The Bandit of Shadow

Grasspaw raced into the Thunderclan camp, sides heaving. She had ran the entire way back from the Thunderpath with Goldenpaw who was carrying the fresh kill that had been killed by a Shadowclan cat. She spit in disgust just thinking about it. Within seconds she was in front of the clan leader's den.
"Darkstar!" She called urgently.

Blizzardshine was eating some fresh-kill to have enough energy to go on one of her planned hunting patrols when Greenpaw’s voice reached her ears. With the half-eaten bird forgotten for the time being, she quickly stood up and looked at his direction, noticing that Goldenpaw was carrying a piece of fresh kill but clearly just as nervous. Did something happen?

Realizing that Darkstar was taking some time to answer the apprentice’s calls, the deputy decided to talk with them and see what made them act like this, and if it was as important as they made whatever brought them to camp seem, she would personally try to bring the leader here “Hey, hey! Calm down and tell me what’s going on” She meowed softly, her gaze going from Greenpaw to Goldenpaw and then back to the first apprentice.

"Blizzardshine, we found this by the thunderpath!" Grasspaw meowed quickly, flicking her tail towards the half-eaten prey Goldenpaw had dragged back to camp that reeked of Shadowclan," Shadowclan has stolen our prey!" She hissed the last part of it and spat in disgust. Those piece of foxdung thiefs! It sickened her to think they they felt entitled to hunt on Thunderclan territory as if they wouldn't get away with it.

ShadowClan…stealing prey?

Blizzardshine’s usually gentle and calm gaze hardened, and though it wasn’t to the point of actually becoming a frown it was more than enough to notice “Grasspaw, Goldenpaw, the accusation you’re doing is really serious. I’m sure you both know that crossing the border and hunting on another clan’s territory are severe violations of the code, especially during this season where all clans are struggling to find prey at all” Blizzardshine’s voice had gone from her usual tone to cold and serious, something she rarely did at all, making it clear that she wsn’t joking around.

“Are you completely sure that the piece of prey was deliberately hunt by our neighbor clan in our territory? You already saw with WindClan and RiverClan that stealing one piece of prey can be enough to start a war between clans, so we can’t just take this lightly” As he spoke he padded towards the prey Goldenpaw had put down and sniffed t, the scent of ShadowClan was definitely there and that only made her feel even more nervous at this point.

"I know this is a serious accusation, Blizzardshine, but the evidence was all there," Her tone was serious for once as she listened to the deputy's words. She understood the severity of what was happening her, but Grasspaw firmly believed in what she had seen and scented, "Along with the scent and the prey, there were pawprints leading back across the border. I don't know what else it could be". The apprentice's eyes shone with determination. I have to convince the deputy. We need to get back out there with the others! Somewhere in her mind she secretly wished this would be the event that would lead to her warrior ceremony. It had been long enough. She wished that she could be facing this situation as a Thunderclan warrior instead of an apprentice, but regardless she just wanted to serve her clan, and right now in the middle of leafbare they needed her most.

Blizzardshine sighed and nodded, she wasn’t questioning the apprentices because she thought they would make this up, but because she knew the awful consequences that this could bring and in all honesty was something she couldn’t help but actually fear. The idea of a war was terrible on itself, but a war during Leafbare?

Sighing deeply, she finally spoke, her unusual hardened gaze and serious voice still there, though now also sadness and sincere worry were evident in her gaze “I see…I’ll bring Darkstar right away. When she comes you must explain everything to her like you did to me” With those words, the white warrior turned around and padded towards the leader’s den where Darkstar was probably resting.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside, looking around for the dark leader “Darkstar? We need you outside…” Even if she was careful to not mention exactly what was going on right then and there, it was clear for whatever cat that knew her well enough to know it was something worth of worry just by the tone on her voice.

She'd been in a deep sleep. A nightmare, really. The leader had been dreaming of her daughter, Plumblossom, who had died not too long ago. But it hadn't stopped there. As she turned around, what lay before her were the bodies of her other children, Fernkit, Bristlepaw, Lionpaw, Rainwhisper, Bramblefrost, and Silentsong. Thankfully, a voice jolted her out of it.

