Missing

Sorrelpaw blushed. "You know about that?" Shaking his head, he continued. "Yeah, I'm hoping to see her again. I haven't seen her in a while."

Daisypaw appeared from the group of gathering cats, nudging Sorrelpaw. "Heyy Sorrelpaw. You excited to meet Heatherpaw again?" Daisypaw winked at Sorrelpaw.

Sorrelpaw hissed, his blush intensifying. "Shut up Daisypaw!"

Daisypaw let out a mrrow of amusement. "Okay, okay."

Sorrelpaw settled down next to Skypaw, with Daisypaw joining them. Emberpaw came running out from the bunch of cats.

"DAISYPAW!" she exclaimed, giving a friendly nuzzle to her cousin. Daisypaw returned the nuzzle, and they started fooling around like they usually do.

Ignore them... Sorrelpaw face-pawed, and then looked around. "Weird. I can smell ThunderClan, so they're here..."

"Hopefully," Sorrelpaw added, pawing the ground anxiously. What if something bad happened to Sandstar?

As soon as he thought that, Firefoot, Sandstar's deputy, stood up on the branch where Sandstar would probably sit and called. "I've got some very important news to announce regarding Sandstar's absence."

As soon as Sorrelpaw heard "Sandstar", his attention snapped towards Firefoot. Oh StarClan, I hope she's okay...

Firefoot looked at the other leaders before continuing. "As you may have noticed, Sandstar is...not attending this gathering." She looked around frantically. "I hate to inform you, but...she's gone missing."

Sorrelpaw felt like everything he ever knew was shattered. M-missing?! But...but...

Gasps and murmurs rose from the crowd. Greenstar stood up. "Are you sure you're not just saying that and that you've probably hid her body somewhere?"

Firefoot drooped her ears, but didn't react. Instead, she stood firm. Hollystar stood up. "You're always so grudgy, Greenstar. Sandstar trusts her; there's no way she could have killed her."

Greenstar seemed about to retaliate, but Hollystar shot him a glare, and he sat back down, a scowl remaining on his face.

"Well, other than that, nothing bad has really happened lately. The prey's running well and I think we're prepared for leaf-bare." With that, she sat back down.

((inb4 snadstar comes to save the day))

As the other leaders spoke their news, Sorrelpaw kept his gaze fixed on the ground. When the gathering finished, Daisypaw's face had a frown plastered on it. Emberpaw?...her face was like she had just witnessed someone die.

"Sorrelpaw?..." Emberpaw nudged her friend, pulling him out of his stupor. "The gathering's finished. Come on, let's go..."

Sorrelpaw followed behind Emberpaw, staying close.

Sorrelpaw looked over at Skypaw, his ears raising. "Are you sure we'll be allowed to go there? What if we get in trouble?"

Emberpaw seemed to jump at the chance. "Yeah! If we find Sandstar, maybe we'll even become warriors!"

Sorrelpaw shifted in his nest, speaking in a low voice, "Okay..." before falling asleep.

Emberpaw and Daisypaw settled down on their nests (that were adjacent to each other), Emberpaw snuggling up to her cousin and falling asleep.

Sorrelpaw blinked his eyes open, letting out a small yawn. "I'm still not sure we should be doing this..."

As he stood up, he looked to Daisypaw's nest. "Daisypaw's not here, so...let's get Emberpaw." He walked over to the ginger cat and prodded her. She woke with a blink, looking to Skypaw, and then smiled gleefully.

"C'mon! Let's go!" she said excitedly, prancing out of the den. Sorrelpaw face-pawed, following her out.

Jayflight couldn't sleep. It wasn't just that Flintfoot, was giving the apprentices nighttime, but the mysterious dissperance of the Thunderclan leader deeply unsettled him. He stood up and tiptoed through the warrior's den. He slipped out of camp and raced through the pine woods. For Jayflight, the smell of fresh pine needles and the night air, was the best scent in the world. He raced through the forest and launched himself up the tallest tree. It was an uncanny ability he possed, he could climb trees faster than any Thunderclan cat. He perched himself in a branch where the tree bent beneath his weight, and gazed out across the silent lake.

NOTE TO HAZELFERN: It's morning.

NOTE TO WHOEVER POSTED THE ABOVE COMMENT: I know.

Although Skypaw's belly was roaring like the whole of LionClan, she pushed the thought aside.
She sighed, "You're right, Kits and Elders always eat first."