“So am I.” The voice of the strange cat came from behind Alderpaw, and he turned to see her emerging from the clump of ferns where she had fallen.
“Thanks for your help,” he meowed, and the other cats joined in a chorus of agreement. “I think the fox would have gotten me if it weren’t for—”
Just then the moon came out from behind a cloud, and Alderpaw got a good look at the strange cat for the first time. “Needlepaw!” he gasped. “What are you doing here?”
Needlepaw strolled into the midst of the group of cats and gazed around at them calmly.
“Saving you from foxes,” she replied.
“But… aren’t you a ShadowClan apprentice?” Cherryfall asked. “Where’s your mentor? What are you doing so far away from home?”
Clearly annoyed at being questioned, Needlepaw gave a defiant flick of her tail. “I was exploring on WindClan territory when I saw you all heading out,” she replied. “I was sure it had something to do with the prophecy, so I followed you.”
“You’re not supposed to be wandering around without your mentor,” Sandstorm scolded her. Her voice was tight with pain from her wound, and Alderpaw knew she needed rest and treatment, not an argument with this ShadowClan cat. “And you’re not supposed to be exploring on WindClan territory.”
“I wasn’t hunting!” Needlepaw retorted.
“And I…”
Her voice faded to silence at Sandstorm’s green glare. “You’re certainly not supposed to leave Clan territory by yourself, without permission from your Clan leader,” Sandstorm went on. “Don’t you realize how dangerous it is, being out here alone? You’re going to be in a lot of trouble with Rowanstar when you get back.”
Needlepaw returned her glare defiantly but kept her jaws clamped shut.
“Did you really follow us across the Thunderpath?” Molewhisker asked curiously.
“It’s very dangerous.”
“Of course I did.” Needlepaw’s voice was scornful. “Thunderpaths are no big deal. I’m not afraid of monsters!”
Alderpaw wondered whether she really meant that, or whether she was just saying it to make herself look tough. Thunderpaths are terrifying!
“Then you’re a mouse-brain,” Molewhisker told her caustically.
“I can take care of myself,” Needlepaw retorted. “Which is more than I can say for the rest of you. Obviously you need my help. I just saved you!”
“You maybe helped save us,” Sparkpaw pointed out, her tail-tip flicking to and fro in irritation. “But you only helped.”
Needlepaw ignored her. “I’m coming with you now,” she announced.
Cherryfall and Molewhisker exchanged an incredulous glance. “No way!” Cherryfall exclaimed.
“Exactly.” Sandstorm’s voice was brusque.
“You should go back to your own territory.”
“I’m staying, and you can’t stop me,” Needlepaw meowed, quite undeterred. “I know you’re going to look for the thing in the shadows that the prophecy spoke about. And there’s no way I’m going to let you find it just for ThunderClan. Who’s to say ShadowClan can’t have some of that destiny, too?” Her gaze traveled around the group of cats, and her voice grew urgent; Alderpaw sensed that her desperation was about more than seeking what lies in the shadows. “If I can do anything to help the sky clear for my Clan, then I have to do it.”
Alderpaw felt a pang of sympathy for Needlepaw. If I were in her place, I’d want to make sure the sky cleared for ThunderClan, too. But he was taken aback when Needlepaw swung around and spoke to him directly.
“Alderpaw, you’re a medicine cat. You know about this stuff. What do you think?” Her voice softened into a persuasive purr. “Please let me come.”
Alderpaw felt good to be asked, to know he had this cat’s respect. He knew he shouldn’t like Needlepaw as much as he did. She’s from another Clan, and she breaks rules all the time, and she’s rude about senior warriors… but she’s fun, and different, and she’s really good at hunting and fighting. And she always says exactly what she thinks.
“I… uh… I don’t know,” he stammered uncomfortably. “I’m not sure I—”
“This is Alderpaw’s quest,” Sandstorm broke in, to Alderpaw’s relief. “But even so, he cannot make this decision alone. We must discuss it… in private,” she finished with a stern glare at Needlepaw.
“Sure,” Needlepaw mewed, pausing before she gave one paw a nonchalant lick.
She’s not really casual about this, Alderpaw realized. She’d never admit it, but she’s worried about what we’ll decide.
The ThunderClan cats padded off into the shelter of a clump of trees at the edge of the hollow. Alderpaw noticed that Sandstorm was limping, and the wound in her shoulder was still bleeding.
“Are you okay, Sandstorm?” he asked. “I ought to take a look at that wound.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sandstorm responded with a dismissive twitch of her whiskers.
But Alderpaw wasn’t satisfied. “Give the wound a good lick to clean it,” he told
Sandstorm as soon as they were settled under the trees. “Sparkpaw, find me some cobweb.”
“Ooh, bossy medicine cat!” Sparkpaw exclaimed. “Have you been taking politeness lessons from Jayfeather?” But she started sniffing around in the undergrowth and soon came back with a pawful of cobweb.
By this time Sandstorm had cleaned her wound. Alderpaw examined it thoroughly, glad to see that the bleeding had slowed to a trickle.
“This is all very well,” Sandstorm meowed as Alderpaw fixed the cobweb in place, “but what are we going to do about Needlepaw? I don’t like the thought of her tagging along with us, but she’s too young to be out on her own, and we can’t just send her back to her own territory without any cat to look after her. It’s not safe!”
“I think you’re right,” Cherryfall agreed.
Molewhisker lashed his tail angrily. “The nosy little cat got herself into this mess,” he growled, “and she should get herself out of it!
Cheeky ShadowClan apprentices are not our problem!”
“Well,” Alderpaw began, feeling shy about contradicting a senior warrior, “her nosiness did come in handy when the foxes attacked us.”
Molewhisker grunted. “I suppose so.”
“We would have fought the foxes off eventually,” Sparkpaw meowed. “We don’t need Needlepaw.”
“This is getting us nowhere,” Sandstorm sighed. “Alderpaw, Needlepaw was right about one thing: it’s your quest. What do you think?”
“I don’t agree with Molewhisker and Sparkpaw,” Alderpaw admitted, even though he was reluctant to go against his former mentor, and his sister. “I think Needlepaw should come with us. If we try to send her back,” he added, “she’s just going to ignore us and follow us anyway.”
“Maybe,” Molewhisker snorted, “but that’s no reason to welcome her.”
“Okay,” Sandstorm mewed, “since we can’t agree, I’ll make the final decision. Needlepaw will come with us.”
Sparkpaw and Molewhisker exchanged a disappointed look.
“Fine!” Sparkpaw snapped. “But there’s no way we’re telling her what this quest is really about, right?”
Alderpaw couldn’t meet his littermate’s gaze. Even my own Clanmates don’t know what the quest is really about!
Sandstorm caught his eye. “No, we won’t tell her that,” she murmured.
Rising to their paws, the ThunderClan cats padded back into the hollow to tell Needlepaw their decision. On the way, Alderpaw could hear