Curled around her mate and best friend, Desertstar pressed her nose into Eveningstorm’s fur, gently inhaling his scent and watching as pale light filtered through the old, splintering wood. She held him as tightly as she could without causing him discomfort, glad he was not awake to witness her desperation to keep him close. The morning had come too soon and the reality of her situation now weighed heavily on her. It felt wrong to leave them like this, blissfully unaware that she would soon be walking into a trap that she would most likely not return from, but it was for the best that they did not know. Soaking up what could be the last, precious moments with the ones she loved most, she rasped her tongue over Eveningstorm’s cheek in a bittersweet embrace. Then, on nimble feet, she quietly snuck out of camp and in the direction that Lighthollow had told her to go.
“Well, well, well— if it isn’t Desertstar,” Sandadder purred, watching as the golden leader approached them, “I take it that you did exactly as I asked?” he inquired, grinning so widely that his lips should have split apart.
With grace, Desertstar approached the border and stopped just a few fox-lengths from her father, eyes ablaze with a hatred far more intense than any fire. “Yes, now where are my kits,” she said in her coldest of tones, her tail lashing irritably behind her.
Sandadder stared at her, electing not to respond to her question. Instead, he turned to the warriors nearest to him. “Check the perimeter,” he barked to his henchmen, watching as they began searching for any uninvited guests. Once they had thoroughly combed through the area and they were sure that she had come alone, Sandadder let out a delighted sound. As his low laughter died down, he set his hard gaze on his daughter, the grin never leaving his face. “Seize her.”
Before Desertstar could react, she found herself pinned to the ground by two of Sandadder’s accomplices, and when the dust beneath her had settled, she saw that her children had been brought out— or rather, dragged out. Barely recognizable, the two apprentices struggled to lift their heads, clearly exhausted and covered in wounds both fresh and old. The leader’s heart lurched as she desperately tried to free herself, ignoring the sharp claws that penetrated her skin. “”You said you would let them go if I came here alone,” she thrashed, a bolt of panic shooting through her, dizzying and sick.
Sandadder laughed, enjoying the look of complete and utter helplessness on her face. “No, I said I would set them free,” Sandadder smiled and grabbed an apprentice, pulling Cactuspaw up by the scruff of her neck, “and what is more free than the sweet release of death?” he asked her, tilting his head.
A chill shot down her spine. “Please, no,” she whispered shakily, fearful eyes locked onto her daughter before they turned to Sandadder, alight with fury. “You’ve already got what you want.”
“My sweet, naive little girl,” he began softly, a cruel twist of his lips, “You should have known better and simply surrendered when I gave you the chance.” The joy then faded from his expression, replaced by something far more sinister. “Now I’m going to destroy you, and everything you’ve ever loved.”
Edgefrost
Riverclan Warrior
Looking over at Desertstar and her daughter, his eyebrows furrowed for a moment when watching Sandadder’s warriors flee, knowing they were losing this battle. A warning growl came from the large Maine Coon when Lighthollow approached them, but watched carefully as the tom just remained there. “Come on Sleekfeather.” Edge said quietly to himself, his thoughts were confirmed by Desertstar, and a small snort escaped him “Welcome to the family, I’m sure you’ll have a blast when we all decide to talk about our Daddy Issues.” The Maine Coon muttered sarcastically towards her, feeling his heart beating out of his chest as he watched the two cats in the water. Edge knew this was something that his older brother needed to take care of, besides.. If Sandadder managed to kill Sleekfeather, Edge would be after him within moments. A small sigh of relief escaped him when watching Sleekfeather releasing Sandadder, proud of his brother for taking the higher ground.. Proving he was better than Sandadder.
However everything happened within moments at the corner of his eye when spotting Sandadder suddenly leaping forward and grabbing Sleekfeather by the back of his neck, intending on murdering the black Bengal. Without hesitation, Edge left the Windclan leader’s side and suddenly ran towards the direction of Sleekfeather and Sandadder. The large tom lunged forward and his teeth connected into the side of Sandadder’s neck, causing the older tom to screech and release Sleekfeather. Dragging the other tom away from his brother, it wasn’t until Edge suddenly threw the rebel leader into the water. He knew Sandadder’s head had connected into the rocks within the water, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. It was like within moments, Edge was seeing red. All the effort that he had built up all these years had come crashing down, the doubt from others from Darktorrent to Snowstar had on him were correct.
