Starlight

Chapter 7

Firestar looked calmly down at the WindClan warrior. “Tallstar died just a few moments ago,” he meowed. “There’s been no chance to tell any cat.”

“Mudclaw, you’re our leader now,” meowed Webfoot. “We will all grieve for Tallstar, but we need you to help us settle in our new home.”

A murmur of agreement came from his Clanmates.

Mudclaw dipped his head in acknowledgment, but when he turned back to Firestar his eyes still gleamed with fury. “You should have come to find me before calling this meeting.

Why should a ThunderClan cat announce WindClan’s news?”

Firestar’s tail-tip twitched. “Tallstar wanted it to be this way. Listen to what I’m trying to tell you, please.” Addressing all the cats, not just Mudclaw, he went on: “Just before he died, Tallstar made Onewhisker his deputy.” His gaze swept over Brambleclaw, but he didn’t meet the warrior’s eye.

Brambleclaw’s fur prickled; was Firestar really willing to ignore the fact that Tallstar hadn’t used the right ceremony to appoint his new deputy?

“What?” Mudclaw screeched in disbelief.

“You mean Mudclaw isn’t our leader?” Webfoot queried.

He unsheathed his claws in confusion and sank them into the ground.

“Mouse dung to that!” A black WindClan she-cat drew her lips back in a snarl. “There’s no cat better able to lead the Clan.”

Brambleclaw listened uncomfortably. If it were up to him, he thought Onewhisker would make a better leader than Mudclaw, but he didn’t have the right to judge. And he could imagine exactly how Mudclaw must be feeling, to have the leadership he had been waiting for snatched out of his paws in a heartbeat.

Onewhisker looked down at Mudclaw. “This is as much of a shock to me as it is to you,” he meowed. “And I would like you to carry on being WindClan’s deputy. I’ll need your support and experience every pawstep of the way.”

Mudclaw’s neck fur bristled. “You don’t think I believe this load of fox dung, do you?” he spat. “Every cat knows that Tallstar practically handed our Clan over to Firestar before he left the forest. He’s always felt more loyalty to ThunderClan than they ever deserved. And now Firestar tells us that his friend Onewhisker is to be leader! Did any other cat witness this convenient change of mind?”

His paws heavy as stone, Brambleclaw padded forward until he stood beside Mudclaw. “I did.” The words stuck in his throat like a tough bit of fresh-kill. “I was there. I heard Tallstar make Onewhisker his deputy.”

He almost added, but he didn’t use the right words, then stopped himself. Firestar had said nothing about that.

The clearing and the tree stump faded away, and Brambleclaw was back in the ravine, an apprentice of less than seven moons, grudgingly searching the elders’ pelts for ticks. All the apprentices hated this duty, but sometimes it was made bearable by the chance to listen to stories about the old days in ThunderClan, before the apprentices were even born. As Brambleclaw fixed his teeth gingerly around a tick at the base of One-eye’s tail, he could hear the old cat talking to Dappletail about when Bluestar appointed Firestar—then called Fireheart—to be her deputy. The former deputy, Tigerclaw, had been revealed as a traitor who was plotting to kill his Clan leader—and Brambleclaw’s fur had crawled even then to hear his father spoken of in dark, grim tones.

Tigerclaw had been chased out of the camp, and Bluestar had appointed Fireheart in his place. But she had been so distressed by Tigerclaw’s treachery that she had delayed the ceremony until long after moonhigh, which was the time limit set down by the warrior code. Several cats in the Clan, even those who liked and respected the flame-colored warrior, had grave doubts about his right to be called deputy, and it had been many moons before Fireheart had proved himself worthy of taking Tigerclaw’s place.

Brambleclaw shook his head, jolting himself back to the copse on the lakeshore. His blood thickened icily in his veins.

There had been something wrong with Firestar’s deputy ceremony, just like Onewhisker’s! No wonder the ThunderClan leader wanted to defend Onewhisker when doubts were cast on his right to lead the Clan. If Firestar had ever had any doubts about his own position as deputy, he had kept them to himself; he obviously believed Onewhisker should do the same.

Mudclaw narrowed his eyes at Brambleclaw. “You were there too, were you? Another ThunderClan cat, what a surprise! What did Firestar offer you if you backed him up? Did he promise to make you deputy of ThunderClan?”

Any temptation to blurt out the truth vanished in an instant, as Brambleclaw struggled with the urge to leap on the WindClan warrior’s back and claw his fur off. Just managing to stay where he was, he glanced up at Firestar and saw cold fury in his leader’s green eyes.

“How dare you doubt my word, or my warrior’s?” Firestar hissed at Mudclaw. “Tallstar’s decision was made in the sight of StarClan.”

“How do you know?” Mudclaw challenged. “Are you a medicine cat all of a sudden?”

“His decision was clear enough.” Firestar spat back.

Mudclaw spun around to face his Clanmates. “Are you going to sit here and accept this?” he demanded. “Do we let ThunderClan choose our leader for us?” Whipping around to glare at Onewhisker again, he added, “How many of our warriors do you think will follow you, you sniveling, crow-food-eating traitor?”

