Thunder Аnd Shadow

Chapter 3

A half-moon after Alderpaw brought Twigkit to play with her littermate, he was surprised when Dovewing nosed her way into the medicine den and asked him to report to the Highledge.

Squirrelflight had returned with Lionblaze and Cinderheart.

He followed her excitedly and left her at the foot of the rock tum ble to j oin Bramblestar, Squirrelflight, Lionblaze, and Cinderheart at the top.

“Did you find any thing?” he asked as soon as he reached them.

Squirrelflight m et his gaze darkly.

Bramblestar looked worried. “The gorge was em pty.”

“Em pty?” Alderpaw could hardly believe his ears. “What about the rogues we m et on our quest?” He knew that Bramblestar had warned the patrol that they might find cats pretending to be

Sky Clan at the gorge.

“There was no one there,” Lionblaze confirm ed.

“A few stragglers,” Cinderheart chipped in. “But they were just loners passing through. There was no sign of fresh nests in the gorge. The dens were deserted.”

Alderpaw’s thoughts swam. “But if the rogues are gone, Sky Clan might return to the gorge.

They might not have any place else to go.” We might find what is in the shadows after all. “We should send the patrol back to search again.”

“There’s no point,” Squirrelflight told him. “We checked the whole area. If there are any

Sky Clan cats left, they’re nowhere near the gorge.”

“They’d be m ouse-brained to go back there,” Lionblaze meowed bluntly. “The gorge is far too open to attack. It’s clear they can’t defend it.”

Bramblestar was frowning. “I wonder where they’ve gone.”

“Who?” Alderpaw blinked at him. “Sky Clan?”

“The rogues.” Bramblestar’s expression was serious.

“Don’t you care about Sky Clan?” Alderpaw glared at him.

“Keep your voice down!” Squirrelflight glanced nervously at Dovewing at the bottom of the rocks. She was staring up at them with a wide, curious gaze. Thornclaw and Poppy frost were washing nearby, while Purdy, Millie, and Graystripe lounged outside the elders’ den.

Bramblestar turned his gaze toward Alderpaw. “What can we do?” He looked distressed.

“Sky Clan is lost to us.”

Squirrelflight ey ed their Clanmates below. Lionblaze and Cinderheart glanced at each other in surprise.

“So y ou’re giving up on the prophecy?” Alderpaw dem anded.

“We still have the kits, remember?” Cinderheart shifted her paws. “They were found in shadow. They might still have a part to play.”

Alderpaw wished he could believe her. The kits were special, he was sure. They had been found in shadow. But they couldn’t be all there was to StarClan’s prophecy. What about clearing the skies? Even though he felt a twinge of disloy alty toward Twigkit for thinking it, the prophecy had to be about Sky Clan. They were Clan cats, after all, and he couldn’t believe StarClan would let them disappear without doing something.

He ey ed his father curiously before departing, but Bramblestar wouldn’t m eet his gaze.

Frustration surged through Alderpaw’s lim bs as he excused him self and m ade his way back to the medicine-cat den.

He had to believe Sky Clan was still out there. But he knew Bramblestar wasn’t about to change his m ind.

“Excuse m e.” Alderpaw nudged past Fernsong. The y ellow tabby tom was blocking his view of Honey kit.

“Lily heart asked m e to bring her to y ou,” Fernsong explained again.

“I know. She has a belly ache.” Jayfeather flicked his tail at Fernsong. “You already told us.”

Fernsong paced around the white-and-y ellow kit, his pelt prickling with worry. “Lily heart was busy with the other kits, and Honey kit has been m iserable all m orning. I was going to go hunting with Ivy pool, but Lily heart asked m e—”

“To bring her here. Yes! We know.” Jayfeather touched his nose to Honey kit’s head.

“Alderpaw, come and check whether she has a fever.”

Alderpaw squeezed past Fernsong again, wishing the tom would give them more room.

As though reading his m ind, Briarlight called from her nest. “Come over here, Fernsong, and let them exam ine her properly.”

Distractedly Fernsong padded to her side. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s a kit with belly ache,” Jayfeather grunted. “She’ll be fine.”

“But it hurts,” Honey kit whim pered as Alderpaw sniffed the top of her head.

Jayfeather ignored her. “So?” he quizzed Alderpaw. “Does she have a fever?”

“No.” Alderpaw sniffed again, feeling the warmth of her fur. Was it norm al? Was he right?

Perhaps she did have a fever and he was being m ouse-brained.

“Good.” Jayfeather mewed. “A belly ache without a fever means that she probably ate som ething that disagreed with her, or too much of som ething she liked.” He ran his paw over Honey kit’s belly. “What have you eaten today?”

