Chapter four: A Plan
"That'll be enough training for today," Whitestorm said after Sandpaw had tackled him once more. "You're well on your way to becoming a warrior."
"I should be a warrior," Sandpaw protested. "Haven't I learned enough? I fight better than any of the cats my age, including the new warriors."
"I'm not sure you've learned enough patience to hold a new status in your Clan," Whitestorm explained. "I want you to be the best warrior you can be, and that warrior should have patience."
I know you're patient with me, but I'm not! I have to become a warrior, and soon! How else can I make sure nothing like Redtail happens again? I have to protect Thunderclan from outsiders. She frowned slightly, remembering Ravenleap, and how she was supposed to meet Tigerclaw. I suppose there are inside threats I must think about as well.
"Can I go hunt? I'm not tired!" Sandpaw said, forcing energy into her voice.
"Sure," Whitestorm gave a small smile. "It's easy to see where your loyalties lie, Warrior or not."
Sandpaw nodded and dashed away. Tigerclaw was waiting at the base of the oak tree the owl lived in, his tail flicking impatiently.
"Thought you wanted to help, not waste my time," he muttered.
"You decided to work with an apprentice," Sandpaw shrugged.
"I thought it'd be more like working with warriors, since you nearly are one," Tigerclaw raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"Anyways, how did you want to keep Ravenleap quiet?" Sandpaw asked. "Threaten him? Frame him for something to get him exiled?"
"I was thinking of something more… failsafe," Tigerclaw smirked. "Murder."
"Murder?" Sandpaw asked, surprised. Wasn't Ravenleap spreading rumors that Tigerclaw was a murderer? Though perhaps it'd be fitting for revenge against the black tom, who was lying about that exact thing.
Plus, Firepaw will finally learn what it's like to grieve for someone close to you, Sandpaw thought wryly. He doesn't respect the grief me and Goldenflower felt when Redtail died.
"Do you have a plan of how to do it? How can I help?" Sandpaw asked.
"Listen up," Tigerclaw ordered.
"Runningwind, take Longtail and Ravenleap to hunt near fourtrees," Lionheart ordered. "Darkstripe, take Mousefur and Fireheart to patrol the Shadowclan border."
"Can I come?" Dustpaw asked his mentor. Darkstripe shook his head. "You'll be cleaning out the elders' den."
"What am I doing?" Sandpaw asked Whitestorm, hoping she didn't have to clean dens as well.
"I'll be assessing your hunting skills," Whitestorm began as Bluestar walked up.
"Whitestorm, my apologies, but could someone else - Tigerclaw, maybe - assess Sandpaw? I have something to attend to, and your wisdom could prove useful," the leader explained. Whitestorm glanced at the brown tabby tom, who nodded.
"I'd be happy to see Sandpaw hunt," Tigerclaw rumbled. He nodded to the ginger apprentice. "Lead the way."
Sandpaw bounded out of the camp, her mind racing. As soon as they were away from camp, she turned around to face Tigerclaw.
"Well?" She asked. "Ravenleap is on patrol, all we have to do is Runningwind, Mousefur, and Fireheart away."
"If we hurry, Darkstripe's border patrol won't be a problem. We'll signal him if he needs to stall, but otherwise, Longtail should be able to handle it," the tabby said.
"Let me do it!" Sandpaw begged. "Let my face be the last thing he sees! Let him go to Starclan knowing who's better than him!"
"Your anger will get in the way. Longtail is a warrior who knows what he's doing, you're an apprentice," Tigerclaw reminded her.
"Don't," Sandpaw hissed. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do because I'm not a warrior. I should be. I can kill that Starclan-cursed cat as well as you or Longtail."
"I wonder why I'm doubting you," Tigerclaw said mockingly. "Perhaps it's the fact that an untrained kittypet once beat you."
"Why don't you ask him who beat him up, only a few moons ago?" Sandpaw retorted. "I beat him so badly he didn't breathe a word to anyone, just as I told him to."
"How impressive, you beat up a kittypet," Tigerclaw rolled his eyes.
"I train in the Place of No Stars, I know battle moves from all four Clans!" Sandpaw spat. "Let me prove myself, at least to you and Longtail! Then at least someone will know that I'm a competent warrior!"
"If you can't obey my orders," Tigerclaw thundered. "Then you'll be out of our little scheme, which would then make you a threat. You wouldn't want to be silenced like we are about to do with Ravenleap, would you?"
"No," Sandpaw muttered sulkily.
"Then you will come with me to watch Longtail dispose of Ravenleap, and you can step in, but only if Longtail begins to lose the fight. Otherwise, you'll regret getting in our way," Tigerclaw growled, turning and walking towards fourtrees.
