Chapter 5

“Dead? What do you mean?” Mottledslash whispered, her worries now nearly confirmed. 

 

“He-he’s by the log. Blood everywhere.” Nettlepour hiccuped, tears still streaming down her face. 

 

Mottledslash looked at her in horror, “How could this have happened?!”

 

“What’s going on here?” Hazeflower meowed, coming  out of the medicine den to see what the sudden commotion was about.

 

Nettlepour looked like she would crack if she had to say it again, so Mottledslash answered for her, “Chattermoth has been found dead. Nettlepour found him after hunting.”

 

Hazeflower gasped, tears coming to her eyes, “What happened?! He was perfectly fine when he left camp!”

 

Nettlepour stopped crying for a second, “Y-you saw him leave camp?” she sniffed.

 

“Well, yeah! He was chatting with Emberstrike when Slatestar came up to him and told him he had another job for him. Being Chattermoth, he followed him without question…” Hazeflower looked at Mottledslash and Nettlepour’s faces, finally putting it together, “You don’t mean… Slatestar killed him?!” she whispered in shock. 

 

Mottledslash nodded, “It seems so. And maybe, just maybe, Slatestar has something to do with the other recent deaths. He didn’t seem too sad when his own brother died, and there was always something suspicious about how Withersong passed.” 

 

“But he’s always so nice to me! If he enjoyed my company, why would he kill the cat that’s most important to me?” Hazeflower choked out, still in disbelief. 

 

“I don’t know, maybe-” Mottledslash cutted off as Swallowfern walked out of the medicine den. 

 

“If you’re going to talk about murder theories, then I suggest you come inside. Don’t want the wrong cats catching what you’re saying.” Swallowfern muttered, beckoning them in with a swish of his tail. 

 

Mottledslash nodded, all of them following Swallowfern into the den. Once they were inside, he took them to the more secluded part of it, behind the herb supplies. “So,” he began, “From what I heard, Chattermoth is dead, and you all believe that Slatestar did it.” 

 

Nettlepour nodded, “I found him near the log connecting Carrionplace to the other land. He was covered in blood.” The she-cat seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

 

“And as I was looking for Bogwhisker, I ran into Slatestar coming back to camp with Chattermoth’s fur between his claws,” Mottledslash noticed the arched eyebrow that Swallowfern was giving her and replied, “Yes, I’m certain it was his fur!” 

 

“Okay, okay,” Swallowfern replied with a grin that slowly faded away, “Now, there must be some sort of logical answer about why he would do this.”

 

Chapter 6

“Logical? Did that stop him from murdering my sister?!” Hazeflower said, her fur raising on her back. If I had known that he was such an evil prick, I wouldn’t have been so polite when I asked him if I could visit my sister’s body! He knows that I treasured her, why would he ever do something so horrid?! She thought to herself, noticing the others' shocked expressions at her raising her voice for once. 

 

“Dang, I didn’t know you had it in you to yell!” Nettlepour replied, “Color me impressed!” A quiet scuffling came from the entrance of the den, and they all turned sharply. Two fluffy things tumbled into the den. One of them rolled on top of the other triumphantly.

 

“I win!” Thornkit squeaked happily, her fluffy tail smacking her brother in the face as she turned around to face the gathered cats, “Hi!”

 

“Hello there, you two.” Swallowfern said with a chuckle, “What are you doing in the medicine den?”

 

“We were coming to see if you had any extra mossballs we could play with!” Eaglekit piped up, squirming out from underneath his sister.

 

“Well-” Swallowfern cut off, hearing more pawsteps lumbering towards the den.

 

“Sorry, sorry!” Doveleap said, out of breath, “Eclipseheart asked me to watch them while she napped and one second I was getting some prey, the next I turned around and they were gone!”

 

Hazeflower’s gaze softened, I can’t stay mad when there’s kits around. They’re so adorable and Doveleap is such a nice she-cat! “It’s alright, we made sure they were okay. Also, Doveleap, would you like some juniper berries? It might help you calm down, and help with any cramps at all.”

 

Her tense posture softened and she blinked gratefully, “That would be lovely.”

 

Swallowfern turned around and clasped the small branch of juniper berries in his maw and passed them to Hazeflower. She pawed at them, and three small dark blue berries came loose.

 

“Here,” she said, rolling them to Doveleap, and then turning around to the pile of moss. She scratched at it until a small ball came loose. “Here you go!” she purred as she tossed the mossball towards the entrance of the den. 

 

“Thank you, Hazeflower!” they meowed in sync before scrambling after the scrap of moss. 

 

Nettlepour chuckled, “Those two are so sweet.”

 

“They really are,” Mottledslash agreed, “They can be a bit mischievous sometimes, but aren’t all kits? I remember once when my kits were in the nursery, Archfang would flick burrs into Soulstream’s fur and blame it on him being lazy!” The others chuckled, and Doveleap began to pad away.

 

“Thanks again!” she called as she left the den, hurrying after the two kits.

 

“Now, we don’t know that Slatestar is absolutely the one who killed Crowfrost, Withersong, or Chattermoth.” Swallowfern said after Doveleap and the kits were gone.

 

“But this is three deputies in a row! Don’t think I forgot about Kestrelflight, Swallowfern.” Mottledslash protested.

 

“That's true! Kestrelflight went missing too!” Hazeflower added, facing Swallowfern.

 

He sighed uncomfortably, “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone for his personal dignity, but Kestrelflight is alive, and I believe living quite well in fact.”