Roach nudged Rain, his eyes glinting. “Needlepaw couldn’t make it, Rain. She must have better things to do.” He sounded as though he was teasing his campmate.
“She doesn’t,” Violetkit mewed quickly. “She got in trouble and has to stay in camp and look after the elders.”
Flame slunk from the rowan bushes, her orange pelt pale in the moonlight. “Ain’t that sweet,” she drawled mockingly, her voice light now that her terrible whitecough had passed—and, with it, her kindness. “Needlepaw has to look after the old cats.”
“She’ll come as soon as she can,” Violetkit promised.
Raven touched her muzzle to Violetkit’s head. “I’m sure she will.”
Violetkit felt a wave of gratitude for Raven’s kindness. For the first time since leaving the nursery, she felt safe. “I guess I’d better go home.” She glanced at the sky, hoping the rogues had scared the owl off for good.
Paw steps sounded in the shadows behind a beech. “You mustn’t leave now.” Darktail padded from the darkness, his eyes round with concern. “It’s too dangerous for you to travel alone.”
“But I have to be back in the nursery by dawn.” Violetkit’s heart skipped a beat. What if Pinenose woke and found her gone?
Darktail padded past her, weaving around his campmates. “Don’t worry, little one. We’ll have you home by then.” He exchanged glances with Rain. “You must be tired and hungry. Nettle!” He called into the shadows.
The brown tabby padded out, a rabbit hanging from his jaws. Silt followed, carrying a squirrel.
“We’ll share our catch with you and you can sleep.” Darktail stopped in front of Violetkit and leaned so close that his breath washed her muzzle. It smelled of blood.
She blinked at him uneasily. She didn’t want to stay, but she didn’t want to walk home by herself either. “Could you take me home now?” she asked hopefully.
Raven purred softly beside her. “You must be exhausted, my dear.” She glanced at Darktail, whose gaze was unreadable. “Eat with us and rest for a while. Then we’ll take you home.”
Violetkit woke up. Her heart lurched as she saw pale dawn light seeping between the trees. She sat up, the bracken rustling around her. Raven had made her a bed to rest in after they’d shared the rabbit. She’d lined it with moss, and it had been so warm and soft that Violetkit couldn’t resist closing her eyes for a moment and dozing for a little while before the rogues took her home.
“It’s dawn!” She glanced around her. The rogues sprawled in their nests. They’d fallen asleep too! She leaped from the bracken and crossed the small hollow in the hillside where they had made their camp. She stopped beside Raven. “Wake up.” She poked the she-cat with a paw.
Raven jerked away, baring her teeth. “Who is it?” she snarled.
Violetkit jumped back, shocked. “It’s me! We fell asleep. I’m meant be back at camp.”
Raven’s gaze softened quickly. “Oh, you poor thing,” she mewed. She got to her paws and stretched. “Darktail.” She called softly to the rogue leader, who was still snoring in his nest.
His tail twitched.
“Darktail,” Raven called again. “It’s time we took Violetkit back to her camp.”
Darktail lifted his head and stared at her blearily. “Is it that time already?”
“I thought you were going to take me home last night,” Violetkit ventured uneasily.
“I guess the fine prey Nettle and Silt caught for us made us sleepier than we expected.” Darktail sat up. “Rain! Roach! Wake up!” He called to the sleeping toms. “We’re taking Violetkit home.”
Violetkit watched anxiously as the rogues yawned and stretched. She could see the fiery tip of the sun beyond the forest now. The Clan would be waking. What would Pinenose say when she found her gone? She began to pace.
Darktail nodded to Rain and Roach. “You two can come with me. The rest of you stay here.”
Violetkit glanced at Raven. She wanted the kind she-cat to come with them. But she wasn’t going to argue with Darktail. He seemed friendly, but there was a darkness that never left his gaze, and it scared her.
“Come on.” The rogue leader headed from the camp. Violetkit followed, Rain and Roach at her heels.
The sun was up by the time they reached the bramble wall of the ShadowClan camp. Mist swirled between the trees. Violetkit pricked her ears as they neared, her heart sinking as she heard the sounds of the Clan preparing to start their day.
“Needlepaw!” Kinkfur mewed huskily. “Tell Leafpool I need mouse bile. I’ve found another tick near my tail.”
