Thunder Аnd Shadow

Chapter 2

Violetkit shifted and snuggled closer to Pinenose, but she couldn’t get com fortable. Ratscar’s words ran around in her head.

But she’s not really one of us, is she?

It was late and the Clan was sleeping now, except for the cats sitting vigil beside Littlecloud’s body. He had died as the sun had set, two day s after Leafpool had arrived. The ThunderClan medicine cat had been at his side, and the Clan had crouched at the edges of the clearing, avoiding one another’s eyes as they listened to the weakening m oans of their medicine cat.

I should be sad that Littlecloud is dead. She knew that she was supposed to be sad, but she’d hardly m et Littlecloud. He’d checked her over when she’d first arrived in the Clan, but he’d already been sickly -looking then, and she had shuddered at his sour breath.

Besides, Ratscar’s words were still gnawing at Violetkit too sharply to allow her to concentrate on Littlecloud. She’s not really one of us, is she? She’d heard the skinny, dark brown elder’s meow as she passed the elders’ den that m orning. He was talking about me.

Kinkfur had protested. “She must be one of us. StarClan sent Needlepaw to find her.”

Violetkit had paused, pricking her ears, hoping Oakfur would agree with the old she-cat. But he had rem ained silent, and his silence had j abbed Violetkit’s heart like a thorn.

“Pinenose?” She pressed Pinenose’s belly with her paw. The queen’s older kits had m oved into their own nests in the nursery, arguing that they were nearly apprentices and far too old to share their mother’s nest. Grassheart was asleep, her round belly m oving in the dappled moonlight.

From time to time she m oaned, as though bad dream s kept waking her.

Pinenose was snoring softly. “Pinenose!” She poked the queen again.

“What is it?” Pinenose snorted as she woke. She looked blearily at Violetkit. “Are you ill?”

“No.” Violetkit blinked at the queen through the darkness, wondering suddenly if she’d ever seen her real mother’s face. She couldn’t remember it. “I need to ask you som ething.”

Pinenose y awned. “Can’t it wait until m orning?”

No. “Do I really belong in ShadowClan?”

“Of course you do, dear.” Pinenose shifted, pushing Violetkit closer to the edge of the nest.

“You wouldn’t rather be with ThunderClan, would you? They’re such a bunch of know-it-alls.”

“But I heard Ratscar say —”

Pinenose interrupted her. “Don’t listen to Clan gossip. Especially not gossip you hear in the elders’ den. Those cats have nothing to do but talk.”

Violetkit longed for Pinenose to pull her closer as Lily heart used to do and lap her head until she felt calm er. But Pinenose rolled over with a grunt and, within m om ents, was snoring again.

Violetkit hung her chin over the edge of the nest, feeling Pinenose’s flank fall and rise against hers. Across the nursery, Grassheart was still fidgeting and m oaning. Birchkit was curled into a tight bundle, his m uzzle buried under his paw. His lim bs were quivering, as though he was dream ing of hunting. Puddlekit’s head lolled; his m outh was open slightly. Slatekit stirred, but the gray tom kit didn’t wake. Violetkit wondered if they thought she didn’t belong, too. Perhaps every cat in ShadowClan thought she shouldn’t be here. Then why did Rowanstar take me?

She tried not to remember the night of the Gathering when, without warning, the ShadowClan leader had plucked her by her scruff and carried her away from Twigkit. It had felt like an awful dream, but it hadn’t been; the next m orning she’d woken up here and not in Lily heart’s nest.

Suddenly she remembered her feather. She dug into the m oss and pulled it out from where she’d hidden it for safekeeping. She buried her nose in its soft fringes and shut her eyes. Was that Twigkit’s scent she could sm ell? She breathed in deeply, feeling herself relax. Tiredness began to seep into her pelt. Im agining Twigkit beside her, Violetkit let herself drift into sleep.

“Puddlekit!” Pinenose’s alarm ed mew woke her. “Go and fetch Leafpool! Grassheart is kitting!”

Violetkit blinked open her eyes, her heart pounding. Pinenose was crouching beside

Grassheart, who was writhing in her nest. The pale tabby’s breath was fast and hard, a growl deep in her throat.

Puddlekit darted from the den.

“We’ll go with him.” Birchkit leaped from his nest, Lionkit at his heels. They disappeared through the entrance.

Violetkit blinked at Pinenose and Grassheart. What should I do? Grassheart’s growl turned into a wail. Trembling, Violetkit squashed herself deeper into her nest, flattening her ears. A m om ent later, Leafpool burst into the den. In the moonlight filtering through the bramble walls, Violetkit watched her run a paw over Grassheart’s heaving belly.

