by Erin Hunter
“That’s right,” Icewing added. “Thanks to you, we’ve driven Darktail and his rogues out of our territory!”
Alderheart admired the courage of the RiverClan cats, but he felt like he was choking on his worry for Violetpaw and Needletail. Darktail was covered with scratches. He had blood on his pelt. Whose blood was it?
His stomach turned.
“Does any cat know what happened to Violetpaw and Needletail?” he asked.
Reedwhisker shook his head, studying his paws. “Darktail said that Needletail would pay the price for Violetpaw’s betrayal. He dragged them off—and as far as we know, neither of them has come back to camp.”
Alderheart’s legs felt weak with foreboding. They could both be dead! They probably are. . . . And all because I asked Violetpaw for her help!
Squirrelflight gave him a sympathetic look from deep green eyes, as though she could read his thoughts, and pressed her flank against his. “Stay strong,” she encouraged him. “You couldn’t have known what would happen, and giving up now will put all these cats at risk.”
“We have to look for them,” Alderheart whispered.
Squirrelflight gently shook her head. “There’s no time right now,” she mewed. “We have to get these cats back to ThunderClan, to let the medicine cats treat them properly.”
“Excuse me?” Mistystar rose to her paws, looking annoyed. “This is RiverClan territory. There’s no way we’re going to leave it for Darktail to take over again.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Bramblestar told her with a respectful dip of his head. “Darktail will have other things on his mind; he’ll know we’ll be coming for him in ShadowClan next. Besides, your cats need more care than you can give them here, and your medicine cats are still in our camp.”
“He’s right,” Reedwhisker agreed hoarsely. “There’s so much work to be done before RiverClan can live here again.”
Mistystar hesitated for a moment, a look of deep thought in her blue eyes. “Very well,” she meowed at last. “But only for a day or two, until my warriors are fully recovered.”
She whisked her tail, beckoning to some of her other Clanmates to help the former prisoners to their paws. Glancing around the camp, Alderheart saw that every cat was getting ready to leave.
The tabby she-cat, Zelda, padded up to Bramblestar and dipped her head politely. The young black tom was with her. “I’m Zelda,” she mewed, “and this is Loki. We’re kittypets.”
Bramblestar’s ears angled forward in surprise. “You fight pretty well, for kittypets,” he told her, then added, “But what are kittypets even doing here?”
“Darktail brought us into camp,” Zelda explained, “and then he wouldn’t let us go. We thought it was fun at first, until we found out what he was really like.”
“There was another of our friends with us too,” Loki added. “But he was killed when Darktail made us attack RiverClan.” He shivered, his eyes full of sorrow.
Bramblestar nodded understandingly. “And now you’d like to go home?”
“Not yet,” Zelda meowed. “We want to stay until Darktail is defeated. He’s so cruel. . . . We want to be sure that he’s gone for good.”
Loki nodded vigorously. “Can we come with you?”
“Of course.” Bramblestar’s eyes gleamed with approval. “Any cat is welcome who wants to fight against Darktail.”
The sky was growing pale with dawn, and the last warriors of StarClan were fading from the sky, when Alderheart followed Bramblestar and the rest of the warriors back to the ThunderClan camp.
As they crossed ShadowClan territory, they were careful to stay close to the lake, and every cat was alert for any sign or scent of Darktail and his remaining rogues. But the pine forest remained dark and silent.
I wonder if it’s too much to hope for, that the rogues have simply fled, Alderheart thought. It would be great if they never bothered us again! They’ve already given us enough trouble.
But the whereabouts of the rogues weren’t Alderheart’s main concern. Padding along at the rear of the group, he couldn’t put Violetpaw and Needletail out of his mind.
Why would Darktail have taken them to the lake? he asked himself. Was he going to drown them? Alderheart halted for a moment, his breath catching in his throat. Could that be what happened to Dawnpelt and the other missing cats?
Alderheart didn’t feel much relief as he and the rest of the cats splashed through the stream that marked the border with ShadowClan. It was good to be back on familiar territory, but his worries still crowded everything else out of his mind. He wondered whether he should ask Bramblestar if he could take out a patrol and go to search for Violetpaw and Needletail.
