Shadowkit hurtled closer. He would be within reach any moment. She would have to let go. She’d grab him and try to swim. If she could just keep their heads above the surface for long enough, she’d get them to shore. She had to. As she bunched her muscles, timing her dive, shadow flashed at the edge of her vision. A black tom leaped from the other bank. Diving into the rapid water, he grabbed Shadowkit and swirled past.
Juniperclaw! Violetshine’s heart seemed to stop as she recognized him. What was the ShadowClan tom doing here? Water washed her muzzle. Spluttering, she flung both paws around the root once more and looked behind her.
Juniperclaw was swirling in an eddy of calmer water behind her. Shadowkit dangled by his scruff from the tom’s teeth, water streaming around him. He churned at the water and whimpered with terror. Juniperclaw’s face was twisted with determination as he swam. The backwash from the eddy carried him a little way upstream. Violetshine stuck out her hind legs, felt him grasp them, and braced herself as he hauled himself closer. With a desperate growl, he dragged himself along the length of her flank and reached out for the root. He grabbed it and clung on; then, grunting with the effort, he pushed Shadowkit onto the root with his muzzle.
Gasping, the kit scrabbled onto the gnarled bark. He was trembling, his eyes screwed shut. Tree leaned out. “I can reach him!” Leafstar and Finleap gripped his pelt as, gingerly, he grasped Shadowkit’s tail in his teeth and, with a jerk, snatched him onto the bank.
Violetshine turned her head. Juniperclaw clung on between her and the bank. “You saved him,” she gasped.
He stared at her, his eyes glazed with shock.
“Juniperclaw!” Tree yowled to him from the bank. “Can you help Violetshine get to the bank?”
“Climb over me,” Juniperclaw grunted. Water streamed into his mouth and he spluttered.
“No!” Violetshine stared at him, horrified. She couldn’t risk knocking him away. “What if you lose your grip?”
“I can hold on,” he promised.
“Do what he says!” Tree strained at the edge of the water. “He’s stronger than you! And he’s not carrying kits!”
Juniperclaw’s eyes widened. “Kits?” His gaze grew more urgent. “Climb over me! You mustn’t die.” More water filled his mouth. She saw him stiffen as he tightened his grip on the root. His eyes pleaded with her frantically.
Her heart in her mouth, Violetshine let go one of her paws and gripped onto Juniperclaw’s shoulder. He grimaced as she dug her claws in. She reached her hind legs around him and clung on like a tick as she let go her other paw and eased herself over his back. The water dragged at her. She heard him growling as he fought to cling on. Reaching up on his other side, Violetshine caught hold of the root again. She was closer to the bank now. The current softened here. Released from its grip, she managed to work her paws along the root until she was only a muzzle-length from land. As she reached for the bank, she felt teeth in her scruff. Tree had lunged down and grabbed her. He hauled her from the water and pulled her, dripping, onto the shore.
She collapsed. “Save Juniperclaw.” She lifted her head, straining to see the black tom.
He was hanging on to the root by his claw tips. “Tell Tigerstar I’m sorry.” He glanced up at her, relief in his eyes, and then he slid away. The water carried him down into the churning straits below, and he disappeared from view.
“No!” Rage surged through Violetshine. StarClan couldn’t let him die! He saved Shadowkit. Tree was nuzzling her, but she could barely feel it. She was numb with shock and grief.
“Look! Look!” Shadowkit yowled beside them. He was staring upstream.
On the far shore, Willowshine had plunged into the water. Lionblaze held on to her, grasping her flanks with his claws. Gorsetail and Nightcloud gripped Lionblaze from behind. SkyClan clustered at their backs, each cat gripping the one in front until they formed a long chain that stretched out into the flood. At the tip, Willowshine swam toward the rock, where Hootwhisker and Lizardtail stared with wide, frightened eyes. With a final push, she reached them and pulled herself onto the stone.
Violetshine’s breath slowly eased. Calm seeped into her. She felt suddenly exhausted. She had to sleep.
“Keep her warm.” Frecklewish’s mew sounded far away. “She’s in shock.”
She was vaguely aware of Tree and Twigbranch pressing against her. They were warm. She could feel their hearts beating beside hers.
“Violetshine.” Hawkwing’s mew reached through the haze that enfolded her. “Wake up. You need to wake up. For your kits.”
Alarm flashed beneath her pelt. Her kits! She couldn’t sleep now. She shook herself awake. “Hootwhisker! Lizardtail!” She remembered Willowshine’s desperate swim.
Tree blinked at her. “It’s okay. They’re safe now.”
She looked upstream. Lizardtail and Hootwhisker were shivering on the far bank as Gorsetail and Leafstar hauled Lionblaze and Willowshine from the water.
She gazed into Tree’s eyes. “You saved me.” Love flooded her heart, and she reached her muzzle to his.
As his warm breath touched hers, Shadowkit fluffed out his pelt beside them. “I did it!” he yowled, triumphantly. “I did what my vision told me and I brought the Clans together!”
She pulled away and stared at him. “What exactly did your vision tell you to do?”
“I had to drown to make the Clans help one another.” The kit’s eyes shone excitedly.
“You threw yourself in on purpose?” Violetshine pricked her ears. “Do you have bees in your brain?”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Shadowkit looked proudly around at the cats. Violetshine followed his gaze and realized that cats from every Clan had come to help them. Could the kit be right?
He must have been touched by StarClan. She drew him close and looked up. The clouds were beginning to lighten. Excitement fluttered in her belly as the wind dropped. The landscape around them seemed to quiet, and she pricked her ears, her heart quickening as suddenly the rain stopped.
CHAPTER 25
Alderheart looked up at the clear, black sky. He narrowed his eyes against the brightness of the moon. Countless stars glittered above the island. For the first time in days, his fur was dry, and a warm wind promised newleaf once more.
The island clearing was crowded. Across the sea of pelts, Alderheart could see Twigbranch and Violetshine sitting with Hawkwing, Tree, and Finleap. Their eyes were round and their fur fluffed. They were clearly happy to be reunited. He whispered in Jayfeather’s ear, “It looks like every cat has come.”
Jayfeather grunted. “After what we’ve been through, who would be mouse-brained enough to miss this Gathering?”
Alderheart purred softly. Tigerstar had called the emergency Gathering when SkyClan arrived in his camp. Now the Clans looked up at the Great Oak, where Bramblestar, Harestar, Tigerstar, Mistystar, and Leafstar sat side by side on the lowest branch. Their deputies sat below them on the roots. Only Juniperclaw was missing. Alderheart felt a pang. He knew he’d been right to speak out, but he wished his investigation hadn’t ended in Juniperclaw’s death.
As Puddleshine shifted beside him, Alderheart blinked at him warmly. The tom’s fur was sleek once more. His scars were hidden beneath his thick pelt. His eyes were bright, and he was staring eagerly at the Great Oak.
Tigerstar got to his paws and looked around at the gathered cats. “We come to speak of change,” he meowed. “Change that must come if the Clans are to survive. But first I have news of Juniperclaw. Many of you will know that he is dead. But you may not know the whole story. Juniperclaw admitted to poisoning the SkyClan fresh-kill pile. He saw an easy way to drive SkyClan from the lake and he chose to go through with it, even though he knew he was breaking the warrior code. He believed he could protect his Clan best by saving us from fighting for our land. But a Clan that won’t fight for their land when they have to is no Clan at all. And Juniperclaw paid dearly for his crime. He lost his deputyship and his life.”