Warrior Cats: The Four Clans

Ch5 continued...
  After a while, Birchpaw completed his assessment, and Ashfur led the way back to camp. When they appeared into the sandy clearing, they found a patrol of eager warriors, including a healthy Tawnypelt, waiting by the thorn tunnel. Birchpaw nodded a greeting in Tawnypelt's direction, and in return, she blinked at him gratefully. Soon enough, Birchpaw spotted his best friend among the group.
  "Whitewing!" he cried. At the mention of her name, Whitewing pricked up her soft pink ears, and turned around.
  "Birchpaw!" Whitewing answered, as she padded over to him and licked his ear gently. "Where in StarClan's name have you been?"
  "I went to take my warrior assessment. I might actually become a warrior, like you!" exclaimed Birchpaw, flicking his tail excitedly.
  Whitewing frowned for a moment, and then encouraged him dryly. "That's real great," she muttered, with a sarcastic edge to her voice.
  Birchpaw felt as if a claw had pierced his heart. Why isn't she happy for me? wondered Birchpaw sulkily. She's a warrior herself! Trying to flatten his fur, he looked up at Whitewing.
  "Why d-don't you...want us to be denmates again?" queried Birchpaw in a dissapointed mew. Whitewing looked down at her paws, diliberatley avoiding Birchpaw's gaze.
  "Birchpaw, it's not that...it's just that well," she stopped, and cautiously licked her shoulder, as Birchpaw looked at her intently, eager for her to go on. "You're taking your warrior assessment so early, and I was practically an elder when I took it. Either Firestar likes you more, or you're just...simply better than me," Whitewing hid her muzzle in her feathery, white fur, but Birchpaw was quick enough to see a small tear begin to trickle down her whisker.
  "Whitewing, I never meant to hurt you. I only...Oh Whitewing, you're not an elder. I was so-" Birchpaw was interrupted by his mentor's call.
  "Birchpaw, are you going to sit around and gossip all day?" Ashfur prodded Birchpaw with his paw to make sure that he was listening. "Firestar wants us to go on the patrol to ShadowClan!"
  Birchpaw shot Whitewing a sympathetic glance, and padded through the thorn tunnel with the patrol. Tawnypelt led the cats through the bracken-filled forest. The cold air whipping at Birchpaw's fur, he ran ahead fervently, despite a thorn tearing at his foot. As they crossed the ShadowClan border, everyone noticed that the faded ShadowClan scent that had lingered a few days before, had vanished completely. There was not a trace of ShadowClan at all. They moved on, and finally reached the well concealed ShadowClan camp. 
  They searched the clearing, and every crevice and den, but ShadowClan was nowhere in sight. However, a strong ShadowClan scent filled the camp, as if the clan had left recently. About to give up, Birchpaw gave the camp a last sniff, and began to walk toward the exit.
  "Over here!" shouted Cloudtail's voice unexpectedly. "I found something!" Birchpaw and the patrol followed Cloudtail's scent trail to right outside the camp barrier. When Birchpaw smelled the air, he noticed that Cloudtail's scent wasn't the only thing he smelled. Blood! The moment he noticed the faint hint of blood scent in the air, the fowl reek washed over him. Birchpaw wrinkled his nose in disgust, and pushed through the brambles to identify what Cloudtail had found. There, flowing along the forest floor, was a trail of blood. The thick stream of scarlet liquid was staining the soil with death. Birchpaw knew that no cat could survive losing so much blood. He caught a glimpse of Leafpool examining the trail. She straightened up, and padded over to Firestar. Birchpaw shifted a bit closer to hear what they were saying.
  "Firestar, someone vomited this blood. It contains herbs and acid, meaning that the victim was treated with herbs, and the acid proves that it came from the stomach," reported Leafpool to her father. Firestar glanced at the trail, and twitched his leg uneasily.
  "Is it contagious?" he asked. Leafpool shook her head, and Firestar turned to the partol. "We will follow the trail until we find this victim," he announced. Some warriors looked uncomfortable, but they nodded in agreement.
  "What if the trail leads to another clan's territory?" asked Dustpelt, as he anxiously flexed his claws. Firestar closed his eyes, and lifted his head thoughtfully.
  "We will decide when that happens. For now, we will worry about finding this sufferer," replied Firestar. He looked over his patrol, and seeing that there were no more questions, he swished his tail and walked away through the forest, using the trail as his guide. The patrol followed him, and then Birchpaw suddenly noticed that it was almost sunhigh.