by Erin Hunter
Hawkwing touched his nose to her head. “It will be okay,” he promised softly. “StarClan led me here so that you, Twigbranch, and I could be close to one another. They won’t make us leave.”
As he spoke, a hiss sounded from the edge of the clearing. Macgyver and Strikestone stood face-to-face, their hackles up. Both cats had tried to take the same trail through the grass. They held their ground, growls in their throats.
“Let him pass,” Leafstar called across the clearing. “We can wait.”
Macgyver flattened his ears and stepped back. Strikestone barged past him, Blazepaw at his heels. The ShadowClan cats streamed past SkyClan, heads high. Sagenose and Nettlesplash showed their teeth but let them pass.
As ShadowClan disappeared into the long grass, a shiver rippled Violetshine’s fur. Was this how it would be now? Must SkyClan give way to ShadowClan to avoid a fight? Her paws felt heavy. She’d believed StarClan had led SkyClan home by guiding them to the lake. But would it ever be a real home if the other Clans were always threatening to take it away?
CHAPTER 7
Fear gnawed at Alderheart’s belly as he watched Cloudtail and Molewhisker race from the camp. He wished they were carrying better news.
Bramblestar shifted beside him. “Let’s pray Tigerstar doesn’t overreact when they tell him.” The ThunderClan leader’s eyes were dark. With a curt nod, he turned and bounded back onto the Highledge.
Alderheart pushed his way heavily into the medicine den, feeling the tug of the brambles along his spine as he slid into the shadowy cave.
Jayfeather looked up as he entered. “Well?” His milky blue gaze seemed to reach for Alderheart. “What did Bramblestar say?”
“What do you think he said?” Irritation flashed beneath Alderheart’s pelt. Why do I have to keep explaining myself? I’m doing my best!
“Did you tell him about the deathberries?” Jayfeather’s gaze was unwavering.
“Yes.” Doubt shifted like a stone in Alderheart’s belly. After all he’d gone through to convince his denmates that this treatment was Puddleshine’s only hope, the berries didn’t seem to have made a difference. Puddleshine was still sick, slipping in and out of consciousness, racked by a high fever that threatened to send him into spasms once more.
His uncertainty had worsened when he’d told Bramblestar about his radical treatment for the sick tom. As his father’s eyes had widened with disbelief, Alderheart had shrunk beneath his pelt. “You should have consulted me before you gave him the berries,” Bramblestar had growled.
“I consulted with Leafpool and Jayfeather,” Alderheart defended himself.
Bramblestar’s fur bristled. “They’re not your Clan leader!”
“You’re not a medicine cat,” Alderheart snapped back.
“I’m the one who told Tigerstar last night that Puddleshine would be ready to return home soon.”
“I had to do something.” Alderheart felt helpless. How could Bramblestar ever understand the life-and-death decisions a medicine cat had to make?
“It could kill him.”
“He was already dying.” He looked miserably into Bramblestar’s angry gaze. “This is the only thing that might save him.”
“You say a dream told you to use the berries,” Bramblestar grunted. “Are you sure it was from StarClan?”
“As sure as I can be. And I saw the rabbit eat the berries and recover. That was real. Not a dream.”
Bramblestar twitched his tail impatiently. “ShadowClan must be told.”
Alderheart had felt dread welling in his belly as the ThunderClan leader gave Molewhisker and Cloudtail orders to travel to the ShadowClan camp and inform Tigerstar that Puddleshine’s condition was critical.
A whimper from Puddleshine’s nest jerked Alderheart back to the present. He hurried to where Jayfeather was already crouching beside the sick medicine cat and touched his nose to Puddleshine’s head. The fever had still not broken, despite the berries Alderheart had fed him through the night, hoping with each morsel that this would be the one that brought the tom back from the brink of death. It helped the rabbit. Trembling with exhaustion, Alderheart sat down. “I felt sure it would work,” he murmured.
“It hasn’t killed him,” Jayfeather conceded. “And where there’s life—”
“There’s hope. I know! You keep saying.”
“There’s no hope in death, and he’s not dead yet.” Jayfeather sounded encouraging, but Alderheart could tell by the pricking of the blind tom’s pelt that he was still not convinced the deathberries could cure Puddleshine. At least he’s trying to be supportive. Alderheart felt a glimmer of gratitude toward his former mentor.
