Thunder Аnd Shadow

Chapter 12

“Keep your hindquarters low,” Ivypool ordered.

Twigpaw lowered herself farther, her gaze fixed on the leaf ahead.

Newleaf sunshine dappled the forest floor. Buds lit the trees in a green haze. Four moons had passed since Violetkit’s disappearance. In the half-moon since becoming an apprentice, Twigpaw had worked hard to im press her new m entor. She wanted to be as good as Larkpaw, Leafpaw, and Honey paw. They were already learning battle m oves, while she was practicing hunting m oves on leaves. But they had been m ade apprentices three moons ago, when snow had covered the forest floor and ice had frozen the rivers and stream s.

“Keep y our tail still,” Ivy pool rem inded her.

Twigpaw pressed her tail flat against the soft earth. She could sm ell prey -scents drifting between the trees, and she longed to be hunting a real m ouse.

“Judge the distance,” Ivy pool told her. “And when you are sure, j um p.”

Twigpaw narrowed her eyes, sensing the space between herself and the leaf. Her hindquarters twitched. Excitem ent pulsed beneath her pelt. Pushing off with her hind paws, she leaped.

She landed, skidding on the leaf. It shot along the slippery ground. Her forepaws shot along with it, and she thum ped, chest first, onto the ground.

Ivy pool padded to her side, purring. “Your leap was the perfect distance. Unfortunately, y ou hadn’t prepared for y our prey to try to escape.” She gently nudged Twigpaw up and flicked a scrap of leaf litter from the apprentice’s shoulders with a paw. “Landing on balanced paws is the m ost im portant skill you will learn. It’s vital for hunting and fighting.”

Twigpaw shook out her pelt, em barrassed. “I didn’t realize the ground was so wet.” She glanced at the m uddy streak her landing had sm eared across the forest floor.

“Next time y ou’ll remember to think about where y ou’re landing. Landing on m ud, stone, or leaf litter all require different techniques. But you did well. Your concentration is excellent and y ou learn fast. Lily heart will be pleased when I tell her.”

Twigpaw purred proudly. “Am I learning as quickly as Larkpaw?” She knew that Larkpaw was a great hunter already. Lily heart often boasted how he carried prey home to her every day.

“It’s not a com petition,” Ivy pool told her gently. “You must learn at y our own speed.”

“But I want to prove I’m special.” Moons later, Rosepetal’s words still haunted her. Twigkit does seem pretty ordinary. And until she learns to hunt, she’s another belly for the Clan to fill. She stared desperately at Ivy pool. “I have to be the best.”

“That’s not true,” Ivy pool soothed.

“But if I’m not, why am I here?”

Ivy pool’s gaze shone sy m pathetically. “You’ve never truly felt part of the Clan, have y ou?”

She didn’t wait for Twigpaw to answer. “I hope that one day you will.”

Twigpaw dropped her gaze guiltily. “You make m e sound disloy al.”

“No,” Ivy pool purred fondly. “I can see that you are as loy al as any Clanborn cat. But y ou have grown up away from y our true kin. That must have been hard.” Her eyes brightened encouragingly. “Still, Lily heart is very proud of y ou, and if y our real mother could see what’s become of y ou, I’m sure she’d be proud of you too. What a sham e Squirrelflight’s patrol never found her.”

Twigpaw frowned, puzzled. “Squirrelflight’s patrol?” What was Ivy pool talking about? Had

Squirrelflight led a patrol to search for her mother? Why didn’t any one ever speak about it? Her heart fluttered like a bird in her chest. Perhaps they’d found her mother’s body and wanted to protect her from knowing. She blinked at Ivy pool. “Did they find any trace at all?”

“Only the nest where Alderpaw had found y ou. It was abandoned.”

“Nothing else?”

Ivy pool shifted her paws nervously. “I don’t really know. No one talked about it afterward.”

Fear spread down Twigpaw’s spine. What was the Clan hiding from her? I have to know!

Twigpaw glanced up the rise that led toward camp. Alderpaw! He’d be honest with her, even if it were bad news. “Can we go back to the hollow now?” She had to speak with Alderpaw.

