IT WAS THE afternoon before the Gathering, and Dovepaw was resting in her nest. Flypaw and Icepaw were both on patrols with their mentors, so Dovepaw had the den to herself. It was the day after the battle with WindClan. Dovepaw was still searching for the right words to tell Lynxstar about Dawnsplash. What if she didn't believe her? Dawnsplash was certainly a really sweet and trustworthy cat, so Lynxstar would probably find it hard to believe that she would do something so treacherous like trying to kill two of her Clanmates in one day. Maybe I'll just take my chances. Dovepaw glanced upward at the waterfall where Lynxstar had her nest. She was probably resting before a long night. Most of the cats were, except the ones that were on patrol.

Dovepaw hauled herself out of the nest and limped toward the waterfall. She peeked over the curtain of water and saw Lynxstar resting in her nest. "Can I come in?" she asked, nearly yowling over the crashing of the waterfall. Her fur was already damp from the water.

"Of course," Lynxstar answered.

Dovepaw took a deep breath before walking inside of the den. She sat down in front of Lynxstar, her tail curled over her paws. She hinted a tremble in her own voice as she spoke. "I need to talk to you about something that happened yesterday."

"Is it related to the battle?"

"Well . . . sort of," Dovepaw admitted. "It's about Frozenfang, Dawnsplash, and Spottedsong."

Lynxstar sighed exasperatedly. "Please don't tell me that it's related to MoonClan."

Dovepaw had a sneaking suspicion that Lynxstar thought it was related to MoonClan because Frozenfang was related to it. Why couldn't anyone trust her, even after two seasons of having her in the Clan? "It is, but Frozenfang is not the criminal. She's the victim. The criminal in this situation is Dawnsplash."

Lynxstar's eyes widened, but she didn't question Dawnsplash. "Then why is Spottedsong related?"

"Spottedsong was going to tell you that Dawnsplash tried to kill Frozenfang, but Dawnsplash wouldn't let her so she tried to kill her, too," Dovepaw explained. "I believe that Dawnsplash is another toy for MoonClan, just like Foxclaw, Sparrowfeather, Sp—" She nearly spilled Spottedsong's secret. She knew it should be shared, but not now. "And Snowtail," she finished awkwardly.

"Ah." Lynxstar was calm, but Dovepaw could see angry blue flames in her eyes. "I will have a talk with Dawnsplash soon. Thank you for telling me. You are dismissed."

Dovepaw dipped her head and left the den. She let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She made her way to her den and curled back up in her nest. She was just settled when she heard paw steps outside the den. The scent of Spottedsong washed over her. Her fear-scent was there, too. What is she scared of? Dovepaw wondered. She looked up to see Spottedsong's form standing outside the den. She slipped out of the nest. "What is it?"

"Come with me. I need to talk with you," Spottedsong meowed coolly.

Dovepaw hesitated. Why would Spottedsong want to talk to her? What was she up to? "Okay. Just make it quick." She looked up at the sky. The sun was slowly sliding down to the horizon. "We'll start going to the Gathering soon."

"Yes, I'll make it quick," Spottedsong promised. Her voice was quiet and shy, unlike most of the time. Curiosity rose in Dovepaw. But she kept quiet until they were in a safe space. "Okay. Here." She stopped at a clearing surrounded by bushes.

"Okay. What do you want?" Dovepaw asked.

"This is going to be complicated . . ." Spottedsong's paws shuffled nervously in the grass. "Last night, at the forest, Cypressstar told me to kill one of my Clanmates to prove my loyalty to him. And he said to kill a specific cat."

Oh, no. "Who is it?"

Spottedsong stared at Dovepaw for a long time. Dovepaw felt like ants were crawling through her fur at the tortoiseshell she-cat's intense green gaze. "You," she responded finally. Her voice was barely audible, but Dovepaw could tell that her voice was trembling.

"And you're going to obey him?" Dovepaw asked fearfully. "You don't have to, you know."

"I do! He's going to punish me—kill me, maybe—if I don't. He'll know if I don't because I'm supposed to show him your dead body in two moonhighs," Spottedsong explained. "But I had to explain before I did it because you're my friend, not my enemy."

