Dark Skies- Book #2 in Sunrise

Chapter 12
Three kits, Jadepaw heard. Two she-kits and a tom. Jadepaw didn't get to see them yet, but Peppernose had been boasting all day about how alike they looked to Creamcall. Jadepaw sniffed sharply, and dirt flew up her nose. "Gah!" She screeched. Jadepaw rubbed her nose over her paws roughly. "A..a..a-choo!"

Clearpaw turned around, annoyed. "How many times do you think you have to scare off of the prey before it never comes back?" He growled. He had had his head stuck inside of a hole in the ground. It probably used to be the home of a mole. But now it was deserted. Clearpaw didn't seen to believe that, and he had had his head stuck in there for half of the day.

"Sorry, sorry. It's probably just allergies." Jadepaw apologized. She drew away from where Clearpaw was hunting. She was several tail-lengths away from him, but every once in a while he let out an annoyed grunt. Sorry! Jadepaw Parted her jaws slightly, letting scents flow in.

The scent of oak trees overwhelmed the other scents of the forest, though Jadepaw could distinguish the smell of squirrel anywhere. She followed the source of the scent, not even bothering to use her eyes in the process of searching for it. The trees formed a canopy over her head, not allowing much sunlight to filter through their branches.

Speckles of sunlight decorated Clearpaw's pelt. Golden spots of sunlight danced on his thick white pelt, flowing from side to side as the branches swayed in the breeze. Jadepaw let her eyes close. Light gray light was all she could see, but her attention was focused on her other senses. The squirrel was probably storing food for Leaf-Fall, which was already showing itself.

The breeze had became colder, the days seemed to be dragging Jadepaw with them as the extended a little longer, and Jadepaw had been noticing a decrease in the more delicate herbs in the medicine cat's stores. The prey, though, hadn't began to hide in their dens, and that Jadepaw took advantage of.

She opened her eyes to see that she had weaved her way through a few trees, and Clearpaw was now out of sight. A squirrel perched above, and, just as Jadepaw had suspected, the squirrel was stuffing a store of food into a hollowed out space in a tall oak. Jadepaw hoped that she had learned enough from Ravenstar's tree climbing lesson to catch this squirrel.

Riverrush hadn't been eating much, and he would appreciate this squirrel. The squirrel gave a little chirp to her, thinking that Jadepaw didn't have a chance at catching him. Jadepaw dug her claws into the bark, and fortunately, it was still soft from the recent downpour. Well, everything was wet, she realized.

The bushes glistened with dew, which brought Jadepaw back to Dewstorm. Remember who the villain is. Jadepaw eased her grip on the bark and climbed back down. The problem was, she didn't know who the villain was in the first place. The cat who killed Pondnose is the cat who can kill many more if they desire to.

Jadepaw shuddered. She wished she could've seen Pondnose in StarClan. To see if cats really did look younger in StarClan. Jadepaw knew that that was probably selfish of her, so she dismissed the thought. The squirrel was long gone by now, so Jadepaw padded towards where Clearpaw was sniffing. "Where were you?" Clearpaw asked. A sparrow lay limp on the ground beside him.

"Hunting." "Oh. Did it get away?" "Yeah, sort of." Clearpaw nodded dismissively. "Do you want to go back to camp?" He asked. Jadepaw nodded. She didn't feel much like hunting. As they began to head back to camp, Jadepaw began to think. There weren't really any suspicious cats in ThunderClan camp, but ShadowClan's the complete opposite.

Even their leader was shady. Well, Ravenstar was kind of suspicious, also. "I think it was Amber," Clearpaw said suddenly, exhaling. "What?" "I think Amber did it. I mean, killed Pondnose." "Why would she do that? We're caring for her and her friend, too. She has absolutely no reason to." "Think about it. The middle of the night after the Gathering, Pondnose...Pondnose...died."