CLOSED The Suspect [likely to be written in parts]

[Longstorm]

Redstar, Hollowstripe, Blueblossom, and Silversnap were all following the scent trail of the sun-high border patrol. They were looking for one cat out of the patrol in particular: Flowerfoot. It was suspected that she knew something about the circumstances of both Mustardstorm's disappearance, and his death.
The bright sun shown down on them as they walked through the grass and the pines. Some snackable butterflies and less-snackable ladybugs lazily flew out of the way as the cats passed. It was a lovely day.

The mood was tense and uncertain. As the walk progressed, Blueblossom explained the brief conversation she'd had that morning with Flowerfoot.
The she-cat hadn't said much more than that she was afraid that the cat that had been found dead by the patrol was indeed Mustardstorm. She also said that she was supposed to have been with him when he originally disappeared - but the young warrior had not elaborated any further than that.
"I don't think Flowerfoot has done anything terrible," Blueblossom said. "But it's all very suspicious to me."
Redstar nodded. "I agree."
Hollowstripe was ponderous. "I didn't send him or Flowerfoot out on their own two days ago." The young deputy looked slightly befuddled. "He came back with the dawn patrol as usual. Flowerfoot was guarding the camp the evening before..." She shook her head.
"That means they would have seen each other when he came back then," Blueblossom said thoughtfully.
"But if Flowerfoot was with Mustardstorm - or if she spoke to him then, before..." Silversnap swallowed, words lost for a moment as she thought of Mustardstorm's twisted corpse.
"Then why didn't she say anything," Hollowstripe finished. She looked as confused and worried as the others felt, even if some didn't show it as much as others. "It all feels suspicious," she glanced at Blueblossom, "but I don't want to think the worst of Flowerfoot." Especially since she's my friend, she thought.
"We'll know what to think when we talk to her," Redstar said in a somewhat reassuring tone. "We shouldn't overthink it," he said after a beat. "We just got a lot going on right now. We'll have all of our answers when we find Flowerfoot." He nodded resolutely. Shortly after, however, his expression returned to looking uncertain.

For certain, the sooner they spoke to Flowerfoot, the better.

OOC: tbc, cos I need to sleep.
sidenote: I'm trying to stay away from the "perfect leader is perfect" thing and I hope I'm succeeding???

[Longstorm]

And soon enough, they found the patrol. It was being lead by Sorestare, with Goldfur and Blackfire - but no one else. The three toms seemed to be milling around, searching for something. Or someone.
Redstar quickly padded up to them.
"Where's Flowerfoot," he said, speaking quickly before any of the toms could say anything.
The toms exchanged a look.
Blackfire said, "She was with us less than a sunshift ago. But we haven't been able to find her."
Sorestare nodded. "She said she was stalking something. Didn't come back. We've been searching for her, but her scent trail ends here," Sorestare gestured to the damp, shaded ground. The dampness - well, muddiness - likely came from some underground offshoot of the various water sources in their wide territory.
Blueblossom made a sound of frustration.
Hollowstripe looked at her, clearly clenching her jaw in similar frustration. "She can't be running - that doesn't make sense!"
Redstar nodded his head. "This doesn't make any sense."
"What's this about," Goldfur asked. He and the rest of the patrol looked equally mystified.

"We found Mustardstorm dead - Flowerfoot said she knew something about it this morning. Now we want to ask her what she knows," Blueblossom supplied.
The toms looked shocked.
"I barely knew him," Blackfire said quietly. Goldfur nodded in agreement - Mustardstorm had been born in DarkClan shortly after Blackfire - Blackpaw then - had joined Redstar in the Frost Forests, and Goldfur himself was born in the Frost Forests. After returning to DarkClan, only a few moons past, it felt as though they'd had no time to get to know the reclusive tom.
"Flowerfoot has something to do with this?" Sorestare inquired. "How?"
Redstar shook his head. "We're not entirely certain. We only know what she said this morning."

Sorestare nodded, red, damaged eyes shining. "Right. Then we'll get back to searching."
"We'll join you," Redstar said. With that, everyone present began to sniff the ground in earnest, searching almost frantically for a trace of which direction Flowerfoot may have gone.

