Tension kneaded her belly. Basilstar would know what to do. Or maybe Wapatofur, if she had no other choice—but would his own experience as a Clan transplant taint his judgment?

Webdance half-turned. "Wait here," she said over her shoulder. "I'll be back with one of them." She ducked into the thicket and passed through into camp. The leaf-bare grass crunched underpaw.

Once she was sure she was out of earshot of Applecrisp's guest, she called softly, searching. "Basilstar? Wapatofur? We have...a visitor."

A large brown-and-white tom poked his head out from the leader's underground den, wincing as the bright light hit his eyes. 'Well, Basilstar's not here,' he thought. 'How weird. Where in StarClan's name has he gotten to?'

With a grunt, the GaleClan deputy lifted himself out of the shallow hole and into the warm sunshine, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The leader's sleeping quarters, while thankfully private, sometimes felt dank and suffocating. How Basilstar managed to spend so much time down there, both awake and asleep, GaleClan's second-in-command couldn't understand. To think one day it would be his den. The thought alone often filled his chest with panic, and the only thing that offered relief was remembering Basilstar's youth. GaleClan had many more seasons before a Wapatostar need come to power. Perhaps if he were lucky, he might retire to the elder's den before the clan required a new leader. He relied on this thought to make it through his most anxious days as deputy.

'StarClan, I'm such a mousebrain. Surely a more competent cat would have found Basilstar by now?' Wapatofur padded toward the clan entrance, paws prickling with frustration. 'I need to talk to him about the fox I spotted earlier today. It could be highly dangerous--' The deputy, so consumed with his thoughts, almost plowed into Webdance, one of his warriors.

"Oh, whoops! Er, please excuse me!" Wapatofur managed to stop only a pace or two from the she-cat, so close that their whiskers almost touched. His pelt flushed. Did she say something? He wracked his brain, trying to remember if he had heard her speak. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Did you say, a visitor?" Panic started to build in his chest again. Certainly his clanmates hadn't discovered Cora, the loner who had won his affections? This was bad, really, really bad. "Where is she?" With a speediness rare for someone of his size, Wapatofur shot past Webdance and clambered through the thicket shielding GaleClan's camp from view.

"Co--" The fluffy tom froze, mouth agap, blinking at two she-cats who were absolutely not his forbidden crush. "Um, who are you?" He directed the question at the newcomer, his voice more surprised than unfriendly.