⇺ [ Hornetpaw ] ⇻
18 Moons • Male • DawnClan • Medicine Cat Apprentice
Location: Outside Camp • Mentions: Cloudburst, Ravenblaze (Directly) / Gingerstar, Foxpaw, Umbraclaw (Indirectly)

Hornetpaw guided Cloudburst out of camp as discreetly as possible, trailing Ravenblaze’s heels as they slunk through the camp entrance, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds on the way out to take note of any cats who remained within the camp and might notice them leaving together, alarm coursing through him as Umbraclaw struck Foxpaw. While the blow was clearly restrained so as not to cause her any physical damage and he gathered the action was provoked by Foxpaw’s infamous temper he couldn't keep himself from scowling at Umbraclaw. “A mentor should never hit their apprentice,” he muttered under his breath, too far for the black she-cat to hear.

Tail lashing irritably, he rushed to catch up with Ravenblaze and Cloudburst, still somewhat unsettled by the display. He was lucky he had such a patient tom for a mentor, especially considering how forgetful and clumsy he’d proven over his first moon of training. It was enough to drive his former mentor up a tree and he could still recall her harsh reprimands and the thud of paws across his face or flank every time he messed up. Did Umbraclaw hit Foxpaw often? He doubted she would say anything. She was too proud. As for Hornetpaw himself, fear and shame had kept him from voicing any complaints. It was possible he was overreacting, but...he would need to speak with Foxpaw later and confirm this wasn’t a common occurrence.

The rain pelting him was barely felt through his thick, water-repellent coat, only his ears and whiskers twitching occasionally when cold droplets landed on his muzzle or the top of his head. The young tom was forcefully shaken from his concerning thoughts when sudden wailing filled his ears, impossibly loud, but gone just as quick. He froze in his tracks, entire body seeming to bristle as he searched their surroundings for a cause. Lightning flashed across the sky and the dark clouds above seemed to create shapes, the lighter parts forming into cats before a dark shadow with outstretched claws swallowed them. “R-Ravenblaze,” he choked. “Are you seeing this?”

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

⇺ [ Redeye ] ⇻
36 Moons • Male • DuskClan • Warrior
Location: Camp • Mentions: Weaselflight, Owlfeather, Blackstar

“You want me to carry her all the way back to camp by myself?” Redeye asked incredulously, annoyance sparking from his pelt. He might be taller than Owlfeather and Weaselflight, but that didn’t mean he could move Cherrysong’s body alone. “What am I supposed to do? Drag her through the mud? She deserves better than that!” His words appeared to fall on deaf ears as Owlfeather departed with no indication she had heard him. His teeth bared at her retreating form in frustration, and he was half tempted to disobey the command.

The last of the foreign pawprints surrounding Cherrysong dissolved as the rain grew more persistent, washing away their evidence. His maw parted in a silent snarl, eyes darting wildly up at the sky as if he could scare the weather into behaving. He wasn’t sure he believed in the starry spirits the rest of the Clan worshipped, for surely if they existed they wouldn’t have allowed so many bad things to happen? First Fernfoot’s disappearance and now a murder? What next!? A flash of lightning pierced the sky, and Redeye felt mocked. Offering a few spits and hisses in response, he jerked his gaze away, crimson eyes soon after settling on Cherrysong once more.

She was a sorry excuse for a cat. A sodden, torn mess and the sight had Redeye’s ears flattening, chest tightening under the weight of his sadness. He edged closer to the corpse, hesitating for a second or so longer before sucking in a breath and gripping Cherrysong’s scruff. Instead of pulling her along he turned the body over so the she-cat was on her belly before squirming underneath her stiffening frame starting at the hindquarters. It took several attempts before he finally managed to wriggle his way completely beneath her body.

