x.nobodys.listening;; (tag:moony,silv,&kits)

[Đarκsong]

Darksong reluctantly padded into the forest. This was perhaps the worst patrol he had ever gone on. He was with the two she-cats he hated most within the clan; Moonwhisker, Patchstar's faithful servant, and Silverdust, the one who never shuts up. The patrol couldn't have been worst, unless perhaps Patchstar was in it as well.

The ebony tom had to shove all of this out of his mind though. There were more important things to worry about than she-cats. Most of the kits were missing. Jaywing encouraged them to take off while their mothers were sleeping. Darksong silently hoped that Patchstar would eat her for that. Well, if it was possible.

Darksong scented the air. He could feel that something just wasn't right. It probably had to do with the fact that he could scent his estranged uncle, Secret. A growl rumbled in his throat. He recalled Pantherheart's warning. Darksong was supposed to kill him.

Did he wait too long? Had Secret already done more damage? Darksong hoped not, but felt that something had gone awry today.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Silverdust bounced through the forest. To all appearances, the young warrior was on a happy jaunt through the early-spring forest; only the way she kept casting about the air for kit-scent, and a certain determined glimmer at the very back of her eyes, revealed that she, too, was on a search for some missing cats. She ranged back and forth around the other two cats, her cheerful grin fading slowly to a scowl as they made their way through the forest.

"There's too much Clan scent around here," the she-cat complained, pacing restlessly around Darksong. "Cats hunt around here all the time. I couldn't smell a kit if it was right in front of my face."

[რoonwhisker]

Moonwhisker walked gracefully and swiftly through the forest, in the lead with two cats behind her. One, was Darksong. Darksong was, well to be honest she found him to be quite a nuisance. He just.... wasn't something right about the way he looked at Patchstar. It was like hatred, but why would Darksong have reason to hate him? Moonwhisker wasn't sure, but she knew it was none of her business anyways.

The second cat was Silverdust. What was there to say about her? She was energetic and jumpy. She didn't really bother her... it was more a feeling of indifference.

They patrol was on a mission, a mission to find the missing kits. She paused as sniffed the air before meowing, "I can scent them. They were here. But there's something.... else..." She trailed off, not wanting to say her fear. Was it really blood in the air?

[Đarκsong]

Darksong stopped beside where Moonwhisker stood. " 'Course they were here. We aren't that far from camp yet!" The ebony tom felt like he was on patrol with a pair of morons. DUH, a lot of cats hunt here, DUH, the kits were here.

Instead of stating the obvious like his companions, Darksong added, "I scent that there's a rouge about...." He didn't want to come right out and say who it was, "...and another thing that seems to go along with them; blood." The word sent a shiver down his spine.

He wouldn't hesitate to kill Secret if he had harmed one of the kits.

[♫.Starredmyst]

As Darksong and Moonwhisker conferenced, Silverdust continued to walk in circles around them, wrinkling her nose as though it would help her smell better, a frown slowly sinking across her expression. She finally stopped and turned to face away from the other two cats.

"I smell it too," she muttered back to them, proving she wasn't totally oblivious to the conversation after all. "The blood, and the rogue. There's a lot..."

She hesitated, taking a few hesitant steps closer. If only Riss were here! He might be hopeless, but he had a good nose. "The rogue...blood..." she faltered, "kits and a queen. That way."

Without waiting for the other two -- who were both her seniors and rightfully in charge of the patrol -- she bounded straight in the direction she'd indicated, so directly that she was scrambling through bushes instead of around them. Something was wrong with the kits!

[რoonwhisker]

'Course they were here. We aren't that far from camp yet!"

Moonwhisker hissed. Why did he have to be so disrespectful? Oh, right. He was Darksong. She ignored him as she normally would and told herself to deal with it.

"Silverdust! Wait you don't kno--" then she stopped dead. She really could smell the blood and cat and rouge. The cat was Snowdrift. She sped up her pace and with each graceful pawstep she bounded towards the source of the blood smell.

She yowled in fear as she found the body of Snowdrift. Bloody and dead. She was defidentaly dead. "What happened..." she said, it wasn't a question. It was a statement.

[Đarκsong]

Darksong quickly bounded after the two she-cats. The smell of blood became stronger with every pound of his dark paws onto the forest floor. He didn't know if he could live with himself if they found that Secret had killed a kit. The ebony tom would feel horribly guilty, seeing as he was given a warning about his uncle.

His jaw gaped open at the scene before him. The completely harmless queen, Snowdrift, lay in a bloody heap. He felt thankful it wasn't one of the kits, yet still felt horrible for his dead clan mate. Then a realization came to him.

".....I told Patchstar there was a rouge about!" Darksong growled, then continued, " 'Course he didn't think it was a threat, and now Secret killed one of our queens!" He ignored the fact that he let his uncle's name slip and that the other cats would have no idea who he was talking about.

