Dawnwing nodded in agreement. "With the way things are now this peace may not last as long as we hope, but there is always a chance of these friendships persisting and perhaps preventing conflict." She shook her head fondly at Tigershine's comment. He had a point, but the realistic view was one that was always needed.

The question Hawkpaw had been about to ask Frostpaw died on her tongue with Blackmoon's order. She glanced at the other apprentice, a bit nervous, and she could see the young tom clamming up again at the mention of the DuskClan. He'd actually seemed to be warming up a little bit to her too. Though, he'd said the DuskClan cats freaked him out a bit, but were they really so bad? Everyone else was getting along so well, so why should they be any different? She knew they lived in tunnels underground, which was admittedly a bit strange, but that didn't make them bad right?

The silver she-cat grinned at Braveleap, "We'd have to pick them up on the way back, no time to wait for stragglers." Hailshine picked up a paw and shook it a bit, but none of the mud really came off. "This is a bit much, even for me."

As the voices of the group dropped closer to a whisper Hawkpaw picked up the pace, as much as she could with her smaller stature in the thick mud, to get closer to Blackmoon with Frostpaw following shortly behind her. "If DuskClan is where the Moonbrook is shouldn't they be expecting us?" She asked towards her mentor. There were rules about attacking medicine cats on their journey to commune with StarClan right? They wouldn't try to hurt them.

Hawkpaw could tell that Blackmoon and a couple of the other warriors seemed to become a little more tense and nervous as they stepped mercifully out of mud and onto stone and grass. She let out a tiny sigh of relief at the familiar feeling under her paws. It would take ages to get the dirt out of her sand colored fur. She felt even worse for Frostpaw; his pelt was fluffy and white.

She met her mentor's serious blue gaze and nodded firmly. "Okay. I'll be quiet and no more questions until we're on our way out." She wanted to show him that she could follow his instructions and curb her curious nature. The last thing she wanted to do was be a nuisance to the leader of another clan. That would be a terrible way to start, or end, her first half-moon gathering.

Blackmoon's tail almost startled her as her vision adjusted but she moved in closer to him, enough that she could feel his fur brush against hers every so often, but not enough to get under his paws. Frostpaw was already standing close to Dew-whisker; looking like he was almost trying to disappear into the she-cat's shadow as he walked with his fur fluffed with nerves. Without the dim light of the moon it made it difficult to see and the small shafts of light that crept through cast odd, spiky shadows on the ground around them. It felt almost sinister in the quiet and she didn't like it.

At Tigershine's soft words she squinted towards what, at first glance, appeared to be an area of the forests shrouded in even deeper shadow that Hawkpaw quickly realized was the mouth of a tunnel. Two cats waited for them: a brown and white tabby, who she assumed was Willowcloud based on size, and a smaller gray and white she-cat, that must be Lavenderpaw.

"Glad to see everyone made it here safely." Willowcloud greeted them as they approached. Her green eyes were steady and calm as they swept over the group, pausing for a moment on Hawkpaw before continuing on. "It's almost time. Come." She flicked her tail at them before turning and vanishing into the darkness of the tunnel behind her.

What's her problem? Hawkpaw wondered as she saw the narrowed eyes of Lavenderpaw in her direction. She didn't have to be friendly, but she could at least not make it so obvious that she didn't like them. She saw Frostpaw press himself closer to Dew-whisker; seemingly hoping that he could vanish into the speckled gray fur of his mentor. She felt bad for the nervous young tom. Clearly he didn't do great around other cats and hostility wasn't going to make that any better.

She followed after Blackmoon and the rest of their party as they disappeared into the tunnels. She already started to feel nervous as they lost sight of the little bit of sky that they could see through the pines and those nerves only increased at the unfamiliar smells that swirled around the tunnels. How the DuskClan cats could live like this she could never guess, and it didn't seem like they were interested in chatting about it either. She stuck close to Blackmoon as her paws slipped a bit on the sandy floor of the decline they were following. The medicine cats made this journey every moon? It must get tiring after a while knowing that the place to speak with StarClan was in a deep, dark hole. Not that she'd let that stop her from fulfilling her duties to the best of her ability. She didn't want to let Blackmoon or her clanmates down.

