Long Shadows

Chapter 2

Jaypaw slid into the nursery with a bunch of catmint clamped in his jaws. The sharp scent of the herbs didn’t disguise the warm, milky scent of the nursing queens, or the underlying sourness that made Jaypaw’s fur prickle uneasily.

Daisy’s sleepy voice greeted him. “Hi, Jaypaw.”

“Hi, Daisy,” Jaypaw mumbled around the mouthful of herbs. “Hey, Millie.”

Millie’s only reply was a cough. Jaypaw padded over to her, across the thick layer of moss and bracken that covered the nursery floor, and dropped the herbs beside her. “Leafpool sent you those.”

“Thanks, Jaypaw.” Millie’s voice was hoarse. “Will you take a look at Briarkit? Her pelt feels really hot.”

Jaypaw nuzzled among the kits, who were sleeping pressed up close to their mother’s belly, until he identified Briarkit by her scent. The little kit was restless, letting out faint mews in her sleep and shifting about in the moss as if she couldn’t get comfortable. Jaypaw sniffed her all over, catching a whiff of the same sour scent that came from Millie. Her pelt was hot, just as Millie said, and her nose was dry.

Briarkit might have caught her mother’s cough! he thought worriedly. Aloud he said, “I’ll get Leafpool to send her some borage leaves for the fever. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” I hope I sound more confident than I feel, he added to himself.

As he listened to Millie chewing up the catmint, Jaypaw wondered whether it would be better to move her and Briarkit out of the nursery, so that the infection wouldn’t spread any further. It would be easier to look after them in Leafpool’s den.

But then Millie wouldn’t be able to feed Blossomkit and Bumblekit.

He could sense sharp pangs of anxiety coming from Daisy, the fear that Rosekit and Toadkit would start coughing, too.

There was nothing Jaypaw could say to reassure her. His claws worked impatiently in the mossy bedding. If I’ve got the power of the stars in my paws, why can’t I cure a cough?

The nursery felt hot and stifling, cramped with all five kits and the two mothers in there. Jaypaw was eager to be out in the open again, but he needed to wait and see if the catmint had helped Millie at all.

He heard a scuffling from Daisy’s direction, and Toadkit’s voice. “I’m a WindClan warrior, and I’m coming to get you!”

“I’ll get you first!” Rosekit mewed back.

The two kits started to wrestle; one flailing paw hit Jaypaw on the shoulder.

“That’s enough!” Daisy scolded. “If you want to play, go outside.”

The two kits bundled past Jaypaw and he heard their excited mews dying away as they dashed out into the clearing.

The long-furred she-cat sighed. “Sometimes I can’t wait for them to be apprenticed.”

“It won’t be long now,” Jaypaw meowed. “They’re strong kits.”

Daisy sighed again; Jaypaw could still sense that she was worrying, but she didn’t try to put her fears into words.

“My throat feels better now,” Millie announced, swallowing the last of the herbs. “Thanks, Jaypaw.”

Another loud bout of coughing interrupted her. Jaypaw flinched as a ball of sticky spit caught him on the ear. “I’ll go and talk to Leafpool,” he mewed hurriedly, backing toward the entrance to the den.

On his way out he clawed up a pawful of moss and rolled over on it to clean his ear. I wonder what happens if a medicine cat gets sick. Who looks after the Clan then? Shrugging, he headed across the clearing toward the den he shared with Leafpool.

As he brushed past the bramble screen, Jaypaw picked up the scents of other cats as well as Leafpool; sniffing, he distinguished Birchfall and Hazeltail. There was a tang of blood in the air.

“Who’s hurt?” he demanded, his neck fur rising at the thought of another battle.

“Birchfall has a wounded shoulder,” Leafpool explained.

“Picking a fight with ShadowClan cats, by the sound of it.”

“They picked a fight with us,” Birchfall protested.

“And whose claws came out first?” the ThunderClan medicine cat retorted. “Brambleclaw told me all about it. You’re lucky it’s no worse. That cobweb should stop the bleeding,” she went on, “but come back if it starts again. And I want to see you tomorrow in any case, to make sure the gash is healing well.”

“Okay.” Birchfall sounded disgruntled, then added, “Thanks, Leafpool.”

“You too, Hazeltail,” Leafpool continued. “If the dizziness comes back, I want you in here straightaway. Now both of you take these poppy seeds and go and have a good sleep in the warriors’ den. No more duties until tomorrow.”

