Dawnleap's Mystery *ON HOLD*

Chapter 1

Dawnleap padded through the marshy forest. It was past sunhigh, and she had been sent on a border patrol. Crescentstar had instructed them himself to check the SwiftClan border because he thought it looked suspicious. A bee buzzed around her ears, but she took no notice. The cream tom at the head was Runninghawk. "I don't see why we have to check the border again. It looks perfectly fine to me!" The she-cat Swirlripple complained. Runninghawk shot her a warning glare, yet she rambled on. "I have better things to do in my time. This is -"

"Hush." Another warrior, Rockfern flicked the she-cat's ear sharply, interrupting the younger warrior. "Mind you, this is the first time today that we had to check the border." Dawnleap rolled her eyes and turned away. "Let's just get this patrol over and done with." Runninghawk grunted and led the way through the trees. As they approached the border, there were cats were gathered at the edge. Swirlripple narrowed her eyes and pushed past Rockfern to the front. "What do you want?" The she-cat demanded. A large pale ginger tom stepped forward. He studied them intently with his piercing amber gaze for a long moment. 

Just when Dawnleap was about to turn away, he finally spoke. "We wish to see Crescentstar. Morningstar wants us to pass on her message." Runninghawk twitched his whiskers impatiently at the tom. "Is this urgent? If not, Scorchdust, then leave." Scorchdust held his ground and stared him dead in the eyes. Dawnleap shifted her paws nervously. This was bound to take up time. Finally, Runninghawk let out an exasperated sigh. "Very well, but do remember that we'll be watching you, so no funny business. You tell Crescentstar, then get out. Understand?"

The SwiftClan warrior dipped his head gratefully and followed Runninghawk into the territory, motioning for his patrol to do the same. Dawnleap ended up at the rear, but she didn't care because that meant she could watch the other Clan's every move. The DrizzleClan camp appeared out of the trees. A stream ran past the entrance to the camp. The DrizzleClan warriors splashed right through the water to the other side, while the SwiftClan patrol stuck to the stepping stones sticking out of the stream. Such dry-paws, Dawnleap thought wryly as she shook out her wet orange and white tabby fur.

She heard cats murmur with surprise as the patrol entered with SwiftClan cats. Crescentstar was sitting below the Palerock, thus the name due to the unusual grey colour, and glanced up quickly, his eyes narrowed at the SwiftClan patrol. Kestrelstreak, the deputy, appeared at his side.

Scorchdust, the pale ginger tom that had spoken before, met the DrizzleClan leader's gaze confidently. "Meadowstar has said that Tall Cliffs doesn't belong to DrizzleClan and SwiftClan are going to take it back." He lifted his chin and stared at Crescentstar defiantly.

Tall Cliffs stood at the edge of DrizzleClan territory where SwiftClan's plains and the forest overlapped. Tall Cliffs was basically just an outcropping where the river ran below and ended at the sheer drop with the waterfall.

Crescentstar lashed his tail furiously and glared at Scorchdust. "Get out of my territory and tell Morningstar that she isn't going to set a paw on Tall Cliffs. Swirlripple, Rockfern, and Dawnleap, escort them to the border."

Morningstar really had some nerve, sending a patrol here and challenging Crescentstar. Dawnleap resisted a sigh of annoyance, as she had already been on a patrol.

She quickly licked a paw and drew it over her ear before hurrying towards Rockfern. The senior warrior beckoned them with her tail and twitched her whiskers at the SwiftClan patrol. Dawnleap and Swirlripple each flanked the patrol.

Morning dew showered their pelts as they padded through the marshy forest. She hopped over the stream again and ducked under a tree whose branches nearly touched the ground.

Rockfern halted at the rock which marked the border and motioned for the SwiftClan patrol to pad over to the other side. "Keep to your own side of the border next time," she warned them. "Or else you will feel the sharpness of our claws."

Scorchdust ignored Rockfern and nodded to the patrol. As they drew away from the border, one of the apprentices, Gravelpaw, who seemed to never know when to shut up, muttered a snide remark before following his Clanmates. "Perhaps you should also teach your apprentices when to keep their mouths shut!" Rockfern called after the SwiftClan patrol as they headed away.

A dilute blue-cream tortoiseshell, whom Dawnleap recognised as Berrybloom, Gravelpaw's mentor, harshly cuffed his ear before snarling something in his face. Dawnleap heard snippets of 'how dare you embarrass us in front of DrizzleClan?' and 'you're on tick duty for a moon!'

Serves the arrogant furball right!

Dawnleap stifled a mrrow of laughter.

"Nice job, Rockfern." Swirlripple's tail flicked back and forth in amusement. "Now we won't have to see that pain in the tail at the Gathering." Rockfern rolled her eyes and beckoned to them. "Come. We ought to bring back some prey too."

Dawnleap followed the smoky-grey warrior back into the marshes. The older she-cat paused, stiffening. She flicked her tail at a wagtail currently preoccupied with it's task: finding food. How ironic that it was about to be the food. "Swirlripple, try and edge around it. Dawnleap, you climb up the tree and get ready when it flys back to it's nest. I'll scare it towards Swirlripple. If it flys away, try catch it."

Dawnleap obeyed, hooking her claws into the tree bark and working her way up into a particularly strong branch that would take her weight. She watched as Swirlripple backed away into the trees and started weaseling her path around it so she was downwind and out of sight. Rockfern exploded out of the bushes with a fierce hiss. The wagtail's head shot up and it instantly took flight, straight into Swirlripple's claws. It gave a shrill shriek of fear that was quickly cut off as Swirlripple thrust herself into the air and snagged the bird's wings, dragging it back down to earth and snapping it's neck.

Dawnleap couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. She shook her head swiftly, trying to rid her mind of the thought. She met the others as Rockfern congratulated Swirlripple on her catch. "Great catch!" Rockfern was purring. But Dawnleap wasn't listening. Instead her attention was focused on a plump wood mouse sniffing around a beech tree. She dropped into the hunter's crouch and crept closer. The distance between them was about a tail-length. She pounced, catching the creature between her forepaws and killing it swiftly. Why do DuskClan and ThicketClan like wood prey? She wrinkled her nose. Fish was much more appealing. Dawnleap picked it up and carried it back to the clearing. Rockfern had a plump salmon between her jaws and the wagtail dangled in Swirlripple's mouth.
Rockfern nodded and they began journeying back to camp, wading through the stream to the entrance.

Tension crackled in the air. She realised this was about the incident earlier in the day. Crescentstar and Kestrelstreak sat with their heads close together, clearly deep in discussion. "What do you think Crescentstar's going to do?" She heard Swirlripple whisper to Rockfern. What the reply was, Dawnleap didn't catch. Instead, she was immersed in her own thoughts. I hope this doesn't come to war. Or that we don't lose anyone to this nonsense.