Shattered Sky

Chapter 19

A stiff breeze blew across the moorland, bringing with it the distant scent of cats. Violetpaw’s fur was flattened to her sides as she climbed the hill, and she felt her eyes begin to water. The chill air of dawn probed deep into her pelt, but her sense of anticipation warmed her through and through.

Another day had passed while the Clan leaders made their plans. “We need to confront Onestar,” Bramblestar had meowed, “but we must be very careful how we do it.”

“Yes.” Rowanstar was in agreement for once. “If Onestar feels we’re trying to intimidate him, he’ll dig his claws in all the harder.”

In the end, the leaders had decided to send the Clan deputies to meet with Onestar. “He won’t see us as so much of a threat,” Squirrelflight had pointed out. “And as the only leader present, he’ll feel more important.”

“Why not send Twigpaw and Violetpaw too?” Leafstar had suggested. “They both have stories to tell, and they’ll remind Onestar of the prophecy, and how vital it is to clear the sky.”

So this morning, Squirrelflight, Tigerheart, Reedwhisker, and Hawkwing had set out, along with Violetpaw and Twigpaw. Reedwhisker was still recovering from his time in Darktail’s prison, but he insisted that he was strong enough for the journey to WindClan.

“My paws will take me anywhere if it means I can help get rid of that mange-pelt Darktail!” he declared.

Violetpaw was immensely grateful to the SkyClan leader for suggesting that she and Twigpaw be part of the mission to WindClan. Her paws wanted to skip along, and she had to keep reminding herself that this was a serious undertaking.

As she padded along beside her father, Violetpaw noticed that he was glancing from side to side, his amber gaze taking in every detail of the moorland.

“Are you worried WindClan will attack us?” she asked him.

“Actually, no,” Hawkwing replied. “I was working out how likely it would be for a cat to even get attacked on such an open space. You can see so far… and there are so few places for an attacker to take cover.”

Violetpaw exchanged a glance with Twigpaw, who was walking on their father’s other side. She could see from her sister’s slightly worried air that Twigpaw was sharing her thoughts.

Is Hawkwing scouting out territory for SkyClan? But surely he won’t want to take WindClan’s… will he?

Before Violetpaw could ask her father what was going through his mind, he suddenly halted.

“Do you think there’s something strange going on?” he asked, turning to the older warriors.

Squirrelflight looked puzzled for a moment; then her eyes widened in understanding. “We haven’t come across any WindClan patrols. That’s odd… I’d expect the dawn patrol to be out, and one or two hunting patrols. But we haven’t even picked up their scent.”

As if in response to Squirrelflight’s words, a sudden stronger gust of wind swept across the moor, bringing with it the sound of screeching and yowling.

“That’s coming from the WindClan camp!” Tigerheart exclaimed. “Are they under attack?”

Instantly Squirrelflight sprang forward, leading the deputies as they raced across the moor. “Stay back!” Hawkwing warned his kits as he followed.

Violetpaw and Twigpaw bounded along at the rear. WindClan’s camp lay in a deep hollow on the moor, where the ground fell away near the top of the hill. A thick barrier of gorse and other bushes guarded the edges.

Now the sounds of battle were even louder. Wriggling her way through the thorns, Violetpaw looked down on a mass of fighting cats.

Darktail and his rogues are attacking WindClan! And it looks like they’re winning!

She realized that Darktail must have led his Kin across WindClan territory under cover of darkness. That was the only cover they could expect in this bleak landscape. And with the WindClan cats asleep, they would have the advantage of surprise.

Whatever else Darktail may be, he isn’t stupid!

The four deputies sprang down the slope into the camp and flung themselves into the fray. Violetpaw watched as Hawkwing barreled through the battling cats, knocking rogues aside as he headed straight toward where Darktail was wrestling with Onestar. Pride warmed her from ears to tail-tip to see what a strong, fierce fighter her father was.

Before Hawkwing could reach Onestar, the WindClan deputy, Harespring, leaped forward, trying to come to his leader’s aid. But Nettle thrust himself between them, his claws out as he aimed a blow at Harespring. Then Hawkwing was there, blocking Nettle and swiping his claws across the rogue’s face. Nettle backed off with a screech of alarm.

Violetpaw exchanged a glance with Twigpaw. “We have to help!” she meowed.

With a nod from Twigpaw, both young cats hurtled down into the fight. Violetpaw saw her sister skid to a halt as Raven lunged for her, then dart aside to aim a blow at the back of the rogue cat’s head.