I could ask him . . . but I don’t think he’ll agree. He’ll want every cat to concentrate on getting ready to drive out the rogues.
Alderheart padded through the thorn tunnel into the camp, surrounded by a fog of misery. Their victory seemed less important than his fears that Violetpaw had sacrificed herself—because of the plan that he had made.
But as Alderheart entered the clearing, he halted, gazing around in sudden bewilderment. Surely there are far more cats here than when we left for RiverClan territory?
Then he spotted a small gray she-cat, her brilliant green eyes widening as she noticed him.
Twigpaw . . . How can it be?
Alderheart rushed toward her and plunged his muzzle into her shoulder fur, nuzzling her affectionately. “Twigpaw . . . Is it really you?” he choked out. “We all thought you were dead!”
“Oh, Alderheart!” Twigpaw purred. “I’m so glad to see you again. I’m sorry—you must have been so worried about me.”
Scolding her for running off was the last thing on Alderheart’s mind. He was too pleased to see her. “Where have you been all this time?” he asked.
“I went to find SkyClan, in the barn you saw in your dream,” Twigpaw explained. “Because I wanted to know if the cat you saw was really my kin.”
She settled herself on the ground, and Alderheart sat down beside her, reveling in the warmth of her pelt and the scent he had thought never to smell again.
“And you found them?” he asked, hearing the surprise and admiration in his voice. After all the time I’ve spent wishing we could find them and bring them back . . . “You found SkyClan, and you brought them here?”
Twigpaw nodded, beaming with pride. “It wasn’t easy,” she said, “but I did.”
Hovering a tail-length away was the dark gray tom he had seen in his dream. He looked exactly like Twigpaw, except that his eyes were warm amber—like Violetpaw’s.
Alderheart rose to his paws. “Are you . . . ?” he began.
The gray tom took a pace toward him and dipped his head politely. “I am Hawkwing,” he meowed. “I’m Twigpaw’s father.”
“And he’s deputy of SkyClan!” Twigpaw announced proudly.
Alderheart dipped his head in response. “Welcome to ThunderClan,” he mewed.
“Thank you.” Hawkwing nodded. “It’s nice to get a warm welcome,” he added hastily.
Alderheart glanced around at the assortment of RiverClan, ShadowClan, and ThunderClan cats. He realized for the first time that many of them were eyeing Hawkwing and the other SkyClan cats suspiciously. I guess this is a bit of an awkward time to welcome another Clan into our camp . . . , he thought. But he was quickly distracted by Twigpaw.
“Isn’t it great?” she asked excitedly, bouncing on her paws. “I’ve never seen so many cats together before! I was surprised to find RiverClan cats here when I got back. And ShadowClan is still staying with us, I see. But—” She broke off, her excitement fading. “Is Violetpaw still with the rogues?”
Alderheart couldn’t hide his anxiety and grief at Twigpaw’s question, and decided that he couldn’t lie to her. I tried that with Violetpaw, and look how well that worked.
“I don’t know where Violetpaw is right now,” he admitted. “It looks like Darktail took her and Needletail out o
f the RiverClan camp—”
“What?” Twigpaw interrupted. “Why was Darktail in the RiverClan camp?”
“Darktail and his rogues raided RiverClan and drove the Clan out. We just got back from attacking the rogues and taking back the territory.”
“So why isn’t Violetpaw with you?” Twigpaw asked, deep anxiety in her voice.
“Before we arrived, Darktail took her and Needletail out of the camp to punish them, and no cat knows what happened to them after that.”
Twigpaw’s eyes stretched wide with horror, and Hawkwing’s gaze was full of concern. “But why would he punish Violetpaw?” Twigpaw demanded. “What had she done? Why didn’t some cat help her? And why—”
“Twigpaw, it’s all so complicated—” Alderheart was beginning, when to his relief Bramblestar padded up, with Rowanstar and Mistystar beside him.
“Greetings,” Bramblestar meowed, introducing himself and the other Clan leaders. “This is a momentous day for the Clans. I never expected to see SkyClan here, reunited with the rest of us.”
