Cascadefall parted his jaws and took a deep breath in, letting the forest scents bathe his tongue. His nose twitched. A faint, heavy scent lingered in the air, smelling unmistakably of mouse. The russet brown warrior licked his lips in anticipation. Soon enough the prey would be in his claws.

He detected the little rodent scurrying over a tree root and through the grass, pausing every few heartbeats to root around for seeds. Cascadefall sank into a low crouch, his tail-tip twitching eagerly. He shifted his silently weight from paw to paw. Any moment now, the mouse would be within his reach --

and then something exploded out of the undergrowth, sending Cascadefall leaping backwards with his fur bristling and the mouse running for cover. It was Smallcloud, and the short white tom's blue eyes were filled with panic, and had his ears not been folded, they would have been flattened against his head.

"Cascadefall! The traitors! They tried to-- I just--" Smallcloud stammered, fear making his words incoherent. He shook his head to clear it and began again. "I got jumped on. I only barely got away, but I'm sure they're after me... I didn't see who it was..."

Cascadefall's yellow eyes widened and he felt his heart pound. This was his chance to catch the traitors red-pawed, save the clan, and become a hero. He didn't hesitate.

"Don't worry, Smallcloud, I'll take them on," the strong-willed warrior meowed, and after one quick, reassuring smile at his friend he bounded off in the direction Smallcloud had come. He wasn't even afraid.

Cascadefall hadn't gone far when he became aware of cats around him. He whirled to face the closest one, his teeth bared bravely as he recognized the scent. But he'd only just met the traitor's eyes when a weight slammed into him from behind, forcing him to the ground. Cascadefall spat out his mouthful of dirt and glared up.

The last thing he saw was a clawed paw coming straight down for him before pain exploded in his head and his vision crumpled to black.

~~~

Graystar was standing outside the medicine den, speaking in low tones with Dawnpetal (Snowsong was still heavily dosed on poppy seeds, and sleeping the day away), when a patrol made up of Lightdream, Smokeflash, Blackpaw, and Shademask entered camp. Graystar immediately excused herself to Dawnpetal and ran over to confront them.

"Well? Where were you?" she demanded of the four newcomers. Graystar had become slightly paranoid of late, worrying constantly about where all of her warriors were and if anyone was in danger. These four had left camp without being cleared for a patrol by Morningrose, and had caused Graystar to panick all morning.

"Patrolling the borders," Shademask answered casually, completely oblivious to Graystar's concern.

"There's no sign of either Ratflame or Palefern," Smokefern added. "It looks like they've left our territory for good, Graystar."

Graystar felt a pang of sadness for the two warriors that the clan had lost, but quickly remembered that she had been convinced that both of the exiled toms were traitors. She sighed. "Thank you for checking. But next time, please clear the patrol with Morningrose before leaving camp."

Lightdream just smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry about us, Graystar," he said confidently. "No one would dare attack four cats at once, and we made sure to stay together."

Shademask looked surprised. "Are you still worried about traitors, Graystar? You shouldn't be. Palefern was exiled, right? So the clan should be safe now."

"I seriously doubt that Ratflame and Palefern were the only ones," Smokeflash countered quickly.

"But they'd stop attacking cats, right?" Blackpaw asked. "Because two of them already got banished! If I were a traitor, I wouldn't want that to happen to me, so I would stop."

Smokeflash just shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, Blackpaw. These cats are murderers. They wouldn't care about things like that."

"I sincerely hope you're wrong, Smokeflash," Graystar murmured. "But I have a feeling you're right."

Lightdream had just opened his mouth to say something else when a loud cry interrupted him.

"GRAYSTAR!" a cat yelled, and Graystar (along with everyone else in camp) whirled around to see Echoleaf and Smallcloud standing at the camp entrance, both of them breathing heavily as though out of breath. It was Echoleaf who had yelled. "Cascadefall is dead!" the blue-gray she-cat yowled.

It was as though the whole camp had been dunked in ice-cold water; or perhaps leaf-bare had come in full force with no warning. Ice crept up from Graystar's paws to her chest as she realized the implications of Echoleaf's statement. She sensed rather than saw her clanmates have similar reactions.

