Round 2, Part 5

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"Leafheart has been declared innocent," Doestep announced, looking at her sister with relief. Sparrowpaw and Thrushwatcher went over to their mother, talking happily to her.

"All innocent votes. They had nothing to worry about," Larktuft whispered to Foxwish. The ginger tom shook his head, disagreeing.

"N-no. There is always s-something to w-worry about," he replied, stuttering as he looked around fearfully. He was right. The murderer was still out there, and they currently had their eyes set on the leader.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The murderer crept towards Doestep, who had gone out hunting. Everyone went hunting alone now, which was their first mistake. They thought it would make them safer, but they were so wrong.

"Hey, Doestar! How's the hunting going?" they asked cheerfully, motioning to the hare that she had just killed, "Looks good today".

"Yeah, it is. The prey is out because of -" she began. Then she looked at the murderer with suspicion, as she backed up a bit. "You called me Doestar, why?"

"Just to make sure I had the right cat," they replied, still acting friendly. Then they leapt, tackling her into the snow. The two cats scuffled in the snow for a bit, but the murderer got the upper hand. They quickly bit down on Doestar's throat, then padded away as the leader's blood stained the snow red.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Leafheart padded across the snow drifts, worried. Her sister had gone out hunting awhile ago, and hadn't come back. She hadn't voiced her suspicions to the rest of the clan yet, but she was sure that Doestep had been the murderer's next target. When she saw the lifeless body in the red snow, she knew that her worst fears were true.

"Help! Help, Doestep's been killed!" the brown and white she-cat cried, dashing desperately into the camp. She slid to a stop in front of the gathered group of cats, looking to them for help.

"I'll help carry her back," Thrushwatcher offered somberly, standing up from his place by Sparrowpaw. None of them were surprised by the deaths, not any more.

"Me too," Brightfall volunteered, standing up as well. The loss of the brown she-cat was sad, but Brightfall couldn't help but feel a bit of relief that it hadn't been any of her loved ones.

"I'll go get the others," Sparrowpaw announced. She then ran off into the pine forest, as the other three cats headed for the snow drifts.

"It looks like she put up a fight," Brightfall mewed, when they came to the spot where Doestep had been killed. There was blood and tufts of fur everywhere, as well as claw marks all over Doestep's body.

"I don't want to think about it," Thrushwatcher told her, hefting the she-cat's body up onto his shoulders. Brightfall and Leafheart helped him, and the three carried Doestep back to camp.

"Oh, no! No, how did they know!" Larktuft cried, running to Doestep's body when she was set down in the middle of camp. The others looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" Kestrelstorm asked, pulling Mosspaw close to stop him from seeing his mentor's dead body.

"She's our leader! Her name is Doestar!" Larktuft cried, looking around desperately at the rest of the clan. "Don't you see? The murderer had to kill her six times!"

"You're the medicine cat, you tell us what to do now. Who will become leader?" Hollysong asked, looking at the she-cat expectantly.

"A-and who w-will be M-Mosspaw's mentor?" Foxwish added. He stood up next to his sister, although he avoided confronting Larktuft directly.

"Well, I will contact the deputy. They will have to wait to get their nine lives, but they will become leader. Leafheart, you recently lost your apprentice. You can take over Mosspaw's training," Larktuft replied.

"That's all well and good, but we need to talk about accusing a cat. I agree with Mistpaw's statement from before he died. Darkblaze, your nest is right next to the exit," Stormwhisker announced.

"Okay, then let the voting begin," Larktuft mewed. Darkblaze looked shocked to be accused a second time, but she didn't protest. The clan would do what the majority agreed upon.

Murdered: Doestar
Healed: Leafheart
Accused: Darkblaze
Returned: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 1

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