Dovewing's heart began to beat harder as she approached Squirrelflight. Calm down! She told herself. You just need to keep the deputy in camp for as long as possible! At least until Ivypool came back…today was the day they would begin their climb to the top of the Clan. But she felt doubt creeping into her mind. This was wrong. Very, very wrong.

She shook her head and sucked in a breath. "I have to." She told herself quietly. Dovewing had promised to, anyway. She was Ivypool's sister. Of course she had to!

"Good morning, Dovewing! I would like you to lead a hunting patrol. The abandoned twoleg nest seems to be full of mice, so head there." She stiffened. No! She had to stay in the camp to stall. And it was the first time in her life that she would get a real chance to prove herself to Ivypool. She had to try.

"Um..Squirrelflight, I need to speak to you." She began, her mind going blank. What did she have to talk about?

No idea.

"Yes?" She asked. "Whatever it is, say it quick." Squirrelflight nodded at the four clanmates waiting for Dovewing.

"I need to speak to you in private." She whispered, trying to keep her voice from shaking. It still did, but it seemed to help convince the deputy of her urgency. "It's very important."

Squirrelflight narrowed her eyes. "What happened? Come over here." She murmured. The deputy waved her tail. "Lionblaze!" She called. "Take over for the moment. I'll be right back." Then she led Dovewing away from their clanmates, to a quieter part of the camp. "What's wrong? Is it...him?"

That question caused an idea to pop into her head. "Y-yes. Well, Millie." She whispered. The idea was brilliant, she was sure of it! Dovewing had to control her excitement and continue looking frightened. She had to make this work. "I scented her and a mixture of shrew. Maybe she was hunting around here. She and Bumblestripe."

The Clan deputy looked furious. "How dare they? After what that tom put you through..." Dovewing suddenly felt a wave of emotion. Squirrelflight was too nice a cat to conspire against. Here she was, already wanting to stand up for her.

Did they have to kill her?

"I-I'm not sure though." Dovewing replied quickly, trying to drag it out. Ivypool was still out. Bramblestar had to be killed without making the sisters look suspicious.

"Dovewing, you were tortured by this tom. You shouldn't be so scared to reveal your feelings or thoughts. Bumblestripe was a bully. Millie decided to join him. If you suspect that they're on our territory, you should notify me or Bramblestar. Don't feel like you have to hold back." She truly felt touched in that moment. Suddenly she didn't want to ruin the she-cat's life by killing her mate. Squirrelflight was so sympathetic and supportive.

"Th-thank you." She whispered. Dovewing decided to tell the deputy what Ivypool was going to do. She had to stop this before anyone went too far. It was too much! It would be a great weight off her shoulders, too. "I also wanted to say-" She swallowed. Then she opened her mouth to let out the truth.

"Bramblestar! Help! Help him!" Her eyes widened when she saw Ivypool dragging Bramblestar's body into the camp. How was that? It hadn't been that long since her sister had gone out! Dovewing noticed that the leader's body was soaking wet. Was that how he had been killed? That wasn't what they'd agreed on! Well, what Ivypool had planned to do.

"Great StarClan...No!" Squirrelflight ran toward the tabby body, her green eyes wide with fear. Dovewing began to feel bad. Really bad. "What happened?" She asked, her voice breaking. "Ivypool!"

Leafpool and Jayfeather pushed forward through the now large crowd of cats. They carried herbs and began to treat Bramblestar immediately. "He's soaking wet." Jayfeather grumbled.

"But...what happened?" Squirrelflight looked shocked.

Ivypool shook her head, and Dovewing saw genuine confusion in her sister's eyes. "I'll confess that I went out for a walk and to avoid a patrol- I was feeling stressed out." She knew that was a lie. "And then I found him floating in the stream between WindClan and ThunderClan." But that wasn't a lie. That was true from the sound of her voice.

Dovewing looked Ivypool in the eye, asking the unsaid words. Her sister only shook her head, looking just as shocked as everyone else.

Leafpool raised her head, her face twisted in a pained expression. "There are claw marks on his throat, but they're not bad enough to kill him. He was probably drowned."

"His lives. He had six more lives left!" Squirrelflight's breathing was shallow and quick. Leafpool and Sandstorm pressed against the she-cat, comforting her. The deputy's sister gave her thyme, though it didn't help all that much.

Dovewing bowed her head. "Bramblestar was a great leader. I'm sorry he had to go so soon." Lionblaze buried his nose in the leader's fur, and Jayfeather was completely silent.