“I shared a rabbit with Leafkit and Larkkit,” Honey kit told him.

“Did Twigkit eat any?” Alderpaw asked. What if she had the sam e belly ache and was afraid to bother any one?

“She had a vole.”

Jayfeather huffed. “Stop fretting about Twigkit and concentrate on the patient,” he snapped to Alderpaw. “Feel her belly. Is it swollen?”

Alderpaw touched his paw to the kit’s round flank, wondering if the tightness there was norm al.

“It feels a bit swollen?” he guessed hesitantly.

Jayfeather’s ears twitched irritably. “Yes. How should we treat her belly ache?”

Alderpaw’s thoughts froze. He felt Briarlight and Fernsong’s eyes on him. Honey kit blinked at him hopefully, pain flashing in her green eyes.

Jayfeather’s blind stare was burning into his pelt. “Well?”

Alderpaw wished again that Jayfeather were less cranky. I’d remember more if he didn’t make me so nervous. “Chervil,” he blurted.

“Good.” Jayfeather sounded satisfied. “Fetch som e.”

“Will it help?” Honey kit asked eagerly.

“Of course it will,” Jayfeather told her.

Alderpaw reached into the crack at the back of the den. It was well stocked. In the half-moon since he’d taken Twigkit to m eet her sister, he and Leafpool had gathered all the herbs they could find. Each m orning brought heavier dew and a colder chill in the air. It wouldn’t be long before the first frost would scorch the precious leaves they’d need through the long day s of leaf-bare.

His paw tips touched the soft leaves of the chervil bundle, and he hauled it out.

He began to untangle a few sprigs, his thoughts wandering to the m orning he’d gathered it. The orange sun had shim m ered above the horizon, its pale warmth hardly chasing the chill from his pelt. The forest had sm elled heady. The scent of wilting ferns and decay ing leaves had filled his nose.

“Hurry up!” Jayfeather’s tail flicked impatiently. “I don’t know what’s wrong with y ou. You’ve been distracted ever since Squirrelflight returned.”

Squirrelflight. Alderpaw looked up in surprise. He hadn’t realized his concerns about what his mother hadn’t found were so obvious.

“Alderpaw!” Jayfeather’s sharp mew j erked him back to the present. The medicine cat’s eats were pricked toward him. “What in StarClan are you doing?”

“I’m ripping up leaves for Honey kit.” Alderpaw stared at him, confused. “Chervil is for belly aches.”

“The roots, not the leaves.” Jayfeather snatched the bundle of chervil away and snapped off a root. He rolled it toward Honey kit. “Eat this.”

Honey kit looked at it nervously. “What does it taste like?”

“It doesn’t m atter what it tastes like,” Jayfeather snapped. “It will make your belly ache go away.”

Fur ruffled, Honey kit picked up the root between her teeth and began to chew. Alderpaw felt a wave of sy m pathy as she screwed up her face at the acrid tang. But she kept chewing, peeking at Jayfeather as though she was scared of what he might say if she stopped. At last she swallowed.

“Well done.” Alderpaw hurried to her side and ran his tail along her spine. “You’ll feel better in no tim e.”

Paw steps pattered outside, and the brambles swished. Twigkit burst through, a m ouse dangling from her jaws.

Jayfeather frowned as the kit hurried across the medicine den and dropped the m ouse beside

Briarlight’s nest. “I brought you prey.”

Briarlight purred. “Thank y ou. But you didn’t need to. You know I can get to the fresh-kill pile by m y self.”

“I know,” Twigkit squeaked happily. “But the hunting patrol just got back. It’s still warm.”

Fernsong sniffed. “That rem inds m e. Ivy pool is waiting for m e.” He blinked at Honey kit.

“Are you feeling better?”

Honey kit was washing her paws, licking them fiercely as though try ing to clean the taste of the chervil from her tongue. She paused and looked at Fernsong. Then she burped.

“Yes, I think so.”

Twigkit bounded toward her. “Larkkit and Leafkit are going to explore the ferns behind the fallen birch. They said you should hurry up.” She looked hopefully at Honey kit, who was three moons older and nearly twice as big as Twigkit. “Can I come too?”

“It’s not a gam e for kits. We’re going to practice hunting,” Honey kit told her. “Leafkit caught a frog there yesterday. If you come, y ou’ll frighten the prey away.”

“No I won’t!” Twigkit’s eyes rounded with indignation.

Alderpaw felt a surge of sy m pathy. “I’m sure she’ll be quiet, Honey kit.”

Jayfeather snorted. “Twigkit’s never quiet, and she’s always getting under som e cat’s paws.”