He was a no good rogue, just like everyone had said from the moment he stepped foot within clan territory.
Wherever Twilightfoot was, Edge hoped that old bastard was having a good laugh about being right.
Without giving Sandadder any time to resurface from the water, Edge’s large paw suddenly went towards the Bengal’s chest and grabbed a pawful of fur, causing the tom to gasp for air once coming from the water. “Do not lay another paw on my brother-“ Edge said through gritted teeth as his paw connected to Sandadder’s face, causing the Maine Coon’s curved claws to slice through the older tom’s face. “Do you understand?” Edge hissed, connecting his claws into Sandadder’s face before suddenly slamming the tom’s face into the water. Feeling the older tom’s head connecting into a rock, blood surrounded the area as he knew the object had cut open Sandadder’s head. Lifting up the other tom’s head for a final time, Edge’s teeth were bared “Sleekfeather is better than both you and I, and it’s a shame that you ended up as his father.” He said, before slamming the tom’s head back into the water. Giving a warning glare to Sleekfeather and Desertstar, he felt the tom’s body grow limp before releasing it.
His dark green gaze watched as the Bengal’s body had floated up. The water began carrying Sandadder away almost gracefully. Edge had refused to look back towards the pair of siblings at first, making sure that the body had disappeared from his sight. Lowering his head for a moment, his gaze finally met Sleekfeather and the two had looked at each other for a while. It was almost like the two were having a silent conversation, their past had certainly come to haunt both of them within that moment. Both toms had to suffer with the sins of their father, carrying that burden with them for the rest of their lives.
Going towards Sleekfeather, the large Maine Coon was checking his brother for any wounds on his body. He knew that the dark Bengal needed to get checked out by a medicine cat. Watching Desertstar joining the two, her daughter was behind them. The three had looked at each other, before Edge dipped his head towards the Windclan leader “I’m sure all three of us need to have a conversation.. You and Sleekfeather mainly.” He said, knowing the two had plenty of questions about everything, from their upbringings to their family past. A couple of moments of silence surrounded Edge, thinking back on his actions towards the rebel leader. It wasn’t his proudest moment, but his actions had saved Sleekfeather’s life in the end.. No one messed with his family, if he was viewed as a bad guy so be it. After this day, Edge wouldn’t tell anyone about his actions.. Keeping it to himself for the rest of his life.
“Come on,” Edge said, turning around and helping Desertstar while Sleekfeather helped Desertpaw, heading towards the direction of Windclan camp “Desertstar needs to make it clear to everyone that she won the war..” Edge said, knowing this event would affect everyone’s lives that had been involved.
Stumbling away from Sleekfeather, Sandadder breathed heavily as he staggered backwards, his steps churning the murky shallows below. “Sleekfeather,” he grinned, and though his voice was deceptively jovial, there was only contempt behind his smile, “What an entirely unwelcome surprise.” His dark, amber gaze was sharp and calculating, and underneath his thinly controlled rage, a little unnerved. He shook his pelt. “What is this? Your second attempt at killing me?” he tilted his head mockingly, and took a step closer when he asked, “Are you really so eager to try your pitiful luck again?”
Sleekfather glared at his father, the blood dripping down his visage only adding to the intensity of his turquoise gaze. “The third,” he corrected him in the same faux pleasantness, his eyes glittering dangerously when he added, “and you know what they say: third time’s a charm.” In one fluid motion, he lunged in front of Sandadder, knocking him off balance and roughly pinning him against the riverbed. He held an unsheathed paw against his father’s throat, feeling disappointed that the water wasn’t deep enough to submerge him.
Sandadder let out a sharp exhale as he landed on his back, then laughed and said, “Look at you, coming to your sister’s rescue— since when did you get a heart?” he gritted out, his voice straining under the pressure of Sleekfeather’s paw, “But we both know that’s not why you’re really here, now is it?” his lips curled into a savage grin, clearly amused despite his current situation.
Sleekfeather stiffened at that, and instead of responding, he clenched his jaw, shame and anger tugging at him in equal measure.
Satisfied with himself for successfully hitting a nerve, the grin on Sandadder’s face deepened.“Seems we’re more alike than I thought we were,” he smirked, continuing to tease Sleekfeather in an attempt to unsettle him so that he’d lose his edge.
