Even worse trouble, after today, Alderheart reflected, a terrible thought filling his mind. A thought he could barely believe possible. Is this the end of ShadowClan?
“I think we all know what we need to discuss tonight,” Mistystar announced, after Bramblestar had called for attention from the cats in the clearing. “Onestar, what got into you this morning? You cost us the battle when you fled and took your cats with you. And RiverClan took the worst of the damage.”
“So you say,” Onestar snapped.
“And how would you know?” Mistystar flashed back at him. “You weren’t there, you coward! Perchwing was killed, and many more of my warriors were injured. All to solve a problem we did nothing to cause!”
Alderheart was startled. He hadn’t realized that any cat had died in the battle. Now he understood even better the scathing contempt in Mistystar’s eyes and voice as she faced the WindClan leader.
“Perhaps I should do the same as you,” Mistystar went on, “and just close my borders when I don’t agree with other Clans. It would certainly be easier than fighting their battles for them!”
“Mistystar, no cat wants you to do that,” Bramblestar broke in, clearly trying to stay calm. “But we certainly don’t blame you for feeling as you do. Onestar, in StarClan’s name, why did you order your cats to retreat?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Onestar meowed defensively, his neck fur bristling. “I had my reasons.”
“Yes,” Rowanstar growled, “that you’re a coward.”
“I am not! But I shouldn’t have to see my Clan destroyed rescuing ShadowClan from its own incompetence. My only responsibility is to WindClan.”
But he didn’t retreat to save his Clan, Alderheart thought. From what Twigpaw told me, he gave the order because of something Darktail told him. Onestar is hiding something, and I would really like to know what it is.
“But you gave your word that you would help us drive out the rogues,” Rowanstar meowed. “And then you broke that word. How can any cat trust you again?”
“You’re a fine one to talk!” Onestar snarled. “You and the ShadowClan cats with you were trying to protect your former Clanmates, the cats you were supposed to be fighting! Don’t blame me for losing the battle!”
Rowanstar’s shoulders sagged and his tail drooped, but there was still pride in his tone as he replied. “That is true, Onestar—but I do not believe that we lost our honor because we could not bring ourselves to attack our true Clanmates. Once the rogues are driven out, ShadowClan—”
“Thanks to you and Onestar,” Mistystar interrupted, her voice full of bitterness, “right now the rogues don’t seem anywhere close to being driven out. First of all we held back from getting rid of them because of the prophecy that told us to embrace what lay in the shadows.”
“And every Clan agreed with that,” Rowanstar pointed out.
Mistystar sniffed disdainfully. “It was ShadowClan who assumed they should let strange cats move onto their territory! If you ask me, Rowanstar, you brought this on yourself.”
“But—” Rowanstar began.
“We’ve waited too long to drive out the rogues,” Mistystar retorted. “Perhaps we were once confused by the prophecy, but its meaning seems clear now: the rogues are not ‘what you find in the shadows.’ The rogues are what we must drive out to clear the sky!”
Rowanstar had no answer to that, and in the moment’s silence that followed, Mallownose of RiverClan sprang to his paws.
“But how?” he asked. “The lost kits that ShadowClan and ThunderClan took in don’t seem to be part of the prophecy, either,” he pointed out. “We thought that by embracing them, we would find the answer. But they’ve been with the Clans even longer, and things here beside the lake are only getting worse.”
Alderheart cast an unfriendly look at the RiverClan tom, his neck fur beginning to bristle. Violetpaw and Twigpaw were innocent kits! You can’t expect them to solve a problem like Darktail.
At the same time, Alderheart could not help feeling frustrated. I know what the prophecy is about—SkyClan! I just have to convince Bramblestar.
Arguments were springing up all over the clearing, drowning out the voices of the Clan leaders. The cats sounded increasingly desperate, worrying about what the prophecy might mean.
“What if the sky never clears?” some cat wailed plaintively.
Snarls and hisses rose up around Alderheart. Cats were leaping up, their fur fluffed out and their ears flattened in rage. He felt that, at any moment, the truce of the Gathering might be broken.
“Jayfeather, we have to—” he began.
Before he could get more words out, Alderheart realized that the light in the clearing was growing dim. Looking up, he saw that a cloud had begun to drift across the moon, obscuring the shining silver circle.
“Look at the moon!” Bramblestar’s voice rose above the clamor in the clearing. “StarClan is angry! This Gathering is at an end.”
Instantly the four leaders jumped down from the Great Oak and began to call their Clans together. The hostile snarling died away as the cats glanced anxiously up at the darkening sky and hurried to leave the island across the tree-bridge. But they still glared at one another; there were none of the friendly farewells that marked the end of an ordinary Gathering.
Alderheart felt uneasy. He wished the Gathering had lasted long enough for the Clans to work out their differences.
But then, he reflected, that probably wouldn’t have happened if we’d kept on arguing all night.
This rift between the Clans was too deep to be easily healed. It made him more certain than ever that he had to persuade Bramblestar to tell the other Clans the truth. For the sake of SkyClan, too, he added to himself, remembering the wretched cats from his vision.
Alderheart was unable to relax until his Clan had crossed the bridge and was heading back to ThunderClan along the WindClan lakeshore. Then he slipped away from Jayfeather and quickened his pace until he caught up to Bramblestar at the head of the group.
“May I speak to you?” he asked.
Bramblestar blinked at him in surprise. “Yes, of course,” he replied. “If you have anything useful to say about this mess, I want to hear it.”
“I think the time has come to tell the other Clans about SkyClan,” Alderheart began. “No, please listen to me,” he continued, when Bramblestar looked as if he was about to protest. “SkyClan lies in the shadows, hidden from all of us—and helping them would ‘clear the sky.’ Right?”
He realized anxiously that his leader looked taken aback, and not at all sympathetic to the idea he had suggested.
“Don’t we have enough problems on our own territory,” Bramblestar asked, “without taking on another difficult quest?”
“I had another vision,” Alderheart told him. “The SkyClan cats are still wandering, lost and homeless—now they don’t even have a medicine cat. They need our help, and I don’t think StarClan would be giving me these visions if we weren’t meant to help them.” Encouraged to see that Bramblestar had begun to look more thoughtful, he added, “If the prophecy is about SkyClan, then every cat should know about them. After all, the prophecy was given to all the Clans, not just to me.”
Bramblestar hesitated before replying, and Alderheart felt his belly tense with worry. I’m sure it’s time for the secret to be told, he thought, but what if Bramblestar refuses? Can I go against the orders of my father, of my Clan leader?