Darkness Within

by Erin Hunter

  “It wasn’t really a fight,” Shadowsight told her. “Lionblaze attacked him.”

  Mothwing glanced at him. “You sound sorry for him.”

  “I’m not!” How could she think that? Was she as mouse-brained as the rest of his Clanmates? Didn’t they realize he only cared that they needed Ashfur? He swallowed back frustration. What was the point in explaining if they refused to understand? He waited sullenly while she gathered herbs from the store, then took the bundle she gave him and headed toward the bramble enclosure.

  Ashfur blinked at him in surprise as he entered. “I thought you weren’t coming back.”

  Shadowsight dropped the herbs and glared at him coldly.

  “Did your father send you here?” Ashfur asked.

  Shadowsight curled his claws into the earth. Was Ashfur going to rub it in? “He told me to take care of you.” He began to chew marigold into a pulp. Blood had dried already on Ashfur’s ear, but the gashes on his cheek and flanks were still wet. Padding closer, Shadowsight inspected the wounds. An old injury had reopened on the dark warrior’s tail, and the wound on his shoulder was quite deep, but Lionblaze must have been trying to hold back, because the other scratch marks were light. They would heal in a few days. He spat the pulp onto his paw and rubbed it gently into a shoulder wound.

  Ashfur winced. “Thanks.” He caught Shadowsight’s eye. “You saved my life.” Was that gratitude in his eyes?

  Shadowsight ignored it.

  “You can see what will happen,” Ashfur mewed quietly. “They’re going to kill me.”

  There was certainty in the dark warrior’s mew. Shadowsight’s paws began to tremble. He knew he’d only seen the edge of Lionblaze’s fury—and none of the Clanmates who had watched his attack had seemed all that eager to intervene. He turned away and grabbed another mouthful of marigold. I couldn’t stop them if they really tried to kill him. Fear tugged in his chest as Ashfur went on.

  “If I die, you’ll never get Bramblestar back,” he murmured. “And you’ll never share with your precious StarClan again.”

  And I’ll always be remembered as a murderer.

  Shadowsight’s blood turned cold as Ashfur stared at him, his gaze as hypnotic as a snake’s.

  “You have to get me out of here,” the dark warrior breathed.

  Chapter 15

  “I’m going to win this time!” Rootspring glanced over his shoulder as he raced up the slope.

  Bristlefrost was right behind him, her ears flat as wind streamed through her fur. “No, you’re not!” She caught up. “Besides, you cheated!” she called as she passed him.

  As she neared the top of the slope. Rootspring dug his paws harder into the earth, his lungs bursting as he fought to beat her there. She was right. He had cheated. This time he’d begun the race without warning, but she had still managed to outrun him. She pulled up at the top of the hill ahead of him, looking back, her eyes bright with triumph.

  He skidded to a halt beside her. “I’m going to win one time before we get home.” He gazed over the hills ahead, his heart sinking as he saw the top of WindClan’s moor in the distance.

  They’d raced to the top of every hill over the past day, leaving Needleclaw and Spotfur trailing with the Sisters, and had waited at the top for the others to catch up. Neither of them had said it, but Rootspring knew that they both wanted to make the most of their time away from the Clans. Each race seemed like the last chance they’d have to be alone together.

  Or would it? Rootspring couldn’t help imagining a future where they’d be together forever. Somehow they’d find a way. They had to. He couldn’t bear the thought of living apart from her, not after everything they’d shared. Not after this mission. And yet now, as he glimpsed Clan lands once more, he knew the future he’d pictured could never come true. The Clans were real, and the way he felt about Bristlefrost was just a feeling. How could he sacrifice his loyalty as a warrior for a dream?

  Bristlefrost was staring toward the moor too as they caught their breath. “We’ll be home by tonight,” she mewed.

  “Yes.” He searched her gaze and wondered if her heart ached at the thought of returning to her old life, just as his did. “Squirrelflight will be pleased we found the Sisters.”

  She blinked at him, pricking her ears. “Why don’t we head straight for Thunderclan territory?”

  Rootspring frowned. That wasn’t the plan. “But the Sisters are only allowed on SkyClan land,” he reminded her.

  Paw steps sounded behind them. Needleclaw was racing up the hill.