As they entered a room where they could once again see the sky she felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop a bit as she looked up into the bright light of the half-moon and the stones around it that looked like they were made of the stars themselves. It was beautiful.

She was so distracted looking up that she didn't even notice anything was wrong until she heard Braveleap cry out. Her head snapped towards the Moonbrook and she recoiled in horror at the still, matted body that floated in the water. She wanted to follow Blackmoon, and the others, to see what had happened but she couldn't get her paws to move from where they'd rooted themselves to the floor of the cavern. She looked to her left and saw that Frostpaw had pressed himself down onto the stone, ears flat against his head and fur fluffed up as if he could ward off the panic that suddenly filled the room.

Addertongue and Hailshine rushed past after Braveleap. The bravado that the sandy colored tom had possessed when they first met drained away as he stared in shock between the body of Russetfern and his grieving clanmate. Hailshine stepped next to Braveleap pressing her side against his offering what little comfort she could as Dawnwing stepped gingerly into the stream.

The small calico pressed her nose gently into Russetfern's sodden fur and felt no warmth or breath. As Dew-whisker had said, all it took was the one bite and he was gone. She let out a mournful sigh before looking towards Braveleap, "I'm sorry Braveleap, there's nothing I can do for him, it's been too long." She looked up towards the sky, hoping that StarClan was still watching, "He was a courageous and kind warrior and BirchClan will mourn terribly for his loss.

Hawkpaw could see Willowcloud standing nearby looking just as confused and stricken by this as the rest of them, but before the medicine cat could say anything Shadeclaw whirled towards her from where he'd been standing near the back of the room. "What's the meaning of this?!" His teeth were bared and green eyes flared with anger as his tail lashed wildly behind him, "Is this some kind of sick way of admitting DuskClan has been responsible for these murders this whole time?! Of declaring war between clans?!"

The emotions filling the cavern were near stifling as accusations were thrown between clans. Hawkpaw looked nervously at each of the cats; many of them looked like they were ready to jump at each other's throats at any second. They couldn't do that right? Not here by the Moonbrook. Then again, someone already had, her eyes briefly trained back on the body of Russetfern floating limply in the reddish water.

Dawnwing moved to touch her nose against one of Braveleap's ears. "Let's get him out of the water. We will carry him home so the clan can sit vigil," she meowed softly before giving a nod to Addertongue who gently gripped the back of Russetfern's neck, grimacing at the blood matted in the fur, and pulled him from the Moonbrook onto the silvered stones.

Hawkpaw didn't feel comfortable enough to move closer to the grieving clanmates, but her heart ached for the kind tom. Instead she stepped towards Frostpaw and brushed her pelt with his hoping to offer some support. She could feel the smaller cat trembling faintly as he stared wide eyed at the arguing cats. If it came to a fight she doubted any of the medicine cats had much training, she herself had none. She looked up through the break in the ceiling hoping for some sign from StarClan that this should cease, but there was nothing.

"Peace Lavenderpaw." Willowcloud's striped tail flicked the apprentice in the side. "There is no need for insults." Though her voice was fairly steady there was still a note of fear in her eyes as they looked between the rear of the cavern and the sloping tunnel that lead out of the cave.

Shadeclaw opened his mouth to retort when Foxstar's voice echoed into the cavern. He nodded in agreement with his sister as she pressed up next to him. "What do you have to say about this?" His voice was no longer raised but eyes were still narrowed with barely contained rage as he gestured with his tail towards the back of the cavern.

It was more difficult to keep quiet than Hawkpaw expected it to be, especially when Foxstar leveled an insult at ThornClan. What right did she have to make judgements when the body was in DuskClan territory and not theirs. She kept her mouth shut however when Blackmoon snapped at Shadeclaw and Stonefoot, the former who had been just about to growl a response to Foxstar's words.

She saw no trace of the kind and friendly tom that had spoken to her on their journey here. Braveleap looked like he was ready to leap at DuskClan's leader at a moments notice. She hoped he didn't, that would only lead to more bloodshed and that was the last thing that anyone needed or wanted. She couldn't imagine the pain he must be in. She thought about losing Blackmoon or one of the other apprentices that had practically become siblings to her. It was a terrible feeling and it wasn't even something that had happened.