“Every thing’s just as it should be,” the ThunderClan medicine cat meowed calm ly. “For now she only needs som e wet m oss to drink.”

“Violetkit can fetch som e,” Pinenose meowed briskly.

“Violetkit?” Leafpool turned and blinked through the shadows. “Are you there?”

Violetkit peeked over the edge of the nest and nodded.

“Go to the apprentices’ den,” Leafpool told her. “You can sleep there tonight.”

“But what about the m oss for Grassheart?” Violetkit stared at her, round-ey ed.

“I’ve already sent Puddlekit to fetch som e,” Leafpool told her. “He’s going to help m e deliver these kits.”

Pinenose bristled. “He’s not an apprentice y et!”

“He will be soon, and the quicker he starts training, the better,” Leafpool meowed firm ly. She flicked her tail toward Violetkit. “Go.”

Violetkit scram bled from her nest and headed for the entrance, relieved to get away from Grassheart’s frightening m oans. She nosed her way out and froze.

Rowanstar, Crowfrost, Tawny pelt, and Stonewing were still sitting vigil beside Littlecloud’s body. It lay like a stone in the center of the camp. Ratscar, Oakfur, and Kinkfur crouched nearby.

Her heart pounded and she swerved to avoid the vigil, but as she m oved closer to the apprentices’ den, new worries invaded her m ind. What would Sleekpaw and the other apprentices say when she told them that Leafpool had sent her to sleep with them? They weren’t exactly friendly.

A soft mew sounded behind her. “Violetkit. I was just coming to find you.” Needlepaw padded from the shadows at the edge of the camp.

“Find m e?” Violetkit spun around, alarm ed. Had she done som ething wrong? Needlepaw had spoken to her a few tim es since Alderpaw’s visit, but before that she’d hardly paid her any attention.

“We have to go som ewhere.” Needlepaw halted, her green eyes shining in the moonlight.

“But Leafpool told m e to go to the apprentices’ den,” Violetkit told her. “Grassheart is having her kits.”

“So?” Needlepaw shrugged. “You can do that later.”

Beside Littlecloud’s body, Tawny pelt turned. Her eyes flashed with worry as she caught sight of Violetkit and Needlepaw. The tortoiseshell hurried toward them. “Violetkit, why are you out of the nursery? It’s late.”

Needlepaw answered for her. “Grassheart is kitting.” She j erked her nose toward the nursery.

“I’m supposed to take care of Violetkit.”

That’s a lie. Violetkit blinked at the apprentice, surprised.

“Make sure she gets a warm nest and som e sleep.” Tawny pelt turned back toward the nursery.

Violetkit was im pressed. Tawny pelt hadn’t doubted Needlepaw for a m om ent. I wish I were like Needlepaw. She’s so sure of herself.

Needlepaw glanced at her. “Are you ready?”

Ready for what? Violetkit stared at her. Tongue-tied, she could only nod.

“Then follow m e and keep quiet.” Needlepaw headed for the camp wall, slipping into the shadows where the brambles swallowed the moonlight. “We mustn’t be seen.”

“Why not?” Violetkit whispered. Butterflies fluttered in her belly.

“We’re going on an adventure.”

“Where?”

“Outside the camp.”

Violetkit hesitated. “Outside?”

Needlepaw turned and thrust her m uzzle close. “You’re not scared, are you?”

“No,” Violetkit lied. She didn’t want Needlepaw to think she was a scaredy -m ouse. “But I might get into trouble if I leave the camp.”

“Not if you’re with m e.” Needlepaw blinked at her.

Violetkit shifted her paws. Was that true? Was she allowed to leave the camp if she was with Needlepaw? Perhaps it was a special mission. Som ething to do with Littlecloud dy ing, or Grassheart having kits. Every thing had been strange all day. Perhaps leaving camp was okay now.

Needlepaw ran her tail along Violetkit’s spine. “Just stay close to m e and you will be safe.”

Needlepaw’s tail felt soothing. I will be safe. It sounded reassuring. Violetkit lifted her chin.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Needlepaw purred as she headed deeper into the shadows. As Violetkit trotted after her, she wondered where they were going. Then she sm elled the fam iliar scent of the dirtplace and realized they were heading for the narrow tunnel that led out of the back of the camp.

She ducked through it after Needlepaw, blinking as darkness pressed in with the brambles. A

m om ent later she was outside.

Needlepaw tasted the air. “Come on.” Her silver pelt shone as she padded through a strip of moonlight. “Follow m e.”

Violetkit tried to stay close behind Needlepaw, peering up at the trees. Their great trunks disappeared into shadow overhead, and specks of starlight glinted through gaps in the thick canopy.