He struggled to lift her weight, much heavier in death than life it felt, but after a few minutes he managed to begin creeping forward, not daring to rise to his full height for fear of dropping her. Every time he felt her begin to slip he paused, readjusting as necessary, and made slow progress back to camp. He kept expecting Owlfeather and Weaselflight to appear through the curtain of rain and assist him, but no sign of either could be detected and Redeye was hyper-aware of the fact he was entirely alone. Anxiety nagged at him, tempting him to leave Cherrysong's beneath the trees, and go back to look for them. As much as he would hate to leave her body unguarded Redeye was pragmatic, valuing the living over the dead.

Nothing could be done to save Cherrysong. Her spirit was already gone. If his living Clanmates needed help though, what was he doing here escorting a dead cat back to camp? The distraction of his thoughts saw one of his paws catch on a root, stumbling forward and losing his balance. Cherrysong’s body slid forward before he had a chance to regain his footing, her belly now pressing against the top of his head, forcing his muzzle into the musty earth. With his paw still caught between the roots and his face trapped beneath Cherrysong he began to panic as his lungs started to burn, in desperate need of oxygen. Yanking himself too and fro frantically, he finally freed himself, panting heavily, still partially beneath Cherrysong when a dark shape entered his vision.

A growl rumbled in his throat until recognition lit his gaze as Blackstar drew closer. “Get to the river rocks!” He called urgently. “Owlfeather and Weaselflight are still there. Cherrysong...she’s been murdered.” That last statement was a bit redundant, he imagined, but honestly what else was a cat to say in this situation?

Blackstar|Leader of Duskclan|One eyed Black Tom|Location: Camp/Territory |Mentions: Redeye, Owlfeather [id] Weaselflight, Dawnclan

Blackstar nearly skidded into the white tom as he slowed, the ground slick underpaw. His chest heaved, and his muzzle curled with the sign that his old injuries were acting up, but his eye was clear as he listened to the white tom.
His coat was muddy and tinged pink from carrying the she-cat, and in that moment Blackstar held both pity, and respect for the warrior.
He did not move to leave however when Redeye finished speaking, but instead shifted towards closer to the tom. Without a word, he drew near and pressed his tail gently against Redeyes side with a slow exhale. It was all he could do in the moment, the time for long talks and deep conversation would have to wait. He clamped gently on Cherrysongs scruff, taking a moment to get his footing and tugging the deceased warrior to a clump of ferns just a few paw-steps away. He paused only or a moment to give her a swift lick across the forehead, before he rose back to his full height.
"Thank you for bringing her to safety." He mewed, shaking some rain from his face as he began to trot forward once more. He didn't hear the tell-tale sounds of fighting, so he figured it was safe for a few moments. That, and he figured Redeye would not have left if they had discovered who had done this.
"You can return to camp if you wish, or come with me back to the rocks." His tail tip twitched towards Cherrysong.
"I believe she'll be safe here until the storm passes." He glanced at the dark sky, brow furrowed slightly. He couldn't see the stars, but that didn't mean their ancestors had stopped watching them. He leapt onto a log, claws digging into the soft bark.
"It's too much, but what can we do but move forward?" He mewed quietly, his eye scanning the warrior who he had seen, for two days, been growing more and more unsettled. Yet, despite all the white warriors quirks, Blackstar still held trust in his clan-mate. He gave Redeye one last look, then nodded and lept back over the log.

Sparrowclaw||She-cat||27 Moons||Dawnclan Warrior||Location: Camp||Mentions: None [Open]

Sparrowclaw rose from her nest, ears pricked and alert. She stretched her long, graceful legs in the cool air. Tiredness still was apparent in her sluggish movements, but she continued on to grooming herself. When she was finished, the tiredness that had once made her body slow and weighed down had subsided. Annoyance flashed on her muzzle as she pranced out of the den, her long, feathery tail held high. She flicked her tail as she glanced at the fresh-kill pile. She was hungry, but she didn't mind. Her mouth watered as she passed the pile of juicy prey. Wafts of rabbit peaked her interest, but she passed the pile forcefully, scolding herself for letting her needs overtake her wants. She flicked her ears in acknowledgement to a few of her clanmates, who were hanging about in camp still. She sat down, her tail curled over her paws as she groomed herself again out of boredom. She could smell the on-coming storm, and let out a sigh of annoyance. Storms always made her fur go wild. Her whiskers twitched at every sound, and her muscular body sat rigid, stiff besides the occasional twitch or lick.

