𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 〖ʷᵃʳʳⁱᵒʳ ᶜᵃᵗˢ〗

XIV

There was an odd sort of calm that settled over the camp then. It wasn't peace or anything of that sort. It was grief and anxiety all at once. In the following days, Antstar sent out patrols, trying to figure out where the accused fox had gone. Every patrol who padded around the area only noted the pungent scent of death, but it was as though the fox had vanished.

Spiderpaw could only sigh and shake her head each time they claimed that. Why was no cat asking her about what she had seen? She knew that a fox couldn't have killed so cleanly. But some were beginning to suspect things as well; Spiderpaw heard Honeystream murmur in a hushed voice about the rogue band to Fleckleaf.

On that particular morning, Spiderpaw was relaxing just outside of the prophet's den. She had been quite shaken by the whole event, but the need for justice had rerouted the fear and grief. The oddly cloudy weather still persisted, from the blanket of white that sat over her head, she felt as though the rain would be returning once again.

However, she was shocked when Comfreyheart padded up to her. The tom's tail waved slightly, but he cast nervous glances around himself. Palebriar mentioned that he seemed to have a hard time moving past what had happened to Stoatnose.

"Can we talk?" The tom meowed. There was an exhausted quality to his voice, his words slightly slurred and stumbling. His tail almost dragged against the ground from how low it was held.

"Of course." Spiderpaw nodded, settling down a bit.

"Not here." He immediately responded, cast a small glance over his shoulder. Just a few tail-lengths away, Cherryear was staring at them from beside the fresh-kill pile.

"Um, okay."

The two cats walked through the forest together, the trees quivering in the breeze. Spiderpaw felt the anticipation building, until Comfreyheart finally broke it. "You saw what happened on that night. Stoatnose's body, I mean."

"I did." Spiderpaw agreed, staring at the path ahead.

"Cherryear is willing to accept what they're saying, even if she doesn't believe it. But I'm not. Sure, Stoatnose was headstrong, but that doesn't mean she was stupid, for StarClan's sake. I mean, any cat with even half of a brain would know to get away as quickly as possible. So, I need you to tell me, right now, if she actually looked like she had been killed by a fox." The tom turned to her with an intense look in his eyes.

"She didn't." Spiderpaw nodded. "I didn't think anything at the time, but I was shocked when I was told what supposedly happened. But there's no way a fox would be that delicate. And her fur was covered in dirt and mud, like someone was trying to disguise her and hide her body."

Comfreyheart shook his head. "This is wrong. Who would've possibly killed her like that?"

"I have my suspicions, and I want confirmation."

"Well...what are your suspicions?"

"I shouldn't say for now. But can you keep a close eye on the advisors?" The apprentice feared that, if she did, then she would come off as crazy. There just wasn't enough proof yet. All of hers was simply that she had seen Patchcloud walking in the direction of the body. But, by that logic, Cherryear was just as suspicious.

"Of course I will. Everyone is being way too...well, normal, about this. I know that Rainwhisker and Darkstone weren't really fond of her, but they've already taken out her nest and sorted a new one for Patchcloud. Isn't that odd?"

"It is," Spiderpaw meowed in agreement.

"Yeah." He paused. "Well, thank you for confirming my suspicions. I hope that together we can get to the bottom of this and learn the truth. Let me know if you see or hear anything."