Ratflame and Palefern hadn't been the only ones; there were still traitors among the clan, and they had struck once again.

Icespark bolted upright from her lying down position. "What? Since when?" she demanded.

"Since just now," Echoleaf responded. Her tail was lashing back and forth anxiously, and her fur was on end all the way down her spine. "Smallcloud found his body. He'd just been killed."

"How did it happen?" Laurelgaze asked, her ears perked with interest. She looked shocked.

Echoleaf looked down at the tom beside her. "Tell them, Smallcloud," she ordered.

All eyes turned to the munchkin fold. Smallcloud seemed to shrink into himself, timid at being the center of attention, but he started stammering the story anyway. "The three of us were on a hunting patrol," he began, glancing over at Echoleaf, "and we'd split up to cover more ground, you know, easier hunting, when I got attacked from behind..." He seemed petrified at the very memory. "But then I tripped, so the attack missed, and I ran away without looking to see who it was. Then I ran into Cascadefall, and after I told him I got attacked, he went to face the traitors... I was too scared to follow him at first, but then he didn't come back, so I went after him. When I got there, the traitors had already scattered, and Cascadefall was on the ground, bleeding from a head wound. Already dead." Smallcloud took a deep breath and shuddered at the memory.

There were a few long heartbeats of silence as his words sunk in, and every cat silently mourned Cascadefall's death.

"So you didn't see who the traitors were?" Laurelgaze asked eventually, worry in her golden eyes. Smallcloud just shook his head, causing a few of the listening warriors to sigh in disappointment.

Graystar had bowed her head while listening to Smallcloud's story. Now she raised her chin, forcing herself to carry out her duties first, and let her emotions take over later. "Where did this happen?" she questioned.

"Some distance east of the big aspen trees," Echoleaf answered, seeming happy enough to take over the talking part and shift the attention off of Smallcloud.

Graystar frowned. "Someone needs to recover his body."

"I can do that," Laurelgaze volunteered, padding over to where Echoleaf and Smallcloud were standing.

Echolight, who had been interrupted in her grooming by Smallcloud and Echoleaf's announcement, jumped up to join them too. "I'd like to help as well."

Echoleaf nodded. "I'll show you the way to him. Come on," she meowed, and beckoned them with her tail. The two Echos and Laurelgaze slipped quickly out of camp and into the forest.

Graystar's shoulders curved inwards. Another warrior gone. The clan had lost five good cats at this point, and the body count was only going to keep rising.

Until such time as Echolight, Laurelgaze, and Echoleaf returned with Cascadefall's body, however, she would go another round of the camp. Possibly Cascadefall's killers were still out in the forest, but that didn't mean that everyone back at camp was innocent.

Featherpath was the cat closest to her, aside from Smallcloud, and the short ginger she-cat was visibly panicking. Her large ears were flattened against her head and her eyes were roving skittishly from cat to cat. Her gaze met Graystar's and she jumped, startled. "Graystar," Featherpath whimpered. "We're not safe-- no one's safe anymore. What are we going to do?" She moaned and lied down, putting her paws over her muzzle. "I'm next, I'm going to be next... They're going to kill me..."

Graystar felt a deep pang of sympathy for the paranoid warrior. She cast her gaze over the other nearby cats, looking for someone who might be able to help Featherpath calm down. She skipped over Rainsong (Rainsong was kind, but also prone to nervousness, and putting the pair together would probably do more harm than good), and disregarded Longclaw (after Ratflame's accusations, not many cats seemed to trust her, so sending her would probably just add to Featherpath's fears), but finally decided on Rosepool. The light brown tabby was generally regarded as one of the kindest cats in the clan, and her gentle demeanor but witty humour might just be what Featherpath needed. Graystar made a beeline for her.

When Rosepool glanced up, looking surprised at seeing the leader coming towards her, Graystar flicked her ears in a reassuring sign and padded close so as to speak to her in a low tone. "I know this is an odd request..." she began, "but could you perhaps talk with Featherpath? She's not dealing with the stress well, and I'm worried about her."

