riverbreeze, Heatherfur, go and choose which cats you want for the search party. I, myself, will lead one as well. I want two cats to stay behind and guard the camp while I'm away. And Cloudflight-" he paused and gazed at his mate, "-I want you to stay behind."

Cloudflight looked as if she was about to protest, but the tabby brown tom cut her off. "It's just in case he comes back to camp." The white she-cat nodded her head in agreement and went back into the nursery.

As Riverbreeze, Heatherfur, and Hawkclaw organized the search parties, Skystar stood up. "I'm going back to Riverclan," she remarked.

Featherpelt felt a twinge of worry that Hawkclaw may not listen to her now that the mediator was leaving, but nodded her head anyway.

"I'll keep an eye out for Acornkit," she remarked before exiting the camp.

Featherpelt stood in the middle of the camp, not sure what to do. She felt like she needed to join a search party to help find Acornkit, but decided against it. She had a feeling most of the cats here were still convinced she was a murderer and probably would claw her fur off if she asked to join a search party.

"Psst, Featherpelt. Come here," Cloudflight hissed.

Featherpelt cocked her head at her friend. "Is it safe for me to go in there?" she asked, gesturing towards Grayheart, who was lounging outside the nursery, anxiously watching the cats leave camp. Though she did save the queen from that ginger tom, the loner figured Grayheart may not have changed her mind about her.

Cloudflight shook her head. "Don't worry about her," she remarked.

Featherpelt obeyed and padded towards the nursery. Grayheart gave her look as she stepped into the nursery, but didn't say anything.

It had been a long time since Featherpelt had been in this den. The smell of milk lingered in the air and the feeling of soft moss and feathers seemed to soothe the soreness in her pads. It was everything she could do to not just curl up in a nest and fall asleep.

A blur of white fur barreled into Featherpelt. "Take that, Shadowclan invader!" a tiny she-kit mewed, swiping at Featherpelt's leg. As she backed up to dodge the kit's strike, her tail exploded in pain.

"Ow!" she cried, craning her head to see a light brown tom biting her tail.

"Petalkit! Scorchkit! What do you think you are doing?" Cloudflight demanded, darting to Featherpelt's side.

The tom, who Featherpelt guessed was Scorchkit, released her tail. "This cat is invading the nursery," remarked Scorchkit.

"Yeah! And we're trying to defend our home," the she-kit, who must have been Petalkit, added.

Cloudflight huffed. "Well, get away from her. She is NOT an invader. She is my friend."

"How can she be your friend?" Petalkit argued. "She is not a member of Thunderclan."

Cloudflight lashed her tail. "It doesn't matter how she is my friend. She just is. Now why don't you two play over there?" She gestured with her tail towards the front of the nursery. "I need to speak to this cat alone."

"I bet I can beat you to the bramble wall," Petalkit mewed to her brother before running.

"That's not fair! You got a head start!" Scorchkit protested before racing after his sister.

Featherpelt shot Cloudflight a grateful look. "Thank you," she mewed. "Now why did you call for me?"

The albino she-cat leaned towards her her friend and whispered, "We're sneaking out of here."

The loner tilted her head, confused.

Cloudflight sighed. "Where have you been for the last few minutes? Acornkit is lost, and I'm not going to sit around and wait for someone to find him! I want to be out there, looking for him, too! And you're going to help me."

Author's Note: The story will come to a close in Chapter 14. Stayed tuned for the next chapter.