  “It makes sense,” Bristlefrost gazed eagerly at Rootspring. “Squirrelflight’s the one who wanted us to find them. It’s her mate who’s lost. And she’s the one the Sisters want to see. She should be the first warrior they meet when we get home.”

  Needleclaw pulled up beside them, her eyes widening. “What are you talking about?” She stared at Bristlefrost. “We’d be breaking every rule the Clans have made about the Sisters.”

  Bristlefrost looked at her. “But don’t you see? The Sisters will feel more at ease if Squirrelflight is the first leader they meet. And Thunderclan has been through such a difficult time. Seeing the Sisters might give them hope.”

  Needleclaw’s pelt bristled. “That’s exactly why we shouldn’t take them to Thunderclan first. Your Clan is already in a mess. I don’t see how bringing a big group of cats like the Sisters onto their land will help them.”

  “But it would!” Bristlefrost insisted. “When Squirrelflight sees for herself that they’re here and they’re willing to help, she’ll know everything might be okay. The whole Clan will know.” She swung her muzzle toward Rootspring, and he felt frozen by her hopeful gaze. She wanted him to agree with her.

  Needleclaw scowled at him. “Tell her she’s talking nonsense.”

  Rootspring shrank beneath his pelt. He wanted Bristlefrost to be right. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted the Sisters’ arrival to fix everything for Thunderclan—for all the Clans. But he knew that it wouldn’t. She was hoping for too much. “We can’t go against the decision of the Clans.” He avoided Needleclaw’s gaze. If she was pleased that he’d sided with her, he didn’t want to see it. “The Sisters have to stay with SkyClan.” Guilt jabbed his belly as Bristlefrost’s eyes clouded with disappointment. “You can fetch Squirrelflight as soon as we arrive,” he added quickly.

  “Sure.” Bristlefrost turned away. “I’d better make sure the others are okay.” She headed back down the slope to where Spotfur was leading the Sisters through a patch of long grass and tangled weeds.

  Needleclaw narrowed her eyes, watching her go. “Do you see why you need to make a new friend when you get back to the Clans?” she asked Rootspring.

  He glared at her. “You don’t understand.”

  “I understand more than you,” she snapped. “Can’t you see that she’s only loyal to her Clan? She wants us to take the Sisters there even if it means breaking rules the other Clans have made.”

  “Isn’t being loyal to your Clan a good thing?”

  “Not when I can see how much you like her,” Needleclaw mewed. “You’re going to get hurt if you carry on thinking about her. She’ll always choose her Clan over you.”

  “I’m glad she’s so loyal.” The words felt like nettles on his tongue. Had he been secretly hoping she’d give up Thunderclan for him? He’d dreamed of a future together, but he hadn’t pictured where that future would be. Could I ever leave SkyClan? He looked away, scared Needleclaw would guess what he was thinking. Perhaps that was the only way he’d be able to be with Bristlefrost.

  As his fur began to crawl with worry, a low yowl sounded from the slope below. He stiffened. It sounded like a cat was in pain.

  Needleclaw must have heard it too. Her pelt was pricking along her spine as she scanned the slope. The Sisters had bunched together in the thick grass, and Bristlefrost was nosing her way between them.

  Rootspring bounded downhill, hurrying toward the gathered cats. Heart racing, he slid
past Tempest and Hawk and tasted the air. He couldn’t smell anything but the pungent weeds, which snaked through the grass here.

  Bristlefrost looked up as he reached her. Moon was lying on her side, struggling to get to her paws while Snow crouched beside her.

  “What’s happened?” he mewed leaning down to sniff Moon’s pelt. “Is she hurt?”

  Snow was pawing at something tangled in the weeds near Moon’s legs. “She’s caught.”

  Moon let out a low wail of fear. “Something grabbed my paw, and when I tried to pull free, my other paw got caught in it.”

  As Snow pulled away the weeds, Rootspring saw a thin silver vine coiled around two of Moon’s paws. It was pressed into the fur, and pressing tighter as Moon struggled to free herself.

  “Don’t move,” he ordered. He could see that her tugging was pulling the vine tighter, fastening her hind paw to her forepaw so that she could barely move. More vine coiled away into the long grass. “Careful,” he warned Snow. “Don’t get tangled up too.”

