Darkest Night

CHAPTER 19

For the first time in days, Twigpaw’s fur felt dry. She relished the fresh breeze in her pelt as she followed Sparrowpelt and Sandynose along the ridge that led to the ThunderClan border. Leafstar had sent them to re-mark the scent line, washed away after days of rain.

Sandynose nodded toward the stretch of forest where pine gave way to oak. Twigpaw breathed the ThunderClan scents that rolled across the border, trying to ignore a pang of homesickness. She focused on Sandynose.

“Well-marked borders make good neighbors,” he meowed. “When every cat is clear where their boundaries lie, there is no excuse for misunderstandings. And misunderstandings can lead to battles.”

Twigpaw tried hard to look attentive. She pushed away a prickle of resentment. Was Sandynose trying to remind her that she hadn’t reported seeing Dovewing and Tigerheart inside SkyClan territory? He’s just trying to be a good mentor, she told herself sternly. She was determined to earn her warrior name. This wasn’t just her Clan; it was Hawkwing’s and Violetpaw’s Clan too. When they returned, she wanted them to be proud of her.

“What did I say?” Sandynose was staring at her.

“Good borders make good neighbors,” Twigpaw repeated, hoping he hadn’t said anything else important while she’d been caught in her own thoughts.

“Good.” He looked pleased.

She puffed out her chest, relieved.

Sparrowpelt marked the pines along the edge. “I can’t wait until my kits are old enough to explore here.” He glanced around the forest. “It’s a good place to grow up.” The lake was visible between the trees, sparkling in the bright leaf-fall sunshine. Needles crunched beneath his paws. Prey-scents hung on the air.

“Has Quailkit recovered from his sniffles?” Twigpaw asked.

“Yes.” Sparrowpelt purred. “Leafpool gave him coltsfoot. This morning he felt so much better, he wanted to see if he could jump the stream. Sunnykit and Pigeonkit dared him to try.”

Sandynose flicked his tail. “It sounds as though Tinycloud has her paws full with those three.”

“They’re a joy,” Sparrowpelt meowed as he marked another tree. “Now I want the Clan to thrive, not just for my Clanmates, but for them.”

“Kits can be a worry.” Sandynose’s gaze darkened thoughtfully. “We have so many hopes for them. And yet we can’t protect them from every danger or disappointment.” Twigpaw pricked her ears. Was he talking about Finpaw? She wandered farther along the border, sniffing for stale markers as he went on. “And they grow up so quickly, so sure they know everything, and so determined to make their own choices, even if they’re wrong. We can only pray that StarClan guides their paws.”

Twigpaw hurried ahead, following a weak scent line and refreshing it as she went. If he was complaining about Finpaw’s friendship with her, she didn’t want to hear.

“Well done!” Sandynose called to her through the trees. “You picked up that scent line well.”

Was he actually praising her? She looked at him, puzzled. Perhaps he wasn’t dropping hints about her friendship with Finpaw after all. Stop being paranoid!

“You seem to have a natural sense of where the border lies,” Sandynose went on. Twigpaw didn’t tell him that it used to be the old border with ShadowClan, and she’d marked the ThunderClan side many times with Ivypool. “Head toward the lake, and mark the border there,” he told her. “Sparrowpelt and I will head toward the ditches.”

He trusted her to work alone. Twigpaw lifted her tail. Had she won his confidence at last? Hope pricking in her pelt, she crossed the rise and followed a gully toward the lake, carefully marking each tree as she passed.

“Twigpaw!”

She froze as she heard Finpaw’s mew. His pelt flashed behind a bramble, and he bounced out, excitedly, and stopped in front of her.

She glanced nervously between the trees. She could still see Sandynose and Sparrowpelt heading inland. “Aren’t you supposed to be training with Bellaleaf?” she breathed.

Finpaw paced excitedly back and forth. “She said I’d done enough training this morning. I’m allowed to explore. So I thought I’d come and explore with you.”

“I’m training.” Twigpaw shifted uneasily.

“I thought you were marking borders,” Finpaw mewed. “I can help.”

Her pelt pricked guiltily. “I’m not meant to hang out with you,” she mewed softly.

Finpaw frowned. “Why not?”

Twigpaw glanced toward Sandynose. He had disappeared behind some bracken. “Your father thinks you’ll learn quicker if I’m not distracting you all the time.”