Raven spun around so fast that Twigpaw’s blow never landed. Her foreleg flashed out at Twigpaw, catching her on the side of her head so hard that she fell to the ground.

Violetpaw sprang to help her, only to be intercepted by Roach, the silver-gray tom, looming over her with death in his eyes. Violetpaw moved to slash at him, only to draw back a pace as if her paws didn’t want to obey her.

“Stop!”

An ear-splitting yowl rang out commandingly above the noise of battle. Violetpaw gasped in astonishment as she realized that the voice was Darktail’s. Roach turned away from her, staring across the camp, and Violetpaw saw that every fighting cat, friend and foe, had grown as still as if they had been frozen by the cold of leaf-bare.

Every cat’s gaze was fixed on Onestar and Darktail. The two cats stood nose to nose, their flanks swelling with their heavy breathing.

“You mouse-hearted excuse for a cat!” Darktail taunted Onestar. “Is that the best you can do? A kittypet fights better! But then… you always were a coward.”

A puzzled murmur ran through the Clan cats. Violetpaw shared their bewilderment. I don’t understand what’s going on.

It was Harespring who voiced the question every cat wanted to ask. “Darktail, you’re talking like… like you know Onestar. How can that be?”

Onestar never took his gaze from the rogue leader as he replied. “This cat’s word is not to be trusted. Look at what he’s done: raided camps, kept prisoners, killed more Clan cats than we can count. He’ll clearly do or say anything in his efforts to steal territory. And that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?” he challenged Darktail.

An evil gleam lit the white tom’s dark-furred eyes. “Of course it’s about territory. It’s always about territory. And I think you handing some of WindClan’s territory over to me would only be fair.” His eyes narrowed, and his voice grew more intense and menacing with every word. “Especially after what you did to me!”

Without waiting for a response from Onestar, Darktail turned to address the other Clan cats. “You all think of Onestar as an honorable leader, don’t you? Well, I know things about him that would make every WindClan cat’s fur stand on end.”

Now every cat’s gaze was trained on Onestar. “What is he talking about?” Harespring asked.

Onestar’s tail stood straight up, while he flexed his claws and ground them hard into the earth. “Why would you listen to him?” he demanded. “You’ve all seen the kind of cat he is!”

Darktail spun around to face Onestar again. “And they should know what kind of cat you truly are,” he meowed defiantly. “The Onestar they think they know could not have done what you did to me!”

The rogue leader’s words ended in a frenzied yowl, and he hurled himself once more at Onestar.

But this time the Clan cats were ready, and as the fighting broke out again, it was clear that the rogues were outmatched. Squirrelflight grabbed Darktail and flung him away from Onestar, aiming a pawful of claws at his throat.

The rogue leader writhed away from her and staggered to his paws. “Retreat!” he screeched.

The Kin broke away, fleeing up the slope and through the bushes, out of the WindClan camp. Darktail was the last to go; at the top of the hollow he turned and looked back, his eyes glaring hatred.

“We’re leaving now,” he yowled. “But we’ll be back! You can count on that, Onestar!”

As he vanished, Violetpaw glanced around at the Clan cats. Their eyes gleamed with victory, but they seemed apprehensive, too, like they knew that Darktail would make good on his threat. A chill ran through her.

This isn’t over.

As sunhigh approached, Violetpaw and Twigpaw were sitting with Hawkwing at the bottom of WindClan’s hollow. All three of them were sharing a rabbit.

When Darktail and his rogues had disappeared, Onestar had stood silent for a moment, gazing at the cats around him. At last he had straightened up, gathering dignity like an extra pelt.

“Now I must tell the truth,” he meowed. “But I will not speak until the Clan leaders are here. This is a matter for them, and I can only bear to explain once.”

“Okay,” Squirrelflight responded. “Bramblestar, Rowanstar, and Leafstar are—”

“Leafstar?” Onestar interrupted.

Squirrelflight nodded. “Oh, of course… you don’t know. Leafstar is the leader of SkyClan. They have returned! This cat,” she went on, above wondering murmurs from the WindClan warriors, “is the SkyClan deputy, Hawkwing.”

Hawkwing dipped his head respectfully. “It’s an honor to meet you, Onestar.”

Onestar replied with a grunt. “You might not say that when you’ve heard my story.”

Violetpaw thought that sounded ominous; she could see the WindClan cats exchanging worried glances.

“I’ll fetch the leaders from ThunderClan’s camp,” Squirrelflight mewed, moving on tactfully from the awkward moment. She bounded up the slope and slipped through the bushes.

