River Of Fire

CHAPTER 11

“We can’t do that!” Violetshine objected. She couldn’t believe that her sister would ignore the way things were done in the Clans. “We have to talk to Leafstar first.”

“But this is ShadowClan’s affair,” Twigpaw pointed out.

“Have you got bees in your brain?” Violetshine demanded. “ShadowClan is part of SkyClan now, and Leafstar is the leader for every cat. And I’m a SkyClan cat,” she added, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not going to mutiny by convincing ShadowClan to rebuild without warning my leader.”

“I suppose so. . . .” Twigpaw sounded hesitant. “The thing is, I don’t think Leafstar is exactly a fan of mine since I left to rejoin ThunderClan.”

Violetshine flicked her ears in annoyance. This isn’t all about you! Aloud she mewed, “Don’t worry. I’ll do all the talking. We’ll get Hawkwing to be there, too. That will make it easier.”

She turned and headed back to the SkyClan camp, with Twigpaw following her and Tree bringing up the rear. It felt weird to Violetshine to be padding along these paths with her sister, who had been her Clanmate not so long ago, and now was an interloper. If Twigpaw wasn’t with me and Tree, any SkyClan cat would be right to attack her.

Grassheart was on guard duty at the camp entrance. “What’s she doing here?” she asked with a glare at Twigpaw.

“She needs to talk to Leafstar,” Violetshine replied. “We all do.”

“She doesn’t want to come back again, does she?” Grassheart called after them as they padded farther into the camp.

Though she was irritated, Violetshine wasn’t surprised her Clanmates would react that way when they saw Twigpaw again. The sooner we get this over with, the better.

She was relieved to see Hawkwing talking to Sparrowpelt in the center of the camp, and bounded over to join him. “I need to talk to you,” she declared.

Sparrowpelt gave her a friendly nod. “I’ll get that hunting patrol together,” he meowed to Hawkwing, whipping around and vanishing into the warriors’ den.

“So what—” Hawkwing began, and broke off. “Hey, Twigpaw!” He pressed his nose into his daughter’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”

Twigpaw looked encouraged to see her father, leaning into him with a happy purr. But she straightened up nervously a moment later as Leafstar appeared through the lichen screen at the entrance to her den.

“What’s this?” she asked, leaping down from the roots of the cedar tree and stalking across the camp to Violetshine and the others. “Twigpaw, why are you here?”

Violetshine felt she should be the one to reply. “We need to talk to you and Hawkwing,” she mewed. “Please, Leafstar, will you hear us out?”

Leafstar hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Very well.”

“We’re worried about the prophecy,” Violetshine began. “The way that StarClan says there have to be five Clans, and now there are only three. We think we might have found a way to help.”

The Clan leader’s gaze was fixed on Violetshine, who felt a wave of relief that Leafstar was clearly taking her seriously. But there was a skeptical look in her amber eyes. I mustn’t put a paw wrong if I want to convince her, Violetshine thought.

“Go on,” Leafstar meowed.

Violetshine swallowed. “We want to ask Tawnypelt if she would be leader and rebuild ShadowClan.”

Leafstar’s expression changed; her amber eyes smoldered with anger. “Rebuild ShadowClan?” she hissed.

Violetshine glanced at her father for support; her heart began to pound harder when she saw that he too looked annoyed, his ears laid back and his claws sliding out.

Maybe I’m making a mistake, Violetshine thought. I knew I should never have listened to Twigpaw! I only went along with this because I care about her!

“Leafstar, what do you think?” Tree asked in his usual straightforward manner.

“Enough!” Leafstar swung around on him. “How can you ask that question? I’m angry. Of course I’m angry. All SkyClan has ever wanted is a safe place to live and hunt, surrounded by the other Clans. We suffered terribly to find that, and lost so many of our cats.”

“But you’re here now,” Tree pointed out.

“Yes, we’re here now.” Leafstar dug her claws into the ground. “When we finally reached the lake, we were told we had to ask another Clan for territory. Then we agreed to share with ShadowClan, and we did our best to satisfy ShadowClan, even when Rowanstar was unreasonable. Then I was told that ShadowClan was disbanding, and I had to take their remaining cats into my Clan. Now—”

Violetshine tried to interrupt, but Leafstar swept on in a storm of indignation.

“Now I’ve worked really hard to blend every cat into one Clan—and you and Twigpaw want to split ShadowClan off again! Twigpaw, what are you even doing here? You’re a ThunderClan apprentice!”

“Leafstar, it’s because—” Violetshine began.

“I don’t want to hear it. Every hair on my pelt is out of patience with you!”

Leafstar whipped around to go back to her own den, but Tree stepped in front of her, blocking her with his tail. Violetshine cringed, waiting for Leafstar to rake a paw over his ear.

“Leafstar, wait,” Tree meowed. “Please listen. This isn’t about what Violetshine and Twigpaw want—it’s about StarClan. When StarClan is happy, all the Clans are happy, right? Couldn’t we save ourselves a lot of trouble by just doing what StarClan wants?”