"Darkstar? We n-"

She raised her head, still confused from sleep, but immediately became alarmed at the scent of Shadowclan and blood. Darkstar rose to her paws and went to the culprit, and for a moment she was thankful that no one was hurt, then she saw the freshkill. It smelled awfully of mud and marsh gunk, of Shadowclan. "What happened." She stared at the half-eaten piece of prey, wrinkling her nose slightly at the scent.

Grasspaw quickly explained how they had been patroling the border and come across the half-eaten prey, pawprints and Shadowclan scent.
"What are we going to do, Darkstar? We have to do something! They can't be allowed to take our prey in the middle of leaf bare," She meowed, getting more and more worked up as she spoke.

Blacktwig slipped lazily out of his den. There was fatigue evident on the older warrior's face, yet he stumbled to the situation determinedly. "Hmm?" Blacktwig interrogated tiredly. He blinked his foggy violet-blue eyes, discovering the shape of Darkstar. He then realized that since the deputy and the leader were attending the situation, it must be urgent. The place reeked of ShadowClan. His first, prime response was to flip out, and go hostile. But then, Blacktwig recognized a piece of prey in Goldenpaw's mouth. He sniffed the air surrounding it. It stank, with the resemblance of ShadowClan. He wrinkled his nose. "Hey!" Blacktwig said. "Darkstar, take a look at this!" Blacktwig spat on the ground, as if the scent had transmitted into saliva. Of course the nasty scent of swamp would taste bad.

Blacktwig slouched, twisting to look at the leader. No matter how scared she might've seemed from her dream, Blacktwig always viewed her as a strong, powerful, and noble cat. "ShadowClan," he hissed. They had been stealing prey! How undignified. He decided not to point fingers discreetly at ShadowClan, but vengeance still lay in his heart. It smelled clearly of ShadowClan, so who else could be the culprit. He looked around at the felidae around him, most consisting of apprentices. He then turned to see Darkstar.

Grasspaw was panicking, and he began to feel discouraged. It didn't matter. If ShadowClan was a traitor of a clan, then it was their fault, and if they admitted to the crime, then it would all be resolved. But it would most likely not come out that easily. Grasspaw was jumping to conclusions, Blacktwig assumed. He wasn't going to worry unless Darkstar confirmed that it was ShadowClan.

Is it true? Blacktwig thought. They better have not, he told himself. He sided with Goldenpaw, not standing uncomfortably close, yet as close as was acceptable for family members. The small gold tomcat was growing well, and adapting to Mothstrike's death. He closed his eyes briefly. He wouldn't let his sadness build up again. This was another matter.

ShadowClan.

Darkstar listened closely to the story, frowning more and more as Grasspaw went on. There was something not quite right about all this. "Don't do anything rash towards Shadowclan. Something smells fishy." She would've let out a snort of laughter if the situation wasn't so serious. 'And it isn't Riverclan for once.'

She stuck her nose close to the prey, or crowfood rather, by the smell. 'Definitely Shadowclan and the Thunderpath.' The leader coughed due to the sheer stench. Taking a step back, she thought for a moment. Thrushstar was impossibly loyal to the warrior code and would not allow anything like this. Unless they had a new leader, except his deputy, Leapordfang, was quite the stickler himself. This wasn't coming from the top, she was sure. Why would there be a partially eaten scrap of a piece of prey by the border? She was still furious, of course, but she still tried to stay logical.

"Whoever this was has broken the code, but it hurts both us and Shadowclan. They trespassed and stole our prey, however-" She looked up with a chilly glint in her usually warm, golden eyes. "- they also ate prey without bringing it back to their clan. If I can, I will try and speak to Thrushstar about this." She was still uncertain about all of this.

"Still, I ask you to search the borders for any more prey. We're going to catch who this is red-pawed. But do not aggravate any Shadowclan warriors."

Pinewhisker, returning to camp with the rest of the cats, joined them. "I have instructed my apprentice to take a look and search for more prey." he meowed, thinking about Maplepaw. Hope she's allright. he thought, before taking his leave and picking out a piece of prey to eat.