Mistystar dipped her head apologetically. “I know, Bramblestar. I’m sorry.”
“StarClan restored me,” Bramblestar went on, “and that’s all that matters, surely. And why wouldn’t they? I’m a cat who has always honored the warrior code.” His glance raked across the other leaders where they sat near him in the branches of the Great Oak. “Why are you questioning me?” he demanded.
For a few heartbeats there was an awkward silence while the other four leaders looked at one another. Shadowpaw braced himself for more argument or accusations.
“We’re not. We believe you, Bramblestar,” Leafstar meowed eventually, speaking for them all. “But—”
“Then, for now, we accept that Shadowpaw is our connection to StarClan,” Bramblestar continued, cutting off whatever Leafstar would have said. “At least until the ice on the Moonpool thaws.”
Murmurs of relief arose from the warriors in the clearing. Most of them seemed glad that a decision had been reached, though Shadowpaw was still aware of a few mistrustful looks.
He was hoping that the Gathering might end now, so that he could get away from the crowd, when Tree rose to his paws from where he sat among a group of SkyClan cats.
“Other cats besides medicine cats get visions too,” he pointed out. “We shouldn’t assume they’re making it up if they say they’ve received a message from StarClan. And it doesn’t mean that they’re dangerous.”
Why does Tree have to bring this up now? Shadowpaw wondered. He caught the eye of the apprentice Rootpaw, who was sitting beside his father. He could see that Rootpaw was giving his chest fur a few embarrassed licks, even though most other cats were for once grunting in agreement with Tree.
But Shadowpaw couldn’t forget that Tree was one of the cats he had seen in his vision of the codebreakers. Maybe StarClan isn’t as okay with “different” cats as we are.
“Thank you, Tree,” Bramblestar mewed. His tone suggested that he didn’t want to hear any more from the SkyClan tom. “And now we must discuss the way forward. Shadowpaw, you had a vision about darkness in the Clans. Is there any more you can tell us?”
A deadlier cold than the chilly air of leaf-bare crept over Shadowpaw. He hadn’t wanted even to think about this now, let alone in front of so many other cats. Besides, Tigerstar had ordered him not to say anything about his vision of the codebreakers. “No,” he lied, staring at his paws. “That’s all I know.”
“Then can any cat suggest what a ‘darkness within the Clans’ might be?” Bramblestar continued. He glanced in Shadowpaw’s direction, and Shadowpaw stared at his paws, suddenly cold. He can’t know, can he?
After the moment had passed, Shadowpaw looked up to see the Clan leaders exchanging bewildered glances. “I could have answered that when Darktail was among us,” Mistystar responded at last. “But he’s gone now, and good riddance. Unless any Clan has taken in rogues or loners since we last met?”
“Like we’re that stupid,” Tigerstar muttered.
“Has any cat seen traces of the Dark Forest cats?” Harestar asked. “Would they dare to attack us again?”
“I doubt it,” Kestrelflight, the WindClan medicine cat replied. “They learned their lesson in the Great Battle. And in any case, that wouldn’t be a darkness within the Clans.”
Shadowpaw began to breathe more freely, hoping that the whole question could be set aside, when Mosspelt, a RiverClan elder, heaved herself to her paws.
“I wonder if this message has something to do with the warrior code,” she began. “Bramblestar is right; he is a cat who has always honored it. But not every cat follows the code as strictly as they could. Not like it was in my younger days . . .” Breathing heavily, she sat down again.
Shadowpaw forced himself not to flinch as Mosspelt’s words struck at the heart of the truth. Mosspelt is wise. . . . He stole a look at his father, and saw that Tigerstar had grown utterly still.
“A good point, Mosspelt.” Bramblestar dipped his head respectfully to the RiverClan elder. “That does sound like a possibility.”
“Then does any cat want to confess to breaking the warrior code?” Harestar asked, gazing out across the crowd of cats. “Maybe if we admit our wrongdoing, it will ease the way back for StarClan.”
Shadowpaw spotted many of the cats giving one another uneasy glances, but no cat spoke up. He could feel the tension in the clearing as if a thunderstorm were about to break. The silence was deafening.
“Well, then,” Bramblestar continued, when several moments had passed, “does any cat know of another cat who has broken the warrior code? Would you like to name that cat?”
Yowls of outrage rose in the clearing at the ThunderClan leader’s words. Mistystar’s voice cut through the clamor; her blue eyes were like chips of ice as she glared at Bramblestar.
“What are you trying to get at?” she demanded. “Do we want to live in Clans where cats throw accusations around?”
While she was speaking, Shadowpaw noticed that Bramblestar’s sister, Tawnypelt, was staring at her littermate, mingled betrayal and shock showing in her face. Shadowpaw remembered the story Dovewing had told him in the nursery, of how Tawnypelt had been born in ThunderClan but had left it to join her father, the first Tigerstar, in ShadowClan. She changed Clans, just like Dovewing, Shadowpaw realized. That makes her a codebreaker, too. But is Bramblestar really encouraging some cat to report his sister?
“Not at all,” Bramblestar responded to Mistystar, his eyes wide and innocent. “All I want is to drive out the darkness that is threatening the Clans. And how can we do that, if we can’t even speak about it openly?” He paused and then continued, his tone deeper and more serious. “All of us keep talking about our connection with StarClan being broken by the cold, as if we’re assuming we’ll hear from our warrior ancestors again when the Moonpool thaws. But how do we know that will happen? It hasn’t been long since they told us they wanted us to draw closer to them. Have we done that? Have we even tried? What if StarClan isn’t ignoring us because of the cold? Who’s to say they haven’t turned away from us because too many cats aren’t following the code anymore? Maybe this ‘darkness’ is what has severed us from StarClan. Maybe that’s what’s causing this dreadfully cold leaf-bare.”
Tigerstar was gazing at Bramblestar, and Shadowpaw was alarmed at how meek his voice sounded, as if he was frightened even to speak. “Is that what StarClan told you when you lost your life?”
Bramblestar looked up at the dark sky, his muzzle twisted as if he was pondering what to say. “What StarClan told me is no cat’s concern but mine,” he replied in a low, cool voice. “I’m just posing some questions that I feel the Clans need to consider.”
Shadowpaw felt a wave of relief that Bramblestar hadn’t been told to drive out any codebreakers—especially not Tigerstar and Dovewing—but the silence that followed still made him uneasy. Every cat seemed unsure what to do.
“Don’t forget Shadowpaw’s other vision,” Bramblestar added after a moment. “The lake of fire that destroyed the Clans. That could be telling us what will happen if we get this wrong.”
A shudder passed through Shadowpaw as Bramblestar reminded him of that terrible warning. He could see fear in the eyes of every cat as they gazed at him and then turned aside to mutter to one another.
“It makes sense that StarClan might be upset about the code being broken,” Harestar meowed at last. “We’ve had some troubled times, so maybe we’ve been more forgiving than in the past. And if that’s the case, then we’d better not be so forgiving in the future.”
“Then the only way to draw closer to StarClan is . . . what?” Mistystar added. “Find cats who are breaking the code and stop them? Punish them?” She didn’t sound as if she was looking forward to the prospect.