Chapter Four
As Thunderstar traveled toward SkyClan’s territory, he kept his ears cocked and his eyes open, watching for any sign of the dogs that had attacked ThunderClan’s camp. Scenting the air, though, he smelled nothing other than the usual musty scents of the forest.
Violet Dawn had wanted him to take a patrol with him, but he couldn’t bear to leave the camp with fewer cats to protect it while he was gone. She had made him promise, though, her gaze wide and worried, that he would be on his guard.
As Thunderstar approached the hollow where SkyClan had their camp, he caught a glimpse of silver-and-white fur moving through the bracken.
“Hey!” a voice called, and the silver-and-white cat sped toward him. “Hi! Thunderstar!”
As she burst out of the bracken, he recognized Dew Petal, one of Skystar and Star Flower’s kits. She greeted him enthusiastically, her tail high in the air. “It’s my brother!” she called, and Honey Pelt, brother of ThunderClan’s own Blue Whisker, hurried out of the bracken after her.
Thunderstar blinked, a bit startled to hear Dew Petal call him brother. Skystar had fathered both of them, of course, but Dew Petal and her sister, Flower Foot, seemed much more like Skystar’s kits than Thunderstar ever had. Warmed by their greeting, he touched noses with both Dew Petal and Honey Pelt.
“How’re you?” Dew Petal asked. “Is Violet Dawn almost ready to have her kits? How’s ThunderClan?”
“I need to talk to Skystar about that, actually,” Thunderstar told them. “Are you two out here by yourselves?”
Dew Petal puffed out her chest with pride. “Skystar asked me to help train Honey Pelt to hunt. I’m one of the best hunters in our Clan!”
The dogs must not have come near SkyClan if Skystar is letting his own kits roam the forest alone, Thunderstar thought. Skystar would certainly never put Dew Petal in danger, or Honey Pelt, who he had raised as his own after Moth Flight gave him to SkyClan.
“You’d better come to the hollow with me,” he suggested. “Will you take me to Skystar?”
Both cats happily agreed, and they chattered about the latest happenings in SkyClan as they strolled with him toward their camp. Honey Pelt asked about Blue Whisker, and Thunderstar assured him that his sister was thriving in ThunderClan. Dew Petal bragged that Skystar had praised her for managing to catch a fat squirrel yesterday despite the rain.
“Skystar said I really helped the Clan yesterday by finding a big patch of tansy for Acorn Fur to have in case any cat gets hurt,” Honey Pelt retorted.
“It sounds like you’re both important to SkyClan,” Thunderstar mewed cheerfully. But there was a strange pang in his chest as he heard about the encouragement and praise Skystar heaped on these young cats. In the brief time he had spent in SkyClan, his father had been harsh in his treatment of Thunderstar, unforgiving at any sign of disagreement or disobedience. What would it have been like to have the same kind of relationship with Skystar as his younger kits did now?
Thunderstar flicked his ears, wishing the thought away. There was no use in digging up old prey now. Fatherhood didn’t come naturally to every tom, and Skystar had improved with time.
Even if it isn’t easy at first, I can learn to be a good father, like Skystar did, Thunderstar thought. He didn’t have to be perfect right away, although he privately vowed that he would at least be better than Skystar had been to him.
As they reached the edge of the hollow, Honey Pelt ran ahead, calling for Skystar. Dew Petal paused by Thunderstar’s side.
“Can I come and see the kits when they’re born?” she asked eagerly. “They’ll be my kin, too.”
Touched by the request, Thunderstar blinked at her fondly. “Of course you can,” he said.
Skystar strode out of his den toward them, and Dew Petal slipped away to join Honey Pelt at the prey pile, waving her tail to Thunderstar in farewell. Skystar looked a little thinner than he used to, Thunderstar thought, and age had dulled some of the shine of his thick gray fur, but his shoulders were still broad and his gaze as sharp as ever.
“Thunderstar,” he said, sounding pleased. “It’s good to see you outside of a full-moon Gathering. How is everything in ThunderClan?” Thunderstar hesitated, and a gleam of anxiety came into Skystar’s eyes. “Is Violet Dawn all right? No problems with the kits?”
“No, no, Violet Dawn’s fine,” Thunderstar said. “But we had some trouble yesterday.” He told Skystar about the dogs’ attack on the ThunderClan camp. “We wanted to warn you that they may still be nearby,” he finished. “I’ve never seen such vicious dogs. We were lucky no cat was killed.”
Skystar was looking away from Thunderstar, and his tail flicked indecisively, as if he was wondering whether to tell Thunderstar something. Thunderstar narrowed his gaze, struck by an unpleasant suspicion. “Did you already know these dogs were in the forest?” he asked.
Skystar was still avoiding Thunderstar’s gaze. “We’ve been scenting dogs here and there lately, but never too close to our camp, so we haven’t been worried.”
Thunderstar lashed his tail angrily. “Close to ThunderClan’s borders, I suppose? You’re never worried about anything unless it threatens your own Clan. You could have warned us.”
There was a genuine look of regret in Skystar’s eyes when he finally raised them to meet Thunderstar’s. “Believe me, Thunderstar, I would have told you if I’d thought your Clan was in danger. The scent seemed to have been carried here on the wind from far away. I didn’t think the dogs I smelled were a threat to any of us.”
“Well, they are,” Thunderstar said, his fur still ruffled. “We’re all going to have to be alert if we want to keep our Clanmates safe.”
“Their scent was very different from the scents of the forest,” Skystar said thoughtfully. “Almost as acrid as the scent of the Thunderpath. We would have noticed an animal that smelled that strange if they had been here before.”
Thunderstar’s pelt prickled with anxiety. “So they must have come a long way. If they’re brave enough to roam that far while they’re hunting, they won’t think anything of raiding our camps. Perhaps we should find where they live and teach them a lesson so they won’t dare to come near us again.”
Skystar stared at him doubtfully, and Thunderstar went on, thinking hard. “If we could get the other Clans and all attack them together…”
Skystar cut him off, flicking his ears dismissively. “That sounds like trying to get ourselves killed. SkyClan isn’t going to attack a pack of fierce dogs on their own territory.”
Thunderstar’s tail drooped. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d back away from a fight, Skystar,” he said. “But maybe you’re right. Even all the Clan cats together might struggle to defeat these dogs. And what if there are more of them?”
“I can show you where I last caught their scent,” Skystar offered. “Maybe we can figure out where they came from.” He glanced back at the cats sunning themselves and sharing prey in the SkyClan camp. “Tell Star Flower I went with Thunderstar and I’ll be back soon,” he called to Quick Water, and the gray-and-white she-cat twitched her whiskers in acknowledgment.
Skystar led Thunderstar back through the forest. When they reached the border with ThunderClan, he hesitated. “It was around here that I scented strange dogs,” he said, turning his face to the wind.
Thunderstar sniffed, too, and caught a whiff of the acrid dog-scent. It was weak, noticeable only on the odd burst of air, and he had to admit that if this was the only hint of the dogs he had gotten, he wouldn’t have been worried enough to alert the other Clans either.