"What happened? Who did this to him?"

Honeystar stood over Oatwind's body. His fur, now cold and lifeless, was smothered with rosemary and mint leaves. His eyes were closed, and he was put in a position to make it look like he was simply sleeping. But everyone was painfully aware that that wasn't the case.

"Honeystar, it has to have been someone from inside the camp. We held vigil last night." Sedgeflake met Honeystar's gaze, his eyes sparking with mingled defiance and outrage. "No one would've sneaked in without us knowing."

"But who would have done this?" Primroseskip meowed in a small voice. "Who would have any motive to kill..." She stared at Oatwind's body, unmoving and dead, and drew in a shaky breath.

Blazeburrow shook his head, puzzled. "We've all been getting along fine."

"Well, obviously, one of us is pretending," Snookstone retorted dryly. "Otherwise, this-" he gestured with his muzzle at Oatwind's body- "would never have happened."

"Well, who could it be? Because I haven't the faintest clue." Cuminseed glanced around, wariness already blooming in his olive gaze. "But if you're certain it was one of us..."

"I don't want to believe it, but..." Quetzalgaze nodded in Primroseskip and Sedgeflake's direction. "The new warriors would've seen any outside threat. They wouldn't know if a cat inside the camp chose to attack."

"Even if we were in the camp, we wouldn't know unless we entered the warriors' den." Violetshard spoke up. "I, for one, went inside the camp walls for a moment, but I saw nothing suspicious. I only entered the den after everyone was already awake and crowding around... around Oatwind's body." Her eyes flashed with grief, but she was quickly able to mask it with an artificial calmness.

Honeystar sighed. "None of that gives us any hints to who did it." She cast a sad glance at Oatwind's curled up form. "I think that it's best for us not to go around suspecting one another- or at least, not at the moment."

"Not at the moment?" Swanwhistle asked skeptically. "Wait, it's not as if..." Her sentence trailed off, and she glanced around self-consciously, not knowing for sure how quickly her Clanmates would cave to the pressure of having a murderer in their midst.

Primroseskip said nothing and huddled close to her siblings, carefully keeping her eyes on the ground. Her shoulders were tight and her whole body quivered. She was taking deep breaths.

"Primroseskip?" Swanwhistle asked worriedly. 

Primroseskip looked up at Swanwhistle, and their eyes met for only a moment before the former looked away and murmured something under her breath. "I'm fine. Just worried."

Sedgeflake glanced at Swanwhistle silently and nodded his head slightly; he seemed to send the white and gray she-cat a silent message: "Have faith in your friend."

Swanwhistle swallowed. "Okay," she meowed huskily.

Honeystar watched her warriors cautiously. She could see how some of them were already beginning to suspect some of their Clanmates, but others chose to cling to hope. How many, she wondered, would survive this crisis?

***

"Accursed Clan cats and their restrictive rules." A cat paced around the clearing, their paws restless and ready for a kill. They had offered to take watch over the Clan, just in case the new warriors missed something the previous night. Like idiots, the Clan had bought it. Now they were alone, fully prepared to make their next kill.

"The weak must be protected. The young must care for the old, and defeated enemies must be spared," the killer scoffed. Their tail lashed with agitation. "What kind of nonsense is that? Let everyone fend for themselves, I say. If they die, they deserve to. It's survival of the best out here; no more of the weak being coddled by other cats like kittypets." They spat the word kittypets with contempt, as if it were the worst insult they could think of.

The traitor slipped into the warriors' den, a sneer on their lips. "These cats will pay the ultimate price for hiding from the laws of nature behind their 'honorable code'."

They slipped into the den, their paws not making a sound as they entered. They already knew which warrior they wanted dead next; not because they had a pattern or held grudges to any in particular, simply because he was making random decisions. Why did it matter who went first? Eventually, they would all join StarClan's ranks.

He prodded his chosen victim awake with a light paw.

"Mmph... Hey... Didn't you say you were keeping watch?"

"I just needed some company, that's all. I hope that's alright with you." The traitor was glad they'd chosen one of the gentler cats; someone like Blazeburrow or Snookstone might've simply brushed them off. But a personality like this has no place in the forest, where blood will run freely and battles are unavoidable.

"You couldn't have asked that while everyone was still awake?" But their tone made it clear that they weren't really annoyed, and they followed the traitor into the empty clearing.

"Make sure you don't wake the others up." The traitor kept their tone lighthearted, but they knew that if even one other cat woke up, their plan for tonight might fail.

The two went to the camp entrance, watching for any dangers that might lay outside. But I already know that the purpose of this vigil isn't for protection. It's just a futile attempt to cling on to hope.

They sat in silence for a while.