She tripped over a root and landed on her chin. “Oof!”

“Be careful.” Needlepaw turned to look at her, her eyes shining in the dark.

“I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Violetkit confessed.

“You’d better start. The forest is a dangerous place at night. There could be foxes any where.”

Foxes? Fear sparked in Violetkit’s chest. She didn’t even know what a fox looked like, but from the nursery tales she’d heard, she knew they were fierce. She strained to see into the shadows.

Sniffing for strange sm ells, she hurried to catch up to Needlepaw. She was used to the warm cat scents of the camp. Out here countless odors filled her nose, and every thing was dank and strange. How would she know if a fox was nearby? She padded closer to Needlepaw, brushing her flank.

“Give m e som e space!” Needlepaw nudged her aside. “I don’t want to be tripping over you all the way there.”

“All the way where?” Violetkit glanced at her anxiously.

“It’s a surprise.” Needlepaw ducked beneath a low-hanging branch and j um ped across a ditch.

Violetkit halted at the edge, wondering if she could clear the deep rut in the forest floor. She could see water glim m ering at the bottom. It sm elled rank. She didn’t want to fall in. Bunching up her m uscles, she crouched and wiggled her haunches. Fixing her gaze on the far side, she leaped.

Her front paws reached the far side, but her back paws fell short. She hooked her claws into the needle-strewn earth and scrabbled desperately with her hind legs. Alarm flashing through her, she struggled to haul herself up.

Teeth clam ped down on her scruff, and she felt herself being swung through the air.

Needlepaw dropped her onto the ground. “This j ourney will take forever if you can’t j um p a sim ple ditch.”

An owl screeched. Violetkit ducked, her heart pounding. “What was that?”

Needlepaw snorted with am usem ent. “An owl, toad-brain! Haven’t you heard one before?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know they could fly!” She’d heard Lionkit and Birchkit talking about owls that stole kits in the night. She’d thought they were like foxes. She fought the urge to duck under Needlepaw’s belly. What if it cam e back? It could scoop her up and take her to its nest like fresh-kill.

“Don’t worry,” Needlepaw told her, as though reading her thoughts. “I can fight off an owl.

Here.” She crouched beside Violetkit. “Clim b onto m y back or we’ll never get there in tim e.”

“In time for what?” What was this m y sterious adventure about?

“Stop asking questions.”

Burning with curiosity, Violetkit forgot the owl and scram bled onto Needlepaw’s back. Clinging to the slender apprentice’s shoulders, she flattened herself against her spine. Needlepaw broke into a trot. “Is Pinenose feeding you enough?” Needlepaw teased. “A m ouse would be heavier.”

“She feeds m e plenty,” Violetkit told her, but she was worry ing that she was too sm all. What if she never grew as big as the Clan cats? Then they’d always think she didn’t belong.

Needlepaw was m oving quickly now. Violetkit had to grip on hard as the apprentice leaped a fallen tree, picked up speed as she ran down a slope, then cleared three ditches in a row. Watching the forest flash past, lit by strips of moonlight, m ade Violetkit dizzy. She closed her eyes and clung on like a tick. Where were they going?

Needlepaw was heading farther and farther from camp. What if som eone noticed they were gone? What if they got lost? As Violetkit’s thoughts whirled, the scents around her started to change. She opened her eyes and saw that the pines had been replaced by gnarled oaks and slender birch trees. The forest floor was littered with leaves, and their musty scent filled Violetkit’s nose. “Where are we?” she breathed.

“Can’t you tell by the stink?” Needlepaw slowed to a halt and sat down.

Violetkit slid from her shoulders, the leaves crunching beneath her paws as she landed. She took a deep breath. There was cat scent here, but it didn’t sm ell like ShadowClan scent. It was still fam iliar, though. She blinked, remembering. ThunderClan scent! “Are we on ThunderClan land?”

She glanced around nervously. “What if a patrol finds us? What if a ShadowClan cat sees us here?

What if—”

Needlepaw cuffed her gently around the ear. “You and your what-ifs! No one’s going to see us. ThunderClan will be asleep, and our Clanmates are too busy m ourning Littlecloud and worry ing about Grassheart to patrol.”

“Why are we here?” Violetkit gazed at Needlepaw, her ears twitching nervously.

Needlepaw was staring at a clum p of ferns. Moonlight pooled around them. Leaves fluttered down as a breeze stirred the sleeping forest.

“Why —” Violetkit began to ask again but Needlepaw cut her off.

“Hush! They’re coming.”

“Who?”

“Quick! Hide!”

