Story Part 14 *What's going on?*

"I hope Snowstar isn't too mad at us for leaving her without any clues of what we were doing or where we were going." meowed Etharpaw.
"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Eaglepaw. "She'll be so happy we're back and safe she won't care about that."
"If I were you, I wouldn't take my homecoming that lightly, Eaglepaw." Lionflame put in.
Ashfire nodded at his brother's words. "It will probably be a combination of both of what you said. Let's just follow your tracks home, he said. You don't know if your Clan is in trouble now, or will be later. It's best to get a move on."
The four cats padded out of the clearing and into the woods back toward the FrostClan camp.
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~ In the FrostClan camp~

Snowstar looked around uneasily. She had this strange feeling that she was being watched. That everyone was being watched. It was making her skittish. She let her gaze slide around the perimeter of camp again. Nothing, nothing, still nothing, she thought. I'll go crazy if I keep thinking like this. If only the enemy or whoever it is would show their faces, then I would feel better. I can't fight an invisible enemy, after all.
"Is something wrong Snowstar?" asked Winterpaw.
"Yeah, you've been looking around uneasily forever!" added Lilypaw.
"I'm sure it's nothing you apprentices need to worry about." Snowstar meowed briskly. "Why don't you feed the elders?"
The apprentices sulked and looked at their paws.
"That's an ORDER!" she yowled at them.
Lilypaw and Winterpaw jumped. "Yes, Snowstar," they squeaked in unison.
"Gee," Winterpaw mewed through a mouthful of mouse. "Why was Snowstar so grouchy?"
"I don't know," answered Lilypaw as the reached the elder's den and set her squirrel down. "It seems she  has something on her mind."
"You're right!" exclaimed Winterpaw. "I wonder-"
"Are you two gonna keep on yapping the day away or give us our prey!" came a yowl from inside the elder's den.
Lilypaw sighed. "We'd better give Shortwhisker her prey, or she'll claw our ears off."
"And don't forget Dawnshadow and Leafdapple." mewed Winterpaw.
Together, they entered the elder's den.
"Finally," came the irritated voice of Shortwhisker. "I thought all the apprentices forgotten about us elders over here."
Leafdapple purred. "Don't mind Shortwhisker. She's always cranky, even when the apprentices are on time."
Winterpaw wondered how Leafdapple and Dawnshadow survived in the elder's den.
"She's not as bad as you think," meowed Dawnshadow, seeming to read Winterpaw's mind. She stood up and arched her back. "Just between you and me," she whispered in his ear, "She tells us all sorts of crazy stories about how she did this and that when she was younger. That makes it worth putting up with her sharp words."
"My ears were sharp enough to pick up what you said, Dawnshadow," Shortwhisker meowed, but with a humorous tone in her voice. "Oh, and I think I have a tick in my fur. Can one of you apprentices take it out?"
"Fine," meowed Lilypaw. There was no point in arguing.
When she came back, Winterpaw was no longer by the elder's den. She sighed. He must have left her to do all the work. She paused outside the entrance to the den, and heard the elder's talking.
"Have you seen how nervous Snowstar seems these days?" asked Dawnshadow. She had formerly been Snowstar's deputy, but then had decided to retire and had moved to the elder's den.
"Yes, I  have noticed also," mewed Leafdapple, the former medicine cat.
"She seem edgy," announced Shortwhisker. "I wonder what's up."
"Perhaps she got a message from StarClan warning her of danger," suggested Leafdapple.
"Or she is just worrying about her kits," snorted Shortwhisker.
"That's nothing to joke about. She's really concerned for their safety," meowed Dawnshadow.
"Her kits are apprentices. They can take care of themselves." Shortwhisker retorted.
"You don't understand," Leafdapple meowed patiently. "You've never had kits."
"Neither have you," meowed Shortwhisker, tail twitching. "Medicine cats aren't allowed to have kits."
"Ah, yes, but when I was medicine cat to this Clan, the whole Clan were my kits," Leafdapple purred.
"Yeah, Yeah." Shortwhisker sighed. "Apprentices these days, they never were this slow when I was young. They knew how to respect their elders. When is Lilypaw coming with that mouse-bile?"
Lilypaw walked in. She wordlessly dabbed the bile on Shortwhisker's tick, which fell off quickly after that. Then she left. The elders' conversation had given her much to think about.