Skyclan’s Destiny

Chapter 22

Leafstar and the rest of the cats caught up to Cora, Bouncefire, and Rockshade near the top of the cliff, so the whole patrol raced across the Rockpile hard on her paws and poured down into the camp.

“You’re back!” Patchfoot appeared out of the shadows near the fresh-kill pile, the white patches on his pelt shining pale in the half-light. “What happened?”

“Is any cat hurt?” Echosong called, bounding up from the direction of her den.

It was Sharpclaw who replied. “No, we’re all fine. And we gave that crow-food-eating Twoleg a fright he won’t forget in a hurry.”

“That’s great!” Patchfoot exclaimed, his eyes gleaming. “You’re all heroes!”

“What about the dog?” Shrewtooth mewed, peering out from behind Patchfoot.

“I doubt the dog will bother us again,” Leafstar told him. “We taught it a lesson, too.”

“I clawed its nose,” Bouncefire announced, pressing forward to give Shrewtooth a friendly nudge. “I wish you’d been there to see it.”

Shrewtooth blinked. “I do, too.”

“You shouldn’t have been near enough to claw it!” Clovertail scolded as she padded up with Fallowfern and the kits. But her eyes glowed with pride as she gazed at her son, and she touched his shoulder approvingly with her tail.

“I can’t believe we did it!” Cherrytail panted. “We took on a Twoleg and we beat him!”

“If we can do that, we can do anything!” Sparrowpelt purred.

The cats crowded around the fresh-kill pile to choose a piece of prey while their Clanmates who had stayed behind hailed them with questions. Fallowfern’s kits bounced around gleefully, even though it was the middle of the night, getting under every cat’s paws as they tried to act out what they imagined had gone on. As she waited to choose her own prey, Leafstar noticed that the four newest warriors had withdrawn a few tail-lengths, and were murmuring to one another with their heads close together. Her paws pricked with uneasiness. Why don’t they want to celebrate with us? It’s their victory as much as any cat’s.

Trying to shrug off her nagging anxiety, Leafstar picked out a plump vole for herself. Seeing that her Clanmates were settling down while Sharpclaw began to tell the full story of the attack, she carried her fresh-kill up the trail and sprang over the gap to reach the Skyrock.

The moon was close to setting but the stars of Silverpelt still shone brightly in an indigo sky. A soft breeze, laden with the scents of newleaf, whispered over the surface of the rock. Down below, the river was a silver snake winding among the rocks; Leafstar could just make out the dark huddle of cats at the foot of the Rockpile. She wondered if the spirits of her ancestors were looking down on them. I hope they are. She was proud of her warriors, the way they had carried out the plan to scare the Twoleg without putting themselves in danger, the courage they had shown in seeking vengeance on behalf of Shrewtooth and Petalnose. For once, Leafstar hadn’t been in doubt that SkyClan was following the right path. But now the attack was over; the Twoleg had been given a fright that would hopefully keep him from torturing more cats in the future; and Leafstar felt herself staring into darkness once more.

She stopped eating with the vole half finished and padded to the very edge of the rock to lay it down. “An offering for the cats who walk the skies,” she whispered. Perhaps I should do this more often, she thought. Maybe our ancestors won’t come down to share our fresh-kill, but at least they’ll be able to see that they are not forgotten. We still hunt in their memory, surviving by their skills.

Almost as if she had summoned it, she caught a whiff of cat scent and heard the soft pad of paws approaching her from behind. She turned to see Skywatcher stepping lightly through the air toward her, his pelt pure silver and his eyes shining like pools of starlight.

“Welcome,” Leafstar murmured, dipping her head.

Skywatcher padded past her to sniff at the prey she had left at the edge of the rock. “A fine, plump creature,” he commented, though he didn’t eat.

“Skywatcher,” Leafstar began hesitantly, “did you and… and the other warriors of StarClan see our attack on the Twoleg?”

Skywatcher’s reply was a brief nod; Leafstar was disappointed when he didn’t tell her what his Clanmates had thought of it. “We planned what we needed to do, and we did it,” she meowed, feeling that she had to justify herself to the starry warrior. “Every cat was so brave! And the Twoleg deserved to be frightened. You know what he did to Petalnose and her kits, and to Shrewtooth.”

