Thunder and Shadow

  “Go!” Onestar screeched. “Head for the border and don’t stop. The moment you leave the camp, I’m sending a patrol after you. If they catch up with you, they’ll tear the pelts from your backs.”

  Tigerheart shifted his paws. “Please,” he pleaded softly.

  Violetpaw stared at the warrior in surprise. He was begging. He must care for his Clan more than his own pride.

  “Leave!” Onestar’s yowl rang around the camp.

  Tigerheart turned, signaling with his tail for the patrol to follow.

  Violetpaw hurried after him as he headed for the entrance. She could feel Puddleshine crowding her heels and smell his fear. As they emerged from the entrance, Tigerheart broke into a run. “Keep up!” he called over his shoulder. “Onestar is out of his mind. The sooner we get out of here the better.” As he raced away from the WindClan camp, Violetpaw charged after him. Scorchfur dropped back and fell in behind. Violetpaw felt a rush of gratitude to the tom. She knew that he was placing himself between her and the WindClan patrol that would soon be on their tails. Perhaps he was beginning to accept her at last.

  CHAPTER 15

  “And then”—Sparkpelt followed Alderpaw onto the bridge—“Spikefur told Yarrowleaf it was nothing to do with ThunderClan and dragged her away from the border before she could tell me anything else. But it is totally to do with us. If WindClan and ShadowClan start fighting, it will affect all the Clans, surely?”

  “I guess.” Alderpaw padded over the damp bark, trying not to look into the dark water swirling below. “But Yarrowleaf might just have been spreading gossip. You can’t be sure it was true.” Sparkpelt had been chattering about the spat between ShadowClan and WindClan since they’d crossed the RiverClan border.

  The full moon lit the lake. The trees on the island glowed, their buds pale in its light. He wondered if WindClan and ShadowClan were already waiting at the Gathering and glanced up to check for stray clouds. Would the two Clans be able to keep the truce? Or would StarClan cover the moon with clouds to keep the battling Clans apart? What if they fought anyway? Alderpaw’s mouth grew dry.

  He jumped onto the beach, pebbles crunching beneath his paws. “I can’t believe Onestar would drive away a medicine cat asking for herbs.” He waited as Sparkpelt jumped down beside him.

  “Of course he would,” Sparkpelt mewed. “Everyone knows he’s been as crazy as a cuckoo since he lost that life.”

  Alderpaw frowned. Losing a life did seem to have made the WindClan leader burn with a strange fury. But enough for him to deny help to sick cats?

  Sparkpelt brushed past him. “Hurry up. I can’t wait to see what will happen.” She headed into the long grass.

  Bramblestar and Squirrelflight were ahead, leading Brightheart, Cloudtail, and Berrynose toward the clearing with Leafpool. Alderpaw glanced over his shoulder. Molewhisker was coaxing Honeypaw onto the tree-bridge. “I’ll be right behind you,” he promised his apprentice. “If you slip, I’ll grab your scruff.”

  Larkpaw and Leafpaw jostled on the far shore, staring eagerly at the tree-bridge.

  Rosepetal nudged them away. “Let your sister cross first.”

  “Honeypaw’s scared of water!” Larkpaw teased.

  Rosepetal glared at her apprentice sternly. “Sometimes being afraid is smart.”

  Leafpaw snorted. “Warriors aren’t meant to be afraid of anything.”

  Bumblestripe nudged her playfully. “I’ll remind you of that next time we smell a fox while we’re out training.”

  Leafpaw puffed out her chest. “I wasn’t being afraid,” she sniffed. “I was being smart.”

  Bumblestripe and Rosepetal swapped bemused glances. Behind them Poppyfrost, Graystripe, and Millie waited patiently, while Twigpaw hung back with Ivypool and Dovewing.

  “Alderpaw!” Sparkpelt called from the long grass. “Come on! WindClan is already here. I can smell them.”

  Alderpaw nosed his way into the dew-soaked grass, following her trail. He opened his mouth, tasting for scents. There was no sign of ShadowClan. He padded into the clearing. Brightheart and Cloudtail were already sharing tongues with Minnowtail and Mallownose. The RiverClan cats were looking sleek again after the long leaf-bare. The fish must be teeming in the river once more.

  WindClan cats skirted the clearing, keeping their distance. They glanced anxiously at one another and then at the other Clan cats. Alderpaw’s pelt prickled with foreboding. He scanned the clearing for Onestar.

