Sounding the Alarm [Wolfstar]

Beechface kept a brisk pace after leaving mothermouth, fur ruffled by the harsh winds as the left the mountains behind. Dustpaw's words rang in her ears as dawn broke over the mountains behind her, and the tall tabby quickened her steps, nose wrinkling as she crossed into Windclan territory.

"Every day goes through cycles, the sun sets allowing night to cover the forest, then the dawn rises and expels the blackness of night to reveal the sunny light of day. Just like days, so too do the seasons and cats young and old wax and wane in these cycles. Beware of the secrets that are kept under these changes."

Dawn rises, expelling the blackness of night... Revealing the sunny light of day. Just like days, the seasons went through cycles... Changed.

It had been a season since the Asylum had been driven out, a season since Dawnhawk had been exiled from Skyclan, though he had lurked around their borders for moons after. Still lurked, though there hadn't been any sightings of him, Beechface wasn't naïve enough to think he was gone. The 'dawn' that rises could only be referring to the golden tom, even after this long.

The darkness of night and the sunny light of day... Now that, that made Beechface pause uncertainly in her reasoning. The only 'Night' she knew was Nightpaw, who had only been apprenticed to Birdsong a few days ago. There was Nighthawk, the elder who had died of sickness during Asylum's rule, but she had despised Dawnhawk (and most of the younger generation in general, it had seemed). It couldn't be referring to either of them.

Dawnhawk had attacked Smokefeather, crippled her and left her bitterly wasting away in the elder's den. Her mother had said that something dark had coated parts of Dawnhawk's pelt, so foul that she had recoiled upon snapping at him. Whatever it was, it had helped obscure his scent and allowed him to get close to Smokefeather within Skyclan's own territory. He'd slipped away before Copperfox, Bloodstrike and Tornshadow had found him, and aside from an unfortunate encounter in twolegplace, they hadn't been able to pin him down since. Had Bloodstrike or Lichenblaze noticed the same stuff on his fur? She couldn't recall, other than the offhand mention that he had looked filthy, as if he hadn't groomed himself in moons. Strange, considering Dawnhawk had been more vain than even Smokefeather.

Maybe that dark stuff hadn't been an unintended consequence of living the life of a rogue. Knowing Dawnhawk, his pelt would only ever get that filthy because he deliberately allowed it to.

'Night' still didn't quite make sense, though... Unless there was a loner going by that name... Or a cat in one of the other clans. There was Nightwolf of Riverclan, but he'd hardly interacted with Skyclan when they'd been allowed to stay in Riverclan's camp after the fire. Not him, then. Was there a Night- in one of the other clans? If there was a recent warrior with the name, Beechface wasn't remembering one. But then, she'd been preoccupied with other matters at the gathering after Asylum had been driven out, and had been distracted in the ones following.

Sunny... Light of day. It could have simply just been relating to the time of day, so could Night, technically... But that felt wrong. It had to be referring to someone, surely, but who? Again, Beechface ran through the names of other clan cats she knew. Sunflower? The lanky tom was scared of his own shadow. It couldn't possibly be him, he was terrible at keeping anything to himself, anyways. The sniveling tom was practically an open book.

Windclan's newer deputy was Dayspring, though... It could be referring to her, perhaps. It wouldn't be the first time that a deputy had broken the code and taken a mate outside their clan, she thought bitterly.

As she neared fourtrees, fat raindrops began to fall finally. At least the rain had held off until the medicine cats had left highstones, but Beechface bared her teeth in a silent snarl of irritation. Her pelt was going to be soaked before she made it back to camp, how wonderful. The sky had opened up now, and Beechface quickened her pace to a run, hoping that the thick undergrowth of Thunderclan's territory would provide some cover.

Dustpaw's warning ran through her mind again, as Beechface continued to think it over. The theory she'd come up with was that Dawnhawk had disguised himself somehow, and maybe Windclan's deputy was involved. If they had been harboring him, or not, it was something Wolfstar needed to know. Skyclan's relationship with Windclan had never been decent, and if they would willingly harbor that sack of foxdung even after Wolfstar's warnings at the gathering and her own warnings to the other medicine cats, they needed to know.