When Squirrelflight had left, Onestar retired to his den, while Harespring sent out hunting and border patrols, with orders to keep a sharp lookout for Darktail and his Kin, and to avoid fighting except as a last resort. After that, there was nothing much to do except share the prey the hunters brought back, and wait for the leaders to arrive.

“I wonder what Onestar is going to tell us,” Violetpaw remarked, swallowing her last mouthful of rabbit and swiping her tongue around her jaws.

“I don’t know,” Hawkwing responded, a worried look in his amber eyes. “Onestar has some kind of secret—and it looks as if Darktail thinks it gives him some kind of power over WindClan.”

“I wonder if the secret is why Onestar fled from the battle in ShadowClan’s territory after Darktail spoke to him,” Twigpaw mewed. “And it must be really important to have made him do that.”

While she was still speaking, a rustle came from the bushes at the top of the slope, and Squirrelflight appeared, followed by Bramblestar, Rowanstar, and Leafstar. Together they strode down into the bottom of the hollow.

“Where’s Onestar?” Rowanstar demanded. “What’s all this about?”

“Greetings,” Harespring meowed, dipping his head politely as he rose from where he sat a tail-length away from the entrance to Onestar’s den. “Onestar is here, but he won’t see you until all the leaders have arrived. We must wait for Mistystar.”

Rowanstar let out a growl of annoyance, his claws raking the earth of the camp floor. But before he could voice an objection, there was movement in the bushes at the far side of the camp, and Tigerheart emerged with Mistystar.

“Thank StarClan for that!” Rowanstar muttered. “Now maybe we can get this over with.”

Bramblestar glanced at the ShadowClan leader with a twitch of his whiskers. “Keep your fur on,” he advised. “We’ve been waiting for StarClan knows how long for Onestar to talk to us. Let’s try not to annoy him now.”

A bad-tempered snort was Rowanstar’s only reply.

Harespring slipped into Onestar’s den, and a moment later the WindClan leader emerged. After a curt word of greeting he beckoned the leaders closer with a wave of his tail.

“Maybe we should leave the leaders to it,” Hawkwing suggested, rising to his paws and facing the other cats.

“No.” Onestar’s voice was weary but decisive. “The way you fought today proves that you’re a worthy warrior—and besides, every cat should probably hear this.”

He remained standing as the four Clan leaders settled themselves around him, and the remaining cats sat in a ragged semicircle a fox-length farther away. Every hair on Violetpaw’s pelt was tingling with excitement, and she could see the same feeling in Twigpaw’s glittering green eyes.

“I am the reason the Clans have been blighted by Darktail and his rogues,” Onestar began. “And the story goes back many seasons, to when we lived in the old forest, when I was called Onewhisker and Tallstar was the leader of WindClan.”

The WindClan cats exchanged confused glances at their leader’s words. Violetpaw could see that even the senior warriors—the ones who remembered the time Onestar spoke of—had no idea what he was about to say.

“Onestar has kept this secret for such a long time,” she whispered to Twigpaw.

“You all know that I never expected to be chosen as deputy, or to become your leader,” Onestar continued. “Tallstar appointed me in the last moments of his life, and no cat was more astonished than I was. I felt I was unworthy…” He paused for a moment and bowed his head. “And events have proved that I was right.”

“No!” Crowfeather protested from where he sat with his Clanmates. “You’ve been a noble leader, Onestar.”

Looking up again, Onestar shook his head sadly. “When I was a young cat, back in the old forest,” he continued, “I carried out my warrior duties, but I also liked to sneak off to explore the little Twolegplace beyond the farm where Barley and Ravenpaw lived. It was fun to spend time with the kittypets there, and tell them stories about what it was like to live in a Clan.”

“I never knew that!” Whitetail, a WindClan elder, was looking outraged. “Our Clan leader going off to make friends with kittypets!”

“Well, he wasn’t leader then,” Gorsetail murmured.

“It was easy to impress them,” Onestar admitted. He paused to give his chest fur an embarrassed lick. Raising his head, he let his gaze travel over the assembled cats. He opened his jaws to continue, but at first no words came out. Violetpaw could see how much effort it took when he finally began to speak again. “I used to tell them about hunting, and learning battle moves. I was never particularly skilled at those things, but the kittypets didn’t know that, because it was all so new and fascinating to them. And if I exaggerated a bit… well, it made me feel good. They thought I was wonderful!”

“But what does this have to do with Darktail?” Bramblestar asked.

