On delicate paws did Adderheart enter SageClan's camp. His tail with the two white stripes flickered lightly behind him as he trotted in, Pantherleap's pawsteps syncing with his own. Though, Pantherleap's stride was much more, well, confident and easy, whereas Adderheart's was quite the opposite.

A meeting with Cougarstar was most definitely not preferred, considering their last interaction, but it was something that couldn't be avoided, so he may as well own up to it. He had been the one to originally offer to speak, after all, and then they'd lead the patrol, found Carmin...

All because they'd spoken up in the first place.

I guess this is where it leads me.

Pantherleap slowed as Adderheart swerved ahead and toward the leader's den did he go, with his ears twitching all the way there. He could hear the somewhat dulled chatter within the den, soft yet powerful despite its tone. Marigoldcry skidded up beside him, head tipping in light curiosity.

"Should we come in, too?" Her tone was questioning.

"Yes," Adderheart replied, pausing at the front of the den in order to address the group. Runningfoot's edged gaze flickered over to the pale-furred tom.

"You should be able to do it on your own, I'd think," he commented pointedly.

"And you were there," Adderheart responded easily. Luckily, his moderate nerves did not cause him to lose his quick and intelligent replies. "We don't want Cougarstar to assume I'm lying, or that the patrol was a failure and that I'm making something up."

Runningfoot went silent though his muzzle wrinkled slightly.

After a momentary silence had fallen upon the group, Pantherleap called into the den, "Cougarstar?"

A broad and tawny shape moved within the leader's den. Shadows fell and shifted at the movement of the leader most clearly there, and a few moments passed in the quiet from before. It had returned to lay itself in a concealing blanket upon the patrol. Yet, a ray of light flitted by, landing in the den. The dusky sky still allowed scraps of light to spread upon the camp and enter dens.

It illuminated the thick-furred leader as he answered somewhat surly, "Yes? Come in. Has your patrol returned?"

Pantherleap stepped off to the side, tail whisking as if to indicate that Adderheart enter the den first. The brother of the leader offered him a simply shiny green gaze, yet in its depths, it sparked brightly at the other senior warrior. The pale-furred warrior offered an equally guarded yet shimmery gaze back to him.

"We have," Adderheart commented, padding in. The pale-furred warrior's ears flickered as he ducked slightly, edging off to the side in order to allow the rest of the patrol to filter in. First entered Marigoldcry, stride confident. Russetpelt sidestepped in, mild and pleasant among the next cat, who happened to be Runningfoot in a slinking motion. Galewind headed in, tail curled over his back.

Cougarstar's gaze seemed to steel over as it flicked up to Adderheart. "So? What'd you find?"

"Rogues," replied the warrior in a simple tone. Instantly, the leader sat up.

"How many?"

"One." The words dropped from his maw with ease.

"Describe it," commanded the leader. His tawny fur was sleek yet shiny as if it was glaring back at Adderheart.

"Carmin was a stocky, russet-furred tom with dark blue eyes," recalled Adderheart. "Likely around forty moons in age, give or take a few. His back leg, when we found him, was mangled and injured, and he appeared weak from blood loss. His fur was dirty. I believe he was either suffering from neglecting his wounds and health or something of the like."

"Was?" Cougarstar's expression sharpened.

"He died."

"What? How?"

Adderheart's tail tip twitched. The rest of the den was appearing more and more fidgety by the moment- not out of nerves, but because all of them knew that he was about to lie straight to his leader, more so than he had already done. The senior warrior could almost sense Runningfoot's baby blue gaze upon his pale fur as he opened his muzzle to speak.

"Blood loss, most likely," he acknowledged, allowing no emotion into his words. "We were looking at the area around him, and Runningfoot was questioning him. That's how we got his name, and despite our attempts to get him to spill information, he'd not say anything."

Pantherleap glanced to his brother and added, "The rogue was scared around us, too. It was clear that he knew he was in our territory yet he didn't make an effort to get out, though that could be attributed to his injuries."

