"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet under the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
Firestar's mew rang strongly throughout the stone hollow that made ThunderClan's camp, but it was shaking slightly, and there was a clear note of horror in it.
Brambleclaw, crouched by the fresh-kill pile and dividing up the rations, lifted his head. What had happened? He had seen Firestar stand his ground in the most violent battles and stay strong while sickness ravaged the Clan. Throughout this time of starvation, the ginger tom had held his head high. To unsettle him in such a way must be terrible indeed.
Brambleclaw glanced at the gathering cats, then closed his eyes. He lifted his head to the morning sky, then touched his nose to the ground. In the old days cats had said this prayer at every dawn, but over the seasons things had become less formal.
StarClan, keep your claws at bay.
Let no friend of mine fall today.
Keep your warriors in their dens, and shun the kits from your light,
Take the sickness from our breaths and leave shadows to the night.
Protect us from the frozen winds that steal the warmth in our fur,
And guard us against the bloody glory that others might call war.

His prayer done, Brambleclaw padded to join his Clanmates and settled at the base on the Highledge, as his position of deputy required.
His gaze fell upon the mound of fur that lay before him, and knew that his prayer had come too late.
The brown tabby tom saw at once what had caused Firestar to falter. He had seen worse wounds during the battle of BloodClan, who reinforced their claws, but only then.
The cat's fur was so clogged with blood that Brambleclaw couldn't make out the colour, and the scent was almost impossible to detect. He stepped forwards to take a closer sniff and shivered, drawing back to his original spot.
Sorreltail. Oh, StarClan…
Many of the other cats also approached to identify the body, and yowls of terror and dismay rippled through the Clan.
"Why, Firestar?" wailed Poppyfrost, one of Sorreltail's kits. "Why her? What did she do?"
Firestar merely bowed his head in sadness.
Sandstorm, Sorreltail's mentor, was crouched by her apprentice's body, smoothing over a lump of fur behind her ears. At Poppyfrost's mew she raised her head and rasped, "Where are Cinderheart and Brackenfur?" She named Sorreltail's other kit, and mate.
Brambleclaw shifted slightly. "I sent them out hunting with Dustpelt. They won't be back for a while."
"Perhaps that's for the best," mewed Firestar softly. "They don't need to see her like this."

Jayfeather looked Firestar directly in the eyes with his sightless gaze. "Where was she found?"
"The dawn patrol found her on the lake shore."
Jayfeather nodded and began to trace Sorreltail's wounds gently with his paws. Some cats murmured at this, but Brambleclaw hushed them, saying, "He can't see her, remember."
Finally the medicine cat sat up. "Well?" prompted Firestar. "How did she die?"
Jayfeather was silent for a while. "It's a little hard to say," he mewed, his voice edged. "These wounds-their shape, their size-it's consistent with a badger attack. But-"
He never got to finish. An uproar shattered the grieving silence.
"A badger? Do you think my apprentice would be so foolish as to take one on by herself?" Sandstorm spat.
"Sorreltail was more than a match for a badger!" hissed another cat.
"How do you know, anyway, Jayfeather? You can't see!" growled Berrynose.
Jayfeather's tail twitched in frustration. "Shut up!" he snarled. "Shut up and let me finish! I've got more to say."
Eventually the Clan's anger dissolved into hostile silence.

"Most of her injuries are consistent with a badger attack," repeated Jayfeather more calmly. "However, the wound that actually killed her is not. It was caused by the teeth of a cat." He paused, as though expecting interruption, but no cat said anything.
"My guess is that Sorreltail was fighting a badger. I know that may be hard for some of you to believe, but she could have been taken by surprise, or was forced into a position where she couldn't have run. Anything's possible. She must have eventually driven away the badger, otherwise the dawn patrol would have noticed it. Then came the cat who saw her weakened and finished her off."
Brambleclaw closed his eyes. He could see it. Sorreltail, alone and helpless, struggling to find her way back to camp. A shadowy figure, stalking her through the trees, waiting for her back to be turned…but who would do it?
"This isn't the first time a ThunderClan warrior has been murdered in such a way, Firestar," Brambleclaw found himself saying. "Ashfur. We all thought Sol killed him. But he hasn't been here. So maybe it was another cat for both murders." He noticed Jayfeather's pelt bristle at Ashfur's name, and wondered why.
Firestar looked at him carefully. "Do you think it is a Clan cat, Brambleclaw?"
Brambleclaw lifted his chin. "There's nothing else that makes sense, Firestar. Two ThunderClan cats. Killed in an almost identical fashion. If Sol killed Ashfur, after all, then Sorreltail's killer had to have been a cat who knew how he died. That could have only been a ThunderClan warrior."
Mousewhisker snarled. "WindClan knew, as well!"
"Not how he died."

