𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐘 ──── 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯.

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚒.

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?"