Dawnwing stepped up next to Blackmoon, giving Braveleap a sharp, but not unkind look. She dipped her head respectfully towards Foxstar. "If I may, I believe the true intention of this conversation is being clouded by anger and grief. Braveleap was Russetfern's mentor, he'd only just recently become a warrior before he went missing early this morning." Hopefully Foxstar could understand where the tom was coming from. "Is it possible one of your clan may have seen something? I do not wish to accuse anyone, simply find out what could have happened to him since it is unlikely his body could've been brought here completely unseen."

Hopefully what Dawnwing said would be enough to stop a fight from breaking out, but Hawkpaw still stuck close to Frostpaw. If something did happen she just hoped she could get the white tom to safety since he was practically frozen to the floor. Who else could they blame really? The body was deep in DuskClan territory and they had no other way of determining who might be responsible unless someone had seen it and said nothing.

Hawkpaw didn't think her muscles had ever been this tense in her entire life, not even during her apprentice ceremony when Blackmoon got named as her mentor. Excited nerves maybe but never this much fear. She glanced up at the form of Dew-Whisker who stood above her and Frostpaw ready to defend them if it came down to it. She didn't want them to and they were wildly outnumbered by the DuskClan cats since they were so nearby their camp. She didn't want anyone to get hurt on her account.

At Foxstar's words she felt her entire body relax. Despite them not getting to meet with StarClan, not that she really wanted to after all that had happened, she was more than happy to co back home and bury herself in the moss of her nest and try to get the image of Russetfern's still body out of her mind. She saw the white tom look over at his medicine cat and saw the faintest frown and cross Willowcloud's face before she turned away and herded her own apprentice out of room and up the tunnel. As this happened Addertongue gently lifted Russetfern's body and helped to position it between himself and Braveleap so that they could carry him home.

She helped Frostpaw get his feet under him as they all began to follow after who she assumed was Whiteshadow. She stuck close to Blackmoon's side and once they'd all entered the sloping tunnel she saw a long legged black tom step in behind them so that they were pinned in between the two DuskClan warriors.

"Why did StarClan let this happen?" She heard the soft mutter from Frostpaw, said to no one in particular, and she didn't have an answer for him.

A loud yowl woke Wolfheart from a very comfortable slumber. He blinked amber eyes open to see that many of the other warriors in the den were also stirring with mumbles of confusion. It was still dark out with only the faintest bit of the morning sun beginning it's slow crawl across the sky. He stood and shook the bits of moss clinging to his dark tabby pelt before stepping towards the entrance of the warriors den and nearly slammed directly into Swiftflight. The silver tabby had a wide look of distress and panic in her eyes. "What's going on?" his voice was gruff, but not unkind.

"Dawnwing and her group are back from Moonbrook," Swiftflight said in a rush. "They found Russetfern. He's been murdered." The she-cat's voice broke at the end of her sentence.

The other warriors in the den who were still waking up began to cry out in shock and horror; pushing themselves onto their feet. Wolfheart forced his own paws to move, brushing past Swiftflight and into camp. "Wake Jaystar, immediately." Swiftflight darted off towards their leaders den with a speed that fit her name well.

At the center of camp he could see their medicine cats as well as Braveleap and Addertongue, the two that Jaystar had sent with them as protection. Resting on the ground in the center of them was the limp and matted body of one of their youngest warriors. Braveleap's apprentice as well, he could only imagine how grief stricken the tom must be and he felt a mixture of rage and sorrow beginning to well up as he padded towards them. "What happened? Where did you find him?" he directed his questions mostly towards the medicine cats.

Dawnwing responded quietly, "We don't know what happened. When we all got to the Moonbrook his body was floating in it." She shook her head, still trying to grasp the situation, "DuskClan said they knew nothing about it."

He sat down and shook his head. No way that was true.

It just didn't seem possible. The clans had been at peace for almost as long as Wolfheart had been deputy. Why would DuskClan so suddenly decide to begin murdering their clanmates when they had done nothing? His tail lashed angrily at Tigershine's words. All they had to go on was apparently the word of Foxstar and as far as he knew she'd never particularly liked any of the clans aside from her own. If any of the leaders would be the ones to start a war it would be her. Even Emberstar, arrogant as he was, would never put his clan in danger for any but the best reasons.