All the while it was impossible for most of the cats to not speculate on some level in their minds as to what Flowerfoot may have done. Though they kept the thoughts to themselves, they were still there.

Silversnap imparted to her brother and to the others what Blueblossom had told her about where Mustardstorm had been found. She kept the description of the warrior's corpse to herself, though. She didn't like to think about it.

"...And Gorseclaw carried him back all the way to the camp, and then that's when I saw them and Blueblossom told me everything," Silversnap finished between searching sniffs.
Her enraptured audience nodded quietly.
"Keep your nose to the ground, Silversnap," came Blueblossom's stern voice.
"Yes, Blueblossom," she meowed back.

And they kept searching - until something more definitive was found.
"Why would she be heading this way," said Hollowstripe, who had managed to follow a near non-existent trail further up the mountain.
Redstar, at her side, could only wonder himself. "We'll have to ask her that. Sorestare, you and Blackfire and Goldfur keep hunting. We'll follow Flowerfoot."
Sorestar dipped his head respectfully. "No problem, Redstar."

With that done, Redstar had Hollowstripe take point since she had the best sense of smell out of all of them in this case, and they followed the trail...

[Longstorm]

The quartet of cats further made their way up the mountainside.

TL;DR:

They were quiet still, keeping their ears pricked forward and their noses sniffing, sniffing, sniffing.

All of this, for one she-cat? Silversnap wasn't personally close to Flowerfoot, not really. Well, she saw Flowerfoot around camp and stuff, but she was more Mustardstorm's and Hollowstripe's friend than her's...
Oh, Mustardstorm...

"I think I see her!" Hollowstripe said in a hiss. The others halted immediately.
Redstar nodded. "Okay - just in case - Blueblossom, flank her on the right. Silversnap, I want you to watch the left, alright? I'm not saying she'll run, but we just need to be certain."
The warriors nodded in affirmation. Blueblossom stalked off stealthily into the underbrush, and Silversnap springily padded a little ways to the left. With the thick bushes and large stones on the only side the Clan cats weren't watching, if Flowerfoot ran she'd only have them to run into.

Redstar cleared his throat, getting the whisper out of his voice.
"Flowerfoot," he called into the quiet. Nothing. "Flowerfoot, come out!" More nothing. "You're not in trouble, Flowerfoot - we just want to talk to you." More of the same. Redstar furrowed his brow and looked at Hollowstripe next to him. He gestured for her to speak too.
"Flowerfoot," Hollowstripe called, "Come on out! We're still friends, right?"
Stillness, and then...

Flowerfoot emerged from the underbrush.

OOC: TBC.
EDIT: omg why don't I ever reference Redstar's face? uuh...maybe the cats of DarkClan are used to it and don't comment on it? yeah that's it, lol.

[Longstorm]

Redstar took a step towards the black warrior but stopped when she visibly tensed.
"It's okay, Flowerfoot," he said as calmly as he could (though he thought he maybe sounded a little stupid.)
Flowerfoot watched him warily. "Why were you chasing me," she asked, guarded.

"We were worried about you," Hollowstripe said a little angrily. "Blackfire and Sorestare said they hadn't seen you in an hour!"
Flowerfoot looked surprised. She looked up at the sky. "Has it really been that long?"
Hollowstripe and Redstar exchanged a look - they were getting kinda good at the "talking through looks" thing. It was cool, and they were total nerds about it.
"Why are you all the way out here," Redstar asked carefully.
"I was stalking a rabbit - she smelled like milk and looked hurt, so I followed her..." She trailed off. "Her nest is back there," she gestured behind her with her tail.
Even as she spoke, Blueblossom emerged from the underbrush.
"Good eats," the white warrior commented. Flowerfoot startled as the she-cat padded past her, then looked a little guilty.
Blueblossom took a seat near Redstar, and Silversnap rejoined them a few seconds later.
Flowerfoot looked between the four cats. "O...kay." She seemed to understand why they were there the moment she'd seen Blueblossom. "This is about Mustardstorm, isn't it." She sounded sad. "He's- he's dead. Isn't he?" Eyes shining, her voice began to thicken with grief.
Redstar nodded, and Flowerfoot let out a long, sad groan, sitting and lowering her nose towards the ground like her grief was a weight around her neck.
Hollowstripe felt the same grief, but fought to maintain her composure. She was Clan deputy, she needed to see this through to the end! Then she was pretty sure she could be sad after that...right?
But another moment longer of watching Flowerfoot in her sadness was too much, and Hollowstripe padded over to her to press up against Flowerfoot's side in support, and shared grief.