"Where is his body?" Cougarstar demanded, rising to his paws with a quick movement. "Fetch Bearpatch and Palewhisker, and gather Fluffyflame, Antwhisper, Freckletuft, and Dustshade. Runningfoot, Galewind, dismissed."

"His body is likely gone by now," Adderheart commented, also rising to his paws. His heart was beginning to pound slowly. It, a drum, holding a light base beat, rising in the background of his thoughts, his mind, pulsing within his heart as he watched his leader turn toward the entrance-

"The rest of you, hurry up. If there's information around then we'd better get going," Cougarstar ordered, sweeping from the den's entrance.

Fox-dung.

Adderheart cast a glance at Pantherleap, who shot an equally covered yet frustrated gaze at the tom. He seemed to share Adderheart's every move. The tawny-furred senior warrior's tail swished as he offered to let the rest of the warriors leave the den. Marigoldcry practically pranced out.

"I'll take behind him," Pantherleap hissed in a low tone, already moving toward the entrance.

"Pantherleap, wait-!" started Adderheart, lurching after the warrior.

"We're doomed to get caught if we wait!" Pantherleap retorted, tail lashing. "Just- come on, Adderheart. We'll talk later. We have to go!"

Before Adderheart could plead his case any further, the leader's brother turned and swept from the den in a similar fashion to Cougarstar. He could see the similarities. Swallowing a small sigh, Adderheart followed.

While the cats had chattered within the leader's den, an ocean of a dark sky had soared through the air. Upon its feathered wings lay the nighttime and the shadows, too. They seemed to fall, whisking and twirling down to the ground until they fell and stuck to the area around camp like cobwebs. Strung lightly by the gloom of night, the shadows danced and twirled at small shafts of light from the moon.

What a perfect time to go explore.

Cougarstar whipped to face Adderheart and his green gaze was a blaze of flames in the dark of night.

"Get going. It's going to be impossible to tell if the rogues are actually there if we don't go right now."

"We still need the other warriors, and Palewhisker and Bearpatch," pointed out the pale-furred warrior. "You said that we'll need them to go."

"Marigoldcry," he ordered, turning to face the fluffy-furred she-cat. "Get them."

The she-cat nodded fervently and at a quick trot she set off toward the warrior's den. In moments, she re-emerged with Fluffyflame following behind. The rest of the senior warriors, especially Freckletuft, with her patterned pelt so easily slipping to the darkness, seemed to be camouflaged within night's somber arms.

Beside them, Adderheart heard a voice split the air.

"What's going on?"

Palewhisker.

Adderheart could not recall the last time he'd seen the grayish-tawny tom. His coat was shiny and sleek in the light of the moon and the stars up above, and his pale brown gaze shimmered with interest. His belly swung ever so slightly beneath him as if he had eaten an entire bird before arriving.

Most certainly it appeared he'd been lazy over the past few sunrises, and that was really no surprise to Adderheart. He had always been a little motionless compared to some of the other cats in the Clan. He sent patrols, of course, but the tom had always acted this way. He'd always been lazier than the others, always believed he deserved more than the others...

Cougarstar's leading style did nothing to disprove this theory. If anything, it simply supported it and showed the deputy that he could do near to whatever he wished to do. He rarely ever was caught in trouble. If he had been, well, the Clan most certainly did not know.

If only it worked similarly for me.

"Rogues," answered Pantherleap before his brother could reply, "suspected, anyway, at the border. One for sure. Now dead, though. Formerly named Carmin. Russet pelt, stocky build. Injured leg when we arrived. Died of blood loss, most likely. He was weak and a nervous cat."

Palewhisker's features seemed to flash with surprise at the description of the deceased rogue, however, he simply turned away, a light nod forming. Behind him, Bearpatch approached, ears twitching as he caught the ends of the conversation. Cougarstar's tail lashed at his thin-furred son.

