Bluestar's Prophecy

Chapter 28

The monster’s roar faded quickly away. Bluefur could see the ShadowClan warriors peering from the trees beyond the Thunderpath, their eyes wide with horror.

“Snowfur?” She bent down and nudged her sister with her paw. The white warrior didn’t respond, just lay limply on the stinking grass. “Come on,” Bluefur urged. “We have to get back to camp. We’ve got to report those ShadowClan warriors.”

A thin trail of blood rolled from Snowfur’s mouth.

“I’ll help you,” Bluefur offered. She grasped Snowfur’s scruff and began to drag her into the forest. “Try your paws,” Bluefur begged through her mouthful of fur. “Once you’re walking, you’ll feel better.”

Snowfur’s body slid over the leaf-strewn floor.

Oh, StarClan, why did I tell her about Oakheart? She wouldn’t have run off. We’d have never have found those ShadowClan warriors. They’d be home by now, Whitekit bouncing with excitement at seeing his mother back.

“Bluefur?” Adderfang’s mew sounded through the trees.

Bluefur let go of her sister and stared at the mottled warrior, her mind blank. Adderfang had come. Everything would be fine now. Dappletail was with him, and Windflight and Thrushpelt. They’d know what to do.

Her Clanmates swarmed around her. She felt their pelts brushing hers as they leaned over Snowfur.

“A monster hit her,” Bluefur explained. Her voice sounded as if it was coming from far away. “ShadowClan cats were hunting squirrels in our territory and we chased them, and it hit her.”

“Thrushpelt”—Adderfang’s order was brisk—“check ShadowClan has gone and isn’t coming back.”

As Thrushpelt raced away, Adderfang grasped Snowfur’s scruff.

“Be careful!” Bluefur cautioned, heart lurching. “I think she’s hurt.”

She felt White-eye’s tail drape over her shoulders.

“Come on,” the pale she-cat murmured, coaxing her forward. “Let’s get back to camp.”

Bluefur’s paws, numb with shock, stumbled over the forest floor. She’s hurt. She’s just hurt. No matter how many times she repeated the words in her mind, her heart had recognized the scent of death on her sister. She knew Snowfur was dead, and with each step the horror grew stronger, until grief threatened to swamp her.

“Just keep walking,” White-eye whispered, pressing closer.

“I told her she’d be back with Whitekit,” Bluefur mumbled.

At the top of the ravine, Adderfang laid Snowfur down and faced Bluefur. He stared steadily at her until she blinked away the haze of grief and looked into his eyes.

“Bluefur?” His mew was gentle.

“What?”

“You must tell Whitekit.”

Bluefur flinched. “Why me?”

“Because you love him,” Adderfang told her. “I’ll tell Thistleclaw and Stormtail and make the report to Sunstar.”

White-eye gazed at Snowfur’s body. “Thistleclaw could tell Whitekit,” she suggested.

“No!” Bluefur bristled. Thistleclaw would never be gentle enough for news like this. “I’ll tell him.”

Blindly stumbling, she managed to reach the bottom of the ravine. She padded into the clearing and past her Clanmates, who knew nothing of the tragedy, who still believed Snowfur was alive.

She slid into the nursery. “Whitekit.”

“You’re back!” Whitekit looked delighted. He glanced behind Bluefur. “Is Snowfur with you?”

Bluefur took a deep breath and tensed to stop her paws from shaking. “Come outside, little one,” she mewed.

“Has Snowfur got a present for me?” Whitekit chirped.

Tigerkit stopped chasing Brindlekit’s tail. “Can I come, too?”

“Just Whitekit,” Bluefur told him, thanking StarClan that he listened for once.

Whitekit followed her out and she led him to the fallen tree and ducked in among the branches.

“What is it? Where’s Snowfur?” he squeaked. “Is she playing hide-and-seek?”

“Come here.” Bluefur wrapped her tail around his small body and pulled him close, sheltering him beside her belly. She bent over him, shielding the sight of Adderfang carrying his mother’s body into camp.

She felt her heart crack. So much pain. “Snowfur won’t be coming back.”

Whitekit looked up at her. “Till when?”

“Ever.”

“Why not?” Whitekit stiffened. “Doesn’t she like me anymore?”

“She loves you very much,” Bluefur promised. “She’ll always love you. But she’s with StarClan now.”

Whitekit put his head on one side. “Can I visit her?”

Bluefur shook her head.

“Goosefeather and Featherwhisker visit StarClan all the time,” Whitekit argued. “I can do it, too.”

“It’s not that easy.” With every word, Bluefur felt herself getting more and more lost. How would she ever make him understand without breaking his heart? She gazed into his round blue eyes. The pain of Snowfur’s death was not hers alone. She was going to have to break his heart.

“She’s dead, Whitekit. You won’t see her anymore. You won’t smell her or hear her or feel her fur next to yours ever again.”

Robinwing nosed her way through the branches. “I’ll feed you and you’ll share my nest with Frostkit and Brindlekit,” she soothed.

Whitekit spat at her. “I don’t want your milk or your nest! I want Snowfur!”

He pelted past the queen and galloped into the clearing, stopping beside his mother’s body. “I’ll live out here now, with you,” he squeaked, pressing his nose into her cold fur.

Bluefur cowered into the branches, raw with grief.

“I’ll sit with him,” Robinwing murmured, turning away.

Thistleclaw stormed past her, forcing his way into the branches. “How could you let it happen?” he yowled at Bluefur. “What were you doing, taking her to the Thunderpath? She should have been in the nursery with Whitekit!”

“I—I’m sorry.”

“How could you even think of letting her put herself in danger when she had a kit to look after?” Thistleclaw hissed.

Bluefur stared hollow-eyed at her sister’s mate. He was right. This was all her fault.

“Leave!” Stormtail appeared behind Thistleclaw. He held a branch aside with his shoulders, leaving room to get out. “This isn’t helping any cat,” he growled.

Thistleclaw backed away, throwing a last angry glance at Bluefur.

Stormtail squeezed in beside her. His eyes shone with sorrow. “Adderfang told me.”

Bluefur stared at her paws. “I can’t lose Snowfur as well as Moonflower. Why did they both have to die?”

Stormtail shook his head. “Only StarClan knows that.”

“Then StarClan is stupid and cruel!”

“Life must go on.” Stormtail pressed against her. “You have other Clanmates.”

“Not like them. They were kin!”

“Your Clan depends on you as much as Snowfur and Moonflower did. More so.”

“I don’t care!”

Stormtail brushed his tail down her flank. “I know you do care. And I know you won’t let your Clanmates down. You must go on, hunting and fighting and living for your Clan.”

When she didn’t reply, he licked her between the ears and padded away.

Bluefur dug her claws into the ground and glared up at the pale gray sky, crisscrossed with bare branches. What was the point of being in a Clan when you couldn’t keep your most precious Clanmates safe?