  The WindClan leader was pacing beneath the great oak, his pelt rippling along his spine. As ThunderClan arrived, his gaze flashed toward the long grass, sharp with suspicion as though he was waiting for an ambush. He flinched as Leafpaw, Honeypaw, and Larkpaw raced into the clearing.

  “Nightpaw! Breezepaw!” Leafpaw greeted the RiverClan apprentices with a purr and hurried to join them. Larkpaw and Honeypaw followed.

  Fernpaw and Brindlepaw, the WindClan apprentices, eyed them eagerly but didn’t move from their mentors’ side.

  As Sparkpelt headed toward a group of RiverClan warriors, Alderpaw followed Leafpool toward the great oak. Jayfeather had stayed in camp, complaining that if he wanted to spend the night listening to cats bicker, he could sit in the elders’ den. “It’s going to be a weird Gathering,” Alderpaw murmured softly as he stopped beside her.

  She followed his gaze toward Onestar. “Tensions are high.”

  “Has this happened before?” Alderpaw asked.

  Leafpool sat down. “Clans have always fought.”

  “But has a Clan ever refused to help others treat their sick?” Alderpaw blinked at her earnestly.

  “It’s been known to happen,” she admitted.

  “Did they ever let cats die?” Alderpaw shifted his paws uneasily.

  “Warriors and medicine cats think differently,” Leafpool sighed.

  “Why?” Alderpaw was puzzled. It didn’t make sense. If the Clans helped one another, then no one needed to suffer.

  “Only StarClan knows.” Leafpool gazed across the clearing and changed the subject. “Is Twigpaw okay?” She was watching the young she-cat, who was sitting alone beside a clump of ferns.

  “I don’t know.” Alderpaw followed her gaze, his belly pricking with guilt. Twigpaw had hardly spoken to him since he’d told her that Bramblestar had never sent a search patrol to look for her mother. Even though he shared the apprentices’ den with her, she would leave her nest by the time he woke and would be curled asleep—or pretending to be asleep—when he settled down for the night. During the day they were both busy with training, but he noticed how she always took her prey to the far side of the clearing and avoided his gaze when they passed in camp.

  “Is she upset about something?” Leafpool pressed.

  Alderpaw couldn’t explain. Leafpool, like the rest of the Clan, believed that the search party had been looking for Twigpaw’s mother. She didn’t know about SkyClan. He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

  “Ivypool says she works hard.” Leafpool frowned. “She must be committed to the Clan. Perhaps she still misses her sister.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Leafpool wrapped her tail over her paws. “She must be happy to know that Violetpaw is back with ShadowClan. She’ll be safer away from those rogues.”

  “I guess.” Alderpaw wished he knew what she felt. When Dovewing had returned to camp with the news, he’d hurried to congratulate Twigpaw. But Twigpaw had only shrugged and turned away.

  The Clan cats were beginning to glance toward the long grass, shifting impatiently. There was still no sign of ShadowClan. The round white moon was crossing behind the great oak. Had ShadowClan decided not to come?

  Bramblestar crossed the clearing, nodding to Mistystar as he passed her. The RiverClan leader followed him to the oak and climbed the trunk after him. As they settled on the lowest branch, Onestar leaped up beside them and took his place, glowering at the cats as they clustered below. Squirrelflight followed Harespring and Reedwhisker to the deputies’ spot among the roots. Kestrel
flight, Mothwing, and Willowshine sat down beside Leafpool.

  “Let’s begin,” Bramblestar called.

  Mistystar shifted beside him. “Should we wait a little longer for ShadowClan?”

  “They can join in when they arrive.” There was impatience in Bramblestar’s mew. He lifted his gaze to the gathered cats. “I have important news, and if ShadowClan isn’t here to share it, then I must. Violetpaw, one of StarClan’s chosen kits, has returned to ShadowClan.”

  The RiverClan cats lifted their gaze happily, ears pricking.

  Mistystar blinked at Bramblestar. “Did ShadowClan rescue her?”

  “She returned because she wanted to,” Bramblestar told her.

  Onestar’s eyes flashed with anger. “So she claims, and ShadowClan is fool enough to believe her. What about the other ShadowClan traitors?”

  “As far as I know, they are still with the rogues,” Bramblestar meowed.

  Uneasy murmurs rippled through the cats below him.

  The ThunderClan leader ignored them. “But Violetpaw is back. StarClan’s prophecy is safe once more.”