Anger quickly overtook shame, and Sleekfeather’s teeth bared into a snarl. “We are nothing alike,” he tightened his grip on his father, none too pleased about what he was implying.
Sandadder managed to laugh at that. “Deny it all you want but we both know that you’re no hero. After all, you’ve made it your life’s mission to kill me, remember?” he eagerly reminded him, then leaning into the paw that pressed against his throat, he looked directly at Sleekfeather, his dark eyes boring into his. “So, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to drown me? Slit my throat? Make me suffer for what I’ve done,” he went on, amber eyes twinkling with mirth as he soaked in Sleekfeather’s guilt ridden expression, feeding off his discomfort, “because that sounds a whole lot like something I would do.”
A heavy silence filled the air. Sleekfeather clenched his jaw as he desperately fought to hold onto his rage. Sandadder had taken everything from him. He was responsible for his biological mother’s death and for everything that had made his kithood so unbearable. Yet, as much as Sleekfeather didn’t want to admit it, Sandadder was right. This wasn’t justice. What he was doing was selfish and wrong, and if either of his mothers were alive to see him now, they would have felt truly disappointed in him. To take Sandadder’s life would make him no better than the monster his father had been— and he was better, dammit! His father had taken a lot from him, but he wouldn’t take that.
“No,” he breathed, slowly releasing his hold on his father and stepping away, “As much as I want to, killing you won’t change anything.” Then, after a quick look around, he added, “Besides,” he exhaled sharply, “Most of your warriors have fled, and you no longer have a family or place to call home. I’d run now while you still have the chance. Desertstar may not be as merciful as I,” he gave him a final angry glare with his warning, turning his back to leave Sandadder with his swirling emotions. Now that he no longer felt the need to kill his father, he had much more important things to attend to.
However, feeling outraged and humiliated, Sandader curled his lips into an impressive sneer and bit out, “You should have killed me when you had the chance!” before attacking Sleekfeather from behind, his teeth sinking into the back of his neck with the intent to kill him.
Just as Desertpaw felt as though she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, a pair of strong jaws had grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her to the surface. She gasped for breath, her body shaking with each lungful of air as she felt herself being dragged out of the water and onto land. Too exhausted to speak or hold herself up, she simply nodded and fell onto her side, curling up into a wet ball.
After Desertstar had been freed by Edgefrost, she could tell that her former warriors no longer wanted to fight. Although she didn’t know when they had begun to question their loyalty to Sandadder, it was obvious that they no longer believed in what her father stood for and were backing down, and truthfully? She didn’t want to fight, either. All she wanted to do was grab her daughters and go home. “If you wish to leave, I suggest doing so now,” she told them, giving them the opportunity to go without having to fight another meaningless battle, and as she expected, they took it.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she summoned the energy to get up, her legs feeling unsteady when she finally stood. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief when Edgefrost took notice and allowed her to lean on him for support. After the cruel morning she’d just endured, she was grateful to receive any kindness. “Thank you,” she told him as he guided her to her daughter. Anger had been the first thing she felt upon seeing her there, exhausted and shivering, but then there was the cooling, calm wash of relief in knowing that they were all still alive. Carefully laying down beside her, she began to lick her sandy-colored fur. “I am very proud of her,” she agreed, her throat growing tight as tears pricked at the back of her eyes, threatening to spill over. “You were very brave today, but this should have never happened to you, and for that I am sorry,” she apologized, her voice shaking with anger and guilt as she buried her face into her daughter’s damp fur. In her arms, Desertpaw stirred, murmuring incoherently for a bit before going unconscious again. As much as she wanted to respond to her mother, she needed to rest.
In the distance, Desertstar could still hear the ongoing battle between Sleekfeather and Sandadder, and when she turned to look, she noticed that Edgefrost was already watching. There was a look of worry in his gaze. Desertstar eyed him curiously, suddenly wondering who he was. Her brother must have meant a lot to him if he followed him here. After a few minutes, she broke the silence between them. “Sleekfeather has waited a very long time to fight our father,” she told him, not bothering to hide the fact that they were siblings. Certainly he knew that much by now.
