“Coward!” Needlepaw spat, her face full of disgust. “We never would have made it back here if we hadn’t broken the warrior code a few times at least. Alderpaw, you’re so blinded by rules that you can’t see what’s in front of your own nose!”
Alderpaw couldn’t reply; the mewling of the kits was all that broke the silence. He and Needlepaw looked down at the squirming bundles of fur, and Alderpaw found his concern for them overpowering his anger at Needlepaw. He could see the same feeling in her green eyes.
“There’s one fair way to resolve this,” she mewed after a few moments. “We divide the kits up, and each take one back to our own Clan.”
Alderpaw looked down at the kits, snuggled up together and mewling. An ache tugged at his heart. “We can’t do that,” he responded. “It would be wrong. Don’t you see, Needlepaw? These kits only have each other now. It’s like me and Sparkpaw: I don’t always agree with her, but I can’t imagine life without her.”
Needlepaw was silent, gazing down at the kits. I wonder if she has any cat she cares about as much as Sparkpaw and I care for each other, Alderpaw thought.
Then, as Alderpaw kept watching Needlepaw and the kits, he was distracted by the yowling of a cat from farther down the slope. Instinctively he and Needlepaw moved in front of the kits to guard them. But when Alderpaw looked down and spotted the cat, he let out a yelp of delight.
“Molewhisker!”
His former mentor was bounding up the slope, with three other ThunderClan cats close behind him: Birchfall, Poppyfrost, and Berrynose. Alderpaw dashed down to meet them beside the horseplace fence.
Molewhisker’s eyes were wide with shock and delight. “Oh, thank StarClan you’re alive!” he exclaimed.
“So are you!” Alderpaw felt so light with relief that he could almost imagine floating away. “Are Cherryfall and Sparkpaw okay?”
“Yes, everyone’s fine,” Molewhisker assured him. “We got back to camp yesterday and told the others what happened. Every cat was devastated to think that you had drowned. We looked for you and Needlepaw back beside the river, but we couldn’t find you.”
“So this morning,” Birchfall meowed, coming to stand beside Alderpaw, “Bramblestar sent us out as a search party, with Molewhisker to guide us back to the place where you went missing.”
“However did you survive?” Poppyfrost asked, gazing at Alderpaw as if she couldn’t quite believe he was there.
“Needlepaw helped me out of the river,” Alderpaw replied. “She’s here too, just a bit farther up the hill.”
He began to retrace his paw steps, leading the other cats back to the ridge where he had left Needlepaw.
“Hi,” the ShadowClan she-cat mewed as the ThunderClan patrol came up to her. “As you see, we’ve brought company.” With one paw she swept the grasses aside to reveal the two kits, now dozing in a mound of fur.
Molewhisker and the others, murmuring in surprise, surrounded the kits and gazed down at them.
“They’re adorable!” Poppyfrost exclaimed.
“Who are they?” Berrynose asked, giving them a suspicious sniff. “Where did you find them?”
“I can tell you all that later,” Alderpaw replied, “but right now the kits need care. They’re not well, so we were going to take them back to the ThunderClan camp to nurse them back to health.”
Needlepaw glared at him. “Actually—”
“That’s a good idea.” Birchfall spoke with authority; clearly he was the leader of the search party. “Alderpaw, you’re a medicine cat yourself, so you can help watch over them.”
“But I found the kits too,” Needlepaw objected, her shoulder fur beginning to rise again. “That is, we found them together. We think maybe the kits are . . . well, they’re what StarClan wanted us to find.”
The ThunderClan patrol exchanged surprised glances. “Do you believe that?” Birchfall asked Alderpaw.
“I think they could be,” Alderpaw replied, “but I’m not sure yet.”
“Then this is what we’ll do,” Birchfall decided. “We’ll take the kits back to ThunderClan now, so that they can be cared for, and then—”
“They can be cared for just as well in ShadowClan,” Needlepaw interrupted.
Can they? Alderpaw wondered. ThunderClan has two medicine cats—three if you count me—while ShadowClan only has Littlecloud, and he’s growing old.
Birchfall gave Needlepaw a quelling look, as if he wasn’t used to apprentices who argued all the time. “Let me finish,” he meowed. “The next Gathering is in a few days, and we can bring the kits there to decide what will be done with them. Is that okay, Needlepaw? After all, we can all agree that what’s most important is to get the kits well again.”