  Snow glanced at the vine, her eyes round with alarm. “It must be Twoleg vine,” she mewed. “It’s too tough to break.”

  Bristlefrost crouched beside Snow. “Perhaps we can pull it clear,” she suggested, running a paw along the vine trapping Moon’s paws.

  “It’s too tight,” Snow told her. “There’s no way to loosen it.”

  Rootspring leaned closer. Now that Snow had cleared away the weeds, he could see that the piece of vine wormed into the ground. “Can we dig out the end and unwind it?” he mewed.

  Snow clawed gingerly at the ground, scraping away the grass and soil until she’d unearthed a short stretch of the silver vine. “It’s buried deep.” She gripped it with her teeth and tried tugging it. With a grunt, she let go. “And it’s stuck fast.” Her eyes rounded with alarm.

  Moon let out a low yowl. “I can’t get free!” She was panicking.

  “We’ll get you out,” Rootspring promised. He turned to the other Sisters, who crowded closer, murmuring anxiously. “Move them away,” he told Tempest. “There’s more vine here. It’s not safe.”

  Tempest’s eyes glittered with alarm. “What about Moon?”

  “She’s not hurt; she’s just trapped,” he told her. “She’s going to be fine.”

  Tempest nodded and began to guide the other Sisters away, nosing them out of the long grass.

  Rootspring inspected the small stretch of vine Snow had unearthed. He scraped at the soil where it disappeared into the ground, wondering how deep it was buried.

  Sunrise padded toward them. She slid past Rootspring and inspected the vine, frowning. “It seems to be caught on something underground.”

  Sunrise’s gaze slid to Rootspring. “You could find out what it’s caught on,” she mewed.

  Rootspring looked back at her. “You want me to dig?” He was happy to try, but he didn’t understand why she was acting like he should do it alone.

  “Not dig.” She stepped forward and placed her large paw over his.

  What was she doing? He stiffened, ready to pull away, but she pressed his paw gently into the damp grass. “Listen to the earth,” she told him. “Let it show you what’s wrong.”

  He blinked at her, then remembered how Leaf had placed his paws carefully on the ground and let the earth talk to him. Does she think I can do that too? “I’m a warrior,” he protested. “I can’t talk to the earth.” He was aware of Bristlefrost’s gaze on him. She looked curious. He pulled his paw out from beneath Sunrise’s.

  Sunrise gazed at him so intently that he looked away. “Try it,” she mewed.

  Moon whimpered beside them. “Please.”

  Bristlefrost blinked slowly. “There’s no harm in trying.”

  Rootspring hesitated. Could he talk to the earth the way Leaf had? Until a few moons ago, he hadn’t known he could see ghosts. Bristlefrost was right. There was no harm in trying. Pelt rippling nervously, he pressed his paws into the grass, trying to imagine the rich, dark soil beneath and ignore the voice that told him that this was silly. That he was not like Leaf. Just try it.

  Pressing harder, he closed his eyes, letting the scent of the earth reach through the stench of the weeds until it was all he could smell.

  He waited and waited, wondering. What was he supposed to be seeing? How was he going to figure out what he should do? He pressed down on the earth more firmly, and then felt his head being tugged to the left, as though gentle paws were pulling him by the ears. When he opened his eyes again, he was staring right at a small mound in the earth. Something was buried there, not far beneath the ground.

  Slowly he slithered forward and, using his claws to move the earth a little, revealed a block of wood. The vine was wrapped around it, and roots from the weeds held it fast in their tangled grip. His heart leaped. That was it! That was what was stopping them from being able to pull up the vine. He looked at Sunrise, who had bounded forward to join him. “The vine’s attached to a piece of wood that’s snared by roots,” he told her.

  “Let’s try digging it up,” Sunrise mewed.

  Rootspring shook out his pelt and began clawing up the grass above where he’d seen the block of wood. Bristlefrost hurried to join him, and before long they were unearthing the roots that held the wood fast. “Let’s chew through these,” he told her. Ducking into the dip they’d made, he gnawed through one root, then another, earth pressing around his muzzle. Bristlefrost tore at the ground with her claws. Rootspring began to dig again, the soil crumbling easily now, freed from the roots. He dug faster, hope sparking in his fur as his claws struck a rotting lump of wood. He hooked his claws into it and eased it up a little. “Try pulling now,” he told Snow.