“You certainly won that battle,” Skywatcher grunted. “The Twoleg is good and scared, I’ll give you that.”

Leafstar flicked her tail, frustrated. “Did we do the right thing?” she blurted out.

Skywatcher gave her a long look from fathomless green eyes. “Only time will tell,” he mewed at last. “Twolegs aren’t the usual sort of enemies for a Clan. They don’t steal prey or threaten borders like other cats, and they don’t kill kits like foxes or badgers.”

“Then have I broken the warrior code?” Leafstar whispered in dismay. “Was I wrong to take a battle to a Twoleg nest?”

To her relief, Skywatcher shook his head, scattering starlight around them. “You are the leader of SkyClan,” he pointed out. “You must have confidence in what you do. If the Twoleg was a threat to your Clan, then you were right to attack.”

He certainly was a threat, but still… “I just want to know what the other Clans would have done,” she confessed.

“But you are not the other Clans.” The silver glow in Skywatcher’s fur blazed out strongly and then began to fade. “You must find your own path.”

His outline grew fainter, until it was no more than a glitter of stardust against the rock, and then was gone.

Leafstar remained staring at the place where he had stood. She still felt troubled. How could she find a path for SkyClan when there were no obvious choices to take? I hope I made the right decisions tonight. I wish I could be sure…

When Leafstar returned to the gorge, the Clan was still feasting and sharing tongues around the bottom of the Rockpile. She was relieved to see that the four newcomers had joined the others and were sharing prey.

Sharpclaw padded over to meet her at the foot of the trail. “We did well tonight,” he remarked, twitching his whiskers in satisfaction. “The Clan feels strong and united.”

“That’s true,” Leafstar murmured.

“The attack on the Twoleg has brought us all together,” her deputy went on. “You see, we don’t really need the kitty-warriors at all.”

Leafstar gazed at him, her mouth open in shock. Does he resent the daylight-warriors so much? She and Sharpclaw had worked well together during the attack, reinforcing each other’s leadership, reading silent signals to keep their Clanmates safe and focused. But now the old divisions were reappearing. Unable to find a reply, Leafstar turned her back on her deputy and stalked off to her den.

The sound of cheerful yowling outside woke Leafstar the next morning. Yawning, she scrambled out of her nest, wincing at the stiffness in her muscles from the trek through the forest and the attack. She felt as though she hadn’t slept for more than a couple of heartbeats, but when she padded to the entrance of her den she saw that the sun had risen above the gorge; warm light slanted over the rocks and glittered on the surface of the river.

Five cats were tumbling over the rim of the gorge and racing down the trail, calling out greetings as they came. Seeing Leafstar, Billystorm halted and waved his tail. “We’re here! We’re ready for the attack!”

Leafstar felt her heart drop down into her paws. What am I going to tell them? She began to make her way across the cliff face toward Billystorm and the others, setting her paws down carefully on the narrow trail. But before she reached them, Cherrytail popped her head out of the warriors’ den, a few tail-lengths below where the daylight-warriors had halted.

“You’re too late!” the tortoiseshell she-cat announced. “We attacked last night, and it went really well!”

Leafstar flinched. If I’d had the chance, I would have been a bit more tactful than that!

“What?” Ebonyclaw arched her back and let out a hiss of annoyance. “You went without us?”

The usually gentle Frecklepaw flicked her tail, looking as angry as her mentor.

Harveymoon and Macgyver glanced at each other with indignation in their eyes. “Hey, I was looking forward to that!” Harveymoon exclaimed.

“Yeah, I made my Twolegs give me more food, just so I’d be ready,” Macgyver agreed.

“I’m sorry,” Leafstar meowed as she reached Billystorm’s side. “Come down by the river, where I can explain properly.”

More cats were emerging from their dens as Leafstar led the way down into the gorge and found a sun-warmed stone near the water’s edge where she could sit and talk to the daylight-warriors. She was aware of their hostile looks and bristling fur as they gathered around her. She was grateful to see Sharpclaw padding up to join her, though less so when Cherrytail, Sparrowpelt, and Waspwhisker bounded after him and sat down on the edge of the group.