“Tawnypelt and Stonewing.” Crowfrost’s order sounded through the chilly air. “You’ll each lead a hunting party. And make sure your apprentices catch something worth eating this time. Crow-food doesn’t count.”
“Yarrowpaw! Strikepaw!” Wasptail sounded cross. “You should be out of your nests by now. Crowfrost is organizing the patrols.”
Darktail’s ears pricked. He stopped at the entrance. “Patrols? Apprentices?” He looked intrigued. “It’s awfully regimented here, isn’t it? You must not have a lot of freedom.”
Violetkit didn’t answer. She was straining to hear if anyone was looking for her. Perhaps she’d been lucky. Perhaps Pinenose and Grassheart hadn’t noticed she was missing. She blinked at Darktail. “Thanks for bringing me home.” Her gaze flitted to Roach and Rain. “And thanks for saving me from the owl.” She turned, heading for the dirtplace tunnel so she could slip into camp unnoticed.
“Wait.” Darktail’s mew sent a chill through her pelt.
“What?” She faced him uneasily.
“I want to make sure you don’t get into trouble.” Darktail was eyeing the camp entrance.
“It’s okay.” Foreboding tightened Violetkit’s belly. What was he planning? “I’ll be fine.”
But Darktail was already ducking through the entrance tunnel.
Rain nudged Violetkit after him. “Go on,” he encouraged. “We might as well see you safely into camp.”
Heart pounding, Violetkit followed Darktail through the tunnel. Rain and Roach followed.
As they emerged into the camp, Violetkit felt the eyes of the Clan flash toward her. She wanted to run and hide. What would Rowanstar say? She’d brought rogues into the camp.
Darktail marched across the clearing, tail high.
Hisses sounded around him. Stonewing arched his back. Spikefur and Snowbird burst from the warriors’ den, their eyes wide with shock.
Crowfrost pushed through the warriors that were gathered around him. “What are you doing here?” He met Darktail in the clearing.
Darktail signaled to Rain and Roach with a flick of his tail. They stopped a few paw steps behind. Violetkit halted between them, her pelt lifting along her spine. “I found this kit wandering in the woods,” he told Crowfrost. “I thought I should bring her home. It’s dangerous out there.”
Spikefur lunged at him, but Darktail batted him away with a swift swipe of his paw.
“Is that the gratitude you show to a cat who has returned a lost Clanmate?” The rogue leader sounded hurt.
“Violetkit!” Pinenose burst form the nursery, her pelt bristling. “Are you okay? Did they harm you?”
Violetkit stared at the queen. “They looked after me,” she whispered hoarsely.
“What were you doing out in the forest?” Pinenose demanded, her fear sharpening to anger.
Needlepaw hurried from the elders’ den. “Violetkit. There you are. Did you get lost trying to find the dirtplace again?”
Violetkit blinked at her, confused. What had happened to the plan for Violetpaw to say that Needlepaw had sent her out?
But she is trying to cover for me, in a way, Violetkit thought. Maybe she’s just changed her mind about how.
Kinkfur snorted. “Who gets lost finding the dirtplace? You only have to follow your nose.”
Spikefur hissed, glowering at Darktail. “Why are we talking about the dirtplace? There are strangers in our camp.”
“Worse than strangers.” Dawnpelt fell in beside Spikefur, flexing her claws. “Rogues.”
“What are you doing in our camp?” Rowanstar’s growl cut through the angry murmuring of his Clanmates. The ShadowClan leader strode across the clearing and stopped a whisker away from Darktail.
“I brought your kit home.” Darktail nodded toward Violetkit.
Violetkit shrank beneath her pelt as Rowanstar’s gaze flicked toward her.
Darktail went on. “I don’t understand why you’re being so unfriendly.” He blinked at Rowanstar with round eyes. “We were just trying to help your Clan.”
Rowanstar narrowed his eyes. “Like you helped WindClan?”
Darktail returned his gaze innocently. “We were just defending ourselves. We have the right to do that, surely?”
“Rogues have no right to be on Clan territory!” Spikefur snarled.
Sleekpaw padded into the clearing. “Why not?”
Her Clanmates jerked their gazes toward her.
“Why not?” Tawnypelt’s fur spiked. “I can’t believe you would ask that. They’re not Clan cats.”