  Crowfeather called from the crowd. “Are we sure the prophecy is safe? StarClan hasn’t confirmed that Violetpaw and Twigpaw are part of it.”

  Mistystar flicked her tail. “They haven’t told us they’re not.”

  Minnowtail called from among the other RiverClan warriors. “What else could the prophecy mean? The kits are the only things we’ve found in the shadows.”

  It could mean SkyClan. Alderpaw swallowed back frustration. Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky. The sky had to refer to SkyClan. Even though StarClan hadn’t shared with him for moons, he felt sure that SkyClan was crucial to the prophecy. He glanced toward Twigpaw, who was sitting beside Ivypool, her round eyes fixed on the leaders. Of course Twigpaw and Violetpaw might be part of it too, but surely StarClan would not let SkyClan simply disappear. And yet how could the four Clans have a serious conversation about the prophecy when hardly any cat knew about the missing Clan?

  Onestar stepped to the edge of the branch, his ears twitching angrily. “Why are we wasting time when there are important matters to discuss?” He glared at the Clans. “A few days ago, a ShadowClan patrol invaded our land—with one of the former rogues!”

  Dovewing jerked her head up. “It wasn’t an invasion! I saw the patrol. It was Puddleshine and Violetpaw, who is a ShadowClan apprentice now. They wanted herbs, not a battle!”

  “Then why send two warriors with them?” Onestar scowled at her. “Why send a cat who has aligned herself with those who killed my warrior?”

  Bramblestar snorted. “Two warriors and an apprentice don’t make an invasion.”

  Onestar lashed his tail. “They were ShadowClan!” he hissed. “For all we know, that apprentice was scouting for her rogue friends.”

  “Traitors!” Emberfoot yowled.

  “Rogue lovers!” Crowfeather hissed.

  Oatclaw flattened his ears. “ShadowClan has forgotten what it is to be a Clan.”

  Harespring leaped onto an oak root, his pelt bushed. “Half their apprentices live with the rogues.”

  Onestar nodded approvingly at his deputy. “They don’t even come to Gatherings anymore.”

  Leafpool padded to the front of the crowd and glared up at the WindClan leader. “Stop yowling about ShadowClan’s mistakes and think about your own!”

  Onestar’s eyes narrowed to slits. He leaned down toward the ThunderClan medicine cat, hissing, “I have made no mistakes.”

  “You denied a valuable herb to a Clan in need!” Leafpool hissed back.

  As she spoke, the grass at the edge of the clearing rustled. Crowfrost was leading his Clan into the clearing. They streamed around the other cats, eyes flashing watchfully in the moonlight. Crowfrost pushed through the crowd and climbed into the great oak. He sat in Rowanstar’s place. “Rowanstar has the sickness that has stricken our Clan. I will take his place tonight.”

  Bramblestar and Mistystar dipped their heads to the ShadowClan deputy as, below them, cats shifted to make room for his Clanmates. Puddleshine sat down beside Willowshine and Mothwing.

  A low growl rumbled in Onestar’s throat.

  Crowfrost ignored it. “Rowanstar would be well by now if Onestar had allowed us to gather herbs on his land.”

  Onestar showed his teeth. “Gather your precious herb somewhere else. No ShadowClan cat will ever set paw on WindClan land again.”

  Mothwing blinked up at Crowfrost. “What is this herb?”

  “Lungwort,” Crowfrost told her. “StarClan shared dreams with Puddleshine. Runningnose told him that the sickness is called yellowcough and that lungwort is the only cure.”

  “Puddleshine had a dream from StarClan!” Willowshine’s eyes lit up. “Then he is truly a medicine cat.”

  Mothwing shifted stiffly beside her.

  Willowshine jerked her nose toward her former mentor, guilt flashing in her gaze. “Of course that’s not the most important part of being a medicine cat,” she mewed quickly.

  Alderpaw felt a stab of sympathy for Mothwing. “But he is ShadowClan’s only medicine cat,” he murmured. “It will be better for them that he can speak with StarClan.”

  Mothwing looked at Puddleshine. “What does the herb look like?”

  “It has dark green leaves specked with gray,” he told her. “I would show you if I could find some. But Runningnose told me it only grows on the moor.”

  Mothwing turned to Onestar. “May I pick the herb on your land? I’m not a ShadowClan cat.”

  Alderpaw leaned forward. Mothwing’s idea was a good one.

