A/N: 6 pages on word! I'm really getting the hang of writing on here.

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors

Aspenleaf

Aspenleaf looked up from eating the delicious thrush that he had caught earlier when he smelled the reek of Shadowclan in the air. Well, he thought, now that my best friend is in Shadowclan, I guess I can't think of them as smelling horrible. Maybe just…..mildly terrible. Two warriors, Shocktail and Lilyroot (They were the guards who were patrolling the Shadowclan border that Petalstar had appointed, trying to protect Thunderclan from the killer.) escorted the troupe of Shadowclanners into the hollow and straight to the leader's den. He counted 8 Shadowclan warriors plus their leader, saw Galestorm's silver coat amongstthe throng of Shadowclan warriors.

They all looked grim enough that Aspenleaf knew what they were here about. It had been six moons since Oaktail had been killed. Ever since, cats from other clans had turned up dead. The other leaders seemed to think that since the first attack had been here the killer was in Thunderclan. Every half-moon it seemed that another clan leader came in and accused someone new.

The Shadowclan warriors scrambled up the High Rock into Petalstar's den, out of hearing range. Every Thunderclan cats head was turned towards High Rock, all of them looking thoroughly annoyed. Aspenleaf abandoned his dinner and got closer to the High Rock so he could hear their conversation.

Petalstar was very distressed about the killings. Her own mate, Phoenixwing, had been killed the moon before. She looked at Swampstar, who was in the front of the horde.

"Who are you going to accuse now, Swampstar?" She hissed in exasperation.

"I am here to speak with you privately and my warriors are here to protect me from your horde of MURDERERS!" He spoke this last part very loudly. Starting again at his normal voice, he spoke.

"Our latest killing occurred last night. However this murder is different. In Icetail's claws we found dark orange fur. The same shade as your warrior Aspenleaf." Aspenleaf's blood turned cold. "I suggest that you turn him in n-"

"You're trying to condemn one of my best warriors just because you found dark orange fur in her claws! Plenty of warriors have dark orange fur! Splashheart, the Riverclan deputy-"

"Is dead." Swampstar interrupted "Died last week."

"And you and the other leaders didn't inform me of this!" Petalstar bellowed with rage. The rest of Thunderclan, who were straining to hear the conversation, heard this loud and clear.

"We didn't want Aspenleaf to feel the glory of his kill and we didn't trust-"

Aspenleaf didn't hear the rest, however, as his ears were pounding as the blood circulated in his ears. He felt a white hot rage in his stomach, so strong that he scrambled up the High Rock himself.

He walked in on a strange picture. Redblaze, the deputy, was forcibly holding Petalstar back as she yelled and tried to attack Swampstar.

"If you had any courage, you would have accused my deputy, who also has dark orange fur but you accused a warrior instead. Were you afraid, Swampstar?" she mewed in a cold, calculated voice.

Swampstar, however, did not get to answer this as Aspenleaf marched angrily into the den.

"Excuse me," he mewed scathingly "But I do not like to hear my name slandered. Especially when I am being randomly accused of murder. It is an insult to the memory of the cats who have been murdered that my name has showed up as a suspect."

Aspenleaf surprised himself at how old he sounded. He was only 26 moons old and hoped he didn't sound so much like an elder all the time.

His words, however, did have an effect on Swampstar. He looked at all of them in disgust and then bellowed a command at his warriors and marched off, his warriors behind him. Except for one.

Galestorm looked at Petalstar pleadingly. "Please let me come back. Do you not see the idiocy I have to put up with?" Aspenleaf looked at Galestorm and Petalstar in shock. He had had no idea that Galestorm had asked Petalstar to come back before. He missed his friend a lot. He had only seen him at gatherings since he had been stolen.

"Galestorm, I've told you before. If you come back, Swampstar will just attack. Once Swampstar is dead, I pray for the day to come, you are welcome to come back." As Galestorm's gaze fell, she put her tail on his shoulder. "You were an exceptional apprentice, I'll be glad to take you back. You can even tell us more about Shadowclan's fighting style and if they have been sneaking onto our territory."

She then ushered Galestorm out of the den. Aspenleaf watched him go longingly. Petalstar then turned to Aspenleaf.

"That was interesting, wasn't it?" Petalstar's voice didn't have the brisk tone it had had before. "Redblaze, you may leave. You may want to set up a hunting patrol." The deputy nodded and left out of the entrance of the leader's den. Aspentail watched him leave, and, once he was sure he was gone, twitched his whiskers amusedly.

"You're a little young to be saying 'you were an exceptional apprentice' to Galestorm, aren't you? You're my age and he's my best friend." He and Petalstar were in the nursery together. They had both been very young warriors when Galestorm had become an apprentice. Also, they both had been candidates to become deputy to Granitestar but Aspenleaf had refused. Granitestar had died very soon afterwards, making Petalstar the youngest leader of Thunderclan at the age of 20 moons. She had also offered him the job of deputy which he had also refused.

"Wow, I'm hurt; I thought I was your best friend." She aimed a paw at his ear. "Anyway, I'm leader, I'm supposed to sound leader-like and formal."

