The camp seemed busier than usual. Dewkit sat in the nursery entrance, watching the day begin. As always, the providers were out of the camp first, well-rested and ready to hunt for the group.

    Mira and Indigo headed out together, white and black blurs as they rounded the corner to the Twolegplace. Dewkit remembered watching Indigo return to the camp with a rat the size of a pigeon, once, and his mouth watered at the thought. Leo followed, moving almost lazily. Bramblefire waited, then left in the opposite direction of the others.

    With the trainees excused from training, the mentors had the day to themselves as well. Quartz sat in a bright patch of sunlight, speaking quietly to Lily, a white she-cat with splashes of blue and cream. They both seemed content, even though the wind turned colder every day.

    Dewkit sighed, fluffing up his still kitten-soft fur. How long before he became one of the trainees? Before he became a mentor or provider? Before he could be free of the stuffy cardboard nursery?

    "Ready for that adventure?" The little grey kit nearly jumped out of his fur. Crowpaw purred in amusement, golden eyes glittering.

    "You bet!" Dewkit jumped to his feet, careful to keep his balance.

    "I've hidden four things around the camp," Crowpaw explained, glancing around the dead-end alley as he did so. "A little bit of a scavenger hunt. Each item connects directly to a location in the Twolegplace; once you find all of my clues, you'll know where we're going!"

    Dewkit cocked his head. "Why don't we just go there straight away?"

    The trainee snorted. "That would ruin all the fun, wouldn't it?" Then, in a half-whisper, "It'll keep Cinderblossom off your tail."

    The kit nodded, excitement fluffing his tail up to twice its size. "Where do I start?"

    "This is your scavenger hunt, not mine," the black tom replied. "But I'm sure there are others who will give you hints." Dewkit scampered off before Crowpaw could say another word.

    He knew there was nothing in the nursery, as he had been sitting at its entrance all morning, so he headed for the mentors' boxes first. They stood four storeys tall, one stacked atop the other, varying shades of brown and grey. Dewkit padded into the one closest to the ground and found it filled with soft grass and feathers.

    What could Crowpaw have possibly hidden in the camp? For all Dewkit knew, Crowpaw could have placed the feathers here. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so Dewkit moved on to the next den.

    His short sharp claws worked at the outside of the cardboard, hauling him up to the next box. He felt heavy and very clumsy, his two front paws holding most of his weight while his right back leg hung uselessly behind him. Heaving himself into the next den, he collapsed, breathing heavily.

    When he opened his eyes, there, right in front of him, lay a very strange feather. It was blue and white with small black specks and an almost silver sheen. Sniffing at it, Dewkit found he could not identify the scent.

    "Never seen a jay's feather?" The kit jumped back, not having realized there was anyone in the den. The grey tom before him uncurled himself, revealing long fangs as he yawned.

    Dewkit nearly groaned. Of course Crowpaw would hide a jay's feather in Jaystrike's den.

    "Must be nice to have a friend like Crowpaw," the warrior continued. "Otherwise, you'd be stuck in that cardboard nursery of yours." Dewkit cocked his head, unsure of what the warrior meant. His voice was cheerful enough, but there was a note of wistfulness in its background.

    "Crowpaw's a good friend," Dewkit agreed, grabbing the feather. "And he's got more surprises for me!"

    He placed the feather in the nursery and headed for the medic's den next. Lily was still bathing in the sunlight with Quartz and Dewkit did his best to steer clear of them; the pale she-cat could be very touchy if she found someone in her herb storage. Mothpelt was not much better, but he knew she would be visiting with Cinderblossom at this time of day.

    He realized his mistake when he entered and was suddenly assaulted by thousands of scents. They left bitter tastes in his mouth and stirred his nose with their sweetness. Some had a tang that seemed to stick to his fur. His resolve to never become a healer strengthened the longer he stayed in the den.

    But then, he saw it. Tucked away in a corner, surrounded by yellow and orange flowers, sat a single white pond lily.

    Crowpaw, I may be a cripple but I'm not stupid, Dewkit thought as he snatched up the flower.

    The other two clues he found easily. A stalk of indigo, vibrant against the greys and greens of cardboard and grass, he found in Indigo's nest; Webpaw's den, though he couldn't be sure, held a single cobweb, neatly laid out across the entrance.

    A jay's feather, a waterlily, a stalk of indigo, and a cobweb.

    Dewkit stared at the four items, neatly laid out in front of him. The sun caught the web, its silver strands glistening.

    "Looks like you're trying to solve a mystery." A shadow fell over the four items.

    "Crowpaw left me a puzzle to solve," Dewkit explained. "These four clues will lead me to him." He glanced up at the tabby tom on his right, wondering if the alley cat leader would mock him for his games. He had seen some of the trainees snickering as he raced about camp earlier.

    "A fine trainee, that Crowpaw," Bronco said, and the nearby group of Hazel, Finch, and Soren quickly averted their gazes. "Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea as to where these clues may lead. Condor, any suggestions?"

    Dewkit felt himself grow smaller as Bronco's companion stepped forward. Though the alley cat leader was not small by any means, he was dwarfed by his second-in-command. The giant of a tabby stepped forward, single amber eye narrowed; the other remained closed, marred by an ill-healed scar. Dewkit looked away quickly.

    "A waterlily," the tom said. "Perhaps the pond by the willow?"

    His words caught the attention of a couple of others in the clearing. Dewkit nodded, ignoring their stares.

    Then, to his great surprise, they were joined by another.

    "It must be," Mira said, pawing at the jay's feather. "Jays love that willow."

    "And look," added Lily, flicking her tail at the indigo. "There are many bushes of that there."