Jayfeather got to his paws. “Leafpool will be back soon with more feverfew. We must at least be grateful that newleaf has brought fresh herbs.” Alderheart stiffened as Jayfeather’s gaze flicked toward the den entrance. “It sounds like we’ve got visitors,” he mewed ominously.
Alarm spiked through Alderheart’s pelt. “ShadowClan? Already?” Molewhisker and Cloudtail had only just left with the message.
“Go look for yourself.” Jayfeather nodded toward the trailing brambles.
Alderheart hurried toward them and slid through, narrowing his eyes against the glare of the sun. He smelled ShadowClan and, as his eyes adjusted to the brightness, saw Tigerstar in the clearing with Juniperclaw and Sparrowtail. Molewhisker and Cloudtail flanked the ShadowClan cats.
His heart lurched.
Ivypool was watching from outside the nursery as her kits clambered over her. Whitewing and Birchfall blinked from the shadows beside the warriors’ den while their Clanmates shifted uneasily at the edges of the camp.
“They were waiting at the scent line,” Molewhisker called to Bramblestar.
The ThunderClan leader looked down from Highledge, and then jumped into the clearing. “Tigerstar.” He nodded to the broad-shouldered tabby.
Alderheart’s breath grew shallow. Tigerstar’s pelt gleamed in the sunlight. A frown shadowed his wide forehead as he dipped his head politely to Bramblestar.
Cloudtail caught Bramblestar’s eye. “Tigerstar wants to speak with you in private.”
Alderheart saw pelts prickle around the camp. Bramblestar blinked slowly at Cloudtail, a question in his gaze. Alderheart saw the white tom shift his paws, his blue eyes staring at the ground. “We haven’t spoken to him,” he mewed quickly.
Molewhisker nodded. “We found them at the border waiting for a patrol to escort them, so we brought them straight here.”
Alderheart’s tail twitched nervously, as he realized what the two warriors were telling their leader. They haven’t told Tigerstar about how sick Puddleshine is.
Should he feel relieved? The ShadowClan leader was going to find out eventually.
“Let’s speak over here.” Bramblestar guided Tigerstar toward the shade of the Highledge, leaving Sparrowtail and Juniperclaw in the clearing. His sharpening gaze warned his Clanmates to return to whatever they’d been doing. As the warriors busied themselves, Tigerstar narrowed his eyes at Alderheart distrustfully, his gaze like ice cutting through Alderheart’s pelt. “Do ThunderClan medicine cats have to hear everything their leader says?”
Alderheart’s legs twitched, and just for a moment he thought he should go back to his den, but from the way Bramblestar pointedly ignored Tigerstar’s question, he knew that his leader thought he should stay. He will need a medicine cat to explain some things. . . .
“What do you wish to discuss?” Bramblestar asked Tigerstar.
The ShadowClan leader’s gaze was cool. “I’m supposed to be meeting with Leafstar soon to settle the question of territory. I want to have something to offer her, but I don’t see what I can.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Bramblestar’s muscles hardened defensively beneath his pelt.
Tigerstar’s tail flicked irritably. “Do you really expect ShadowClan and SkyClan to settle their border dispute alone? I know you believe this cat Tree can help, but what d
oes a loner understand of Clan borders?”
“He understands how cats think,” Bramblestar shot back.
Tigerstar narrowed his eyes. “Does he understand how Clan cats think?”
Bramblestar shifted his paws impatiently. “Why come to me, Tigerstar? I’m not taking sides.”
“I come to you because we share a border. I come because you can help. If SkyClan and ShadowClan are left to settle the dispute alone, there are only two outcomes. SkyClan can either give us back our land peacefully”—Tigerstar fixed his dark gaze on Bramblestar—“or they can fight to keep it.”
Bramblestar did not flinch. “Would you really drive SkyClan from the lake after all we have suffered to bring them here?”
“We won’t drive them from the lake.” Tigerstar meowed evenly. “But we will drive them away from our land.”
“The pine forest is huge,” Bramblestar reasoned. “Surely there is enough territory for two Clans?”
