"Is Cloverleaf here?"

Larkpaw looked up from her morning wash in surprise as a panicked Smallblotch poked her head into the den.

"No, why would she be in the apprentices' den?" Mottlepaw replied.

Without saying another word, Smallblotch whirled around and was gone again in an instant.

Reedpaw snorted snidely. "What's wrong with her?"

But Smallblotch's behaviour had made Larkpaw curious. Shaking the last bits of moss from her pelt, she pushed the fern fronds apart and slipped outside.

The sight that presented itself surprised her. Some cats hurried through the camp, poking their heads under every bush, others just paced restlessly.

An uneasy feeling spread through Larkpaw. She quickly spotted Sunbrook and ran to him. "Has something happened?"

Sunbrook twitched the tip of his tail. "Cloverleaf has disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Larkpaw repeated incredulously.

"Her nest was already cold this morning."

Larkpaw felt a cold shiver shiver through him. "Alone? But..."

"Yes, alone," Sunbrook growled. "Who knows what reason she had for leaving the camp alone."

Dawnbreeze emerged, panting and with ruffled fur. "Some search patrols are about to be sent out. I'm thinking about joining one."

Larkpaw listened up. "Can I come with you?" she asked. Even though Cloverleaf had behaved quite badly during the hunt yesterday, Larkpaw realised that they were Clanmates and that their differences shouldn't matter in an emergency.

"Absolutely not!" Dawnbreeze disagreed sternly. "You're far too young for that. We don't know what we'll find there - or rather, what we won't find. It's better for you to stay in camp."

Although Larkpaw knew that Dawnbreeze only wanted her to be safe, it still felt like an insult. "I'm not a kit anymore! You can't protect me forever. Cloverleaf is my Clanmate too, so it's my duty to look for her."

There was an anxious gleam in Dawnbreeze's amber eyes. She is afraid that she will lose me, just as she has already lost my mother - her sister.

Sunbrook stood between the two of them. "If Larkpaw wants to go, let her go," he said calmly.

Thankful, Larkpaw curled her tail upwards. She didn't even know herself why she was so eager to volunteer for partaking in the search, but she guessed that it was because she wanted to be a loyal Clan cat.

"Fine." Dawnbreeze still seemed reluctant. "Then stay by my side all the time, understood?"

"Yes, Dawnbreeze." Larkpaw nodded.

I don't want to imagine what we might find out there. With the unknown perpetrator around, there's a big chance Cloverleaf was the next victim.

Dawnbreeze and her ran over to the Birchtunnel. "Wait!" Dawnbreeze called. "We'd like to join."

The leading cat of one of the patrols, Fawnpelt, narrowed his eyes disapprovingly as he spotted Larkpaw. "Apprentices aren't allowed to take part in search patrols."

Feeling disappointed and insulted, Larkpaw let her tail hang. Something in her urged her to talk back, but it was not a good idea to be disrespectful to one of the oldest warriors of RoseClan. Fawnpelt wouldn't even change his traditional ways of thinking if the world was about to end.

"Hold on. I think we should let her join. It could be an important lesson for her," Mothspark explained.

Larkpaw felt relievement flowing quickly through her body like a brook. At least the white tom was on her side.

"I'd be in favour of that too," Duststripe spoke up. "The more cats looking for my daughter, the quicker we will find her... hopefully... alive."

I didn't have any idea. Larkpaw realised that she had never really thought about the fact that other cats had families as well that were important to them. When Larkpaw looked at the grey-brown tabby tom, she was startled by the dullness in his green eyes. It almost seemed as if he wasn't really aware of his surroundings, as if he was just a shell. Her chest tightened with pity, making it harder for her to breathe. She hated seeing Duststripe so hopeless. We have to find Cloverleaf.

Fawnpelt sighed. "This is not how it's supposed to be. But well, then come."

The patrol then left the camp in a straight line, Fawnpelt at the front, followed by Duststripe, Patternleaf, Mothspark, Larkpaw and Dawnbreeze. As they ran in wide arcs through the forest towards the Foreign Lands border at the mountain passage, Fawnpelt ordered them to watch out for the slightest inaccuracy. Larkpaw did her best to scan the surroundings with all her senses, but she couldn't find anything that could help them.

