Bloodflower

Chapter 18

Alarmed, Rosepaw jumped from her nest and staggered out. She narrowed her eyes against the bright sun, which had now risen to its highest point. So much time has passed, and I feel like I've hardly slept at all!

Birchpelt was circling his mate, trying to calm her down, but his eyes were dark with anxiety. Adderstar and Beestripe were bounding among the Clan, asking every cat when and where they had last seen the kits. All four of them must have gone missing, Rosepaw realized. Oh, StarClan!

Nightpaw broke away from the crowd and raced over to her. "This is horrible!" he yelped. "There's four of them, in an entire territory! How could we possibly find them all?"

"They're probably sticking together," Rosepaw responded, her voice shaking. "And besides, if we find one, we can figure out where the rest are."

Nightpaw took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Let's go see if we can help search for them," he suggested.

Rosepaw followed her friend into the throng of anxious cats. They ended up beside Adderstar.

"Nightpaw, Rosepaw," he meowed. "You both went on patrol this morning. When did you last see the kits? Did they say anything to you?"

Nightpaw shook his head. "Nothing."

Rosepaw mewed, "Acornkit came up to me and asked if she could join our hunting patrol. Rainfoot sent her back to the nursery. She could have snuck out with her littermates out of frustration."

Adderstar nodded slowly. "That would make sense. Kits have their mouse-brained moments."

At any other time Rosepaw would have purred in amusement. But a cold knot of fear formed in her belly. This "mouse-brained moment" could get all four kits killed.

Adderstar shouldered his way through the other cats and scrambled up onto the Cliffrock. "SunClan, hear my words!" he yowled, raising his tail for silence. The anxious voices died down.

"I know we are all worried for the safety of Rainfoot's kits," he began. "But I'm certain we can find them, and they'll all come home safe and sound." His fiery amber eyes raked over the Clan. "We will send out search parties to scour the entire territory. We won't stop until we find them!"

Yowls of agreement rose up. Rosepaw looked around and saw Rainfoot and Birchpelt gazing up at their leader, eyes glistening with gratitude.

"Beestripe," Adderstar instructed, "organize the search patrols. I'll lead one myself. I'll take Cherryfur, Thumpstep, and Ebonypelt. We'll search the edge of Clan territory." He glanced at each cat as he named them, and they all nodded, gathering beside the fern tunnel to wait for their leader.

Nightpaw twitched his ears. "Let's go make sure we're on one of those patrols," he meowed determinedly.

Rosepaw nodded in agreement and followed him towards Beestripe. My shoulder doesn't hurt anymore, she thought. I hope Beestripe doesn't confine me to camp just because of my injury. Just because I'm wounded doesn't mean my nose doesn't work!

"Minnowtail, Shadowpool, Birchpelt, and Shinefur," Beestripe was meowing. "You can search near the Twolegplace. I wouldn't put it past those fox-hearted rogues to try and harm helpless kits."

Birchpelt hissed in fury, digging his claws into the ground as if it was the pelt of a rogue. "I'd like to see them try," he spat. He raced away along with the other members of his patrol.

"Robinfeather, Willowstripe, Thrushtail, and Nightpaw," Beestripe went on briskly, "you can search along the MoonClan border."

"Good luck!" Rosepaw told Nightpaw, touching her nose to his ear before he bounded away.