Leaftail was digging in to a finch when she saw Woodpool, Cinderleg, Flowerclaw, and Rosetail at the camp entrance pulling something. But she could not see what was it at her angle.
Just then, she saw Bubfeather padding through the four cats. She seemed to be looking at the thing which was being pulled and screamed.
"Ivytail is dead!"
Almost at once, all the cats in the area gathered. The mothers hid their kits behind them. Leaftail saw their eyes widened and heard gasps of shock. Logfur, who was Ivytail's mate, let out a faint gasp and fainted.
While Leaftail went forward, she saw Woodpool and Cinderleg running to where the two leaders were while Bubfeather and Tigerpool went to where the medicine cats were.
When Leaftail saw the body, her heart felt a pang of sadness -another cat dead! But she also felt a sense of insecure. Who was going to die-next?
Finally the two leaders came followed by the two deputies. Splashclaw, Mistfur and Grassclaw's eyes were clouded with sadness while Greenstar closed his eyes mournfully. The medicine cats came next. Littleclaw and Dropwhisker treated to Logfur while Blossompaw gave them poppy seeds. The three cats seemed to be ignoring the fact that Ivytail had been murdered but Leaftail could see they were suppressing their sadness- especially Blossompaw who was shivering slightly. Then Leaftail suddenly remembered Ivytail was Littleclaw's mother.
As the cats retreated to let space for the leaders and deputies to carefully look at Ivytail's body, Greenstar ordered Woodpool, Cinderleg, Rosetail and Flowerclaw forward and asked, "What happened?"
The three she-cats came forward and lowered their heads respectfully but Woodpool only nodded.
"I-I was hunting when I came across Ivytail's body in a berry bush, so I ran to Woodpool and took him there," Cinderleg explained, her voice shivering. "Woodpool told me to take Rosetail and Flowerclaw there and I did. Then we pulled the body here."
"And Ivytail was killed by a... cat," Woodpool growled. Many gasps could be heard. Leaftail felt her fur blistered.
"How do you know?" Mistfur queried.
"The claw marks at Ivytail's neck were not as deep as dogs claws and not as clumsy as badgers claws," Woodpool replied. "Ivytail's fatal wound was directed at her head, and the wound could only be made by a cat." He then faced the leaders and deputies with confident and.... was that suspicion in his eyes? Leaftail shook off the thought.
"So do you know who killed her?" Splashstar acquired. Woodpool shook his head but Leaftail thought she saw the way he shook his head seemed to suggest he was telling a lie.
"Well, maybe it was that kittypet who had killed her!" Birchpelt interrupted, directing his sight at Cinderleg.
Cinderleg's lip dropped and she stared at Birchpelt in disbelief. "I can't believe you dare to accuse me of-of such a crime!"
"You. Are. A. Kittypet." Birchpelt spat each word out. "Kittypets. Can't. Be. Loyal."
Leaftail felt her insides burning with rage. "She had proved her loyalty many times already!" she argued. She saw Cinderleg giving her a grateful look and smiled.
"Yeah! Remember she defended our clan fron rouges!" Brumblewing agreed.
"She is loyal. I still remember her training so hard to become an apprentice!" Mapletail, who was Cinderleg former mentor spoke loudly. More agreements could be heard.
"So, Birchpelt? Maybe you ate the unloyal one..." Woodpool growled. Birchpelt glared at him before retreating to a corner.
"Silence!" Greenstar yowled. "Nobody can say Birchpelt is not loyal unless he has evidence."
Leaftail felt a growl rising from her throat and saw many cats scowling. Why must Greenstar always side with Birchpelt that mouse-brain idiot?
"So... anyway, Greenstar, shouldn't we sit vigil for Ivytail?" Grassclaw mewed just in time.
"Ah, yes. Ivytail had been a great warrior for a long time. Though we still don't know who murdered her, I hope she had died a noble death," Greenstar meowed. "We shall sit vigil for her and the closest to her shall sit vigil for the night before the elders bury her tomorrow."
"So we will not be moving today?" Splashstar asked.
"Well, no," Greenstar replied
***
Warning: This part is a bit sad.
It was at night. Leaftail suddenly felt fur moving beside her. She opened her eyes just a little bit and saw Ruthpelt heading outside and padding away. "Where is she going?" Leaftail asked herself.
She then slowly lifted herself up, to prevent waking the other warriors up and also to prevent herself to be seen by Ruthpelt.
She padded slowly out of the tree hole just in time to see Ruthpelt's brown tail disappearing through the trees.
Leaftail then crawling to the trees but Ruthpelt was gone. "She must have hide somewhere in the trees. I need to sneak there by following hey scent," Leaftail cautioned herself.
Sniffing a few times, Leaftail found Ruthpelt's scent and another scent- Waterclan. W-what if it was Waveleg? She pushed the surprising thought to the back of her mind.
As Leaftail followed the scent into the trees, she could only use Starclan's light- through the stars - to see. Then Ruthpelts scent got overwhelming and so did the Waterclan scent.
She stopped and found herself infront of a fallen gigantic tree. She could sensed that Ruthpelt and the Waterclan scent was coming where the inside of the huge tree.
Leaftail circled round the tree a few tree before she found the entrance to the tree- a hole barely big enough for a cat to squeeze through. She then peeled.into the hole, saw the scene inside, and fell back outside.
Leaftail landed on the ground, her eyes huge with shock. She thought of what of she had just seen inside. Ruthpelt and Waveleg was huddled closely inside, their tails was entangled together and their noses touched.
Leaftail then felt anger overwhelming her surprise. How could Ruthpelt actually like a cat firm another clan! It's against the warrior code! She then felt sadness drowning her and she dipped her head between her paws to stop herself from crying. "Ruthpelt... is a traitor," she murmured.
Gathering up her courage, Leaftail took in a deep breath and went inside. "Ruthpelt, I can't believe you actually betrayed your own clan!" She growled at her best friend in the whole world for the first time.
Ruthpelt immediately jerked up, saw Leaftail's blistering pelt, and scurried away from Waveleg. Waveleg let out a gasp and covered eyes behind his paws.
"It's not what it looks like!" Ruthpelt lied.
"Really, traitor? Why must you do it?" Leaftail snarled, but her voice trembled when she tried to stop her tears from falling. Her heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces.
"Okay, Leaftail, it's true- we are dating," Waveleg confessed calmly. "But don't you get it? Love is worth more than the warrior code!"
Leaftail's paws shook when she answered, "Really...? I-I never did love anyone before."
"How about your parents or siblings?" Waveleg mewed. "Don't you love them? What if one of them went to another clan? Will you stop loving her?"
Leaftail felt a lump was in her throat and she looked at Ruthpelt. Ruthpelt closed her eyes and looked away from her. "I will still l-love her," she finally replied.
"You get it, now?" Waveleg spoke. "So please don't tell anyone about our relationship. Keep it a secret, please?"
"I-I will," Leaftail murmured. "But please, don't let anyone find out..."
Leaftail saw gratefulness flashed through both Ruthpelt and Waveleg's eyes and she realised the two of them would make good mates.
"T-Thank you, Leaftail," Ruthpelt finally spoke for the first time. "I-I should have tell you about my relationship. I should have kept you in the dark. I'm really sorry, Leaftail."
Leaftail felt tears streaming down her face as she said, "It's okay. Let's go back."
Together, the three cats went back ti the temporary camp as the first flash of rosy pink dawn could be seen.