The cats in the clearing turned their heads one by one as the grass rustled and ShadowClan padded out.
Alderpaw frowned. They looked battle-worn. Rowanstar had a cut above his ey e. Crowfrost’s pelt showed signs of scratches. Wasptail was lim ping. Who had they been fighting? He looked for Needlepaw, his heart sinking when he saw she wasn’t with them. Sleekpaw wasn’t there either.
Perhaps Yarrowpaw or Strikepaw would be able to tell him about Violetkit.
Leafpool!
The medicine cat slid from the long grass.
Of course! He could ask her! Alderpaw hurried to m eet her as she headed for the group of medicine cats. As he neared, he saw that her eyes were dark with worry. Puddlepaw padded behind her, tail down. “Has som ething happened?” he asked as he reached them.
Leafpool lowered her gaze and padded past him. “Rowanstar will share the news.”
“Is Violetkit okay?” Anxiety flashed through Alderpaw’s fur.
“She was well the last time I saw her.” Leafpool sat beside Mothwing. She glanced at Alderpaw, then looked away.
The last time she saw her? Alderpaw stared at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
Jayfeather shooed him back to his place with a flick of his tail. “Sit down and be quiet,” he ordered. “It’s not Leafpool’s duty to share ShadowClan’s news.” His blind gaze flashed toward the gathered cats.
As the ShadowClan warriors and apprentices slid am ong them, Rowanstar strode to the great oak and clim bed onto the branch beside Onestar. Onestar shot him a hostile glance and shifted away.
Bramblestar left Sparkpelt and hurried to the oak as Misty star heaved herself stiffly up the trunk and took her place beside Rowanstar. The m urm uring of the cats quieted as Bramblestar sat down and gazed toward them.
“We have good weather,” he observed, his gaze flicking toward the wide starry sky. “StarClan has blessed us.”
Rowanstar grunted dismissively. “ThunderClan cats always think they are blessed, even when they’re half-starved in leaf-bare.”
“It is not leaf-bare y et,” Misty star rem inded them. “We must be glad that prey is still running and the snows are not y et here.”
“Prey is always running in RiverClan,” Onestar sneered. “Or should I say swimming.”
“Not if the river freezes,” Misty star corrected him.
Alderpaw whisked his tail over the ground. Why were the leaders so prickly tonight?
Rowanstar stood and raised his tail. “ShadowClan has two new warriors,” he announced.
“Strikestone and Yarrowleaf.”
“Strikestone!”
“Yarrowleaf!”
The Clans cheered the names of ShadowClan’s new warriors. Their voices rang through the brittle night air.
Misty star raised her voice over them. “RiverClan has new warriors too. Shadepelt and Foxnose!”
Bramblestar called out. “And Sparkpaw is now Sparkpelt!”
“Shadepelt!”
“Foxnose!”
“Sparkpelt!”
Sparkpelt glanced around the cheering cats, her pelt fluffing with excitem ent.
“Sparkpelt!” Alderpaw raised his voice, m aking sure she could hear him celebrating her warrior name.
She caught his ey e, her green gaze lighting up with happiness. Pride swelled in his chest, and he called her name louder.
Beside him, Jayfeather rem ained silent.
Alderpaw nudged him. “Even medicine cats are allowed to cheer,” he hissed in his m entor’s ear.
Jayfeather grunted. “Why should I cheer? More warriors means more wounds and more work for m e.”
Alderpaw glanced at Leafpool, expecting her to chide Jayfeather for being so gloom y, but Leafpool was chanting, her expression blank as though her thoughts were elsewhere. His cheer died in his throat as he gazed across the cheering cats. Shouldn’t Sleekpaw be receiving her warrior name? And Juniperpaw? They were Strikestone’s littermates. Had they failed their assessm ents? He scanned the crowd, looking for them, but there was no sign of the two apprentices. Alderpaw shifted uneasily and looked toward Rowanstar as the Clans fell silent.
Rowanstar gazed out gravely at the Clans. “The rogues that attacked Onestar’s patrol are living on the edge of our territory, near our border with ThunderClan.”
Shocked m urm urs rippled through the gathered cats.
“Why don’t you chase them off?” Brackenfur called.
Breezepelt showed his teeth. “They’re murderers!”
Crowfeather lifted his m uzzle. “We should j oin forces and drive them away.”
Rowanstar spoke over them. “They asked to j oin ShadowClan. They cam e with gifts of prey, but I turned them away.”
“How dare they?” Oatclaw lashed his tail.
Sparkpelt flattened her ears. “They could never be Clan cats!”
“I turned them away!” Rowanstar repeated, the fur prickling along his spine. His glare silenced the angry cats. “But som e of our apprentices have chosen to j oin them.”
Alderpaw braced him self for louder cries, but the Clans stared at the ShadowClan leader in shocked silence as Rowanstar went on.
“They took Violetkit with them.”
Misty star j erked her m uzzle toward him. “The kit from the prophecy?”
Rowanstar nodded.
Bramblestar flattened his ears. “You let them take her?”
Rowanstar scowled. “We were wrong about the prophecy, Bramblestar. Violetkit is just an ordinary kit. Twigkit is probably ordinary too. And Needlepaw found her. Why shouldn’t she take her?”
Why shouldn’t she take her? Alderpaw froze. Had Needlepaw left to j oin the rogues? His m outh grew dry. Surely not. Needlepaw liked to break rules. But she’d never betray her Clan.
Bramblestar was growling, his angry gaze fixed on Rowanstar. “You let a vulnerable kit be taken away to j oin a group of rogues? What were you thinking? I should have known Violetkit would never be safe in ShadowClan. If you didn’t believe she was part of the prophecy, why did y ou take her in the first place? We could have kept her.”
“We have to get her back!” Mothwing called.
“How will we clear the sky with her gone?” Mintfur y owled.
Squirrelflight flicked her tail angrily. “Let the sky take care of itself for now. A kit has been taken from her Clan! We must rescue her.”
The clearing rang with mews of agreem ent, but Alderpaw hardly heard them. What will I tell Twigkit? He’d brought Violetkit to the Clans. And now she was in the paws of vicious rogues. Guilt scorched his pelt. Twigkit will never forgive me. She’ll be heartbroken. Alderpaw swallowed back panic. We’ll get her back. We have to. I’ll tell Twigkit that everything will be okay. He hoped it was true.
Fur brushed his flank as Leafpool slid in beside him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell y ou,” she m urm ured. “It was Rowanstar’s news to share. But I’m sure Needlepaw will look after her. She is very fond of Violetkit. Whatever happens, Needlepaw will protect her.”
Alderpaw m et her gaze, trem bling. “But Needlepaw is only an apprentice. What can she do against a gang of rogues?”
His heart lurched as Leafpool stared back at him wordlessly. He wanted her to reassure him.
Bramblestar’s y owl cut through the anxious chattering of the gathered cats. “What are y ou going to do about this, Rowanstar?” He glared at the ShadowClan leader.
Rowanstar’s tail twitched. “We attacked them last night,” he reported. “We hoped that when they saw us fighting for them, our apprentices would come back to us.”
Alderpaw’s heart lurched as he saw panic in the ginger tom’s gaze. He’d never seen a leader frightened before.