“I’m coming to that,” Onestar replied. “There was one kittypet… a young she-cat called Smoke. She had such soft, gray fur, and such brilliant blue eyes… It was like I was staring into pools of pure water!”

Squirrelflight rolled her eyes. “I see.”

“Smoke and I became… more than friends,” Onestar admitted. “She loved to hear my stories of Clan life; she couldn’t get enough of them. She was happy to be my mate, but of course I only ever saw her in the Twolegplace. There was no way I could have brought her into camp.”

Rowanstar exchanged a glance with Mistystar. “You can say that again!” he muttered. “What was the mouse-brain thinking?”

“Obviously he wasn’t thinking,” Mistystar responded tartly.

“Everything was fine,” Onestar continued, “until I found out that Smoke was expecting kits. She came to find me on the moor. Thank StarClan that I was out hunting alone, and I came across her not too far from the border of our territory!

“Smoke was almost ready to give birth. She told me that she wanted to join WindClan, so that her kits could be brought up as warriors.” He gave a heavy sigh. “You see, I’d told her such wonderful tales of Clan life, as if it was all adventure and massive piles of prey. I had not mentioned all the times we nearly starved to death in a harsh leaf-bare, or how often we might get terrorized by dogs or Twolegs… or how heartbreaking it was to lose a Clanmate.”

“What did you say to her?” Violetpaw asked curiously, then let out a faint squeak of embarrassment. She had been so caught up in the story that she hadn’t stopped to ask herself if an apprentice should be questioning a Clan leader.

“What could I say to her?” Onestar didn’t seem to realize where the question had come from. “I knew there was no way I could bring a kittypet into WindClan. I would have been in terrible trouble for mating with her in the first place, and even worse, I knew that if Tallstar did let Smoke stay, she would have seen me as I really was. Just an ordinary warrior, not the heroic cat I had made myself out to be. And anyway”—he went on rapidly, as if he was trying to get past the shameful part of the story as quickly as he could—“Smoke was so soft and delicate… She would never have survived a moon out on the moor.”

“So you sent her home?” Squirrelflight asked.

Onestar nodded. “I sent her home. I told her to go back to her Twolegs, where she would be safe. Her relationship with me was over. She argued for a while, but at last she left, and I told myself I’d had a lucky escape. I stayed away from the Twolegplace after that, and I never expected to hear from Smoke again.”

“But you did,” Bramblestar stated.

“Yes, Smoke came to find me one more time,” Onestar replied. There was bitter regret in his eyes. “She had a single kit with her, and she told me that after our last meeting, when she was still on her way home, her kits had come. She didn’t have any help—not from a cat, not even from a Twoleg. All but one of her kits—our kits—had died.”

A murmur of pity came from Sedgewhisker, and Onestar flinched as though some cat had struck him a blow.

“Smoke went back to her Twolegs, but only for a short time,” Onestar continued. “As soon as her kit was old enough to leave her, she brought him to me. She begged me to at least take him into camp, while he was still young enough to learn the ways of the Clans. And I… I refused. I was too worried about how I would have to explain to Tallstar.”

Violetpaw couldn’t help thinking about how ThunderClan and ShadowClan had taken in her and Twigpaw, even though at that time no cat knew who they were.

Onestar could have made up some story, if he’d tried, she thought. He could have helped the kit.

“Smoke turned on me then,” Onestar continued. “She told me that she would raise the kit by herself, and teach him to hate the Clans who had rejected him.” His head drooped, and Violetpaw could see that he felt great shame at what he had revealed.

“Wait,” Bramblestar interjected. “This kit—are you saying that he grew up to be Darktail? That Darktail is your son?”

Onestar nodded gloomily. “I tried to tell myself that I was protecting Smoke and her kit,” he mewed, raising his voice over the shocked murmurs of the other cats. “I thought that whatever she said when she was angry, she would take him and go back to being a kittypet, and their lives would be better that way.”

Violetpaw pressed herself against Twigpaw and felt her sister return the gesture. Both of them gazed at their SkyClan father, and they saw Hawkwing looking back at them with nothing but love.

All our struggles are over now, Violetpaw thought. We were so lucky that Alderheart found us in the tunnel and brought us back to the Clans. And now that we’ve found our father, it’s even better. He would never have turned his back on us.

Mistystar broke into Violetpaw’s musings. “So,” she meowed to Onestar. “Darktail knew that you rejected him.”

Onestar gave a weary nod. “Yes, he was old enough to understand. StarClan knows where he went for so long, but wherever it was, he grew into a bitter and resentful cat, full of grief for a father he never knew, and hatred for a way of life he never got the chance to understand.”

