Murmurs of astonishment and doubt came from the assembled warriors. At the sound, Bramblestar’s eyes widened and he turned to rake them with a shocked stare. Rootspring wondered if any other cat could see that the impostor was faking his emotion.
“Leafstar,” the ThunderClan leader asked, “I can count on you pledging your warriors to support me in a battle with ShadowClan? SkyClan isn’t sympathetic toward the codebreakers, is it?”
His head swiveled around again to gaze at the warriors, and at that moment he spotted Kitescratch. His jaws gaped open this time, Rootspring thought, in genuine amazement. He pointed at Kitescratch with his tail.
“This cat was involved in the attack on me,” he meowed accusingly. “Why hasn’t he been exiled?”
Several of Kitescratch’s Clanmates raised their voice in protest, but Bramblestar overrode them. “Look at him!” he yowled. “He’s missing the fur from one shoulder, one ear is torn, and he has a bad wound down one side. Where do you think he got those?”
The reddish-brown tom couldn’t meet his gaze. “I—I got them fighting an owl,” he mumbled.
Bramblestar kept on glaring at him, and Leafstar gave him a stern look as she asked, “Is that true, Kitescratch?”
For a few heartbeats Kitescratch gazed helplessly at Leafstar, then shook his head. “I did go with the others to attack Bramblestar. But I—”
“Enough!” Bramblestar growled. His shoulder fur bristled and he slid out his claws, approaching Kitescratch with menace in his eyes.
But Leafstar stepped forward, blocking Bramblestar with her tail. “Kitescratch,” she mewed, “you know what you have to do.”
To begin with, Kitescratch looked confused, glancing from his leader to the fake Bramblestar and back again. Rootspring could see the moment when understanding hit him: His head and tail drooped as he turned slowly away and trailed miserably out of the camp.
Tinycloud ran a little way after him, then halted and turned back. “That’s not fair!” she exclaimed.
More yowls of shock and dismay supported the white she-cat’s outburst. Rootspring stared at Leafstar, unable to believe that she would give in so easily.
“Are you going to let another Clan’s leader give orders in our camp?” Sparrowpelt demanded.
“Yeah, who does he think he is?” Macgyver asked.
Leafstar ignored the protests from her Clan, except to wave her tail for silence, and gradually the clamor died down.
“So, I can count on you, Leafstar?” the impostor repeated. “Together we can hit ShadowClan hard, before they have time to defend themselves.”
Leafstar fixed a level gaze on him, and her voice was calm as she replied. “You should know where I stand, Bramblestar. The honor of the Clans is very important to me.”
Bramblestar responded with a curt nod of satisfaction. “Then we’ll attack at dawn.” Waiting only for Leafstar to dip her head in assent, he turned and stalked out of the camp.
Rootspring could feel tension tingling in the air after the ThunderClan leader had left. No cat wanted to look at Leafstar, and yet none of them moved away to get on with their duties.
“Bramblestar is out of control,” the deputy, Hawkwing, meowed, flexing his claws. “Throwing his weight around like he’s the leader of all the Clans.”
“Quite true,” Leafstar agreed. “Hawkwing, go after Kitescratch and tell him to come back. Just make sure that Bramblestar doesn’t see you, if he’s still hanging around.”
“Yes!” Rootspring hissed, hearing a murmur of approval from the rest of his Clanmates.
Relief flared in Hawkwing’s eyes at his leader’s order. “Right away, Leafstar!” he responded, before bounding across the camp and plunging into the fern tunnel.
Leafstar looked after him, and when she spoke, her voice was a low, insistent growl. “No other leader tells me what to do with my own warriors.” With a sweep of her tail she gathered her Clan closer to her. “SkyClan will be fighting in tomorrow’s battle,” she told them. “But we will fight on the side of ShadowClan and the rebels. We must warn them now.”
Yowls of acclamation erupted from the SkyClan warriors, so different from their protests of a few moments before. “Leafstar! Leafstar!”
“I’ve tried to stay out of this conflict,” Leafstar continued, “but I won’t hesitate anymore. We may have had our troubles with Tigerstar in the past, but he was right about this false ThunderClan leader and the Clans’ current problems. Now I have to pick a side,” she concluded, “and it’s time to stop Bramblestar!”
Chapter 21
Dawn mist still lay heavy across the lake as the cats of ThunderClan headed along the shore and crossed the border into SkyClan territory. Bristlefrost shivered as the chilly droplets soaked into her pelt. She felt uneasy being at the head of the group, padding along at the false Bramblestar’s shoulder, sensing the resentful gazes of her Clanmates as she assumed the position of deputy.
Her reluctance to be part of this fight was growing with every paw step she took toward ShadowClan. Since talking to Rootspring the day before, Bristlefrost was well aware that every cat could assume she was willing—even eager—to follow Bramblestar’s orders and attack. How had Bramblestar learned that ShadowClan was planning to attack him? It seemed like he had known even before Bristlefrost did, but she knew the rebels would assume she had told him. She glanced sideways at the false Bramblestar. Did he have some source of information she didn’t know about? Maybe some other cat among the rebels?
They must all think I’m a traitor. . . . And what in StarClan’s name will I do when the fighting starts? She hadn’t forgotten her promise to protect Bramblestar’s body.
As the ThunderClan cats drew close to the ShadowClan border, Bristlefrost heard the sound of many paw steps approaching rapidly from behind. Stiffening with tension, she whirled around, half expecting an attack from the rear, only to see the figures of Mistystar and Harestar looming up out of the mist, with their Clanmates following.
Bristlefrost relaxed, huffing out a sigh. Thank StarClan! It’s only RiverClan and WindClan. The mist must have masked their scent.
The two Clan leaders padded up to the head of the group to join Bramblestar, giving Bristlefrost the chance to slip backward by a couple of tail-lengths. She had hoped to feel better once she got away from the impostor, but instead her sense of foreboding grew.
By the time the attack force reached the ShadowClan border, Bristlefrost felt as if she were going to burst from mounting tension.
ThunderClan is supposed to be honorable and upstanding, she thought wretchedly. That’s what we’re known for! And here we are, about to launch a sneak attack on another Clan, which hasn’t done anything to harm us.
Bramblestar drew his followers to a halt just on the SkyClan side of the border, and paused for a moment, looking over the heads of the other cats.
“No SkyClan, I see,” he murmured. “I suppose I will have to punish Leafstar for her treachery another day, but we still have the advantage.” Gesturing with his tail, he instructed the other leaders how to position their cats to attack the ShadowClan camp from every side. “Those mange-pelts will have nowhere to run,” he growled.
Under his direction, the cats of all three Clans spread out into a loose half circle as they crossed the border and padded through the trees toward the ShadowClan camp. On the way, the mist began to clear, and a gray dawn light filled the forest as they approached the barrier of bushes that surrounded the hollow.
Silently the three Clans padded up the slope and thrust their way through the bushes at the same moment, almost encircling the camp. Bristlefrost expected that the ShadowClan cats would still be sleeping, except perhaps for the dawn patrol making ready to set out.