Leaf-fall. The season that acts as a warning for the cold to come. However, it is a beautiful warning. The yellows, oranges and reds blend into each other, some browns on the ground. Squirrels gather nuts from the forest floor, working together to prepare for winter, just as my Clan does. We gather herbs, food, water- and what the StarClan is THAT?

I look down to see a horrifying tangle of squirrels, all stuck together at the tail. Whatever it is, it's squirrels, and prey. They look so miserable... Clusters of fur are scattered on the ground beneath them. Their tails are half bald. I feel sorry, so I kill them all with quick slits, letting them enjoy whatever afterlife they have. I thank StarClan for the big catch.

"Hey, nice catch Crowflight! That's gonna be a lot of fresh-kill," I hear Ashtree meow as he bounds towards me, Stormshadow and Lionpaw right behind him.

I decide to count the squirrels. Five. That's enough for a third of the Clan. "Do you want to call this a hunt?"

"If you want, we can keep on hunting. Your call," he says. Right. I'm the leader of this hunting patrol.

"Okay, I'll bury this and we'll look for more," I decide and start digging a hole under a bush. We are in a little clearing that is surrounded by bushes, treetops hiding the sky.

I pad through a small gap between bushes and try to separate some scents. Stale wolf and mountain goat. Some more squirrel. Those nasty buggers are all over the forest collecting. I see traces of blood and gray-brown fur, but that does not bother me as it has a clear smell of mountain goat and wolf. The blood is dry, mixing in with the dirt.

"Woah! This is cool!" Lionpaw exclaims and bounds toward a big skull with curly horns. Yep, the wolf was probably here half a moon ago. Lionpaw climbs into the skull, peering out of an eye hole. "Can we drag this back to camp? I'm sure Stormshadow will help me, right?"

Stormshadow eyes the skull and the apprentice inside it. "How about we fill it with the squirrels, and then Crowflight and I help you?"

"Yes! Thank you, Stormshadow! You're the best!" Lionpaw jumps out of the skull and starts dragging it by the horn back to the clearing. It's not that far.

"You guys can go back to camp," Ashtree tells me. "I'll look for some more prey near the river."

"See you back at camp, then." I nod and follow Lionpaw with Stormshadow.

-----------

     As we arrive back at camp, Lionpaw's siblings and Rainlight's kits flood around the skull.

"Where did you find this?"

"This is so cool!"

"Can we put it near that bush?

"I found it, I should decide where it goes!"

"Alright, alright, calm down everyone. How about we'll play a game? Whoever can get their squirrel to the fresh-kill pile fastest and come back here will get to choose where the skull goes. Sounds good? Avalanchekit, Kindlekit, I believe you two can manage. You are almost apprentices after all," Stormshadow manages to calm the young cats down.

The apprentices and kits grab a squirrel. "Three... two... one... GO!"

"How are you so good at this?" I ask my sister.

"It's what being a mentor is all about, Crowflight."

Kindlekit and Goldpaw return at the same time.

"I beat you by a whisker length, Goldpaw!"

"Well I beat you by a fox-length, Kindlekit!"

"Hush, you two. You both did well, so decide together." Stormshadow looks down at the two cats.

"Fineee... How about near that bush you mentioned earlier?" Goldpaw turns to Kindlekit.

"Yes!" And they both start dragging the skull towards the bush in between the apprentice den and nursery.

I turn to say something to Stormshadow, but she's gone, reporting to Falconstar. So I head towards the fresh-kill pile where Lionpaw and Lindenpaw are arguing about something.

"How about instead of wasting time on little disputes, you guys get a squirrel to Mintgrass, Rainlight and Moonripple?" I go for a friendly tone, and the two apprentices listen. They nod and together drag a squirrel to the three she-cats.

I sigh, grabbing two small finches. I head towards the warriors' den, hoping for someone to share a snack with. There I find Silvereye, my best friend, laying in front of the small stone cave. She has a brown coat with black stripes: a black tabby. Her grey eyes are bright, looking at the two finches.

"All for me?" She mrows, and flips onto her back, paws up.

"No, allllll for me," I reply, but drop a finch in front of her muzzle. She flips onto her stomach and takes a big bite out of the puny bird. I do the same.

While we eat, I watch Avalanchekit and Kindlekit play around the skull, Squirreltail watching them carefully. Then I notice Lionpaw creeping up on Sorreldew and Cloudtuft, Goldpaw and Lindenpaw watching from a bush. Stormshadow is eating with Finchwing, our brother. Hawkswoop is outside the nursery with Rainlight, grooming her while she talks. Falconstar and Crimsonshine are talking to Grasstuft. Now Sorreldew is frolicking with Lionpaw white Cloudtuft is giving Goldpaw and Lindenpaw a silly lecture. How can I tell? Goldpaw is mocking Cloudtuft while he's making bizarre gestures with his paws.

"Crazy Clan, huh?" Silvereye has finished her finch at some point and pushed the bones to mine.

"Yeah, I guess so... Something's wrong." I look up at the sky. Way past sunhigh.

"What?" Silvereye shoots me a puzzled look.

"Ashtree isn't back yet. We came back just before sunhigh. He's still not here."

"Maybe he got a good catch? Or a place with lots of prey?"

"No. Something is up. I'm going to find him," I meow, stand up, and run towards the enterance tunnel. I hear Silvereye telling me to wait up, but I run. And run. I catch Ashtree's scent as I exit the Mountain Passage. I run after it. It's... Stale. I run towards the large forest we were hunting in, leaping through the underbrush. I hear Silvereye behind me.

And I catch the scent of blood. Not so fresh blood. I find the place where we found the goat skull. I see blood. Dry blood, but not mixed with dirt. The trail leads me to... A body. Dark grey fur, light spangles.

Ashtree.

Dead.