Rainpaw glared at Sharppelt. "We can't go back!" She cried. "The murderer will get us!" Beside her, Shadowpaw nodded.

"Yeah!" Gingerpaw emerged from behind her.

"Don't argue. We have to go back. We'll starve otherwise." Sharppelt flicked his tail impatiently. "If you want to stay here, its fine by me. They'll still accept us. We are still ShadowClan."

Rainpaw sighed, a deep long sigh that echoed across the wide cave. "But Morningdrop wouldn't want us to give up!" She protested.

Sharppelt looked down, he obviously didn't want to talk about his sister. "I'm in charge now," was all he said.

"Who voted that?" Gingerpaw pressed. Rainpaw stepped back. She didn't want to make Sharppelt sadder than he already was. She padded to the back of the cave.

"Morningdrop." She whispered. "I hope you are safe in StarClan." Rainpaw stared at the roof of the cave, where the stars would be. She smiled to herself.

"Rainpaw!" She heard a shout come from across the cavern. A ginger tabby raced towards her, his legs thumping against the ground.

"Gingerpaw?" She asked, getting to her paws. The young tom was a moon younger than her, and they were best friends. The murderer had killed his few living kin, and Mistleap, Rainpaw's mother, had taken care of him… until Mistleap had been killed in The Accident. The Accident had killed 5 cats, leaving ShadowClan with even fewer cats. What had happened… Rainpaw could never forget it. The lake just swallowed them up so quickly. The wave of water descending on them… Rainpaw shook her head.

"Sharppelt said we could stay!" Gingerpaw interrupted her from her thoughts, his eyes glittered with happiness. "We're safe!"

Rainpaw beamed at him. "Thats good. But do you think he'll let us find a better place to stay? This cave is started to hurt my paws."

Gingerpaw tipped his head. "I don't know. Let me ask!" He bounded back towards Sharppelt. Rainpaw was left to think.

She wondered if she would ever be able to fight again. Well, in a proper Clan. Right now, her mentor, Sharppelt, was now the 'leader' and was still mourning Morningdrop. And even before she had died, he hadn't trained her, while they were still running away from the chaos of the murderer.

And she wasn't even aloud to hunt her own prey! Everyone thought it was too risky and dangerous for apprentices, in case the murderer had followed them. Which, Rainpaw worried about every night. What if one day, she wouldn't wake up? But that would have happened to so many. Like Palepaw. She sighed remembering her former friend. The night he had died, had defined it all. That there was definitely a murderer in camp.

She took a deep breath. She needed to stop thinking about this. Luckily, Gingerpaw strolled back to her, and she was free from her thoughts.

"Hi. What did he say?" Rainpaw looked at him hopefully.

"He said yes! Well it took a lot of convincing!" Gingerpaw sat down, wrapping his tail over his body.

"When will we start?"

"He said today."

"Oh."

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Its just that… some cats haven't recovered yet." Rainpaw knew that Gingerpaw knew what she meant. A few cats had fallen ill, although they were better now, some of them were a bit weak still.

"Its fine. They'll be happy once they get their paws moving." Gingerpaw shrugged.

A loud yowl made them look towards the opening of the cave. Sharppelt was standing confidently in the entrance. "All cats, we will be starting our journey, to a new home!" The cats padded up to him, and one by one, they all filed out the cave, hearts bursting with hope that they hadn't felt in a long time.

"Maybe we'll find another forest! With a bright blue lake… and amazing prey! And giant trees!" Gingerpaw looked around in wonder.

Rainpaw stifled a laugh. If it happened, then she would faint from amazement. "Yeah maybe."

She padded forwards, careful to not trip over anyone. She joined Sharppelt at the lead. She wanted to talk to him.

"Sharppelt?" She asked.

"Yes?" His gaze was focused on the path in front of him, but it flicked back to look at her.

"Will we ever go back to ShadowClan?"

"I-I hope so." He seemed troubled by the question. Rainpaw drifted her line of sight to the green, grassy lumps of earth ahead of them. She took a deep breath. It felt nice to be out of the cave.

"I'm sure we will." She bounded ahead of him for a moment, thinking she had spotted prey. A blackbird! Rainpaw dropped into a hunter crouch, creeping along the long ferns. Hairstyle was lifted slightly, preventing noise from alerting the unaware bird. Suddenly, she pounced, successfully grasping the bird between her paws. It tried to flp away, but Rainpaw bit it swiftly and carried it proudly back.

Sharppelt's eyes widened when he saw the bird. "Wow!" He exclaimed, staring at the plump blackbird. Sharppelt motioned for the cats to stop. "We should stop to hunt. When we get to our… home we will be hungry." The cats nodded their heads.

Rainpaw caught Gingerpaw's eye and she padded up to him. "Do you want to hunt together?" She asked. Gingerpaw nodded his head eagerly.

"I can scent prey over there." He motioned with his tail to a small dip in the grass, revealing a puddle. Water. Rainpaw realised how thirsty she was. But she needed to focus. She pushed her thirst and hunger aside, slowly following Gingerpaw as he crept across the grass.

Before she could even see the prey, Gingerpaw lept and a scrambling sound came from somewhere. Then, he emerged triumphantly, with a small vole. Rainpaw smiled. "Good job!" She called.

He walked up to her and dropped the vole. "You did better than me though." Gingerpaw commented.

"I guess. It doesn't matter though." She paused. The cats were starting to gather back at where Sharppelt was. "We better get going." Rainpaw motioned for him to follow her.

"I'll catch up. I'm going to see if I can find anything else." Rainpaw nodded her head, leaving him to hunt.

As she reached Sharppelt, after about a few minutes of trying to push through the crowd of cats, she heard a high scream. All the cats turned around, alarm showing on their faces.

"W-what was that?" Peppernose asked. Rainpaw noticed Shadowpaw staring at something. She wondered what it was.

Sharppelt stepped forward. "I don't know. Rainpaw, and me will find out." He started to shove his way through the cats. Rainpaw bounded after him, delighted that she had been chosen without hesitation.

Sharppelt walked a few more fox-lengths, then stopped at a giant bush. Its green untidy leaves stuck out at odd angles. Sharppelt opened his mouth to scent something. Rainpaw copied. She could smell something… something that she knew… but her mind wouldn't place it. She tipped her head at Sharppelt, wondering if he knew. He didn't answer, but instead thrust open the bushes.

Rainpaw felt like she would pass out. Inside the bush was a bleeding, dying cat. It was obvious that they had just been attacked, as the blood hadn't yet dried and was still running down to the cat's tail. Rainpaw examined closer, despite the uncomfortable feeling growing in her belly.

As she leant closer, she started to recognize the cat, and her breath caught in her throat. Shadowpaw. How…? Her brother had been standing near her when they heard the scream. And- her thoughts were interrupted by Peppernose, who had joined them.

"Is he alive?"

Gingerpaw emerged from a patch of trees nearby, padding to join them, as he realised something weird was going on. Rainpaw looked at him, and Gingerpaw's face was filled with horror.

"What happened?" He exclaimed.

"I think the murderer got him." Rainpaw said flatly. She hoped her brother wasn't dead.

"He's alive I think." She heard Sharppelt murmur to Peppernose.

Suddenly, Gingerpaw's head shot up. "I know!"

Rainpaw gave him a confused look. "Know what?"

"Who ki- erm hurt him!" Gingerpaw seemed very excited.

"Who?" Sharppelt and Rainpaw said in unison.

"It was…" Gingerpaw drew in a deep breath. The whole forest seemed to be holding its breath. And for a few seconds… it was deadly silent.