With Strikestar's orders, Dustpaw and I met up by the Great Sycamore the next day. Our mentors were informed to shorten our training sessions slightly to give us ample time to investigate.

Last night, I managed to figure out what Raincreek meant when she told me that I already knew what to do. I intended to investigate what Stormpaw said about Rosepaw.

It was an odd coincidence that the ShadowClan scent he reported was right at this location as well.

"I'll look around here," I meowed to Dustpaw.

"Okay, then I will look around the roots of the Great Sycamore," the former ShadowClan apprentice responded.

As I searched for clues, I remembered that Stormpaw mentioned garlic. I should be able to locate the scent Stormpaw found if I could catch the stench of garlic.

It turned out that Stormpaw was right. I could smell garlic just a couple of mouse steps away from the great tree.

Forcing myself to ignore the stink as much as possible, I tried to locate any signs of ShadowClan.

That was when I realised that something was off. The white flowers were arranged in an odd fashion - such that it covered scent marks - and I realised that they were moved there. Some cat is trying to cover it up.

I was not an expert, but I estimated that it was placed the previous day. As I began to walk away from the pungent garlic, I discovered another scent.

It was Rosepaw. As the scent was fresh, she must have been around here earlier. The question is, why?

"Frostpaw, check this out!" Dustpaw called.

I padded over to the dark grey tom, who was staring at the branches of trees.

"Look," he mewed, gesturing at the branches.

I looked up, squinting my eyes against the sunlight. At first, I was not sure what I was supposed to see, but I quickly spotted claw marks on some of the lower branches.

"Do you mean those claw marks?" I asked.

Dustpaw nodded. "It means that a cat had been climbing trees. If I could get up there, I bet there will be ShadowClan scent all over too. Frostpaw, could you climb and confirm it?"

"Me?" I gulped.

"I can't climb trees, remember?" the apprentice sighed. "Sure, I was taught, but I never got the hang of it."

"F-fine." I was trembling as I took a deep breath. I was afraid of heights and my tree climbing skills were far from top notch, but it had to be done.

With a giant leap, I reached the lowest branch, nearly slipping. My heart was pounding faster than the monsters on the Thunderpaths as I prepared to climbed to a higher branch.

Calm down, and do it slowly, I thought, trying to encourage myself.

However, it did the opposite effect and I became paralysed with fear.

"You can do it, Frostpaw!" Dustpaw yowled from below. "Just one more branch."

Swallowing a lump that formed in my throat, I dug my claws into the tree trunk and began to heave myself up. It was agonisingly slow, but I got to the branch safely.

Dustpaw was right. I could scent ShadowClan - faintly, with traces of garlic - around the claw marks on the branch and it seemed that Clawtooth was alone.

I turned to my right and saw more claw marks on the branch. It was close enough for a cat to jump from that branch to this one, so that must be how Clawtooth got around without being spotted.

I slid down the tree trunk and landed, relieved that my paws were touching dirt again.

"You were right," I gave Dustpaw my report. "Clawtooth was up there and he was alone. I also saw more claw marks over there - he must have been traveling using the trees."

"Great! There's something good to report to Strikestar," he meowed happily. "Let's follow the claw marks - it could lead to some more clues."

I nodded, eager to get away from the garlic at last. The smell was beginning to make my head spin.

Dustpaw led the way confidently. It had been moons since he joined ThunderClan, yet he seemed like lived here forever. Just like me, Stormpaw, Rosepaw and Spottedpaw. We came into ThunderClan almost five moons ago and we quickly became part of this community of cats. It's odd how time flies.

"The claw marks lead to Snakerocks," he observed, snapping me out of my daydream.

"O-oh," was all I could say.

"Come on, we are nearly there," Dustpaw meowed as he picked up the pace, making me walk faster to catch up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed movement in the snow. I stopped abruptly, tensing up. Dustpaw stopped as well, narrowing his eyes.

A white rabbit burst out of the bushes, causing me to jump. What came next happened so fast that I almost did not catch it.

On the rabbit's heels was Rosepaw. With a mighty leap, she got the rabbit with her front paws and killed it with a quick bite.

The white she-cat then turned to us, her green eyes narrowed. "What?"

I stepped forward, wanting to confront her about her scent being found with a ShadowClan cat. "Did you encounter any ShadowClan cat in the territory?"

"Nope," Rosepaw mewed casually.

"What are you doing here?" Dustpaw questioned.

This time, she gave him a suspicious look before responding. "Hunting, what does it look like? Look, just cut to the chase. If you have something to say, say it."

"If you say so," I meowed. "Your scent was discovered with a ShadowClan cat's scent in our territory. Did you meet up with that cat?"

"For the second time, no," Rosepaw mewed crossly. "I was trying to find that cat."

Her words gave me a jolt of surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I discovered that scent before any of you," the white she-cat spoke with a certain smugness to it. "Natually, I wanted to check that out, but I didn't get the chance to until now."

I was unconvinced that she would go that far for ThunderClan, being shoved here against her will.

Rosepaw noticed my look and her face changed to that of anger. "You... don't trust me, do you?"

"I-" I began, but she had already picked up the prey and started to walk off.

"Don't bother," she mewed coldly.

"Wait!" I called, running after her, with Dustpaw at my paws.

Rosepaw did not look back, ignoring whatever I said. Once she reached the camp, she dropped her prey into the fresh-kill pile and went into her den.

Determined to set it straight, I followed her. "Rosepaw, I-"

"I said, don't bother," she snapped. "You are very annoying, do you know that? Just leave me alone."

Startled by her words, I did as she asked and left her alone. Dismayed that I could never be friends with the fiery she-cat, I could only look on forlornly.