We’ve got the makings of a serious split in the Clan here, unless I’m careful.

“I can’t believe you didn’t wait for us!” Ebonyclaw burst out, before Leafstar had the chance to speak. “We planned it all so carefully.”

“Yeah, why did you leave us out?” Harveymoon demanded.

“I’m sorry,” Leafstar began. She sympathized too much with the kittypets to be able to justify herself convincingly. “We needed a clear night for the attack, and after the clouds disappeared—”

“That’s right,” Sharpclaw chipped in. “We couldn’t be sure when we would get another chance.”

Billystorm glanced up at the cloudless blue sky and flicked his ears, though he said nothing. Embarrassment flooded through Leafstar, making her pelt itch. She could see that tonight promised to be just as clear as the night before; they could easily have waited for the kittypets. But we didn’t know that.

“You know, you kittypets want to have it both ways,” Sparrowpelt meowed, stepping forward with his head thrust out aggressively. “You spend time here in the Clan, but then you shove off to your Twoleg nests for strokes and soft beds.”

“It shouldn’t be like that,” Cherrytail agreed. “When Firestar was here, he told us we had to choose, and that’s what we did.”

“But Firestar isn’t here anymore,” Harveymoon pointed out, swinging his head around to glare at Sparrowpelt and his sister.

“The warrior code hasn’t changed,” Sparrowpelt countered. “You have to be proper Clan cats if you want to be included in everything.”

Ebonyclaw jumped to her paws. “Are you saying that we’re not proper Clan cats?” she demanded, her tail lashing.

“You tell me,” Sparrowpelt growled. “Do proper Clan cats eat Twoleg food? Do they purr around Twolegs and beg to be stroked?”

Leafstar’s belly churned as the quarrel she had dreaded erupted; more of the Clan cats were clustering around now, and there were more glares aimed at the daylight-warriors.

“This isn’t right,” Billystorm meowed. He was calmer than the rest, but there was a bitter edge in his voice. “We train and hunt with you, but when there’s anything important going on, you don’t want us. You left us out of the rat attack, and now this.”

“And we managed fine without you, thanks,” Cherrytail flashed back at him.

Before Leafstar could say anything, Sharpclaw shouldered his way between the hostile cats.

“That’s enough,” he growled. “The attack happened, it’s over, and that’s the end of it. Next time we plan something,” he added, “you kittypets might make more effort to be here.”

Sparrowpelt blinked in satisfaction, but Leafstar was appalled by the unfairness of Sharpclaw’s comment. He almost seemed to be deliberately setting the gorge-based cats against the daylight-warriors.

He wouldn’t try to make the full Clan cats drive them out, would he? That would split the Clan forever!

“We’re sorry it happened like this,” Leafstar repeated, rising to her paws. “We made what we thought was the right decision at the time. Now let’s put it behind us.”

As she spoke, she spotted Sharpclaw glaring at her, as if by apologizing she was showing signs of weakness. My Clan, my decisions, she told herself.

“It’s past time to set the patrols,” she reminded Sharpclaw tartly. “Or are we going to sit around in the gorge all day?”

The cats were still grumbling as the deputy sorted them into patrols, and Leafstar guessed it would be a long time before their ruffled feelings were forgotten. At least Sharpclaw had the sense to include all the kittypets in the first set of patrols, though he didn’t ask any of them to lead.

“Petalnose, you and Waspwhisker can take your apprentices and give them some hunting training,” he ordered. “Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw, go with them. Billystorm, you too. No sign yet of Snookpaw?” he asked after a moment’s pause.

Billystorm shook his head. “I went by his nest on my way here this morning,” he replied. “But everything was shut up and quiet.”

“He’s missing a lot of training,” Sharpclaw commented.

Leafstar wondered if Billystorm would take offense at the veiled criticism, but the ginger-and-white tom just dipped his head in agreement. “I’ll make sure he catches up when he comes back.”

“See that you do,” Sharpclaw mewed.