Hazeltail and Birchfall brushed past Jaypaw on their way out of the den. As their scents faded, Leafpool asked, “How’s Millie?”

“She says her throat feels better,” Jaypaw replied, “but she’s still coughing. And Briarkit is feverish. I think she might have caught the cough too.”

“Oh, no!” Jaypaw picked up Leafpool’s sudden spurt of anxiety. “I’ll go over there and take a look,” she meowed. “And then I’ll have to go into the forest—we’re low on borage leaves for fevers. Can you check the elders?”

Jaypaw stifled a groan. “Sure.” He would much rather go out into the forest; he could find borage by scent just as well as Leafpool could by sight.

“I’m worried Mousefur might still be stiff after scrambling up to the Highledge during the battle,” Leafpool went on.

“And they’ll both need checking for ticks.”

That’s an apprentice job, Jaypaw thought resentfully as his mentor padded past him on her way to the nursery. He answered himself: So? That’s what you are, an apprentice. Get on with it.

He had been proud of his littermates when Firestar had made them warriors, but Jaypaw had no idea when Leafpool would give him his name as a full medicine cat, and he would walk in her shadow until she died. He didn’t want her to die, and yet… Can’t I have anything for myself? How long before the prophecy is fulfilled?

Trying to banish the thoughts clawing at his belly, he found a twig and collected a ball of moss soaked in mouse bile from the cave where Leafpool kept her supplies. Wrinkling his nose against the acrid smell, he stalked across the clearing to the elders’ den under the hazel bush.

“Hi, Jaypaw,” Longtail meowed drowsily as he approached; Jaypaw was surprised that the blind elder could pick out his scent even with the tang of mouse bile in the air.

“It’s good to see you,” Mousefur added. “I’ve got a tick on my shoulder that feels as big as a blackberry.”

“Let me look,” Jaypaw mumbled around the twig. At least Mousefur sounded in a good mood today. If she was in a bad temper she could claw with her tongue almost as harshly as Yellowfang, the former ThunderClan medicine cat whom Jaypaw met in his dreams.

He soon found the tick—not as big as Mousefur said, but swollen enough to make her uncomfortable—and dabbed mouse bile on it until it dropped off.

Mousefur flexed her shoulder. “Thanks, Jaypaw. That’s a whole lot better.”

Jaypaw set the twig aside and began searching the skinny elder’s fur to see if she had picked up any more ticks. “Leafpool wondered if you were stiff after climbing to the Highledge.”

Mousefur snorted. “Tell young Leafpool that I may be an elder but I’m not completely helpless. Why would I be stiff after a little climb like that?”

“Good,” Jaypaw muttered. “Now, do you want your ticks fixed? ’Cause if you do, keep still.”

“Is that how you talk to an elder?” Mousefur’s voice was tart, but Jaypaw could feel her amusement. She settled herself comfortably and went on, “You were at the Gathering, weren’t you? What happened? I know there was trouble, but no cat tells us anything. Was it WindClan again?”

“No…” Jaypaw hesitated. He didn’t want to discuss Sol with any cat.

“Well?” Mousefur snapped. “Badger got your tongue?”

“ShadowClan didn’t come,” Jaypaw began, choosing his words carefully. “Just Blackstar. He had Sol with him.”

“Sol? That tricky lump of fur who told us the sun would disappear?”

“Yes.” Jaypaw was surprised that Mousefur seemed so hostile. “You didn’t like Sol, then?”

“I don’t trust any cat who knows things that StarClan hasn’t told our medicine cat,” Mousefur replied. “There’s something wrong there, or I’m a rabbit.”

“Blackstar spoke to the Gathering,” Jaypaw went on, relieved that Mousefur didn’t know Sol had almost become his mentor for fulfilling the secret prophecy. “He said that Sol had persuaded him and ShadowClan not to listen to StarClan anymore.”

“What?” Jaypaw felt Mousefur’s pelt begin to bristle. “But every Clan cat listens to StarClan. What else are they supposed to do?”

Jaypaw shrugged. “Blackstar thinks living cats can look after themselves.”

Mousefur snorted. “No more than I’d expect from that flea-brain. So what did StarClan have to say about it?”

“Nothing,” Jaypaw admitted. “The moon kept on shining, bright and clear.”