"You know... I've been thinking," the traitor finally said. "What if all cats could be free of all these... suffocating rules?"

"What do you mean?"

"We could just go around claiming territory for ourselves, for example. No more border patrols and hunting in only a restricted space, and every cat would claim as much as they deserved, as-"

"... Wait, then what would the apprentices and elders do?" The other cat's tail swished over the ground nervously.

I should've expected this kind of reaction from you, being so compassionate. Of course, you'd never survive a world like that- you show softness to your enemies!

The traitor rose to their feet and faced the other cat straight on. "In this world I will create," the traitor snarled, "nature will return to what it was. No cat will be protected when they can't protect themselves. The strong will kill the weak and unwary." The traitor crouched, preparing to spring. "I started by killing that bleeding-heart Oatwind, and I'll continue my mission by killing you."

Panic flared in the victim's eyes, and they bolted towards the den, but the killer anticipated that this would happen. They leapt in front of the fleeing warrior, a crazy smile on their lips, and deftly brought down a paw hard on the cat's head, claws extended. The cat fell and lay completely still, four new marks trickling blood out of their head.

Just for good measure, the traitor slit their throat with a quick slash, purring with satisfaction at the fresh crimson liquid that flowed out in a tiny, yet steady stream. They deserve this, all of them.

The traitor dragged the limp body into the center of the clearing. Not wanting to leave any blood behind, they held the body by the throat. They winced as the metallic tang of blood flooded their jaws, but didn't let go. After setting down the body, they went back to the camp entrance and kicked some sand and dirt over where the body had just been, in case any blood had been left behind.

Looking towards the star-blotted sky, the traitor let a grim smile cross their face once more. A wisp of cloud had drifted across the moon. StarClan didn't approve of their actions, they were sure. But they didn't care.

"Your rein of sacred restrictions is over, StarClan. I will show you all just how fragile your warrior code really is."

***

Primroseskip yawned. She had woken up early, just after sunrise; an uncommon occurrence for her since she usually woke up after everyone else.

She stretched in her nest, her legs stiff from sleep. A sliver of worry pierced her heart; she could sense something was wrong, but she didn't know how she knew... Then she realized that it was smell: the air reeked with the scent of death.

Reluctantly, the flame point she-cat poked her head out of the den, dreading what she would see. And there it was, the sight that she was afraid to find. Swallowing a scream, she retreated to the den and prodded Swanwhistle awake.

"Ngh... Hi, Primroseskip," Swanwhistle murmured sleepily. "Someone's up early."

Primroseskip only gazed at the den entrance.

"Huh?" Swanwhistle knew Primroseskip well enough to know to follow her gaze. "Is there something I need to-" Swanwhistle's sentence abruptly stopped. "... Oh, StarClan..." The white and gray she-cat turned to the others in the den. "Guys?" She pushed them roughly, trying to awaken them as quickly as possible. "There's been another murder."

***

"I can't believe it..." Honeystar stared down at the body. Its golden fur was mostly untouched, but an ugly gash ran across the throat. On the head were four clawmarks, each one penetrating the skull. Dried blood caked all five wounds, and blood still trickled out of the slice in the body's throat. The cat's emerald eyes, once beautiful, were now misty and lifeless, staring at nothingness.

Quetzalgaze had been murdered.

"... We know for sure now that it was a Clan cat who did it," Honeystar meowed huskily, "since the night vigil reported no threats."

"Killed in the center of the clearing, apparently," Blazeburrow growled. "Wouldn't the vigil be able to hear her-"

"That's impossible," Cuminseed meowed flatly. "Look here, at the wounds in her head. She wouldn't have had time to say anything; the blow to her head would've killed her instantly."

Violetshard stepped forward to examine the wound. "He's right," she meowed with finality. "Quetzalgaze most likely died instantly- and if she didn't, she would've been knocked unconscious, so the killer could finish her off by cutting her throat open."

Snookstone sighed. "Let's just cut right to the chase. Does anyone have any suspicions at all? Anything helps."

No cat said anything for a long while.

At last, Sedgeflake spoke up. "Would Quetzalgaze want us to choose a cat to condemn without any proof of the crime?"

"We may not have a choice," Blazeburrow muttered darkly.

"But why risk getting rid of an innocent cat?" Swanwhistle demanded.

"Because if we don't, the traitor might kill us all!"

"... For now, let's wait." Honeystar met the gazes of her warriors. "Like Sedgeflake said, we have nothing against any individual at the moment." The cream tabby turned her head aside, and added softly, "Let's hope this isn't a decision we'll regret."

A/N Guys I rolled the roles after writing the prologue, so it's not impossible that one of the three new warriors has a special role, just making it clear

~Bubble