Death of a Murderer

Scratchclaw stalked through the forest to the Thunderpath. The tom was wanting to go and see Badgerfang's corpse to try to think of reasons as to why he was lying dead. He sighed and sat down. All was quiet except for birds twittering softly and cheerfully. "Hmm, maybe I could blame it on his ma-" Something pinned him down the way he killed Badgerfang, and he felt claws kneading the flesh on his back. "Get off of me!" he hissed, and went to flip over. The cat on top of him was too strong, but he caught a glimpse of golden fur. "Heatherfrost! Get off of me or I will rip you to shreds!" he snarled menacingly. But the she-cat continued to rip his flesh open, and Scratchclaw bit back a yelp of pain. "I. Said. Get. OFF!". Heatherfrost just laughed. "I'm going to kill you like you did my mate!" she laughed, and bent down to perform the Killing bite. The last thing the black cat saw and heard was The forest and Thunderpath around them going black; Heatherfrost laughing cruelly, and running off of the Thunderpath. He smelled monster stench, heard the roaring, felt a searing pain. It all went black.

It took only a little bit of time for Thrushstar and a patrol to pass through towards the Thunderpath. Walking through the marshy grass, the smell hit the leader almost immediately. It was a horrible smell of death and... there was something else. "Something's wrong," he muttered to no one in particular as he darted towards the black ground and into the small clearing where the body of Scratchclaw lay. As soon as his eyes landed on the body, Thrushstar halted and all he could do do was stare. Blood had matted the warrior's fur and stained the ground a dark crimson while the body lay sprawled on the ground, the deep gash in his throat from the bite easily visible. Instantly, Thrushstar knew this was no accident.

One of the cats on the patrol was Bearmask. She slowly followed after her father with bright eyes, keeping an eye out as she scanned the marshy landscape. However, the moment she saw her father dart off, she swiftly followed after him, grimacing at the smell that they were heading for. When she entered the clearing, she came to a stop as well, her eyes growing wide in shock as she saw the dead ShadowClan warrior. What...What had happened?

She took a small step forward, brushing against her father's fur as her tail flickered. Seeing the blood-stained fur and the gaping bloody bite mark on his throat, her ears folded back. Who would kill somebody like this? In such a...Horrible manner. She could barely stand it as she turned her gaze away, unable to look at the scene any longer.

Another cat who was on Thrushstar's patrol was Scorchclaw, who was grimacing at the sight of Scratchclaw. The warrior crept forwards and sniffed the younng warriors fur. "There is an air of WindClan on his pelt." He announced with a low growl and stepped back to examine the whole area. "Seems like he was assassinated." Scorchclaw murmured, his fiery amber gaze flickering back and forth.

ShadowWhisper padded beside Scorchclaw. She saw Scratchclaw's dead body and hissed. Her eyes were narrowed. "Seems so." The pretty feline walked closer to the dead cat. "It smells like Windclan. I wonder who did this and why." She stepped back for Scratchclaw and sighed. He was her companion, she hoped to hunt with him-- but unfortunately, that can't happen anymore. ShadowWhisper tried to block the horrible scent. She looked at Thruststar because she wanted to know what to do next.

The leader's fur bristled at the thought. He had found traces of Windclan on their side of the Thunderpath multiple times before this, almost to the point to where he thought that something had been going on between one of their clan members and one of Shadowclan's, but then Badgerfang had been killed in the same manner as Scratchclaw, but there was nothing strange about Badgerfang. No strange scents, no fur, nothing. All Thrushstar could assume out of Badgerfang's death was that it was one of his own warriors. The morning after, it nearly sent him into a panic had it not been for all of the things he had to do and keep up with. But this was much different and as soon as Scorchclaw pointed it out, the Shadowclan leader could easily pick up on the Windclan scent. It was everywhere, burning inside of his nose as he turned his gaze across the Thunderpath to Windclan side. From what he could tell, there was no one there, but he was going to make sure it stayed that way. Staying as collected as he could, he turned back to his warriors. "I don't know, Shadowwhisper, but I am going to find out. I have a few words to share with Falconstar," he growled, the hackles in his fur slowly rising as his claws dug into the muddy ground. "Scorchclaw, Shadowwhisper, take Scratchclaw back to the camp. Start his vigil as soon as you get there." He turned to his daughter Bearmask, giving her a tiny reassuring nudge. "Go back with them and let Cormorantpelt know that I need her here. I know she has her own duties, but I must speak with her. Scorchclaw knows what needs to be done in camp while we are absent."

Bearmask raised her gaze softly as Thrushstar gently nudged her, blinking her eyes a few times before she gave him a soft nod. "O-Of course, father" she whispered softly, turning her gaze to Scorchclaw and Shadowwhisper, trying her best not to look with the dead body of Scratchclaw. How could anybody do such a thing to another cat? The idea of killing another cat...It revolted her; no cats deserved a death so barbaric in her eyes. Or at least, not like how Scratchclaw died, not even in the field of battle and could be praised for their deeds to protect their clan (Of course Bearmask wasn't fond of the idea of battle anyways; hurting another cat wasn't something she liked) but on the side of a Thunderpath; left to be nothing more than crow-food until found. What had Scratchclaw done to deserve such a death?

With a nod of acceptance, Scorchclaw settled his maw around the scruff of the dead warrior. There were patches of fur missing, at his mouth filled with the stench of blood and WindClan. He was a young warrior. The dark tabby thought to himself. No cat deserves to die this way, the killing bite is a dis-graceful move to use and should only be executed in self defense and there was clearly no battle here. The lean warrior cast a quick amber glance at the scarlet liquid merging with neck fur. The sight disgusted him, and he soon looked away and waited for Shadowwhisper to aid him in returning Scratchclaw to camp and begin his vigil.

ShadowWhisper nodded her head at Thrushstar--who was her mentor. She then walked to Scratchclaw's dead body. "Let's hurry and get this over with. I don't think we want to smell this for long at all," she said to Scorchclaw. She bent down and gripped on the dead cat's back. She waited for Scorchclaw to do something.