Yowls of agreement started from the crowd as Jaystar's words and Wolfheart turned to face him. "We can't let them just get away with this. They kill one of our own, leave his body to be found in the Moonbrook, and then have the audacity to say that they had nothing to do with it." Amber eyes narrowed, "They need to pay for what they've done." The other clans would have to be in agreement as well. Based on what Dawnwing said all of the cats who went saw the aftermath. There was no way that the ThornClan and MistClan medicine cats wouldn't warn their leaders about what DuskClan was doing. With all three clans together they could force Foxstar to admit her guilt.

"Why's there so much yelling?" a slender, blurry eyed tortoiseshell stepped up behind Ashenpaw, confusion obvious on her face. Squirrelpaw glanced at her sister, "Everyone seems angry."

"What?" Squirrelpaw's voice was strained as she craned her head around the larger cats to see Russetfern's body resting inside the circle of her clanmates. "That's crazy," she shook her head, "They can't be serious, it's just the shock of it right now. Once the tensions die down they'll realize war is a bad idea, right?"

"It's been more than just Russetfern," Wolfheart growled, "Other cats have been murdered and the longer we wait the more innocents that die." He looked to Jaystar, "The other clans wouldn't stand for this either. I know for a fact that Emberstar wouldn't." If they got ThornClan on their side as well then there was a chance that they could catch DuskClan unawares. The main concern would be trying to fight them in those narrow tunnels. They'd have to find a way to lure them out into the open where there was a better chance of victory.

Finchwing pushed herself to her feet from where she was sitting next to Russetfern's body, "If we attack DuskClan without giving them a chance to defend themselves then we're no better than the fleabags who did this. We could at least wait until the next Gathering and speak of it then, or just ask them to turn over whoever is responsible rather than attacking blindly."

"If we wait that long there's a chance someone else will be killed!" Wolfheart shot back at the brown furred warrior who bristled in response. She couldn't be serious. How could she be so willing to let DuskClan get away with this? Russetfern was a warrior just like her, younger than her, and she was willing to let his murderer go unpunished. His tail lashed and his eyes narrowed at the she-cat.

Squirrelpaw brushed her pelt against Ashenpaw, "Me neither, but I don't want anyone else to be murdered in cold blood either." Her head swiveled around as Stoatpaw approached and bristled slightly at her sibling's words. "Russetfern was just murdered, maybe have some respect for once," she turned her back, "Besides we don't know if we're going to be fighting anyways."

A low growl pulled itself from Wolfheart's chest as the arguing continued amongst his clanmates. They would need everyone on their side if they were to win against DuskClan in a fight, and even more so if Silverstar declined to join them. They needed to be united in this or even more lives would be lost. There needed to be no hesitation if he was going to protect his clanmates and make sure that something like what happened to Russetfern didn't happen again.

Both Badgerthorn and Jaystar made their points, both of which were viable. His eyes flicked across his clanmates, looking for hesitance or reluctance to take the fight to Duskclan. His eyes landed on their medicine cat who looked mostly resigned to it all, but all she needed to do was make sure that they were in fighting shape. Like Tigershine said, they had no say in war. However, many of the others including Addertongue and Cinderfang had a fire burning in their eyes. That was what they needed.

His head turned with the others at Ashenpaw's outburst and his eyes narrowed. "Don't question your leader Ashenpaw. He's doing what will keep us all safe in the future."

Finchwing's ears flattened to her head as she pushed through the crowd of cats to where Ashenpaw stood with the other apprentices. "Keep quiet! This doesn't concern you." She snapped towards her apprentice. Her eyes flicked towards Jaystar as he looked away, and her voice quieted after, "I don't like this any more than you do, but if Jaystar decides we fight then we must fulfill our duty to our clan. There are others who don't see the need for senseless violence, but there is too much hate right now for many of them to see clearly."

"Should I prepare regular patrols for the morning or do you wish to send one to MistClan?" Wolfheart directed the question towards Jaystar as Pale-eye, along with a few other warriors, lifted and carried Russetfern's body from the camp for a proper burial.