Ivy pool’s tail whisked over the dam p leaf litter. “I didn’t mean to upset y ou.”

“It’s all right.” Twigpaw’s thoughts were whirling. “I just need to get back to camp.”

“Okay.” Ivy pool watched her anxiously.

Twigpaw hardly noticed her glistening gaze. She was already clim bing the rise and heading for the gorse barrier. She ducked through the tunnel and hurried into camp. Her thoughts raced ahead of her. Alderpaw would be in the medicine den. What would he say? Did he know about her mother? As she bounded across the clearing, Graystripe called from the fallen beech.

“What’s the hurry, Twigpaw?”

“Is som ething wrong?” Briarlight was beside the fresh-kill pile, sharing a mouse with Fernsong.

“I need to speak with Alderpaw!” Twigpaw burst through the trailing brambles into the medicine den.

Jayfeather snorted but didn’t look up from the m oss he was soaking in the water, which pooled beside the rock wall of the den. “I thought Alderpaw had lost his shadow once y ou’d been m ade an apprentice.” He shook water from his paws. “For a shadow, you make a lot of noise.”

Alderpaw was picking stale m oss out of Briarlight’s nest. He turned as Twigpaw scram bled to a halt beside him.

“Did Squirrelflight’s patrol find my mother?” she dem anded bluntly.

He blinked at her, confusion clouding his gaze. “Squirrelflight’s patrol?”

“The one Bramblestar sent to look for m y mother moons ago!” Frustration churned in Twigpaw’s belly. It turned to fear as she saw alarm flash in his eyes. He knew som ething!

“Let’s talk about this in private.” His gaze darted guiltily toward Jayfeather.

“Don’t worry about m e,” Jayfeather mewed sarcastically. “Stay as long as you like. It is only m y medicine den, after all.”

Twigpaw ignored the medicine cat. “You have to tell m e,” she begged Alderpaw. “Did they find m y mother?”

Alderpaw nudged her toward the entrance. “Come outside.”

Why? He must have something terrible to tell me! Suddenly light-headed, Twigpaw followed him through the trailing brambles.

Alderpaw guided her into the fern hollow beside the den. Out of sight of their Clanmates, he m et her gaze. “We don’t know what happened to y our mother,” he whispered.

She stared at him blankly. “Why hide here to tell m e that?”

Alderpaw seem ed to squirm beneath his pelt. Why was he being so weird?

“You can tell m e if she’s dead,” she pressed. “I’d rather know than spend m y life wondering.”

“I can’t tell y ou.” Alderpaw stared at her. “I don’t know.”

“So the patrol didn’t find her?” Twigpaw dem anded.

Alderpaw looked away. “The patrol wasn’t looking for her,” he mumbled.

“What?” Twigpaw could hardly believe her ears. What was he talking about? “Squirrelflight led a patrol to search for m y mother. That’s what Ivy pool told m e.”

Alderpaw shook his head. “That wasn’t who they were searching for.”

“Not m y mother? Then why does Ivy pool think that?” Twigpaw stared at him, anger surging in her chest as he looked back at her, not reply ing. “Did they ever look for her?”

Alderpaw stared at the ground guiltily. “No.” His mew was barely a whisper.

“Never?” Heat seared her pelt as she watched Alderpaw struggling for words.

“They were looking for som ething else,” he mumbled at last.

“Why does Ivy pool think they were looking for m y mother?”

“The whole Clan believed they were looking for y our mother.” Alderpaw was still avoiding her gaze. “They still do.”

“What were they searching for?” Twigpaw tried to think of som ething more im portant than her mother.

Alderpaw looked at her hopelessly. “I can’t tell y ou.”

“Why not?” I thought you told me everything! I trusted you! She curled her claws into the ground.

“It’s Clan business.”

Twigpaw’s pelt spiked. “So I’m not to know because I’m not part of the Clan!”

“Of course you are!” Alderpaw’s gaze rounded guiltily. “That’s not what I meant. Only a few cats know where the patrol went. It’s a secret I can’t share with y ou.”

Twigpaw hesitated, unsure whether to be hurt that he was keeping secrets from her or com forted that she wasn’t alone in being lied to. Irritation sparked through her pelt. “Why didn’t Bramblestar send out a patrol to look for m y mother?”