“You can say that again!” Tigerheart muttered.

If Onestar heard the comment, he ignored it. “He must have gathered rogues to him as his followers,” he went on, “and not long ago, he wandered up the river and found SkyClan. He attacked them and drove them out.”

Violetpaw saw her father tense for a moment, his neck fur bristling and his claws digging into the ground. She knew that he must be reliving that terrible time. She leaned over to touch his ear with her nose, and gradually he relaxed, blinking gratefully at her from sorrowful amber eyes.

Meanwhile, Onestar was continuing with his story. “When Alderheart arrived on his quest, Darktail got the information that he had been seeking for so long: where I and the other Clans had gone after we left the forest territories. And just like that, he got the chance he’d always craved: to wreak revenge on me—the father who had rejected him—and our whole way of life.”

“I’m beginning to understand why you behaved as you did,” Mistystar remarked.

Onestar hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure whether the RiverClan leader was expressing sympathy. “When the rogues attacked us here, in WindClan territory,” he meowed at last, “and the fighting spilled into ThunderClan—that was the first hint I got that Darktail was my own kit. When he attacked me, he whispered, ‘I will destroy you, and all of the Clans, for what you did to me.’ At once, I understood the threat that Darktail posed to all of us, and to WindClan in particular. That’s why I wanted you, Rowanstar, to drive him out of your territory.”

Rowanstar snorted. “It would have helped if you’d told the truth from the start. I might have understood why you were so furious when I hesitated.”

“I know,” Onestar admitted. “But I couldn’t. All I could do was close my borders. And then,” he added, “Bramblestar convinced me to join with the other Clans to expel the rogues from ShadowClan. But in that battle…”

Onestar’s voice died away. He hunched his shoulders and his tail drooped; Violetpaw thought she had never seen a cat look so ashamed.

“What happened?” Mistystar demanded. “You wanted the rogues off Clan territory so badly, but suddenly you retreated with all of your warriors. Why?”

“I’m not proud of what I did,” Onestar replied. “But when I was grappling with Darktail—and I’ve never battled an enemy with strength so vicious—this cat who was my son leaned into me and whispered something…”

“What?” Squirrelflight asked tensely.

“He said… ‘What do you think will happen to a cat who rejected, and then killed, his own son? Surely that cat would end up in the Dark Forest. Think of that when you are on your last life!’ But what Darktail didn’t know was that I am on my last life. He made me so afraid…”

A gasp went up from all the assembled cats. Violetpaw knew how shocking it was for a leader to refer openly to being on his last life, and even more shocking to admit that he was worried about where he would go after death. She saw Kestrelflight, the WindClan medicine cat, wince and close his eyes briefly.

“You must be joking!” Rowanstar exclaimed incredulously. “The Dark Forest is not for a leader who saves his Clan from a terror such as Darktail—no matter whose kin he is!”

“That’s true,” Kestrelflight agreed. “The Dark Forest is for cats who have given themselves to evil. That isn’t you, Onestar. I could have told you that long ago, if you’d trusted me enough to be honest with me.”

Onestar looked down at his paws. “Maybe,” he sighed. “I admit that it was a selfish fear. But… well, things look a bit different when a leader is on his final life. I started to worry that StarClan would judge me harshly for my mistakes—and StarClan knows, I have made many of those.”

Silence followed the end of Onestar’s confession. Violetpaw couldn’t help feeling sympathy for him: it must have been hard to stand up in front of his Clan and his fellow leaders to admit what he had done. At the same time, she knew—perhaps better than many cats—what disasters had followed Onestar’s flight from the battle.

If WindClan had kept fighting with us, we could have defeated Darktail back then. He would never have been able to attack RiverClan. So many cats who are dead would still be alive.

Needletail wouldn’t have had to die…

As the silence dragged on, Onestar raised his head again. Suddenly he looked firmer, more decisive—more like a Clan leader.

“We all have the same problem,” he meowed. “The rogues go on attacking us, stealing territory, threatening vulnerable cats and kits. I know this problem is of my making, and I’m very sorry that I turned away from my friends. I won’t do that again; I’m no longer afraid. Darktail and his rogues need to be dealt with, no matter what happens to me—otherwise, they will keep on coming back, and more good cats will perish.”

“Then—” Bramblestar began.

“Yes,” Onestar affirmed. “WindClan will fight with the other Clans, to drive Darktail off our territory once and for all.”