The Darkest Hour

  “Cats of WindClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan!” Firestar yowled. “I can stay silent no longer. You cannot trust Tigerstar any more than you would trust a cornered badger.”

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw a swift movement from Tigerstar, a bunching of muscles under the rippling tabby pelt, but then the ShadowClan leader glanced at the sky again, controlled himself, and went on listening with a look of deliberate indifference.

  “I know many of you must have wondered why Tigerstar left ThunderClan,” Firestar went on. “You want to know the truth? This cat is power-hungry and dangerous, and he is willing to murder other cats to get what he wants.”

  He broke off as lightning stabbed down from the sky, a blazing claw of white fire that raked the forest. Thunder crashed overhead, drowning Firestar’s words; it sounded as if the Great Rock itself were being torn up.

  “A sign! A sign!” Tigerstar yowled. He gazed up at the sky, his yellow eyes glowing in the light of the moon that still shone between the gathering clouds. “I thank you, StarClan, for showing us your will. This Gathering is over.”

  Calling a command to his cats to follow him, he bunched his muscles to leap down from the Great Rock. Before he sprang he turned his head, eyes narrowed with hatred. “Bad luck, kittypet,” he spat. “Think about my offer. It’s your last chance to save those miserable cats.”

  Before Firestar had the chance to respond, the ShadowClan leader launched himself from the Great Rock and disappear e d into the bushes that lined the hollow. ShadowClan cats poured after him. Leopard star jumped down in her turn and gathered the warriors of RiverClan.

  Firestar and Tallstar faced each other, shocked and bewildered, as lightning stabbed down again. A gust of wind buffeted the rock, almost carrying Firestar off his paws, and rain poured from the sky as the storm broke.

  Almost blinded by the lashing rain, Firestar half jumped, half slithered down the side of the rock and streaked across the open ground to the shelter of the bushes, calling to his warriors as he went. Moments later he found himself crouching beneath a hawthorn bush with Graystripe and Sandstorm huddled close to him. Shaking rain from his pelt, he looked around for Tallstar, but the WindClan leader had not followed him.

  The rain was striking the ground so hard that the drops scattered into a mist of spray. The four oaks thrashed and groaned in the wind. Grasses and ferns were flattened in the fury of the storm. But the chaos in the clearing was no worse than the chaos in Firestar’s mind.

  “I can’t believe this!” he meowed, raising his voice above the howling wind. “I didn’t think even Tigerstar would dare to claim power over all the forest.”

  “But what can we do about it?” asked Graystripe. “You didn’t get to tell the truth about Tigerstar.”

  “It’s not Firestar’s fault that the storm broke,” Sandstorm pointed out, her hackles rising.

  “Too late to worry about it,” Firestar told them. “That prey’s killed and eaten now. We have to decide what we do next.”

  “What is there to decide?” snarled Sandstorm. The light of battle shone in her green eyes. “We fight, of course—until we’ve driven that piece of crowfood out of the forest for good.”

  Firestar nodded. Though he said nothing, he couldn’t help thinking of Bluestar’s prophecy during his dream at the Moonstone.

  Four will become two. Lion and Tiger will meet in battle.

  “Tiger” must mean the new TigerClan, but who or what is “Lion”? Firestar pushed the question aside as he remembered Bluestar’s ominous parting words.

  Blood will rule the forest.

  CHAPTER 13

  The squall was soon over. Firestar led his cats home through a forest where every twig and fern dripped water under a clearing sky. Silverpelt glittered brightly, and Firestar raised his eyes to utter a silent prayer: Great StarClan, show me what to do.

  He began to worry about whether Tigerstar had sent warriors to attack the camp while Firestar and the others were away. It would be one way to weaken ThunderClan so that Firestar had no choice but to ally his surviving cats with TigerClan. Relief flooded over him as he emerged from the gorse tunnel to see that everything was peaceful.

  Whitestorm got up from sentry duty outside the warriors’ den and padded over. “You’re back early. I wondered if those stormclouds would cover the moon.”

  “Yes, but it was worse than that,” Firestar replied.