Sadness darkened Alderpaw’s gaze. “He didn’t think there was any point.”

“Didn’t he care what had happened to her?” Twigpaw’s heart twisted.

“I’m sure he did. But… A mother doesn’t abandon kits who are too young to take care of them selves unless…” Alderpaw’s mew trailed away.

“Unless… unless she’s dead?” Twigpaw lashed her tail. “That’s what you were going to say, isn’t it?” She tried to push the thought away, but it nagged at her. It would explain why she’d left them. But we can’t be sure. Until they checked, there was still the tiniest, sweetest chance she was still alive. She glared defiantly at Alderpaw. “May be som ething happened to stop her coming back. She might have returned and found us gone. She might be wondering where we went. She might still be looking for us!” She thrust her m uzzle close to Alderpaw’s. “If you hadn’t taken us, Violetkit and I might still be with her!”

Before Alderpaw could answer, Twigpaw pushed her way from the ferns and strode out of camp. She wouldn’t be in this dum b Clan if it weren’t for Alderpaw. She’d be with her sister. And her sister wouldn’t be with a gang of rogues. Burning with rage, she followed the trail that headed toward the ShadowClan border. She hadn’t seen Violetkit since Needlepaw had taken her from ShadowClan. But she was going to see her now. She was going to find her and tell her what she’d discovered.

Twigpaw had heard the Clan gossip, and words swirled in her thoughts as she pushed past the undergrowth. The rogues live beyond ShadowClan territory, near the border with ThunderClan. She headed that way now. I must speak with Violetkit. She had to tell her that the Clan cats had lied to her. What if our mother came back for us?

Birds called to one another overhead, warning and serenading, preparing their nests. The sun, glittering through the budding branches, dappled Twigpaw’s back with gentle warmth. She hardly felt it. She veered from the track as she neared the border and shadowed the scent line deeper into the forest, where the ground began to rise. She had never been this far before—even on her first day as an apprentice, when Ivy pool had shown her ThunderClan’s territory. She’d felt so proud that day, knowing that this was her land and that one day she’d be patrolling it, keeping it safe for kits and elders.

Who’s keeping my mother safe? She lifted her chin defiantly and pressed on. The ground grew softer beneath her paws, turning to m ud as the trees thinned. She reached the ThunderClan scent line and crossed it, her heart quickening as she set paw outside Clan territory.

The rogues must be near. She could sm ell strange scents. Tensing, she scanned the undergrowth. Darktail’s gang seem ed more like ghosts than real cats. They never came to Gatherings, and they lived on the outskirts of the territory, occasionally glim psed in the shadows by patrols. The Clan whispered about them in hushed mews, as though speaking of Dark Forest cats.

Her pelt pricked with unease as she headed away from the sun, trekking closer to the edge of ShadowClan’s land. Opening her m outh, she tasted the air for scents, sm elling the newleaf tang of fresh leaves and m ud. The ground turned to grass beneath her paws, sloping steeper. Beech and alder grew here. Rowan bushes crowded between the trunks. She slowed, aware that she could already be on rogue territory, and ducked closer to the bushes.

A pelt m oved ahead, and she stopped, her heart lurching. A tom was carry ing prey upslope.

Twigpaw froze and watched as he padded between two rows of ferns and disappeared from view.

“Spy ing?”

A mew behind her m ade her spin. Her heart in her throat, she blinked at the young she-cat who was staring at her accusingly. She sniffed and sm elled the unfam iliar scent of rogue.

“What are you doing here?” the she-cat dem anded. The black splotches on her white pelt rippled as her hackles lifted.

“Violetkit?” Relief surged through Twigpaw. Violetkit looked well. The rogues clearly hadn’t harm ed her. Twigpaw stared, hardly able to believe that this sleek young cat was her sister.

Muscle showed beneath her pelt. Her paws had grown wide, sharp claw-tips showing beneath the fur. Twigpaw hesitated as Violetkit stared back. Was that suspicion in her gaze? “It’s m e, Twigpaw.”

Violetkit narrowed her eyes. “I’m Violet paw now.”

