Starlight

Chapter 20

Brambleclaw halted at the edge of the lake and gazed across the stream into ShadowClan’s territory. The pine forest on the far side of the stream was a blue-black shadow against the heavy gray sky. No cats were in sight, but the damp wind brought a powerful reek toward him: the old, familiar ShadowClan scent, nearly as strong as it had ever been.

It was one more sign that all the cats were settling into their new territories. An even more powerful sign was the discovery of the Moonpool. Early that morning Cinderpelt and the newly named Leafpool had returned from the medicine cats’ first meeting with StarClan, and in two nights’ time Onewhisker would receive the nine lives of a leader at last.

“Yuck!” exclaimed Rainwhisker. “I’ll never get used to the way ShadowClan smells. It’s like a fox that’s been dead for a moon.”

“I don’t suppose they’re too keen on our scent, either,” Brambleclaw pointed out.

A splash and a startled yowl behind him interrupted him.

He glanced around to see Spiderleg standing in the lake with water lapping halfway up his legs.

“Great StarClan, what are you doing?”

Spiderleg waded back to the shore, hanging his head in embarrassment. “I saw a fish,” he explained, and added unnecessarily, “It got away.”

Brambleclaw sighed. “You don’t catch fish like that.

Remind me sometime to give you a lesson. Feathertail taught us when we were on our journey.” The familiar ache tugged at his heart when he remembered the beautiful RiverClan she-cat. “Come on; we’d better finish patrolling this border.”

He turned to head upstream, and stopped when he caught sight of something moving on the ShadowClan side. A gray cat had emerged from the trees and was racing along the lakeshore toward him. Brambleclaw’s eyes widened in surprise when he recognized Mistyfoot. What was a RiverClan cat doing in ShadowClan territory?

“Brambleclaw, wait!” she yowled. She splashed through the stream as if it weren’t there and skidded to a halt in front of him, panting. “I’ve got to talk to Firestar right away.”

Spiderleg stepped forward, his neck fur bristling. “What are you doing on our territory?”

“Yeah, let’s chase her off,” Rainwhisker growled.

Brambleclaw flicked his tail irritably at the two younger warriors. “We’re not chasing her anywhere. This is Mistyfoot—remember? She’s been a good friend to ThunderClan.”

“Thanks, Brambleclaw.” Mistyfoot dipped her head, though there was still a wild look in her eyes, as if she’d seen something that terrified her. “Please take me to Firestar.”

“Okay.” Brambleclaw couldn’t think what might be so urgent, but he knew Mistyfoot wasn’t the sort of cat to make a fuss about nothing. “You two carry on with the patrol,” he told the others. “Watch out for Twolegs, and when you get as far as the dead tree, make sure the ShadowClan scent marks are where they’re supposed to be.”

Rainwhisker and Spiderleg exchanged a glance, as if they weren’t sure they wanted to leave Brambleclaw and Mistyfoot together, but neither of them said anything. They set off upstream; Rainwhisker kept looking back as if he expected Mistyfoot to attack Brambleclaw as soon as his back was turned.

“What’s the problem?” Brambleclaw demanded, as he led Mistyfoot to the camp by the quickest route.

“You’ll hear soon enough,” Mistyfoot meowed grimly.

“Brambleclaw, can we hurry?”

Startled, Brambleclaw sped up until the two cats were hurtling through the trees, not slowing their pace until they reached the tunnel that led into the camp. Brambleclaw pushed his way through first, and to his relief spotted Firestar at once, sharing a thrush with Sandstorm near the fresh-kill pile. Beckoning Mistyfoot to stay close to him, Brambleclaw padded over.

Firestar swallowed a bite of fresh-kill and stood up.

“Mistyfoot, welcome,” he greeted the RiverClan warrior.

“What brings you here?”

“Nothing good,” Mistyfoot replied.

Firestar’s ears twitched, and Sandstorm looked up curiously.

“I’m afraid there’s trouble for all the Clans,” Mistyfoot went on.

“Wait a moment,” Firestar interrupted. “We’d better let Dustpelt and Brackenfur hear this too. Brambleclaw, can you find them?”

Brambleclaw raced to the warriors’ den. Thrusting his way in through the outer branches, he found Brackenfur curled up next to Sorreltail and gave the ginger tom a sharp prod.

Brackenfur looked up, blinking. “What’s wrong?”

“Firestar wants you,” Brambleclaw mewed. “Have you seen Dustpelt?”