"Precisely why I didn't take the job." He ducked as she swung her paw. "You didn't seem to act so leader-like when Swampstar accused me of murder. I'm one of your best warriors? Shocking."

"Also, as a leader, I'm supposed to kick ass. Swampstar was just trying to intimidate me because I'm young by accusing you, who could easily be in my paws." She looked rebellious. "None of the other leaders take me seriously."

"One more thing, is Redblaze supposed to be stronger than me? I could easily whoop his tail any day of the week with one paw. Swampstar is supposed to be more scared of him than me?" Aspenleaf flexed his muscles reflexively while he said this. He was a revered fighter, Petalstar the only one who rivaled his fighting skills in all of the clans. Or at least that was the rumors in Thunderclan stated.

"He's my deputy, what am I supposed to say? It's not my fault you refused." Petalstar was very aware of their respective fighting skills. She was constantly ambushing him when no one else was around.

Petalstar sighed heavily. A lot had happened over the six moons she had been leader. The killings had started 2 days after she had become leader. During this time she had fallen in love and he had been taken away from her quickly. Aspenleaf licked her ear in friendship. He had known her a long time and knew what she was thinking most of the time.

After many moments, she spoke again shakily. "I-I'm sorry. It just w-washed over me again. I-"

He put his russet-colored tail on her shoulder comfortingly. "Anyone would be overwhelmed with what you've been going through."

She turned her head away from him. "You should go hunting." She suggested weakly. Aspenleaf, knowing she wanted to be left alone, left respectfully. He shivered as he felt the cold of the night air outside. It had been sunset when Shadowclan had arrived but he had talked to Petalstar so long night had come. He looked down at the inhabitants of the hollow and was shocked to see the whole clan, all of whom were in a mass of confusion. He jumped down and asked the first cat he saw, Lynxpaw, what the commotion was. Though she was 17 moons old, he knew her quite well. Well enough, at least, to know how angry she was to still be an apprentice. She had a silvery white scar on her forehead and another on her throat from the attack. She had spent 4 long moons recovering from her injuries and was now being forced (by her mentor, not Petalstar) to relearn everything she had been taught. Annoyance constantly radiated from her pelt. Not now, however, because she looked so worried that it made him shiver.

"What happened?" Lynxpaw looked at him, relieved.

"Oh Starclan! Where have you been?" She touched her nose with his, making him even more confused.

"What happened?" He asked again. Lynxpaw quickly answered him.

"Redblaze took out a hunting patrol. They split up and the rest of the patrol came back without him after they couldn't find him. No one had seen you since Shadowclan came so some cats suspected-"

"I'm going to tell Petalstar." Aspenleaf immediately turned straight back around to scramble up the High Rock once again. He hesitated briefly at the entrance. When he had left, she had been on the verge of sobbing. This is an emergency he thought, steeling himself to be able to go inside.

As he entered the leader's den, he registered three things. 1. Petalstar's face was buried in the moss that was her bedding. 2. Sobs were echoing throughout the den. 3. She hadn't noticed him coming in.

Aspenleaf slowly padded to her bedding. She was sobbing so hysterically that she still didn't hear him coming. He was kind of glad that he had come in. A murderer could have easily gotten into camp in all the confusion and killed her so she only had 8 lives left. When he was right next to her he put his tail on her shoulder comfortably. She immediately knew it was him.

"I-I thought I t-t-told you to l-leave." She could barely get her voice to work. She slowly picked her face up from the moss and buried her muzzle into his chest. He felt himself flush as he awkwardly stroked her back with his tail. He comforted her like this for the next few minutes as she pulled herself together.

"What's up?" She said this while pulling her muzzle from his chest and backing away. He knew not to cross her while she was…emotional unless it was urgent.

"Redblaze, he's missing." Petalstar looked guilty immediately. Aspenleaf felt bad about coming to her.

"Let's go." Petalstar had already started walking before she explained this to a stunned Aspenleaf. "We're the strongest warriors in all of the clans. I have nine lives. No one would attack us."

"Isn't that just a rumor in Thunderclan that we are the strongest-"

"Don't make me list facts. Now come on." She strutted off quickly, leaving a jogging, stunned Aspenleaf in her wake. As they came down off the High Rock and made their way through the throng of cats to the forest beyond, Aspenleaf wondered how the sobbing cat back there had turned so quickly into the fierce she-cat before him.

Petalstar had stopped suddenly. She raised her tail. "I smell something." He quickly spoke before she could start moving again.

"And we didn't bring anyone else why?" She turned around with an impatient face.

"Everyone wants to be with their loved ones right now. Then I would've wanted to go by myself and you would've decided to come with me, so I decided to skip that crap and just have us go in the first place."

Aspenleaf looked in amazement at her as she padded away quickly again. He then started sprinting after her again.

He started to smell blood in the air as Petalstar began to speed up. She was much faster than him and quickly all he could see was her tail.

"We should stick together!" He yowled, but Petalstar didn't respond. Suddenly, he heard a gasp up ahead and when he caught up to her, he let out a gasp himself.

