CHASE

Chapter 24

Chase moved through the woods with Yew, staring up at the swirling gray sky. The air had grown cold in the forest, and the trees were beginning to grow more and more bare with each passing day.

"I wonder if it will snow soon," Yew thought out loud as they went on an afternoon hunting trip.

Chase had never seen snow before. Yew told her that it was cold and fell from the sky. He explained it grew tiresome after a while, but the sight of snow for the first time was breathtaking as the forest became coated in white. Chase wasn't so sure she was ready for snow just yet. It seemed too soon for her to experience her first winter.

"I think I smell a rabbit in this direction," Yew said, leading her through some bushes. 

Chase lifted her nose into the air, though she did not smell rabbit like Yew did. In fact, what she smelled didn't resemble prey at all. She stiffened slightly, then stomped lightly on Yew's paw.

"Stop," she warned, crouching down into the brush.

Yew did as he was told, though stared at her confusedly until his eyes fell on the movement peeking out on the other side of the foliage. Chase knew that scent had been familiar. It was the scent of FoxClan. But what were they doing out of their territory?

She noticed a group of cats, about five or six, making their way through the woods. They were lingering into the wild territory of the forest, straying from the FoxClan borders.

"What do you think is going on?" Yew asked. 

"I don't know," Chase admitted, becoming concerned. "I want to investigate."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Yew wondered. "I'm not sure we should just march up to those cats and begin asking questions."

"The cats are already gone," Chase noticed, seeing they had disappeared farther into the forest. "I want to see if I can pick up on any cats saying anything. Let's head near the border."

"If you say so," Yew murmured, following behind her as she leapt out of the bushes.

Chase carefully padded through the woods. The stale scent of FoxClan lingered everywhere around here. She wondered if something had happened to their clan, and this was why they were out of their borders. 

"I know you're concerned about Moonkit, but--"

"I'm not!" Chase practically shouted at Yew, cutting him off. She let her tail droop and sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just genuinely curious. We're almost there anyway."

Yew grew quiet after that and obediently followed her. She paused behind a clump of trees, noticing a line of cats moving across the border. It looked as if the entire clan was following. There were mothers carrying kittens in their mouths and elderly cats limping away from their home.

"What's going on?" Yew asked, now appearing as concerned as Chase.

"Stay hidden," Chase said. "I'm going to try to get closer."

"Stay safe."

Chase moved swiftly and quietly through the woods until hiding behind a large bush closer toward where the cats were migrating. She lifted an ear, hoping to pick up on just an ounce of conversation.

"This is all Moonpaw's fault," she heard a nearby ginger tom murmur as he walked alongside another.

"You should call her Moonstar. What if she's listening?" a pale ginger she-cat behind him asked nervously.

Moonstar? Chase thought. Moonkit had gone on to become an apprentice, but now she was referring to herself as a leader? It had only been a couple months since that day they had broken off their friendship. How much had changed in that time?

"Sunstar should have conducted an investigation into her mother's death. It took the death of Owlpaw for Sunstar to realize that Moonpaw--no, Moonstar--was behind all the killing," the ginger tom continued to grumble. Chase was slowly following him alongside the bushes, desperate to hear more of the conversation.

"To be fair, that rogue she's mates with killed Silverwhisker. Moonstar could have lied about that death if Sunstar suspected her, but she had a witness when she killed her own brother," the she-cat continued to say.

"She should have been exiled before that. Or dare I say, executed. Because now we're in this mess. FoxClan is small and has not been along for long, but now it's being threatened. This whole forest is being threatened now that SnowClan has been drawn along in this battle too. MoonClan...what a stupid concept," the tom continued to grumble.

"I don't know if you should keep mumbling about Sunstar doing a poor job, Foxeye. She probably won't like her deputy saying such things behind her back," the she-cat warned. Foxeye went quiet, and continued walking. Chase continued to move alongside them, surprised they had not picked up on her scent just yet. 

The she-cat let out a sigh. "It's a shame really, all that's happened. I don't think Silverwhisker took very good care of her daughter. Her mate's absence probably didn't help."

"Don't blame it on the mother. Blame it on the she-cat," Foxeye growled. "Owlpaw turned out fine, didn't he? And now he's dead."

"Yes, but how is Moonstar able to rage war when she just gave birth to four kits of her own? I doubt she's caring for them. And that mate of hers is much older, and a bit frightening," the she-cat continued.

"Well, as small as her 'clan' is, it's posed a threat. Why does she want this forest to herself so much anyway? I think it's all a ploy to weaken us. I've talked this over with Sunstar. A battle is imminent."

"That's what I feared too," the she-cat replied.

Chase backed up slowly, having heard more than enough. Apparently a few months apart from Moonpaw had been enough to turn her into an all-out monster. There was too much information for Chase to process all at once. So Moonpaw hadn't "killed" her mother, instead hiring that tom to do it for her, but why had her paws been stained like that? Her brother, that small brown tom that Chase had saved, had been slaughtered at her claws, and now she was running her own clan and raising kits of her own.

Chase quickly ran into the direction of Yew, nearly rushing into him as she turned a tree.

"I found you!" he exclaimed. "I was growing worried. Chase, what's wrong?"

Chase let her legs sprawl out from under her and dipped her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"The clans are leaving," she announced. "And it's all Moonpaw's doing."

"What?"