Machupo waved his tail, motioning for Raio to follow him as he crept through the undergrowth. His brother complied, completely silent. The two young jaguars slunk up behind Rugido, watching the old cat snore as he laid in the sun.

"Okay, I go left, you go right. Don't actually land on him, just bat at him with your paws," Machupo whispered to Raio. The golden cat nodded, tail twitching with anticipation. At Machupo's signal, he leapt.

"Get off! What is wrong with you two!" Rugido yowled, scrambling to his paws as the two brothers ran away. The old jaguar didn't bother chasing after them. His joints made it impossible to catch them.

"They're just playing, Rugido. Don't you remember when we were young?" Nuvem purred, winding her tail with his. Rugido laid back down, glaring at them.

"No," he grumbled, as he laid his head on his paws. Nuvem snorted, but didn't say anything. She knew her mate was just acting grumpy to keep up appearances. As the two went back to napping, Machupo and Raio were talking to Chuva and Macaco.

"I can't believe how many times you've gotten away with that," Chuva purred, making no attempt to stop staring at Machupo. He grinned proudly at her, puffing out his chest.

"Yeah, we're thinking of pranking Ramo next," Raio bragged. Macaco's eyes widened, awed by the suggestion. Unlike Rugido, Ramo was in prime physical condition. They wouldn't be able to run away from him.

"Well, we've considered it, I mean, we're not exactly sure, but it's an option," Machupo told them nervously. Unlike Raio, he didn't want to go for Ramo. The stern fighter didn't have a sense of humor in the slightest.

"Is it, now?" Ramo asked, coming out of the den the fighters slept in. Macaco gulped, then shrunk back. She didn't want Ramo to think she was a part of their plan.

"Not anymore?" Machupo asked meekly, as he looked up at Ramo. The large jaguar grinned, and placed a large, heavy paw on Machupo's shoulder.

"That's good. Because my battle reflexes are always on high, and I might accidentally throw one of you," Ramo told them seriously. It was true. He had been the head fighter for so long, that a surprise attack would seriously injure his attacker. Then he turned to Chuva. "Chuva, we have patrol. Come on".

"Alright, bye everyone," she mewed, then padded off after the patrol leader. They collected Maderas and Preto as well, then headed out of the camp to patrol the perimeter.

"I should go, hunting patrol with Manchado and all that," Macaco mumbled, then padded away. Raio chased after her, calling for her to wait for him. Machupo watched him go, then looked around awkwardly. Nindiri joined the hunting patrol as well, leaving him with no friends to talk to.

"Hey, Machupo. Xingo and Kapok tore a hole in the cub den again. Want to come help me fix it?" Tikal asked, motioning to the top where a Xingo-sized hole had been left. Machupo nodded, and headed over to the cubs' father. Meanwhile, Tankani was lecturing the siblings on destroying the dens.

"But how do you know it was us? It could have been a monkey!" Xingo suggested. Tankani gave her a look of disapproval, causing the female cub to fold her ears against her head.

"Both of you, go apologize to Tikal and Machupo. They're repairing the hole you made. Go on," she ordered. The two cubs complied, heads hung low. They passed by Angra and Masaya, who were talking.

"You know that my brother likes you, right? He's been acting like a lovestruck fool," Angra told her friend, motioning to Preto as he left the camp with his patrol.

"Yeah," Masaya replied uncomfortably, avoiding looking at the black jaguar. "I just don't want to seem rude, so I've just been pretending to not notice".

"Well, I think you should just tell him. Let him move on. Maybe he'd stop being so depressed all the time," Angra retorted. Masaya shrugged, shuffling her paws.

"I don't know, maybe. I'll think about it," the light colored jaguar mewed nonchalantly. Then she got up to grab some prey, passing by Javari and Galho. The mates were relaxing together, enjoying prey. But none of the tribe would be able to relax for awhile. Something dark was growing in the clan, and nothing would ever be the same again.

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

Angra slowly woke up, the dark shadows obscuring her vision. She stood up, noticing that she wasn't in the fighter den like she should have been. Cautiously, she padded through the dark undergrowth, looking for anyone familiar. "Hello? Where am I?" she called.

"Welcome to the Tribe of Darkened Skies. We've been expecting you," a voice hissed. Angra's eyes widened. Why was she here? She had never broken the tribal code before, she shouldn't be here.

"Please, let me go! I don't want to be here!" she yowled, panicked. A high pitched laugh broke through her terror, as a shadowed form crept out from the undergrowth.

"Oh, Angra, don't worry. You'll leave soon," the form replied, voice lilting and full of amusement. Angra let out a sigh of relief, believing that she would be let go. But the form continued. "You'll just be heading to the Tribe of Endless Hunting instead". Suddenly, Angra collapsed, as an enormous pressure squeezed her chest. The last thing she heard was the high pitched laughter of her attacker.

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

"Angra? Wake up, we have dawn patrol," Javari mewed, nudging the female with a bit of annoyance. But then she felt the cold stiffness of the jaguar, and realized she was dead.

"Javari, what's taking so long?" Galho called, waiting outside of the den. Javari padded out of the den, unsure how to tell him. This had never happened before.

"She's . . . dead. I don't know how, or why, but Angra is dead," she told him. Manchado, who had been walking by, heard her statement.

"What? No, she can't be," he argued, shaking his head in disbelief. He pushed his way into the den, freezing when he saw his dead mate.

"Manchado . . . I'm sorry . . . " Javari continued, trying to get through to him. He didn't respond, but turned angrily to Galho.

"Don't just stand there! Help me get her out!" the grief-stricken jaguar growled. Galho complied, and the two males took her out into the center of camp. The rest of the tribe started to come out of the dens, letting out cries of shock and horror.

"There aren't any marks, or anything! Not even ruffled fur!" Preto roared, distressed. His sister was dead, and they didn't even have anything to go off of.

"The only thing I can smell is our tribe. It was an inside job. Maybe poison?" Tikal suggested. The rest of the cats started growling, looking around suspiciously.

"Xingo," a voice hissed, although they couldn't tell who. "I bet it was Xingo". The small cub's eyes widened, as they all turned to look at her with narrowed eyes.

"We should vote. It's the only fair way," Nindiri muttered, looking down at her paws. The others murmured their agreement, as Xingo looked on with horror.

Murdered: Angra
Healed: Rugido
Accused: Xingo
Returned: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 2