Brackenfur shook his head, but Cloudtail, who was sharing tongues with Brightheart a few tail-lengths away, raised his head. “He’s in the nursery with Ferncloud.”

“Thanks.” Brambleclaw backed out and pelted across the hollow to the bramble thicket; Dustpelt emerged just as he was skidding to a halt by the entrance. His ears pricked inquiringly when he saw Brambleclaw.

“Firestar wants you,” Brambleclaw explained again.

“Mistyfoot’s here, and she says there’s trouble.”

His eyes narrowing, the brown tabby warrior followed him over to the fresh-kill pile, where Brackenfur had just joined the others.

“Now,” Firestar meowed, waving his tail at Mistyfoot. “Tell us what’s wrong.”

She had recovered some of her composure, but her eyes were still anxious. “Three nights ago I was on my way back to camp when I spotted two cats on the shore of the lake opposite the island,” she began. “It was raining heavily, so I couldn’t think why they wanted to hang about where there was no shelter. I was going to order them back to camp when I realized who they were.” She paused, digging her claws into the ground.

“Well?” Firestar prompted.

“One of them was Hawkfrost,” Mistyfoot replied. She swallowed painfully, as if a tough bit of fresh-kill were lodged in her throat. “And the other was Mudclaw.”

“What?” exclaimed Dustpelt.

Brambleclaw’s belly lurched. What did Hawkfrost want with the former WindClan deputy?

“Before I reached them, Mudclaw raced back toward his own territory,” Mistyfoot continued. “But Hawkfrost hadn’t chased him off. They’d been talking together, and I got the impression they knew each other quite well. I’ve suspected before this that Hawkfrost has been sneaking out of camp at night. To tell you the truth,” she added awkwardly to Brambleclaw, “I thought he might have been going to meet you. I saw you talking together at the Gathering, and you are kin…” Her voice grew defensive as she went on, “I couldn’t see much harm in that, so I never asked Hawkfrost to explain himself. Now I know I made a mistake. It must have been Mudclaw he was meeting.”

Brambleclaw looked down at his paws, feeling the gaze of his Clanmates scorching his fur. He wanted to think of a good reason for Mudclaw to be speaking to a RiverClan warrior, but he couldn’t.

“Hawkfrost went back to camp—and I let him go,” Mistyfoot went on. “He didn’t know I’d spotted him, and I thought I’d try to find out what was going on before I tack-led him.”

“What did you do next?” Sandstorm asked.

“I couldn’t believe they’d meet on the lakeshore, where any cat could spot them. I remembered how keen on the island Hawkfrost was when we first came here, so I swam out to see if they’d been meeting there. Sure enough, I found their scent… some fresh, and some stale. I guess they’ve been there three or four times at least.”

“Mudclaw swam over to the island?” Dustpelt sounded incredulous. “More than once? I’m surprised he even wanted to get his paws wet. None of the WindClan cats likes to swim.”

“Then you tell me how his scent got over there,” Mistyfoot retorted.

“What did Leopardstar say when you told her all this?” asked Firestar.

Mistyfoot looked uncomfortable. “I didn’t tell her,” she admitted. “Hawkfrost is a good warrior, and he’s popular, especially with the younger cats. It’s no secret that some of them think he should have stayed deputy when I escaped from the Twolegs. I was afraid that if I told Leopardstar, she’d think I was trying to make trouble because I felt he was a threat to me. Besides, I didn’t see him do anything wrong, apart from speak to a cat from another Clan. I decided to keep an eye on him until I could work out why he and Mudclaw were meeting.”

“And now you have?” Brackenfur guessed.

Firestar narrowed his eyes. “Yes, you didn’t come here because of something you saw three nights ago. What’s happened?”

“This morning Hawkfrost offered to lead the dawn patrol,” Mistyfoot replied. “The three cats he chose to go with him are the ones who yowl loudest about what a good deputy he would make. None of them has come back yet.”

Brambleclaw glanced up at the sky; the sun was hidden behind rain-laden clouds, but he guessed that sunset could not be far off. Either the dawn patrol had gotten severely lost—or they hadn’t been planning to return when the patrol was finished.

“Maybe they just found a good place to hunt,” Firestar suggested.

“And you can’t blame him for choosing his friends to go with him on a patrol,” Sandstorm added fairly.

“You don’t understand,” Mistyfoot meowed. “When they hadn’t come back by sunhigh, I tried to track them. I mean, it was obvious they hadn’t set out to do a regular dawn patrol.”

