A/N: Another chapter...

To the reviewers:

Amber342: The killer will be revealed very soon...

Avatar-State craziness: The first three guesses are correct. The last one is very close...

Chapter 8

The sun radiated its golden rays onto the ThunderClan camp, washing the leaves into a verdant hue. A few rays peeked into the ThunderClan leader's den, waking him from a deep slumber.

The brown tabby opened one eye. It was dawn, and the day was beginning. He got up and shook the moss out of his fur.

Bramblestar wearily padded out of his den, to find his deputy, Lionblaze, already sitting in the clearing quietly, tail wrapped around his paws. He seemed to be deep in thought, but perked up when he heard Bramblestar approaching.

"The dawn patrol is already out," Lionblaze reported, "but I still haven't sent out the hunting patrol. Should I do it now?"

"You go rest," Bramblestar meowed. "I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Bramblestar!" Lionblaze purred as he walked away.

Bramblestar watched his deputy until he went inside the warriors den. He wasn't the most senior warrior, but he had quickly caught on to his duties. Many cats wondered why Bramblestar had chosen Lionblaze, instead of a cat like Brackenfur or Dustpelt. Bramblestar knew Lionblaze was a loyal warrior, but he wondered about how, as a warrior, he, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf had often disappeared. Hollyleaf had vanished in the tunnels since then, but Lionblaze and Jayfeather...

Bramblestar shook his head. He walked over to the warriors den, noting that most cats were still asleep. Dustpelt's eyes were closed, and he looked content, which was rare for the prickly warrior. Ferncloud, a light grey she-cat, was curled beside him. Bramblestar decided not to disturb them. Cloudtail's white, fluffy body poked up among his moss nest, and Icecloud's smaller form was nearly identical. Bramblestar wondered who he should send on the hunting patrol.

He heard a patter of feet. Pulling his head back, Bramblestar saw Thornclaw coming back from the dirtplace.

"Thornclaw!" he called. "Choose a couple of cats, and take them on a hunting patrol."

Thornclaw dipped his head, and vanished inside the warriors den. A few moments later, he emerged again, with Icecloud and Birchfall behind him. Icecloud, looking alert, waved her tail at Bramblestar, and the three leaped out of the camp.

Thornclaw took the lead. They padded though ThunderClan's territory, keeping an ear out for prey.

Thornclaw suddenly stopped. "Mouse!" he hissed, ears slowly rotating around to capture the soft noise. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up later. Meet me by the Moonpool's stream."

Icecloud and Birchfall nodded, and went ahead, padding side by side. As the sun slowly crept up to its sunhigh position, the two cats worked hard to catch prey.

"Great work!" Birchfall called, as Icecloud padded out of the thick shrubs, bearing a large brown squirrel. She dug a small hole, and piled dirt on top of the buried squirrel. The she-cat was about to go back into the shrubs when Birchfall called her back.

"I think we have enough," he meowed. "Let's go to the stream and find Thornclaw. We're done for now."

"I'll get the two pieces by the stream and meet you there," Icecloud offered, her blue eyes sparkling.

Birchfall nodded, and the white she-cat bounded away.

Icecloud sniffed the air. Something didn't smell right. She was getting worried. Birchfall was taking a long time, and Thornclaw's scent was present, but he wasn't. Something was wrong.

Suddenly the bushes trembled, and Birchfall popped out, prey in his jaws.

"There you are!" Icecloud yowled. "I was getting worried. Thornclaw—he's—he's gone!"

"Thornclaw? Gone? Icecloud, what are you talking about?" Birchfall looked puzzled, dropping the prey.

"His scent—it ends right at the border! And he's nowhere to be found!"

Birchfall went over the sniff the border. "There's WindClan scent here," he warned.

"I know, but it's way older. It's not fresh. There's no way that a WindClan warrior could have—"

"There's squirrel blood here!" Birchfall exclaimed, nose to the ground. "WindClan stole prey from us!"

"What's more important: Finding Thornclaw, a fellow Clanmate, or fussing over stolen prey? We can deal with WindClan after finding Thornclaw!" Icecloud shot back, her tail lashing.

"I'm not fussing!" Birchfall objected.

"I don't care. Thornclaw's disappeared, and we have a duty to find him. Let's go, Birchfall," Icecloud meowed.

A/N: Cats are disappearing! Gasp!