Tigerstar gazed toward the camp wall, as though seeing the forest beyond. “Yes, you might be right—if other Clans were to give up some land as well. It shouldn’t just be SkyClan that moves its border. If ThunderClan were to also move its border, then there might be more than enough room for—”
Bramblestar cut him off. “We decided at the Gathering that Tree would mediate between you and SkyClan to settle this dispute. It has nothing to do with the other Clans. And Leafstar won’t be happy if she hears you have been talking behind her back. She will see it as a lack of respect.” There was a warning in his gaze.
Tigerstar frowned. Foreboding prickled through Alderheart’s pelt as the dark tabby tom stared at Bramblestar.
“Fine.” Tigerstar swished his tail. “But don’t say that I never came in peace.” He glanced around the camp. “Since I’m here, I may as well take my medicine cat home.”
Alderheart stiffened. “He’s not well enough to travel.” Fear jabbed his pelt.
“Still?” Tigerstar swung his incredulous gaze toward Alderheart.
Alderheart looked at the ground. “We’re having trouble curing the infection from the Twoleg thorns.”
Suspicion glittered in the ShadowClan leader’s eyes. “Let me see for myself.” Tigerstar pushed passed him and shouldered his way into the medicine den.
Alderheart hurried after him.
Inside, Tigerstar had stopped. He was staring in horror at Puddleshine’s nest. “He looks half dead!”
“Keep your voice down!” Jayfeather bristled. “If yowling helped, we could have cured him already.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Tigerstar demanded.
“I told you.” Alderheart darted between Tigerstar and Puddleshine’s nest. “We can’t cure his infection.”
“Why not?” Tigerstar was bristling. “You’ve had more than a quarter moon.”
“None of our herbs are working.” As he spoke, Alderheart caught sight of the deathberries he’d left on a dock leaf beside Puddleshine’s nest. Dread froze like ice in his belly as Tigerstar followed his gaze.
Tigerstar stared at the berries. Slowly he padded across the den and sniffed them. “Are these deathberries?” Disbelief clouded his gaze as he looked at Alderheart. “In a medicine den?”
Alderheart nodded, his heart lurching as Tigerstar’s gaze hardened with rage.
“Are you trying to poison him?” His rage seemed to howl like a storm through the den.
Bramblestar pushed through the entrance. “No cat is trying to poison any cat.” He nudged Alderheart to one side and stood facing the ShadowClan leader. “In fact, I was sending Molewhisker and Cloudtail to warn you that Puddleshine is gravely ill. But you intercepted them at our border. Alderheart, Jayfeather, and Leafpool have been doing everything they can to heal Puddleshine. Alderheart’s barely slept in days. Look!” He nodded toward Puddleshine’s nest. “He’s washed and he’s lying on fresh bedding. We’ve taken the best possible care of him. But we can’t fight Twoleg poison.”
Tigerstar’s gaze was still fixed on Alderheart. “So you decided to put him out of his misery instead!” His yowl dripped with anger.
Alderheart stiffened against the trembling in his legs. Was his plan to save Puddleshine going to cause war between ThunderClan and ShadowClan?
Jayfeather lifted his muzzle. “Puddleshine was close to death,” he meowed calmly. “Alderheart saw a rabbit cured from the same infection by eating deathberry flesh. He wanted to see if the cure would work on Puddleshine. We’d tried everything else. It was our only chance to save him.”
Tigerstar glared at Jayfeather. “It doesn’t seem to have worked.” He narrowed his eyes accusingly. “But I know how little you value ShadowClan lives.”
Jayfeather seemed to recoil.
Alderheart frowned. “What do you mean? Jayfeather values every life.”
“What about Flametail, my littermate?” Tigerstar showed his teeth.
Bramblestar lashed his tail. “No cat ever believed Jayfeather killed your brother. No cat except Dawnpelt, and she was out of her mind with grief!”
Tigerstar’s gaze stayed on Jayfeather. “You didn’t manage to save him, though, did you?”
Guilt flashed in Jayfeather’s blind blue gaze. “I had to let him go,” he whispered.
“And now you’re trying to let Puddleshine go too,” Tigerstar growled.
