Disclaimer: I don't own the Warriors. Erin Hunter does.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews and support, SmokeyStorm and ShastamaeFirepool. ^^ I really appreciate it. :D
Chapter 4: The Hunted
"I bet the traitor is just waiting for us to calm down and catch us by surprise again," Cinderblaze whispered to the Clanmates sitting close to him, which consisted of Softpelt, the brown gray tabby elder, Mudpaw, his own apprentice, and Ashlight. Days had passed since the crow-food incident and tension started to die down as the Clan started to worry more about the coming leaf-bare and the already low supply of prey.
"Let me eat in peace, Cinderblaze," Softpelt complained, as she continued to pick at her stringy piece of mouse.
Cinderblaze rolled his eyes, but continued on."Or perhaps, it's because at least one of the party members of the dawn patrol that found the crow-food has been on every night guard duty rotation ever since the incident."
"That rotation has been set moons ago, so it's a coincidence," Ashlight said, dryly. "And you have no way of knowing whether or not there will be another trail of crow-food, since it could have been an one time thing and we just haven't figured out what it meant."
"Or it could be because the rotation has been set in stone for moons that the traitor knew he wouldn't be caught," Cinderblaze retorted. Mudpaw was watching the two warriors argue about the reason why no more trails of crow-food have been discovered.
"Or maybe that cat who knew prey was running low wanted us to hunt in the Carrionplace," Mudpaw interjected.
"Don't be ridiculous, Mudpaw," Cinderblaze said, annoyed. "We never hunt there."
"But we have hunted there before, in the past, when Brokenstar was leader," Mudpaw said, importantly. "Every cat knows those stories."
"Brokenstar isn't real. He's just a made up nursery tale to frighten kits," Cinderblaze seethed. "What kind of mother would name their kit, Brokenkit?" Mudpaw, lost for words, just blinked. Cinderblaze looked triumphant.
"A heartbroken mother," Softpelt replied and left to return to the elder's den. Cinderblaze glared after her.
Dapplekit, the tortoise shell she-kit, was staring at the entrance to the medicine den. She parted her mouth to reveal tiny sharp teeth, but as she tentatively tasted the air, scents of herbs hit her tongue. She noticed the nice fragrance mixed with some bitterness. One day, that den will become mine. She padded closer to the entrance, peering in the den. Swiftfeather was sorting through the herbs, looking from one pile to another.
"Dapplekit, what are you doing here, so far from the nursery?" Swiftfeather questioned, quietly, not looking up from her work. Dapplekit let out a startled gasp at being found out. Swiftfeather heard her reaction and twitched her whiskers in amusement. "I have a very sharp nose, you know, even if I'm smelling all these other scents all day long. I could smell you over there."
"I just wanted to see what you were doing," Dapplekit squeaked, but entered the den. "Some of those herbs smell good."
"And which ones would those be?" Swiftfeather asked, finally turning from her work and watch the little kit that had found her way into her den. Dapplekit sniffed the air and walked in different directions at first, but made up her mind that led to the pile furthest away from where Swiftfeather was sitting.
"This one," Dapplekit pointed with her tiny paw, chest puffing up with happiness. She had been able to identify and follow the scent.
"That's catmint, best for greencough," Swiftfeather informed her while letting out a mrrow of laughter. "My supply of that is low, since those are rare in ShadowClan territory." Dapplekit nodded, memorizing this piece of information. Swiftfeather went back to sorting the herbs closest to her, often sighing.
"What's wrong, Swiftfeather?" Dapplekit asked, helpfully. "Can I help?" She was still staring at the medicine cat, watching her work very closely. Swiftfeather looked up in surprise, but nodded.
"Sure, can you go tell Redfur's apprentice, Heatherpaw, to help me dig up more burdock root? Heatherpaw knows what they look like, I've asked her to gather those for me before," Swiftfeather asked the little kit. Dapplekit's blue eyes widened and delight shone through her eyes.
"Sure, Swiftfeather," she replied and dashed as quickly as her short little legs could carry her to where Heatherpaw was sitting in the clearing. Swiftfeather observed from the entrance of her den as the little kit engaged in conversation with the young apprentice. She would make a good medicine cat apprentice.
Russetfoot was silhouetted against the brightness of the moon, just outside of the camp entrance. He was watching the surrounding area for disturbances and irregularities in the quiet night. But as time passed and nothing happened, boredom took hold of him. Not a moment too soon, he felt someone shaking him and calling his name. He slowly opened the eyes that he didn't remember closing and stared at the warrior in front of him.