Silversnap could feel her own sorrow like a hollow in her stomach, and she had to look away from them. She saw her mother watching the two friends pityingly, then saw her look over at Redstar.
Redstar sighed, looking kinda sad himself.

So they waited there, with Flowerfoot being comforted by Hollowstripe, and Redstar and Blueblossom and Silversnap all feeling sad in their own ways, perhaps thinking of cats they had once known, or pondering what losing a close friend might feel like - each kept to themselves.
What they did all know was that Flowerfoot wasn't ready to talk at that moment, clearly. So they gave her some space, which seemed the best they could do.

Redstar wished, briefly, that he could connect with Flowerfoot more in this moment, but he had never been close to her. He suddenly wondered if he would have ever gotten to known any of the young cats on the opposite side of the rebellion if he hadn't been encouraged to name Hollowstripe as his deputy...the thought warranted further consideration, but at a later time, he decided.

Blueblossom hadn't known Flowerfoot's parents very well. Her own kits didn't know Flowerfoot very well. So by extension, she didn't know Flowerfoot very well. Grief was grief, however, and Blueblossom knew that particular cat well enough. So she walked over to Flowerfoot as well, sat next to her, and laid her tail over the black she-cat's shaking shoulders. She stayed there for a while.

Silversnap looked at her uncle, who looked constipated, then back at the she-cats. She didn't know why, but she felt super awkward. She was usually all about hanging out with other cats and caring and stuff - and she did care right now, make no mistake! - but she felt so closed off. It was unnerving.
She sighed quietly. It rubbed her fur the wrong way.

..

After a few minutes, Blueblossom began to murmur in Flowerfoot's fuzzy ear. Flowerfoot had since stuck her face in Hollowstripe's fur, so only her ears were sticking out.
Flowerfoot was quiet, but she was listening. Shortly after Blueblossom was done speaking to her, she slowly pulled away from Hollowstripe...

OOC: tbc.

[Longstorm]

OOC: placeholder for post later tomorrow.
EDIT: IS BEING USED!!!

IC: Flowerfoot sniffled. "I saw-" she stuttered slightly. "I saw Mustardstorm last night." She sniffled again. "He came to the camp. He-he said that he was looking for something - I mean, someone. He thought someone was in the territory. B-but he wouldn't say why he wouldn't stay in the camp. A-and h-h-he said h-h-he'd be back s-soon, and t-to not t-tell-" she broke down again. Flowerfoot stuck her head back into Hollowstripe's fur and wept as best a cat could. "That's all there is," came her fur-muffled wail.
Redstar had heard more than enough. "It's okay, Flowerfoot," he said soothingly, padding closer to the sad she-cat. "Let's all go back to the camp, okay? Mustardstorm is there." He knew he would feel better back home, not on the outskirts of the territory - especially with this new information. Someone else lurking in DarkClan territory? The thought put his teeth on edge, so to speak. Redstar sucked in a breath through the holes in his lip in apprehension.
Flowerfoot wasn't quite ready to return to the camp. "I don't want to see him yet," she'd whispered to Hollowstripe.
"We'll go back slow then," Hollowstripe had whispered back. That seemed to be a good enough answer, though Flowerfoot seemed resigned.

Since the path back home was different from the path they had taken, Redstar instructed Blueblossom to find the hunting patrol and to tell them Flowerfoot had been found, where they were going, and to please fetch the rabbits she had killed. They were 'good eats,' like Blueblossom had said, and there was no point in letting them go to waste.

And so, the day continued, and everyone went off to their own destinations.

OOC: CLOSING

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