Chapter 4

"Cats of all Clans!" yowled Leopardstar. "Onestar, leader of WindClan, has been murdered. We will not continue with this Gathering. Go back to your camps. May StarClan walk with you, and protect your leaders."

Cats, shocked and angry, slowly padded to their leader or deputy.

"Mistyfoot, you're in charge until I get back. I want to see Ashfoot for a moment," Leopardstar meowed. The RiverClan deputy nodded, understanding. Leopardstar padded to Ashfoot, sitting beside her fallen leader, with a group of her warriors around her.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Ashfoot. Onestar was a good leader," she meowed.

"Yes," Ashfoot replied dully. "We all grieve for him." She looked up at the RiverClan leader. "Why? Why would anyone do this for no apparent reason? First Firestar, and then Onestar. Who will be next?"

"Hopefully," Leopardstar sighed. "This will stop. I must be getting back to my own Clan now."

Ashfoot watched her go as she faded into the shadows.

Leopardstar was in her den, surrounded by her senior warriors, deputy, and her medicine cats, Mothwing and Willowshine.

"What will happen next?" she asked. "Firestar, Onestar, and then who?"

Mistyfoot sighed. "Leopardstar, I think that whoever is doing this is targeting all the Clan leaders. You might be next."

"You might be next!" echoed Pebblepaw. He was on his way to a patrol, but now that he had found out information for Operation: Apprentices Unite, it was his duty to report it to all sixteen cats at the next Gathering. For now, he just had to tell the members who were in his Clan.

During the hunting patrol, Pebblepaw couldn't concentrate. He was thinking about this plan and whether it would work or not. Could sixteen apprentices from all four Clans gather enough information to identify who, or even what, had killed two leaders, and might strike the other two?

"Pebblepaw! What's wrong with you today?" asked Reedwhisker. "That fish was practically waiting for you to catch it, and you missed!"

"Sorry," Pebblepaw mumbled. He tried extra hard for the rest of the patrol, but all he caught was one small fish, hardly a mouthful for a kit, while the rest of his patrol had caught enough to feed the elders a good meal.

Mosspelt, Pebblepaw's mentor, came over to Reedwhisker. "How did my apprentice do today?" she asked, pretending not to see Pebblepaw's tiny catch.

Pebblepaw didn't listen for Reedwhisker's reply. He padded off to the apprentices den, and to his dismay, it was empty.

He heard Beechfur's voice behind him. "If you're looking for your fellow apprentices, they are all training with their mentors."

What? They are all training, while I didn't get to go? Pebblepaw decided to take a short nap, but as he got settled in his nest, Mosspelt poked her head in and announced, "No time for naps. We're going training with the other apprentices."

Yes! Finally, a time to see the other members of Operation: Apprentices Unite!

When Pebblepaw arrived, he was aghast to see it was empty.

"Where are the other apprentices?" he wondered.

"Oh, the other apprentices? Half of them went back to camp, and the other half are on patrol," his mentor answered.

"I thought we were training with them?" he asked.

"I guess we came too late. They've probably already left," Mosspelt answered.

What? Pebblepaw wailed. Left out again?

The training session quickly passed. When they returned to camp, the sun was setting, and the camp was awash in lengthening shadows.

"Get something to eat," Pebblepaw's mentor advised him, "That's enough for today."

Pebblepaw skipped his meal, and directly went to the apprentices den, happy to tell them the news he had been holding since morning, but after breaking the news, his fellow apprentices just blinked.

"Oh, we knew that," yawned Mallowpaw. "But we have information too. We're tired now, we'll tell you in the morning."

The unhappy Pebblepaw drifted uneasily into sleep.