Birchfall cleared his throat. "There's a thing that troubles me that nobody has addressed. Sorreltail was fighting a badger alone. It doesn't matter how good a warrior is; we teach our apprentices from the first that if they see a badger they run back to camp. And what was a badger doing there in the first place? How did it get in without the patrols picking up its scent? And if what Jayfeather says is true and she was killed by another warrior, how did the patrols miss him, too? We missed two things that should have been obvious. Somewhere along the line, someone screwed up. Badly."
Brambleclaw felt his fur turn hot as the eyes of the Clan fell upon him.
"If the killer was from ThunderClan, the patrols wouldn't have picked up on him-or her," said Sandstorm dully.
Mousewhisker shook his head. "No ThunderClan warrior would do this. It's a coincidence. A rogue passed by, saw Sorreltail injured, and decided to finish her off. Nothing more."
A murmur of agreement ran through the assembled camp. Suddenly, Brambleclaw found himself remembering what Whitestorm had told him once.
Fear makes fools of the best warriors in the forest, Bramblepaw. You know this better than most, your lineage being what it is. When cats are afraid, they do not think; they simply hope that there is someone else to do the thinking for them. Cats will do anything, anything, to avoid coming to terms with what they fear. Your father fears his past, so he will destroy the Clan who holds it. Tawnypaw fears her Clanmates, so she has fled to his side. Darkstripe fears being alone in an uncaring world, so he will do whatever Tigerstar tells him to do. Fear is a disease, Bramblepaw, and it is as deadly and contagious as greencough. Do not fall prey to its claws.
Brambleclaw jerked his head up. Firestar was speaking.
"…so from now on the patrols will be doubled. All cats out on border patrol yesterday will be questioned, one at a time. If anyone else has helpful information, please see me. This meeting is dismissed." The flame-coloured tom jumped down from the Highledge. "Jayfeather, please prepare Sorreltail for her vigil."

Jayfeather nodded and waited for the cats to disperse before settling by Sorreltail's body. He looked at Brambleclaw. "Do you really think a ThunderClan cat killed Ashfur?"
Ashfur. Not Sorreltail, but Ashfur. He knows something, and it's something he can't tell anyone. Which means that he must know the killer's identity, or someone who was there at the time. And if he won't give them up, they must be important to him. Ha! There aren't many.
Brambleclaw sat down and curled his tail around his paws.
"Hollyleaf killed Ashfur, didn't she?" His voice was soft.
Jayfeather gasped. "How-how did you-"
"It's simple logic, Jayfeather. Any ThunderClan cat who saw Hollyleaf at that Gathering could draw the same conclusions. Now tell me the truth. Is Hollyleaf dead? Or did you help her escape?"
Jayfeather continued to stare at him speechlessly. Brambleclaw sighed. "I know this may be hard for you to grasp, but I really am not quite as stupid as I look."
The medicine cat swallowed. "I don't know. If she's dead, I mean. What we told the Clan was half-true. She ran into the tunnels, and they collapsed, but she was running into them because she wanted to leave the Clans. We thought she died in the rockfall. But Lionblaze found her scent in the tunnel, so…now, I don't know."

Brambleclaw tilted his head. Would Jayfeather lie to protect her? Obviously he had already done so, but the grief he had expressed at Hollyleaf's vigil had seemed real.
"I'm telling the truth," said Jayfeather quietly, and Brambleclaw once again was startled at his foster-son's perception.
Finally he spoke. "You've betrayed your Clan, Jayfeather."
Jayfeather bared his fangs. "I'm a medicine cat. I stand beyond loyalty."
"Medicine cats are still bound by the code, perhaps more so than warriors," mewed Brambleclaw softly. "Hollyleaf was out of control. If you'd said something earlier, she might have been saved. Ashfur might be alive."
"And you would still be with Squirrelflight?" said Jayfeather cruelly.
Brambleclaw leaned forwards. "That's neither here nor there. Do you know who killed Sorreltail?"
The medicine cat thrashed his tail. "I know how she died. I know where, and I could probably guess when. I don't know who. Someone evil." The grey tabby tom unsheathed his claws. "Ashfur deserved to die, Brambleclaw."
"Maybe he did," murmured the deputy. "But Hollyleaf didn't deserve to kill him."