He felt Mousefur’s muscles tense under his paws. “That doesn’t make sense,” she muttered.

Though Jaypaw agreed, he didn’t reply, just retrieved the ball of mouse bile to deal with another tick near the old cat’s tail. “There, you’re done,” he mewed when the tick plopped onto the floor.

Mousefur grunted her thanks, and Jaypaw turned to Longtail. The blind elder had remained silent as Jaypaw passed on the news of the Gathering; Jaypaw could pick up mingled feelings of guilt and confusion. He guessed that Longtail was still feeling bad that he hadn’t been able to fight beside his Clan in the battle. There wasn’t much Jaypaw could say to comfort him. He was blind, too, but at least he had been able to use his medicine cat skills to help.

“Keep still,” he meowed, parting Longtail’s fur gently and making sure his claws were sheathed. “I’ll soon check you for ticks.”

“Thanks, Jaypaw.” Longtail relaxed a little. “Could you check my pad, too?” he added, holding out one forepaw. “I think it got scraped on the stones when I climbed up to the Highledge.”

“Sure.” Jaypaw didn’t find any ticks, and set the mouse bile on one side to run his paws over Longtail’s pad. There was no sign of blood, but he could feel grit embedded in the roughened skin.

Bending his head, Jaypaw rasped his tongue over Longtail’s paw until it felt smooth again. “I don’t think you need any yarrow, but I’ll check it again tomorrow. Keep it clean, and give it a good lick now and again.”

“I’ll do that,” Longtail meowed. “It feels better already.”

Jaypaw picked up the twig and squeezed his way out of the elders’ den. I wish we could sort out Sol and ShadowClan as easily as I can sort out a scraped pad.

He picked up Hollyleaf’s scent close by. A blast of anxiety hit him, like walking into the teeth of a gale; he could almost feel his fur flattened by it.

“I thought you’d never finish!” his sister exclaimed.

“What’s the matter?” Jaypaw asked her.

“We’ve got to talk.” Hollyleaf’s voice was low and tense.

“There was a fight on the ShadowClan border this morning.”

“I know,” Jaypaw replied. “So what? There are border skirmishes all the time.”

“This wasn’t just a border skirmish,” Hollyleaf hissed. “It’s all about Sol. He’s telling the ShadowClan cats to ignore the warrior code.”

“We already knew that,” Jaypaw pointed out.

Hollyleaf’s anxiety crackled like lightning. “Look, we can’t talk now. We need Lionblaze here. Sandstorm and Cloudtail are waiting for me to go on another hunting patrol, so we’ll meet when I get back, okay?”

“Okay.” Jaypaw knew that Hollyleaf wouldn’t give up until he agreed.

“Hollyleaf!” Cloudtail’s voice came from the other side of the camp.

“Coming!” Hollyleaf called back. “I’ll catch you later,” she mewed to Jaypaw, and bounded off.

Shaking his head, half irritated and half worried by his sister’s distress, Jaypaw padded back to his own den.

Jaypaw was tidying the supply of yarrow when Leafpool returned from the forest with a huge bunch of borage leaves.

“I was lucky to find these,” she meowed, dropping the stems at Jaypaw’s paws. “It’s time we started stocking up getting ready for leaf-bare.”

“I can go out and start collecting stuff,” Jaypaw suggested hopefully. Anything to get out of camp!

“In a day or two, maybe,” Leafpool replied. “We should go through the stores first, and check on what we need. Meanwhile, you can shred some of these leaves and chew them into pulp for Briarkit.”

Boring! But Jaypaw knew better than to object. He pushed the yarrow to the back of the cleft where they stored herbs and began tearing the borage leaves apart with his claws. He’d gotten through less than half the pile when he heard paw steps outside the den and caught a whiff of fresh-kill. He picked up Hollyleaf’s scent, too; the hunting patrol had returned.

“Sorry,” he mewed to Leafpool, springing to his paws.

“There’s something I’ve got to do.”

He brushed past the bramble screen and tracked his sister by her scent. He bounded forward and felt her muzzle brush his shoulder as she ran to meet him.

“Come on,” she urged breathlessly. “Lionblaze is waiting for us behind the warriors’ den.”

Jaypaw followed her, squeezing into the space where they used to play when they were kits. “It’s a bit more squashed in here than I remember,” he muttered as he edged between his two littermates.