Rosepool's eyes softened in understanding. "Of course, Graystar," she agreed sweetly, and stood to walk over towards Featherpath. Graystar watched as Rosepool sat beside the ginger she-cat with a purred greeting and began speaking to her in a calming voice.

That taken care of, Graystar scanned the camp once more. Her ears twitched in interest when she saw Basilwisp and Leafsky at the edge of camp, facing each other, seemingly arguing. Their stances were tense and Leafsky's fur was bristling along her spine. However, even arguing, their words were much too quiet for Graystar to pick up on.

The fluffy gray she-cat hesitated only for a moment before slinking in the opposite direction, then creeping along the camp wall towards the pair. She felt guilty for sneaking around to eavesdrop on her own clanmates, but she'd had some definite doubts about Leafsky a couple days ago and the last time she'd approached the mates to find out what they were talking about, they had immediately silenced and refused to continue their conversation until Graystar had left. She felt that the circumstances they were currently in called for a little bit of sneaking around. Once close enough to hear what the mates were saying, she crept under a juniper bush and twitched her ears.

Leafsky's fur was fluffed up indignantly. "So that's it, things get a little tough and you just want to bail?" she hissed.

"I want to protect you," Basilwisp contested. His voice was low and his eyes shadowed. "The clan isn't safe anymore."

"I don't need you to protect me," the dark tortoiseshell she-cat retorted. "I can take care of myself.

Basilwisp hissed. "Not with murderers sleeping in the same den as us!"

"I thought you were loyal?" Leafsky challenged.

"I am." The black and white tom seemed to be having trouble keeping his voice steady. "But my loyalty is to you first."

"I never believed you were a coward, Basilwisp," Leafsky growled. "But I have no other words for a warrior who wants to run away."

Basilwisp seemed to push his paws against the ground; Graystar couldn't see if he had extended his claws or not. "Won't you just come with me? We can return when it's safe again."

"We'd have nothing left to return to," Leafsky said with a scowl. "And it would be your fault, because you left your clanmates to die." With a single lash of her tail, Leafsky turned and stalked away, leaving Basilwisp standing alone looking frustrated.

Graystar was appalled. The entire conversation had happened at a volume barely louder than a whisper, and yet they had thrown such angry words at each other. The couple's aptitude for being secretive and sneaky extended over even their arguments. She felt deeply troubled. If her warriors were beginning to feel that striking out on their own would be safer than being in a clan... she didn't even know how to finish that thought. Then again, if she had a mate, she would probably feel the same as Basilwisp, and want to hide away to protect them.

Finally Basilwisp padded away and slipped into the warrior's den, so Graystar sighed and started to emerge from her hiding spot, but then saw something that made her quickly get back down.

Whisperdrizzle was slinking along the camp wall right next to where Graystar was concealed. His blue-gray eyes were locked on Kestrelberry, who was crossing the center of camp, evidently heading towards the medicine den. To visit Snowsong? Graystar wondered. Whisperdrizzle looked suspiciously sneaky, and Graystar hoped that the grey tom wasn't still convinced that Kestrelberry had killed Pinestep. It definitely looked like he was following Kestrelberry, anyway.

Finally Whisperdrizzle moved off and Graystar felt safe to come out from under the juniper bush. She felt strange, like she had just done something untrustworthy. Eavesdropping wasn't a leader-like thing to do, after all. Before she could think it through any further, Graystar sternly told herself that the situation had called for it and that she was justified in taking any course of action necessary to protect her clan.

...That didn't make her feel any better about it, though.

Tigersplash and Runningstream were with their apprentices in the center of camp, working together to train battle moves. Echopaw and Tinypaw were sparring with each other with claws safely sheathed, and the mentors were sitting a slight distance from them, watching the fight. Tigersplash was calling out different pointers to Echopaw such as "you're bigger than her, use your weight to your advantage!" and "stop exposing your belly!" Echopaw seemed slightly frustrated with the orders, evidently wanting to win the mock battle without help, but she obeyed her mentor's words anyways. Meanwhile, Tinypaw was stubbornly hitting Echopaw with a flurry of blows despite being frequently overpowered and pinned by the larger white she-cat, and Runningstream was watching silently, observing every move her apprentice made. Graystar padded closer to watch too.

