Leaves crunched beneath their paws. Jaypaw shivered, feeling the first chill of leaf-fall. He pressed closer to Hollypaw as they headed for WindClan territory, following the familiar route down to the lake. They had to cross WindClan’s part of the shore to reach the island. If they kept within two tail-lengths of the water, WindClan had no right to challenge them. Yet the warriors fell silent as they crossed the border and hurried over the shingle.
“Any sign of WindClan?” Jaypaw whispered.
“Not yet.” Hollypaw’s pelt felt spiky against his.
Water suddenly lapped Jaypaw’s legs. He stumbled in surprise. They didn’t usually skirt the lake this closely.
“Don’t worry,” Hollypaw soothed. “Firestar’s just being careful that no cat can accuse us of straying onto WindClan land.”
The warriors splashed through the shallows, and Jaypaw gritted his teeth, hating the feel of the water on his paws. He tasted the air. Fresh WindClan scents were blowing down from the moorland.
“They’re coming,” Hollypaw warned.
Jaypaw tensed. “Toward us?”
“No. They’re far up the hillside and heading toward the island.”
At the tree-bridge, Hollypaw jumped onto the fallen trunk first and let her tail dangle down. Jaypaw reached up with his paws, feeling for it. He felt the soft tip brush his pads and knew instantly where to jump.
“Thanks,” he puffed, scrambling through the leaf less fallen branches.
The trunk was slippery, its bark shredded and peeling away.
Jaypaw padded after Hollypaw, putting one paw carefully in front of the other until his nose brushed his sister’s tail.
She had stopped where the trunk splayed out in tangled roots. The shingle crunched as she jumped down onto the shore.
This was the hardest part. Jaypaw took a breath and leaped after her. As always the shingle hit his paws suddenly, but this time he didn’t need to stumble to regain his balance.
“Nice landing,” Hollypaw purred.
Their Clanmates were streaming through the undergrowth, making it swish as they disappeared into the trees.
Jaypaw nosed his way through and followed Hollypaw through the soft swaths of fern. As they emerged on the other side, a barrage of scents hit his nose. WindClan and RiverClan were already here. He wrinkled his nose. No sign of ShadowClan.
The ThunderClan cats padded to one side of the clearing, keeping close together.
“Everyone’s keeping to themselves,” Hollypaw observed.
Jaypaw tasted the air. She was right: There was no mingling of scents. RiverClan sat upwind in a tight group. WindClan paced restlessly near them, but didn’t break ranks.
“I’m surprised RiverClan and WindClan aren’t sharing tongues,” Lionpaw muttered. His muscles were tight as though ready for battle.
“Where are ShadowClan?” Poppyfrost mewed anxiously.
“I hope they come soon,” fretted Honeyfern.
A growl suddenly rumbled in Lionpaw’s throat.
“Quiet!” Ashfur snapped.
Lionpaw fell silent, but Jaypaw could sense rage pulsing from his brother’s pelt, hot as the sun.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing his other senses on Lionpaw. He sensed hatred shooting from his brother like a shaft of light, and, concentrating harder, he realized he could follow its path into the defensive cluster of WindClan cats.
It ended at Heatherpaw; Jaypaw recognized the tone of her mew and her faint honey scent. He flicked his tail in surprise.
Lionpaw’s hatred was so strong he was surprised Heatherpaw couldn’t feel it burning her pelt. But the WindClan apprentice certainly sensed something; she was weaving self-consciously among her Clanmates, betraying unease with every step.
Bushes rustled at the far edge of the clearing. ShadowClan must be arriving. Jaypaw tasted the air, and was startled by the scent. This wasn’t a full-size Gathering patrol. It was just—“It’s just Blackstar and Sol!” Hollypaw’s mew was barely more than a whisper.
“Where are the rest of them?” hissed a WindClan cat from the far side of the clearing.
“And who in StarClan’s name is that?” came a murmur from the RiverClan cats.
All the Clans shifted anxiously as the ShadowClan leader padded to the center of the clearing. Sol followed, trotting lightly over the sandy earth.
Jaypaw was surprised by the sense of calm flowing from Blackstar’s pelt. The ShadowClan leader had seemed so lost and worried when they’d seen him in the camp. What had happened?
“I bring news,” Blackstar began.
“I hope ShadowClan’s all right,” Hollypaw whispered.
“Shh!” Brackenfur silenced her as Blackstar went on.
“ShadowClan will no longer attend Gatherings.”
An astonished silence fell on the clearing. Whatever the other cats had been expecting, this wasn’t it.
“We no longer believe that StarClan hold all the answers.
It was living cats who found the lake. It is living cats that hunt prey to keep themselves alive, and it was a living cat who predicted that the sun would vanish.”
He means Sol.
Onestar was stunned. “He predicted the sun would disappear?”
Amazement flooded through the cats like water washing through grass.
“I did no more than warn it would happen.” Sol’s mew was humble.
“How did you know?” Leopardstar demanded.
“How did you not know?” Sol answered. “You, after all, are the ones who share with StarClan.”
Barkface stepped forward. “They didn’t warn us.”
“And they didn’t warn me,” Sol meowed. “I merely followed my instinct and listened to my own voice of experience. You, of course, are entitled to believe in whatever you want…”
“What’s he saying?” Hollypaw gasped. “Does he think beliefs can be chosen like prey from the fresh-kill pile?” Her pelt seared Jaypaw’s where they touched. He flinched from her, lost in his own disappointment.
Sol was meant to be helping us! What is he doing with ShadowClan?
There was the sound of soft paw steps padding over the dry ground.
“They’re leaving.” Lionpaw sighed. “I guess that means Sol isn’t going to help us after all.”
As Blackstar and Sol swished away through the ferns, frightened whispers broke out among the Clans.
“Who was he?”
“Where did he come from?”
“Can it be true?”
Jaypaw felt his own Clan move restlessly around him, their pelts sparking with fear as they brushed against one another.
Firestar had padded to the middle of the clearing. “We must stay calm,” he called to all of them.
“Calm?” Onestar’s mew was filled with contempt. “Even you can’t change this, Firestar.”
Firestar bristled with anger. “I never said I could!”
“We mustn’t quarrel.” Leopardstar stepped in. “This is too important. We are three Clans now.”
“Three Clans!” Ashfoot gasped. The WindClan deputy paced around the leaders. “But there have always been four.”
“If ShadowClan rejects StarClan,” Mistyfoot ventured, “does that mean they can no longer be warriors?”
“Have they given up the warrior code?” Hollypaw’s breath was coming in fast gulps.
They’ve given up more than the code. Jaypaw glanced at the sky.
“Is the moon still shining?”
“It’s bright and clear,” Lionpaw assured him.
What is StarClan doing? Don’t they care what has happened?
“These are troubling times,” Leopardstar meowed. “We cannot even trust the sun to shine. Is it so surprising that Blackstar has lost faith in StarClan?”