Larkclaw
15 Moons || Female || DawnClan Warrior
Location: DawnClan Territory || Mentions: Scorchwing, Flamepaw, Umbraclaw, Foxpaw (Indirectly: Hornetpaw)

Larkclaw swiveled one ear back to listen to Foxpaw’s and Umbraclaw’s conversation, and though the apprentice tended to be a bit moody and acted like she more often than not wanted to just ignore her mentor entirely, it was clear she was still a clever cat. Any of the fowl that hung around the rivers were a danger if they could manage to turn on a cat or, worse, if a cat jumped on them and they dragged the warrior out into the water. Even though most of DawnClan knew how to swim, there were times when the current was unforgiving.

The tabby warrior turned her full attention back to patrolling the area ahead of her. Rain made its way through the canopy of the trees and fell on their backs. Each time a drop landed Larkclaw could feel herself twitch. Scents were becoming more difficult to pick up, getting drowned out by the smell of damp dirt and leaves. That almost made her miss the tracks in the mud, but she glimpsed them out of the corner of her eye and looked back.

Breaking off a bit from the rest of the group, she stepped over to examine them. They looked like paw prints, rather than the strange feet of a bird or hooves of a deer. It seemed like chaos at first, but a strange pattern seemed to emerge the more she looked, and at last they seemed to go off in one direction. She gazed after them and after a moment realized they were heading towards the DuskClan border, where she and Hornetpaw had found Foxpaw several days ago. Larkclaw tried to get a scent from the paw prints, but the rain had washed it away.

She noticed that Flamepaw had gone up to Scorchwing to ask her something, so she bypassed the pair for the time being and approached Umbraclaw. “I believe you should see this,” she told the deputy, bringing her over to where the prints were. “They look like they go in the direction of River Rocks. I can’t get a scent on them, but they just seem… odd. I wanted to see if you thought we should follow them.”

Gingerstar | DawnClan Leader | 48 Moons | Mollie | Camp | Ravenblaze; Hornetpaw; Cloudburst; Strange Figure

The rain began to pelt down harder as they moved, and Gingerstar's ears flicked in irritation. It wasn't that she disliked water, but the sensation of being soaked without the possibility of drying off was a constant frustration to her. She had been able to creep closer to the trio now that the storm was covering her noise more, and the mud that splattered up her front and belly and clung to her legs was certainly a help in disguising her form. She dropped low when lightning flashed, her gaze drifting for a moment when she caught sight of a dark flash through the trees. Her hair raised despite the pouring rain, and she clenched her teeth, dragging herself along the ground cautiously as she scanned their vicinity for any other signal that something was wrong.

There was nothing. The entire forest was silent apart from the pouring rain. She pushed forwards, getting closer and closer until she burst out through a bush into Ravenblaze, Hornetpaw, and Cloudburst's path. Her piercing gaze locked upon them and she called out against the constant roar of the storm. "Let's round back!"

She noticed only then that the queen had caught up on something, crouched down low to look at it. Gingerstar could feel the fur along her spine spike again, and she approached them with more patience this time. She crouched beside Cloudburst, ignoring the inevitable confusion from the medicine cats and the queen alike. Her head craned down slightly to see the pawprint embedded in the mud, and her ears flattened noticeably. She rose, bumping her nose against Cloudburst's flank, gesturing towards the camp. "We need to get out of here," she ordered, her voice still calm but beginning to hint at her discomfort, "It's not safe in this storm. Move."