“Because we’re bigger, mouse-brain,” Hollyleaf snapped.

“And they extended the warriors’ den,” Lionblaze added.

“There’s still not enough room in there, though. I kind of envy Foxpaw and Icepaw, now they’ve got the apprentices’ den all to themselves.”

“Not for long,” Jaypaw replied. “Rosekit and Toadkit will be in there pretty soon.” He winced as Hollyleaf stuck her paw into his side. “Hey, watch it!”

“There’s a thorn stuck between my toes and I can’t reach it,” Hollyleaf explained.

“Okay.” Jaypaw felt around his sister’s paw until he located the thorn, digging in deep between the beds of her claws.

“Hollyleaf, tell us what’s on your mind,” Lionblaze suggested; Jaypaw could feel his impatience like a cloud of stinging flies. “We can’t stay stuck behind here all day.”

“I’m worried about what Sol is teaching the ShadowClan cats,” Hollyleaf began. “Ivytail said he told them not to listen to StarClan anymore.”

Jaypaw drew back from Hollyleaf’s paw with the thorn gripped between his teeth. He spat it out. “We heard that at the Gathering,” he pointed out. “Is it such a bad thing?”

“What?” Hollyleaf sounded outraged.

“I don’t mean about ignoring StarClan. But it’s good for cats to question things instead of just accepting them.”

“There are some things you just don’t question.” Hollyleaf spoke with utter certainty. “Sol doesn’t think we should follow the warrior code. And without that, what are we? Just a band of rogues.”

“This still isn’t anything new,” Lionblaze meowed. “Why are you getting so upset?”

“What’s new is that now we know the whole of ShadowClan is agreeing with Sol, not just Blackstar. Honestly, are you both mouse-brained? Do you want a Clan on our borders who doesn’t follow the warrior code? What’s to stop them from crossing the border and stealing our prey? Or maybe even raiding our camp and stealing our kits?”

“I’d like to see them try,” Lionblaze growled; squashed up against him, Jaypaw could feel his brother’s muscles flex as he extended his claws and dug them into the ground.

“The Clans will be destroyed if we don’t stick together and believe in the same things,” Hollyleaf went on, her anger rising. “We have to do something.”

“I’d like to tear that mange-ridden rogue apart.” Lionblaze’s irritation was deepening into anger as fierce as his sister’s; Jaypaw struggled not to feel overwhelmed by the force of their fury surging over him from both sides. “Sol promised to help us with the prophecy, and then he left us and went to ShadowClan.” After a heartbeat’s pause Lionblaze added, “Do you think there’s a prophecy about ShadowClan, too?”

“I’m sure there isn’t,” Jaypaw meowed. “We are the three. I know we are.”

He hoped that neither of his littermates would ask him how he could be so sure. He couldn’t imagine how he would tell them about his dreams in the mountains when he had visited the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

“I still think Sol knows more about the prophecy than he’s telling us,” he went on. “And if he won’t come to us, then we’ll have to cross the border and find him.”

“Trespass in ShadowClan territory?” Hollyleaf’s shock struck Jaypaw like a blow. “We can’t do that! We’ d be breaking the warrior code.”

“That’s just what I was saying,” Jaypaw meowed. “Sure, we can’t do without the warrior code. But there are times when it’s right to break it. Great StarClan!” he went on, as he sensed that his sister was rejecting his idea. “When we were kits, didn’t we hear stories about how Firestar sometimes broke the warrior code if he thought it was right? We can’t do anything about the prophecy until we know whatever Sol knows.

Whether he’s right or not about StarClan, he knew the sun was going to disappear, and StarClan didn’t. And we’re not going to learn anything from him by staying here.”

“I’m up for it,” Lionblaze snarled. “I’ll make Sol tell us the answers. Hollyleaf, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Hollyleaf’s shock was fading into uncertainty. “No, we’re in this together. Besides,” she went on, more determined, “maybe the prophecy means that we’re the only cats who have the power to save ShadowClan.”

Jaypaw didn’t say anything. If the only way Hollyleaf could bring herself to trespass was by thinking she was doing it for ShadowClan’s sake, he’d let her go on thinking that. But he and Lionblaze were doing this for the three of them, to find out what the prophecy really meant and how they could achieve the power they had been promised.

“Jaypaw? Are you there?”