Edgefrost
Riverclan Warrior
His dark green gaze was focused on Sleekfeather who was running ahead of him, the dark bengal running as if his life depended on it.. But Edge knew his brother’s reasoning, Sandadder needed to be stopped. If Desertstar somehow lost all of her 9 nines, Sandadder would fight Hailgaze to become the next leader of Windclan. Cactuspaw had stumbled into Riverclan camp looking for Sleekfeather. Once Sleekfeather and Edge had gotten the proper information, they left Riverclan without hesitation. Edge didn’t care about the scolding they could receive, no.. Family came first. His loyalty and love for Sleekfeather was unconditional just like his relationship with his sons. The broad tom’s muscles were almost screaming for him to slow down, but he refused to lose sight of Sleekfeather Incase his brother somehow got caught into an ambush. It wasn’t until both of them leap out of the forest and into the field.
That wasn’t until they saw Sandadder stsrting to drown an apprentice, and Desertstar was attempting to break free. He saw his older brother running without hesitation and crashed into Sandadder, both felines tumbling into the body of water. Edge quickly moved to Desertpaw and grabbed her scruff and pulled her away from the water. “Hey, you’re okay.” Edge said calmly, checking for any wound marks on her. It wasn’t until he clenched his jaw when Lighthollow was approaching her, the large Maine Coon was glaring daggers into him. But for some reason, this follower didn’t make a move to attack. Edge looked around the area and saw the look of hesitation on others’ faces, and knew that they must have been questioning their loyalties towards Sandadder after attacking innocent apprentices. “Stay here with him, if he tries anything then you call for me.” Edge leaned down to tell Desertpaw quietly. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but he had to rescue Desertstar. Without warning, Edge charged at one of the guards and rammed himself into them and caused both of them to go tumbling into the tall grass.
It gave enough time for Desertstar to break free.
Edge had the warrior pinned on the ground, his teeth baring as a low growl escaped the large tom. His curved claws poked at the other feline’s chest, threatening to pierce through the skin. It was a silent threat that Edge was giving, stay down and don’t fight back. His nostrils flared when the warrior had began to yield, not showing any signs of fighting back. He knew that if the follower wasn’t questioning Sandadder’s true intentions, there would had been a fight. Quickly leaving from the tall grass, Edge saw that the Windclan leader had managed to fend off the other feline. The black and gray Maine Coon went towards her and helped the molly up, and allowed her to lean on him “I can’t see them.” He muttered, beckoning his head towards the direction of Sandadder and Sleekfeather who were both fighting in the water. All that could be seen currently was the splashes of water. There were so many questions Edge had towards Desertstar, mainly when did she know that her and Sleekfeather were related.
“Cactuspaw is safe, she’s with our medience cat.” Edge reassured her, knowing it was something that was on her mind. The tom knew the anxious feeling that came to being a parent, especially when a child is in danger. Leading her towards Desertpaw, Edge helped the leader lower herself and lay with her daughter. He noticed the smaller Bengal looking off into space, her blue eyes were dull. Lowering himself until he looked at Desertpaw with a small smile “You helped your sister with your bravery.. I know your mom must be incredibly proud of you.” He mumbled to her, hoping it helped. Little did Edge know, Desertpaw’s mentor was his older brother, Orion. A funny connection, it was like their families were meant to be intertwined somehow. It wasn’t until he looked over the direction of Sleekfeather’s fight with his father, a worried look on his face
But he knew Sleekfeather would be capable of handling himself
lighthollow
windclan . warrior . sandadder's group
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The pale tabby stared coldly down at Desertstar as she lay pinned by the paws of a couple of Sandadder's loyal warriors. He was relieved he hadn't been given the task, instead, he prowled from where he had sat to watch Sandadder handle to apprentices, a slight pang of horror threatening to give him away at the splashing sounds of Desertpaw's head submerging under the water.
He had to do something, or the apprentice could easily die...! Shock like that wasn't good for any cat, let alone an apprentice. It had been horrible enough when he fell in the river during the warmer moons...
"Sandadder," There was a lilt of malice to his voice as he padded closer, glaring down at Desertpaw as if he had nothing but contempt for her. "Don't waste all your fun on her just yet." He mewed, "Don't you think her mother would rather enjoy seeing her suffer more? You could risk drowning her now, but think of how many different ways you could torture her, instead... it would be much more effective, knowing how many different types of pain she could suffer..." He flicked his tail.
