Twilight

Chapter 15

A few wisps of cloud drifted across the sky, but the full moon floated clear of them as the ThunderClan cats crossed the tree bridge to the island. Leaping down onto the pebbly shore, Leafpool scanned the cats who were already there and spotted Ashfoot and Barkface making their way toward the line of bushes that guarded the center of the island.

WindClan are here, so where’s Crowfeather? She told herself to stop looking for him, but when she couldn’t spot him her belly clenched with disappointment. She paused in the shadow of the tree roots, tasting the air for his scent, but it was impossible to pick one out among so many mingled scents.

Tail drooping, she trudged up the slope toward the barrier of bushes. She saw Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost padding up to touch noses; amber eyes gazed into ice blue. Some unspoken message passed between them, then both cats turned and disappeared beneath the thick branches.

Leafpool felt chilled to the depths of her fur. For a moment the island vanished, and she was back in that dark forest where Tigerstar was advising his sons how to seize power. What were Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw planning?

She heard the bushes rustle as the two tabby toms pushed their way into the clearing, and she waited for the leaves to stop quivering before she followed them. Her paws tingled with the sense of danger. Was Brambleclaw plotting to take over ThunderClan, just as his bloodthirsty father had plotted so many seasons ago?

She emerged from the bushes, blinking in the shining wash of moonlight that outlined every leaf and stem.

Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost were sitting side by side in front of her, not far from the roots of the Great Oak. Leafpool was just in time to see Squirrelflight glare at them before she settled down beside Ashfur. Tawnypelt and Russetfur joined them and the four warriors greeted one another in a friendly way, as if they were remembering how they had recently fought side by side against the kittypets.

Mothwing was comfortably crouched near the edge of the clearing with her paws tucked under her, beside Cinderpelt and the other medicine cats. Leafpool padded over to her.

“Is everything okay? Have you had any more trouble with that Twoleg stuff?”

Mothwing shook her head. “Everything’s fine, thanks.

Dawnflower and her kits have gone back to the nursery, with Mosspelt to keep an eye on them. And Beechpaw is training with Blackclaw again.”

“That’s great news,” Leafpool purred, at the same moment as Littlecloud asked, “What Twoleg stuff?”

Mothwing began to tell him about the leaking green and silver liquid, while Leafpool glanced around the clearing. She flinched as she made out the lean gray-black shape of Crowfeather, sitting in a group of other WindClan cats. She had been so sure he wasn’t there! She stared at him for a few heartbeats, only tearing her gaze away when his ears twitched as if he knew he was being watched.

A yowl sounded from the branches of the Great Oak. She looked up to see Blackstar standing on a branch that jutted out over the clearing. Firestar was sitting on a branch just above him, with Leopardstar beside him. Onestar was a couple of tail-lengths away, crouched in the fork between a thick bough and the tree trunk. Ashfoot and Mistyfoot were already sitting on the roots; Russetfur bounded up to join them as Blackstar stepped forward.

“Cats of all Clans,” he began, “StarClan have brought us here again to gather in the light of the full moon. Firestar, will you begin?”

The ThunderClan leader stood up and dipped his head to Blackstar. “ThunderClan have a new apprentice,” he reported. “Ashfur is now mentor to Birchpaw.”

Not far away, Leafpool saw Ashfur give his chest fur a couple of self-conscious licks, while Squirrelflight, beside him, gazed around proudly. Birchpaw himself hadn’t come to this Gathering.

“Daisy, one of the cats from the horse place, has brought her kits to ThunderClan,” Firestar went on as soon as the meows of congratulation had died away. “I have given them permission to stay as long as they like.”

A murmur of surprise rose up in the clearing, along with one or two yowls of protest. Rowanclaw of ShadowClan sprang to his paws. “Is that wise?” he demanded. “What good will kittypets be?”

Leafpool saw her father’s neck fur bristle, then relax again as if he were trying hard to keep his temper. “Daisy isn’t exactly a kittypet,” he replied evenly. “She lived with the horses, not in the Twoleg nest. And she did a brave thing in bringing her kits to us so the Twolegs couldn’t take them away.”

Rowanclaw flicked his tail. “They’ll never be warriors.”

“You don’t know that,” Firestar meowed, with a glance at Cloudtail, who was sitting near the roots of the Great Oak.

“A good warrior doesn’t have to be forestborn, just as being forestborn doesn’t guarantee being a good warrior. Daisy is settling in well, and her three kits will be apprenticed as soon as they’re old enough. They’ll soon learn the warrior code.”