"I know. That's why you don't have to do it. Not just for my sake, but for yours and the entire Clan," Dovepaw explained gently. "If you keep going on like this, obeying his orders, you're going to end up like them. I know you don't want that. No cat wants that. So please. Please listen to me."

Spottedsong fell silent. She dropped her gaze and studied her paws for a moment, then she looked back at Dovepaw quickly, her eyes burning with green fire. Her pupils were slits and her ears were flat against the top of her head. She bared her teeth and unsheathed her claws. Her tortoiseshell fur was as spiky as thistles.

Dovepaw flinched as she saw the vicious gleam in the tortoiseshell's eyes. That's not Spottedsong. That's someone completely different.

"I know who I have to listen to, and it's not you," Spottedsong growled. She threw herself at Dovepaw and raked her claws over her face, blinding her in one eye. Dovepaw yowled in pain as she slid her claws out. But before she could attack back, Spottedsong fastened her teeth into her scruff and dragged her to the ground, then pinned her down.

Dovepaw winced as she looked into Spottedsong's eyes. They were wild with fear and determination. "Please stop. You can just leave MoonClan and be safer here. You know that."

"It's not that simple," Spottedsong spat. "I'm forced to go every night. If I don't, I'll be haunted by voices in my head all night. I don't want that, do you?"

"Look, I know this is hard for you—" Dovepaw was cut off when Spottedsong's claws stabbed her shoulder. She screeched with pain as they dug into her flesh and hit bone. She looked up at Spottedsong and noticed that she was preparing to strike a killing blow. She struggled to get out of Spottedsong's grasp. The smell of her own blood filled her nostrils, making her shudder. She raked her claws against Spottedsong's muzzle, and the tortoiseshell cat let go of her in her pain. Dovepaw darted away. She knew she couldn't hide; her blood would have left a trail. She headed straight for the camp. Hollyfern and Cloudsky were outside the camp, looking horrified. Cloudsky ran forward and Dovepaw collapsed against him.

"Get another warrior to deal with Spottedsong. I'll take Dovepaw to Badgertooth," Cloudsky ordered to Hollyfern. Hollyfern dashed into the camp and quickly came back out with Blizzardpelt. Cloudsky supported Dovepaw as they limped to the medicine den. Owlheart skidded to a halt beside Cloudsky and walked beside him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know. I think Spottedsong attacked her, though," Cloudsky responded as they entered the medicine den. Badgertooth rushed forward with moss as Cloudsky and Owlheart helped Dovepaw onto the nest. Frozenfang looked up, a confused and curious glimmer in her eye. Badgertooth pressed the moss onto her wounds. "Is that what happened?" he asked Dovepaw.

"Yes." Dovepaw struggled to answer. Her voice came out quiet and raspy. She cleared her throat and repeated "Yes" more clearly.

"I sent Hollyfern and Blizzardpelt to take care of it," Cloudsky reported. "They should have it handled soon. And if not, at least the camp is close by."

"Yes. Now give me some space to work. See if Hollyfern needs any help," Badgertooth instructed as he covered Dovepaw's injured side of her face with moss.

Cloudsky's and Owlheart's paw steps withdrew from the den.

"Do you know why Spottedsong did this?" Badgertooth asked.

I have to keep her secret safe. "No."

"You can tell me the truth," Badgertooth urged.

"Really, I don't know," Dovepaw meowed.

Badgertooth paused, removing the moss from his apprentice's face. He began to mash marigold leaves into a poultice. "Suit yourself," he mewed in reply. But his voice was tense, as if he still didn't believe her. "Do you think it's related to what happened with Dawnsplash?"

"I don't know." Dovepaw winced as the herbs made contact with her wound. She felt terrible for lying, but she was doing this for Spottedsong, no matter what pain she just caused her.

Badgertooth just sighed. "Sit up," he meowed, sounding exasperated.

Confused, Dovepaw sat upright as he wrapped cobwebs around her injured shoulder and the injured side of her face. "I should have been more careful," she admitted.

"It wasn't your fault," Badgertooth murmured.

"I know. But I should have known better. She was being suspicious and I went anyway," Dovepaw sighed.

"It's okay. Any cat could have been confused like that. And I don't think it's the first time." Badgertooth wrapped cobwebs around the injured side of her face.