Violetkit felt like her heart was going to burst as Needlepaw darted behind the arching roots of an oak. She scampered quickly after her, panting as she ducked down beside the apprentice. She could hear paw steps. You said they’d all be sleeping. Violetkit didn’t dare speak out loud. Blood roared in her ears. She wanted desperately to peer over the root, but she knew she mustn’t be seen.

“Needlepaw.” A soft mew sounded a few tail-lengths ahead. “Are you here?”

Violetkit frowned. She’d heard that mew before. She opened her m outh and let scent wash over her tongue. It was a tom—a tom she’d m et only a few day s ago. “It’s Alderpaw!” she hissed at Needlepaw, less alarm ed now. “What’s he doing here?”

“He’s brought som eone to see you.” Needlepaw leaped onto the root and swished her tail. “Hi, Alderpaw.” Her eyes shone with am usem ent as Alderpaw backed away, alarm spiking his pelt.

“You m ade m e j um p!” he mewed reproachfully.

“Did I?” Needlepaw tipped her head innocently to one side. “Did you bring her?”

“Bring who?” Pelt prickling with anxiety, Violetkit scram bled up beside Needlepaw and stared at Alderpaw.

A sm all shape m oved behind him. Two ears poked out beside him, then a m uzzle.

“Violetkit?” A tiny mew sounded through the darkness.

Violetkit froze, her thoughts racing. Could it be? She j um ped down from the root and sniffed the air. A strange scent touched her nose, fam iliar and not fam iliar. “Twigkit?”

Green eyes blinked beside Alderpaw. Then a gray kit darted forward and slam m ed into

Violetkit. Unbalanced, Violetkit tum bled backward.

“It’s you! It’s really you!” Twigkit thrust her nose against Violetkit’s cheek, purring loudly.

Surprised, Violetkit shook her off and leaped to her paws. She stared at Twigkit.

Twigkit stared back. “You remember me, right?”

“Of course I do!” Violetkit blinked at her, too overwhelm ed to m ove.

Worry sparked in Twigkit’s gaze. “You are pleased to see m e, aren’t you?”

Violetkit hesitated, em otions swirling through her like storm clouds. She was more pleased than she could say. But what did Twigpaw expect? How should she act? “Of c-course!” she stam m ered.

“You look different and not different all at the sam e tim e,” Twigkit blurted. She leaned forward and sniffed Violetkit. “And you sm ell weird.”

“So do you.” Violetkit was surprised that the sm ell of ThunderClan seem ed so strange to her now. “You sm ell like cobwebs.”

“You sm ell like pine needles.” Twigkit padded around her, purring loudly and rubbing against her. “It’s so good to see you again. I’ve been learning how to be a medicine cat. I want to be a medicine apprentice when I’m old enough. Just like Alderpaw. Alderpaw’s m y friend.” She glanced at Needlepaw. “Is she your friend?”

Violetkit followed her sister’s gaze nervously. Would Needlepaw mind if she said yes? She didn’t want Twigkit to think she hadn’t m ade friends in ShadowClan. Twigkit was clearly close to Alderpaw. She probably had lot of friends in ThunderClan. “I guess,” Violetkit mewed softly.

“What’s her name?” Twigkit blinked at Needlepaw.

“I’m Needlepaw.” The sleek, silver she-cat j um ped down from the root and padded around

Alderpaw. “Did you m anage to sneak out of camp without being seen?” Violetkit saw a glint in Needlepaw’s eyes. She sounded like she was teasing Alderpaw. She frowned. Were they friends?

“Let’s play!” Twigkit’s mew took Violetkit by surprise. A paw thum ped her flank. “Got y ou!

You’re the warrior now and I’m the m ouse.” Twigkit raced toward the root and scram bled over it.

Violetkit watched her go, wondering what to do.

“It’s a gam e, toad-brain,” Needlepaw told her. “Go and chase her. Alderpaw and I can talk.

Don’t go far though. There are owls here too.”

Owls? Violetkit’s heart lurched.

The tips of two sm all ears showed behind the root. “Come on, Violetkit! Chase m e!” Twigkit called. Her ear tips twitched enticingly.

Excitem ent tugged at Violetkit’s paws. In a m om ent she forgot owls and, with a squeak of delight, leaped over the root and bowled into Twigkit, rolling them both through the leaf litter.

Twigkit struggled away. “Now you’re the m ouse!” She raced for a patch of blackberry bushes.

Violetkit darted away, leaves brushing her face as she pushed through the blackberries. Ferns rustled behind her as Twigkit dived into a clum p.