Leafstar stared at him as if she was wondering where this cat had sprung from, daring to question her decisions. At least she didn’t strike him, Violetshine thought.

At that moment, to Violetshine’s relief, Hawkwing stepped to his leader’s side. “I know you’re frustrated, Leafstar,” he declared. “I’m frustrated too. We seem to have arrived at the lake at a very difficult time for the other Clans. But . . . perhaps Violetshine and Twigpaw—and Tree—have a point. If StarClan has willed it, then we should at least make an effort to have five Clans. Maybe we are missing something. Maybe there is a capable leader left in ShadowClan, who just needs convincing.”

Violetshine waited, hardly daring to breathe, while Leafstar stood in silence for what seemed like endless heartbeats. Finally the Clan leader let out a long sigh.

“Fine,” she mewed. “You can talk to the ShadowClan cats.” With a twitch of her ears toward Violetshine, she added, “Do you intend to leave, too, if ShadowClan splits off again?”

For a moment Violetshine gaped at her, stunned that her Clan leader could ask such a question. “No!” she exclaimed. “I’m a SkyClan cat, through and through. I would never be disloyal. Besides,” she added, “I could never leave Hawkwing.”

Leafstar seemed satisfied by her reply, though Violetshine was aware of Twigpaw, standing beside her, shifting her paws uncomfortably. And no wonder! Violetshine thought. She had no problem leaving.

“But hear this,” Leafstar went on. “If ShadowClan decides to leave, I’m never taking any more cats into SkyClan. It’s disruptive, and it’s robbing my Clan of time we could be spending strengthening ourselves. This is it!”

“I understand,” Violetshine responded.

Leafstar retreated to her den. Together with Twigpaw and Tree, Violetshine padded around the camp until they found Tawnypelt with Rowanclaw, sharing tongues in the shelter of a rock beside the stream.

“Tawnypelt, we need to talk to you,” Violetshine began.

Tawnypelt looked up at them, narrowing her eyes when she spotted Twigpaw. “I saw you talking to Leafstar,” she meowed. “You’re not expecting to come back again, are you?”

Twigpaw shook her head emphatically. “No! I’m just visiting.”

Tawnypelt gave a grunt of approval. “So what is all this about?”

Violetshine sat beside the two ShadowClan warriors and wrapped her tail neatly around her paws. Twigpaw crouched down beside her, while Tree draped himself over the rock, seemingly lazy, though his eyes were alert as he looked down at the others.

Gathering her courage, Violetshine took a deep breath. “We’re all worried about the prophecy,” she meowed. “StarClan wants five Clans, and things will only get worse until ShadowClan comes back. So, Tawnypelt, we wanted to ask you if you would consider leading a revived ShadowClan.”

Tawnypelt exchanged a shocked glance with Rowanclaw. “Why me?” she asked. “You’ve got a Clan leader right here. Why don’t you ask him?”

“Oh, no,” Rowanclaw interrupted, shaking his head. “I don’t want to lead ShadowClan again. I’ve made that very clear. Besides . . .” He hesitated and then went on, “I’ve been dreaming about Tigerheart, and I haven’t given up hoping that one day my son will come back—especially since the medicine cats had the message about returning shadows.”

Tawnypelt gazed at him, her green eyes suddenly softened. “I hope that’s true,” she whispered.

“I’ll support Tawnypelt if she wants to do it,” Rowanclaw went on. “She was deputy, after all, after Tigerheart left.”

“That’s great!” Violetshine mewed, though she had the feeling that Rowanclaw wasn’t that enthusiastic. “So, Tawnypelt, what—”

“Of course, we would need approval from StarClan,” Rowanclaw interrupted. “In fact, Violetshine, why are you and Twigpaw the ones bringing this up? Where are the medicine cats?”

You stupid furball! Violetshine scolded herself. If she had thought for a heartbeat, she would have realized that she should have spoken to a medicine cat first: probably to Puddleshine, who had been ShadowClan’s medicine cat. I was thrown off balance by Twigpaw’s showing up, and then Leafstar’s being so angry. . . .

She was about to suggest going to find Puddleshine when she heard approaching paw steps, and turned her head to see Sleekwhisker and Yarrowleaf, now very heavy with her kits.

“We overheard,” Sleekwhisker mewed. “We’d love to see ShadowClan rise again!”

“Yes,” Yarrowleaf agreed, her yellow eyes shining with hope. “Imagine if my kits could be born into a revived ShadowClan!”

Every cat’s gaze went to Tawnypelt, who still looked undecided. “I’ll think about it,” she meowed, “provided that Puddleshine—”

She broke off at a loud gasp from Yarrowleaf.

“What’s wrong?” Tree asked.

“The kits aren’t going to wait for ShadowClan,” Yarrowleaf explained, her breathing fast and shallow. “I think they’re coming now!”