"Alright." Dovepaw sighed softly as she thought about what damage Spottedsong could have done. "Are they just wounds that can be healed? Am I going to be left with a scar?"

"Yes, you're going to have two scars," Badgertooth meowed solemnly. He finished off the bandaging and backed away. "But I don't think they'll be too big. The scratch on your face is shallow, so I think that there's only going to be a small scar there. A temporary one. And a small one on your shoulder, too."

Dovepaw nodded. "Okay. I was getting worried there for a second." She shifted her paws as she settled down again. She winced as pain flooded her right foreleg. She winced in pain and barely bit back a yowl.

Great, now I have two broken legs.

"Try not to move that leg until I see what's wrong with it. I am completely sure it's dislocated," Badgertooth informed her.

"Good. I thought I would be a two-legged cat after today," Dovepaw muttered. She sat still while Badgertooth inspected her leg. Then he ran a paw over it and Dovepaw finally let out a yowl of pain.

"It looks like it's just dislocated," he repeated, ignoring her complaint. "I'll have to snap it back into place. I promise this is the most painful it'll get," Badgertooth meowed firmly.

"Okay." Dovepaw braced herself for the sudden burst of pain. Badgertooth held her leg in his paws and gave it a massive jerk, causing it to make a popping sound. Dovepaw yowled again. I still can't understand why this actually works—it just makes the pain worse.

"There we go. But for the time being, you need to make sure you don't put much pressure on it," Badgertooth explained. "But you can stay here if you don't want to walk around on two legs." He stifled a mrrow of laughter at his own joke.

Dovepaw didn't appreciate him mentioning that she already had an injured leg. "I'll stay here."

"Cats of FrostClan, gather around the Snowrock!"

Dovepaw and Badgertooth both turned to look in the direction of Lynxstar's bold voice. "Okay. I'll be back." He turned and left the den.

Dovepaw pricked her ears and heard nervous and angry voices from her Clanmates outside. They must be scared of Spottedsong, and maybe Dawnsplash too. What if they get exiled? What will happen then? MoonClan is tearing our Clan apart! She couldn't help but wonder who else was a victim to MoonClan's tricks. She gingerly slipped out of the nest and limped to the den entrance, close to the wall so that she could catch herself if she fell. She looked outside the brambles.

Spottedsong and Dawnsplash were beside the Snowrock while Lynxstar was on top and the rock and the Clan was surrounding her. It seemed like they were going to question them.

"I'm sure all of you have heard what has happened today. Dovepaw has been injured because Spottedsong attacked her. Right now I have no idea why, but I do know one thing: Spottedsong isn't what we think she is!" Lynxstar looked down on Spottedsong. The Clan began to murmur and protest. "As for Dawnsplash, she tried to murder Frozenfang at the battle yesterday."

Dovepaw glanced at Frozenfang, who was also listening, her eyes wide and fur bristling with alarm.

Yowls erupted from the Clan cats. It reminded Dovepaw of the day that Foxclaw was exiled. Oh, I hope that doesn't happen again.

"Silence!" Owlheart commanded, his yowl echoing through the camp. The Clan cats fell silent, gazing at Lynxstar fearfully. "Let her speak."

"Thank you, Owlheart." Lynxstar turned to the Clan cats again. "Right now, the best punishment seems to be imprisonment."

"No! Kill them! Exile them! They shouldn't be in this Clan!" Ashbreeze yowled angrily, her fur bristling. She was standing up now, glaring angrily at Lynxstar, Spottedsong, and Dawnsplash.

"That doesn't seem to be the best option, considering we do need more warriors in a time like this," Lynxstar explained calmly.

Ashbreeze sat down again, huffing frustratedly.

"We will imprison them. I will not accept any objections. Acornshade and Rosefeather, go find a spot for a prison. Owlheart and Blizzardpelt, make sure they are secure before you escort them there," Lynxstar ordered. "Clan dismissed."

Dovepaw ducked back inside the den and crawled back into her nest. "I'm glad she's not exiling them," she thought aloud.

"Yes," Frozenfang agreed. "But I don't think they'll be in the Clan much longer."

Now that you say it, I think that might be true, Dovepaw thought with a flicker of dread.