She waited for them to begin leaving the area, her ears stretching up and her eyes wide as she scanned the area around them, highly alert, alarmed, and expecting of trouble. Her tail lashed. She would head up the back of the returning patrol. Water dripped from her coat, pooling into and around them in the mud, and she called out a last command. "If ANYONE sees something ahead, you call me immediately!" Her voice was tinged with a faint worry. She wanted them back at camp- now. She had left it all but entirely undefended, and that was not something she liked to think about when they were standing ankle deep in mud StarClan knows how far from camp in a thunderstorm with something strange leaving footprints in their immediate path. Especially not when they were finding bodies.
If you ask too many questions, or seek too much approval, nothing ever gets done

⇺ [ Hornetpaw ] ⇻
18 Moons • Male • DawnClan • Medicine Cat Apprentice
Location: Outside Camp • Mentions: Cloudburst, Ravenblaze, Gingerstar (Directly)

Cloudburst's soft voice somehow drew Hornetpaw's gaze away from the sky, the cloudly cats and their attacker long since vanishing. He forced his bristling pelt to flatten, ashamed he had forgotten the queen was with them. What must she have thought seeing one of the Clan's medicine cats enveloped in terror? He glanced at Ravenblaze a moment longer before padding to her side, eying the odd pawprint. Privately, he felt it seemed almost feline-like, yet...off. 'Just like the clawmarks on Mousefur's body...'

Unsettled by the revelation, he turned again to speak with Ravenblaze when another cat burst into the clearing. A startled snarl ripped from his throat and his back arched, claws extending threateningly in a knee-jerk reaction before he recognized Gingerstar's orange splotched pelt and commanding voice. At once he sheathed his claws and adopted an apologetic posture, gaze averting in embarrassment. Not only had he almost sliced his own leader, he'd been caught disobeying a direct order.

"G-Gingerstar, I'm so sorry! I thought...I thought maybe you were-" She cut him off, demanding they all return to camp. For good reason he must admit, the weather was taking a turn for the worst and the outing had already been soured by the strange omen and enigmatic pawprint. Hornetpaw was just as eager to be within the camp's protective barriers. "Agreed," he mumbled softly, staying next to Cloudburst as Gingerstar herded them back home in case she needed help.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

⇺ [ Falconstrike ] ⇻
30 Moons • Male • DawnClan • Warrior
Location: Camp • Mentions: Sparrowclaw (Direct) / Gingerstar, Umbraclaw, Foxpaw (Indirect)

Falconstrike watched as Gingerstar slunk out of camp after the medicine cat duo and Cloudburst, mild amusement gleaming within his single turquoise eye. He wondered whether or not they would receive a lecture in the forest or if she would wait for the small patrol to return before confronting them. He hoped for the latter. Some of these cats, especially the younger ones, could use a reminder that a leader's words should be abided. If even the medicine cats were scolded for ignoring Gingerstar's newly instated rules the rest of the Clan might be less likely to sneak off on their own.

Umbraclaw and Foxpaw were quick to draw his attention away from Gingerstar's departure, an impudent tone resulting in a wack to the face, a snort escaping Falconstrike as the ginger apprentice accepted the punishment with as much grace as she could muster, which wasn't saying much. He could practically feel the resentment rolling off of her as the pair padded out of camp after the dawn patrol. For a moment he considered following them, ready to stretch his legs and eager to be out of camp, but the patrol was already reasonably large and the camp would need reliable guards.

Sparrowclaw exiting the warrior's den saw him nod in her direction, gaze trailing after the tabby she-cat as she scanned the prey-pile as if waiting for the chance to scold her. It wouldn't be unlike him. Many paws, apprentice and warrior alike, had been swatted for reaching for the fresh kill out of turn on occasion. His intense gaze grew more pleasant as she stiffly moved on and settled elsewhere, silently congratulating the she-cat for considering her duty to the Clan over her hunger. Perhaps once the patrol returned they could be sent out to hunt.