"Did you get that?"

The heir nodded.

"Best to get going, then," Palewhisker cut in, heading toward the entrance. He slipped out of the camp with ease, despite the fact he'd likely not left in a while.

"Lead," commanded Cougarstar, "Pantherleap, you lead the rest of the patrol. Marigoldcry, take the back. Adderheart, you can follow... follow me."

Regardless of the large tawny tom's pause, he was not unconfident in his decision. Adderheart's stomach twisted with worry as he padded to stand beside the leader. His ears gave a slight twitch as the leader swept his paw underneath Adderheart's leg. Stumbling, Adderheart found himself positioned behind the leader, just as he'd wanted. Swallowing a sigh, Adderheart lifted his leg tentatively.

It was fine, for only a small ache echoed within it.

Pantherleap had plunged into the forest ahead and the rest of the patrol had followed, leaving Adderheart and Cougarstar alone at the entrance of the camp. Adderheart's belly squeezed into a knot, his mind racing in circles as he wondered what to do. He was instructed to follow Cougarstar. His fur prickled uncomfortably. Why wasn't the leader going at all?

The tawny leader turned to Adderheart with a slow, sweet movement that could only be described as something alike to honey. The opening of his muzzle was flowing and soft yet did not hold the usual deliciousness that accompanied the luscious golden substance.

"Be careful, Adderheart. There are many more dens to clean out."

The tawny tom sprung toward the entrance, immediately launching himself out and into the piney territory of SageClan. Adderheart stood still for half a moment, tail bushing, ears flattening, fur bristling, all as soon as the leader had gone, but he huffed loudly as if to expel the notion of that occurring and swiftly headed after him.

Cougarstar's pawsteps slammed against the ground, his broad features only moving every few moments. His strides were long and efficient, almost as if he was simply leaping to catch up, whereas Adderheart's were swift and somewhat short, and although his form was slim and lean he still found it hard to keep up with the leader's strides.

Eventually, he saw the pelts of the rest of the group fade into view. First was Marigoldcry. Her thick white pelt, accented with cream stripes, was bushed up in the wind that rushed by. Adderheart could see Palewhisker's fur up ahead, and Pantherleap's, too.

He recalled this path from earlier and although it would've been easy to catch up to Pantherleap, he knew he had to stay behind Cougarstar. He'd be doomed to... anything, really. Anything that Cougarstar wanted to do to him was something that the leader would most likely do, no matter the advice given to him by other cats.

Adderheart did not sigh, for he swallowed it and did not allow it to escape his jaws. If it did...

Up ahead, he noted that Pantherleap seemed to be slowing. Had the entire patrol of... eleven-?

"We've arrived!" The call from Palewhisker was sharp and breathless as he announced it to the rest of the patrol.

That was fast. I didn't even notice that we had left the territory.

Adderheart slipped beside his leader to swerve ahead but the tom's tail flashed out, curling lightly as if it threatened to flick tightly around his neck.

"Don't go ahead of me, I said." The warning was brusque as it slipped from Cougarstar's rough maw.

What? I'm meant to be leading, too. I was the one there!

A spark of outrage lit up Adderheart yet he quickly put it out with a swamping of his emotions. He couldn't show any of this. He'd be so much more doomed if he did. So, simply, the tom allowed a light nodding of his head to occur as he stuck behind the leader.

He caught a look from Marigoldcry - it was a frosty look, one with glaciers at its edges and cold, dark ice at its center. She wasn't jealous, rather just angry with him for what appeared to be no reason. Adderheart forced his ears to stay pricked as the leader ahead of him stepped forward. Obediently, Adderheart padded lightly after him.

"Pantherleap, tell me what happened."

As Adderheart padded quietly after, he observed the area once more, and all the memories of the deceased rogue flooded back. He could almost hear the tom's voice, shaking and scared as he spoke to the patrol.