"These young cats these days," Patternleaf muttered. "She knows she's not allowed to go into the forest alone." Even if her choice of words said otherwise, the tortoiseshell warrior sounded desperate and frightened. Of all the cats in the patrol, she watched everything around her most intently.

"There's no point in theorising about her motives at the moment," Fawnpelt replied tensely.

Patternleaf fluffed up her fur. "I never thought I'd feel unsafe in my own territory." Her voice was rough and choppy.

Larkpaw felt cold. She could barely remember how it used to be before the incident - walking around freely in the territory without worrying that they might get attacked and horribly wounded.

All of a sudden, Fawnpelt signalled the other cats with a quick movement of his tail to stop.

Immediately, a familiar scent of heather wafted around Larkpaw's nose, paired with an unfamiliar, pungent odour, causing her to immediately grimace. StarClan, what is that?

Completely frozen, unable to move a muscle, she could only watch as the MoonClan patrol slowly approached her. Larkpaw recognised Carnationtail, Thornstripe and Dragonflystripe. Then she spotted Willowpaw and Junipertail behind them, dragging a rigid body across the leafy ground.

The body of a brown and white she-cat.

Cloverleaf.

Larkpaw turned her head away. Nausea rose in her throat. Oh no. No. This can't be true.

"Where did you find her?" Duststripe was the first to speak after a few heartbeats of oppressive silence. There was nothing accusatory in his tone, only dreary sadness, and it seemed as if every word was a painful struggle for him.

Carnationtail took the floor. "We're sorry that we had to invade your territory in this way," the cat-in-command of the MoonClan hunters meowed. "But we found her dead on the bank of the river, on your side. Apart from this one wound on her head, she has no other injuries." She motioned for Willowpaw and Junipertail to put Cloverleaf down. "She... she probably hit her head on a rock on the bank, lost consciousness and then slipped into the water and drowned."

It sounded ridiculous, like a bad lie. Nobody would die because they fell over a stone. How could it be that Cloverleaf had hunted with Larkpaw only yesterday and now all life had drained from her body?

She barely noticed Dawnbreeze, who pressed against her comfortingly. "Thank you for bringing her here," the tortoiseshell and white warrior murmured.

Carnationtail nodded. "If you need us for anything, we'll stand by you."

Fawnpelt ruffled his fur slightly in response. "Thank you, but we can manage ourselves." Even in his gruff tone, there was a tiny hint of sadness. Larkpaw wondered if he didn't want to show his feelings. But that's not a bad thing at all. No, a Clanmate has died. Not showing any feelings shows that you don't care about others.

But Carnationtail didn't let that bother her. The cream-coloured she-cat raised her chin determinedly and meowed, "Then we'll go back now." With a glance at Cloverleaf, she added, "She was a good cat and we mourn her loss deeply. May she find her way to StarClan."

Larkpaw watched numbly as the MoonClan cats disappeared towards the river.

She is dead. Forever. She will never come back. The more Larkpaw thought about it, the more crushed she felt. Why was she mourning Cloverleaf at all when she had barely known her and their only real interaction had been rather negative? But her feelings didn't lie.

With silent respect, the cats backed away as Duststripe stepped forward and buried his nose in Cloverleaf's fur. He stood there, making no sound or movement as he said goodbye to his kit.

Would Sunbrook mourn Larkpaw or Amberpaw like this when the time came? Larkpaw looked nervously at her paws. She didn't understand much about other cats' friendships, but she realised what a deep bond Cloverleaf and Duststripe had had.

Silent grief is the strongest grief.

After what felt like an eternity, Duststripe lifted his head without turning around. "We should take her back to camp now."

Under his watchful gaze, Patternleaf, Mothspark and Fawnpelt heaved the dead Clanmate onto their backs and they set off for home.

***

A heavy cloud of grief hung over the camp as the patrol returned to camp.

Larkpaw immediately staggered to the apprentices' den and curled up in her nest. She knew she couldn't just retreat at a time like this, but all motivation had just drained out of her.

That was the first death I've witnessed. Larkpaw buried her face in the padding of her nest, trying to muffle the voices of her Clanmates.

A familiar scent that wafted around her nose after a while told her that Amberpaw was here.