"Is this how you perform your night guard duty, Russetfoot?" Cinderblaze whispered angrily. There was a glint in his eyes that gripped Russetfoot with fear. He had never seen Cinderblaze so worked up before. "What if the traitor, or so the whole Clan thinks, came and placed their trail of crow-food again?" He shook him some more.
"Stop shaking me!" Russetfoot growled in response, but didn't meet Cinderblaze's eyes. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"Well, get out of here," Cinderblaze snarled. "I came to relieve you of your shift, but apparently you weren't even doing your job!" Russetfoot retreated from his post and back into camp as Cinderblaze sat down and took his turn. I bet the traitor will set the trail today, if my theory is correct.
After sitting for a while, Cinderblaze grew frustrated that nothing was happening. I can't continue to sit around. I'm going to find that traitor! And with that thought, Cinderblaze got up from his sitting position and wandered off into the night.
"Nettlestar! Nettlestar!" a screech rang across the camp. Redfur, who had been dozing in the clearing, jolted awake. Nettlestar came out of his den the moment he heard his name called and met Ashlight, who had emitted the high pitched scream, about half way in the clearing.
"What's the matter, Ashlight?" Nettlestar spoke calmly, but alertness shone in his bright green eyes. Redfur quickly got to his feet and came to stand beside Nettlestar.
"The trail of crow-food is back!" she announced, breathlessly. "And we found Cinderblaze next to it."
"You found Cinderblaze next to it?" Redfur echoed, not quite sure he heard correctly.
"Well, he was next to it, but he was unconscious," Ashlight amended. "When we woke him up, we asked him what happened, but he doesn't remember anything else besides getting hit in the head real hard. Then, he fainted again."
"Is the rest of your patrol still with him?" Nettlestar asked with concern.
"Yes, Sootcloud and Russetfoot are with him," Ashlight mewed, nodding.
"Ashlight, go alert Swiftfeather and tell her to prepare to have a visitor in her den," Nettlestar said. "Redfur, grab Darkstreak and Rainpelt, and meet me by the camp entrance. We're going to go investigate." The two warriors both nodded and bounded off in different directions, Ashlight to the medicine cat's den, and Redfur to the warrior's den. Nettlestar walked a few paces to the camp entrance and waited, his tail lashing. What could have happened?
Redfur returned a few moments later with both Darkstreak and Rainpelt trailing behind him. Nettlestar nodded at them and thundered out of the entrance. The rest of his patrol followed, hard on their paws. As they approached the first piece of crow-food, they found that it had been dug up from when Redfur and Darkstreak had buried it a couple days ago. The next few pieces they encountered were the same, mixed in with fresh scents of Ashlight's dawn patrol and Cinderblaze.
They found the trio not too far ahead. Cinderblaze was clamped between the two warriors as they tried to carry his unconscious form back to camp. When Sootcloud and Russetfoot saw Nettlestar's patrol, they put Cinderblaze down on his side on the grass.
Nettlestar and Redfur moved forward and sniffed the unconscious warrior for signed of the perpetrator. But like before, there was no other scent other than his own and those around him. "Has he said anything else since Ashlight left?" Nettlestar asked when he finished his assessment of Cinderblaze's condition. The two warriors on dawn patrol shook their heads.
"He hasn't woken up since then," Sootcloud informed him. "Ashlight hadn't been gone all that long."
"Well, you two, along with you, Rainpelt, bring Cinderblaze to Swiftfeather's den and have her assess him. Darkstreak, Redfur, and me will continue onwards to search for clues and clean up the crow-food on the way back," Nettlestar decided. Rainpelt, whose eyes were roaming the area with his constant sad expression, nodded and went to help Sootcloud and Russetfoot.
The remaining warriors on Nettlestar's patrol continued their trek towards the Carrionplace while looking for signs to tell them who the perpetrator was, but to no avail. Nothing turned up.
"How does this animal do it?" Darkstreak asked in frustration, though Redfur detected something else that he could quite pinpoint. "Why is there no scent or any other clues that will betray him?" Redfur shook his head and Nettlestar glared at the piece of crow-food in front of him.
"Well, standing around here won't help," Nettlestar said and started to turn around to head back to camp.
And suddenly, there was a loud noise of scratching on the forest floor.
A/N: It's a longer chapter than before, but I hope you guys found the read entertaining. Let me know what you think. :D