Yarrowpaw padded to Sleekpaw’s side. “If they weren’t on our territory, they couldn’t have rescued Violetkit.”
Sleekpaw blinked at her leader. “And what would your precious StarClan have said if something had happened to their special cat?”
“Be quiet!” Rowanstar glared at the yellow apprentice.
Darktail glanced at Rain and Roach. “I think we should leave,” he meowed calmly. “We seem to be causing an argument.”
He turned toward the entrance.
“Wait!” Rowanstar lifted his chin. “We’re grateful you returned Violetkit to us. But you don’t belong here.”
Rain and Roach exchanged amused glances.
“A patrol will make sure you leave our land,” Rowanstar went on. “Tawnypelt, Spikefur, and Dawnpelt.” He nodded to his warriors. “Go with them and make sure they cross the border.”
Tawnypelt nodded.
“Can I come with you?” Needlepaw hurried toward her mentor hopefully.
Tawnypelt curled her lip. “You’re looking after the elders, remember?”
Violetkit saw anger flash in Needlepaw’s eyes. Then she saw the silver apprentice’s gaze dart toward Rain. Rain blinked at her, then looked away. He turned and followed Darktail and Roach as they headed for the entrance.
Tawnypelt, Dawnpelt, and Spikefur hurried after them.
Belly hollow with dread, Violetkit turned to face Rowanstar. The ShadowClan leader stared at her, exasperation glittering in his gaze. Hanging her head, Violetkit prepared for her punishment.
CHAPTER 9
Fluffing her fur out against the cold, Twigkit followed Alderpaw through the moonlit forest. They were going to meet Violetkit and Needlepaw. It had been over half a moon since they’d met, and she longed to see her sister. She could tell Violetkit how she’d heard their mother’s voice and smelled her scent when she’d nearly drowned. Perhaps Violetkit still remembered what their mother had smelled and sounded like. As Twigkit followed Alderpaw up a leaf-strewn rise, she tried to ignore the shame worming in her belly. “Do you think Bramblestar’s still mad at me for falling in the lake?”
Alderpaw stopped beside a clump of frost-shriveled ferns. “He wasn’t mad at you. He was just worried.”
“The other cats think I’ve got feathers in my head.” Twigkit remembered the water pressing against her muzzle. She’d been so afraid. “I wanted to prove to them I was special, but I just proved I’m a mouse-brain.”
Since she fell into the lake, Leafkit and Honeykit had been teasing her constantly.
Did you want to be a RiverClan cat?
Perhaps she wants to be a fish.
They teased her the same way they teased each other—they were not trying to be cruel at all.
But it had still hurt.
Alderpaw leaped onto a log, which was blocking the path, and waited for Twigkit to scramble up beside him. “Jayfeather fell in the lake when he was a kit too,” he told her.
She blinked at him, surprised. “Really?”
Alderpaw purred. “He left camp, just like you, trying to prove he was special.”
“But he was special. He was one of the Three.” Hope fluttered in Twigkit’s chest like a moth.
“And you are special too.”
Alderpaw’s words warmed her. She couldn’t wait to tell Leafkit and Honeykit that she was just like Jayfeather. She knew from nursery tales that Jayfeather had helped save the Clans from the Dark Forest cats. She swallowed. Will I have to do that?
An owl shrieked far away. Twigkit moved closer to Alderpaw, suddenly aware of how huge the forest seemed at night and how deep the shadows were. She peered into them. “Do you think the Dark Forest cats will ever come back?” she asked Alderpaw.
His eyes widened in surprise. “What makes you ask that?”
“If I’m special like Jayfeather, maybe I’m supposed to fight them too.”
Alderpaw whisked his tail. “The Dark Forest cats won’t dare return here.” He leaped from the log and trotted along a trail between brambles.
Twigkit hurried after him. “Did your prophecy say what I’m supposed to do?”
“No.” Alderpaw kept his gaze ahead. “It just said we must find what was in the shadows and it would help clear the sky.”
Twigkit frowned thoughtfully. “Do you think I’m supposed to make the sun shine?”
Alderpaw purred. “Even StarClan can’t do that.”
“But they can make clouds cover the moon if the Clans argue during a Gathering.” Twigkit wondered suddenly how powerful StarClan really was. If they could make clouds cover the moon, why did they need forest cats to help with their prophecies?
