As trickles of sunlight filtered their way through the leaves of BanyanClan's camp- a massive banyan tree- two cats, sending each other harsh glances, bounded down from their meeting place in the tree to take their place among their clanmates. The two cats in turn nestled into their branches, closing their eyes for a brief moment before being woken by their neighbors. And as such, the day began.

Most of the cats of BanyanClan made their way down their home, milling at the roots as groups began to form. Most of the cats began chatting softly to their family members and friends.

"I want to go on a hunting patrol!" Spottedpaw meowed loudly, his loud, slightly commanding tone making his sister, Hazelpaw, roll her eyes. "Of course. That's all you ever want to do." The apprentice muttered back, cuffing her brother over the ear. Next to them, Vinepaw perked up, offering nicely, "I wouldn't mind hunting with you, Spottedpaw!" Before a sharp glare from his sister shut him up.

The trio of squabbling siblings were interrupted by Eveningmist, who had padded over to restore order. "We might go hunting, if everyone else agrees." The she-cat told her kits, "It would be great if one of you can actually get Alligatorpelt up and moving for once, to see if he wants to come as well." She commented, with a chuckle. Spottedpaw was immediately on the job, giving a quick nod to his mother before racing back up the tree to find his father. He pranced along the branches to where the warriors slept, the tips of his paws skipping along the bark.

"As for you two, why don't you grab Palmpaw, Mangrovepaw, Grassfall, Pantherheart, Marshgaze, and Swampbrook? We should see if the others are up for a huge hunting party." Eveningmist told her remaining kits, who nodded in turn. Hazelpaw did so little grumpily.

Vinepaw climbed the tree once again, aiming to head up to the clump of branches where the apprentices slept. However, as the gray tom padded along the wide branches of the banyan tree, he couldn't help but overhear an argument a few tail-lengths below him. Coonfoot's angry tones, telling Wildstrike to just leave him alone for once, seemed to crash through the air.

"I'm telling you, I don't need you to fuss over me!" Coonfoot's harsh snarl caused Vinepaw's fur to stand up. Wildstrike, riled up, yowled back, "Why won't you just calm down and listen to me for once?!"

The skittish tom's ears flattened, and he sped up in order to make his way to the apprentice-branch before Coonfoot might yell at him as well. Upon clambering up on the branch, he came upon Palmpaw and Mangrovepaw huddled together, whispering about something. His paws scuffed on the wood, alerting the pair of best friends to his presence. The two she-cats turned around simultaneously, Palmpaw in particular looking quite flustered. "Morning, Vinepaw." Mangrovepaw called out to the tom, yawning briefly before continuing, "Did someone send you to get us?"

The gray-pelted tom nodded quickly, flicking his tail back down to the roots. "Eveningmist told me we're going to go on a hunting expedition, with all the apprentices and their mentors." Vinepaw explained, offering the two she-cats a quick smile. "I decided to go ahead and get you two."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Palmpaw meowed, her voice tinged with excitement as the she-cat bounced to her paws. "We could make it a competition, tom apprentices vs the she-cats! Losers have to get new moss for everyone." She continued on, grinning slightly. Mangrovepaw rolled her eyes good-naturedly, pointing out, "You'll probably have to take it up with the others if you want that to happen. Let's go see if everyone will agree."

The trio of apprentices bounded down the tree, dodging Spottedpaw as he made his way down the tree. "Alligatorpelt said he's going to stand watch today!" The brown tom informed his brother, as Vinepaw scrambled down the tree ahead of him. Vinepaw cracked a soft smile, not surprised their father had opted for a job in which he could sunbask.

While her brothers had dashed up the tree, Hazelpaw had set off along the roots to inform everyone's mentors of the plan. It really was all routine- Grassfall reluctantly left his mate, but promised Flamingo that he would watch over Mangrovepaw while they were out. Flamingo had nodded, though seemed a little crestfallen. All the others avoided her, and Grassfall was her only company. Similarly, the small group of Swampbrook, Marshgaze, and Heronfeather resulted in Heronfeather bounding up the banyan to search for his mother and brother, while Hazelpaw padded off to inform Pantherheart of Eveningmist's idea.

"Morning, Hazelpaw!" Cypressbreeze called out to the apprentice, turning away from the small circle she and the rest of her family had made. "I saw Heronfeather run off, where do you think he went?"