“SkyClan never expected it either.” A brown-and-cream tabby she-cat joined Hawkwing and gave the leaders a respectful nod. “I am Leafstar, leader of SkyClan. We have come a long way to find you.”
More cats were gathering around to listen to the leaders, and Alderheart began to hear uneasy murmurs arising from the crowd.
“Another Clan? What does this mean?”
“Surely there are too many cats in the forest now?”
“Where are they all going to live?”
Bramblestar glanced around sternly, as if he wanted to quell the unwelcoming comments, but before he could speak, Jayfeather stepped forward, gazing at the newcomers with his sightless blue eyes.
“What’s the point of twittering like a nestful of blackbirds?” he demanded. “It’s obvious what we need to do.”
“It might be obvious to you, Jayfeather,” Bramblestar meowed.
Jayfeather gave a disdainful sniff. “If you weren’t Clan leader, Bramblestar, I’d call you a mouse-brain. We must seek the advice of StarClan.”
A stiff breeze blew into Alderheart’s face as he toiled up the last slope toward the Moonpool. Clouds were scudding across the sky where the warriors of StarClan were beginning to appear.
Ahead of Alderheart, Leafpool and Jayfeather scrambled from rock to rock, while Mothwing and Willowshine were just behind him. Puddleshine, once again ShadowClan’s medicine cat, brought up the rear.
I wish Kestrelflight could be with us, too, Alderheart thought sadly. But there’s no point even trying to fetch him from WindClan.
Thrusting his way through the bushes that surrounded the hollow, Alderheart began to follow the spiral path down to the water. His paws slipped easily into the paw marks left there by the ancient cats so many seasons ago.
The moon was only a thin claw-scratch; the water that poured out from the rocks, and the pool below, was dark except for the glimmer of starshine. Alderheart felt the hairs on his pelt rise at how strange and mysterious it seemed without the glow of reflected moonlight they saw at the regular half-moon meetings.
As he and his fellow medicine cats crouched at the water’s edge, Alderheart wondered what message the spirits of his warrior ancestors would have for them. He closed his eyes and touched his nose to the surface of the pool, barely biting back a yowl as the chill raced through him from nose to tail-tip.
When Alderheart opened his eyes, he seemed to be still in the hollow beside the pool, but now the surface of the water blazed with reflected light. He raised his head to see that the sides of the hollow were lined with glittering spirit cats, their pelts frosted with starlight and their eyes glowing like countless small moons. He took in a long, awestruck breath.
This is wonderful! he thought, relief bursting in on him like the sun appearing from behind a cloud. StarClan has barely appeared to any of us since they gave us the prophecy moons ago.
He waited confidently for the spirit cats to speak. After the long, horrible misadventure with Darktail and his rogues, the Clan cats had finally found SkyClan. . . . Now they had to learn how to “clear the sky.”
Leafpool was the first to speak, rising eagerly to her paws. “They’re here, finally—we’ve found SkyClan! Are they ‘what you find in the shadows’?”
At the opposite side of the pool, a flame-colored tom also rose; Alderheart recognized Firestar. “They are,” he replied. “But there is more to be done.”
Alderheart glanced around at the other medicine cats. How strange for us all to be here together! He saw the same eagerness reflected in their eyes as they gazed at Firestar.
“What more should we do?” Leafpool meowed. “We found what lies in the shadows—the missing Clan. SkyClan! Now how do we clear the sky?”
“Not every Clan is present,” Firestar pointed out. “This was about restoring all five Clans, as it was long ago—long before I came to the forest. SkyClan has no medicine cat, but another Clan is missing from our group, too. . . .”
The starry cats began to fade from Alderheart’s sight. As the light died, he and the other medicine cats exchanged uneasy glances.
Mothwing, who had been absent from the vision, looked on curiously. “What happened?”
As quickly as he could, Alderheart explained what they’d seen and heard.
“Of course,” murmured Mothwing, her eyes widening with recognition.
“I guess we know what we must do . . . ,” Jayfeather mewed reluctantly.
