Maple Leaves

{Chapter 13}

"Maplepaw, Ivypaw. You two circle around this rabbit and lure it right to my claws." Weaselthorn called out softly to the two apprentices.

Maplepaw just sighed thinking about the disappearance of her father. She set off with Ivypaw to go and stalk their way around the rabbit trying to push the thought to the back of her mind. The orange-brown she-cat could feel the long heather stalks brushing against her pelt as she moved quickly. Maplepaw caught scent of the rabbit and flicked her tail signaling where Ivypaw should go. Instead of him moving, she watched as his ears perked up in the direction opposite of the rabbit. She followed his gaze and saw two cats, not just any two cats. It was Duskfeather and Nightpatch of IvyClan. The two of them stood out greatly in the light brown field with their night colored pelts. Their scent greatly triumphed over the rabbit's as well.

Maplepaw tried to block them out of her mind as quickly as she could, "Pretend you didn't see them and we'll take care of it in a second!" She hissed so softly that she wasn't even sure that Ivypaw heard her.

Ivypaw just lowered his head and moved behind the rabbit. Maplepaw waited for Weaselthorn's signal before she moved towards it. As soon as he raised his tail, she took off racing through the heather stalks towards the rabbit. While she moved, Ivypaw slowly stalked it.

What is going on with him? She thought while clumsily bounding towards the plump piece of prey.

The rabbit must have sensed Weaselthorn's presence because it started turning to where Ivypaw was crouched down. If he had just done his job and ran towards it, then the rabbit would've been in Weaselthorn's claws by now. The puny amber colored apprentice waved her sleek tail in the air trying to get Weaselthorn's attention. She then flicked it at the rabbit to show that it was headed towards Ivypaw.

"What is he doing?!" Weaselthorn hissed under his breath. Maplepaw shrugged and started to chase the rabbit through the heather stalks towards Ivypaw. Luckily Ivypaw skillfully pounced on it and killed it.

"What in StarClan's name was that, Ivypaw? You were supposed to chase it to me!" Weaselthorn scolded him. Maplepaw had never seen the striped tom so frustrated. Normally when she does something wrong he stays calm and corrects it.

Ivypaw lowered his gaze, "It't not my fault that my mentor is missing."

Weaselthorn shot Ivypaw a cold glance, "And it's not my fault that your mentor ran after a rogue and is probably dead!" He hissed.

Maplepaw was taken aback by Weaselthorn's harsh words. Didn't he know that she was right there? The orange-brown she-cat lowered her gaze and scratched at the ground. Everything had changed so suddenly by Rabbitface's death and Briarstalk's disappearance. Not even Heathercloud's kits seemed to be happy.

"Well it's no use arguing about my missing father. The reason why Ivypaw was distracted is because the two of us saw those two IvyClan cats heading towards the camp." Maplepaw muttered. When she looked back up at Weaselthorn, his expression was replaced by a mixture of apology and shock.

"Why did you not stop hunting if you saw them? We should go back to camp." The larger tom beckoned the apprentices with his tail before taking off. Maplepaw dashed next to him with Ivypaw not far behind with the limp rabbit.

The three cats burst into the camp through the bracken tunnel and saw Duskfeather and Nightpatch sitting outside of Featherstar's den. One of Duskfeather's hind legs was coated in blood and dripping. Tufts of fur were ripped away and red irritated skin was shown.

Maplepaw turned her gaze to Ivypaw who responded with a nod. They both knew what they had to do. The two apprentices left Weaselthorn and made their way behind Featherstar's den. They pressed their ears onto the roots of the great oak and tried to focus on what the cats were saying. Though muffled, Maplepaw could hear them speaking pretty well.

"We're so sorry to visit so unexpectedly. Duskfeather was attacked by a large brown tom. We were too far away to make it back to our camp and even if we could, our medicine cat had little to no supplies." The one cat, Nightpatch meowed.

I can't believe that they were attacked by the same cat who killed Rabbitface! Maybe they'll know something about Briarstalk!

Maplepaw's eyes shimmered with excitement over the idea of the cats finding her father. She earned a glance of confusion from Ivypaw though. In response the amber colored she-cat rolled her eyes and pressed her ear onto the roots that made up Featherstar's den.

"That is definitely a coincidence. One of our warriors was recently killed by what had been described to be a large brown tom. I don't suppose that it was the same one." Featherstar's voice rang clearly after Maplepaw adjusted her position.

"It must have been. The tom came charging into me only yesterday." Duskfeather responded shakily.

Maplepaw rolled her eyes, but was tapped on the shoulder by Ivypaw's silky light gray tail. He flicked it over to the warriors den as Emberfoot padded out with his large ginger paws pounding against the ground. Maplepaw's copper eyes widened as he started heading their way.

Hoping that they wouldn't get caught, the two apprentices started padding away from the Great Willow and into the long heather stalks of the moor. They waited until the coast seemed to be clear before padding back into position with paw steps as quiet as a rabbit's. They had only seemed to miss a bit of the conversation, but what Maplepaw first heard was terrifying.

"Oh of course. You two can stay as long as you're in need of help. SwiftClan would never turn down an injured cat."

Maplepaw and Ivypaw exchanged worried glances.

"This is horrible!" She hissed sharply.

"I know! And if they're staying, they're going to campaign for their clan to get that territory! We can't let this happen!" Ivypaw growled softly.

The two chimed back into the conversation, "Now at least you two won't have to return for the gathering. It's in a couple of days now so you should probably just stay for it." Maplepaw cringed at Featherstar's proposal.

After a few more words from both sides, Maplepaw and Ivypaw both agreed that the conversation was concluded. The two of them padded back to the apprentices den, tails drooping, and laid down.

Why did these cats have to show up? This is way too suspicious, especially so close to the disappearance of Briarstalk.