The next day, Tawnyfoot began to carry Smallface's body to be buried outside. Grassblade and Longfang rushed to help the only living elder. Dawnsky stiffly got to her paws and stretched out her paws. She wished that she could've sat vigil with her sister when she had passed, but she knew it was too late for that. That was moons ago, when she was with Bear. She and Willowfur sat by Featherpool's lifeless body, staring sadly into the distance. What if Bear does this again? Who will be killed next? She let her thoughts wonder, what if he kills Willowfur? Or Lilysong? She shuddered at the mere thought of losing her adopted mother and her only sister.

Willowfur was staring out in the distance, her eyes filled with what looked like worry and stress. Dawnsky wondered what she was thinking, but she could never really tell with her. Suddenly she turned her head towards Dawnsky, looking gravely serious, "You were there when it happened right?" she said with slight urgency in her voice.

"Umm, yes?" she mewed, feeling a little startled by the seriousness in her tone.

"Tell me," Willowfur pleaded, "did you see the cat that killed Featherpool? What did he look like?"

She stepped back, "Well... ummm..." she felt uncomfortable even thinking about what she had seen yesterday, "I guess I caught a glimpse of him..." she didn't tell the whole truth.

"Well, what did he look like?" Willowfur urged her to go on, her voice strained with impatience and anxiety.

"Willowfur, are you okay?" Dawnsky questioned.

"Just tell me!" she snapped, and then looked down at her paws shyly, "Please."

Dawnsky had never seen her sister so stressed, "He was really big....and brown..." she gulped, her words catching in her throat.

Willowfur immediately looked relieved, "So he was brown? You're sure?"

She nodded, "I'm positive." she wondered why her sister needed to know his pelt color so badly, but she just shrugged. She probably won't tell me anything useful if I ask.

"Thank you, Dawnsky." she purred, walking off.

"You're...welcome?" she mewed, watching suspiciously as she padded outside the camp. I wonder where she's going this early in the morning....

She glanced at the dwindling fresh kill pile and wondered if her sister was going hunting, "The prey will all be sleeping, or hiding now." she mumbled, "Surely Willowfur knows that?" Maybe I should follow her...

She had almost made it out of camp when suddenly she heard Stormfur's cheery voice, "Hey Dawnsky!" he greeted, "Where are you going this early?"

She stiffened, forcing her ears to stay up, "I-"

"Yeah, where are you going?" came Nightpelt's much less friendly voice as he walked out of his den.

Dawnsky rolled her eyes at Nightpelt's immediate suspicion, "I'm going... hunting.." she said stiffly.

Nightpelt was staring intensely at her, lifting his head in authority, "Hunting, eh? And why so early, if you don't mind my asking?" he growled.

"Actually I do mind..." she muttered under her breath as she tried to think of an excuse, "Well you never know, some prey might be out!"

Stormfur looked at the two and could tell that they were both tense with anger. He backed away slowly, "I think I have to umm check the elders for ticks!" he awkwardly raced towards the elders den in a desperate attempt to get out of their argument.

Nightpelt didn't take his eyes off of Dawnsky as the new warrior quickly padded away. Dawnsky held his amber gaze, not daring to flinch. Even though he was much larger than her- as was pretty much every cat- he was still younger than her, and she didn't feel at all intimidated by his attempt of having authority over her. "So are you going hunting alone, or with someone else?" he interrogated.

Dawnsky was deeply insulted by the deputy's distrust of her loyalty, "I am going hunting. Alone. By myself." she confirmed through gritted teeth.

Nightpelt stared into Dawnsky's blue eyes, searching to see whether she was telling the truth. Dawnsky suddenly felt a little unsure of herself. Does every cat feel this way about me? Am I that untrustworthy? She thought back to her kithood when warriors were always keeping a close eye on her. She lashed her tail, wishing that he would just let her go.

"Why don't you join the dawn patrol instead?" he growled, "There is apparently a dangerous murderer out there. I wouldn't want you to be their next victim." he said the last line with mock concern.

"Fine." she mewed, stiffly padding over to where cats were gathering to go out and patrol the borders. Stormfeather, Raggedpelt, Swiftwillow, and Firepaw were huddled together, shivering because of the cold.

"This has got to be the longest leafbare ever!" complained Stormfeather. She looked like she had aged a lot since Dawnsky had ran away. She wondered when she was going to move to the elder's den.

The group turned their heads when Dawnsky came fowards, "Do you mind if I join you?" she asked, feeling a little shy.

"Of course not!" purred Stormfeather, "The more the merrier!"

The others nodded their heads in agreement, but kept to themselves as they tried to keep warm. Dawnsky was highly annoyed that she wasn't able to carry out her original plan, but she just shrugged. At least this way I'll be able to help my clan. she thought positively.

"Are you okay, Dawnsky?" Raggedpelt asked, examining her puffed out pelt.

She hadn't even noticed how her pelt had bristled out because of her talk with Nightpelt. She forced her fur to lie flat again and she sighed, "I'm fine."

"Come on, let's go." growled Swiftwillow, whose fur was puffed out to keep warm.

The group of cats walked out of camp and headed into the forest. Suddenly, they heard pawsteps behind them and Dawnsky whipped her head around. Whitestar was rushing towards them calling, "Wait! Wait for me!"

"Yes, Whitestar?" asked Stormfeather, looking a little worried.

"Lakeheart..." she rasped, her voice hoarse from barely speaking in a while, "Lakeheart said it would be alright for me to join the patrol with you. And since I haven't been able to do very much since I became leader, I figured it was the least I could do to join a patrol."

The group exchanged the same questionable glances as they examined their weakened leader. She was already out of breath from running out of camp to where they were, and that was only a few fox lengths away. Stormfeather nervously spoke up, "Well I don't know, Whitestar. You've just gotten over your greencough. You may want to-"

"I am joining your patrol, and that's an order!" she demanded, obviously feeling desperate to prove herself as a good leader to her clanmates. Dawnsky wondered if she should feel that desperate as well, since she had left her clan for over three moons.

Everyone around her shrugged, muttering nervously to themselves as Whitestar took the lead. She was already panting from exhaustion when they reached the Sea Clan border, and Dawnsky shared the group's worried expressions. They all marked the borders while Whitestar fought to catch her breath. They waited patiently for her, and then moved on to the Mountain Clan border.

"Maybe we could stop and hunt here!" suggested Firepaw earnestly.

"That's a good idea," purred Raggedpelt, "I could use a good mouse or two."

Whitestar nodded, "Okay,we'll hunt here. Just be careful of the borders." she warned.

Everyone spread out except for Firepaw, who had sensed a sparrow in the undergrowth. She crept steadily towards it, and Dawnsky watched the small apprentice move towards her prey. Suddenly, she stepped on a twig and the bird flew up in an effort to get away. Firepaw was quick and she hooked her claws in it's wing. The bird fell, and hopped quickly to get away. The bird was dangerously close to Mountain Clan territory, and Dawnsky stepped fowards, "Firepaw, wait!"

It was too late; Firepaw had already crossed the border and swiftly killed the bird. She looked behind her and saw the anxiety in Dawnsky's gaze. The apprentice hadn't even realized that she had crossed the border, and she stared back at Dawnsky with a clueless look in her eyes.

They were suddenly met by a whole patrol of Mountain Clan cats. One particularly large tom stepped up, "What do you think you're doing on our territory?!"

((Soooo sorry that this took me so long to post. I'd been having a huge writer's block. Again. But anyways, here it is. Also, school will be starting for me next week, so I might not post as frequently. Sorry about that, and thanks for reading!))