"He went back up the tree to look for Wildstrike and Coonfoot." Hazelpaw explained, before turning her attention back to Pantherheart, who was looking at the apprentice expectantly. "Anyways, Pantherheart, Eveningmist had the idea for all the apprentices and their mentors to go hunting. Does that sound good?" The brown spotted tabby asked, but before Pantherheart could answer, Cypressbreeze jumped in excitedly, "Oh, I'll go too! I'll look for some flowers for Heronfeather while I'm hunting, because I know he likes them!"

Ibissong shook his head at this, telling his niece, "I'll head out with you later to find some. We should probably leave the forest to the hunters, having a patrol out as they work could scare away the prey." The tom pointed out, shrugging slightly. Rootwatcher jumped in, meowing, "I'll go with you two as well, perhaps at sunhigh?" The she-cat suggested, to which Ibissong quickly nodded. "Of course." The black tom replied, dipping his head to his brother's mate. During this conversation, Shadowwhisper had held his tongue, not intending to add to the conversation. He shuffled his paws awkwardly in the dirt, causing Ibissong to send him a reassuring smile.

"Well, then it's settled." Pantherheart declared, a faint grin crossing his face. "Let's see if your brother can keep his ego under control today, shall we?" The black tom asked Hazelpaw, who smirked slightly. "I highly doubt that will happen." The apprentice responded, "We're hunting, he'll barely be able to stop bragging." Pantherheart chuckled slightly at Hazelpaw's words.

The Clan easily split into two- the mentors and their apprentices heading off to hunt among the muddy banks of their territory, while the rest of the cats lounged in and around the tree. There was no need for a border patrol, the alligators never came close to the Clan's tree due to how it was situated on fairly dry ground. 

As Palmpaw went to leave, Hibiscusblaze padded up to her daughter. "Palmpaw, be safe." The ginger tabby ordered, her gaze flicking past the young apprentice to land on Grassfall's pale brown pelt. "Don't you dare go near the banks, even if Grassfall says he'll protect you. He's not your father, and even your father couldn't hold off an alligator."

Palmpaw muttered her quick assent, before bounding away to join her mentor and his daughter. Upon reaching Mangrovepaw's side, she immediately teasingly batted at the white she-cat's tail.

The mentors and apprentices soon set up the competition Palmpaw had proposed. The ten cats moved off in different directions.

Far behind the group, Cypressbreeze skipped along. She didn't want Rootwatcher and Ibissong to come along with her to find the flowers, because the pair of them always seemed to fight. She'd get her flowers for Heronfeather, and then make it back to camp before anyone realized, Cypressbreeze had decided.

The sun was about quarter across the sky, when a blood-curdling scream echoed through the air. However, most of the cats dismissed it as Vinepaw getting scared by something, which was a daily occurrence. Though, some mused, he had never been that loud before.

A murderer smirked, slipping back into the bushes.

The mentors and their apprentices gathered in the clearing they had started in. However, everyone had less prey than expected- that scream from earlier had scared a lot of the food off. Less then half of the patrol had even managed to get any prey- Spottedpaw, Pantherheart, Swampbrook, Eveningmist, and Grassfall being the only ones. It had left everyone in a bad mood, Vinepaw in particular was trembling.

Swampbrook sighed, noticing how her apprentice was shaking. She needed to calm him down. Hazelpaw, Palmpaw, and Mangrovepaw and particular were glaring at the tom. Because of him, the three of them needed to do extra cleaning duties, as everyone had agreed. Swampbrook padded over to the tom, about to ask him what was wrong, when the tom uncharacteristically burst out in a loud, angry, tone, "Whoever decided to try and scare me by yowling isn't funny!" with a dirty look towards Spottedpaw.

The adults immediately all exchanged worried glances, while the three she-cats turned on Spottedpaw, Hazelpaw leading the charge with a sharp, "For StarClan's sake, Spottedpaw, would it kill you to be sensitive to Vinepaw for once?" Palmpaw and Mangrovepaw chimed in with their agreements.

"But I didn't do anything! I swear!" The tom protested, backing up a few paces under his sister's unflinching glare.

Pantherheart padded between the two, raising his voice to be heard over the apprentices. His tone immediately caused the five bickering cats to shut their jaws. "That was a cat's scream." The black tom pointed out, his brow furrowing. "A loner or a rogue might be in trouble. Let's split up again and look for them." The group nodded, and split up again.