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

⇺ [ Redeye ] ⇻
36 Moons • Male • DuskClan • Warrior
Location: River Rocks • Mentions: Blackstar (Direct) / Wesealflight, Owlfeather, Harepaw (Indirect)

The brief gesture Blackstar offered him silenced the albino warrior, and he found himself sinking into the muddy soil beneath his paws as if a sudden wave of exhaustion threatened to steal away the remainder of his energy. Now that Blackstar was here Redeye could feel his erratic heartbeat slowing if only slightly, trust and relief shining in his gaze as the burden of Cherrysong's body was lifted from his shoulders. Words were not needed in that moment. He was simply grateful to no longer be alone. He watched quietly as his leader hid Cherrysong among the ferns, parting with a swipe of his tongue across her head.

Redeye had yet to witness how the Clan treated their dead before this moment and found it contrasted greatly from his old 'Clan'. Thinking on it now, he wasn't sure what had possessed him to carry Cherrysong on his back. Was he becoming more like them now? Caring for his Clanmates even when their lives were gone and there was no purpose to preserving their bodies? Or was it the thought of young Harepaw returning home to find her mother's corpse waiting for her that had motivated him to keep her as spotless of filth as possible? Either way, it signified a change, as he would have never done such a thing for another street cat.

He merely nodded in acknowledgment of Blackstar's thanks, the grimace plastered across the dark tom's face when he arrived not forgotten. The desire to return to camp and rest his legs was strong, but he found he couldn't even consider it, his paws immediately pulling him after the older cat. "Do you think your star warriors are still watching us?" He whispered as they neared the rocks, disheartened to find neither Owlfeather nor Wesealflight were within sight.

Ravenblaze | Dawnclan Medicine Cat | 25 Moons | White Green-Eyed Tom | Camp, Right Outside Camp |Mentions: Hornetpaw, Cloudburst, Gingerstar, Open!

Sootpaw | Duskclan Apprentice | 13 moons | Small, gray tabby tom | Location: Duskclan Camp | Mentions: (Direct) Blackstar, Mothpaw, Vulturepaw (Indirect) Harepaw, Cherrysong(NPC), Fawnfur(NPC)

Sootpaw stood quiet and somber as he watched Blackstar slip out of the camp, leaving the apprentices with an order to stay behind. When he heard Mothpaw leave as well, presumably to the medicine cat's den, Sootpaw turned to Vulturepaw. The younger apprentice had been quiet upon their arrival back to camp. It was unnerving to see the normally upbeat and excited cat this way. After Vulturepaw finally spoke, Sootpaw stared after him as the dark tom made his way to the apprentice den.
This wasn't right. None of it. There had been such a windfall of dangers and loss as of late. Sootpaw's thoughts returned to the blood at River Stones. Harepaw's own kin, her only kin, gone in an instant. The gray tom couldn't imagine the grief that awaited the other apprentice. In a moment of selfishness, he thanked the stars that he still had Fawnfur. Like Harepaw, he only had his mother left for kin in this clan, and it could have easily been her on those rocks instead of Cherrysong.
This brought Sootpaw's thoughts to his father. He never knew him, but he had been told that his father was a brief visitor who had known Fawnfur when they were younger. What was life like outside the clans, he wondered? There were some cats in Duskclan who had lived out there in the past, but they didn't speak of it often. When they did, it was never exactly positive; but, clearly, there were some cats that preferred that way of life. His own father had chosen it over the clans, after all. Was it really so bad, then? And, honestly, could it really be any worse than these last few days?
Sootpaw's tail flicked as he walked to the apprentice den where he sat just in the entrance and curled his tail over his paws. He wasn't much in the mood for resting inside now, and besides, he figured Vulturepaw might need a little time to himself. Sootpaw closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable, listening to the rain pat the ground in front of him.

Sparrowclaw||She-cat||27 Moons||Dawnclan Warrior||Location: Camp||Mentions: Falconstrike [Open]

Sparrowclaw watched Falconstrike glare at her as she trotted past the fresh-kill. She chuffed with amusement. "Need something?" She called to him, licking her paw. It was clear she wasn't looking for a fight this time. She ran her tongue over her teeth, and then over her lips. The faint taste of mouse was still there, but it was soon gone. She opened her mouth, long teeth exposed as she yawned. She slammed her tail to the ground, letting a small cloud of dust fly up.