“That’s not true!” Twigkit glared at him. “I’m very helpful.”

As she defended herself, the brambles rustled at the den entrance. Ivy pool padded in. “Are y ou ready to hunt, Fernsong?”

Fernsong blinked at her, his eyes shining. “Yes,” he meowed happily.

“Great.” Jayfeather began to sweep the sprigs of chervil together with sharp j abs of his paws.

Alderpaw could see irritation rippling though his pelt. “Go hunting. And take these kits out of the den with y ou.”

“Twigkit is not coming with me!” Honey kit obj ected. “She’s too noisy. You always say that, Jayfeather.”

Twigkit’s pelt spiked with indignation, but the blind medicine cat sim ply looked away.

Briarlight heaved herself onto her front paws. “Come with m e, Twigkit,” she meowed. “We can take this m ouse outside and choose som e prey for y ou.”

Fernsong stood aside as Briarlight hauled herself out of her nest and began to drag her lim p hind legs toward the den entrance.

Alderpaw called after Twigkit as she followed. “Perhaps you can come back and help us later.”

“No!” Jayfeather glared at him, his blind blue gaze flashing. “We have work to do.”

Alderpaw flexed his claws, angry at the medicine cat, as Twigkit shot Jayfeather a resentful look and followed Briarlight from the den.

Ivy pool glanced sy m pathetically at Alderpaw. “Come on, Fernsong. The prey won’t catch itself, and I’ve prom ised Graystripe I’ll find him a shrew.”

Alderpaw hardly heard her. He was fum ing. As the two warriors left, he turned on the medicine cat, too furious to tiptoe around him this tim e. “You don’t have to be so mean to Twigkit,” he snapped. “Can’t you see that she doesn’t have any one to play with?”

Jayfeather froze, his eyes narrowing.

Alderpaw tensed as he saw Jayfeather’s ears flatten. He knew this look too well. But he didn’t care. He’d had to say som ething.

“Don’t tell m e how to behave!” Jayfeather hissed. “I already know my herbs. I can cure my Clanmates. You should spend less time worry ing about that kit and more time concentrating on your training.”

Frustration j abbed at Alderpaw’s belly. Why hadn’t he remembered the root was for belly aches, not the leaves? He whisked his tail crossly. He wouldn’t have forgotten if Jayfeather hadn’t been breathing on his tail like an angry fox. “I’ll try harder,” he growled through gritted teeth. “But I’m doing okay, aren’t I? No one else in the Clan doubts m e. They value m e. After all, it was me who received StarClan’s prophecy.”

“There’s more to being a medicine cat than passing on m essages from StarClan,” Jayfeather hissed. “StarClan won’t tell you how to heal a wound or cure a chest infection. You have to learn that y ourself. It takes hard work. And it’s the m ost im portant thing you can do for your Clan. It m ay help you save a life one day.”

Jayfeather’s words seared through Alderpaw’s heart. Mem ories of Sandstorm flashed in his m ind. Could he have done more to help her when she got sick? Sandstorm had visited him in a dream and told him her death wasn’t his fault. But what if she was just being kind? Perhaps she hadn’t needed to die.

He was holding back a shudder, remembering how it had felt to wake up beside her stiff, cold body, when paws thundered into camp.

“Bramblestar!” Mousewhisker’s y owl cracked the air.

Jayfeather shot out of the den. Alderpaw raced after, his heart pounding. What had happened?

Mousewhisker and Cloudtail stood in the clearing, their pelts bushed as their Clanmates gathered around them. Sparkpaw left the m ouse she’d been eating and hurried closer. Brackenfur and Birchfall leaped to their paws, and Lionblaze, Poppy frost, and Rosepetal darted from the warriors’ den.

“What’s wrong?” Bramblestar leaped down from the Highledge. Fur spiked along his spine.

“There’s a fight inside our border!” Mousewhisker puffed.

“WindClan!” Cloudtail added, his flanks heaving.

Graystripe leaped to his paws, ears flat. “An invasion?”

“No!” Mousewhisker swung his m uzzle toward the elder. “WindClan cats are fighting rogues.”

Rogues? Alderpaw stiffened. What rogues?

Thornclaw lashed his tail. “If WindClan wants to fight rogues, they can do it on their own territory!”

Bramblestar stared at Cloudtail. “Couldn’t you have driven them off?”

Cloudtail shook his head. “There were too many of them. The rogues look vicious. I think

WindClan needs help.”

Alarm prickled through Alderpaw’s pelt. If there was a fight, there’d be wounds. What herbs would they need? Quickly he began running through the list in his head: marigold, oak leaf, goldenrod, comfrey.