"Is it just Ravenleap who needs to go?" Sandpaw asked. "Or do we need to silence a few other cats for our position to be safe in the Clan?"
"If we have any witnesses, they must go as well," Tigerclaw said as he walked. "And, obviously, if any of my allies decide to turn."
"What about gaining more power, to ensure your place in the Clan?" Sandpaw suggested. "Perhaps becoming deputy?"
Tigerclaw glanced at her. "You want me to murder Lionheart?"
"If you don't want to get your claws dirty, you could arrange an accident, perhaps on the Thunderpath, the river, or Snakerocks," Sandpaw smirked. "After all, you are the obvious next choice for deputy."
"What about Whitestorm?" Tigerclaw asked, ducking under a bramble.
"Perhaps we can frame him," Sandpaw mused. "Make Bluestar exile him, or else kill him."
"Whitestorm is her kin, she wouldn't kill him. However, if we make her believe it, she wouldn't trust any cat after that."
"Except for her little ginger pet," Sandpaw said scornfully.
"As long as he doesn't get an apprentice before Lionheart's 'accident,' we should be fine," Tigerclaw shrugged.
"And if not, I'd be happy to get him out of the way," Sandpaw barred her teeth.
"Silence," Tigerclaw whispered. "I smell Longtail."
Sandpaw dropped into a hunter's crouch and slipped through the shadows, searching the undergrowth for Longtail's pale pelt. She spotted him, sneaking up on Ravenleap. She held her breath as he tackled the small black tom. Ravenleap, being jumpy, heard him as he pounced, and nearly managed to dodge him. Longtail landed on Ravenleap's head, and the black tom scrambled backwards and turned to run. Sandpaw predicted where he would run and intercepted him smoothly.
She grinned at him mockingly as she drove him backwards with fierce swipes from her sharp claws. Longtail pounced again, pinning Ravenleap to the ground with sure paws. Sandpaw made herself freeze, forcing herself not to end the cat's life herself. She simply watched as Longtail's claws pierced Ravenleap's throat.
"What now?" Sandpaw asked Tigerclaw. "How do we explain our scent, and clawmarks on the body?"
"Simple," Tigerclaw nodded to where Darkstripe entered the clearing, reaking of Riverclan and dragging a rabbit. "We say you, Sandpaw, chased a rabbit here, while Longtail says he heard a fight. The Riverclan scent laid by Darkstripe will do the rest."
"Where's Runningwind?" Sandpaw asked.
"I told him to hunt by the Owl Tree," Longtail explained.
"And Fireheart and Mousefur?" Tigerclaw asked Darkstripe.
The dark tabby dropped the rabbit. "I told them to go ahead and mark the Riverclan border while I went to investigate a scent. Later, I'll say that the scent was Riverclan scent, which then leads me to the body."
"Let's take Ravenleap and the rabbit back to camp," Tigerclaw ordered. "But first, Sandpaw and Longtail, wash your paws in the stream. Darkstripe, roll in some ferns to get the Riverclan scent off."
"Ravenleap!" Graystripe screeched as the black tom's body was dragged into camp. Tigerclaw dropped the limp black cat at the foot of the Highrock.
"Tigerclaw, what in Starclan's name happened?" Bluestar gasped, leaping down to investigate the scratches on theh body. "Who killed him?"
"There was a Riverclan scent near the body," Tigerclaw said solemnly. "I can only guess they wanted to scare us into giving them Sunningrocks."
"How did you find him? Where did you find him?" Graystripe asked huskily.
"Sandpaw chased a rabbit towards fourtrees. She caught it," Tigerclaw nodded towards the prey and Sandpaw's feet. "She caught it in the very clearing we found Ravenleap."
"What evidence do we have to support this?" Yellowfang asked, turning to the returned hunting patrol.
"I-I only turned my back for a moment," Longtail shivered. "I heard Ravenleap cry out, and by the time I reached him-" He broke off, bowing his head in grief.
"I found them with the body after catching a squirrel near the Owl Tree," Runningwind said, his eyes wide with shock."
"And Darkstripe?" Bluestar asked.
"I thought I caught a whiff of Riverclan," the gray tabby explained. "I told Fireheart and Mousefur to go check the Riverclan border while I followed the scent. It led to Ravenleap's body, where the others had already found him."
"There was some Riverclan scent on our side of the border," Mousefur added.
"Then it appears that Crookedstar has a bone to pick with us," Bluestar snarled.
"Will we retaliate?" Fireheart growled, his eyes dark with grief.
"Not until I'm sure it was them," Bluestar turned to Tigerclaw. "Show me where you found the body."
"I'll come with," Whitestorm offered instantly. Lionheart stepped forward as well.