It did not take long for Hazelpaw to stumble on Cypressbreeze's body. Upon seeing it, she recoiled back a few pawsteps, turning back to call for the others, her voice cracking as she yowled out, "Cypressbreeze! Cypressbreeze is dead!"

Hazelpaw stayed put, keeping her eyes averted from the body, as everyone came rushing toward her. Upon seeing his daughter's still form, Pantherheart let out a cry of grief, rushing over to Cypressbreeze. The others gathered around him awkwardly, not really sure what to do. Vinepaw looked as if he was going to throw up. Finally, Grassfall spoke up, asking the tom gently, "Pantherheart, how did she die?"

The tom took a deep breath to maintain his composure, his body shuddering as he attempted to gain control of his emotions. Finally, Pantherheart stepped back, glancing over Cypressbreeze. His ears were pinned back, as he stated, "Her throat's... torn out." He almost choked on those last words, the tom could not believe this could happen to his joyous, happy daughter.

"Scent?" Grassfall prompted, his voice tinged with worry.

"There is none. All I can smell is BanyanClan." The tom replied, his voice echoing with disbelief.

Marshgaze frowned, stepping forward to add his own opinion. "That's impossible. I doubt anyone here would murder a Clanmate. Maybe a rogue did it, and Pantherheart accidentally masked their scent with his when he went to Cypressbreeze's body."

Pantherheart quickly nodded, eager to accept this proposition. "That must be it." He agreed, his ears drooping sadly. "Let's bring her back to camp... I need to let Rootwatcher, Ibissong, and Shadowwhisper know about this." His Clanmates offered their condolences, Grassfall and Eveningmist in particular whispering words of comfort. They both had kits, and would be devastated if they lost any of them.

As the train of cats came padding into camp, Cypressbreeze resting squarely on Marshgaze's back, they were met with shocks and gasps. Especially from Cypressbreeze's immediate family. Pantherheart nuzzled his mate's neck in comfort, as Rootwatcher broke down. Shadowwhisper stood to the side, his yellow gaze wide with shock. The rest of the Clan milled around- it seemed that everyone had been called by the commotion- as Marshgaze explained what had happened. He had to repeat it several times to be heard by everyone in the crowd, which took a while. Ibissong padded to Shadowwhisper's side at one point, his eyes glazed over with grief. The two black cats huddled into each other, Ibissong whispering comforting words into his nephew's ear.

Hibiscusblaze pulled her tail closer around Palmpaw, who attempted to get out of her mother's grip. Mangrovepaw was in a similar situation, as Grassfall protectively stood at her side. Though, Mangrovepaw couldn't help but feel worry bubbling up in her. She turned to her father, asking nervously, "Grassfall, where's Flamingo? I haven't seen her since we got back."

Grassfall's pale green gaze instantly filled with horror. His mind had jumped straight to the worst possible conclusion, but this was quickly shaken away. Flamingo had likely wandered off, and was just heading back now to see what all the commotion was about. Still, Grassfall raised his voice to the others, asking anyone if they had seen Flamingo.

It turned out no one had, and so searches were immediately sent out. It was Swampbrook and Coonfoot who discovered Flamingo's body, just behind the banyan tree. The blood was fresh, and there were no rogue scents. This forced the Clan to accept the inevitable- two of their own were murderers.

The families of Flamingo and Cypressbreeze huddled around their bodies, while around them their Clanmates discussed what had happened.

Finally, Swampbrook stood to her paws, meowing loudly, "I bet Hazelpaw and Hibiscusblaze did it. Hazelpaw led us straight to Cypressbreeze's body, as if she knew it was there. And Hibiscusblaze is known for not liking Flamingo and her family."

"We can't just kick them out though!" Eveningmist protested, glancing to her daughter worriedly. "We should vote. That way everyone has a decision, not just whoever accuses someone first."

The Clan agreed, and started to vote.

Murdered: Cypressbreeze, Flamingo
Healed: Coonfoot
Accused: Hazelpaw, Hibiscusblaze
Revealed: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 2

Welcome to BanyanClan!
I'm really excited to be running this (and other rounds) for Mack while she's away. I promise I'll try to uphold to her standard of really hard clues. Anyways, good luck with catching the murderers!
- Talon