“I’m going to catch y ou!” Twigkit called happily. Violetkit plunged through the ferns, squirm ing between the fronds until she felt soft paws touch the tip of her tail. Twigkit tugged. “I’m the m ouse now!” she cried. Turning, she squeezed her way out and hared across a stretch of open ground.

As Violetkit ran after Twigkit, her heart leaped. She’d been so lonely in ShadowClan. Now she was with her littermate again. And they were play ing like she hadn’t play ed since they’d been parted. She felt like she might burst with j oy.

They play ed until they were both out of breath and scram bled to a halt in front of Alderpaw and Needlepaw. The apprentices were talking, Alderpaw watching Needlepaw with wide, beseeching eyes, while Needlepaw paced back and forth, her tail high.

“I bet Tawny pelt is a grum pier m entor than Jayfeather.”

“No cat is grum pier than Jayfeather.”

Violetkit interrupted them. “Why don’t you play?”

Alderpaw blinked at her. “I’ve been training all day,” he told her. “I don’t want to play.”

Needlepaw rolled her eyes. “ThunderClan cats are so dull.”

“That’s not true.” Alderpaw nudged her shoulder teasingly with his nose.

Needlepaw stepped away. “Come on.” She nodded at Violetkit. “We’d better head home.”

“Hom e?” Grief j abbed Violetkit’s heart. Weren’t she and Twigkit meant to be together now?

Wasn’t that why Needlepaw had brought her here? She blinked desperately at the ShadowClan she-cat. “Is Twigkit coming with us?”

“Twigkit can’t come to ShadowClan.” Needlepaw sounded surprised.

“Then why did you bring m e here?” Violetkit asked. She wanted to wail.

“To visit your sister.” Needlepaw shrugged. “You’ve had fun, haven’t y ou? Now it’s time to go.”

Sorrow threatened to knock Violetkit off her paws as Alderpaw glanced up through the branches. “Dawn will be coming soon. We should get home before the camps start to wake up.”

“Ours is already awake,” Needlepaw sniffed. “Littlecloud died yesterday. The old cats are sitting vigil.”

Alderpaw’s gaze darkened with sorrow. “I’m sad to hear that.”

Needlepaw shrugged. “It’s not exactly a surprise. He was, like, the oldest cat in the forest.”

Needlepaw headed upslope toward the pines. “Come on, Violetkit.”

Violetkit stared at her num bly, struggling to understand. Why would Needlepaw bring her here and then just take her away?

Needlepaw flicked her tail. “We need to get back before Pinenose notices y ou’re gone.”

Violetkit’s throat tightened. She stared desperately at Twigkit. “Did you know we were just visiting?”

“Alderpaw explained.” Her sister touched her m uzzle gently to her cheek. “He and Needlepaw wanted to cheer us up. This was the best way he could think of.” Her warm, sweet breath tickled Violetkit’s ear. Violetkit pressed against her, trembling. Suddenly she remembered what it felt like to sleep beside her sister, curled tight against her soft fur.

“We’ll see each other again soon,” Twigkit prom ised.

Violetkit wasn’t convinced. “How do you know that?”

“Because we have to.” Twigkit pulled away, her eyes round. “We’re kin.”

Alderpaw dipped his head toward Twigkit. “Come on. We’d better hurry.” Gently he nosed her away, up a leaf-strewn bank.

Violetkit’s belly grew hollow as she watched him guide her over the top. Leaves swished as they disappeared into the shadow of the woods.

“No!” The wail escaped her before she could swallow it back. Sadness pressed around her like freezing water. She had to go back to ShadowClan, where no one wanted to play with her; where she couldn’t sm ell her sister’s warm scent. She’d be alone again.

A warm m uzzle touched the top of her head. Violetkit’s heart lurched. She looked up, surprised to see Needlepaw gazing at her with soft, sympathetic eyes.

“Don’t worry, toad-brain,” Needlepaw mewed gently.

“But I belong with her! Not with ShadowClan.” Anger surged through Violetkit’s chest.

“ShadowClan doesn’t want m e. No one cares about m e there. I’m so lonely!”

Needlepaw’s eyes glistened kindly. “I know how that feels, kit.” She ran her tail softly along

Violetkit’s spine. Then she puffed out her chest as though she’d m ade an im portant decision. “But that’s going to change. From now on, I’m going to look out for y ou. You’re going to be fine.”

Violetkit blinked at her, a flicker of hope piercing her sorrow. It still hurt terribly that she didn’t have her sister in ShadowClan, and that so many of the cats there barely seem ed to notice her.

But she saw sincerity in Needlepaw’s eyes. May be now all that would change.

May be now she finally had a friend.