  “Worse?” Whitestorm’s eyes widened in astonishment as Firestar told him what had happened at the Gathering just before thunder and lightning prevented his revealing words. More cats joined them, and Firestar was aware of shocked mews as his Clan learned what Tigerstar was planning.

  “When the storm broke,” Firestar finished, “Tigerstar said it was a sign from StarClan that he had their favor. He and Leopardstar left, so the Gathering broke up.”

  “It might well have been a sign,” mewed Whitestorm thoughtfully. “But one that shows StarClan are angry with Tigerstar.”

  “Cinderpelt, what do you think?” Firestar asked the medicine cat, who had listened to the story with deep foreboding in her blue eyes.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “If it was a sign, it would mean StarClan stopped you from telling the truth about Tigerstar, and I find that hard to believe.” She shrugged. “There are times when a storm is just a storm.”

  “It was an unlucky one for ThunderClan, then,” muttered Longtail.

  “I wish I’d been there,” Cloudtail growled. “I’d have torn Tigerstar’s throat out. No more problem.”

  “In that case, it’s a good thing you weren’t there,” Firestar retorted. “Attacking a Clan leader at a Gathering? That would have made StarClan angry.”

  Cloudtail narrowed his eyes at Firestar, the challenge clear in his blue gaze. “Why don’t StarClan do something to help us, then, if they’re so powerful?”

  “Maybe they will,” Brightheart suggested gently.

  “So what are we going to do?” asked Mousefur. She was shifting from paw to paw as if she wanted to race out of camp and confront her enemies right away. “You’re not thinking of joining this…TigerClan, are you?”

  “Never,” Firestar assured her. “But we need time to think, and rest.” He yawned and stretched. “For now, we’ll need extra patrols. Any volunteers to go out at dawn?”

  “I will,” Mousefur offered instantly.

  “Thanks,” meowed Firestar. “Keep a lookout along the border with ShadowClan. And if you come across any of Tigerstar’s warriors, you know what to do.”

  “Oh, yes.” Cloudtail lashed his tail eagerly. “I’ll come with you, Mousefur. I could do with some ShadowClan fur to line my nest.”

  Firestar didn’t try to check the young warrior’s hostility. No cat could doubt Cloudtail’s loyalty to ThunderClan, however scornful he was about StarClan and the warrior code.

  Whitestorm named Brackenfur and Thornclaw to join the patrol as well, and all four cats padded off to get some rest before dawn. One by one, the other Clan cats headed for their dens. Firestar was aware of their shock, and the fear they did not quite succeed in hiding.

  Eventually he was left alone with only Cinderpelt by his side. He let out a long sigh. “Will there ever be any end to this?” he murmured.

  Cinderpelt pressed her muzzle comfortingly against his. “I don’t know. It’s in the paws of StarClan.” She narrowed her eyes. “But sometimes I don’t believe there’ll be any peace in the forest until Tigerstar is dead.”

  “Right,” Firestar meowed. “Attack me.”

  A few foxlengths away, Bramblepaw crouched on the floor of the hollow. Firestar waited as the apprentice began to creep toward him, his amber eyes darting from side to side as if he was choosing the best place to strike.

  A heartbeat later Bramblepaw launched himself into the air. But Firestar was ready for him. Slipping rapidly to one side, he butted Bramblepaw in the flank as he came down, and the young cat lost his balance and rolled over, his paws scuffing up dust.
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  “You’ll have to be quicker than that,” Firestar told him. “Don’t give your enemy time to think.”

  Bramblepaw scrambled up, spitting out sand, and immediately sprang again. His outstretched paws caught Firestar on the side of the head, thrusting the older cat sideways so that his paws slid out from under him. Bramblepaw held him down, his nose almost touching Firestar’s.

  “Like that?” he asked.

  Firestar pushed him off. “Let me up, you great lump!” Shaking sand out of his pelt, he added, “Yes, just like that. You’re shaping up well, Bramblepaw.”

  The apprentice’s eyes glowed and Firestar suddenly felt as if he were looking at a young Tigerstar—but this was Tigerstar as he should have been: strong, skillful, brave and, yes, ambitious, but in Bramblepaw all the ambition seemed to be focused on becoming the best warrior that he could be in the service of his Clan.