Before Onewhisker had time to reply, Crowfeather padded forward and stood at the edge of the tree stump. His fur was ruffled and his eyes stunned with grief, but when he spoke his voice was calm.

“I will follow Onewhisker. I made the journey to the sun-drown-place with Brambleclaw, and I know he does not lie.

If he says that Tallstar made Onewhisker deputy before he went to hunt with StarClan, then I believe him.” Raising his head to meet Onewhisker’s gaze, he meowed, “Onestar, I greet you as the leader of my Clan.”

More voices came from WindClan. “Yes! Onestar!

Onestar!” But others sounded uncertain, or openly defiant, and Brambleclaw could see it wasn’t going to be easy for Onewhisker to believe in his right to lead his Clan. He spotted Blackstar and Leopardstar at the edge of the crowd, exchanging a glance of amused satisfaction. They weren’t disappointed to see quarrels in WindClan, that was for sure.

Onewhisker dipped his head toward Crowfeather. “Thank you,” he mewed. “But don’t call me Onestar yet,” he begged.

“I haven’t received my name or my nine lives from StarClan.”

His ears flattened with embarrassment, and Brambleclaw guessed he was afraid he would never be approved by StarClan because of the way in which he had become WindClan’s deputy.

“And you never will!” Mudclaw snarled, as if he could read Onewhisker’s most hidden thoughts. “You are not our leader!

Come down here and fight me if you dare. Then we’ll see who’ll make the better leader for WindClan.”

Onewhisker gathered his haunches under him, ready to leap down and meet Mudclaw’s challenge, but Firestar raised his tail to stop him. Brambleclaw braced himself to intercept Mudclaw if he launched himself onto the tree stump.

“Stop!” An outraged cry came from Barkface. “Sheathe your claws, Mudclaw,” he told the WindClan deputy. “Clan leaders have never been chosen by fighting. And do you want to start a fight with Tallstar’s spirit still watching over us? We should be sitting in vigil for him, not bickering over who will take his place. You betray him by behaving like this. He always expected the best from his senior warriors.” He paused, with a long glance at Firestar, and then added, “I believe what the ThunderClan cats tell us. This was Tallstar’s choice, and you must accept it.”

With a visible effort, Mudclaw flattened his neck fur and sheathed his claws. “Very well,” he growled. He looked up at Onewhisker, and the hatred in his eyes was like poison.

“You’re brave enough standing there with your ThunderClan friends to back you up. But if you think I’ll serve as your deputy, you’re wrong.”

Onewhisker dipped his head. “Very well,” he meowed.

“I’m sorry if that’s your decision.”

Mudclaw’s only reply was to spit. Then he turned away to follow Barkface and some of the other WindClan warriors as they went to bring out Tallstar’s body for the vigil.

“Onewhisker,” Firestar mewed quietly, “you have to appoint another deputy. Now. You can’t lead this Clan alone, and you will need all the support you can get if Mudclaw decides to make things difficult.”

For a moment Brambleclaw wondered if he would choose Crowfeather, who was watching the leaders closely. But Crowfeather had been made a warrior too recently, and besides, he carried the taint of being friendly with ThunderClan, thanks to the journey he had made with Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. Onewhisker needed an experienced warrior who was trusted by WindClan but not too popular with cats in other Clans; a choice that every cat would approve, perhaps even Mudclaw.

Onewhisker closed his eyes to think. Then he opened them again and looked down at his Clanmates. “I say these words before the spirit of Tallstar, and the spirits of all StarClan, that they may hear and approve my choice.”

Brambleclaw found himself letting out a sigh of relief that the correct words were being used this time.

“Ashfoot will be the new deputy of WindClan.”

Brambleclaw wasn’t even sure that he knew who Ashfoot was. Then he saw a gray she-cat standing with a look of utter shock on her broad face. Crowfeather bounded over to her and pressed his muzzle to hers, while the other WindClan cats called out, “Ashfoot! Ashfoot!”

Brambleclaw suddenly remembered that she was Crowfeather’s mother; he had seen her once or twice before at Gatherings, though he hadn’t spoken to her. She was obviously a popular choice among her Clanmates. Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes. Onewhisker had made a wise decision, just as he hoped.

Onewhisker leaped down from the stump, and Firestar followed. Ashfoot came forward to touch noses with her leader. “Thank you, Onewhisker,” she meowed. “I’ll do my best. I never imagined—”

“I know,” Onewhisker interrupted, giving her ear a quick lick. “That’s one reason why I chose you. I don’t want a cat who thinks she deserves power. I want a cat who will help me make our Clan strong again when we reach our new home.”

Ashfoot let out a purr. “Then that is what I will do.”

Turning to Firestar, Onewhisker meowed, “Thanks, Firestar. I’m sorry that was so difficult. I never thought Mudclaw would accuse you of lying.”

Firestar shrugged. “I wasn’t surprised. Mudclaw had taken on many leadership duties long before Tallstar died. It must have been a shock for him to learn he wasn’t going to be leader after all. But at least you seem to have most of the Clan behind you now.”

