Edited ✔️

A moon later, Icetail felt like he was slowing down. Sparrowheart was right. He was becoming exhausted.

Sweetpaw received her medicine cat name just as Icetail told her she would. The other medicine cats decided a name for her—Sweetheart—but she was dissatisfied because she preferred Vinetail to name her.

As for everyone else, adjustment wasn't easy but it did come with time. The kits in the Clan were going to soon be apprentices, which was a reason for excitement amongst the warriors. Shiningpaw, Goldpaw and Thornpaw seemed to be adjusting well into MoonClan along with their parents, and turned out to be reasonable assets due to their mountain-hunting skills and sharp senses that helped them fit in easily with the Clan.

Icetail couldn't help but wonder if he would soon be a mentor. I might destroy the stupid Clans before that ever happens, he thought bitterly, keeping to his nest.

Dewfang entered into the camp, surrounded by a crowd of cats. Icetail sighed and tucked his nose under his tail, watching as his brother basked in the popularity of the Clan. No wonder Dewfang was going to be a leader. Everyone always seemed to like him! The only cats that weren't surrounding him were the senior warriors, sticking to their nests or sharing tongues with their mates. He wondered if they were going through personal problems, too.

Ashtail padded over to Icetail. "Hi," he meowed. "Why are you alone? All the young warriors seem to be enjoying themselves with your brother." He paused, before cautiously continuing to speak. "Are you jealous?"

Icetail's pelt burned with embarrassment as he shook his head. "Of course I'm not. I just hate crowds."

"Alright," Ashtail purred. "Want to come eat with Brightstar and the other senior warriors?"

Icetail nodded. "Sure. It's better than being alone. I-I mean, eating something all on my own would be a waste . . ." He didn't want to admit to his former mentor that he didn't want to be alone due to Ashtail's sharp senses. He would easily be able to tell that Icetail was lying about being jealous, it was too embarrassing.

Ashtail kept purring. "Alright. Come with us. We were expecting you'd want to come since you seemed—"

"Don't say it," Icetail cut off with a sigh. Ashtail humorously rolled their eyes. They began to pad to the group of senior warriors, but Icetail heard two voices within his earshot.

"Why isn't he with Dewfang and the other apprentices and warriors?" whispered a voice he recognized. It was Droppaw. He almost laughed. Those apprentices were loud.

"Are you kidding? I'd die to eat with Brightstar! It's an honor eating with the senior warriors, or at least I think so," Silverpaw explained. Ever since Droppaw joined the Clan, the two have been best friends.

Ashtail turned to them as he passed. "You two. Care to join us?"

Silverpaw nodded eagerly. "Come on, Droppaw! It'll be awesome!"

Droppaw looked up to Icetail, her eyes shy. Icetail sighed to himself. I don't get apprentice she-cats. If she likes me, why doesn't she try to be my friend? he thought. The fact that he acted shyly only made things weirder.

"I'll come," she decided. She looked over her shoulder to Dewfang's group as he talked about the epic hunting patrol that he was just on. Icetail sighed and wondered how he could hold such easy conversation.

He sat down right between Brightstar and Sparrowheart, feeling comfortable with the company of cats he grew up around. Sparrowheart leaned in close to Icetail, gulping down a piece of shrew before speaking. "I have an important question to ask you."

Icetail raised his brow. "What could that be?"

"When'll you and your brother finally get mates?" he asked, making Icetail jump. "I mean, I'm getting pretty old and battle is rough. I want to see my sons' kits before I die."

"D-don't talk like that," Icetail stammered, feeling heat of embarrassment rise to his head. "Besides, you sound like a she-cat."

Sparrowheart purred. "You'll feel the same way when you're in my position." He looked up to the sky for a moment, making Icetail wonder what else his father was thinking about. He was a little startled when Silverpaw pushed forward to him a piece of prey.

"You're not eating anything," she mewed. "Want to share?"

Icetail looked down and saw a plump vole. "Sure," he decided. He took the first bite, savoring the warmth and the blood of the creature before letting Silverpaw take the next bite. The process went on until the vole was completely devoured. "That was good," he said with a sigh.