"I-I..." Squirrelflight rushed forward and pressed herself against Bramblestar's dead body. She murmured to Jayfeather, her voice full of grief. "We will go to the Moonpool at once. When I return- that will be when we bury him." She straightened. "But first..."

Dovewing was nudged away from the rest of their grieving clanmates by Ivypool, and she leaned in closely. "Ivypool? What did you do?"

"Nothing." Her sister replied quietly. "I found him. That was it." That was definitely the truth.

Dovewing felt only confusion. "Oh."

Squirrelflight padded toward the high-ledge and slowly climbed to the top, as though weary. "I say this before our StarClan ancestors...and Bramblestar's spirit."

Dovewing and Ivypool exchanged glances. The new leader was already going to choose a new deputy. That was good. It showed that she was still strong, despite this major setback.

Or maybe it wasn't good. The stronger Squirrelflight was, the harder it would be to take over the Clan. Ivypool still wanted to do so, right? She knew her sister too well for her to just give up on something as ambitious as that.

"Dovewing will be my deputy." At first she couldn't quite comprehend what had just been said. It soon began to sink in.

Her? Dull, boring, no-good, weak Dovewing? She could hardly speak up for herself! Ivypool would command her, and she would follow. She was the hardly noticeable shadow that everyone never really saw. Her, deputy? Unheard of. Yet they were already chanting her name.

"Dovewing! Dovewing! Dovewing!" She stepped forward shyly, allowing all of the Clan to see her. She purred with happiness when she saw Ivypool's approving look. She began to feel less guilty about what had happened.

"Good job, Dovewing." Ivypool murmured in her ear. The rest of her Clanmates crowded around her, congratulating her.

Birchfall and Whitewing pressed against her, purring and telling her how proud they were.

"Let's go now." Squirrelflight flicked her tail and leapt off of the highledge. "I trust you can take care of the Clan while I'm gone." Her paws filled with energy and joy, realizing how important she now was. Dovewing watched as Squirrelflight and Jayfeather left to exit. She was about to follow them, but Ivypool stopped her.

"You're in charge now." Her sister murmured.

Dovewing's eyes widened. "B-but what should I do?" She whispered. She was used to being ordered around, told what to do. This was strange.

"Patrols." Ivypool shrugged.

Dovewing swallowed. She called out names of cats, assigning them to different places and sending them out hunting. It seemed to get everyone's minds off of the death of their leader and distracted even her.

After the patrols, though, she was unsure of what else to do. Dovewing began to feel a little nervous when she saw her sister's patrol come back into the camp. She let put a sigh of relief and waited for any instructions. Ivypool walked right past her and deposited several pieces of prey into the fresh-kill pile.

"Why don't you eat?" Whitewing padded up to her daughter and dropped a mouse a her paws. "You've been busy helping everyone else, now you should worry about yourself." Dovewing purred, grateful.

"I will." She stopped when she saw Squirrelflight enter the camp. She ran forward. "Squirrelfli-" Dovewing began. "I mean, Squirrelstar!" She cried joyously.

A chant began to rise. "Squirrelstar! Squirrelstar! Squirrelstar!" Dovewing and the rest of Clan were not going to grieve for too long. They knew they had a strong leader with them.

The next morning Dovewing awoke early. She surprised even herself when she'd realized it. She had been excited for the coming day. She exited the den quickly, managing to step on one tail. She stretched in the middle of the camp and held back a yawn. She saw that Squirrelstar was awake too.

"Good morning, Dovewing." Squirrelstar greeted the new deputy. There was a sadness in her eyes. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it? These breaths we're breathing in, and dew on the grass. You can hear the birds, too."

Dovewing felt the conversation beginning to feel awkward. She wasn't sure how to respond. "Yes! Right." She responded quickly. The Clan leader gave her a look of slight amusement.

"It seems everyone is going to get up soon. Speaking of which, what were you doing out here so early?" Squirrelstar asked.

"I guess I was a little nervous." Dovewing admitted.

"I understand completely." Squirrelstar purred. "When Bramblestar appointed me deputy…" She trailed off, her gaze fixed on something distant. Her green eyes glazed over.

Dovewing waited. "S-Squirrelstar?" She asked. "Are you okay?" The Clan leader turned and walked off, as if their conversation had never happened. She suddenly began to worry. The other night she had been sure their leader was strong, but grief had seemed to be taking over. She swallowed, feeling terrible. What had they done? Why had Ivypool destroyed the she-cat's life?

She saw Ivypool exit the warriors' den and she ran over to her sister. "Ivypool! I need to speak to you-" Her sister turned to look at her.

"D-Dovewing! How could you?" She whispered. "I have to tell the leader. I'm sorry. What you've done is too terrible."