Echopaw was trying to force Tinypaw to the ground, and Tinypaw was resisting valiantly, but finally Echopaw slammed her white paws against the small ginger she-cat's shoulders and succeeded in pushing Tinypaw onto her back. ("Well done, now pin her!" Tigersplash roared from the sidelines.) Echopaw quickly pounced on her fellow apprentice and pressed down to keep her pinned. Tinypaw counterattacked by battering at Echopaw's belly with her hind legs, and Graystar winced when she saw tufts of white fur catch in Tinypaw's rear claws. At that moment Echopaw noticed the leader's presence and her amber eyes flicked sideways; Tinypaw took full advantage of the distraction and twisted free of her denmate's grip and surged upwards. Tinypaw's jaws closed around the skin of Echopaw's throat. Echopaw, looking stunned, sat down in defeat.

"What was that?" Tigersplash growled angrily, stalking over to them. "You nearly had her, Echopaw, but then you let your guard down and lost everything!"

Echopaw seemed upset. "It wasn't my fault, I got distracted by Graystar!" she protested. Tinypaw had backed off and sat with her chin raised proudly.

"There will always be distractions on the battlefield." Runningstream spoke for once, beating Tigersplash to it. "You must not let them affect you." She gave a small nod of approval to her apprentice, and Tinypaw flicked her tail, pleased.

"They both fought excellently," Graystar put in. "Echopaw, you were doing very well until that last bit. Tinypaw, good job on escaping Echopaw's pin."

The apprentices both smiled at her, and Graystar smiled back, then she looked to Tigersplash as he took control once more.

"Alright, we'll try it once more," the dark dappled tom ordered, "and this time we'll keep our heads in the fight, won't we?"

Graystar decided to leave them to it and padded off, feeling glad that the apprentices were continuing with their education despite recent events.

"YOU!" a voice yelled suddenly, and Graystar whirled to see Morningrose facing off with Troutstripe, who appeared to have just walked into camp. The deputy's fur was bristling and her teeth were bared. "Where have you been?" she demanded hotly.

"Fishing," Troutstripe answered, lifting up a dark ginger paw as though offering it as proof. Graystar noticed that the fur of his paw was wet.

"Yet you return with no prey?" Morningrose challenged.

Troutstripe narrowed his eyes. "I was unable to catch anything. It happens sometimes."

Morningrose didn't seem convinced in the slightest, and continued to glare at the striped warrior. "Are you aware that Cascadefall was killed just a little while ago?" the blonde she-cat interrogated. "In the forest not far from the river?"

Troutstripe's expression twisted in surprise just a heartbeat too late; the emotion in his eyes was painfully fake as he answered "no, I was not aware."

Morningrose hissed fiercely, a sound echoed by Honeyrose and Rainsong, who were watching attentively. "If we examined the scene of the crime, do you deny that we would find your scent in Cascadefall's blood?"

The ginger tom lashed his bushy tail and narrowed his eyes yet again. "Are you accusing me of murder, Morningrose?" he growled.

"Yes, I am," the deputy retorted boldly.

Troutstripe snarled. "You can't prove anything."

"Your paws are wet from washing away Cascadefall's blood!" Morningrose yowled.

"I was fishing!" Troutstripe spat. He lashed his tail once more and then turned his back on the deputy. "I will not stand for your accusations." The warrior stalked away, causing Rainsong and Smokeflash to scramble out of his path. He sat down near the freshkill pile, glaring at Morningrose with such vindictiveness that no one else approached him.

Morningrose immediately turned and bounded towards Graystar. "He killed Cascadefall," she told the leader. "I don't care what he says. He's a traitor to the core, I'm sure of it."

Graystar had no reply.