She nodded in agreement. "Hey, besides that," she went on, scanning the camp, "where's Softpelt?"

Icetail shrugged. "She was on the last hunting patrol . . . why?" he asked.

"That hunting patrol returned," Silverpaw pointed out. "But Softpelt isn't here. Can't you tell?" The apprentice's blue eyes were large with worry.

Immediately, Icetail shot up from his spot. There was a murderer out there. Softpelt could be anywhere right now, dead or alive! Brightstar stared at him questioning my as he burst right through the crowd of cats, pelting as fast as he could to the outside world.

"Icetail!" Dawnstripe yowled, seeing him dash through the camp entrance.

He noticed some cats following him, but he didn't stop. Where did the patrol go? MarshClan? he quickly recalled, changing his direction. He picked up his Clanmate's scent, and began following as he ran. His heart almost stopped as he scented something unpleasant.

It was the smell of death.

Fear filled his entire body as he quickly searched the undergrowth, poking through weeds and bushes before falling out his Clanmate's name. "Softpelt! Answer me, Softpelt!"

He stumbled over a tree root and quickly scrambled to his paws to check a patch of overgrown grass where the scent smelled the strongest. Then, he came to a halt, and so did his heartbeat. Right in front of him lay Softpelt's dead body, half hidden by the grass. Beside him, Silverpaw, Sparrowheart and Dawnstripe had stopped in their tracks, almost crashing into each other as they realized what was going on. Their eyes widened with shock.

"Wh-who . . ." Dawnstripe began to murmur.

"How did you know?" Silverpaw whispered. "I-I thought she was just late . . . I didn't think—"

"It's that murderer again!" growled Sparrowheart. "He won't stop striking!" His eyes were hurt for a second. "Another Clanmate lost . . ." Icetail's father sadly looked down to Softpelt's body.

Icetail buried his nose in her fur. "I hope you find your place in the stars," he whispered gravely. "We will avenge you and Vinetail. We will find that murderer without fail!"

* * *

Sparrowheart stares down to the Clan right besides Brightstar on top of the Moonrock. "Icetail," he began. "You lead a patrol down CloudClan, and pick a few good warriors to take with you. Adderclaw, you take a patrol and lead it down to MarshClan to investigate if there are any clues as to what is happening. Keep an eye out for anyone suspicious."

"Should we have a patrol going down to DarkClan?" asked Fireshade, padding up to the Moonrock to sit at the base. "It could be a DarkClan warrior for all we know."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.

"Fine, you take a couple cats down there as well. Make sure our boundary scents are strong, and that there are no DarkClan cats in our territory," Sparrowheart decided. "Do not engage in any battle whatsoever. If you find anyone suspicious enough, bring them back to camp alive!"

"Will do!" Fireshade meowed, already choosing cats to go with him.

"Last, Shadowheart," Brightstar said, cutting off whatever Sparrowheart was about to conclude. "Take two warriors down to StreamClan. We don't know where the murderer came from. Though DarkClan is a high suspect on the list, it could have come from any of the Clans."

Icetail's gaze traveled over to Shadowheart. He still had never spoken to the black-furred warrior properly ever since that dreadful day Featherbreeze died. But there was no need to, anyways. Shadowheart wasn't a cat Icetail wants to be friendly with, as immaturely as it seemed.

"That concludes the patrols," Sparrowheart said, "and now the regular duties . . ."

Icetail stopped listening from there. He began to look around to see who he wanted to take on the investigation. Immediately, Ashtail and Rainwhisker were in view. He padded up to his former mentor and his old friend. "Do you two want to come with me?"

"Sure," Ashtail said, and at the same time, Rainwhisker meowed, "I'd love to."

Icetail nodded. "Great." He looked around. Who else should I take? he thought. He immediately spotted Sharpfang. Him and I aren't great friends, but I don't think we're enemies either. He remembered what Sparrowheart said about Sharpfang being a good claw to a paw. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Sharpfang!" Icetail called. "Do you want to go on my patrol?"

