"When should we do it?" A voice whispered from behind a bush. Two pairs of eyes stared back at the cat who was speaking.

"They're coming soon; I think Rowanfrost is having an affair with her." A cat with green eyes said, laughing softly as they waited for the pair to arrive.

"Wait. If we kill him, then we have to kill Streamcloud too, right? She can't be walking around camp knowing that we killed him." A cat spoke up, shuffling their paws.

"Fine, but we have to do this well-done. Nobody suspected it was us last time. Let's keep it that way." The three cats nodded in sync and crouched silently, waiting until they heard pawsteps. "Be quiet, here they come!"

"So, what do you want to practice today? I had a lot of ideas in mind..." Rowanfrost's cream-colored pelt bled through the leaves on the bushes.

"I told you! If only Emberstar knew about this!" The cat with green eyes hissed softly.

"I was thinking-" Streamcloud's words stopped as the cat spoke. "Who's there?" The she-cat's silver figure crept closer to the bushes. The three cats nodded.

They stepped out, tails lashing and eyes narrowed. "You can't run, and you can't hide." A cat said, their pelt rising.

"So you killed Autumnfall?" Rowanfrost said, claws unsheathed as he stepped forward.

"Well, I technically did, so you can give me the credit. I would do the same to you, but I'll let-" the cat never finished their sentence because Streamcloud shrieked and started running, leaving the three cats and Rowanfrost. Two cats with green eyes raced after Streamcloud, and when the third cat heard a loud 'crack', they knew she was dead. "Your turn," they said greedily. At least Emberstar will never know of your affair!"

Streamcloud is dead.
Streamcloud was the medicine cat.

"What? I wasn't having an aff-" Rowanstrike stopped talking as all the air got sucked out of his lungs. The cat had lunged at him and started choking him. Writhing underneath their grasp, the tom struggled to get away, but he knew there was no hope. At least he would be with Autumnfall.

Rowanstrike is dead.
Rowanstrike was innocent.

When the murderer had finished their job, they headed back to meet up with the others, who had already washed themselves off of any evidence. Grabbing the prey they had saved up from before, the three cats headed back to camp, satisfaction filling them up.
~
Emberstar awoke with a smile on her face. Murders hadn't occurred for what seemed like moons, and everyone assumed that it was because Amberpaw was a traitor. Rowanstrike's scent led out of the den, so Emberstar got up from her nest and headed outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of her mate. She did, but not in the way she had hoped.

There, in the middle of the clearing, lay Rowanstrike and Streamcloud's bodies. Seriously? Why did more murders have to occur?

The she-cat inched her way towards the limp figures, resting her muzzle in her mate's fur before inspecting the causes of their deaths. Streamcloud's neck was cracked, and a tuft of orange fur was stuck in her claws. Rowanstrike didn't seem to have any visible wounds other than torn fur and a nick in his ear.

"They gave good fights," she murmered softly, looking around to see if any other cats had noticed the dead bodies as well. Lillystream, Opalsnow, and Clovertail sat near each other, eyeing the leader and the bodies every now and again. Their eyes were sad, and Emberstar felt a pang of guilt hit her as she remembered how close Lillystream and Streamcloud were.

Heading to the apprentices den, Emberstar stuck her head inside, where she saw Pansypaw and Finchpaw chatting up a storm, the other apprentices nowhere to be found. The chatter immediately stopped as Emberstar looked around the nearly empty den, and the two apprentices looked at each other before giving a greeting to the leader.

"Hello, Emberstar. What's...wrong?" Pansypaw's voice drifted off as he noticed the leader's expression.

As if Finchpaw had already seen it coming, her eyes welled up with tears and she excused herself from the tom, padding past Emberstar and into the clearing, her tail drooping when she saw Rowanfrost's limp body. Her head shook in disbelief, and Emberstar knew how she was breaking on the inside. Watching as her remaining kit turned away, Emberstar sighed in heartbreak and sat down, determined to find out who had killed her mate. And Streamcloud, of course.

Frostfire, Juniperpaw, and Reedwind all padded in from a hunting patrol, and Emberstar brightened as she saw they brought back prey for the Clan. The fresh-kill pile was empty, so anything would help them at this point.

Curling her tail around her paws, the leader's gaze shifted to the nursery, where Lilacpaw and Lichenkit were plating a game of mossball together, Snowfeather watching approvingly on the side. If only things were simple. Like the life of a kit.

Cats seemed to be ignoring the two bodies laying in the middle, which made Emberstar grumble in frustration. Why did no one care about more dead cats? It seemed as if everything was invisible to them. It would just make everything harder for her as well. She would have to recruit someone to help her find out who was the killer. Now she just had to figure out who the perfect candidate was.