Chapter 13: Shocking Discovery
Whisps of smokey gray cloud sheilded the light of the moon, rendering the forest in complete darkness. The echoing sound of the running river and the faint rustle of leaves drifted through the warm air. An owl hooted from somewhere above.
"We'll have to cross the river the stepping stones" Chaospaw instructed, his black pelt almost invisible in the darkness. Razorpaw had to follow him by sound, doing the best he could despite having no training.
They'd snuck out of camp the same way they had done the last time; through the hole in the barrier behind the nursery. Razorpaw was honestly surprised that no other cat had noticed yet, but in this case, they didn't want that to happen. He had considered inviting Stingpaw with them, but he still hadn't said a word to either his brother or sister since the night before.
"We've never crossed the river before" Razorpaw spoke out loud, "And it's pitch black too"
"I know" Chaospaw sounded like he was thinking, "But there isn't another way. We only got a quick run-through of the territory when Nightraven and Yellowgaze took us out this morning" He added, and Razorpaw remembered his first approved venture outside of camp walls, with Chaospaw and Leopardpaw, and the mentors. Stingpaw and Silentpaw had gone a seperate way.
When they finally stopped at the riverbank, Chaospaw leant down at the very edge, trying to judge how deep it was.
His eyes glinted, "It's shallow" He muttered, "But not enough for us to wade through"
"So we use the stones?"
"Unless you want to swim"
Ignoring his friend's sarcasm, Razorpaw stood square across from the first stone. Whether it was slippy or not, he wouldn't know until he landed.
"Think of it as hunting" Chaospaw tried to reason, "Land right on top of the mouse, dont overshoot it"
"Helpful" Razorpaw mumbled, finding it hard to imagine the stone as a mouse when he could hardly see the stone at all. He kept his eyes locked onto the flat rock, jutting out of the reasonably slow moving river, keeping his breathing quiet. He'd never caught a mouse before. He'd never caught any prey before. But catching a rock should surely be easier?
He bunched his muscles, and without waiting for his brain to process properly, leapt for the first stone. He felt both of his front paws his the stone, but only one of his hind paws. He stumbled backwards slightly, scraping at the smooth rock with his claws, trying to get a grip on the stone. The shadowy water pulled at the fur on his leg. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and hooked his claws around the edge of the stone, pulling himself further onto the rock. When his leg was finally out of the water, he collapsed onto the stone, panting.
"Alright, just one more to go!" He heard Chaospaw on the bank behind him. The black tom was purring loudly, "Lets try for all four paws this time!"
"Shut up!" Razorpaw grumbled, "You wont find it amusing when you fall in"
He didn't hear what Chaospaw said next. He jumped without hesitating this time, landing solidly on the rock. From here it was just a short hop to the opposite bank. He made the final leap, letting out a sigh of releif when his paws hit the grass on the opposite side. He looked back at Chaospaw.
The other tom was already perched on the first stone, and judging the distance to the second. Razorpaw watched with a slight tinge of annoyance as he made it from the first stone to the second, and the second to the bank, without a problem.
"Well" Chaospaw padded beside Razorpaw, "Now at least we know we can cross there"
The two toms made their way silently through the rest of the forest, heading gradually upland towards the Flower Feild. From there, they followed the river left until they came to where JungleClan's border met the divide with OceanClan and DesertClan.
"Darkheart said they were attacked as they followed the river back to camp" Chaospaw recited, padding lond the edge of the river. The clouds had shifted from the moon, lighting up the flowing water with a silvery glow.
"So it must have been across here" Razorpaw deduced, sniffing the occasional plant as they went past, trying to find an odd scent on the leaves.
"He couldn't give me many details, mostly due to the fact he was fighting and didn't really have time to think about it" Chaospaw explained, "But from what I gather, they fought on the riverbank, or somewhere close to it. Both Wolfstreak and Wildstripe had gone into the river at some point, that's why they were soaking"
"But Cheetahstar always warned the warriors not to fight near the river" Razorpaw remembered the leader's advice about fighting in the forest where the other clans weren't used to the dense undergrowth.
