Blood-Stained Petals [Wildflower's death]

OOC: This is a canon topic, detailing the events of Wildflower's 'disappearance' (in truth, murder) from WindClan. It couldn't be written at the time due to Theron's return being a secret, but now that she is out in the open...Time to learn what truly happened that night.

IC: Narrowed golden eyes swept the plains as Theron stalked forward, ears perked. There had been reports of a new scent drawing towards their hidden camp...And it was up to her to decide if they would join or perish. It had been a gift from her leader - a chance to see outside of the camp walls for once but all it did was fill her with determination for what was about to come. Anger boiled at the familiar sun-lit plains - although the sun was already starting to set in the horizon. WindClan would pay for killing her team… But more than anything, she knew she had to stick to the mission ahead of her.

She sighed, taking in a deep breath as she came to a stop. The reported scent drifted into her mouth, a soft smile curling at her muzzle...Before it turned into a snarl as she realized what it was. WindClan. She had found herself a WindClan cat. Ears fell flat as she stalked after the source, barely restraining her claws from slipping out. “Hello?” she called, trying to keep her voice soft - unthreatening. It would be easier to take out the threat by surprise - she just had to hope that the she-cat was as soft-hearted as she remembered all of WindClan being.

“Go on without me,” Wildflower’s eyes slid downwards, barely discernible under her scars. “I’ll look for another few minutes, tell the others to get some food and rest.” Sundown was approaching quickly and they’d been searching the entire day to no avail. She wanted to stay out a little longer. She’d sleep when nightfall arrived. The molly turned away from her patrol and started in the opposite direction, back towards the borders. She could do a solo border patrol, kits or no kits.

The wind was shifting. It had blown away from WindClan the entire day, but it was now that scents were coming to them. Wildflower paused, realizing what that meant. A better chance of finding the kits. She dismissed the idea of searching more with her patrol. They were probably in camp at this point, eating and resting. The young deputy approached the Gorge and scented the air. What she smelled made her blink. It was a scent of cat. Not WindClan, not any Clan. No scent of Twolegs, or the Twolegplace. A loner.

A loner who could have information on the kits.

There was no distinguishable scent trail, so Wildflower had to follow the wind. It was unreliable. Multiple times during the journey, she’d flick a pebble into the Gorge (and on a scary occasion nearly fall in herself) but soon enough there was an actual scent trail. She was more cautious now. This was not in any Clan land. The land felt like moors beneath her paws. She was groping about in the unfamiliar land, wishing she had asked the patrol to stay, when— “Hello?”

Wildflower was put on edge instantly. Nothing new to be cautious around someone unfamiliar, but it was paranoia due to being far away from help and the danger of… who or whatever had taken the kits. The blind molly pricked her ears and scented the air. The “hello” had to have come from the scent she’d been following - no other cat scent was fresh. She made sure to pinpoint the location of the voice and stood up tall, acting as if she could see. “Yes?” She was aware she had no right to this place, unlike WindClan territory. The voice didn’t sound hostile, but loners especially were often two-faced.

Theron took in a deep breath as the figure - a she-cat - responded. She wasn't sure how she wanted to go around this. She always loved a brawl and already she could feel her claws itching to shed WindClan blood...But she also knew there was a chance that there was more cats around - the quieter this was, the better. After all, she was just suppose to take out the threat, not reveal their presence. So...She suppose she was playing nice for now, to find out what this cat was about."A-Are you friendly?" she questioned as she slowly pushed herself forward, ears slicking back. She already felt her pelt prickling at the idea of playing a passive, friendly cat. It felt...Disgusting. She was powerful, she was a Captain. This was far beneath her, it wasn't her style... But she needed to know what had brought this cat so close to their camp. "...I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost. I wasn't expecting to stumble across anybody else...Why...Why are you out here? Its getting so late...And so dark."

“Depends on who I’m talking to.” All she could scent on this she-cat was the vague loner smell. At least the she wasn’t openly hostile. Wildflower took a few steps closer. She hated this, the groping blindly around and hoping she looked passably confident. The scars over her eyes would be visible now, at any rate. “Oh, you don’t need to apologize for being cautious. I was worried I’d intruded on your territory, but you don’t seem to mind this. Tell me if you are!” She smiled a little, unaware of the danger posed by Theron.

“I was searching for missing kits when I found your scent. I followed it, hoping you knew something. Um... you probably don’t, though. I’ll be on my way back to WindC-, uh, my home, now... You don’t know anything... right?” Pity that this was for nothing. It could be close to midnight by the time I get back. Wildflower dipped her head to the loner, not giving her much mind, paws already starting to fidget on the ground. She could tell it was past dusk and was getting anxious to return.

"My territory?" Theron's eyes widen as a small laugh escaped her, tilting her head as she stared at the she-cat. "...Hm," she hummed, a purr of amusement rising in her as she shook her head - she would pin that for now. But paused however as the she-cat mentioned kits. ...Kits? Odd, how would these missing kits lead back to them? Or was Wildflower making truly blind guesses...Her ear twitched as she straightened up, looking around. "No...I can't say I do," she said softly, before she caught the the she-cat nearly slipping up on mentioning WindClan. Aw, what had her so nervous? What harm could a loner like her be?

Oh wait.

"Go back home?" she meowed, eyes landing on Wildflower. "You can do that! While I don't know anything I could tell you about these...Missing kits of yours..." she raised a paw, flexing it as her claws slide out. "You were right about one thing - you did intrude on my - our - territory. And I'm afraid that I can't risk any information reaching your dear WindClan." In one smooth motion, she threw her weight backwards and leapt at Wildflower with surprising speed, sending the WindClan deputy to the ground as she bared her teeth with a grin.

"We have plans for WindClan, plans you couldn't even imagine," she hissed as she held claws to Wildflower's throat, leaning forward to murmur in the she-cat's ear. "But I'm afraid you won't live to see it - I was given orders to silence the intruder - and that, my dear, is you." With that, she sliced her claws across Wildflower's throat - hoping to silence the she-cat before she could even let out a scream.