“Can’t you just talk to her?” Dovepaw looked pleadingly from Jayfeather to Lionblaze. “Tell her she can’t go. She might listen to you.”
Lionblaze ran his tail along Dovepaw’s spine. “Do you really think she’d listen?”
Dovepaw’s heart sank. No. Ivypaw seemed convinced that Tigerstar was making her a great warrior. She’d never give that up.
“Besides,” Jayfeather sat down and tucked his tail over his paws, “we need her in the Dark Forest more than ever.”
Lionblaze’s attention flashed toward his brother. “Why?”
“Yellowfang visited me and warned me that we must fight the Dark Forest alone.”
Lionblaze cocked his head. “Alone?”
“All the medicine cats are being told the same thing. We must cut all ties to other Clans and face the danger alone.”
“Do the other Clans know about the Dark Forest warriors?” Lionblaze flattened his ears.
“No.” Jayfeather shifted his paws. “StarClan seems to know, but they’re keeping it from the medicine cats.”
“Why?” Dovepaw demanded.
“They might not want to scare them.” Jayfeather shrugged. “They might simply not know who to trust anymore.”
“Why don’t you tell the medicine cats?” Dovepaw asked.
“Yellowfang ordered me to keep my mouth shut.” Jayfeather shifted his paws. “And when I tried to warn Kestrelflight and Willowshine, I had a vision.”
“What was it?” Lionblaze leaned closer.
“StarClan froze in front of me and shattered like ice until there was nothing left. StarClan was destroyed.”
Dovepaw stared at him. “So we’re on our own?”
Jayfeather shrugged. “ThunderClan has the Three, so ThunderClan must be the one to survive.”
Lionblaze began to pace. “So I’m supposed to fight this battle for everyone?” The tip of his tail flicked angrily. “Great StarClan, why can’t I just have a normal life like any other cat?”
Dovepaw frowned. She thought Lionblaze liked being part of the prophecy. Why was he suddenly acting like he didn’t want to be so powerful? He had always encouraged her to embrace her own powers, and at last she was beginning to enjoy them. Thanks to her super senses she could hear Tigerheart wherever he was. She could hear him hunting with his Clanmates; she could listen to his breathing as he fell asleep in his nest… She jerked her thoughts back. This wasn’t the time to think about Tigerheart. “But why does Ivypaw have to keep visiting the Dark Forest?” she demanded.
“We need to know what they’re up to,” Jayfeather told her.
“We know what they’re up to,” Dovepaw retorted.
“But we don’t know when they plan to strike, or if they’re behind this plan to divide the Clans.” Jayfeather leaned closer to Dovepaw. “Ivypaw could find out for us.”
Dovepaw flinched away. “You want her to spy? Don’t you think she’s in enough danger already? If Tigerstar found out she was spying, StarClan knows what he’d do to her.” Sickness welled in her throat. “No! There’s no way you’re going to put Ivypaw through that. Not even if the whole Clan depends on it!”
She spun around, spraying snow, and stormed through the bracken. Lionblaze and Jayfeather didn’t care about Ivypaw at all! She was just a way of getting what they wanted. First they wanted to use me, and now they want to use Ivypaw.
Pulsing with rage, Dovepaw raced to the top of the slope. The trees thinned at the crest, and she saw the lake below, glittering under a clear blue sky. She might as well use her anger to help her Clan. Plunging down the snowy slope, she headed for the lake. She would hunt.
Where the shore stretched toward the forest stream, Dovepaw picked up the scent of prey. She stopped, her paws aching with cold, and tasted the air.
Water vole.
She padded forward, dipping her nose to sniff the ground. She soon picked up the scent in the snow and saw tracks. Treading lightly, she followed the tiny paw prints along the shore to where the trees lined the stream as it flowed into the lake. After hopping onto the bank, she snuffled her way upstream, weaving through the trees until she spotted the vole—a small, dark shape crouched beside the water. It was focused on the morsel grasped between its front paws.
Dovepaw dropped into a hunting crouch and pulled herself across the snow, keeping her tail and belly high to stop her fur from brushing loudly against the powdery whiteness. She crept closer. The vole kept nibbling, oblivious to the danger. Dovepaw stopped above it. She waggled her hindquarters, then plunged down the bank.
The vole felt warm and fat between her paws, and she finished it off with a sharp, killing bite. Fragrant and limp, it hung in her claws. Her mouth watered from the scent. It was the best piece of fresh-kill she’d seen in days.
“Well done!” Ivypaw called from the opposite bank. Her silver-and-white fur was camouflaged against the snow. She splashed through the shallow, freezing water and scrambled onto the shore beside Dovepaw. “Nice catch.”
Dovepaw wrinkled her nose. Ivypaw’s fur was still matted with herb pulp. Then she noticed that Ivypaw’s eyes were feverishly bright. “You should be resting in camp,” she mewed. “Didn’t Jayfeather say those scratches were infected?”
Ivypaw bristled. “So?” She lifted her muzzle. “They’ve got ointment on.”
“I wasn’t criticizing,” Dovepaw mewed quickly. “I’m just worried about you.” She dropped her catch in front of Ivypaw. “Here, have a bite.” She didn’t want to argue with her sister.
Ivypaw shook her head. “That would be against the warrior code,” she pointed out.
“Just take a small bite,” Dovepaw urged. “You look starving. I’ll say it got damaged in the hunt.”
Ivypaw narrowed her eyes. “No, thank you,” she growled. “I’m not the one who likes breaking the warrior code.”
“What?” Dovepaw stared at her in surprise.
“I’m not the one who disappears at night to meet a ShadowClan warrior.”
Dovepaw’s heart seemed to drop in her chest like a stone. Ivypaw knows about Tigerheart! “How did you find out?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t smell him on you?” Ivypaw’s tail lashed. “Not very loyal, is it? Spending every night with a tom from another Clan?”
Dovepaw stiffened. “At least we’re not putting anyone in danger.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Every time you go to the Dark Forest, you betray your Clanmates.”
“That’s not true!” Ivypaw hissed. “I’m learning to be a great warrior so I can help my Clan!”
“Yeah, right!” Dovepaw snapped scornfully. “Just like Tigerstar. He was a great warrior!”
“He was!”
“He became ShadowClan’s leader. He tried to kill Firestar!” How could Ivypaw be so dumb?
Ivypaw glared at her, eyes cold as ice. “Aren’t you going to ask how I recognized his smell?”
Dovepaw blinked, confused. “What?”
“Don’t you think it’s odd how easily I recognized Tigerheart’s scent?”
Dovepaw froze, her blood draining into her paws. She remembered the look Ivypaw and Tigerheart had shared in battle.
“H-how did you know?” Dovepaw cringed beneath her pelt. She didn’t want to hear the answer. She didn’t want to hear that Tigerheart had been seeing Ivypaw, too. That he’d lied to her. That she wasn’t the only ThunderClan cat that occupied his thoughts.
“I meet him almost every night,” Ivypaw crowed.
“You can’t; he’s with me!”
“Not all night.”
Dovepaw backed away. “Don’t say that! He likes me, not you. Have you been following him? Find your own mate! Leave him alone!”