By the time Beechface made it back to Skyclan territory, her pelt was plastered to her skin, and she fought back a growl of annoyance. The rain hadn't let up at all, and crossing the creek that ran through Skyclan's territory, she spotted a dark figure with his back to her, padding in the direction of camp. Wolfstar, she recognized her grandfather immediately. Had he been caught out in this nonsense? She would have thought he'd be curled up in his nest... Like a sensible cat.

Not that Wolfstar was particularly sensible or anything. Though the same could be said of her, being out in this weather too.

"Wolfstar!" She called out to her grandfather, slightly breathless from having not slowed down at all since the rain had started. Not that it had done her much good, of course. "Did you know Starclan has Dustpaw delivering cryptic nonsense? It's an abomination! And she smacked me!" Seeing her temperamental sister had been nice, if however brief. Primroselight was the only littermate she had now.

"Seriously though, we need to talk. I... think that message she gave me was referring to Dawnhawk."

His coat was damp and slicked down from the rain, but Wolfstar showed no signs of it bothering him as he padded through the territory back in the general direction of camp. Truthfully he didn't mind the rain - not in the heat of this season, anyway, so he was taking his time when Beechface's voice sounded from behind him. The leader half-turned, the squirrel in his mouth dangling with the motion, and pricked his ears curiously as she approached.

At the mention of Dustpaw, he smiled. Wolfstar had seen a few relatives during his time(s) in StarClan, and it always made him happy, though in a bittersweet sort of way. However, his expression darkened as she continued, mentioning some sort of message about Dawnhawk. He spat the squirrel out, and it fell to a limp heap at his paws. "Tell me everything."

Beechface was relieved when Wolfstar turned to her. Their relationship had been fraught with tension recently and it bothered her that she saw no way of trying to fix it, but at least when it came to the clan they could still function. She took a breath, and launched into what she'd been thinking on her run back towards Skyclan territory.

"She told me that 'every day goes through cycles, the sun sets allowing night to cover the forest, then the dawn rises and expels the blackness of night to reveal the sunny light of day. Just like days, so too do the seasons and cats young and old wax and wane in these cycles. Beware of the secrets that are kept under these changes.'"

"I was thinking, ''the sun sets allowing night to cover the forest, then the dawn rises and expels the blackness of night...' mom mentioned that there was something on his pelt after he attacked her. Said his pelt was covered in filth. And we know how vain he is, he'd never let his pelt get like that unless it was on purpose. We know he's been trying to hide from us and strike when it's most convenient for him... And it's been a season since he was exiled and the Asylum was ousted, which would fit with the mention of seasons." She began to pace, sodden tail flicking back and forth restlessly. "Is there a loner or other clan cat with the name of Night-? I know there's that one Riverclanner, but I doubt he has anything do with any of this, and he always struck me as loyal to his clan when we stayed there after the fire, for what little we saw of each other."

Beechface continued after a moment, "If he's been skulking around our borders, I don't think it's a stretch that he's encountered other clan cats and been sneaking around their borders too. The mention of the 'sunny light of day' I think... The only clan cat I can think of is Dayspring, Windclan's deputy. But why would any clan cat willingly help him when we've warned them repeatedly about what he's done? Unless they don't know he's actually Dawnhawk...?" And Dawnhawk was a proven liar, it was entirely possible he could have tricked someone into helping him stay hidden. "Sunny, light... Can't be Sunflower, obviously. Are there any cats with similar names in the other clans? Any new warriors announced at gatherings that I... didn't pay attention to?" Beechface let out a frustrated breath.

"I wish they'd just speak plainly for once. I don't know if I'm interpreting even half of this correctly, but the second I heard 'dawn' it stuck." She mewed, fading into uncertainty. Or maybe her littermate had simply made her paranoid beyond all reason. That was always a possibility. She needed to know how thoughts on this, needed someone's input that wasn't her own biased judgement.