[♫.Starredmyst]

Silverdust, caught by the bushes, skidded onto the scene seconds after the other two. Her eyes widened as she took in the gentle, nervous queen's mangled body -- more morbid than most of what she'd seen in her short life -- and she felt oddly distant as the other two cats spoke.

"... and now Secret killed one of our queens!"

The words, or rather, the familiar name, jolted the she-cat back to her senses and she opened her mouth without thinking. "Se --"

Then she remembered just where she'd heard the conversation -- back before Darksong and Rainclaw were really together, how she'd promised not to keep her knowledge of the rogue -- no pun intended -- a secret.

So she quickly changed her words to something more Silv-typical. "See?" she demanded, speaking quickly, trying to make her tail bottlebrush a little more. "I told you I scented a queen! This is bad -- we better go back and tell the Clan -- what kind of sick cat would KILL a queen?"

[რoonwhisker]

"Darksong's uncle," Moonwhisker hissed. She had indeed known about Secret. You really didn't think that Rippedheart would keep a secret from her? He'd felt a need to tell her, so he had behind Rissingdawn, Silverdust, and Rainclaw's backs. Well, not Rainclaw. He'd told her and she honestly hadn't cared.

"We need to find the kits, now," she meowed, hiding the fact that she was very nervous. With that she sped her pace, following the faint scent of kits.

[Đarκsong]

Darksong stared at Moonwhisker, completely confused as to how she knew about Secret. Then again she was deputy and organized patrols and all that. No doubt someone would have spotted him before.

"Err, Moonwhisker, shouldn't we do something about Snowdrift?" He asked, but the deputy had already sped away. Darksong took it upon himself to take care of it. Thus, he yowled to her, "I'll bring her to camp and report what's going on."

Darksong carefully lifted Snowdrift's limp body and slipped it on his back. He padded off carefully, being sure not to drop her. It felt to him like he was in a dream. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. The dread of reaching camp and delivering the horrible news weighted heavily on him, just like the queen's body. -exit darkeh-

[♫.Starredmyst]

Silverdust was surprised to hear Moonwhisker speak Secret's name, and with such venom. Not that she blamed the deputy her venom after Snowdrift's unexpected murder, but it seemed that there was really nothing for Silv to keep a secret after all.

Suddenly, though, what had seemed to be an amusing twist of events had become much more serious. What if, by revealing the rogue's presence like Riss had suggested, they could have prevented the poor queen's death?

Struggling to decide, the young warrior shook the thought off. Darksong was padding away, carefully carrying Snowdrift's body; still feeling a little sick at the sight, Silverdust elected to follow her deputy's trail. She hurried after the she-cat.

"Moonwhisker, wait, I'm coming..." Putting her nose to the ground, she began to follow their trail as well.

OOc;{So they just find the kits and get them out of the picture?}

[რoonwhisker]

"Moonwhisker, wait, I'm coming..."

Moonwhisker paused a bit, slowing her pace so Silverdust could catch up. She'd herd Darksong, and she was fine with it. She just hoped Patchstar wouldn't go insane about it.

ooc;// argh. dead muse.

[Đarκsong]

Purplekit was completely lost. He had followed the other kits with few worries, but now was frightened. Of course all four of the kits were together now. Purplekit still felt alone despite that, aching for his mother and the comfort of the nursery.

"Guys....how do we get back to camp?"

((ooc: So now we just need Paintedkit (Snoweh), Rainkit (Laur), and Maskkit (Flower) to reply. Let's just say, to make this quicker, that all 4 kits are together))

[Flower]

"I don't know. We need to get back, though. They've probably sent out a search party. And they'll follow our scent and find us. Let's just wait." Maskkit was not so sure he believed his own words. Oh, please, let it be true. Please, please, please let us get home. Maskkit called out inside of him. He remembered the tales of his elders, and added a word to his silent prayer of hope. Starclan. Let us get home.

[.&&. Snowsong.]

His fur bristled. Paintedkit smelled something.. wrong, that hinted death and a foreboding atmosphere. A faint hiss escaped his lips, and his lobes somewhat lowered. A glare was cast to the world, but then his sapphires flicked calmly to the others within his group of lost kits.

"We'll make it back to Camp. I promise, or I'll die." It was a vow, a true vow. It was obvious, since his tone was completely serious.

With all his effort, he began to sniff, hoping to catch a whiff of any approaching or nearby patrols. He could have been hallucinating when he heard rustling, faint rustling, and then caught the faintest hints of Moonwhisker and Silverdust.

"Guys... Let's stay put for a bit.." He hoped his decisions was the correct one. If he led them all to their deaths, then he would feel so horrible.