“Did they go to the island?” mewed Dustpelt.

“I thought they might have, but when I picked up the scent trail outside our camp, it led into ShadowClan territory.”

Brambleclaw felt every hair on his pelt begin to rise. Could there possibly be an innocent explanation for this?

“I knew ThunderClan wouldn’t be involved, so I came straight here,” Mistyfoot added. “A ShadowClan patrol nearly spotted me, but I made it to the border without being caught. Firestar, I’m convinced that Hawkfrost is involved in a plot to attack WindClan!”

Firestar’s green eyes were thoughtful. “There could be other explanations…”

“Name one!” Mistyfoot snapped. “Every cat knows that Mudclaw was furious when Tallstar chose Onewhisker to succeed him. Do you really think he wouldn’t do anything about it?”

“Wait!” Brackenfur leaped to his paws. “Now that Leafpool has found the Moonpool, Onewhisker will soon receive his nine lives from StarClan. Mudclaw has to attack before then, if he wants to take over the Clan.”

“That means he’ll strike tonight,” Brambleclaw mewed hoarsely.

“Firestar, you have to do something!” Mistyfoot urged.

Firestar’s claws scraped the earth. “Why me? Why not go to your own leader?”

“Leopardstar would just suspect me of trying to make trouble for Hawkfrost. And she would never do anything to help WindClan. But Onewhisker’s your friend…”

“He’s still a Clan leader, and responsible for the safety of his own Clan. He can’t expect ThunderClan to come to the rescue every time there’s trouble.” Firestar stared down at his feet as his claws sank into the ground. Then he looked up.

“But you’re right. We can’t just sit by and do nothing. We’ll send a patrol to the WindClan camp to see what’s going on.

And I’d better call a meeting to warn the rest of the Clan.”

“Is that necessary?” Brambleclaw protested.

Firestar gave him a long look. “We don’t know for certain that they’re not planning to attack us. I hope as much as any cat that we’re wrong, but it’s a risk we can’t afford to take.”

Springing up, he raced across the hollow and up the tumble of broken rock to the Highledge. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join for a Clan meeting,” he yowled.

Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Sorreltail emerged from the warriors’ den. The elders joined them after a moment, Goldenflower leading Longtail. Cinderpelt appeared from her den with Leafpool just behind her; the young tabby was looking wide-eyed with alarm.

Squirrelflight, Ashfur, and Thornclaw paused as they entered the camp with fresh-kill, then dropped their prey on the pile and raced across to join the others.

“Cats of ThunderClan,” Firestar began. “Mistyfoot has brought news that suggests Mudclaw and Hawkfrost are planning to attack WindClan. I’m going to take a patrol over to the WindClan camp, but I want every cat alert in case they come here. It’s likely that ShadowClan is involved as well.”

Shocked murmurs rose from the listening cats.

Brambleclaw stared at his paws as he felt his Clanmates looking at him and whispering, linking him to Hawkfrost over and over because they shared the same father. He could not bring himself to look at Squirrelflight for fear of seeing contempt in her eyes.

“Cloudtail, you and Brightheart are in charge of the camp,” Firestar went on. “Thornclaw, take two cats and keep watch on the ShadowClan border. If you spot any of their warriors, track them, but don’t attack if you’re badly outnumbered.”

Thornclaw nodded and beckoned to Squirrelflight and Ashfur. Firestar prepared to leap down from the ledge, but before he could move, Cinderpelt stepped forward.

“Firestar, there’s something you ought to know. Leafpool told me about a dream she had. It might have something to do with this.”

“Okay.” Firestar motioned his daughter forward. “Tell us, Leafpool.”

“I saw the lake turn red, and heard a voice,” the young she-cat explained. “It said, ‘Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.’”

“That’s all?” Firestar prompted. “Nothing to tell you whose blood, or when?”

Leafpool shook her head.

“It’s enough to suggest big trouble is coming,” Cinderpelt meowed. “I’d take this attack seriously if I were you. It’s Mudclaw’s last chance to seize control of WindClan, while Onewhisker still has only one life.”

“Right.” Firestar jumped down. “Let’s go.”

Brambleclaw followed his leader past Thornclaw, who was organizing his smaller patrol. He couldn’t resist glancing sideways at Squirrelflight. He had expected her to look triumphant now that it looked like she had been right all along about Hawkfrost. Instead he saw pity in her eyes.

Her sad look stayed with him all the way as Firestar cut through the trees and raced for the WindClan border.