  Firestar couldn’t resist letting out a purr of satisfaction. Amid all the troubles that beset ThunderClan, it was a relief to escape for a short time for a training session with his apprentice.

  But Bramblepaw’s next words reminded him of his weightier responsibilities. “Firestar, I wanted to ask you…why does every cat think it would be so bad to be part of TigerClan?”

  “What?” Firestar felt a surge of anger; he could hardly believe his apprentice had asked the question.

  Bramblepaw flinched, but he went on, steadily meeting his mentor’s eyes. “Ashpaw told me what Tigerstar said. It’s true that times are hard. Every cat’s always complaining about the shortage of prey, and how there are more Twolegs in the forest than ever before. Besides, TigerClan will be the strongest Clan in the forest if RiverClan joins with ShadowClan. Wouldn’t it make sense to join them?”

  Firestar took a deep breath. After all, he had asked questions like these when he first came to the forest, not understanding why there should be rivalry and battle between the Clans. He sat down beside Bramblepaw. “It’s not as simple as that,” he meowed. “For one thing, there have always been four Clans in the forest. For another, it would mean the end of ThunderClan.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we cannot believe Tigerstar when he says the four leaders would rule jointly.” Firestar tried to speak gently, remembering he was talking about the young cat’s father, but there was no hiding the stark truth. “Tigerstar would take control. We would lose every thing that makes us ThunderClan.”

  For a few heartbeats Bramblepaw was silent. Then he meowed, “I see. Thank you, Firestar. That’s what I wanted to know.”

  “Then let’s get on.” Firestar sprang to his paws. “There’s a move I think you might find useful….”

  But as he continued with the training session, he found that his optimism about Bramblepaw’s loyalties had started to fade.

  When the training session was over, Firestar sent Bramblepaw to hunt for the elders. He was about to return to camp when Cloudtail bounded over the top of the training hollow, closely followed by Brightheart.

  “Firestar! We’re going to practice Brightheart’s fighting moves. Do you want to see how she’s coming on?”

  “Yes, of course—go ahead.” Even though Brightheart’s wounds were healed, Firestar found it hard to think of her as a fighting cat. He couldn’t imagine she would ever be able to go into battle with her Clan. But since her change of name she looked much happier and more confident, and he wanted to encourage her as much as he could.

  Cloudtail and Brightheart ran into the middle of the hollow. For a few heartbeats they prowled around each other; then Cloudtail darted in and gave Brightheart a couple of blows with sheathed paws on the blind side of her head. Brightheart rolled with the impact and Firestar tensed, imagining the damage an enemy cat might have done with his claws out and all his strength behind the blow.

  But instead of rolling away from Cloudtail, Brightheart propelled herself toward him, tangling her paws with his and throwing him off balance. Firestar pricked his ears with interest as the two cats writhed together on the ground, and suddenly Brighthear pinning Cloudtail down with one paw on his neck.

  “I’ve never seen that before,” Firestar meowed, padding over to join them as Brightheart released Cloudtail and the young white warrior jumped up and shook sand out of his pelt. “Brightheart, try it on me.”

  Looking nervous, Brightheart faced him. Firestar found it harder than he had expected to come up on her blind side; the young she-cat kept weaving back and forth so that he had to change his position. When at last he leaped at her, she slid under his outstretched paws and tripped him in the same way that she had surprised Cloudtail. For a few heartbeats they wrestled together until at last Firestar managed to hold her down.

  “Harder than it looks, isn’t it?” meowed Cloudtail, strolling up beside them with a delighted expression.

  “It certainly is. Well done, Brightheart.” Firestar let the she-cat get up; her uninjured eye was shining at his praise. For the first time he began to wonder if she had a future as a warrior after all. “Keep practicing,” he told her. “And let me watch you again soon. I think you might have something to teach the Clan.”

  After the storm, the weather turned cold again. Every morning the grass and ferns were furred with frost, and there was another light fall of snow. Prey became scarcer still, and what the hunters managed to catch was thin and scrawny, scarcely a mouthful for a hungry cat.