Onewhisker nodded, but a flicker of anxiety crept into his expression. “How will I get my name and my nine lives from StarClan, Firestar? There’s no Moonstone here. Do you think I should take some of my warriors and go back through the mountains to Highstones?”

Firestar twitched his tail. “I think that’s the most mousebrained thing you could do. The journey there and back would take nearly a moon. And Mudclaw wouldn’t be sitting on his paws doing nothing while you were away; that’s for sure.”

He flicked his ears toward the cats who had brought Tallstar’s body into the clearing. Mudclaw was sitting a little way apart from them, staring at Onewhisker with an ominous look in his eyes. Brambleclaw felt his belly twist. The new WindClan leader must be more than mousebrained if he thought the problems with Mudclaw were over.

“You’re right.” Onewhisker sighed. “This isn’t the time to leave the Clan. But we’ll have to find some way of sharing tongues with StarClan, won’t we?”

“There must be another Moonstone close by,” Ashfoot meowed with sturdy common sense. “StarClan wouldn’t have brought us here otherwise. We’ll find it as quickly as we can—and until we do, your Clan’s loyalty will have to be enough to keep you as our leader.”

Onewhisker still looked troubled, and Brambleclaw could understand why. It wasn’t just Mudclaw. Webfoot and Nightcloud clearly weren’t happy with the change of leader either, and there might be others. Onewhisker’s leadership wouldn’t be completely safe until he had his nine lives and his new name. And would StarClan grant them to him, when Tallstar had not followed the age-old ceremony in appointing him deputy?

“We can’t do any more now,” the WindClan cat mewed wearily. “Though dawn is already here, we must sit vigil for Tallstar.”

He led the way across the clearing and crouched beside the unmoving black-and-white shape, pushing his nose into Tallstar’s cold fur. Ashfoot and Crowfeather settled down on each side of him, as if they wanted to shelter him while he grieved for his dead leader. Their grief must be even greater, Brambleclaw knew, because they could not sit vigil for a whole night; soon the Clans would move off to their new homes. His mind whirled, and for a moment he felt as if the entire warrior code were tumbling around him, shattering under the pressure of moving to their new home.

“Onewhisker chose wisely in making Ashfoot his deputy,” Firestar remarked, jolting Brambleclaw back from his troubled thoughts.

Brambleclaw knew he was right, but it felt as if he had a prey bone stuck in his throat, and he couldn’t say anything in reply. What was there to say, when Firestar had refused to make a similar choice for ThunderClan? He swallowed hard, searching for words that would express his respect for Firestar’s friendship with Graystripe, while making it clear that he didn’t believe ThunderClan could survive without a deputy forever.

Firestar turned his green gaze on him and seemed to guess what he was thinking. “We have no proof that Graystripe is dead. And if he isn’t, then one day he’ll return to ThunderClan. How can I appoint another cat in his place?”

“RiverClan appointed Hawkfrost as deputy when Mistyfoot went missing,” Brambleclaw ventured.

Firestar’s eyes narrowed. “That was different. When Mistyfoot disappeared, no cat knew what had happened to her. It seemed impossible that she could still be alive. But now we know that Twolegs trapped the cats that went missing. If they wanted them dead, they would have killed them right away, but they didn’t. Graystripe is being held prisoner somewhere, and sooner or later he’ll escape and come back to us.” His claws scraped against the ground, leaving deep scratches in the dirt. “I won’t give up hope until I’ve seen his body with my own eyes.”

Is it me you’re trying to convince, Brambleclaw wondered bleakly, or yourself?

Without another word, Firestar turned and headed toward the cats who had gathered around Tallstar’s body.

Brambleclaw watched him with guilt and frustration churning in his belly. He wanted to be deputy—and what was so dreadful about that?

Remember Tigerstar, a small voice whispered in his ear, and every hair on Brambleclaw’s pelt pricked with horror.

I’m nothing like Tigerstar! I’m a loyal warrior. I’ve worked hard and risked my life for my Clan. No cat could say I didn’t deserve to be deputy.

He saw Squirrelflight slip silently out of the shadows and touch noses with her father. They settled down side by side just outside the circle of grieving WindClan cats, their flame-colored pelts mingling together.

A pang of envy shook Brambleclaw, sharp as a winter wind.

He had quarreled with Squirrelflight over Hawkfrost, and his sister, Tawnypelt, belonged to another Clan. He didn’t have any cat to share that uncomplicated affection that Squirrelflight had with Firestar.

How many times do I have to prove myself? he wondered desperately. Hawkfrost didn’t seem to have the same trouble in RiverClan, even though Tigerstar was his father too.

Brambleclaw felt a sudden desire to seek him out and talk to him, but with the Clans on the brink of going their separate ways, he knew that the moment was past.

Brambleclaw wanted to be deputy so much that it hurt.

Why couldn’t Firestar and Squirrelflight trust him? He shut his eyes, his claws sinking into the ground as a wave of hunger swept blackly over him, turning his blood to ice.