“Maybe,” grunted Rowanclaw, sitting down again.

Leafpool was close enough to hear him mutter to Oakfur, “Why do we expect him to understand the importance of being Clanborn? Firestar would fill the forest with kittypets if he could.”

Oakfur twitched his ears. “You’ve got to admire him,” he mewed. “You think Blackstar would turn down the chance to have three extra warriors for the Clan?”

Rowanclaw just snorted.

While Leafpool was listening to the ShadowClan warriors she had missed the end of her father’s report. When she started paying attention again, Leopardstar was on her paws.

“Twolegs left poison in our territory,” she meowed. “Ivytail and one of our kits died, but all our other cats are recovering, thanks to Mothwing—and Leafpool, who came to help us from ThunderClan.”

Her gaze swept the clearing and fixed on Leafpool; the RiverClan leader dipped her head in a gesture of thanks before she sat down again. Embarrassed to be praised in front of every cat, Leafpool studied her paws.

“ShadowClan has reason to thank ThunderClan too,” Blackstar began, going on to recount what had happened.

Leafpool knew how hard it must be for him to admit that his Clan hadn’t been able to deal with the trouble without ThunderClan’s help, but at least he didn’t try to hide the debt he owed. “Since then the kittypets have stayed inside the Twoleg garden,” he finished.

Onestar jumped to his paws. “What sort of a Clan leader are you?” he growled. “Aren’t you ashamed that you needed help from another Clan? You too,” he added, rounding on Leopardstar. “RiverClan has its own medicine cat. Why do you have to go crawling to ThunderClan?” He ignored the muttering that broke out below him as he glared at Firestar.

“It’s time ThunderClan stopped paying so much attention to what’s happening in the other Clans. Your warriors ignore our boundaries and think they can tell every cat what to do.

We all made the journey here together, and ThunderClan is no stronger than any other.”

Before Firestar could reply, Cloudtail leapt up. His white pelt was bristling, his tail fluffed out to twice its size. “You were glad enough for ThunderClan’s help when WindClan were starving,” he snarled.

“That was different,” Onestar retorted.

“Exactly.” Firestar’s voice was quiet, but full of authority.

“Back then, we had to join together to survive what the Twolegs were doing to the forest. I don’t believe StarClan would want us to stop helping each other now.”

“They would, if it meant keeping the Clans separate,” Onestar insisted. “There have always been four Clans. Every kit knows that.”

More protests broke out. “WindClan would have been destroyed without us!” Dustpelt yowled.

Onestar took a pace forward, his claws scraping on the bark. “Look up at the moon!” he rasped. “Do you see clouds covering it? No, it’s shining brightly—and that means StarClan agrees with what I’m saying.”

“No cat has ever claimed there shouldn’t be four Clans,” Firestar defended himself. “But that doesn’t mean StarClan want us to turn our backs on each other when trouble comes.”

“I can see why you would say that,” Onestar hissed. “You think your Clan is the strongest and make sure to prove it to the rest of us whenever you get a chance.”

“Mouse dung!” Blackstar growled. “ThunderClan helped us once. If they set paw on our territory without an invitation, they’ll find out just how strong we are.”

Leafpool dug her claws into the ground. Why couldn’t the other leaders see that Firestar was right? Even if there were four Clans, that didn’t mean they couldn’t help each other in a crisis. She turned to Cinderpelt, but before she could ask her mentor what she thought, she felt a light touch on her shoulder. Drawing in her breath sharply, she looked around to see Crowfeather crouching in the shadows at the edge of the clearing.

“I have to talk to you!” he whispered, jerking his head in the direction of the bushes.

Cinderpelt was staring up at the Clan leaders. Cautiously Leafpool slid backward until the shadows engulfed her, too.

An overhanging branch screened them from the cats in the clearing as they pushed their way through the encircling bushes. Together they retreated a few pawsteps toward the shore of the island until they could put a jutting rock between themselves and the Gathering place.

“What happened to you?” Crowfeather’s eyes looked hurt.

“Why didn’t you meet me that night?”

Leafpool swallowed nervously. “Don’t be angry with me,” she pleaded. “I couldn’t come. I had to help Mothwing.”

Crowfeather lashed his tail. “It’s no good, stealing moments together like this,” he murmured. “I never get to see you.”

