"Come back?" Dawn repeated, "I told you when I left, I wouldn't come back, and I can't come back! The whole Clan thinks I am traitor, they think that I have been working alongside Maplestar and giving him information about our Clan and everything! I am a danger to them all, going back would just mean certain death for everyone."

"Not everyone thinks you are a traitor," Dewpaw replied quietly, "I, for one, don't think you are. Whiskerstar certain wants you back, he is sending out patrol out hourly to try and find a trace of you. He will not rest, or let anyone rest, until you are found. He has changed, Birdpaw, he has changed since you left, and not in a good way. He... he has gone mad. He is a completely different cat now, an eviler version of what he used to be. When we come back from patrols saying we can't find you, he loses it, he punishes us so much that some have wondered if it would be worth it to join another Clan or just run away completely. Our training is being neglected, and if Maplestar were to strike another time this moon, we would definitely not stand a chance."

"But what about Stagleap?" the former apprentice asked, "Surely he has been able to convince Whiskerstar to... I don't know, calm down? He is the deputy after all. Maybe he could take over what Whiskerstar is meant to do, or he cou-".

"Stagleap has changed as well," interrupted the tom, "and so has your mother, Moonflower. They both just stay in the shadows of camp all day and are scared out of fur at every single little movement. All of the warriors have changed, Birdpaw, and we all need you to come back."

Dawn looked away and down at the ground, watching the hay as it gently blew in the breeze. She loved her Clan, she really did, and she couldn't bear to hear of them suffering because she had left them.

But then, as she thought over Dewpaw's words again, she finally registered what he had said.

"Maplestar has attacked the Clan again?" she whispered, eyes wide as the tom nodded. Why had Maplestar attacked? Did he know she had left? Surely that would stop attack him attacking them...

"Why?" she asked, "Why did he attack?"

This time, it was Dewpaw's turn to look away as he mumbled something that sounded like 'I don't know'. The former apprentice sighed, deeply worried about the safety of her Clan, and turned away, walking to the barn entry and looking up at the almost full moon. A cool, refreshing breeze blew through her long fur that had lost all of its kitten fluff. Her brain was buzzing like a hive of bees and she gently wiped one of her black paws over her face. She wanted to go back to her Clan desperately, but she wasn't sure it was the best thing to do, it would probably only anger Maplestar more.

Dawn sighed and curled up outside the barn entry, listening to the sounds of the other cats getting ready to sleep as well.