“But they didn’t.” Rowanstar’s mew was trem bling. “In fact, one more apprentice and two of our warriors j oined them and fought against us.”
“Who?” Onestar dem anded. The WindClan leader was bristling with rage.
“Beepaw, Berry heart, and Cloverfoot.” Rowanstar stared at his paws.
Onestar thrust his m uzzle close to the ShadowClan leader. “How dare you call y ourself a leader? You can’t even control y our own Clan!”
“They’ll come back.” Rowanstar’s mew was thick with em otion. “They’re young and wrongheaded. But they’ll realize their m istake and come back.”
“Perhaps y ou’re right.” Bramblestar’s mew softened.
Alderpaw saw pity in his father’s eyes as he gazed at the broken ShadowClan leader.
Onestar showed his teeth. “Meanwhile, we have rogues on the edge of Clan territory. If they steal Clanmates, you can be sure they’ll steal prey.”
Misty star glared at the WindClan leader. “They’re as far from y our borders as they can be.
There’s no need for you to worry about y our precious rabbits.”
Onestar hissed at her contem ptuously. “Or you to defend y our fish.”
“This affects us all!” Bramblestar y owled. “They have Violetkit, and she is part of the prophecy.”
“So you say,” Rowanstar m uttered, unconvinced.
Misty star ignored the ShadowClan leader and faced Bramblestar. “We can’t risk try ing to rescue her. She’s a kit. They could easily kill her if we attack their camp.”
“Then we must wait,” Bramblestar decided.
Onestar’s hackles lifted. “So we’re going to do nothing?” He stared at Bramblestar in disbelief.
“These cats killed m y Clanmate.”
And took one of your lives, Alderpaw thought darkly. And drove SkyClan from the gorge. He couldn’t help feeling that Onestar was right to want to do more to fight the rogues.
“We should attack now and drive them as far from the lake as we can,” Onestar went on.
Rowanstar’s eyes rounded with fear. “I don’t want to fight m y Clanmates, even if they’ve m ade a terrible decision. They still might change their m inds and return to the Clan.”
“I understand.” Bramblestar m et Rowanstar’s gaze sy m pathetically. “And we mustn’t risk Violetkit’s life by attacking.”
Onestar growled, his eyes flashing in the moonlight. “Then we have no more to say.” He leaped from the great oak and stalked across the clearing, signaling to his Clanmates with an angry flick of his tail.
Harespring hurried away from the other deputies and fell in beside his leader. Their Clanmates quickly followed, pushing their way through the gathered cats. Moonlight glittered on their pelts as they headed into the long grass and disappeared.
Alderpaw looked at Bramblestar. What now?
“The m eeting is over,” the ThunderClan leader called, j um ping down from the tree.
Alderpaw’s pads seem ed frozen to the ground. Was that it? They were going to live beside the rogues as though they were just another Clan? Had Bramblestar forgotten that these cats had driven Sky Clan from their home? What if they were planning to do the sam e here?
As the rest of the cats headed for the tree-bridge, his throat tightened. He didn’t want to follow.
Going home meant telling Twigkit that her sister was with the rogues.
Chapter 12
“Keep your hindquarters low,” Ivypool ordered.
Twigpaw lowered herself farther, her gaze fixed on the leaf ahead.
Newleaf sunshine dappled the forest floor. Buds lit the trees in a green haze. Four moons had passed since Violetkit’s disappearance. In the half-moon since becoming an apprentice, Twigpaw had worked hard to im press her new m entor. She wanted to be as good as Larkpaw, Leafpaw, and Honey paw. They were already learning battle m oves, while she was practicing hunting m oves on leaves. But they had been m ade apprentices three moons ago, when snow had covered the forest floor and ice had frozen the rivers and stream s.
“Keep y our tail still,” Ivy pool rem inded her.
Twigpaw pressed her tail flat against the soft earth. She could sm ell prey -scents drifting between the trees, and she longed to be hunting a real m ouse.
“Judge the distance,” Ivy pool told her. “And when you are sure, j um p.”
Twigpaw narrowed her eyes, sensing the space between herself and the leaf. Her hindquarters twitched. Excitem ent pulsed beneath her pelt. Pushing off with her hind paws, she leaped.
She landed, skidding on the leaf. It shot along the slippery ground. Her forepaws shot along with it, and she thum ped, chest first, onto the ground.
Ivy pool padded to her side, purring. “Your leap was the perfect distance. Unfortunately, y ou hadn’t prepared for y our prey to try to escape.” She gently nudged Twigpaw up and flicked a scrap of leaf litter from the apprentice’s shoulders with a paw. “Landing on balanced paws is the m ost im portant skill you will learn. It’s vital for hunting and fighting.”
Twigpaw shook out her pelt, em barrassed. “I didn’t realize the ground was so wet.” She glanced at the m uddy streak her landing had sm eared across the forest floor.
“Next time y ou’ll remember to think about where y ou’re landing. Landing on m ud, stone, or leaf litter all require different techniques. But you did well. Your concentration is excellent and y ou learn fast. Lily heart will be pleased when I tell her.”
Twigpaw purred proudly. “Am I learning as quickly as Larkpaw?” She knew that Larkpaw was a great hunter already. Lily heart often boasted how he carried prey home to her every day.
“It’s not a com petition,” Ivy pool told her gently. “You must learn at y our own speed.”
“But I want to prove I’m special.” Moons later, Rosepetal’s words still haunted her. Twigkit does seem pretty ordinary. And until she learns to hunt, she’s another belly for the Clan to fill. She stared desperately at Ivy pool. “I have to be the best.”
“That’s not true,” Ivy pool soothed.
“But if I’m not, why am I here?”
Ivy pool’s gaze shone sy m pathetically. “You’ve never truly felt part of the Clan, have y ou?”
She didn’t wait for Twigpaw to answer. “I hope that one day you will.”
Twigpaw dropped her gaze guiltily. “You make m e sound disloy al.”
“No,” Ivy pool purred fondly. “I can see that you are as loy al as any Clanborn cat. But y ou have grown up away from y our true kin. That must have been hard.” Her eyes brightened encouragingly. “Still, Lily heart is very proud of y ou, and if y our real mother could see what’s become of y ou, I’m sure she’d be proud of you too. What a sham e Squirrelflight’s patrol never found her.”
Twigpaw frowned, puzzled. “Squirrelflight’s patrol?” What was Ivy pool talking about? Had
Squirrelflight led a patrol to search for her mother? Why didn’t any one ever speak about it? Her heart fluttered like a bird in her chest. Perhaps they’d found her mother’s body and wanted to protect her from knowing. She blinked at Ivy pool. “Did they find any trace at all?”
“Only the nest where Alderpaw had found y ou. It was abandoned.”
“Nothing else?”
Ivy pool shifted her paws nervously. “I don’t really know. No one talked about it afterward.”
Fear spread down Twigpaw’s spine. What was the Clan hiding from her? I have to know!
Twigpaw glanced up the rise that led toward camp. Alderpaw! He’d be honest with her, even if it were bad news. “Can we go back to the hollow now?” She had to speak with Alderpaw.