    Beaver thumped his thick tail on the ground as he sat down before the four clues. "I can tell you for a fact that I've walked into more than one cobweb in that area." Dewkit purred; Beaver was well-known for his clumsiness.

    The pond by the willow. "How do I get there?" he asked.

    Bronco scanned the camp, as if searching for someone. Then, as if he had determined the coast was clear, he leaned forward.

    "Why not just follow Crowpaw's scent?"

    //

    Even as he neared the willow pond, Dewkit couldn't shake that feeling of foolishness he'd felt at Bronco's suggestion. He had been so focussed on solving Crowpaw's clues that he had completely forgotten about something as simple as following his scent. He could still see the smug looks on Finch's and Soren's faces.

    Crowpaw's smell grew stronger as Dewkit approached, leading him straight to the willow tree. The bushes of indigo around it swayed in the slight leaf-fall breeze, echoing the movements of the willow's soft branches. Sure enough, a cobweb's strands shone in the dusk light.

    "Crowpaw?" the kit called softly.

    He nearly yowled as someone grabbed him from a burrow beneath the roots of the willow. Their tail was in his mouth and Dewkit bit down, fighting his way out.

    "Ouch!" Crowpaw's voice in his ear made Dewkit whirl around.

    "What in StarClan's name are you doing?" the kit hissed. "Are there beetles in your brain?"

    Crowpaw snickered quietly, though the alarm did not leave his eyes. "I wonder what your mother would say if she heard you."

    The sound of footsteps came to Dewkit then, suddenly loud in the peaceful clearing.

    "How many do you hear?" Crowpaw asked, eyes on the entrance to their hiding place.

    The grey tom strained to hear something more. There were two for sure, padding along slowly. And – a third? But the rhythm was off, as if they were limping.

    "You can't keep running off like that," said a she-cat's voice. Dewkit and Crowpaw exchanged a glance. It was Cinderblossom.

    "I'm not running off." The response was gruff and bitter. There was only one cat who sounded like that, and Dewkit knew it had to be Nightchaser.

    "No, you're attempting to spy on them," came a new voice. It was more poised and had a certain authority to it. This one Dewkit could not place.

    "And spraining his paws in the process!" Cinderblossom hissed. "Have you no sense? What if they catch you?!"

    Nightchaser growled back. "Then I die."

    "And what good are you to us dead?"

    "Better than alive it seems."

    "How can you say that?!"

    "Don't you think I know how they see me?!"

    The trio were silent and the hollow in which the trainee and kit hid was suddenly full of erratic heartbeats. Dewkit swallowed, hoping no one would hear them.

    Nightchaser's shallow, pained breathing reached them. "A failed rebel leader, that's what they see. They see someone who put everything they had into a single operation that fell apart before it even started. I'm the reason so many of their own are dead – Aurora, Flynn, Alder, Karina."

    "You can't blame yourself – "

    "Yes, I can!" A jay called in the willow, taking off in a flurry of wings as Nightchaser's voice rose to an even higher volume. "And I can blame myself for the deaths of many others too – Pebblefur, Lionmask, Cedarheart, Swallowstorm. Even that loner we dragged into camp to appease Dawnstar. Snailwhisker, and Goosepelt, and Wren – "

    Nightchaser stopped there, as if suddenly overcome.

    "Wrenflight," Cinderblossom finished quietly for him.

    When Nightchaser spoke again, he sounded weary beyond his years. "I need to keep spying. I need to know what DarkClan is up to. It's the only way to get my revenge and to atone for all of the deaths I caused."

    "Then at least let us share your burden," the unknown figure said slowly, as if fearing another outburst from the tom. "There are others who will willingly spy for you. There are others who will willingly fight for you."

    "I won't be responsible for their deaths."

    "You can't fight DarkClan alone, Nightchaser."

    Dewkit closed his mouth, realizing it was hanging open. The air was starting to turn cold around them and clouds of mist appeared before him every time he breathed. He was afraid his mother – or, worse, an angry Nightchaser – would notice them.

    He waited for the conversation to continue, but the cats above said nothing more. A soft splash sounded and then even softer pawsteps as the trio retreated. Soon, only the jays could be heard, an almost haunting sound in the silence of dusk.

    "We'd better head back to camp," Crowpaw urged, uncurling himself after a short while. The tom stretched his sore limbs before padding out of the hollow. Dewkit took a moment longer to collect himself, mind swirling with questions, none of which he had answers to. Were these the demons Crowpaw spoke of the other day? What had happened to cause the deaths of so many cats? Why did Nightchaser blame himself?

    The only question he had an answer to was whether anyone would answer the previous ones. That answer was no.

    He found himself shaking as he hauled himself up from the hollow. The sun was nearly below the horizon, the days much shorter now that leaf-bare was nearly upon them; Dewkit realized he had been outside of camp for some time. His paws felt like stone, much heavier than the crippled back leg he had become so used to.

    Crowpaw stood a couple of foxlengths ahead, waiting. Dewkit took one last look around the clearing, noticing the way the willow's feathery branches swayed and the ripples on the water glittered, framing the pond lilies in layers of shimmering circles.

    The last thing he noticed was a peculiar sort of light, hidden in the indigo on the other side of the pond. The kit squinted, trying to make it out, and nearly jumped back as realization hit him.

    Those white-rimmed golden eyes could belong to one cat only.

// I should really stop procrastinating and get to writing the next chapter... I wrote a chapter a day the first 3 days of Camp NaNo and now I haven't even touched the document for a week :/ But never fear! I will still have an update for you on Sunday, as usual.