A few moments later there was once again excitement at the camp entrance as Laurelgaze, Echolight, and Echoleaf returned to camp, carrying Cascadefall's body. They were followed in by Iriswhisper and Dewpaw.

Iriswhisper was shaking her head fiercely. "I can't believe they killed Cascadefall. Cascadefall!" she exclaimed to no one in particular as she passed Graystar. She looked rather angry.

Dewpaw seemed upset as well. Seeing her, Redpaw streaked over to her side, demanding if she was alright. Dewpaw nodded and looked over to where the three warriors were placing Cascadefall's body in the center of camp. "Remember when he used to play with us when we were kits?" she asked mournfully, and Redpaw's expression became heartbroken.

Echolight noticed Graystar watching Iriswhisper and Dewpaw and trotted over to her. "We passed those two returning from a training session on our way back," she explained to the leader. "They were shocked to see Cascadefall." A shadow passed over the brown tabby's eyes. "Then again, who wasn't?" And she padded away again. 

Multiple cats were approaching Cascadefall's lifeless form to pay their respects; Viperpaw had buried her muzzle in the tom's russet brown fur. Obviously she remembered playing with Cascadefall as a kit as well. Smokefern also touched his nose to the parted warrior's forehead in a kind gesture of respect.

Crowtail sat next to Cascadefall's body with their head bowed. Graystar wondered idly where the black warrior had come from; she didn't remember seeing them in camp earlier.

Dawnpetal quickly trotted towards the killed warrior with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. She excused herself to Smokefern, who stepped aside without protest, and crouched down next to Cascadefall's head to examine his wound.

"Graystar," the medicine cat called out after a moment. The named cat quickly stepped over to her. "Look here. The only injury Cascadefall has is this one on his head. Only a very strong cat could have dealt such a blow."

Very slowly, all eyes turned to Troutstripe. The powerful tom pretended not to notice.

Rainsong stepped forward and swished her tail to attract attention. "We should all pay our respects to Cascadefall before we start making any more accusations," she pointed out, sounding indignant and yet nervous at the same time.

Honeyrose voiced agreement, but the Sphinx she-cat's eyes never left Troutstripe.

Longclaw, Runningstream, Smallcloud, Kestrelberry, and Rosepool approached Cascadefall's body, and Crowtail stepped out of the way, but with Viperpaw, Smokeflash, and Dawnpetal already at the deceased warrior's side it left very little space for anyone else to join them.

Echoleaf was sitting with Whisperdrizzle, Lightdream, and Shademask, and speaking in a low, hurried tone. "I know Troutstripe looks guilty, but to be honest, I don't trust Smallcloud," she was saying to three listening to her, and Graystar pricked her ears to listen too. "He was the only one with Cascadefall at the time, he led him towards the traitors! And that badger-dung story about him getting attacked but escaping because he tripped?" the blue-gray she-cat scowled. "That's as suspicious as a flying hegehog."

"But Smallcloud and Cascadefall were so close," Lightdream protested.

"Be as it may, there's no way Smallcloud could have killed Cascadefall," Whisperdrizzle pointed out. "Dawnpetal said only a powerful cat could have killed him, and that little munchkin mix doesn't exactly fit the description."

Echoleaf flipped her tail dismissively. "So Troutstripe probably killed him, I'll admit that. But they could easily have been working together. I bet Smallcloud led Cascadefall right into a trap where Troutstripe was waiting," she concluded.

The others shifted uneasily, unable to deny the sensibility of Echoleaf's statement.

Deeply troubled once more, Graystar padded over to join Featherwing, who was seated quietly watching the cats around Cascadefall's body with sadness in her eyes.

"Do you know where Snowstrike is?" Graystar asked the fluffy white warrior, loath to ask such an insensitive question when they were all grieving, but she was too curious for the answer.

Featherwing pursed her mouth thoughtfully, then shook her head. "I haven't seen her at all today, no." She flicked her ears and turned her head to face Graystar directly, her light green eyes glimmering in the fading light. "But surely you already know who you're going to exile?"

~★~★~ Comment your vote down below who you think is a traitor! The cat with the most votes will be exiled in the next chapter! ~★~★~