Sharpfang's cool gaze met Icetail's amber eyes. "Sure, whatever," he said, padding up besides Rainwhisker and Ashtail. That was much easier than he thought. Sagepelt approached the group and touched her nose to Sharpfang's.

"See you soon," she murmured to him. He nodded, flicking his tail over her spine to say goodbye. Icetail would never stop wondering how a cat like Sharpfang managed to get a she-cat like Sagepelt.

"Should I take anyone else?" Icetail asked.

"Can we come?" Grayfur asked, padding up with Silverpaw besides her.

He nodded. "That's fine. I think the patrol is good enough," he decided. "We should get moving."

Icetail led his group of cats outside the entrance of the camp and into the green forest. Icetail looked around instantly, eyes, nose and ears sharp. He couldn't let his guard down just because he was so deep within MoonClan's safe territory.

It's not so safe anymore, he thought with unease. The murderer has been close to camp. I don't know what to expect.

Silverpaw padded right besides Icetail and rest her tail on his back, causing him to jump with surprise. "You should relax," she said softly.

"Not until I know MoonClan is safe," he responded with a growl. "I can't let anyone else die."

"You're resting this whole big burden on yourself," Silverpaw murmured. "That's why you're always so tense and . . . and sad."

"I'm not—" Icetail began, but Silverpaw cut him off.

"You keep everything—all these responsibilities and feelings—bundled up inside you with no cat to share it to," Silverpaw went on, her voice getting a little angry. "It's as if you don't realize that there is a whole Clan of cats all around you that want to listen and share your fears! We're all scared too, Icetail. But we're a Clan so that we can watch each other's backs and make sure we're okay. That includes you too."

Icetail remained silent.

"You should start relying on us more," she growled, "I feel like you don't trust us."

"Of course I trust the Clan!" Icetail protested.

Silverpaw padded up ahead, now frustrated. Icetail sighed. What's she trying to do? Comfort me or make me feel bad? he grumbled in his mind.

Suddenly, he heard the trees rustle. He looked up at the branches, realizing that they are loose. Right above Silverpaw, a thick, old branch of a large oak tree snapped right off the tree.

"Watch out!" called Icetail, leaping ahead of her and shoved her out of the way.

Silverpaw gasped, and the large branch hit the ground hard, crashing and splitting into smaller pieces all over the forest floor with a loud snap! "Oh my StarClan," she murmured.

Icetail got off of her. "If you're going to be mad, don't get yourself killed," he snapped.

Grayfur ran up to Silverpaw. "Are you two okay?" she exclaimed. "I saw that—you could've gotten crushed to death!"

"We're okay," reassured Icetail.

"Thank StarClan," Grayfur sighed of relief. "Come on, Silverpaw. Stick close to me."

Ashtail looked around, his ears pricked. "We'd better hurry," he meowed. "The branches might start falling again. Any one of us can get crushed."

"You're right," Grayfur said.

"Move out!" Icetail called. Sharpfang took the lead, and Icetail looked right at Silverpaw, whose eyes were still on the remains of the branch. "Let's go. We have a patrol to do."

Her eyes snapped from the branch to Icetail. Then, she looked to her paws. "Thanks," she mewed, "for saving me. And . . . sorry for snapping at you like that."

Icetail shrugged, not wanting to be thanked. "You were right," he said with a low voice. "I was shutting out everyone around me. Ever since Featherbreeze was murdered, I felt alone. And ever since Dewfang stopped hanging out with me—"

Silverpaw shuddered at the mention of his name.

"What?" Icetail asked her.

"Dewfang," she responded. "He never stops staring at me. He said something about waiting for me to become a warrior or something like that. I felt a little bit creeped."

Icetail looked down. He wants her as a mate when she's older, he thought. "He's . . . probably excited for you to become a warrior."

"That's not how I viewed it," she mumbled.

"Let's catch up to everyone else," Icetail meowed. "We have to get back on track."

Deep inside, his chest began to feel hot. Now he wants to take away my friends! Not if I can help it. He's not going to take something else from me, Icetail thought angrily.