“No!” Anger flared in Alderheart’s chest as he faced the ShadowClan leader. “We’re not letting him go. We’re going to keep treating him until he’s well. StarClan showed me a vision of flowers returning to the land after a fire. They were telling me that deathberries could cure Puddleshine, that they could make him stronger. I’m only feeding him the flesh, not the seeds. It will cleanse the Twoleg poison from his body, I know it will!” Conviction surged beneath his pelt, stronger than it had since he began the potentially deadly treatment. He held Tigerstar’s gaze, his paws shaking as the ShadowClan leader glared back at him.
“Puddleshine agreed to the treatment,” Jayfeather whispered. “We all knew how dangerous it was, but nothing else worked, and Puddleshine was willing to try.”
Tigerstar turned his head. “Puddleshine agreed?”
Jayfeather nodded. “He knew we meant to give him deathberries and he understood why. He told Alderheart to go ahead.”
Tigerstar eyed Puddleshine’s limp body for a moment; then he narrowed his eyes. “Is the treatment working?”
“He hasn’t died,” Jayfeather growled.
“But he might?” Tigerstar gaze flashed with uncertainty.
“He might,” Jayfeather conceded.
Tigerstar paused. His tail swished slowly behind him. “Then I will take him home,” he meowed at last. “If he is to die, he should be among his Clanmates.”
“But he’s too sick to walk,” Jayfeather pointed out.
“Juniperclaw and Sparrowtail can carry him,” Tigerstar shot back.
Alderheart’s paws pricked with fear. “But who will look after him once he’s home?”
Tigerstar’s eyes rounded with mock innocence. “Surely you’ll want to come with us to care for your patient?”
Alderheart hesitated. What if Puddleshine died? I’d be alone, in a hostile camp. His belly churned with fear.
“Alderheart stays here.” Bramblestar lifted his muzzle defiantly.
“But Alderheart has already pointed out that Puddleshine will need treatment,” Tigerstar meowed smoothly.
“Then Puddleshine will have to stay too,” Bramblestar growled.
The leaders held each other’s gaze. Neither moved, but Alderheart could see their muscles hardening beneath their pelts. Bramblestar’s fur began to bristle. Were they going to fight? I chose to use the deathberries. Alderheart swallowed. My choice mustn’t cause a war. “I’ll go,” he murmured softy. Foreboding hollowed his chest.
“It’s good to see you have such faith in your treatment,” Tigerstar meowed. “If Puddleshine recovers, all will be well.”
Bramblestar’s ears twitched. “And if he do
esn’t?”
Tigerstar met the ThunderClan leader’s gaze. “In that case, an argument could be made that Alderheart poisoned him. Surely a cat who kills another cat should be punished?”
“Don’t be rabbit-brained!” Jayfeather snapped. “Alderheart is trying to save him!”
“If that’s true, then he’ll be happy to travel to ShadowClan to see him through his recovery.” Tigerstar stared challengingly at Jayfeather.
“You want to hold him hostage,” Bramblestar growled.
“I don’t intend to discuss this further.” Tigerstar flicked his tail. “We’re taking Puddleshine home and Alderheart will join us. Unless, of course, you have no faith in your medicine cat. Perhaps you want to keep Alderheart here where you can protect him, because you know this treatment is a sham.”
Anger surged beneath Alderheart’s pelt. “It’s not a sham. Feeding him deathberries is the best hope he has. I’ll come with you and I’ll prove it.”
“Alderheart, are you sure?” Bramblestar stared at him, worry clouding his gaze.
“I’m sure.” Alderheart lifted his chin. “It was my decision to use the deathberries. I stand by it. No other cat is going to suffer because of it.”
Tigerstar moved to the entrance and called to his Clanmates. “Juniperclaw! Sparrowtail! Come here.” He nodded to Bramblestar. “If Puddleshine recovers, I’ll send Alderheart home, unharmed.”
Alderheart’s chest tightened. And if he doesn’t?
CHAPTER 8
“Keep your muzzle down.” Twigbranch tugged Flypaw closer to the earth, praying that the young cat would be quiet. A log hid them from a plump chaffinch, which was rummaging through leaf litter for bugs. “Birds are the hardest prey to catch,” she whispered. Her whiskers brushed the damp moss. “They are sensitive to any movement, and they’ll fly away at the slightest noise. You need to be fast.”
“If they’re so hard to catch, why don’t we just hunt mice and squirrels instead?” Flypaw whispered back.
Twigbranch blinked at her. “Because warriors need to be able to catch birds as well.”