Needlepaw ducked her head. “Okay,” she muttered.
Alderpaw noticed that she looked almost chastened by Birchfall’s decisive tones. Well, I’ve never seen that before!
“Are you okay getting back to the ShadowClan camp?” Birchfall continued to Needlepaw. “Should you even be out on your own?”
“I’ll be fine, thanks,” Needlepaw responded with a roll of her eyes. Clearly she was fed up with that question, and her respectful demeanor hadn’t lasted long. Turning to Alderpaw, she added, “I guess I’ll see you around, then.”
Alderpaw stared at her, wondering if she had even taken in what he said about keeping SkyClan a secret. “I’ll look out for you at the Gathering,” he meowed.
As Needlepaw turned away, Alderpaw felt a claw-scratch of pain at his heart. After all we’ve been through together, there should be . . . I dunno, more . . .
He thought that Needlepaw looked sad, too, as she gave him a last look before bounding away down the slope in the direction of RiverClan.
Then, as he watched her, Poppyfrost brushed her pelt against his, her eyes glowing with admiration. “You’ve done so well, Alderpaw!”
“Yes, ThunderClan will be proud of you,” Molewhisker told him. “And I can’t wait to hear what Cherryfall says when she sees the kits!”
While Birchfall and Berrynose congratulated him, too, Alderpaw felt his chest swell with pride. I feel like a hero! Oh, StarClan, it’s so good to be home!
CHAPTER 24
Alderpaw poked his head through the entrance to the nursery. “Is it okay to come in?” he called softly.
“Sure!” Lilyheart called back. “But watch where you’re putting your paws.”
As Alderpaw became used to the dim light of the nursery, he could see why Lilyheart had told him to be careful. Her own three kits, Leafkit, Larkkit, and Honeykit, were rolling around, play fighting on the thick moss and bracken that covered the nursery floor. Violetkit and Twigkit, their eyes open now, sat watching them.
“That’s how you learn to fight when you’re an apprentice,” Leafkit told the younger kits, sitting up and shaking scraps of moss from her tortoiseshell pelt.
“What’s an apprentice?” Twigkit asked.
“It’s when you’re six moons old and have a mentor, and learn how to become a warrior,” Larkkit replied.
“And then you get to fight foxes and badgers and rival cats,” Honeykit added. She leaped on top of her brother, growling fiercely. “Get out of our camp, stinky badger!”
“Stinky yourself!” Larkkit retorted, battering his sister with his hind paws.
Alderpaw skirted the battling kits and settled down in the moss beside Lilyheart. “You’ve got your paws full here,” he mewed.
“I know, but I like it,” Lilyheart purred. “I have Daisy to help. She’s out hunting fresh-kill for us right now.”
“That’s great,” Alderpaw mewed. “So how are you two doing?” he asked, stretching out his neck to touch noses with Violetkit and then Twigkit.
“We’re fine, thank you,” Violetkit replied.
Alderpaw could see that she was right. There was no need to worry about the kits’ health anymore. In the few days they had been in camp, their little bodies had begun to plump up, and their fur was glossy. Their eyes were open
now, wide and bright.
“It’s so nice here with our mother,” Twigkit added, leaning closer to Lilyheart.
“She’s not your mother!” Leafkit piped up before Alderpaw or Lilyheart could respond. “She’s our mother. You came from a long way away—beyond the lake, even.”
The two younger kits glanced at each other, confused and a little hurt.
“Don’t worry, little ones,” Lilyheart mewed, bending her head to lick each kit around the ears. “I love you just as much as if I were your real mother.”
“That’s right,” Alderpaw agreed, nuzzling the kits affectionately. “All you need to know is that you’re very special.”
Reassured, the two kits began to purr contentedly. For a moment Alderpaw gave himself up to the satisfaction of having saved them, whatever that might mean.
“They’re lovely,” Lilyheart meowed. “I’d be happy to keep them as part of my family. And my kits love them, too!”
Alderpaw nodded, but he knew that the real decision about the kits’ future would be made at the Gathering that night. I hope they’ll be allowed to stay here, he thought, realizing how attached to them he had become. But that’s not for me to decide.