Pantherleap lightly stepped out of the line of the remainder of the patrol and his tail flicked at the bushes. Patches of blood still were on the ground and in hindsight, Adderheart was grateful for it. It made the story more believable. At least, he supposed so.

"Adderheart and I discovered Carmin here," Pantherleap began, tail flicking at the bushes once more. "He was of a stocky build, with russet fur that was dirty and ragged. He appeared to have been sleeping when we'd arrived. Perhaps he'd passed out, but he was most certainly not awake. Not until Runningfoot began to question him."

Russetpelt's ear twitched.

"After that, he appeared most definitely injured. He was having issues with standing and so we carried him, however, he died from the blood loss before we could really get anywhere."

Cougarstar's tail pointed sharply at Fluffyflame and his deputy. "Explore nearby for more traces of rogues."

Palewhisker's head dipped as he glanced at Fluffyflame, an odd light glimmering within his gaze as he sprung into the bushes.

"Marigoldcry, Dustshade, Russetpelt, explore the area and understand what's around." The command was stinging as Cougarstar shot a look at Marigoldcry. It was tinged with something similar to pride, yet it was dulled by the expectation of what he wanted. The thick-furred senior warrior allowed her gaze to drift to the two other cats mentioned as they plunged into other nearby bushes.

"Antwhisper, Bearpatch, Freckletuft, you three are permitted to hunt," Cougarstar allowed, though Adderheart knew that it wasn't out of generosity. It was because he knew that there were rogues here and he was now hunting in their territory, taking food away from them in favor of allowing them to just have it.

The leader turned to Pantherleap and Adderheart, green gaze sparking. "And you two and I will go on a separate excursion to find some more actual rogues."

Adderheart's fur prickled yet he suppressed it. He couldn't mess this up now, not when they'd just been clearly sectioned off to go and... search for rogues.

Isn't that exactly what Palewhisker and Fluffyflame are doing?

A colder chill spread across Adderheart's body as he realized it had simply been a distraction. Cougarstar was going to work them into the ground to find these rogues. Did the leader even believe him and the story he'd made up? Perhaps just a little bit of truth would've been better.

But if I'd offered more truth, I'd be punished for Runningfoot's actions. He reflected, tail tip twitching as he turned to the leader as if to allow him to lead. The tawny tom gave Adderheart a sharp look as he dashed off into the bushes.

Adderheart glanced at Pantherleap, whose green gaze shimmered carefully. Adderheart wanted to spill everything- well, not everything, but the entire situation being unfair to the other warrior. He knew he couldn't say anything, though, not after... not after the fact that Cougarstar had most definitely picked them specifically together.

Did he know why? No, not really. The pale-furred warrior, skimping after the leader, could only assume it was because they'd both been there originally. But, why not pick someone like Marigoldcry or Russetpelt over him? There wasn't much of a reason to pick him. Though, Pantherleap was a different story.

As of the past few days, the tom had assumed that not many cats enjoyed his company anymore, though he hoped it'd fade away soon. It already seemed to be, slowly, skimping away into the backgrounds of the memories of everyone that moved far too quickly.

News in the Clan spread fast and died fast, too. If something was relatively important for a few days, it was sure to die within the next quarter moon. And if it didn't, it was something that was bound to last for a while. Leaping over a small patch of plain ground, Adderheart glanced to his left. Pantherleap had lapsed into a pace that was practically the same as his own.

Allowing his dark gray gaze to flick forward, he spotted Cougarstar's pelt, still weaving around a few trees. It wasn't as though they were going in circles - it was definite that they were not - but it was also clear that the leader wasn't actually finding anything, and instead was just running endlessly as if he expected something to be discovered sometime soon.

Though, as his head swerved to the side, he realized that he'd just gotten... lost. Lost within his mind, caught up in the storm of thoughts, and they'd not traveled too far.

This kind of behavior is going to get me in trouble. Focus, Adderheart.