Murder in the Woods: A Warrior Cat Mafia

Round 9, Part 1

Lizard skidded across the sand dune, grasping for traction with his fur-covered paws. The loose sand spilled over the side, as he made an abrupt turn and sprinted down the dune.

Burrow came hurling over the top of the mountain of sand, paws outstretched. She landed on top of Lizard, and the two sand cats tumbled down to the bottom. Burrow ended up on top, pinning Lizard to the ground with her paws.

"I got him first! I win!" she declared. Shadow ran out from the pile of rocks she had been searching in, and tackled Falcon, who had been searching amongst the cacti.

Falcon let out groan as the she-cat pinned him. The way their game worked was that whoever caught the runner first was safe. Then, the other two fought it out, and whoever lost became the next runner. That was him.

Shadow's head shot up and she stepped off of him, looking towards the camp. They were right outside the small oasis that they lived in. "Flock and Bark are coming," she grumbled.

The four warriors all scrambled to the cluster of cacti that Falcon had previously been in. They wanted to avoid the mates, and knew they probably would avoid the cacti in favor of the warm rocks.

Flock and Bark came out of the canyon, walking next to each other. While they talked, oblivious to the presence of Flock's brothers, Bark's sister, and Shadow, the group of four slunk through the cacti and into the oasis.

The oasis was surrounded by rocky outcropping, which stopped the sand from sliding down and entering the water. The water was a beautiful blue-green, and surrounded by dense bushes and trees.

Contrary to what might be expected, the Tribe of Burning Sands didn't live near the water. The lived in the small holes, burrows, and dens formed by the rocks, which proved much more defendable. The oasis was just their source of water. They didn't even hunt near it — instead, they spent most of their time in the flat surrounding area, which was covered in sparse vegetation.

Wolf approached the group of four quickly, dutifully followed by Frond. The small to-be let out a sneeze, but remained quiet. Wolf motioned to Buzzard, who was waiting with Bush and Fang. "Have any of you seen Flock recently? He was supposed to join Buzzard's patrol" Falcon and Lizard exchanged a look.

"Flock just went on a walk with Bark, Mudir," Falcon told Wolf. Mudir was what they called the second in command to the Zaeim, who was the leader of the tribe. As the Mudir, Wolf often organized patrols, meaning she knew that Flock had purposefully skipped his.

Wolf let out an irritated sigh, and motioned in the direction Flock and Bark had gone. "They went that way?" Lizard nodded. Wolf ordered Frond to stay with them, then stormed out of the camp.

Burrow nudged Frond, and motioned to Flower and Gazelle, who were playing with Hare and Hump. "Why don't you go join them?" The small to-be ran off, in order to join his sister and friend.

Bark came back into camp soon after. When asked by Scorpion, she only muttered that Wolf had needed to talk to Flock alone, then went off to sulk.

For the rest of the day, cats went in and out of camp. No one noticed that Wolf and Flock hadn't returned, until the sun had begun to set.

Dune announced that she would be leading a group of cats to go look for Wolf and Flock. Hyena, Stone, and Hive joined her. The cats set out into the desert, while the others waited, worried.

Dune wound her way through the sands, followed by the other three cats. Stone began to scrunch up his nose, and padded up to Dune.

"Can't you smell that? It's blood," he told her. Dread filled Dune, and she increased the pace. They rounded a boulder, and Stone shook his head solemnly.

Wolf and Flock were both dead. The two cats were lying in the sand, blood pooled around them. Hive moved forward to inspect them, sniffing.

"This wasn't a jackal. This was a cat," the tom declared. He flicked his tail towards the slashed throats. "Small claw marks. Small creature. Clearly a predator, though".

"Which tribe was it?" Dune asked, burning with a cold anger. Hive looked up at her, concerned.

"The scent is from the Tribe of Burning Sands. It was one of us," he declared. Hyena shook her head.

"No, it had to be two. Flock and Wolf would have fought," she mewed quietly. Dune growled, and hefted her sister onto her shoulders. Stone helped.

"Come on. We must bring this information back to the camp," she ordered. Hyena and Hive lifted Flock onto their shoulders, and the four cats returned to camp.

Hare ran forward to meet them when he saw them, eyes wide. "Mudir? Are you okay?" he asked, nudging Wolf's paw. When the she-cat didn't respond, he let out a panicked cry.

Bush and Hump joined him, trying to see what was wrong. Bush immediately broke down, seeing her adoptive mother dead. Hump rushed to get the rest of the tribe.

When all of the cats had gathered, Buzzard immediately stood up and glared at Scorpion. "It was obviously Scorpion. He asked Bark where Wolf and Flock were earlier, and found out that they were alone. It would be easy for him to gather his partner and kill them" Dune stepped forward to defend her mate, but was blocked by Fang, Flower, and Gazelle.

"No, it was Bark! She probably wasn't even asked to leave! I think that she killed Wolf and Flock, with the help of her partner, while Wolf was chiding Flock for skipping his patrol!" Bush declared.

Frond shook, upset about his mother being accused for his father's death. "Please, just vote. Please," he squeaked.

Murdered: Wolf, Flock
Healed: Hare
Accused: Scorpion, Bark
Revealed: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 2