Alderpaw took a moment to think about that. “Why does it need to be a secret?” he asked. “Isn’t it sort of dishonest to lie about the quest?”
“You just need to have faith in me,” Bramblestar mewed gently. “Telling the truth now would do more harm than good. I know I’m trusting you with a huge responsibility,” he added. “But I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think you were up to the task.”
Rising to his paws, he nuzzled the top of Alderpaw’s head briefly, then padded back toward the camp. Alderpaw watched him go, a flood of emotions surging through him. The secrecy worried him, while at the same time he felt an intense curiosity to know what was going on, and whether SkyClan really needed ThunderClan’s help. His anxiety that he might not be good enough to be entrusted with the task warred with the pride he felt that Bramblestar believed in him.
Maybe Sparkpaw is right, he thought.
She’s always telling me that I overthink things. I’m just going to focus on my father’s faith in me, he decided at last, and hope that all the rest will fall into place.
Chapter 9
“I don’t care what you say!” Sandstorm hissed. “I’m going on this quest, and that’s final!”
“It’s out of the question!” Bramblestar snapped back at her. “I asked you here to tell
Alderpaw all you know about SkyClan. I never intended for you to go with him.”
Alderpaw shifted nervously from paw to paw on the sandy floor of Bramblestar’s den. It was the day after his father had told him that he must go on the quest, but so far no decisions had been made about which cats would accompany him.
And it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving anytime soon, not if Bramblestar and Sandstorm keep on arguing. He had always believed that the two cats got along well together. Now they looked furious enough to claw each other’s pelts off.
“Then you may be Clan leader, but you’re acting like a mouse-brained apprentice.”
Sandstorm’s neck fur was bristling with anger.
“I’m the only—”
“Enough!” Bramblestar lashed his tail.
“Sandstorm, you’re an elder. You’ve made your contribution to our Clan, and it’s been a magnificent contribution. Now you deserve to have the rest of us take care of you. I want you safe in camp, not traipsing about in unknown territory.”
“That’s exactly the point.” Sandstorm’s voice grew quieter, the words forced out through clenched teeth. Alderpaw was glad she wasn’t glaring at him like she was glaring at Bramblestar. “I’m the only living cat who has any idea how to find SkyClan’s camp. And I’m the only one who has met the cats of SkyClan before. They’re more likely to accept me than cats they’ve never laid eyes on.”
As she spoke, the anger in Bramblestar’s face was fading, replaced with a thoughtful expression.
“I understand,” he began uncertainly, “but elders just don’t—”
He broke off at the sound of a patter of paw steps approaching up the tumbled rocks.
Alderpaw turned to see Squirrelflight at the entrance to the den. Bramblestar and Sandstorm exchanged a swift glance, and Alderpaw realized that Squirrelflight didn’t know about SkyClan either.
“All the hunting patrols have gone out,” she reported. “I wanted to ask which warriors you’ve chosen to go with Alderpaw. He’ll need a strong group of cats. I don’t know where his paws will lead him, but I do know there’ll be danger.”
“I will be going with him,” Sandstorm announced, before Bramblestar could reply.
Her green eyes flashed with triumph when Bramblestar reluctantly dipped his head in agreement, but Squirrelflight’s expression was horrified.
“Sandstorm, you can’t!” she exclaimed. “It’s bad enough having to let Alderpaw go. Do you think I want my kit and my mother off on a dangerous quest together? I couldn’t bear it!”
Dangerous? Alderpaw thought, feeling more nervous still.
“Squirrelflight, it will be fine,” Sandstorm meowed. “I may be old, but I’m still strong. And Alderpaw will be in a lot less danger if I go with him.”
“I hate to admit it, but she’s right,” Bramblestar agreed.
Squirrelflight glanced sharply from her mother to Bramblestar and back again, her green eyes glittering. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” she demanded.
“You have to trust me,” Bramblestar responded.
A few tense heartbeats passed while
Squirrelflight held Bramblestar’s amber gaze.
Then she sighed, her tail drooping. “I suppose I do.”
Without further argument, Bramblestar led the way out of the den and onto the Highledge.
Squirrelflight stayed by his side, while
Sandstorm and Alderpaw picked their way down the tumbled rocks to the floor of the camp.
“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting,” Bramblestar yowled.
All the cats in the clearing turned toward the Highledge. Leafpool and Jayfeather emerged from their den and sat side by side in front of the bramble screen. Lilyheart and Daisy appeared from the nursery and settled themselves near the entrance while Lilyheart’s kits play wrestled around their paws. Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Dovewing slid out from the warriors’ den and took their places at the foot of the rock wall.
Purdy broke off a story he was telling to Snowbush and Ambermoon. “I’ll finish the rest later,” he promised as he padded off to flop down beside Graystripe and Millie near the elders’ den.
Alderpaw looked around for Sparkpaw and spotted her emerging from the thorn tunnel with Cherryfall and Molewhisker. She’s hardly limping at all, he told himself with a burst of pride. I did a good job. All three cats were loaded with prey; they bounded across the camp to drop it on the fresh-kill pile, then joined their Clanmates to listen to Bramblestar.
“Cats of ThunderClan,” their leader began, “I have important news. Alderpaw has had a vision about the prophecy from StarClan. We think that it will help us find what will ‘clear the sky,’ and so he must go on a quest to find the place that he saw in his dream. Because
Sandstorm knows about some of what he saw in the vision, she will be going with him.”
Murmurs of amazement rose from the assembled cats at Bramblestar’s words, and they exchanged glances alive with curiosity.
Alderpaw thought that Graystripe and Millie looked especially shocked to hear that Sandstorm would be part of the quest.
“Why Alderpaw, and not one of the medicine cats?” Thornclaw asked, sounding faintly aggressive.
Leafpool spoke up from her place in front of her den. “Alderpaw is a medicine cat, Thornclaw, and you know that as well as I do.
As for why StarClan chose him…” She shrugged. “I’m sure they knew what they were doing.”
“More important, why
Sandstorm?”
Brightheart asked, with an affectionate glance at the ginger she-cat. “She’s an elder; she’s earned her rest.”
“Because I was afraid she would claw my ears off if I forbade her from going,” Bramblestar responded drily.
“And I would have,” Sandstorm muttered.
“There are reasons why I believe Sandstorm is vital to the quest,” Bramblestar went on.
“Now all that’s left is to choose warriors to join the group.”
Several enthusiastic yowls greeted his words.
“I’ll go!”
“Let me!”
Sparkpaw scampered up to Alderpaw and pressed herself against his side, her eyes shining. “I’ll come and help you!” she mewed.