“Hurry up.” Alderpaw quickened his pace. He seemed as excited as Twigkit about the meeting. “We’re nearly there.”
As they neared the ShadowClan border, he broke into a run. Twigkit hared after him, the cold air burning her lungs. She caught up as he reached the clearing where they’d met the two ShadowClan cats last time.
Alderpaw was skirting the edge, sniffing the tree roots hopefully.
“Can you smell them?” Twigkit scanned the shadows, hoping to see Violetkit’s splotchy white fur glowing in the moonlight. “Are you sure we’re meant to meet them here?”
“That’s what Needlepaw said when I saw her at the border the other day.” Alderpaw leaned forward.
Twigkit glanced through the branches. The moon was high. Why weren’t they here? Worry prickled through her pelt. “Perhaps that owl caught them.”
“Needlepaw could chase off an owl.” Alderpaw was still straining to see across the border.
“What about a fox?” Twigkit began to pace. “Maybe the rogues attacked the ShadowClan camp. What if Violetkit’s been hurt?”
“It’s more likely that they couldn’t sneak out of camp without being noticed.” Alderpaw reasoned. “I’m sure nothing bad has happened.”
“But what if you’re wrong?” Twigkit’s heart quickened. Surely her sister would find a way to meet her. As fear made her thoughts spin, paw steps sounded beyond the border. Her heart leaped. “Violetkit?”
“Who’s that?” A gruff mew sounded beyond the brambles crowding the scent line.
Alarmed, Twigkit hurried to Alderpaw’s side and pressed against him.
“It’s just me,” he called. “Alderpaw.”
Twigkit could feel his fur spiking anxiously.
A ShadowClan warrior padded from behind the brambles. It was a broad-shouldered tabby tom. A gray tabby she-cat and a white tom followed him.
“Hi, Tigerheart.” Alderpaw dipped his head to the tom. “Cloverfoot, Rippletail.”
Twigkit tasted the air. She hadn’t met these ShadowClan warriors before. Alderpaw must know them from Gatherings.
Tigerheart was scanning the shadows behind them. “Is Dovewing with you?”
“No.” Alderpaw sounded surprised at
his question.
Tigerheart shrugged. Was that disappointment in his gaze? “What are you doing here?”
“Gathering herbs,” Alderpaw answered a little too quickly.
“At night?” Rippletail padded into the clearing, ears twitching.
“Some herbs are best gathered after dusk,” Alderpaw told him.
Rippletail looked at Twigkit. “Does ThunderClan often send kits out of camp at night to help medicine cats with their duties?”
Cloverfoot padded around them. “Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“She was worried about her littermate,” Alderpaw told the tabby she-cat. “I said she could come in case we bumped into a ShadowClan patrol.”
Twigkit was impressed by his story. She almost believed it herself.
“We’re lucky we met you,” Alderpaw went on. “Is Violetkit okay?”
“Of course.” Tigerheart pushed between his Clanmates. “Why shouldn’t she be?”
Twigkit lifted her chin. “I was worried the rogues might hurt her.”
Tigerheart flexed his claws. “She has ShadowClan to protect her.”
“Besides,” Rippletail added, “the rogues are no threat.”
Alderpaw stared at the young warrior. “They killed Furzepelt.”
Rippletail huffed. “WindClan started that fight.”
Alderpaw stared at the ShadowClan tom, surprise showing in his face.
Twigkit edged forward. “You’ll protect her, though, won’t you?” Didn’t ShadowClan realize how dangerous the rogues were?
“Of course we will,” Tigerheart growled. “It would be easier if she didn’t keep sneaking out of camp with Needlepaw.”
Alderpaw blinked. “She’s been sneaking out of camp?”
Twigkit frowned, confused. She hadn’t seen her sister for over half a moon. Where had Violetkit been going?
“Tawnypelt caught them the other night,” Tigerheart told Alderpaw. “Rowanstar’s put Needlepaw on elder duty and told Pinenose not to take her eyes off Violetkit for a moment.”
Twigkit felt a flicker of relief. At least she knew why her sister hadn’t come to the meeting. But then her heart sank. That meant that she wouldn’t see her littermate tonight after all! She realized with a jolt that Tigerheart was staring at her.