“This is Hawkwing,” Twigpaw meowed to her sister, feeling as if her excitement was going to bubble out of her like a mountain spring bursting from the rocks. “He’s the deputy of SkyClan—and he’s our father!”
Violetpaw halted in front of him, her jaws gaping with astonishment. Hawkwing leaned forward and gently touched noses with her.
“I never hoped to have both my kits close to me,” he mewed, his amber eyes shining with delight. “This must be a sign from StarClan, that kin should stay together, always. You can help me rebuild SkyClan!”
Just as he was speaking, a rush of paw steps sounded behind Twigpaw. Turning, she saw Alderheart dashing up to them, with Leafpool, Jayfeather, and the other medicine cats following him through the thorn tunnel.
“Violetpaw!” he exclaimed. “You’re okay!” He pressed his muzzle into her shoulder, then raised his head to look at Hawkwing. Twigpaw could see that his joy and excitement at seeing her sister was mingled with uncertainty.
“Have you discussed this with Bramblestar?” he asked. Clearly, he had overheard Hawkwing’s last words.
“Bramblestar isn’t here,” Hawkwing replied. “He and the other leaders took some cats over to RiverClan. Why—is there a problem?”
“There may be,” Alderheart replied, clearly choosing his words with care. “Twigpaw and Violetpaw have allegiance to other Clans.”
“But—” Hawkwing began to protest.
“There’s no need to worry about that just now,” Alderheart went on rapidly. “Violetpaw, you look so skinny and exhausted. You need to come to the medicine-cat den and have some juniper to build up your strength. Twigpaw, can you fetch her something from the fresh-kill pile?”
He padded off with Violetpaw, his tail resting on her shoulders.
Before Twigpaw could go to fetch prey for her sister, Hawkwing asked her, “Do you both have real allegiances to the other Clans? Obviously, you’re grateful to ThunderClan and ShadowClan for taking you in and raising you, but… I am your kin. Surely that’s more important?”
At first Twigpaw couldn’t think how to reply. She dipped her head, unwilling to meet her father’s gaze.
“You have SkyClan blood in you,” Hawkwing continued. “You’re SkyClan cats. Twigpaw—”
“It’s all too much to take in,” Twigpaw interrupted desperately. “And I’m not sure what I want to do.”
She could hardly bear to see the look of disappointment in her father’s amber eyes. She wanted to find the words to console him, but she had no idea how to do that.
“I’d better fetch the fresh-kill,” she mumbled, and bounded off before her father could say any more.
As Twigpaw was choosing a vole from the fresh-kill pile, more cats began to pour in through the thorn tunnel, with Bramblestar in the lead. Rowanstar, Leafstar, and the ThunderClan and ShadowClan warriors followed him. All of them looked exhausted.
Squirrelflight, who had been watching over the camp from the Highledge, bounded down the tumbled rocks to meet the returning cats in the center of the clearing. Other warriors gathered around eagerly.
“Is everything okay?” Squirrelflight asked.
“More or less,” Bramblestar replied. “We saw nothing of the rogues, but you wouldn’t believe the mess they’ve left behind them in RiverClan! The camp is in a disgusting state—I can’t imagine what it was like to live there.”
Leafstar shook her head. “It doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “He and his cats destroyed the gorge after they drove us out. He has no respect for the Clans, or how we live.”
Rowanstar shook his head. “Indeed he doesn’t.”
“Mistystar and her warriors have stayed behind to start rebuilding,” Whitewing added. “But they’re going to continue living in our camp for a while longer, until they’ve cleared away the worst of the debris.”
Rowanstar stepped forward, puffing out his chest. “I feel responsible for Darktail, that mange-ridden scourge of the forest,” he announced. “Now I know what I must do: return to my territory and rid it of that terrible rogue cat once and for all.”
Yowls of agreement rose from the rest of the warriors. Twigpaw could see their eyes gleaming with enthusiasm, and their fur bristling with the anticipation of a battle to come.
“But not alone!” Bramblestar raised his voice to make himself heard, and the fervent voices died into silence. “This burden cannot fall on one cat, or one Clan,” the ThunderClan leader continued. “All cats, all Clans, must unite and do their part.”
“SkyClan is behind you,” Leafstar said solemnly. “Many of our cats would welcome the opportunity to fight Darktail again, after everything he’s put us through.”
Rowanstar nodded at her. “ShadowClan feels the same,” he said. “That flea-pelt nearly tore our Clan apart. It’s time for him to leave.”
“Bramblestar is right.” A quiet voice broke into the discussion, and Twigpaw saw that Alderheart had emerged once more from the medicine-cat den and padded forward to stand beside his father.
“All cats, all Clans, must unite,” he repeated. “According to StarClan, none of our efforts will succeed unless we involve one more Clan…”
Chapter 19
A stiff breeze blew across the moorland, bringing with it the distant scent of cats. Violetpaw’s fur was flattened to her sides as she climbed the hill, and she felt her eyes begin to water. The chill air of dawn probed deep into her pelt, but her sense of anticipation warmed her through and through.
Another day had passed while the Clan leaders made their plans. “We need to confront Onestar,” Bramblestar had meowed, “but we must be very careful how we do it.”
“Yes.” Rowanstar was in agreement for once. “If Onestar feels we’re trying to intimidate him, he’ll dig his claws in all the harder.”
In the end, the leaders had decided to send the Clan deputies to meet with Onestar. “He won’t see us as so much of a threat,” Squirrelflight had pointed out. “And as the only leader present, he’ll feel more important.”
“Why not send Twigpaw and Violetpaw too?” Leafstar had suggested. “They both have stories to tell, and they’ll remind Onestar of the prophecy, and how vital it is to clear the sky.”
So this morning, Squirrelflight, Tigerheart, Reedwhisker, and Hawkwing had set out, along with Violetpaw and Twigpaw. Reedwhisker was still recovering from his time in Darktail’s prison, but he insisted that he was strong enough for the journey to WindClan.
“My paws will take me anywhere if it means I can help get rid of that mange-pelt Darktail!” he declared.
Violetpaw was immensely grateful to the SkyClan leader for suggesting that she and Twigpaw be part of the mission to WindClan. Her paws wanted to skip along, and she had to keep reminding herself that this was a serious undertaking.
As she padded along beside her father, Violetpaw noticed that he was glancing from side to side, his amber gaze taking in every detail of the moorland.
“Are you worried WindClan will attack us?” she asked him.
“Actually, no,” Hawkwing replied. “I was working out how likely it would be for a cat to even get attacked on such an open space. You can see so far… and there are so few places for an attacker to take cover.”
Violetpaw exchanged a glance with Twigpaw, who was walking on their father’s other side. She could see from her sister’s slightly worried air that Twigpaw was sharing her thoughts.
Is Hawkwing scouting out territory for SkyClan? But surely he won’t want to take WindClan’s… will he?