Bramblestar nodded. “Cloudtail, Birchfall, Lionblaze, and Rosepetal. Come with m e.”

“I’m coming too.” Squirrelflight stepped forward.

“And m e!” Sparkpaw hurried to stand beside her mother.

“You two can guard the camp with the others,” Bramblestar told them. “Until we know what’s going on, keep the kits in the nursery.” He shot a look at Graystripe. “The elders too. It’s the easiest den to protect.”

Alderpaw’s thoughts whirled in confusion. Why was the fighting on their territory? Was WindClan attacking? Were the rogues invading?

“Alderpaw and I will come with y ou.” Jayfeather stared steadily at Bramblestar, his blind blue eyes calm. “There will be injuries.”

Alderpaw’s heart was racing. This was his first battle. Had he learned enough to help properly? Would the wounds be bad? Fear and excitem ent fizzed in his belly. “Should I fetch herbs?”

Jayfeather shook his head. “We can use what we find in the area and bring any injured cats back to camp.”

Bramblestar nodded curtly and raced for the thorn barrier. He disappeared through the tunnel, and Cloudtail chased after him, Birchfall, Lionblaze, and Rosepetal at his heels.

Alderpaw started after them, surprised as Jayfeather dodged past him and into the tunnel. He couldn’t im agine running blind, but Jayfeather burst from the camp without missing a paw step.

The patrol streaked up the rise. Jayfeather raced after them, his nose to Rosepetal’s tail. As though he could sense the forest, he leaped over roots and swerved around brambles. Alderpaw raced to keep up.

Ahead, shrieks and y owls rang through the trees.

Alderpaw’s chest burned as they reached the top of a rise near the edge of the forest.

Mousewhisker pulled up first, scram bling to a halt and looking downslope. Bramblestar stopped beside him and followed his gaze.

As Alderpaw caught up to them, he saw the fight below. His pelt bristled with shock as he took in Oatclaw, Emberfoot, Furzepelt, and Onestar clearly fighting for their lives. Screeches ripped through the air and fur flew like thistledown in the slanting sunshine. The scent of blood and fear soured the breeze.

“WindClan is outnumbered,” Birchfall gasped.

“By rogues?” Rosepetal sounded shocked.

Sometimes a loner or two passed through the forest, but it had been moons since a gang of rogues had dared cross Clan territory.

“Help them!” Yowling the order, Bramblestar charged downslope.

His Clanmates followed, fanning out as they neared the fighting cats. Bramblestar reached the rogues first. Their pelts were tattered, their tails bushed, but they twisted as nim bly as weasels as they fought. Their m usky stench reached Alderpaw’s nose as their m alicious snarls echoed am ong the trees. Bramblestar flung his paws out and hooked his claws into the pelt of a rogue.

With a yowl he hauled the tom away from Oatclaw.

Cloudtail threw him self between a tabby and Furzepelt. The rogue turned on him, hissing, and lunged, knocking Cloudtail’s legs from beneath him. Rearing, the tabby slam m ed his paws onto Cloudtail’s spine.

“Get off him!” Birchfall clam ped his jaws around the rogue’s scruff. Grunting with effort, he flung the tabby aside while Cloudtail flipped him self back onto his paws.

Rosepetal grappled with a m angy white she-cat while Birchfall aim ed sharp blows at a black she-cat. Lionblaze fell, hissing, onto a silver-gray tom.

Alderpaw watched, his claws itching to j oin in. But he had never learned battle m oves. He’d be no help. Guilt twisted in his belly.

Emberfoot reared up beside Bramblestar and began batting a m uscular white tom back through the tram pled ferns at the borderline.

Oatclaw found his paws and dived to help Rosepetal pin the white she-cat to the ground.

“Stop!” The white tom ducked away from a blow and glared at Bramblestar. At his com m and, the other rogues fell still.

Alderpaw froze. These were no ordinary rogues. His heart seem ed to j um p into his throat.

Darktail! He recognized the leader of the gang of cats that had driven Sky Clan from the gorge.

Bramblestar lashed his tail, his sharp gaze flitting from cat to cat. “Let them go,” he growled to his Clanmates.

Cloudtail released the tabby, and Rosepetal and Oatclaw backed away from the she-cat.

Lionblaze and Birchfall stood protectively in front of Emberfoot and Furzepelt. They stared at the rogues, who huddled together, their eyes glittering with hate.

Now that he could see them better, som e of the others looked fam iliar to Alderpaw, too. Rain, a long-furred gray tom ; Raven, a black she-cat. Beside them were a silver-gray tom and a shabby white she-cat. Beside them crouched a tabby, its ears flat. His hackles lifted. Where were the rest of the cats? There had been more in the gorge than this. He scanned the undergrowth anxiously. Had the rest of their group traveled to the lake too? Were they waiting to j oin in the fight?