CHAPTER 18
Twigpaw lay stretched on the ground outside the apprentices’ den, leaning into the warmth of her father’s pelt. Hawkwing was telling her all about SkyClan, about their life in the gorge and their journey to find the other Clans, in much more detail than had been possible while they were still traveling.
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of listening to his voice, Twigpaw thought. It’s great to be back home, and it’s even better now that I have kin.
It was very early in the morning, a day after SkyClan had reached the ThunderClan camp. The sun had not yet risen, though rosy tints in the sky showed where it would appear. A breeze carried cool, fresh scents into the camp.
The day before, the clearing had been filled with bustle. Before leaving for the Moonpool and their meeting with StarClan, the medicine cats had tended to the RiverClan prisoners and the cats who had been wounded in the battle.
The SkyClan cats had been invited to share the fresh-kill pile, while Daisy guided Tinycloud into the nursery to rest and recover her strength while she waited for her kits to be born.
“Thank StarClan!” Tinycloud had exclaimed. “I think I have a whole Clan in here, and they’re all practicing their fighting moves!”
Now, the camp was peaceful. As soon as the sky began to pale toward dawn, Bramblestar and the other leaders had taken a patrol of uninjured RiverClan warriors, along with a few volunteers from the other Clans, to survey the damage in RiverClan territory and begin the task of rebuilding. Squirrelflight, left in charge of the camp, had sent out the border and hunting patrols, so that the hollow was much less crowded than it normally was these days. It’s almost like there’s just one Clan living here again, Twigpaw thought.
Soothed by her father’s voice, Twigpaw could almost have fallen asleep, except for the uncertainty she felt about the future. She felt a strong pull toward this cat who looked so much like her, but she wondered whether they could even live together.
SkyClan will need to find a new territory soon, and where will that be? Is there room around the lake for another Clan?
In the short time since the Clans had been reunited, some of the ThunderClan warriors had discussed the prophecy with her, with a new respect that Twigpaw had never sensed before. I can see in their eyes that they’re taking me seriously, and they listen to what I have to say!
“You may not be what the prophecy told the Clans to embrace,” Squirrelflight had meowed. “But you and Violetpaw are connected to the lost Clan. No cat still
thinks it was an accident that you were brought here.”
“That’s true,” Graystripe had agreed. “Maybe it was meant to be? And maybe embracing you when you were found is what allowed us to reunite with SkyClan.”
Twigpaw hoped that was true. I felt so useless when no cat knew what I was doing here. But I did bring SkyClan back! I’ve earned my place here now.
Movement beside the thorn tunnel attracted Twigpaw’s gaze. Berrynose pushed his way into the camp, followed by Cherryfall. And following them was a third cat, a small black-and-white she-cat who was achingly familiar. . . .
“Violetpaw!” she yowled, springing to her paws. “You’re alive!”
Twigpaw rushed across the camp to her littermate, relief almost sweeping her off her paws. Violetpaw stood still, staring at her, a flood of joy in her amber eyes, then bounded forward. The two young cats pressed against each other, drinking in each other’s scent, purring as if they would never stop.
“I’m sorry we ever fought!” Twigpaw gasped out at last. “I’m so happy, just seeing that you’re alive!”
“Alderheart told me you must be dead,” Violetpaw responded. “But I never gave up hope. And I’m sorry too: I should never have attacked you in the battle.”
“That doesn’t matter now,” Twigpaw assured her. “Besides, you’ve more than made up for it. Every cat says that without you, the rogues would never have been driven out of RiverClan territory.”
Violetpaw’s ears flicked up and her eyes widened in surprise. “The rogues have been driven out?”
“Yes, but only from RiverClan’s territory. The leaders were going to attack once the prisoners were exchanged,” Twigpaw told her, “but the prisoners rose up on their own! And with Darktail gone, the Kin were easily chased off. But they’ve just moved back over to ShadowClan’s land. Anyway, the leaders were worried about you. Alderheart said that Darktail took you away, and then came back with scratches and blood on his fur. They thought he’d done something horrible to you—that you might be dead!”