"Hm, right..." Chaospaw began to think. After a moment, Razorpaw noticed the look in his eye that usually meant he had some kind of theory, "Can you check all the bushes as we go along? But not the ones closest to the bank, go a bit deeper into the forest and check there. Come back to the river if you find a scent"
Not really sure where his friend was going with his idea, he nodded anyway and set off into the undergrowth. The thick canopy above blocked out most of the moonlight, so Razorpaw found it difficult to walk and his paws kept getting tangled in the brambles and the twigs. Growling with annoyance, he pulled his tail free from a trailing bramble, flinching as a torn became stuck in. He looked at the triangualar thorn, silently hating it, but chose to ignore it for now. He proceeded to check the tree beside him, sniffing abound the trunk and on the nearby leaves.
Chaospaw was pacing up and down the bank, muttering to himself as he padded back and forth. He had found several scents near the riverbank, but nowhere near the number of scents there would be if a battle happened here. He'd checked further up the river too, but this patch was the only one that had the trace of cat scent.
"I think I found the place where they fought" Razorpaw emerged from the shrubs, tail twitching irritably. Chaospaw blinked across the river, to where the marshy ground of OceanClan territory lay.
"There are a few scents here" The black tom nodded towards the ground. Razorkit leant down and sniffed to grass at the bank.
That's Wildstripe's scent! His eyes widened at the last remaining traces of his father's scent on the bank. He turned to Chaospaw, and then looked back down the river in the direction of camp. "But why...?"
"I'm going to be completely honest with you" Chaospaw started, more serious now than he was usually. Razorpaw blinked. "After you'd gone to sleep last night, I went to ask Shimmerpool about Wildstripe's death"
Razorpaw felt a cold breeze blow through. regardless, he continued to listen.
Chaospaw's eyes glittered in the moonlight, "She said she didn't see how he died. Apparently he was fighting with the rest of the group, and then he wasn't. Wolfstreak was the first to notice he was missing, and followed his scent here. She said when she saw them next, Wildstripe was dead, and both of them were saoking wet"
"Y-ou mean.... Wildstripe fell in the river and drowned?" Razorkit felt his throat dry up.
Chaospaw didn't look at him, but the black tom's eyes seemed to narrow slightly, "I thought that too. But then Shimmerpool said something else..."
He paused, but for Razorpaw it seemed like moons were passing while his friend was silent.
Chaospaw shut his eyes, "She said the wounds weren't bleeding as much as they should've been. If Wildstripe had drowned, the blood would've come out faster in the river, and he would've still been bleeding when Wolfstreak pulled him out"
"I dont get it!" Razorpaw shook his head furiously, "What are you trying to say!?"
"What I'm saying" Chaospaw lowered his voice, "Is that Shimmerpool thinks that Wildstripe was dead before he fell in the river"
Razorpaw blinked. He didn't understand how they had got to that conclusion, but if the Medicine Cat had said it, then it was most likely true. "But then how..." The silver tom didn't know what to say.
"This is my theory" Chaospaw sighed, knowing what he was about to say may hurt his best friend, "The gathering patrol was attacked where you found the scents. During the battle, Wildstripe was killed. One of the rogues dragged his body up here, pushed him in the river and then the rogues left. Wolfstreak came and saw wildstripe, dragged him out, but Wildstripe was dead. To most cats it'd look like he drowned. But Shimmerpool, the Medicine cat, noticed something was off"
"But why!?" Razorpaw demanded, thoughts racing with these new speculations, "Why would they do that?!"
There was an agonising silence. Chaospaw let out a defeated sigh.
"I dont know" He admitted. "I dont know"
Razorpaw felt his heart thumping in his chest. His body began to ache with that cold chill again, and he couldn't stop himself from shivering. He was confused and wanted answers, but the cat he'd depended most on for them knew only what he knew.
"We need to come back here in the morning" Chaospaw placed his tail on Razorpaw's shoulder, "If I'm right, there should be a blood trail from the site of the battle to at least the edge of the bushes, but it'll be impossible to see it in this light" Razorpaw blinked at him, almost not hearing his voice. When it had registered in his head, he nodded desolately.
"Okay" He croaked, swallowing hard.
"Come on" Chaospaw lead the way back into the forest, "Before somebody realises we're missing"
Iceclaw 
Silverstream 
Congratulate them 