He felt sick in the very pit of his stomach even suggesting it. But if he could stall it for long enough, Desertpaw had a chance of being rescued before Sandadder could accidentally go too far and kill her.
tw: torture, blood.
Sandadder clenched his jaw. “You little rat,” he hissed through gritted teeth, his voice shaking with rage as he redirected his attention to Desertpaw, eyes boring into hers. “You may not have inherited any your mother’s expertise in battle but you have certainly inherited her ability to irritate me.” Turning towards the warriors that held Desertstar down, he opened his mouth to speak. “Make sure she doesn’t break free,” he ordered them, watching as they instantly did as they were told, tightening their grip on the golden leader.
In the distance, Sandadder could hear water babbling nearby, and with a sneer, he approached the edge of the stream, dragging Desertpaw along with him. “N-No,” she cried out. “Please don’t—” her words dissolved into meaningless drivel as she began to hyperventilate uncontrollably. Desertstar violently twisted and snarled, threats snapping from behind her teeth. Though, no matter how hard she tried to escape, all she could do was watch helplessly as her body shook with both rage and terror. Fearing for her daughter’s life.
Sandadder glared at Desertpaw, his eyes dark and emotionless. “Let’s see how long you can hold your breath,” he hissed, quickly shoving the apprentice’s head beneath the icy depths. Desertpaw fought with everything she had, fear and the basic will to survive overriding how weak she had felt previously. Her lungs burned as she struggled to hold her breath, and after she’d been under for a minute, Sandadder released his hold on her, only for her to cough and sputter before he mercilessly pushed her back under the surface. Again and again.
Sleekfeather ran as fast as his legs would carry him, pushing his body to its limits as he crashed through the undergrowth. His sides ached painfully with every breath, yet his steps did not falter. The threat of his kin dying and Sandadder taking over the whole of Windclan nipped at his heels and spurred him onward. When Cactuspaw had found him and told him what had happened, he immediately took off in the direction she told him to go, not even bothering to wait for his brother. He knew that Edgefrost would be right behind him. This was revenge and more, and his nerves were humming with anticipation. Once he’d reached the border, it was only a matter of seconds before he found his target and crashed into Sandadder, sending them both flying into the water.
Cactuspaw
Windclan Apprentice
Cactuspaw was groggy as she was being dragged by a warrior.
Her lean body was dragging against the ground, her head was hanging as she felt a mixture of dirt and tiny pebbles mixing into the fresh wounds that were infected on her by Sandadder just a couple of hours ago. At the moment, Cactuspaw had completely felt numb both physically and mentally after the torture that her grandfather had put her through. Wound marks were covering her entire body while the tip of her ear was hanging after Sandadder had attempted to tore it off earlier. The gray Bengal would have given up, but her and Desertpaw still had hope; hope of their mother rescuing them. Sandadder had used the observation of Cactuspaw and Desertpaw being extremely close to their mother to his own advantage, to inflict pain on Desertstar.. Because without two of her daughters, the Bengal leader would be a shell of her former self, she loved all of her children too much.
It wasn’t until she felt the grass, the familiar voice of Desertstar had caused Cactuspaw to slowly look up. Her mint green eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep and nutrition, her body covered in wounds that were old and new. It was like the gray Bengal was completely different from when Desertstar had seen her last. The molly’s breathing was short and rapid, almost as if she was having trouble breathing. “Mom?” Cactuspaw whispered, her paw reaching out to the direction of her mother but released a shriek when harshly thrown on the hard ground by the warrior that had dragged her along with being roughly grabbed by Sandadder. The gray Bengal hadn’t even attempted to fight back, she knew it was a losing battle. If Cactuspaw made one wrong move, she would surely die.
“Mom?!” Cactuspaw said as Sandadder quickly grabbed her, and let out a cry of pain as the darker Bengal had grabbed her and was ready to slice fully on her neck. Whining at feeling the claw marks going through her skin, her eyes widened slightly when feeling Sandadder releasing her and was thrown on the hard ground. Looking over at her sister, Desertpaw, the two sisters were staring into each other’s eyes before hearing the other molly’s words. Run. Quickly looking over at her mother, Cactuspaw quickly stumbled away from her grandfather and threw herself into the woods. Her breathing was shallow and was starting to feel dizzy from the amount of blood loss she had suffered. The gray Bengal that she had to be careful within her actions, the lives of her mother and sister were in her paws now.