Sparrowclaw was extremely bored. She hadn't gone on a patrol or hunt for ages, and she yearned to stretch her long limbs. However, she did not miss having to be paired with other cats to explore the territory for rogues and kittypets who wandered too far. Not to mention the absolutely disgusting group of rogues who had taken refuge in a small corner. In her eyes, they were rats that needed to be dispatched. Her mint eyes went back to sizing up Falconstrike, her intense gaze watching every move he made as she waited for his response.

Foxpaw|Apprentice of Dawnclan|Small Ginger Tabby She-cat|Location: Camp edge |Mentions: Umbraclaw, Flamepaw, Duskclan

At Umbraclaw's words, Foxpaw seemed to relax if only a hair, though her stern expression remained across her face. But, for her the small twitch of her tail tip was a subconscious gesture of pride. For a while, they moved in silence until Flamepaw mentioned hunting. The words seemed to get lost in the noise of the rain and the distance between the cats. She glanced at her sister, nose wrinking.
"How do you expect to catch anything in this-" then she paused, thinking, a glimmer of understanding flashed across her eyes, but before she could say anything else her ears picked up an odd noise on the wind, and as she turned her gaze, the other cats began to talk, looking down at the earth. Pawprints?
Foxpaw swiveled on her paws, the new senses causing her to go on a higher alert, and as she scanned the woods she could see the flash of a light pelt through the trees. Her eyes narrowed and she whisked around, bolting a few paces forward. Thankfully, the trees were still relatively spaced apart this side of the river, and as she lept rather ungracefully onto a moss covered rock, she could see a cat jump across the rocks back onto the other side, the Duskclan side.
"Duskclan cats!" She spat, the words loud enough to carry slightly. She bounded forward a few paces so she was half out of the tree line, visible to the other cats but paused, only just. She could see from their side, another cat below the rocks and what looked like, a body. her eyes widened slightly, and she took a few more steps forwards, now ahead of the patrol and at the base of the rocks that formed the crossing point over the river.
"Sunspots? The bright pelt was dark from the water, and it could have possibly been another cat but lying there on the other side of the shore, but Foxpaw thought she could recognize her kin, even in his sorry state.
Foxpaw didn't care about paw-prints anymore, her claws extended into the earth and even though with her fur plastered to her small frame, she looked murderous.

Flamepaw|Dawnclan|Apprentice|13 Moons Old|Ginger She-Cat|Location: border|Mention(s) Directly: Foxpaw, Scorchwing|Mention(s) Indirectly: Umbraclaw, Sunspots, Weasleflight

The tabby ginger she-cats words where carried away by the wind or rain, Famepaw could not tell, either way the apprentices words were lost. Noticing some commotion behind her, the apprentice turned. Through the by now thick falling rain drops, Flamepaw could make out Umbraclaw mentioning pawprints. Prints? The apprentice wondered. Looking on the ground, she could make out traces of tracks here and there.
Strange, they seemed very big. Even though some seemed to have already faded, with this rain, the apprentice could vaguely make out the direction it was going. Looking up, Flamepaw saw her littermate walking away from the rest of the patrol. Foxpaw seemed to be heading for the river, not keen on seeing her sister take an unwanted swim, Flamepaw walked after her. Seeing Foxpaw suddenly stop and look agitated, Flamepaw came up next to her, "What's the matt...", Flamepaw could not finish her sentence, as she looked across the fast running river and saw what her sister had seen. Sunspots!? The young she-cats heart hit the soft, wet ground under her paw.
Flamepaw opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out, she closed her mouth again. The ginger tabby she-cats claws slipped out, like her sisters. She needed to stop herself, from running over there and clawing that Duskclan cats ear off. Flamepaw dug her claws deeply into the ground, tears were starting to form in Flamepaws eyes, or where they just raindrops? Her mother, that was her mother over there. She was limp, maybe.... maybe even dead. "What.... what should... we do?", Flamepaw asked, hesitating. She both, asked herself and Foxpaw.