“Sandynose said that?” Finpaw’s eyes widened. “He must have bees in his brain. You’ve helped me so much!”

“Maybe you should just stick with Bellaleaf for now. You do have a lot of catching up to do.” Twigpaw tried to smooth over the awkwardness. She didn’t want to sour Finpaw’s relationship with his father. “We can hang out when we’re warriors.”

“Yeah, right.” Finpaw lashed his tail angrily. “Like you’ll want to hang out with me once you’re a great warrior and I’m just lumbering around like a clumsy badger because I’ve only got a half tail.”

Twigpaw stared at him. “I’ll always want to hang out with you.”

“So you think I will be like a clumsy badger?”

“No!” Twigpaw’s ears twitched uncomfortably. “Of course not. You’re going to be a great warrior too, if you train hard.”

Finpaw grunted crossly. “I’m never going to be the warrior Sandynose hoped I would be. He knows it and I know it. It’s probably why he doesn’t want me hanging out with you. He probably thinks I’ll hold you back.”

Twigpaw stared at him. “That’s not true.”

“Then why does he want to keep us apart?”

Twigpaw shrugged. Should she tell him that she suspected Sandynose would only ever see her as a disloyal ThunderClan cat?

“It’s not fair.” Finpaw sat down. “I’m never going to be a great warrior, and now I’m not allowed to be friends with you.”

“No one will ever stop us being friends.” Twigpaw padded close. She stared at him until he returned her gaze. “You’re special to me.”

“I am?”

“Of course you are.” Twigpaw nudged his cheek with her nose. “Once we’re warriors, no one will be able to keep us apart. I don’t care if it puts Sandynose’s tail in a twist. You’re going to prove to him that you’re a great warrior and so am I. We’ll be the best warriors in SkyClan, and he won’t be able to stop us doing anything we want.”

Finpaw lifted his muzzle, his eyes bright. “You’re right. He might think he knows best now, but once we can outrun, outhunt, and outfight him, he won’t be able to tell us what to do.”

“Exactly.” Twigpaw’s heart lurched as she glimpsed a brown pelt between the trees. Sandynose was watching them. “But you’d better go and find Bellaleaf now. I’ve got borders to mark before your father gets back.”

“Okay.” Finpaw stood up and flicked his half tail happily. “I’ll see you back at camp later.” He trotted away, glancing over his shoulder as he went.

As he disappeared behind the brambles, Twigpaw turned toward Sandynose. Her mentor was heading toward her. She tried to read his gaze. Was he angry that she’d been talking to Finpaw?

“He came to talk to me,” she mewed defensively.

“And you sent him away.” Sandynose looked satisfied. “You did well. The harder each of you concentrates on your duties, the faster you’ll earn your warrior names.”

And the faster Finpaw will lose interest in a ThunderClan traitor. Twigpaw turned away. “I’ll go and mark the rest of the border.” She headed for the lake.

“We’ll meet you on the shore when you’re done,” Sandynose called after her.

Twigpaw tried to keep her pelt smooth. She should be happy that she’d finally pleased Sandynose. But she couldn’t help feeling that she’d been mouse-hearted. In ThunderClan, she’d be a warrior by now. She would never have let a SkyClan cat boss her around. Did she want to be a SkyClan cat so much that she was willing to roll over and act like prey whenever Sandynose ordered her to? Anxiety rippled through her pelt. Would she ever earn the respect she’d had in ThunderClan? Was this what it cost to stay with Hawkwing, Violetpaw, and Finpaw?

Twigpaw followed Sandynose and Sparrowpelt back to camp. As they neared the cedar grove, she stiffened. ThunderClan scent. The familiar smells of Ivypool, Cinderheart, and Bumblestripe hung on the bracken that lined the path. She leaned down and sniffed the needle-strewn earth, and their scents bathed her nose. They had come this way recently.

She quickened her step, hurrying through the camp entrance.

The three ThunderClan warriors faced Leafstar, speaking in low mews. Bellaleaf and Sagenose listened as Finpaw moved restlessly behind them. Leafpool wove anxiously around her Clanmates. Violetpaw could see there was something wrong. Ivypool’s pelt was unkempt. Bumblestripe’s fur was streaked with mud. She could see swelling around Cinderheart’s ears.