Emerging from the nursery, Alderpaw almost slammed into Jayfeather.
“There you are!” Jayfeather exclaimed crossly. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“I’ve been to visit the kits,” Alderpaw explained.
Jayfeather let out a snort. “I should have known. Anyway, you need to come with me. Bramblestar and Leafpool want to talk to you.”
There had been a time when Alderpaw would have been worried by a summons from his Clan leader. Now, although he still felt slightly nervous, anticipation was stirring inside him.
As he followed Jayfeather, Alderpaw remembered his return to camp a few days before. All his Clan had been excited to welcome him back, and Sparkpaw had barely left his side since. This morning was her first hunting patrol without him, along with Cherryfall, Brackenfur, and Sorrelstripe.
Bramblestar had taken the first opportunity to draw Alderpaw aside and ask for his view of what had happened in the gorge.
“It was so frustrating!” Alderpaw admitted. “We should have gotten there in time to save SkyClan from the rogues. I feel like I’ve failed.”
Bramblestar rested his tail-tip briefly on Alderpaw’s shoulder. “I’m puzzled,” he confessed. “Why should StarClan send you a vision when it was already too late to do anything about it? But it wasn’t your failure,” he added hastily.
Alderpaw shrugged uneasily. “I feel like I’ve missed something important. . . . I feel like Sandstorm died for nothing, and it was my fault.”
“You are not to blame for Sandstorm’s death,” Bramblestar assured him firmly. “I grieve for her, and so does the rest of our Clan. But going on the quest was what Sandstorm wanted. Remember how I tried to forbid her from going? She was determined, and you would never have convinced her otherwise.”
“I guess so . . . ,” Alderpaw mewed, though he still couldn’t suppress his feelings of guilt.
“Meanwhile,” Bramblestar meowed, changing the subject, “I’ve spoken to Molewhisker, Cherryfall, and Sparkpaw about keeping SkyClan a secret, at least for now.”
“I hope it was okay to tell them . . . ,” Alderpaw began apologetically, remembering once again that Needlepaw shared the secret, too.
“It’s fine. You didn’t have much choice.”
“So what are we going to do about SkyClan, or what remains of it?” Alderpaw asked, relieved by his father’s approval. “And what about those horrible rogues in the gorge?”
“I’ve thought it over,” Bramblestar replied, his amber gaze fixed on Alderpaw, “and I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s nothing ThunderClan can do for SkyClan now.”
“But—” Alderpaw began to protest.
Bramblestar overrode him. “SkyClan has scattered, and no cat knows where they have gone. Unless ThunderClan gets more information . . .”
Alderpaw felt the weight of his Clan leader’s stare. He means another vision. Anxiety rose inside him like a gathering storm cloud. Will I have one? What if I don’t?
“I told the rest of the Clan that you reached the place you saw in your vision,” Bramblestar continued briskly, “but you found nothing there. That should be enough to keep SkyClan a secret until we get a stronger sign from StarClan. At least . . .” He hesitated. “What about Needlepaw?”
“I asked her to keep the secret,” Alderpaw replied, “but I don’t know whether she will.”
Bramblestar nodded thoughtfully. “Well, it’s the best we can do for now,” he decided at last. “We’ll discuss the kits later, with Leafpool and Jayfeather,” he finished.
Thinking back to that earlier meeting, Alderpaw assumed that now he was being summoned to talk about Twigkit and Violetkit. I hope they can stay with us, he thought.
Jayfeather climbed up the tumbled rocks, neat-pawed and as confident as if he could see. Alderpaw scrambled up after him and found Leafpool and Squirrelflight already waiting with Bramblestar in his den on the Highledge.
“Good, you’re here,” Bramblestar meowed, sweeping his tail affectionately along Alderpaw’s back, as if he was still amazed that his son was alive after all. “Have you recovered from your journey yet?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Alderpaw replied.
“Then we need to talk about the future,” Bramblestar announced. “Most urgently, about Twigkit and Violetkit.” With a wave of his tail, he invited the other cats to sit down. “Alderpaw, tell us what you know.”
Alderpaw stayed on his paws as he described how Sandstorm had come to him in a dream, and given him the clue that allowed him and Needlepaw to find the kits in the tunnel.