“What is it?” Jayfeather j erked his m uzzle toward Alderpaw. “Do you know them?”

Alderpaw blinked at the medicine cat. “I-I’ve seen som e of them before,” he stam m ered.

“On the quest.” As he spoke, Darktail caught his ey e. The rogue leader glared at him, eyes flashing with m alice.

Alderpaw felt sick. He recognizes me. He fought the urge to back away as Darktail’s gaze bored into his.

“Jayfeather!” Bramblestar called up the slope. “We need help here. Som e WindClan cats are wounded.”

Jayfeather raced down the slope. Urgency tugging at his paws, Alderpaw broke away from Darktail’s glittering gaze and bounded after his m entor.

“Leave.” Bramblestar stepped toward the huddled rogues. “Before we rip the pelts from your backs.”

Alderpaw watched Darktail turn his gaze on the ThunderClan leader. Would he give in so easily?

The rogue leader snarled, his teeth showing blood as he spoke. “This won’t be the last you see of us. We have a mission here, and we know more about your so-called Clans than you think.”

Fear ran along Alderpaw’s spine like icy water as the rogue leader turned and headed away through the ferns. Growling, his campmates followed. Is he talking about what I told him at the gorge? Alderpaw shivered as he wondered whether the rogue gang had followed them back to the lake.

Bramblestar glanced around his warriors. “Who’s hurt?”

“I’m fine.” Cloudtail ran a paw over his bloody ear tip.

“Just a scratch or two,” Rosepetal reported.

Lionblaze was licking a few wounds of his own, but Alderpaw could see from where he stood that they were no more than shallow scratches.

“Alderpaw, find som e cobwebs.”

At Jayfeather’s order, he hurried to the roots of a tree where cobwebs crowded the gaps. His paws were trembling as he pulled long strips out and carried them back to Jayfeather.

The ThunderClan medicine cat was crouched over Oatclaw. The WindClan tom lay lim p, blood oozing from deep cuts along his flank. “Cover them and stop the bleeding,” Jayfeather ordered, taking a clum p of cobweb from Alderpaw and heading toward Emberfoot.

Alderpaw spread the rem aining cobwebs over Oatclaw’s wounds, packing them in where the cuts were deepest, as Jayfeather had taught him.

“Onestar is badly hurt,” Birchfall meowed, leaning over the brown tabby tom.

As Jayfeather hurried to look, Alderpaw glanced at the WindClan leader. He was on his side, his fur m atted with blood.

Alderpaw quickly finished dressing Oatclaw’s cuts. “Stay still until the bleeding eases,” he told him before turning to help Jayfeather.

Onestar lay as still as fresh-kill, a bloody wound opening the pale brown pelt below his neck.

“I’ll fetch more cobwebs.” Alderpaw gasped. “He’s blee—”

Before he could finish, a groan sounded behind him. He turned to see Furzepelt stagger, then collapse.

“Furzepelt!” Alderpaw darted toward her, his throat tightening as he saw her flanks shudder, then fall still. He sniffed her, shivering. His heart sank to see her sagging lim bs. “She’s dead!”

“Dead?” Bramblestar darted to his side, his pelt spiking.

Birchfall and Rosepetal approached slowly. Oatclaw lifted his head, his eyes round with shock as he stared at his fallen Clanmate.

Emberfoot limped closer. “They killed her?” Disbelief edged his mew.

Alderpaw looked for wounds, finding bitem arks on Furzepelt’s spine and scratches along her flank. Then he saw the ugly lum p at the back of her head. “She must have hit her head.” He scanned the ground and noticed, for the first tim e, the sharp points of deeply buried rocks j utting from the forest floor. Blood and fur clung to one nearby. He glanced toward Jayfeather.

The medicine cat hadn’t m oved. His blind eyes had turned to Onestar. Blood was pulsing from the WindClan leader’s throat.

Alderpaw touched Furzepelt’s lifeless body with his paw. There was nothing he could do for this cat, but perhaps he could help Onestar. “I’ll get cobwebs.” He headed for the tree roots.

“No.” Jayfeather’s mew was grave.

“But the bleeding!” Alderpaw darted to his m entor’s side.

The ground beneath Onestar was stained ruby red. The fur at his throat was scarlet and glistening.

Why wasn’t Jayfeather doing som ething? Alderpaw’s throat tightened with dread. “We must help him!”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Jayfeather m urm ured softly.