Jaypaw’s ears flicked at the sound of Lionblaze calling softly from the other side of the bramble screen. He listened a moment longer, until he picked up regular breathing that told him Leafpool was soundly asleep. Then he climbed out of his nest and slid out of his den into the clearing.

The scents of Lionblaze and Hollyleaf wreathed around him. “Follow closely,” Lionblaze whispered. “The moon is shining and we have to keep to the shadows. Cloudtail is on guard at the entrance.”

“We’re going to sneak out through the dirtplace tunnel,” Hollyleaf added.

“Oh, great.” Jaypaw wrinkled his nose.

“You can crawl out underneath the brambles if you’d rather,” Lionblaze muttered. “Come on.”

Jaypaw’s pelt prickled as he crept after his brother around the edge of the stone hollow. But when he felt the tunnel walls closing around him, the thorns snagging his pelt, there had been no yowl from Cloudtail. He relaxed slightly when he emerged from the other end and picked his way across the dirtplace. As they headed into the forest he tried sniffing out clumps of herbs and brushing through them to get rid of the nasty smell.

The forest was silent except for the gentle rustling of leaves and the occasional scuttling of prey in the undergrowth.

“We need to keep together, and keep quiet,” Lionblaze murmured. “There might be ThunderClan cats out for some night hunting, and we don’t want any cat asking questions.”

“Okay,” Hollyleaf replied. Jaypaw could tell she was scared, not by the thought of a fight with ShadowClan warriors, but because she didn’t want to be caught breaking the warrior code. I wish she’ d lighten up. If we’ve got the power of the stars in our paws, we’re more powerful than the code, right?

Lionblaze led them to the stream that marked part of the border. “Keep right behind me,” he instructed Jaypaw. “It’s not deep.”

Jaypaw bristled. “I’m fine, thanks,” he muttered. He didn’t want any cat to know how scared he was of water, even after teaching Cinderheart to swim. His belly churned when he felt the water lapping around his paws, then rising up his legs as he waded deeper. But before the water lapped his belly fur he felt it sink again, and soon he was scrambling out onto the bank in ShadowClan territory, the reek of ShadowClan scent all around him.

“We should roll in their scent marks,” Hollyleaf suggested.

“That way we’ll disguise our ThunderClan scent.”

“Wonderful,” Jaypaw grumbled, even though his sister’s idea was a good one. “The dirtplace, and now ShadowClan. I won’t be able to lick my fur for a moon.”

Thoroughly covered in ShadowClan scent, the three cats headed deeper into the rival Clan’s territory. Jaypaw’s ears were pricked for the sound of approaching patrols, his jaws parted to pick up the stronger scent that would warn him of approaching warriors. But the forest was eerily silent.

“Where are they all?” Hollyleaf whispered. It was unusual for no cats to be out at night, not even a few hunters, especially when there was a bright moon.

No cat answered her. They went on until Jaypaw felt the fallen leaves under his pads give way to sharp pine needles.

“We must be getting close to the camp,” he whispered.

Lionblaze took the lead again, guiding Jaypaw in short dashes; Jaypaw understood that they were flitting from shadow to shadow. At last he could taste an overwhelming surge of ShadowClan scent from somewhere ahead. The ground underpaw began to rise, and became broken up, with rocks poking out of the pine-needle covering.

Soon Jaypaw felt Lionblaze’s tail barring his way. “Keep down!” his brother hissed. “Then creep forward about a tail-length.”

Jaypaw did as he was told, feeling the prickle of thorns raking the fur on his back. Sniffing, he caught the scent of gorse, and realized they must be hiding under a bush. His littermates’ pelts were pressed against his, one on either side.

“What can you see?” he demanded.

“We’re looking down into the camp. Sol is there,” Hollyleaf breathed into his ear. “Standing on top of a rock. The whole Clan is listening to him—even the kits! I can see Blackstar, and Russetfur, and… oh, there’s Tawnypelt!”

“Shut up!” Lionblaze growled. “I want to hear what Sol’s saying.”

Jaypaw flicked his ears forward. He could already make out Sol’s voice rising from the hollow, and as the others fell silent he heard what the loner was saying.

“…no cat should just accept what has gone before,” Sol meowed, his voice ringing above the faint sounds of the forest.

“StarClan’s time is over. These cats are dead, and their spirits have no power over you.”