“Needlepaw really helped?” Squirrelflight asked, sounding surprised.
“Oh, yes. It was her idea to go through the tunnel. And she helped me bring the kits back to the lake, and helped feed and care for them, too. She was really gentle with them.”
“So the question remains about what to do with them now,” Bramblestar continued. “Leafpool, Jayfeather, do you think that they could be ‘what you find in the shadows,’ according to the prophecy?”
Jayfeather wriggled his shoulders as if he felt uncomfortable in his pelt. “I’m not sure. It feels too simple. Maybe they’re just a pair of abandoned kits. Their mother was probably killed on the Thunderpath, or maybe a fox got her.”
“But Sandstorm told Alderpaw there was still time to succeed on his quest,” Leafpool pointed out, her eyes briefly shadowed as she named her dead mother. “And then she told him how to find the kits. I think they could well be ‘what you find in the shadows,’ and if we embrace them, the ‘sky will clear.’”
“Alderpaw, what do you think?” Squirrelflight asked.
Alderpaw blinked nervously at being put on the spot. “They could be,” he replied, “but I think it’s too soon to be sure. We’ll know more when the kits grow older.”
“Well said,” Bramblestar mewed approvingly. “And that means we shouldn’t give the kits up.”
Jayfeather let out a snort. “I can’t see ShadowClan agreeing to that! And much as I hate to admit it, they have a point. As Alderpaw tells it, Needlepaw was at least half responsible for finding the kits, and so ShadowClan has a claim on them.”
“That may be true,” Bramblestar agreed with a sigh, “but we’ll wait and see what’s said at the Gathering.”
“We know what ShadowClan will say.” Jayfeather twitched his whiskers. “Even though the last thing Rowanstar needs is two more young cats to keep track of.”
Bramblestar let out a rumble of amusement from deep in his chest.
Alderpaw couldn’t share it. The mention of ShadowClan had made him think of Needlepaw. . . .
A chilly wind ruffled the surface of the lake, breaking up the reflection of the full moon, which floated serenely in the sky above. Branches creaked and rustled in the blast, and dead leaves whirled
through the air.
Alderpaw fluffed out his fur against the cold as he padded along the lakeshore with his Clanmates. Violetkit rode on his back, her tiny claws digging deep into his pelt. Beside him, Sparkpaw was carrying Twigkit.
“I don’t think RiverClan and WindClan know anything about our quest to find SkyClan, or ‘what you find in the shadows,’” she meowed to Alderpaw. “Won’t they be surprised! I mean, that we found what lies in the shadows, anyway. They’ll be furious enough to claw their own ears off when they discover that a ThunderClan cat found it.”
“But Bramblestar isn’t completely sure the prophecy refers to these kits,” Alderpaw pointed out mildly.
“You mean he won’t say,” Sparkpaw responded. She gave an excited bounce, nearly dislodging Twigkit, who let out a squeak of alarm. “Oops, sorry, Twigkit. Anyway,” Sparkpaw continued, “the kits totally are what you find in the shadows, and you’d have to be the stupidest furball in the forest not to know it!”
Alderpaw blinked contentedly and let her chatter on as they splashed through the stream and followed Bramblestar and the senior warriors alongside the lake through WindClan territory. It was good to be with Sparkpaw again and to bask in her cheerful confidence, after all the dangers they had suffered.
They were drawing near to the edge of WindClan territory when Alderpaw spotted Onestar and his cats streaming down the hillside and heading around the lake ahead of them, past the horseplace.
“Who are all those cats?” Violetkit asked, sounding nervous.
“Oh, that’s WindClan,” Alderpaw replied.
“Has no cat told you about the Clans?” Sparkpaw asked. “They should have! Honestly . . . Well,” she went on, obviously delighted to show off her knowledge to the kits, “there are four Clans around the lake. We’re ThunderClan—we’re the best! Those skinny rabbit-chasers up ahead are WindClan, and then there’s RiverClan and ShadowClan. You’ll meet cats from all of them tonight.”
“Yes, all the Clans meet at the full moon. It’s called the Gathering,” Alderpaw added. “On that island in the lake—can you see it?” He waved his tail toward the dark bulk of the island.