Alderpaw looked up. Cloudtail and Rosepetal had backed away, their eyes wide. Bramblestar hadn’t m oved. He was staring at the WindClan leader, his amber eyes as dark as night. Birchfall and Lionblaze exchanged glances as Oatclaw staggered to his paws and padded closer to his leader. Alderpaw could see him trembling.

Then Onestar gasped, as though taking his first breath after a near drowning. Shuddering, he gulped in air and opened his eyes.

Alderpaw blinked in surprise as he saw that the leader’s wound had disappeared. Blood still stained his fur, but the gash had closed as though it had never been there.

Understanding washed through him. “He lost a life,” he whispered to Jayfeather.

Jayfeather nodded.

Alderpaw swallowed. He knew that leaders had nine lives, but he’d never im agined what it must be like to lose one. Did dy ing hurt? How did it feel to come back to life?

Lionblaze looked questioningly at Oatclaw. “Has he many more?”

Oatclaw shrugged. “Only Onestar knows that.”

The WindClan leader flashed Oatclaw an angry look. Growling, he pushed him self to his paws. Oatclaw dipped his head.

Alderpaw frowned. Surely Onestar’s Clan knew. They must count each passing life. And y et a casual observer could never know how many lives a leader had left. Alderpaw searched the leader’s gaze, wondering what he would see.

Onestar lifted his chin, his gaze m urderous. Staring between the trees, he flattened his ears.

“Where have the rogues gone?”

“Away,” Bramblestar told him. “For now.”

“We must follow them.”

Bramblestar’s gaze flicked around the WindClan cats. “Furzepelt is dead,” he told Onestar softly. “Oatclaw and Emberfoot are injured. Come back to our camp, where Jayfeather and Alderpaw can treat their wounds properly.”

Onestar glanced back toward the edge of the trees, as though he hadn’t heard the ThunderClan leader. “We should go home.”

“Oatclaw and Emberfoot are in no state to travel that far right now,” Jayfeather put in.

Onestar narrowed his eyes, glancing at the injured warriors. Oatclaw was leaning against

Birchfall, blood welling on his flank. Emberfoot was staring at their fallen Clanmate, his eyes shim m ering with grief. “What about Furzepelt’s body?”

Alderpaw was surprised to see coldness in the WindClan leader’s gaze. Had losing a life robbed him of feelings? Perhaps he was num b with shock.

Bramblestar nodded to Cloudtail. “You and Rosepetal, sit with her. Make sure nothing disturbs her body until a patrol can fetch her.” He turned to Onestar, softening his mew. “Come home with us. We can take care of y ou.”

“We can take care of ourselves,” Onestar snapped.

Jayfeather snorted. “If Oatclaw doesn’t bleed to death first.”

The WindClan leader looked to where the m oor rose toward a darkening sky. A storm was m oving in. He nodded briefly. “Very well.”

“Chew up more horsetail and m arigold,” Jayfeather ordered.

Alderpaw was helping treat the injured WindClan cats in the shelter of the medicine den while the rain thrum m ed outside. He’d already m ade enough pulp to put on Oatclaw’s and Emberfoot’s wounds, and his Clanmates’ scratches, and his tongue was num b from the herbs. He wished Leafpool were here to help. Should someone warn her that dangerous rogues are in the forest?

Alderpaw had seen Darktail kill the only Sky Clan cat he’d found near the gorge. Now he’d brought his rogues here and had killed again. We have a mission here, and we know more about your so-called Clans than you think. He remembered Darktail’s words with a shudder. What in StarClan did they want? “They are so vicious,” he m uttered to him self.

Jayfeather’s ears twitched. “I haven’t seen cats like them since the Dark Forest.”

Alderpaw blinked at the medicine cat. Every kit had heard nursery tales about the Dark Forest.

His father and many of his Clanmates had fought in a battle against the evil cats who lurked there.

“Do you think that’s where they’re from?” he asked.

Jayfeather shook his head. “No. Only Clan cats find their way to the Place of No Stars, and these rogues have clearly never belonged to any Clan.”

Oatclaw was sleeping now, in a makeshift nest beside Briarlight’s, drowsy from the poppy seeds Jayfeather had given him. Emberfoot moaned softly as Jayfeather licked pulp into his wound.

Sparkpaw pushed through the trailing brambles. Her rain-soaked pelt dripped water onto the medicine-den floor. “Are they hungry?” She glanced at Oatclaw and lowered her voice. “The hunting patrol is back. There’s plenty of prey on the fresh-kill pile.”

“I want to make sure there’s no infection in these wounds before they eat,” Jayfeather told her.

“Those rogues sound hateful,” Sparkpaw com m ented. “The whole Clan is talking about them.”