Knowing returning to Windclan would be a huge risk for the two felines and herself as Sandadder’s followers would go straight there and her clan mates would suffer an ambush. Cactuspaw knew that Hailgaze would be able to hold down the camp, but also they lost a good amount of felines due to them joining Sandadder’s side. No, Cactuspaw had to think outside of the box for once.. Breezehowl and Sandysnake taught her that. It wasn’t until an image of a cat had popped into her head, she knew that it was perhaps not one of her best ideas but the molly was desperate at this point. Her family and clan was in danger, she needed the help. ‘I’m sorry Mama and Sister.’ Cactuspaw silently apologized as she didn’t want her family to think she had deserted them. The tall Bengal was sprinting through the woods, her mint green eyes in tears as she was fighting the pain and dizziness.
“Please,” Desertstar pleaded with him, desperation clinging to her shaking voice. “Please don’t do this. They’re just apprentices.”
Sandadder watched, giddy with excitement as he watched his daughter crumble before him, her eyes wide and full of fear. “Oh, look at you,” he cooed, tilting Cactuspaw’s head up with the tips of his claws, “Begging for me to spare their lives when you were full of such fire a moment ago.” He traced along the contours of Cactuspaw’s jaw before sliding down and wrapping an unsheathed paw around her slender neck, lightly tapping her jugular with a singular claw. “I never knew you were so weak,” he sneered, his nose wrinkling in disgust.
In the dirt beside them, Desertpaw laid lifelessly on her side, breathing softly as she slowly began to wake. It took her a few seconds to gain her bearings, even longer to will her eyes to open, and though her senses were dampened by starvation and blood loss, she could feel the ground beneath her was warm and covered in cool blades of grass. Through blurred vision she looked up to see Sandadder’s lips curling in a sneer, and when she blinked again, she could make out the details of her sister in his grasp. The latent bloodlust in Sandadder’s cold, dark amber eyes made her stomach twist in terror as she watched his claws glint in the sunlight, just seconds from tearing into her sister’s neck.
Desertpaw considered her options for a second, she considered running or drifting back off into unconsciousness, anything except having to fight. As much as Orion had tried to train her, to teach her how to be a warrior, she was still a coward— but she knew if she didn’t do something, her sister would surely die. This was her only chance. Sucking in a deep, terrified breath, Desertpaw used what little strength she had left to bite Sandadder’s foot. Every ounce of pain, fury, and fear she could find was put into the bite, and the pressure from her fangs bore down with so much force that it actually hurt. “Run!” she muttered, still bearing down with everything she had.
littlewoods
windclan . medicine cat . 27 moons
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Pale moonlight flickered through the entrance to the medicine den, casting its light glow onto the tossing and turning form of Windclan's small medicine cat. The tom's brows furrowed as he flipped over once again in his nest.
As Littlewoods ran across the moors, his ears were ringing with the screams of young cats. Fur, blood, and terrified expressions of his clanmates flashed in front of his eyes as his paws thudded down harder and harder, pushing himself onward.
"I'm coming!" He called, not knowing if the cats he was trying to find could hear him. As he continued, the grass began to feel damp, and the medicine cat fought against it, his paws slowing and being sucked down into it until he found himself unable to move. A dark red, metallic-smelling liquid swilled around his paws, and Littlewoods felt bile rising in his throat.
Blood.
The little tom's head snapped up, and he panted heavily, shaking off the horror of the dream from his mind. But being awake did little to quell the feeling of fear and wrong in his stomach.
Something was terribly, terribly wrong. It wasn't unnatural to have a chill for the time of year it was, but there was something so deeply wrong that it wasn't at all normal.
Littlewoods knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he spoke to Desertstar. Hurrying out of his nest, he padded across the clearing toward his leader's den, peering inside and expecting to see her curled up together with Eveningstorm. Instead, she was nowhere to be seen. The medicine cat stumbled backwards, his entire pelt fluffing up with alarm.
Oh no, no, no no... He hoped it wasn't about Desertstar. Hurrying toward the warriors den, the medicine cat carefully ambled through the entrance, his paw sharply prodding his target in the side as soon as he had climbed over enough cats to reach him.
"Hailgaze!" He hissed through grit teeth, his entire expression haunted, eyes as roung as saucers and fully dilated. "Desertstar isn't in camp!"