"Grassheart! You are in the RiverClan border partol!" Frostleaf called to the tom. He grumbled and followed her to the camp entrance where Dewpaw and Grayclaw was waiting.

"About time you get out of the nursery!" Dewpaw teased. "Any one could've thought that you are the one kiting!"

"I want my kits to be healthy and strong," he explained. "But you have duties to do," Grayclaw mewed bluntly.

"Are we going or not?" Frostleaf asked impatiently. They walked towards the RiverClan border in silence.

"Is it me or did I hear a growl?" Dewpaw asked. A rustle of leaves revealed a badger and it pounced onto Grayclaw, roaring with fury.

The deputy desperately tried to get it off him. When the badger saw the others, it lumbered towards Dewpaw. It gave her a mighty swipe and she fell, injured.

Grayclaw ran in front of the badger and yowled, "Run! Take Dewpaw to safety!" "But..." Frostleaf protested. "You can't handle a badger yourself!"

"Help Grassheart to take Dewpaw to safety! It's an order," Grayclaw commanded, clawing at the badger's face. Grassheart grabbed Dewpaw and Frostleaf helped him.

The sounds of the badger died away as they headed back to camp.

~~~~ (POV change)

Grayclaw pounced onto the badger, snarling with fury. It roared and swiped at him. He flinched at the heavy blow but he retaliated with a bite and its neck.

I am weakening! he thought in fear. "Help!" he yowled, hoping to catch a partol's attention. A familiar coloured pelt jumped out of the bushes.

"Thank Starclan," he whispered as his fellow clanmate chased away the badger. "Grayclaw, are you okay?" he asked.

He nodded. "Let's get back to camp."

"Wait, I want to tell you something in private," the tom mewed. Grayclaw never expected glittering silver claws to struck his throat.

"Traitor..." he gasped as his blood flowed out of his throat.

The cat laughed. "You deserve to die. I shall be the new leader of ThunderClan and destroy the warrior code!"

~~~~

"Grayclaw is still out there, fighting the badger!" Frostleaf shouted as Stagwind put some cobwebs onto Dewpaw's wounds.

Brownstar heard it and sent a partol to help him. Russeteyes saw her injured kit and she rushed towards her. "Dewpaw!" she cried.

"I'm... okay, I think," Dewpaw mumbled groggily. "Is Grayclaw okay?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. Webfoot came in to comfort her. "Grayclaw is an experienced warrior. He will be okay," her brother mewed.

"Then I can rest without any worries, thanks," she sighed tiredly. Stagwind ushered everyone out of the medicine cat den. "Dewpaw needs rest, and she's in a bit of shock."

"Will she be fine?" Russeteyes asked. Stagwind nodded, putting her paw on her mother. "You will need to rest too."

Frostleaf was too tense to eat anything. "I'm going to check on the partol," she mewed to Silverpaw who nodded.

She ran towards the RiverClan border and saw the hunting partol. When she saw the body they carried, her heart seemed to stop.

"Grayclaw!" she yowled.

"I tried to save him," Longdrop whispered sadly. "I was hunting alone and I heard Grayclaw's call for help. I came and chased away the badger, but suddenly a rogue came and attacked me. The rogue knocked me out and when I woke up, Grayclaw was dead. It's my fault that Grayclaw died."

"It's not your fault," Fireclaw mewed hoarsely. "You did your best. No one would have expected better of you." His former apprentice nodded and he walked back to camp with his tail drooping.

"Dewpaw will be upset when she know Grayclaw is dead," Frostleaf mewed, grief pounding her heart. It was too soon after Nightstar's death.

When she dragged herself back to camp, she heard a cry of grief. "No!" Dewpaw screeched. She turned to Webfoot, who stood in silence. "You told me that he will be alright! Why did you lie to me?"

Webfoot looked upset and confused while Dewpaw tried to claw at her brother. Stagwind had to hold her back.

"Grayclaw was like another father to her," Russeteyes told Frostleaf who watched the scene in stunned slience.

"Grayclaw wouldn't want you to grief for him like this," Stagwind calmly hissed, although tears flowed out of her eyes. "You need to be strong."

Dewpaw was hardly listening as she wailed, "Why?"

Stagwind turned to Sunkit, who watched in shock, and said, "Sunkit, take some thyme. Dewpaw is in shock."

The little kit nodded and took out some leaves. She pawed Stagwind the thyme. As Stagwind tried to calm Dewpaw down, Frostleaf felt too sad to watch any longer.

Her paws took her to the nursery where Goldenfeather was trying to prevent her kits to go out.

"Why can Sunkit go out?" Rockkit complained. "Sunkit will become a medicine cat apprentice, so she will need some experience," Goldenfeather explained.

She turned to Frostleaf, who settled down near her. "It was too soon after Nightstar's death," she sighed. Goldenfeather nodded.

Full of unrest, Frostleaf padded out of the nursery. What is happening in the clan? she thought in dismay.

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A/N: You all probably knew who killed poor Grayclaw. Next few chapters will reveal most of the answers.

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