Alderpaw glanced at her. Should he tell her they were the sam e rogues who’d driven Sky Clan from their home? That they might have followed them back to the lake? No. He must say nothing to Sparkpaw y et. He needed to tell Bramblestar first. He wondered if his father had already guessed where the rogues had come from. After all, it had only been a few day s since

Squirrelflight had reported that they had abandoned the gorge. Alderpaw had never im agined they’d show up by the lake. He spat the herbs he’d been chewing onto a waxy leaf and carried it to Jayfeather. “Can Sparkpaw help you for a bit?”

Jayfeather stared at him, eyes narrowed, but said nothing.

Sparkpaw sniffed. “I’m not a medicine cat.”

“You can chew, can’t y ou?” Jayfeather grunted.

“I guess.” Sparkpaw looked bem used.

“So I can go?” Alderpaw stared at Jayfeather. “It’s im portant. I won’t be long. I need to speak to Bramblestar.”

“What about?” Sparkpaw pricked her ears.

Alderpaw ignored her and kept his gaze fixed on Jayfeather.

Jayfeather nodded. “Don’t be long.”

“But if it’s som ething im portant, I want to know,” Sparkpaw fluffed out her wet fur.

Jayfeather pawed a pile of m arigold leaves toward her. “When y ou’re Clan leader, you can be the first to hear every thing. Until then, you can help by chewing these leaves.”

Muttering crossly, Sparkpaw crouched beside the medicine cat and grabbed a m outhful of herbs. “Ewww!” she gasped. “How do you stand this?”

“You get used to it.” Alderpaw nosed his way through the trailing brambles. Rain battered his face. Outside, his Clanmates were sheltering beneath the ferns edging the camp. Alderpaw could sense tension in the air. Graystripe looked out from the elders’ den. Snowbush and Ambermoon huddled beneath the thorn barrier. Cinderheart sat in the downpour, guarding the entrance to the nursery.

Bramblestar sheltered with Onestar, Lionblaze, and Birchfall beneath a j utting branch of the fallen beech. Alderpaw hurried toward them, slowing as he neared.

“Did you chase them onto ThunderClan territory?” Bramblestar asked Onestar.

“They were already on your territory.” The WindClan leader’s eyes were still dark with fury.

“They were scouting for som ething. I’m not sure what. We crossed the border to warn them off. I was planning to come and tell you once they were gone.”

Lionblaze narrowed his eyes. “But they attacked y ou.”

“Did you provoke them?” Birchfall asked.

Onestar growled. “If you mean did we ask them why they were nosing around Clan territory, then yes.”

Alderpaw caught Bramblestar’s ey e. “Can I speak to you alone?” He was aware that he was interrupting. But this was im portant.

Bramblestar’s ears twitched.

Onestar scowled at him. “What is it?”

“I need to speak with m y father.” Alderpaw m et the WindClan leader’s gaze.

Onestar growled and looked away.

Bramblestar frowned, his fur rippling uneasily. “What is it?” He guided Alderpaw quickly to a clum p of ferns sprouting near the camp entrance. They ducked beneath the browning fronds.

Alderpaw shivered as rain dripped onto his spine. “The rogues who attacked WindClan are the sam e rogues we found in the gorge.”

Bramblestar closed his eyes, sighing. “I feared as much. It was too much of a coincidence for a band of rogues to show up now.”

“Do you think they followed us home?” Guilt worm ed beneath Alderpaw’s pelt.

“Probably.” Bramblestar m et his gaze. “But you can’t blam e y ourself for what other cats choose to do.”

Alderpaw shifted his paws, wishing it were that sim ple. “Why do you think they’ve come here?” The question had been niggling in Alderpaw’s thoughts since he’d recognized Darktail.

“Darktail said he had a reason.”

Bramblestar looked away. “Who can say why rogues act like rogues? All we can do is protect our Clan.” He leaned closer to Alderpaw. “How many of them were there in the gorge?”

“I don’t know.” Alderpaw tried to remember. “But it was definitely a bigger group than the one that attacked the WindClan patrol.”

Bramblestar’s gaze darkened. “So there might be more of them in the forest.”

“Yes. Squirrelflight said that there were none left in the gorge.” Alderpaw shifted uneasily.

Was the forest full of rogues? Why had they come here? “We should warn Leafpool,” he whispered.

“We should warn all the Clans.” Bramblestar padded from the ferns and called to his Clanmates. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey j oin here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting.”

Alderpaw watched as his father leaped onto the Highledge.

Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Thornclaw padded from the warriors’ den. Whitewing, Berry nose, and Poppy frost slunk out from beneath the j uniper. Squirrelflight slid from Bramblestar’s den on the Highledge and j um ped down to stand with her Clanmates. As Jayfeather and Sparkpaw em erged from the medicine den, Dovewing and Cherry fall padded from the shelter of the fallen beech.

