XYAB

[J I N G O]

Stormshadow padded into camp calmly, and up to his leaders den. "Cinderstar? A cat has been murdered." he called into the den, his voice solid and unfazed. Inside he was a mess though. What had happened? Was it RiverClan trying to get even for something ShadowClan hadn't even done? "Icepile is dead."

[amaterasu]

Cinderstar briskly walked to the entrance of her den when she heard her deputies voice. "What happened?" she growled lowly, "Where did you find her? Who else knows?"
She was upset, but she had to be careful for the sake of her Clan. She didn't want to start a panic, and she was happy for her Deputy's response to this crisis as well.

[J I N G O]

"Tigerfire and Tawnyspark were on the patrol with me. He was found at the edge of the border between ShadowClan and RiverClan. We figured he was out on a night patrol when it happened.." Stormshadow tried to explain. He definitely figured RiverClan was trying to get even, since it was so close to the border and right after they'd accused ShadowClan of the murder on their territory. "Her neck was snapped and she smelled of those fish lovers."

[amaterasu]

Cinderstar's eyes flashed with anger at the news. "Come. We need Tigerfire, Tawnyspark, Addertail, Iceheart, Nightfeather, Smokecloud, and Brokensoul. We shall patrol to RiverClan and they will pay for what they've done!"
The gray tabby shecat exited her den and left the camp. She wanted to see Icepile's body before she left for ShadowClan. She expected her Deputy to gather the cats she asked for and meet her there.

[J I N G O]

Stormshadow herded together the mentioned cats and set off on the patrol on their way to the RiverClan border. Next to the border was a heap of white fur, a crumpled mess in the midst of the pine needles that were strewn about the forest floor. Icepile was laying on her side, motionless and lifeless. "We found her right here. We haven't moved her."

[amaterasu]

Cinderstar sniffed at the shecat's body. "How could they do this?" She yowled, "To RiverClan!"
The gray leader led her cats across the border and toward the RiverClan Camp.

Following behind the cats the whole time had been a small white shecat. When she got to Icepile's body, she sniffed it and realized at once that the RiverClan scent was only coming from the border. Some other strange scent was coming from Icepile!
"Wait!" the cat called, crossing the border and following after her Clan.

[J I N G O]

Stormshadow rushed past the border and onto RiverClan territory, ready to rip out the throat of the first RiverClan cat he saw. He heard a cat calling them back and stopped and looked at Swanfeather, the medicine cat. "What is it, Swanfeather?" he mewed, his tone gruff but kind in an odd sort of way.

[amaterasu]

"Oh! Stormshadow!" Swanfeather panted, suddenly coming to halt, "You need to stop them!" She motioned her tail toward the warriors that Cinderstar was leading onward.
She continued, "Icepile wasn't killed by RiverClan! Cinderstar was just too blinded by her hatred ad grief to notice that! She doesn't smell of Clan Cat. It's already a mistake to be across the border, let alone barge into their camp and fight!"
The small shecat's eyes were staring pleadingly at the Deputy, the only cat who had heard her pitiful cries.

[J I N G O]

Stormshadow nodded his head at the white she-cat and raced forward to meet up with Cinderstar. He got as close as he could to her without bumping into the she-cat and called out,"Cinderstar." he called calmly at first, "Cinderstar, Swanfeather has noticed something very key to solving this murder. And maybe the one in RiverClan too!" he called out to his leader, who was only about a tail length ahead of him.

[amaterasu]

Cinderstar tilted her ears back, then came to a stop. A few of the cats behind her ran right into her, but she just pushed them off. "What do you want?" she hissed at her deputy. She scented the air for RiverClan cats, hoping they wouldn't be snuck up on.

Swanfeather followed after Stormshadow, but at a slower pace.

[J I N G O]

Stormshadow stopped, and ended up right in front of Cinderstar. "Icepile doesn't have RiverClan scent on her." he meowed, and looked at the white she-cat behind him. "The only RiverClan scent is coming off the border. RiverClan might be innocent." he said, and waited for Swanfeather to back him up on it.

[amaterasu]

"RiverClan? Innocent? RiverClan is the one who blamed us for the murder of their cat! Or have you forgotten?" Cinderstar hissed.

Swanfeather scampered up to the leader and deputy. "It's true!" she purred.

Cinderstar looked between the two cats. "Well," she meowed, "then what do you think we should do?"

[J I N G O]

"I know that they blamed us, but if we can prove that some other cat killed Icepile, maybe we can prove our own innocence. We didn't kill Riverheart, right? So who could have?" Stormshadow meowed, then looked at Swanfeather. "You have the medicine cats meeting tonight, don't you? Maybe you can speak with Snowbird." he suggested to the medicine cat.

[amaterasu]

Swanfeather nodded her head. "I will!"

Cinderstar added, "But we are on RiverClan territory now. They will know we were here. We might as well keep going."

[J I N G O]

"If they say anything about it we can just tell them to hold off til the gathering." Stormshadow meowed as he contemplated. "We can say we're investigating or something. How they take it is how they take it. But I'm sure StarClan would try to stop any fighting if both Clans are innocent." he tried to reason.