“There was no warning,” Ivypool meowed.

“The camp is ruined.” Bumblestripe’s eyes were wide and dark.

“What’s happened?” She hurried forward, cutting into the conversation.

Ivypool blinked at her solemnly. “There was a rockslide in the camp,” she told her grimly.

Twigpaw tried to picture it, her belly tightening. “From the cliff?”

Bumblestripe nodded. “The rain loosened the earth up there. It brought down a great chunk of the cliff face.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Twigpaw could hardly believe her ears.

“Everyone is battered and bruised,” Ivypool told her. “But no one died.”

“Snowbush is badly injured,” Cinderheart’s eyes sparkled with worry. “Alderheart hasn’t left his side.”

Twigpaw’s throat tightened. “Is Lilyheart okay?” Lilyheart had been almost a mother to her.

“She’s fine,” Cinderheart told her. “But she’s worried about Snowbush. We all are.”

Sparrowpelt padded closer. “Did Blossomfall’s kits escape?”

“We got them out before the worst of it,” Ivypool reported.

Leafpool looked at Leafstar. “Perhaps I should return to ThunderClan to help with the injuries.”

“It’s okay,” Ivypool assured her. “Alderheart and Jayfeather are managing.”

“But you said the medicine den is full of mud and stone.” Leafpool’s fur rippled along her spine.

“That’s why we came,” Ivypool told her. “We rescued some of the herbs. But we lost most of them. We were hoping you could spare some of yours.”

“Of course.” Leafpool glanced toward her den, as though working out what she could give from her store.

“We can gather more herbs for you,” Leafstar offered.

“I know what they look like. I can help,” Twigpaw volunteered. Her early moons as a kit had been spent shadowing Alderheart while he’d been a medicine-cat apprentice.

Sandynose swished his tail. “You’re supposed to be training,” he told her.

She stared at him. “But this is an emergency.”

“It’s ThunderClan’s emergency, not ours.”

Twigpaw could hardly believe her ears. After all ThunderClan had done for SkyClan. How could he begrudge them help at a time like this?

Leafstar glanced around the camp. Fallowfern, Harrybrook and Plumwillow were watching from beside the stream. “I don’t have many cats, but I’ll be glad to spare them,” she told Ivypool. “And of course Twigpaw can help.” She looked sternly at Sandynose. “I’m sure her training can wait.”

Ivypool’s ears twitched. “I’m surprised there’s anything left for her to learn,” she mewed. “But we appreciate your help. ThunderClan is camped on the shore until we can shift the earth and stones away from the dens. Patrols have been working day and night since the rain stopped. We’re making good progress. But we need herbs for the injured.”

Leafstar nodded to Twigpaw. “If Leafpool tells you what herbs you need to gather, can you lead a patrol to find them?”

Twigpaw nodded eagerly.

“They’ll need thyme, comfrey, and marigold,” Leafpool told her. “Goldenrod if you can find it, nettles if you can’t.”

Leafstar signaled with her tail. “Take Fallowfern, Harrybrook and Plumwillow with you,” she told Twigpaw. She turned to Ivypool. “Bellaleaf and Finpaw can escort you back to camp. Make use of them.”

Sandynose’s pelt ruffled. “Who’s going to protect our camp with so many cats gone?” He looked toward the nursery, where Tinycloud was peering from the entrance.

“I’m sure we’ll be safe enough until sundown,” Leafstar told him. She nodded Twigpaw away with her nose. “The sooner you start, the more herbs you’ll find.”

Twigpaw headed for the entrance, pleased that she could help.

Sandynose followed her. He blocked her path and leaned close to her ear as Fallowfern and Harrybrook hurried toward her. “You can’t live with a paw in two camps,” he hissed.

She stepped away, blinking at him. “Are you accusing me of being disloyal?”

“No.” His gaze was cold. “You will make a great warrior one day. But first you need to decide which Clan you want to fight for.”

His words cut like thorns. She stared as he stalked away. And yet she couldn’t feel angry with him. Guiltily, she recognized the truth. Shame scorched her pelt. Sandynose had seen something she didn’t want to admit even to herself. Her heart lay as much with ThunderClan as with SkyClan. If staying here meant turning her back on her old Clan, was it a decision she could ever live with?