"No," Bluestar shook her head. "Whitestorm, I'm sure your apprentice is very shaken by this morning's events. You can stay here with her, and be in charge of the Clan. Lionheart, Mousefur, come with me and Tigerclaw." And with that, the four of them left the camp.
"Are you okay?" Whitestorm asked Sandpaw.
Sandpaw nodded, pretending to be solemn. "I know warriors die in battle, but this was an unjust murder," she growled. "I only wish I had been there a moment sooner, that I had been there in time to tear up that Riverclan furball!"
"Yet I could've lost you, too," Whitestorm pointed out. "You're a very promising young cat, Sandpaw, and it would be terrible for Thunderclan to lose you."
"I wasn't close to Ravenleap," Sandpaw continued. "But the loss of any warrior shakes a Clan, especially after losing Redtail not that long ago, and Thrushpelt and Thistleclaw not long before that."
"You seem to have the Clan's best interests at heart," Whitestorm said warmly. "I'm glad you care so much. If Bluestar decides this was Riverclan, I see no reason to delay your assessment any longer, as we need more warriors if we get into conflict."
"I'd be happy to fight for my Clan against those murdering pieces of fox-dung!" Sandpaw declared.
"Only as long as it's when Bluestar orders you into battle," Whitestorm frowned.
"Of course," Sandpaw nodded.
"Get yourself some prey," Whitestorm ordered. He glanced towards the middle of the clearing where Ravenleap's body lay, with Fireheart and Graystripe sitting beside it, their eyes dull with shock and grief. "Maybe make sure they get something to eat too."
Sandpaw opened her mouth to protest that they were capable of getting their own prey, when she felt the weaker part of herself feel some empathy. She grabbed two mice by their tails and threw them at the paws of Fireheart and Graystripe.
"You need to eat," she grunted. "Ravenleap is gone, yet Clan life will go on. Riverclan could strike again at any moment, and we need our warriors ready to fight."
The two toms stared at Sandpaw, both surprised she was being (somewhat) kind to them.
"Thanks," Fireheart croaked, pawing a mouse closer to him before slowly taking a bite. Sandpaw nodded and turned around, looking around the clearing. She spotted Dustpaw sitting just inside the apprentices' den, his wide amber eyes staring at his brother's body. Sandpaw grabbed a shrew - his favorite - from the fresh-kill pile and walked over to him.
"What do you what?" Dustpaw snarled, avoiding Sandpaw's green eyes.
"I'm sorry about your brother," Sandpaw said softly, dropping the shrew.
"What would you know about it?" Dustpaw demanded, whipping his head around to glare at her. "What would you know about losing a littermate?"
Sandpaw reared back. I'm trying to help, birdbrain! She thought angrily. Outloud, she responded, "I lost my father, mouse-heart! Don't tell me I don't know what grief is!"
Dustpaw recoiled, dropping his gaze once more. "Sandpaw, I'm so-"
"Sorry?" Sandpaw hissed, getting to her paws. "I should think so."
Dustpaw broke down. "I was terrible to him! We barely acted like brothers! I bullied him and his friends along with you, he probably died thinking-"
"That you hated him?" Sandpaw guessed. Dustpaw nodded shakily. "I never got to spend too much time with Redtail. He had his duties as deputy, I had my training. But they're both gone now, and the best thing we can do is avenge them by making Riverclan regret they ever laid their claws on them."
Dustpaw looked up at her once more, fire burning in his orange eyes. "They'll outnumber us, but we'll fight harder, because we'll have a purpose in it. By the time Thunderclan is done with them, they'll be trembling with fear, begging for mercy and crying out with grief for the ones they lost."
Sandpaw gave him a grim smile and went into the nursery. Goldenflower was curled around Lynxkit, Littlekit, and Redkit, who were squirming indignantly, not knowing what had happened.
"It's terrible," Goldenflower murmured when Sandpaw entered the den. "I know Riverclan h-has killed in battle before, but cold blooded murder? Ravenleap was a threat to no one!"
"I just hope Bluestar will hurry so we can get a move on with this," Sandpaw growled. "We've suffered enough at their paws. We're strong, we have young cats who are skilled fighters, I'm sure we can take them on."
Goldenflower smiled sadly. "You have my spirit, yet your heart is always with your Clan, just like Redtail's was. Once you grow up a bit, and lose a bit of your impulsiveness, you'll make a great deputy."
Sandpaw purred and laid down next to her, rubbing her muzzle along Goldenflower's jaw before resting her head on Goldenflower's forepaws. Sandpaw' purr deepened when Redkit began to climb onto her muzzle, her kit fluff tickling her nose.
Being a double agent isn't too hard, Sandpaw reflected. They have no idea what part I played in Ravenleap's death. All I have to do is be a little kind to the grieving cats, and they suspect nothing.