“I know. I feel the same. But Crowfeather, I’m a medicine cat…” Leafpool knew this was her chance to tell Crowfeather that there was no point in loving her. But here, standing beside him, her pelt brushing his, his scent flooding over her, she couldn’t begin to find the right words.

For a moment her guilt and anxiety faded. She felt as though nothing mattered except being close to him, gazing into his burning amber eyes.

“I know there are problems,” Crowfeather went on, scraping the earth with his claws. “You’re a medicine cat, and we’re in different Clans. The whole of the warrior code is against us. But there must be a way.”

Leafpool blinked at him. “How?” All their difficulties came rushing back until she felt trapped by them.

The gray-black warrior was so tense she could almost see lightning playing around his fur. “I wish we could just escape everything!” he burst out. “Clans, traditions, all the rules and boundaries… I want to get away from all of it!”

“Escape?” Leafpool echoed. “Do you mean—go away?”

Was Crowfeather really suggesting they could leave their Clans and the lives they had known ever since they were kits?

She would have to say good-bye to her mother and father, to Squirrelflight and Sorreltail, and to her mentor, Cinderpelt.

More than that, she would have to give up her life as a medicine cat. Pain twisted in her belly. How could she face never again walking in dreams with StarClan, never seeing Spottedleaf, never healing her Clanmates with the help of her warrior ancestors?

Crowfeather nudged her. “Leafpool?”

Unhappily she shook her head. “We can’t leave our Clans.

That’s not the answer.”

“I don’t know what the answer is, either.” He broke off with a hiss.

Leafpool realized that the sounds of argument from the clearing had died away; they could just hear Blackstar drawing the meeting to a close.

“It’s time to go,” Crowfeather muttered. “Tomorrow, at sunhigh, go and collect herbs by the stream near the stepping stones. I’ll come and talk to you there. Please.”

Without waiting for her reply he whipped around and skirted the bushes until he reached his Clanmates as they made for the tree bridge.

Leafpool waited for a few heartbeats before creeping back through the branches into the clearing. It didn’t look as if any cat had noticed her leaving to talk to Crowfeather. The medicine cats were still huddled together on the edge of the bushes. Leafpool padded over to join them.

“I’ve had the same dream again and again,” Littlecloud was meowing anxiously. “Warnings of danger to come… yet StarClan never tell me what the danger is.” He glanced anxiously from cat to cat. “Have any of you had a clearer sign?”

Leafpool didn’t look at Mothwing. There were now two medicine cats whose dreams were closed off to StarClan. Her warrior ancestors certainly hadn’t sent her the dream of the dark forest where she had seen Tigerstar and his sons. She couldn’t let any cat know she hadn’t received the dreams Littlecloud was describing, and she hoped that Cinderpelt wouldn’t ask her directly.

Mothwing broke the silence. “I don’t know what any of these dreams mean,” she mewed. Leafpool realized how careful she was being not to reveal her lack of faith in StarClan.

“But we should warn our Clan leaders to be alert for danger.”

Cinderpelt dipped her head approvingly. “Good idea.”

“But what sort of danger?” Barkface asked with a twitch of his whiskers. “WindClan hasn’t seen much that could threaten us since we moved in, unless you count the fox, and that was quickly dealt with.”

“We had the problem with the Twoleg poison,” meowed Mothwing. Glancing at Leafpool, she added, “But StarClan sent a special warning about that.”

“And we had trouble with the kittypets.” Littlecloud nodded to Cinderpelt. “ThunderClan helped us sort that out, so StarClan wouldn’t still be sending dreams about it.”

“There must be another danger,” Cinderpelt decided.

“Something that hasn’t come yet, and something that could affect every Clan.”

“All of us must keep watch for signs,” Barkface rumbled.

“Maybe by the time of the half moon StarClan will have shown us something more.”

His words were the signal for them to leave. The clearing was almost empty as the last of the cats made their way out through the bushes. Leafpool emerged to find the stretch of shore beside the tree bridge crowded with cats milling around the roots, waiting for their turn to cross.

Leafpool let her gaze travel over them; when she spotted Crowfeather, she felt as if a bolt of lightning had ripped through her fur.

The WindClan warrior sprang nimbly onto the tree trunk and began making his way to the shore, balancing easily with his tail straight up in the air. Leafpool hardly knew how she stopped her paws from dashing after him, even though they were surrounded by cats from every Clan.

StarClan, help me! she begged. I don’t know what to do!