"Larkpaw?" her littermate whispered. "Sootfeather told me to come get you."

For the first time in a long time, Larkpaw lifted her head, which felt heavy. Her eyes were burning and her vision was blurred. "Why?"

"The Clan is saying goodbye to Cloverleaf now," Amberpaw explained.

Larkpaw pulled herself up as if in a trance and shuffled after her. She didn't know how much time had passed since they had carried Cloverleaf back to camp. It felt like an eternity, but it was still as bright as day.

Cloverleaf lay in the centre of the clearing, her long legs stretched out as if she were merely sleeping. Larkpaw's chest tightened painfully. By now she had realised that she was grieving because she had been confronted with death so directly. It's part of our lives, she thought numbly. I wish it wasn't.

The only cats sitting next to Cloverleaf were Smallblotch and Duststripe, the others kept a respectful distance.

What will happen now? Larkpaw turned her ears inquisitively when she saw Palestar step forward. She was surprised that the grey and white she-cat wasn't standing on the Roserock she usually spoke of to RoseClan.

The cats now settled down in a semicircle around the deceased warrior.

Taking a long breath, Larkpaw flicked her tail. "Come. I'm sure she wants everyone with her."

On silent paws, the littermates looked for a free spot between Frostshade and Rabbitcrawl.

Palestar ran to Cloverleaf's corpse and placed a forepaw on her head. Larkpaw would have liked to know what this was for, but she didn't dare to break the silence.

A few heartbeats passed before Palestar let go of Cloverleaf, and Larkpaw wondered if the leader had said goodbye to her personally.

"Cats of RoseClan." Unlike usual, Palestar spoke in a soft, almost monotone tone. "It wasn't that long ago when Rainmist gave birth to her first litter. All three would have been a great asset to us. But Rainmist and two of her kits, Eveningkit and Leafkit, succumbed to the cold in the next leaf-bare."

Larkpaw felt pity welling up inside her. I didn't even know that Cloverleaf had littermates. She searched for Smallblotch with her eyes. Was the black and white spotted she-cat a kind of sibling substitute for Cloverleaf?

Finally, Larkpaw spotted Smallblotch, who was crouching with her ears laid back and staring wide-eyed at her best friend. Shrewstalk licked her ears lightly, but she didn't seem to notice the light brown tabby tom at all.

"But Cloverkit survived," Palestar meowed just then. "And so she became a Clanmate who spared no effort to serve her Clan to the utmost. Even though her life was short, Cloverleaf left a lasting impression. Her death was a tragic accident, it came far too soon and unexpectedly-"

"Wait!"

At the same time, all the cats turned to look at Smallblotch, who raised her head challengingly. "How can we be sure it was an accident?"

Larkpaw grimaced. "What else could it be?" she asked back. "It looks to me as if Cloverleaf really did just have an accident."

Meows of agreement rose and Larkpaw nodded contentedly. No other injuries were found on Cloverleaf's body. What had led Smallblotch to question the cause of her death?

But it seemed that other cats were also convinced by Smallblotch's theory, for Reddapple was the next to speak up. "Doesn't it seem strange to you?" the brown and red tabby she-cat asked. "Cloverleaf was an adult cat who definitely wouldn't be feather-brained enough to fall over a rock."

Larkpaw winced. Reddapple didn't mince her words.

"That could've happened to any cat," Rabbitcrawl murmured and in a louder voice the cream she-cat added, "What was she doing alone at the border anyway?"

This is the right question, Larkpaw realised. It's just a pity that we can't ask Cloverleaf anymore.

"The MoonClan cats didn't mention anything like that," Fawnpelt interjected.

Palestar lifted her tail. "It won't do any good to speculate further," she meowed. "But maybe MoonClan really does know more. Tomorrow I will send out a patrol to their camp. But first..." She narrowed her eyes, "we'll hold the vigil for Cloverleaf as planned."

It stirred an oppressive feeling in Larkpaw as she thought of how MoonClan might have been partly responsible for Cloverleaf's death.

She shook herself vigorously. She couldn't think like that. If her Clanmates really thought that Cloverleaf had died because of MoonClan, she would do anything to defend the Clan that had raised her.