Warriors: Tigertail's Destiny DISCONTINUED

Chapter 12

Tigerpaw sat up and raced out of the den, all the others right behind her. Warriors poured out of their den, Blackstar raced out of his den, and Barkpaw and Cloudnight came from the medicine den.

Thistlebranch raced in. Panting, he stood in the center of the clearing. "A...whole...patrol...has...been...murdered!"

He collapsed.

Cloudnight and Barkpaw raced forwards. Barkpaw looked him over.

"He's fine. Just tired. Bring him to the warriors' den and let him rest." Barkpaw concluded.

Cloudnight nodded in approval.

"Now, about this patrol. Marshfur, Ashflower, Mousewind, Crimsonfur, Mintclaw. Take your apprentices and follow Thistlebranch's scent to find the patrol. Hurry!"

They nodded.

"Whitepaw, Tigerpaw, Bluepaw. Come!" Mintclaw called.

Tigerpaw felt a thrill of excitement shoot through her body. She ran over to the patrol and they left.

Hurtling through the forest, she scented the air for Thistlebranch's scent. They were on the right track.

Then she scented blood. The scent filled the air, clogging her nose. She choked on the scent, her eyes watering.

They emerged into a clearing to see six cats laying dead on the ground. Their throats were all cut open, blood still pouring out. Their necks were ripped, their eyes open in shock, claws still out.

Mintclaw stepped forward. He looked solemnly at the cats lying on the ground. "Whitepaw," he began, voice full of sorrow. "Run back to camp and tell Blackstar that Frogtail, Bramblepaw, Needletail, Lightclaw, Berrypaw, and Whitesnow are dead."

Whitepaw nodded and pelted back to camp.

Tigerpaw's eyes flew upon, her heart feeling like it had been pierced by a thousand thorns. She stumbled backwards, gasping.

Mintclaw turned around with eyes full of pain, anger, and sadness. "This is cold-blooded murder. We must find out who did this, and why." He meowed, shaking with fury. "Nothing ShadowClan has ever done could've ever provoked this."

The patrol nodded sadly.

Tigerpaw turned away from the dead cats, looking through the dark pine trees. Here they clustered together, not letting light through. What a fitting place for a murder.

She felt a tail rest lightly on he shoulder, and she knew it was Mousewind.

"Tigerpaw," he began. "I know this is hard for you. But my parents died when I was an apprentice. You just have to keep moving on."

Ok, now that was the final tail. Tigerpaw turned around, her eyes full of fury and hatred.

"But at least you knew you father," she spat, hissing. "I have never met mine, let alone heard his name. And now I'll never know!"

She spun around and raced away, her paws skidding on the pine needles. I'm going to find who did this, if it's the last thing I do.

•-_-_-_-•

Tigerpaw lay in her nest, later that night. Bluepaw had been sent after her, and she'd convinced her to come back. She was kind of glad when she'd come back. She wasn't tired, but she knew she had to sleep, or she'd be exhausted in the morning. Whitesnow weighed heavily in her mind, making her drag her paws everywhere she'd walked. Sighing, she laid down in her new nest, closing her eyes. This time, at least, she hoped she'd be able to get past putting her tail over her nose.