Jaypaw suppressed a shiver. No cat who had met with StarClan at the Moonpool would agree that StarClan had no power. We will have more power, he thought. But we’re the three in the prophecy. Ordinary cats should still look to StarClan.

“I’ve shared tongues with StarClan.” Jaypaw recognized the voice of Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat. He sounded worried. “I can’t believe that our warrior ancestors are powerless. Or has everything I’ve experienced been a lie?”

“StarClan is good at deceiving,” Sol replied smoothly. “Ask yourselves, did they warn you that the sun would vanish? No!

That means either they didn’t know about it, or they don’t care about you enough to warn you. Why should any cat go on trusting them?”

Murmurs of agreement rose up to where the three ThunderClan cats were hiding. Littlecloud didn’t protest again.

“When the sun vanished, everything you believe in changed,” Sol continued. His voice was so powerful and persuasive that Jaypaw could understand how ordinary cats would be influenced by him. “What you must ask yourselves is what should you do about it? Where will you find your answers now?”

“In ourselves.” Blackstar spoke, a deeper, rougher voice than Sol’s. “What this cat says is true,” he added, addressing his Clan. “StarClan led us to live beside this lake, and I’ve always had my doubts that it was the right decision. There are too many Twolegs, for a start.”

“And too much has gone wrong,” Cedarheart growled.

“The two kittypets in the Twoleg nest—”

“Arguments about borders,” Toadfoot put in.

“Hang on a moment.” Jaypaw stiffened as he heard Tawnypelt speak up. “Things went wrong in the old forest, too. You can’t expect life to be all mice and moonlight.”

“That just goes to prove what Sol is saying.” Blackstar’s voice was harsh. “StarClan couldn’t help us there, either. They couldn’t even stop the Twolegs from driving us out.”

“What does Blackstar mean?” Lionblaze whispered, pressing closer to Jaypaw. “Does he want to lead ShadowClan away from the lake? He must have bees in his brain! One Clan alone, and leaf-bare not far off?”

“He can’t!” Hollyleaf’s voice shook. “There have to be four Clans.”

“Shhh!” Jaypaw hissed, trying to concentrate on what was happening in the hollow. But before he could hear any more, jagged lines of silver flashed across his vision. He seemed to be looking down a long forest path; moonlight silvered the forest floor, barred with black where the shadows of trees lay across it. Lumbering toward him was a badger, the white stripe down its face glowing like a silver flame. Jaypaw had barely caught his breath with shock when the creature was gone, and the familiar night of his blindness swallowed up his vision.

“What’s the matter?” Lionblaze murmured.

Jaypaw realized that all the muscles in his body were tense; he was crouching with his claws dug into the earth and every hair on his pelt bristling.

“I saw a badger!” Jaypaw remembered just in time to keep his voice low.

“You saw…?” Hollyleaf sounded bewildered.

“I had a vision.” Jaypaw was too spooked to explain in detail. “We’re in danger here.”

He heard Lionblaze draw in a long breath, and pictured his brother with his jaws gaping, tasting the air.

“There’s no badger here,” Lionblaze reported. “Are you sure you saw it?”

Jaypaw lashed his tail. “No,” he snapped. “I’m just making it up for fun. What do you think, mouse-brain?”

He paused to taste the air himself, and listened for the sound of the huge, clumsy creature trampling through the undergrowth. But the forest was still and silent, except for the sound of voices coming from the ShadowClan camp, and he couldn’t pick up the slightest trace of badger scent.

“It’s got to be a sign of something,” he mewed. “I don’t understand it yet, but I don’t think we’re safe here anymore. We should get back to the stone hollow as quickly as we can.”

“But we haven’t spoken to Sol yet,” Lionblaze protested.

“And we won’t, tonight,” Hollyleaf pointed out. “Not with all ShadowClan listening to him. I think Jaypaw’s right. We should go while we have the chance.”

Jaypaw could feel that Lionblaze was unhappy with the decision, a sullen anger with Sol churning away inside him, but his brother didn’t argue when Hollyleaf led the way down the slope away from the camp and back toward the border.

Jaypaw’s pelt didn’t lie flat again until they had waded back across the stream and were creeping through the tunnel into the ThunderClan camp. He slipped back into his den and flopped down beside the sleeping Leafpool.

Badgers, he thought as he slid into an exhausted sleep. StarClan, what are you trying to tell me?