Petalnose took her patrol toward the trail that led up the cliff. After hesitating for a moment, Leafstar decided to follow. It was a while since she had observed the apprentices in training, but what she really wanted to see was how the full Clan cats and the daylight-warriors worked together after the earlier tension.

When Leafstar reached the top of the cliff, she spotted Petalnose leading the patrol toward the nearest thicket, the apprentices barely visible in the long grass. As Leafstar bounded up to join them, she heard Mintpaw’s voice raised boastfully.

“We really scared that old Twoleg! You should have seen us.”

“And heard us,” Sagepaw added. “We yowled so loud, I’m surprised we didn’t wake you up in your Twoleg nests!”

Leafstar stiffened. Had the apprentices no sense at all, to taunt the daylight-warriors by bragging about the attack? Ebonyclaw’s tail-tip was flicking irritably from side to side; Frecklepaw was looking sulky, and Billystorm opened his jaws to speak, then obviously thought better of it.

“You kittypets missed an awesome patrol!” Mintpaw continued.

Leafstar’s paws itched to intervene, but it was up to the mentors to discipline their apprentices. She was surprised that neither Petalnose nor Waspwhisker said a word. They probably feel the same, she thought, biting back an angry comment.

“This patrol is too big for a successful hunt,” she meowed, padding up to join the others. “Billystorm, why don’t you come with me? Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw, too.”

“Good idea,” Billystorm responded instantly, with a flash of understanding in his amber eyes.

As he spoke, Leafstar spotted Mintpaw and Sagepaw exchanging a glance, their eyes gleaming. Now what’s their problem? she wondered, but neither apprentice said anything.

Petalnose nodded in reply to Leafstar’s suggestion, and led her remaining patrol farther into the thicket. Leafstar turned the other way, along the top of the cliff in the direction of the Twolegplace. She could feel the relief among the daylight-warriors as they followed her, and she wondered bleakly if her Clanmates would ever learn to work together.

“Right,” she began as they approached a stretch of bushes and thick undergrowth. “What I’d like to try today is working out ways of hunting as a group. We all do better if we cooperate. We—”

She broke off as Echosong emerged from some close-growing stems of fern with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. The medicine cat blinked with barely concealed surprise as she saw Leafstar’s patrol, and padded up to her Clan leader.

“Can I have a word with you?” she meowed, laying her bundle down.

“Of course.” Leafstar glanced at Billystorm. “Take the others into the bushes and see what you can find.”

Billystorm flicked his ears in acknowledgment, and vanished among the undergrowth with Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw hard on his paws. Leafstar noticed that Frecklepaw glanced regretfully over her shoulder at Echosong as the ferns closed behind her.

“Well?” Leafstar prompted, fully prepared for Echosong to raise the question of an apprentice again.

“Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” Echosong queried. Leafstar blinked at her in surprise. “I know there was trouble this morning,” the medicine cat went on, “but you won’t solve it by keeping the daylight-warriors separate from the others.”

Leafstar hadn’t noticed Echosong among the cats beside the river that morning, but she obviously knew all about the quarrel. “What else can I do?” she protested. “Wait until they start clawing one another’s ears off?”

“I don’t know,” Echosong admitted. “But splitting the cats up won’t help the tensions in the Clan. In the end, it’ll make them worse.”

Leafstar had a grudging feeling that her Clanmate was right. “Then what’s the answer? I don’t want to turn any cat away, but allowing daylight-warriors—okay, kittypets—into the Clan obviously isn’t working.” She lowered her head, feeling as if dark storm clouds had rolled across the sky to blot out the sun. “I sometimes wonder if Firestar was right to give me the leadership of SkyClan.”

“That’s mouse-brained,” Echosong mewed briskly. “StarClan chose you as our leader, not Firestar. And I know that there’s no cat in the Clan who could do it better. But Leafstar, you—” She broke off.

Leafstar wondered what the young she-cat wasn’t telling her. “Go on,” she prompted. “Say what you want to say.”

Echosong shook her head. “Nothing… nothing, really. Just—Leafstar, be careful of your own feelings, that’s all.”

She picked up her bundle of herbs and padded off toward the top of the trail, leaving her Clan leader staring blankly after her.

Be careful of my own feelings? What did she mean by that?