Owlfeather|Duskclan|Deputy|36 Moons Old|Siamese She-Cat|Location: Border|Mention(s) Directly: Wealseflight, Flamepaw. Foxpaw|Mention(s) Indirectly: Dead Body

Owlfeather jaws where clamped tightly, as the deputy keeped on dragging the cats body. It would've been hard enough dragging a dead cat on her own, but the rain had seeped into the dead cats fur and her own, this was dragging her down. The deputies paws slipped on the wet and uneven ground, her paws being pulled out from under her, Owlfeather landed on her stomach. Letting out a growl, the she-cat released the dead cats pelt. Pushing herself up, the deputy looked down at herself. Her legs and belly was covered in mud, the siamese she-cat sould. Well, the rain would at least wash it off soon.
Reaching down, the deputy grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck again. Lifting up, Owlfeather let out a grunt. The dead cat was getting heavier and heavier, the longer she took, the heavier it would probably get. As the she-cat looked up, she could see Weasleflight ahead of her. It was strange, was the warrior talking to someone across the river. Owlfeather was still too far away to the the two Dawnclan apprentices clearly, she could just make out two orange blurry shapes. As the deputy slowly made her way to the Duskclan warrior, Owlfeather could finally make out the shapes, they appeared to be a pair of young ginger cats. Dropping the dead cat carefully on the ground, the she-cat walked to stand next to Weasleflight. "What's going on?", the deputy asked. She was only slightly worried that a Dawnclan cat had seen her on their side of the border, but still that bothered her a bit.

Weaselflight | DuskClan Warrior | 21 Moons | Tom | River Rocks | Redeye; Owlfeather, Cherrysong; Unknown Bodies; Foxpaw; Umbraclaw; Flamepaw

Weaselflight had waited several long moments to rest, his breath heaving in and out of his little frame, but eventually that eased itself and he managed to lift himself up and begin walking forwards, pulling the body as best he could halfway onto his back. The cat, he thought, would have been bigger than him in real life, but in death they felt small and frail, despite the muscular frame they sported. He wobbled them onto his spine, and moved slowly out of the plants and back around the rocks. He was shocked to see that Redeye had vanished, along with Cherrysong's body, and Owlfeather was also gone. He felt like something was collapsing in him and as he neared the shore he kinda slipped, and tipped sideways, the body rolling off his shoulder onto the shore beside him. He was crouching to rest again when there was a shout from across the water.

Weaselflight raised his tired head and gave a little whimper of exhaustion. He was too tired to even really be scared- not that the smaller cat across the water was too much to be afraid of. She was small... but even he could sense the anger rolling off her in waves. She was digging her claws into the ground, her fearsome gaze locked onto him with an unforgiving look. He slowly rose back onto his feet, straightening to the best of his abilities. He winced slightly, he was a bit bruised from his little swim, but managed to stay looking somewhat formidable.

"W-W-What's that? I missed what you said..." his voice was wary but loud enough to be heard. True enough, he hadn't caught what the little Dawnclanner had shouted, but... he didn't know why he was asking. She looked absolutely livid, livid enough to kill him, or at least try. He turned his gaze skyward for a moment, but the stars were still hidden. He found himself uttering a silent prayer to his brother, hoping as he always did that Darkpaw's spirit had made it to... whatever it was up there. Darkpaw had always been the stronger believer after all.

He turned his yellow green gaze back to the mollie before him, across the river. It appeared that there was a patrol behind her, at least one other small ginger mollie, and he could hear more coming. His heart seemed to sink lower and lower. His fur raised slightly in anxiety, against the drone of the rain, and he shifted into a slightly defensive position, changing his question.

"What do you want?!" he yowled across the raging river, his eyes narrowed slightly against the rain and wind.
Better safe than sorry