Thunder suppressed a hiss of irritation. Why does Lightning Tail think I’ll want him with me, after the way he treated Star Flower? But then Thunder reminded himself how often Lightning Tail had been there for him. Our bond is too important for us to fight now. Lightning Tail will come around. When he gets to know Star Flower better, he’ll realize his suspicions are unfounded.
“Okay,” he mewed.
Gray Wing looked down again from his perch. “You’d better get going. The sooner we know who will help us with this, the better.”
Thunder’s thoughts were still with Gray Wing as he headed across the moor with Lightning Tail by his side. He didn’t feel like talking, and it was Lightning Tail who broke the silence in a disbelieving tone. “You’re not even going to apologize?”
Surprised, Thunder halted and stared at him. “Apologize? For what?”
“You know very well,” Lightning Tail retorted with a lash of his tail. “You left the group vulnerable when you went off… cavorting with that rogue.”
Anger began to swell up inside Thunder. “Don’t call her that!” he hissed.
“Why? That’s what she is,” Lightning Tail asserted. “And you’d better remember that. She’s not one of us.”
Now Thunder had to make a massive effort to hold on to his anger and not lash out at his denmate.
“What do you mean by ‘one of us’?” he asked. “Being one of the original cats from the mountains, or being born in the hollow?”
Lightning Tail sputtered for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected that question. “Well… yes, that’s a pretty good definition,” he managed to say at last.
“Then I’m not ‘one of us,’ either,” Thunder spat. “I was born in the Twolegplace! My mother was a rogue, and I would have been one, too, if Gray Wing hadn’t taken me in.”
“But that’s different—” Lightning Tail protested.
“Maybe that’s why Star Flower and I have such a deep connection,” Thunder went on, dismissing his friend’s words with a flick of his tail. “In our hearts, we both know that we’re outsiders.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Lightning Tail exclaimed. “You only just met her. And you’re not an outsider.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Thunder meowed, sinking his claws into the ground to stop himself from catching Lightning Tail with a blow over the ear. “I’m leader of the group, and I’m certainly capable of deciding who to spend my time with.”
There was a hurt expression in Lightning Tail’s eyes. “So that’s how it is, then? Other cats’ opinions don’t count for anything?”
Thunder didn’t respond, but merely turned his back and stalked on across the moor. He realized that Lightning Tail hadn’t followed him, and for a moment he was afraid that his denmate would go home. Then he heard a patter of paw steps as Lightning Tail ran to catch up and padded along just behind him.
Gray Wing had told Thunder where to find the rocky outcrop in which Wind Runner had made her den. But before he reached it, he spotted Wind Runner herself beside a small pool, slinking out from a patch of reeds with a mouse in her jaws. She stopped and waited for Thunder and Lightning Tail to approach her, but there was no welcome in her eyes.
“What do you want?” she asked, setting down her prey.
“We’re sorry to bother you,” Thunder meowed, dipping his head politely. “How are your kits doing?”
“Better,” Wind Runner replied tersely. “But we’re seeing more and more sick prey.”
“That’s partly why I’m here,” Thunder told her. “You remember the Blazing Star plant the spirit-cats told us about? We think it might be a cure for the sickness.”
Wind Runner’s eyes stretched wide. “You think you’ve found a cure? Well, who’s gone to look for the flower?”
“Some of our cats tried yesterday, but One Eye attacked them,” Thunder began. “And we haven’t tried again yet.”
“Why not?” Wind Runner snapped.
“Because we have another problem,” Thunder told her. “We’ve come to ask for your help.”
Wind Runner was instantly suspicious. “What for?”
“That evil rogue cat, One Eye, has driven Clear Sky out of his group,” Thunder explained. “We have a plan to defeat him, but we’ll need all the help we can get.”
Wind Runner’s eyes seemed to glaze over. “You want my help in battle to aid… Clear Sky? Are you mouse-brained?” Thunder opened his jaws to start giving her reasons, but the brown she-cat cut him off with a snarl. “No.”
“But remember what the spirit-cats said,” Thunder urged her. “Unite or die! We need to help each other.”
“No,” Wind Runner repeated, her tone implacable. “I left your group to protect my family, and that’s what I’m doing. We have a perfectly nice life here.”
Thunder narrowed his eyes with a glance at the small mouse that was her only piece of prey. “Is your life really all that nice?” he asked. “We’ve been struggling to find prey that isn’t sick, and there are far more cats with us than with you.”
“Then you have more mouths to feed,” Wind Runner retorted.
“Maybe. But are your kits actually getting enough to eat?”
Wind Runner twitched her ears. “I’ve given you my answer,” she rasped. “You can go now. But you can come back with news of the flower.”
Lightning Tail took a pace forward. “So you’re willing to take the group’s wisdom, but do nothing for us in return?”
The she-cat gave him a cold look from baleful, yellow eyes. “I lost two kits when I was with your group,” she reminded him. “Surely you owe me a few scraggly flowers?” Picking up her prey, she stalked away.
Thunder let out a sigh as he watched her go. That went well.
With a dissatisfied shrug, he headed toward the river, hoping he would have better luck with River Ripple. “You might want to be a bit more tactful this time,” he told Lightning Tail after a few moments. “We really need River Ripple’s help in the battle, and a more friendly approach might work better.”
Lightning Tail didn’t respond.
“Really?” Thunder’s exasperation burst out of him. “We’re not speaking now?”
His denmate was quiet for a couple of heartbeats longer. “My loyalty is to the group now,” he mewed at last. “Not to you.”
I can’t believe it! Thunder stared at him. “Are you really abandoning me over a she-cat?” he demanded. “What? Are you jealous?”
Rage flared in Lightning Tail’s eyes. Without warning, he swiped at Thunder’s face and followed up the blow by leaping on him, tackling him to the ground. The two toms wrestled together among the dried leaves and the cold, frostbitten grass.
“I don’t need your approval,” Thunder snarled through gritted teeth as he thrust his hind paws into
Lightning Tail’s belly. “I’ve led the group well so far, haven’t I?”
For an answer Lightning Tail rolled Thunder over and landed on his back, wrapping his forelegs around his neck. “You’re falling right into that rogue’s trap!” he growled. “And you’re the only one who can’t see it!”
“Well, if it’s a trap, what does she want from me?” Thunder asked, straining to throw Lightning Tail off.
“I don’t know,” Lightning Tail admitted. “But ever since I first saw her, I’ve known she was up to something. And whatever it is, it’s not good.” Abruptly he gave up the fight, springing to his paws and giving his pelt a shake before he stalked off toward the river. “This is stupid,” he meowed as he went.
“We should be concentrating on finding cats to help us in the battle.”