Fading Echoes

Chapter 20

“I’ll find a way,” Ivypaw murmured as Tigerstar led Hawkfrost away into the mist.

“A way to where?” Blossomfall’s mew sounded in her ear.

Ivypaw blinked open her eyes. Early morning light filtered through the branches overhanging the den.

Blossomfall huffed at her and turned back to Bumblestripe. “It’s bad enough that we have to sleep in the apprentices’ den again,” she complained, “without them chattering like sparrows in their sleep.”

Alarmed, Ivypaw sat up. What else had she said?

Cold air nipped her nose. She smelled the sharp tang of frost. The first of the season.

Dovepaw was stirring in the nest beside her. “What’s going on?” she mewed sleepily. She raised her gray head and gazed around the den, blinking.

“Nothing,” Ivypaw told her. She hopped out of her nest.

“Where are you going?” Dovepaw called.

“To talk to Firestar.”

Dovepaw sat up. “Why?”

Blossomfall’s whiskers twitched. “I suppose Firestar’s used to consulting with apprentices these days,” she commented with an edge to her voice.

Ivypaw ignored them both. She slid under the branch spanning the entrance and padded into the clearing.

Cinderheart was sharing tongues with Sorreltail and Poppyfrost outside the nursery. Molekit and Cherrykit tumbled over the frost-whitened ground, fighting to reach a rolling ball of moss. Millie was disappearing through the trailing brambles of the medicine den, while Cloudtail and Brightheart shared a mouse beneath Highledge.

“Ivypaw!” Cinderheart called.

“I’m busy,” Ivypaw told her. She was already halfway to the rockfall.

Cinderheart stood up. “Where are you going?”

“I need to see Firestar.” Ivypaw didn’t stop. “It’s urgent.”

She began to scramble up the rocks. Cloudtail and Brightheart looked up from their meal and stared at her, round-eyed.

Self-conscious now that her Clanmates were watching, Ivypaw kept going. The future of ThunderClan depended on her. She paused at the entrance to Firestar’s den, acutely aware of Cinderheart’s gaze burning her fur from the bottom of the hollow. “Firestar?” She tried to keep the tremble from her mew. He might think she’d gone mad.

“Ivypaw?” Firestar’s mew echoed from inside the cave.

“Yes,” she replied. “I need to talk to you.”

“Come in.” The ThunderClan leader sounded surprised.

Ivypaw’s heart quickened as she stepped into the shadowy den. Graystripe and Brambleclaw were sitting with Firestar.

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep up the extra patrols,” Graystripe was urging. The three senior warriors were clearly in the middle of a heated discussion.

Firestar nodded, then turned his attention to Ivypaw. “Well?”

She glanced around at the smooth rock walls and at the soft nest of bracken and moss in the far corner. She’d never been in here before. “Ummm.” She suddenly wished she’d planned exactly what she was going to say.

Firestar turned back to his warriors. “While Ivypaw finds her voice, let’s carry on.”

“Are the extra patrols worth the effort?” Brambleclaw flicked his tail. “With leaf-bare coming, we should be hunting, and it looks like ShadowClan has stopped crossing the border—”

Heat surged under Ivypaw’s pelt. “That’s not true!”

The three warriors turned and stared at her.

“Have you seen them?” Firestar demanded.

“No.” How in the name of StarClan was she going to explain that she knew something these cats didn’t?

“I—I had a dream.”

Brambleclaw flattened his ears. Graystripe put his head to one side.

“Go on,” Firestar prompted gently.

Ivypaw blurted out the first words that came to her. “I dreamed that I was standing at the edge of ThunderClan territory…on that strip of grass beside the place where Twolegs come in greenleaf.” She tried to read the warriors’ expressions. Were they taking her seriously? “The place that used to belong to ThunderClan. The place you gave to ShadowClan.”

Firestar narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that? It was before you were born.”

“Probably heard it from Mousefur,” Brambleclaw muttered.

Ivypaw shook her head. “It was all in the dream. How you gave it to ShadowClan because it was useless hunting, not worth defending.”

“Go on.” Firestar was leaning forward now, his ears pricked.

“I saw the stream and it was running with blood.” Ivypaw felt her words coming quickly. Now that she’d started, this was easier than she’d thought. “ThunderClan blood. And ShadowClan cats were patrolling the edge, purring, and they were saying that soon the whole forest would run with ThunderClan blood and they’d own it all, because ThunderClan was no more dangerous than a swarm of beetles, and beetles could be crushed.”

As Ivypaw took a steadying breath, she realized that the three warriors were staring at her, captivated. Encouraged, she went on. “So I ran back to the hollow, but ShadowClan cats were everywhere: all through the forest, hiding behind bushes, hunting for squirrels, training for battle, all the way up to the Twoleg nest. They were gathering Jayfeather’s herbs and saying ShadowClan would never be sick again.” She ran out of words. Had they believed her?

Graystripe’s eyes were half closed. “There may be some truth in it.” He glanced at Firestar. “You used to have dreams that came true when you were an apprentice.”

Brambleclaw flexed his claws. “Young cats also have vivid imaginations.”

“But her sister warned us about the beavers,” Graystripe reminded him. “That wasn’t imagination.”

“Is it worth risking trouble with ShadowClan?” Brambleclaw questioned. “We have no real evidence. I’ve already told you that ShadowClan cats have stopped crossing the border.”

Graystripe shifted his paws. “That may be part of their strategy,” he suggested. “To lull us into a false sense of security.”

Ivypaw didn’t take her gaze from Firestar. The ThunderClan leader wrapped his tail over his paws. “Who else knows about this dream?”

“No one,” Ivypaw assured him. “I came straight to you.”

“Were there any other cats in it besides you and ShadowClan warriors?” His leaf green stare was unwavering. “Any cats from StarClan?”

“She’s too young to know any,” Graystripe pointed out.

“Longtail?” Firestar wondered.

Ivypaw shook her head. “Just ShadowClan warriors.”

“Did you recognize any of them?” Firestar pressed.

“Crowfrost…er…Scorchfur.” Ivypaw’s heart pounded as she tried to remember cats she’d seen at the Gatherings. It couldn’t be wrong to lie, not when she was doing it to save her Clan. Anything to make them believe her.

“Okay.” Firestar turned to Graystripe and Brambleclaw. “What do you think?”

Excitement itched beneath Ivypaw’s pelt.

“It would explain why they were crossing the border,” Graystripe growled. “They might have been looking for the best places to fight.”

“And it’s interesting that she saw the Twolegplace.” Brambleclaw glanced at Ivypaw. “Surrendering it did make us seem vulnerable.”

“It was a good decision,” Graystripe defended his leader hotly. “It saved bloodshed. And we were never going to hunt in such an open space. Especially not if it’s crawling with Twolegs when prey is richest.”

“But giving it up may have sent the wrong message,” Firestar conceded. “Maybe I shouldn’t have handed it over so easily. That act of kindness seems to have left echoes of weakness.”

They believe me! Ivypaw couldn’t stay quiet. “If we take back the Twolegplace, then they’ll know we can’t be beaten!”

Firestar stood up. “Thank you, Ivypaw,” he meowed. “We’ll need to discuss this with the other warriors, and until we do I want you to keep it to yourself.” He brushed past her. “Don’t even tell Dovepaw.”

Ivypaw nodded earnestly while the warriors filed past her out of the cave.

Firestar glanced over his shoulder. “Tell me if you have any more dreams,” he ordered.

“I will.” Ivypaw’s heart was pounding. She’d done it! They were thinking about attacking ShadowClan! She couldn’t wait to tell Tigerstar the good news.