Chapter 7: Shadecloud

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SHADECLOUD

            “Who wants to go on the dawn patrol?” Lionblaze’s yowl woke Shadecloud up.

            She stumbled out of the warriors den, blinking her eyes a few times to clear her vision. Sure enough, Snowpelt and his friends were already walking towards Lionblaze. “We’ll patrol the WindClan border,” Snowpelt meowed.

            Lionblaze shook his head. “No, Snowpelt, thanks, but you guys have already done a lot lately. You and Dawnleaf just went on the moonhigh patrol with Cloudtail and Ivypool,” the ThunderClan deputy said.

            The SkyClan cats had volunteered for almost every patrol in the quarter-moon since they had arrived. Shadecloud wondered why they insisted on helping so much. What was in it for them?

            “Are you sure you don’t want us to go on the dawn patrol?” Snowpelt asked.

            “No,” Lionblaze replied. “Cavefrost will lead a patrol to the WindClan border with Grassfur and Brackenfur. Thornclaw can take Wavefur and Sunpaw to the ShadowClan border.”

            Shadecloud noticed Pondpaw approaching Lionblaze. “Can I go too?” the young apprentice asked hopefully.

            “No,” Lionblaze answered.

            Pondpaw’s tail drooped. “Oh,” she whispered. Then, she lifted her head and glared at Lionblaze. “It’s not fair! Why does Sunpaw always get to do the fun stuff?”

            “It’s okay,” Lionblaze meowed. “Do you know what you can do?”

            Her eyes widened hopefully. “What?”

            Hawktail interrupted their conversation. “Moonflame and I will go hunting near the Sky Oak,” she told Lionblaze.

            Before the ThunderClan deputy could respond, they trotted off into the forest. Pondpaw spoke up again. “What can I do?” she asked impatiently.

            Lionblaze stared at the ground for a moment before lifting his head. “You can collect moss for the elders bedding,” he said.

            Rage filled Pondpaw’s eyes. “I did that yesterday AND the day before that! Sunpaw gets to go hunting and she goes on border patrols all of the time! It’s quite obvious that she’s your favorite daughter!” Pondpaw shouted angrily.

            “Pondpaw, Sunpaw isn’t my favorite daughter. I love you both equally…” Lionblaze began.

            But Pondpaw wasn’t listening. She had turned around and was running off into the forest. “Pondpaw!” Cinderheart screeched.

            Every cat stood frozen in shock for one long moment. By then, Pondpaw had already disappeared into the woods. Finally, Lionblaze unfroze and darted after her. Cinderheart followed him. Shadecloud and a few other cats went with them. They followed the young apprentice’s scent trail and stopped near the abandoned Twoleg nest.

            Shadecloud gasped in shock. The limp body of a young cat laid on the ground. Long claw marks ran down her neck. The claw marks were too neat to be done by a fox. They were too small to be done by a badger.

            Someone in ThunderClan had murdered Pondpaw.

-Ok guys, do you know who murdered Pondpaw? :D

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