  The white she-cat gripped the vine between her teeth and tugged. Earth shifted beneath Rootspring as the vine uncoiled and slid away from the wood. It loosened around Moon’s paws, and with a yowl of relief, the young she-cat wriggled loose and scrambled away. She shook out her pelt.

  “Are you hurt?” Snow sniffed her anxiously.

  “Just a little bruised,” Moon told her, testing her paws against the earth one at a time.

  Bristlefrost blinked at Rootspring. “Did you really see what was holding the vine?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t see it. But it was like I could feel where to look.” Kind of like Leaf.

  Sunrise purred. “All our toms have a connection to the earth,” she told him. “There’s no reason why Tree’s kit should be any different.”

  Excitement fizzed in Rootspring’s fur as he wondered what else he might be able to do.

  They reached the high moor as the sun dipped behind the forest. Rootspring slowed as they neared the top, Bristlefrost at his side. Needleclaw and Spotfur followed at their heels, while the Sisters trailed behind. He could see the lake glittering below and stared at it, weary. The excitement he’d felt had faded.

  Bristlefrost gave a nod. “I’d better head straight to Thunderclan.” Rootspring’s heart sank as she looked at him, her eyes glistening. “Squirrelflight will want to know the Sisters are here.”

  “Sure.” He dipped his head. Would she miss these days they’d spent together as much as he would? Had they meant as much to her?

  She turned toward the Sisters. “Thanks for coming,” she called. “See you soon.” Without waiting for their good-bye, she hurried downslope toward Thunderclan’s forest.

  Rootspring watched her go. Was she really so eager to be home? He felt sick. His dreams of a future together had been only dreams. They were back among the Clans now, and it was over. He felt fur brush his pelt. Needleclaw stopped beside him and ran her tail along his spine. “Don’t worry,” she mewed, watching Bristlefrost’s shape become no more than shadow against the hillside. “You’ll get over her.”

  Rootspring blinked at his sister, his chest tight with longing. Will I?

  Chapter 16

  Bristlefrost was out of breath by the time she reached the Thunderclan border. She realized with a jolt that she’d left Spotfur alo
ne with Rootspring and Needleclaw. She’d been too eager to reach Squirrelflight. Spotfur will be okay. There wasn’t time to go back now.

  She crossed the scent line, happy to be following familiar tracks once more as she wove between the trees. What would Squirrelflight say when she heard that the Sisters were on Clan territory? She’ll be glad. This time tomorrow, they might have found Bramblestar’s ghost. They might even have found a way to contact StarClan. Excitement surged beneath her pelt.

  Stars shone overhead, glittering between the leaves, and she wondered why she’d thought they’d seemed brighter in the Sisters’ camp. They were so bright here that Bristlefrost felt sure StarClan must be trying to reach the Clans. They want to return! She raced faster along the forest floor, then bounded down the slope toward the camp entrance. Would the Clan still be awake? She ducked inside, relieved to see Mousewhisker and Alderheart in the clearing with Squirrelflight and Lionblaze. Bumblestripe and Birchfall were up too, watching from the edge of the camp with Twigbranch and Finleap.

  Bristlefrost scrambled to a halt, suddenly wondering why they weren’t in their nests. She tensed as she realized their gazes were fixed on Squirrelflight and Lionblaze.

  The Thunderclan leader loomed over her deputy in the middle of the clearing, her pelt ruffled in anger. Lionblaze’s head was bowed.

  What’s going on?

  Squirrelflight’s eyes flashed in the moonlight. “You expect me to listen to you now? After you’ve spent so long trying to convince us we should kill Bramblestar’s body? After you attacked him right in the middle of ShadowClan’s camp?”

  Lionblaze mewed, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—” But his weak words were knocked aside by his leader’s.

  “Sorry would not have brought back my mate if you’d killed him,” she snarled.

  “I know, but . . .” Lionblaze’s head was still hanging low. “Ashfur was trying to provoke me. He’s made it clear he won’t listen to any cat—unless it’s you. You’re the only cat he cares about. You might be able to reason with him.”