Jaypaw woke with a paw prodding him sharply in the side. The sun warmed his fur, and Leafpool’s scent swirled around him.

“Wake up, Jaypaw! What do you think you are, a dormouse?”

Jaypaw blinked drowsily. “Wha…”

“There’s work to be done. I need you to check on Millie and Briarkit.”

“Oh… okay.” Jaypaw staggered to his paws, flinching at a scuffling sound outside the den until he realized it was only Icepaw and Foxpaw dashing past.

He didn’t feel that he had slept at all after the previous night’s expedition. It took an effort to pull his mind away from Sol and the ShadowClan cats, and the terrifying vision of the badger. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“I’ve been across to the nursery to check on Millie and Briarkit. Millie needs more catmint. And I’ve made a leafwrap of borage for Briarkit. You can take them over there when—”

Jaypaw stopped listening and flattened himself to the ground at the sound of a throaty bark somewhere out in the forest.

“Jaypaw, what’s the matter with you?” Concern replaced Leafpool’s irritation. “Are you ill?” He heard her sniffing as her nose touched his fur. “You smell a bit funny.”

Jaypaw cringed inside. He didn’t want to discuss his scent, in case it led to more awkward questions. “I’m fine,” he asserted. “That barking startled me, that’s all.”

“But you’ve heard a fox bark before. It was a long way off, and if it comes any closer the patrols will spot it.”

“I know.” Jaypaw scrambled into a sitting position, giving his chest fur an awkward lick. “It’s just… I had this dream last night.” No need to say where I had it. “I saw a badger. I… I wondered if it meant danger.”

“One badger on its own?” Leafpool checked. “Not a whole horde of them?”

Jaypaw shook his head.

Leafpool sat down beside him. He could sense her uncertainty, but she didn’t seem to be afraid. “I think the badger you saw might have been Midnight,” she told him.

“Who’s Midnight?”

Leafpool settled herself more comfortably among the bracken stalks. “Back in the old forest, StarClan called four cats, one from each Clan, to make a long journey to the sun-drown-place to find a badger called Midnight.”

Jaypaw’s ears pricked. “Was that how they knew the Clans would have to leave the forest?”

“That’s right,” Leafpool meowed. “Brambleclaw was chosen from ThunderClan, and Squirrelflight went with him. Midnight warned them that the old forest would be destroyed, and then helped all the Clans to find this home beside the lake.”

Jaypaw felt his neck fur beginning to rise. “StarClan gave a message to a badger? But badgers kill cats!”

“Not Midnight,” Leafpool assured him. “She’s no ordinary badger. Later, when we had settled here by the lake, a horde of hostile badgers invaded our camp and tried to kill us all and drive us out. And Midnight…”

She trailed off. Jaypaw felt a rush of mingled emotions surge through her, fear and regret and grief. He wondered why she should feel so strongly about a battle that had been over and done with before he was born, but he was too curious about Midnight to try to make sense of what she was feeling.

“What happened with the badgers?” he prompted.

“We tried to fight them off.” Jaypaw realized that his mentor was making a great effort to keep her voice steady. “But there were too many. They would have destroyed ThunderClan if Midnight hadn’t brought WindClan to help.”

“A badger helped cats, against her own kin?”

“Yes.” Leafpool drew in a long breath and let it out again.

“There is nothing to fear from her. But she may have been trying to warn us of some other danger. You will tell me if she comes to you again?”

“Of course.” Maybe. Jaypaw knew that if this strange badger appeared again he would find out what she had to say before he decided whether to tell any cat.

“Why do we have to sit around waiting for her?” he asked.

“Brambleclaw knows where she lives, so why can’t we go and visit her?”

“It’s too far,” Leafpool replied firmly. She seemed calmer now that they had stopped talking about the badgers’ invasion. “There’s a lot of tension between the Clans right now, so Firestar would never spare warriors for that sort of journey.

Especially not Brambleclaw. He’s deputy now; he’s needed here.”

“What about—” Jaypaw stopped himself. He had been about to suggest Squirrelflight, but she had only just left Leafpool’s den after being so badly wounded in the battle against WindClan. She wasn’t even back on warrior duties yet; there was no way she could make a long journey. “I guess you’re right,” he muttered.

So, Midnight, if you want me, you’ll have to come and find me.