Twigkit blinked at her. Isn’t she pleased to see me? “I cam e to find y ou.”

“Why now?” Violetpaw’s gaze didn’t betray any thing.

“I found som ething out. All the other cats in ThunderClan were told that they sent out a patrol to look for our mother, but they didn’t. It was a lie. They never checked to see if she cam e back for us.” The words tum bled from Twigpaw, leaving her breathless.

Violetpaw shrugged. “Are you really surprised?”

“But they should have!” Shock pulsed through Twigpaw. What had happened to her littermate?

Had her time with the rogues m ade her cruel? “Alderpaw lied to m e. I thought he was m y friend.

Every one believed that Bramblestar sent a search party to look for our mother. But he didn’t.

Alderpaw said the patrol was looking for som ething else.” Twigpaw guessed she wasn’t m aking sense, but she needed her sister to understand how she felt. No one in the Clan did. Violetpaw was the only one who might.

Violetpaw blinked at her, still showing no sign of em otion.

Twigkit’s eyes widened. “Don’t you care either?”

“I always thought our mother was dead.” Violetpaw frowned. Twigpaw could see that she was thinking. “Why else would she leave us?”

“What if she cam e back after Alderpaw took us?”

Violetpaw tipped her head. “She’d have found we were gone.”

“But she might be looking for us!” Twigpaw willed her sister to feel what she was feeling.

“After all this tim e?” Violetpaw looked unconvinced.

“Don’t you want to find her?” Frustration welled in Twigpaw’s throat.

The bracken behind Violetpaw swished. “Find who?” Needlepaw padded out.

Violetpaw j erked her m uzzle round, her pelt pricking guiltily. “Hi, Needletail.”

Needletail. The ShadowClan apprentice must have given herself a warrior name after leaving her Clan.

She stopped beside Violetpaw. “Find who?” she repeated, her ears flattening.

Twigpaw lifted her chin. “Our mother,” she mewed, ignoring the fear rippling through her pelt. Needletail had grown. Her body was long and sleek, her tail thick and glossy. And there was threat in her gaze. “I think she might be alive and searching for us. I want Violetpaw to help m e look for her.”

“Why?” Needletail leaned close, her eyes narrowing. “She has a fam ily here with the rogues.” Her gaze flicked to Violetpaw. “Don’t y ou?”

“Yes,” Violetpaw answered quickly. “The rogues are m y kin now. They’re way nicer to m e than ShadowClan used to be. And Needletail is like a sister.”

Hurt j abbed Twigpaw’s belly. But I’m your sister! I’ve been worrying about you for moons.

Had Violetkit forgotten they were littermates? “So you won’t help m e find her?” She felt suddenly weary. Her anger at Alderpaw seem ed to drain into the ground.

Violetpaw stared at Twigpaw, her gaze softening a little. “I can’t just leave my campmates.

They’ve fed m e and protected m e. It would be wrong to leave with y ou.”

Needletail’s tail twitched. “Darktail takes loy alty very seriously.” Her mew was a growl.

Instinctively, Twigpaw backed away.

Violetpaw blinked at her sister. “I’m sorry, Twigpaw. I can’t help y ou. You should go home.”

“Yeah, Clan cat,” Needletail sneered. “Go home where it’s safe.” She glanced upslope, as though watching for rogues.

Twigpaw’s belly tightened. What if the rogues found her here? Needletail clearly wasn’t going to defend her.

“Come on, Violetpaw.” Needletail headed into the bracken. “Our campmates will be expecting us”

“I’m sorry.” Violetpaw blinked at Twigpaw, then held her gaze for a m om ent before turning away.

Twigpaw watched the bracken swallow her sister. She stood, frozen, her heart em pty.

Alderpaw thought her mother was dead. Violetpaw didn’t seem to care if she was alive. She suddenly felt foolish. She’d created such a scene. And no cat was interested.

She glanced toward the forest. It looked green under the pale blue sky. The sun shone, and she knew that bey ond the trees the lake would be glittering.

Perhaps finding her mother was a dum b idea. Even if she was still alive, she might have new kits by now. What would she care about two kits she’d abandoned moons ago? Wearily Twigpaw turned her paws toward home and padded down the slope.