Dovewing glanced around. “Has any one seen Ivy pool?” Her blue eyes brim m ed with worry.

“She’s hunting with Fernsong.” Alderpaw padded to her side.

Dovewing’s pelt spiked anxiously. “I hope they don’t bum p into those rogues.”

Cherry fall pressed closer to her friend. “Ivy pool survived the Dark Forest. She can handle a few rogues.”

“I hope so.” Dovewing huddled against the rain.

Onestar wove through the crowd and stood at the front. Water stream ed down his whiskers as he lifted his face to the Highledge. “I want to take Furzepelt back to our camp so we can sit vigil.”

Jayfeather stepped forward. “Oatclaw and Emberfoot are too wounded to help carry her.

Movem ent will reopen their wounds. They should stay here for a few day s.”

Onestar glared at him. “They are warriors. They are strong. They will travel with m e.”

Unseeing, Jayfeather held the WindClan leader’s gaze. “I have an apprentice; Kestrelflight has none. Let him save his herbs and his energy for his Clanmates on the m oor. We can take care of Oatclaw and Emberfoot until they are fit to travel.”

Onestar glared at Bramblestar, whose m anner turned gentle and coaxing. “I will send a patrol home with y ou, Onestar. They can help carry Furzepelt’s body.”

Onestar’s tail flicked angrily.

Jayfeather held his ground. “You’ve lost one Clanmate today,” he meowed steadily. “Don’t risk another.”

Onestar snorted. “Very well.”

“You decide wisely, Onestar.” Bramblestar’s gaze flicked around the Clan. “Snowbush, Blossom fall, and Berry nose. Escort Onestar home. Carry Furzepelt’s body as though she were your Clanmate.”

The three warriors nodded as Bramblestar went on.

“Dangerous rogues are in the forest. We don’t know how many there are. They have shown that they are willing to fight to the death. Until we know why they are here and what they intend to do next, we must be on our guard. And we must warn ShadowClan and RiverClan of the danger.” Again he scanned the cats gathered below the Highledge. “Lionblaze. Take Cinderheart, Birchfall, Sparkpaw, and Poppy frost. Travel to RiverClan’s camp and warn Misty star about the rogues. I will take Cherry fall, Bum blestripe, Dovewing, and Storm cloud to ShadowClan to warn Rowanstar.”

“I want to come!” A tiny squeak sounded from the nursery.

Alderpaw turned as he recognized Twigkit’s mew. She was struggling out of the nursery entrance.

Cinderheart stared at the kit as she splattered onto the m uddy ground and stared up at Bramblestar.

“Please let m e come with you to ShadowClan. I want to see m y sister!”

“Don’t be m ouse-brained!” Poppy frost stared at her from the clearing.

Thornclaw snorted. “This is a patrol, not a nursery!”

Disapproving m urm urs rippled through the gathered cats.

Alderpaw pushed past his Clanmates and stopped beside Twigkit. “You’re too young to travel to ShadowClan,” he told her gently. “Especially with rogues in the forest.”

She stared up at him, her eyes as wide as an owl’s. “That’s why I have to go. I have to make sure Violetkit is safe.” She was trembling.

Cinderheart m oved closer to the kit and wrapped her tail around her. Rain was soaking Twigkit’s pelt. “Alderpaw is right,” she murmured. “You’re too young to be out in the forest. Especially in weather like this and with rogues around.”

Twigkit pulled away. “But Violetkit’s m y sister! What if they’ve hurt her? She should be with m e, where it’s safe.”

Alderpaw’s heart twisted. How would he feel if Sparkpaw were in danger? He looked up at his father. “Let me come with y ou,” he meowed. “I can check on Violetkit and speak to Leafpool while I’m there.” He glanced at Jayfeather hopefully, relieved when he saw Jayfeather nodding.

“It would be good to know how much longer Leafpool will be away,” Jayfeather agreed.

Bramblestar bowed his head. “Okay, you can come.”

Alderpaw bent down and touched his nose to Twigkit’s wet pelt. “I can’t bring Violetkit back with m e, but I can make sure she will be safe.”

Twigkit looked up at Alderpaw with wide, serious eyes. After a m om ent she leaned up to nuzzle his cheek. “Okay,” she m urm ured. “I trust y ou, Alderpaw.”

Alderpaw closed his eyes, feeling the soft fluff of Twigkit’s cheek against his own. I hope I’m worthy of your trust, Twigkit. He heaved in a breath. I hope I can make sure we will all be safe.