The bloody body of Redblaze was in front of a big tree. Blood was splattered all the way up to the top of the tree where the dismembered head of Redblaze was residing, fixed in an everlasting snarl. His headless body's limbs were splayed in all different directions, the blood underneath covering everything.

Aspenleaf twined his tail with Petalstar's as he took in the scene before him. He felt her press her body against his. Aspenleaf felt a wave of nausea come over him. He barely registered Petalstar as she started shivering as he retched.

Finally Petalstar mewed shakily. "We should take the….body….back to camp. I'll go get the h-head-"

"No." Aspenleaf mewed firmly. "I'll get h-his h-h-h-head." He then bent down and retched again.

Slowly, he padded through the bloody scene. He carefully sidestepped the mangled body and started to climb the slippery trunk. Blood was covering him, filling his nose and clogging his senses. The tree's branches were all covered in blood; there was no getting away from the stench of it. Aspenleaf threw up in his mouth as he climbed agonizingly slow to the top. When he finally reached the top, Redblaze's eyes looked back at him as he grabbed the head gingerly with his mouth.

He made the journey back down as quickly as possible. When he made it to the ground, he gave Petalstar the head and picked up the body in exhaustion. In unison, they both started trudging back to camp. When they reached the entrance, Aspenleaf walked in first, covered in blood and dragging the dismembered body behind him. The whole of Thunderclan still seemed to be in the hollow. A layer of silence came down as he walked in, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Sharpfang was the first to break the silence.

"My mate! You murdering son of a-yaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" The tan she-cat jumped at him, claws unsheathed. Aspenleaf saw a flash of cream colored fur before he could even think. Petalstar, head in mouth, knocked Sharpfang to the ground and flipped her three meters away. She then began to calmly walk to the center and deposited the head. Aspenleaf did the same with the body. He felt the stares of the clan burning his pelt.

Petalstar scrambled up the High Rock. "Let all those cats- you're all already here so I'm not going to finish calling you. Aspenleaf informed me of my deputy's disappearance and we set off to find him. We found him like…..this….at a tree. His head was…..on top of said tree, which is now covered in blood. Aspenleaf climbed said tree to recover…the head. He is now covered in blood for that reason, not for the outrageous claims against him. It is also the reason I am now doing this. 'I say these words before the body of Redblaze, so that his spirit may hear and approve my choice. Aspenleaf will be the new deputy of Thunderclan.'"

Aspenleaf was open mouthed in shock (as well as the rest of the clan). She knew he didn't want to be deputy. She didn't wait to ask him so he could say no!

Petalstar quickly turned around to go into her den, apparently not wanting to answer questions. Aspenleaf scrambled up the High Rock and marched angrily (for the 2nd time that day) to her den.

Petalstar was sitting calmly in her den, waiting for him to come. "WHAT, IN THE NAME OF THE DARK FOREST, WAS THAT!"Aspenleaf breath was heavy and his eyes were murderous.

"I'm pretty sure I just made you my deputy." She wrapped her tail around her paws calmly.

"AND WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Aspenleaf's claws unsheathed and he had a strong urge to leap at her and attack her.

"Did you see the body? Your scent was all over it and your fur was in his claws." Aspenleaf looked at her incredulously.

"YOU WERE WITH ME!" Aspenleaf felt his left eye twitch.

"I know that, stupid. Someone's trying to frame you. Who else saw you while Redblaze was missing?"

Aspenleaf flushed. "You and…..Lynxpaw." Petalstar looked at him weirdly.

"You have no friends. Anyway, I put you as deputy because cats will torment you with accusations if you were a warrior." Petalstar tilted her head. "Plus you were the most qualified for the position."

"But now I'm stuck with being deputy until I die or you die or until I'm all old! Deputies have to wake up all early and set up patrols and sound all formal!" Petalstar looked at Aspenleaf, exasperated.

"Someone's whiny." Petalstar yawned. "I'm tired. Get out of my den so I can sleep."

"You're covered in blood. It's going to be really hard to get off in the morning when it dries." Aspenleaf, finally making a logical statement, smiled. "I'm going to the river near the Windclan border to wash off mine. I hate the taste of blood." Petalstar nodded.

"Okay. Let's go." 10 minutes later they were at the stream. Aspenleaf jumped in quickly, feeling the cool wash over him. Petalstar hesitated, not wanting to get in. Finally, Aspenleaf twirled his tail around her front paws and dragged her in the water.

"Hey, you little-"Petalstar splashed Aspenleaf in the face with a jet of water. Aspenleaf quickly ducked underwater and grabbed her tail and dragged her downstream.

"Hey, let me g-blrb!" Petalstar went under herself as Aspenleaf dragged her down. He felt that they needed something light after what they had witnessed. Petalstar twisted her body and kicked her legs out, connecting with his head.

"Ha!" She swam to the surface and watched as he came up. He swung a paw at her head that she casually dodged.

"I'm glad you were with me when we found Redblaze." Petalstar turned serious. "I have a feeling it won't be the last body we'll find."

Aspenleaf was filled with dread. "I'm sure it won't be."

Cliffhanger-ish! Review, please!