  Onestar curled his claws into the oak bark. “Not if the herb is for ShadowClan,” he snarled.

  Crowfrost’s pelt bushed. “Two of our elders are sick. They can’t last much longer without the herb,” he snapped at Onestar. “Are you determined to see innocent cats die?”

  “No ShadowClan cat is innocent,” Onestar spat. “You are all sheltering the rogues.”

  Crowfrost flattened his ears. “They live outside our territory!”

  “How can we be sure?” Onestar thrust his muzzle close to Crowfrost’s. “You took Violetpaw back. Can you be sure of her loyalty? And now you’re the Clan with a sickness you’ve never seen before. Perhaps the rogues brought it into your Clan.”

  Crowfrost held his gaze, hackles rising. “Violetpaw is one of us. The rogues are not living with our Clan.”

  “But your Clanmates are living with the rogues!” As Onestar spat back, yowls of agreement rose among the WindClan cats. RiverClan shifted uneasily, while ThunderClan exchanged anxious glances.

  Fear spiked through Alderpaw’s pelt. The leaders mustn’t fight over this. Fighting wouldn’t cure any cat. “Kestrelflight?” He stared at the WindClan medicine cat. “Surely you won’t let Clan cats die?”

  Panic sharpened the mottled gray tom’s gaze. He glanced at Onestar, who was glowering at him, ears flat. “I can’t betray my Clan,” he mewed hoarsely.

  Mothwing touched Alderpaw’s shoulder with her tail softly. “It’s not fair to ask that of him.”

  “Of course it’s fair. He’s a medicine cat, not a warrior!” Leafpool bristled beside them. “What’s not fair is asking innocent cats to die because of one cat’s stubbornness!” She turned her furious gaze on Onestar.

  Onestar stared at her coldly. “If ShadowClan drives the rogues away, they can have the herb.” Without waiting for a response, he leaped from the oak and pushed his way through the gathered cats. His Clanmates joined him, and they stalked away through the grass, pelts spiking.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Kestrelflight’s whisper made Alderpaw jump. The WindClan medicine cat was murmuring in Puddleshine’s ear. Before Puddleshine could respond, the WindClan medicine cat hurried away to join his Clanmates.

  Bramblestar’s tail drooped over the edge of the branch as he watched WindClan leave.

  Mistystar glanced at the sky. Clouds were trail
ing across the moon. She turned to Crowfrost. “I will send patrols to search RiverClan territory for this herb,” she offered. “But if StarClan has said it is only on the moor, I don’t have much hope of finding it.”

  Crowfrost dipped his head gratefully as the RiverClan leader jumped down from the branch.

  Alderpaw blinked at Puddleshine as ThunderClan headed for the tree-bridge. “Congratulations on your dream.”

  “Thank you.” Puddleshine dipped his head. “I just wish Runningnose had told me something that had helped us instead of making things worse.” He hurried away, following Crowfrost and Tawnypelt into the shadows. Mistystar had already led her Clanmates into the long grass. The clearing was nearly empty.

  Alderpaw padded to the foot of the great oak and waited for his father to jump down. “Could you send a secret patrol to gather lungwort in WindClan’s territory?” he mewed as Bramblestar landed behind him.

  Bramblestar padded wearily past him. “And what would happen when Onestar found out?”

  Alderpaw hurried after him. “Who cares about Onestar?” Frustration rippled through his pelt. “Sick cats will die unless we help them.”

  “Then ShadowClan must deal with the rogues,” Bramblestar meowed simply.

  Alderpaw blinked eagerly. “We could help them!”

  “It’s not our battle.”

  “It’s everyone’s battle! These are the rogues who drove SkyClan away.”

  “So?” Bramblestar’s shoulders sagged.

  “Don’t you care about SkyClan?” Why was his father giving up so easily? “They may be part of the prophecy!”

  Bramblestar faced him in the deserted clearing. “SkyClan is gone,” he meowed. “The sooner you accept that, the better.”

  Alderpaw watched his father walk away, shock pulsing in his paws. Did Bramblestar really believe that? He glanced at the sky. StarClan! Would you really let SkyClan disappear without giving us a chance to save them?

  CHAPTER 16

  Twigpaw paced the edge of the clearing, her pelt fizzing with excitement. The dawn patrol had already left, and the sun promised warmth as it lifted over the misty forest. Ivypool was in the medicine den, asking Jayfeather for traveling herbs. They would leave soon.