Longpaw opened her mouth to scent for prey. She then got into the hunters crouch. Darkheart could scent some mice, so he figured she was going after one of them. But then he noticed the apprentice was moving towards a thrush. Let's see if she can catch that bird Darkpaw thought. Longpaw charged at the bird and leaped up at it as it began flying away. "Great catch!" Sageleaf praised.
"That bird died loud." Darkheart mewed, "We've got to continue out hunting elsewhere, all the prey in this are got scared away."
$^*^$
It was well past sunhigh when Darkheart and the rest of the hunting patrol decided they had hunted enough that day. They had 5 mice, a rabbit and 2 birds. They were on their way back to camp.
Darkheart froze. He felt a chill run down his spine, but he didn't know why. Sageleaf padded up to him, "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"I don't know why, but this place seem eerily familiar." Darkheart answered.
"This is where we found you and Nightkit." Sageleaf answered.
Darkheart's eyes opened wide. He remembered now! "What happened that night?" Darkheart asked.
"Me, Stonecloud and Shadestar were hunting, and we found you and Nightkit, along with your dead mother and sister. There was a pile of badger dung lying there, and then Blackthroat led a patrol and we searched all night for that badger. We never did find it."
"Was there anything else here?" Darkheart asked. I know there was no badger! He thought.
"Oh yeah! There was a rose here, next to your mom." Sageleaf added.
Darkheart felt another chill run down his spine. "Thanks for telling me." Darkheart managed to mew. Sageleaf padded off. Darkheart whispered, "Starclan, I vow to find out the truth behind my mother's death."
$^*^$
Back in Thunderclan, Darkheart saw a crowd of cats around Whitewhisker's den. He dropped his prey in the pile and walked up to Rosepetal, "What's going on?" he mewed.
"Goldenpaw's on her way out." The she-cat answered, "Shadestar is performing an emergency warrior ceremony.
Darkheart heard the distant mew of Shadestar from inside the den, "Goldenpaw, as you move on to Starclan, I give you the name of Goldenwing, in honor of your pelt."
"Goldenwing?" Darkheart heard some of his clanmates mumble. Shadestar walked out of the medicine cat's den and the clan broke apart. It was almost sunset now, so Darkheart decided to visit Nightkit. He walked into Whitewhisker's den.
"Is Nightkit here?" Darkheart asked.
"No, he's back in the nursery." Whitewhisker answered.
"How's Brighteyes?" Darkheart asked.
"She's getting better." The medicine cat answered.
Darkheart turned to Patchclaw. "How bad is she?" he asked.
"Bad," the medicine cat answered, "I don't know how much longer she's got. There is always hope though." Whitewhisker sighed.
Darkheart walked out. He took a mouse from the fresh kill pile and looked around for Shrewfur, but he couldn't find him. So, he sat down and started eating the mouse. Rosepetal came up to him with a mouse and sat down. "So," she began, "I don't really know you. You were born after I left."
"Why did you leave?" Darkheart asked, and added, "I'm not from the clan. My mother was killed by badgers when I was a kit."
Rosepetal nodded, "I see," she mewed, "during Greenleaf, I was hunting alone, and I broke my leg. There was a kittypet in the area, and he brought me to his Twolegs, who healed my leg. They let me free once it was completely healed, and now it's fine. I'm glad they didn't try and keep me."
"Did you eat that disgusting pellet food?" Darkheart asked.
"I had no choice!" Rosepetal growled. "I couldn't move because of my leg. I couldn't wait to get back into the forest and eat a mouse. Those pellets were disgusting." Rosepetal's whiskers twitched. Darkheart finished eating his mouse and looked around. He finally saw Shrewfur; he was sharing tongues with Bluetail.
"Well, at least your back now," Darkheart mewed. He stood up and padded over to Shrewfur and Bluetail. They were sharing a rabbit.
"Hi Darkheart." Shrewfur mewed.
"Hey Shrewfur and Bluetail." Darkheart mewed, "Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." Bluetail mewed