  “If I don’t get a decent meal soon I’ll fade away to a shadow,” Graystripe complained.

  He and Firestar were on patrol not far from Fourtrees, along with Longtail and Thornclaw. Firestar had hoped they would find more prey farther from the camp, where the fire had never reached, but the catch was pitifully small.

  “I’m going to try down by the stream,” Firestar meowed.

  He headed down the slope to where a thicker growth of fern and shrubs marked the line of the stream. When he paused to taste the air the prey-scent was faint, and he could not hear any of the small sounds that would have alerted him to creatures scurrying through the grass.

  With so little fresh-kill, the Clan was growing weaker by the day. Just enduring leaf-bare would be hard enough, but on top of that there was the new threat from TigerClan. Would they be strong enough to defend themselves? Firestar wondered.

  His pawsteps led him by instinct down toward the stream and he crouched down to drink, prodding the thin ice at the very edge and shaking icy drops off his paw when it gave way.

  As Firestar bent his head to lap from the stream, the sun came out behind him, striking through the leaves. Light dazzled on the water and surrounded Firestar’s reflection with golden rays. For a moment the image of his head disappeared, to be replaced by that of a roaring lion. It was the beast Firestar had heard described in so many elders’ tales, his flame-colored pelt blazing into a luxuriant mane, his eyes shining with unlimited strength and power.

  Startled, Firestar leaped backward. He let out a yowl as he collided with a tree and stumbled into the dead leaves among its roots. When he looked up, Spottedleaf was facing him from across the stream.

  The beautiful tortoiseshell’s eyes were brimming with amusement, and she let out a little mrrow of laughter.

  “Spottedleaf!” Firestar gasped. She had never come to him before when he was awake, and he wondered what this might mean. He sprang to his paws, ready to splash through the stream to her side, but she signaled with her tail for him to stay where he was.

  “Take heed of what you have seen, Firestar,” she told him, her amusement vanishing like the frost at dawn. “Learn what you must be.”

  “What do you mean?” Firestar asked urgently.

  But as she finished speaking, Spottedleaf began to fade. Her eyes rested on him, filled with love, and her body paled until Firestar could see the bank of the stream through it.

  “Spottedleaf, don’t leave me yet,” he begged. “I need you.”

  But her eyes shone for a heartbeat longer, and then she was gone.

  “Firestar!?
?? It was Graystripe’s voice. Firestar shook his head to clear it and turned to face his friend as he came padding down the bank.

  “Are you okay?” Graystripe asked. “You yowled loud enough to scare all the prey between here and Fourtrees!”

  “I’m fine,” Firestar replied. “Something startled me, that’s all.”

  Graystripe examined him for a moment longer, as if he wasn’t quite satisfied with his leader’s explanation, and then turned away. “If you say so,” he meowed, retreating up the bank. “Come and see the rabbit Longtail caught—it’s as big as a fox!”

  Firestar stayed where he was. He was still trembling from the shock of his vision. He had seen himself like one of the Great warriors of old, a member of LionClan. Bluestar’s prophecy echoed in his head again: Lion and Tiger will meet in battle.

  Did this mean that a new Clan—LionClan—would arise to combat TigerClan? And did StarClan intend Firestar to lead it?

  CHAPTER 14

  “Firestar,” meowed Graystripe. “I want to ask you something.”

  Firestar was crouching by the nettle patch. He had just seen Brackenfur leaving at the head of the evening patrol, and now he was eating his share of fresh-kill before rounding up a patrol of his own for an extra check on the ShadowClan border.

  “Sure,” he replied. “What is it?”

  Graystripe crouched beside him, but before he could speak Tawnypaw came stalking out of the elders’ den, her head and her tail held high as she headed for the gorse tunnel. Her amber eyes blazed with anger. Bramblepaw emerged behind her, his jaws clamped on a bundle of bedding moss. He looked worried.

  “Tawnypaw!” Firestar called. “What’s the matter?”

  For a heartbeat he thought the apprentice was going to ignore him. Then she veered sharply to stand in front of him. “Smallear!” she spat. “If ever a cat asked to have his fur clawed off—”