Darkest Night

CHAPTER 23

“Why did she ask us to meet here?” Alderheart’s breath billowed in the cold night air. He paced the lakeshore, pebbles crunching beneath his paws. This was SkyClan land now, but it still carried the scent of ShadowClan. A few tail-lengths away lay the RiverClan border.

“I don’t know. She said we were to get as close to RiverClan’s shoreline as we could.” Kestrelflight peered over the border. “I guess she’ll tell us when she comes.”

Leafpool had arrived at ThunderClan’s camp that morning, promising she’d be home soon but that first, all the medicine cats must meet beside the lake at moonhigh. Then she’d left, hurrying away to give the same message to WindClan.

Now the waning moon hung in the crow-black sky. Stars glittered over the lake. Alderheart fluffed out his pelt against the chill and glanced at Jayfeather.

It surprised him that the blind medicine cat wasn’t complaining. He sat silently now, blinking into the darkness.

“Are you warm enough?” Alderheart asked.

Jayfeather sniffed. “What does it matter? I’m here and I’m staying whether I’m cold or not.”

Alderheart felt reassured. Jayfeather would always be Jayfeather. Leafpool’s secretiveness had unnerved him. It wasn’t like her. He’d tried to read her gaze while she’d told him about the meeting. But it gave nothing away. Was she planning to break more bad news? Was there worse to come than ShadowClan’s collapse?

One spark of hope had lit the gloom that had hung around Alderheart since the Gathering two nights ago. Twigpaw had arrived at the ThunderClan camp with Finpaw. She’d begged Bramblestar to take them in, and had told him that when she’d followed her kin to SkyClan, she hadn’t realized how deep her loyalty to ThunderClan reached.

Bramblestar hadn’t said yes yet. He was worried about Twigpaw’s fickleness and wasn’t yet sure he trusted Finpaw. According to Bramblestar, the SkyClan tom had left his own Clan too easily. But he had promised to consider their request if they could prove their loyalty, and Alderheart secretly felt sure that his father couldn’t turn them away when they had nowhere left to go.

“Look!” Kestrelflight lifted his tail excitedly.

An owl was swooping across the lake. The water was so still it reflected the great outstretched wings along with the moonlight. The owl glided above the water for the length of the lake before sweeping into the air and circling around the island. Its cry echoed around the hills as it disappeared among the trees.

“Was that a sign from StarClan?” Kestrelflight gasped. “Owls rarely go near the water.”

Jayfeather pulled his paws in tighter. “What do you think they’re trying to tell us?” he grunted. “That an owl will save us?”

Kestrelflight turned on him crossly. “Why wouldn’t it be a sign?”

“We’ve had plenty of signs already,” Jayfeather gazed at him blindly. “We don’t need any more.”

Alderheart padded between them. “I would like to solve one prophecy before we get another one,” he conceded. He felt frustrated that he’d made no progress on finding the six-toed cat—if it even was a six-toed cat they were meant to find. The rockslide had left him little time to search beyond Clan borders.

The undergrowth at the top of the shore shivered. Four shadows moved in the moonlight.

“Leafpool!” Alderheart recognized her scent before he could make her out clearly. Puddleshine was with her, and two more cats he’d never seen before.

They padded down the shore and stopped in front of him.

Leafpool dipped her head. “Thank you for coming.”

Jayfeather’s nose twitched. “Who are they?” His blind blue gaze pointed straight at the two cats standing behind Leafpool.

Puddleshine whisked his tail happily. “They are SkyClan’s medicine cats.”

The mottled brown she-cat padded forward, her eyes shining. “I’m Frecklewish.” She nodded to the black-and-white tom behind her. “This is my apprentice, Fidgetpaw.”

“Hello.” Fidgetpaw sounded nervous.

“SkyClan has three medicine cats now!” Kestrelflight sounded surprised. “WindClan is the only Clan left with one. I think it’s time I found myself an apprentice.”

Alderheart caught Puddleshine’s eye. Kestrelflight had included the ShadowClan tom among SkyClan’s medicine cats. How could he concede so easily that ShadowClan no longer existed? He looked away quickly. “Twigpaw said that the patrol had returned, but she didn’t say they’d brought back your medicine cats.”

Jayfeather flicked his tail toward Leafpool. “You can come home now that SkyClan no longer needs you.”

“I will,” she promised. “As soon as Frecklewish and Fidgetpaw have settled in, and I’ve shown them where the best herbs can be gathered.”

“Let’s worry about herbs later!” Frecklewish shifted impatiently. “There’s more to tell. Hawkwing’s patrol brought back more than just Clanmates.”

There was excitement in her mew. Alderheart blinked at her.

Kestrelflight pricked his ears. “What else did they bring?”

Leafpool turned her muzzle toward the forest. A fifth shadow emerged from the undergrowth.

Jayfeather’s nose wrinkled. “A loner?”

Alderheart detected the scent of a tom, and stiffened nervously. The loner looked sleek and well-muscled, his yellow pelt glowing in the moonlight as he padded toward them.

As he reached Leafpool, he dipped his head to the medicine cats. “I’m Tree.”

Jayfeather’s gaze narrowed. “You’re the six-toed cat.”

“How did you guess?” Alderheart turned to the blind medicine cat in surprise.

Jayfeather padded forward and sniffed the tom. “Why else would Leafpool make so much drama out of bringing us out?”

Leafpool sniffed. “There’s another reason I asked you here. Didn’t you think it was strange I wanted to meet on this stretch of shore?”

“I thought you wanted to save us the trek to the Moonpool,” Jayfeather grunted.

Alderheart wasn’t listening. He was staring at Tree’s paws. Which one had six toes? It was hard to see in the moonlight. Suddenly, he saw it—an extra claw among the toes on his hind leg, just as StarClan had predicted. He wished Willowshine could be here to see it for herself.

Kestrelflight blinked at Leafpool. “Is there something special about this place?”

Frecklewish and Leafpool exchanged glances.

“Yes.” Frecklewish answered. “We’ve had a chance to talk with Tree. He has a power that might help us.”

“I hope he does,” Jayfeather sniffed. “Why else would StarClan ask us to find him?”

Kestrelflight flicked his tail. “What is it?”

“How’s it connected to this piece of shore?” Alderheart’s ears twitched. How was the six-toed cat going to help?

Paw steps sounded at the edge of the forest. Cats were padding from the trees, slinking onto the shore. The scents of ShadowClan filled the air. Scorchfur and Juniperclaw led their Clanmates across the pebbles. Tawnypelt walked beside Rowanstar. The ShadowClan leader gazed ahead blankly as Tawnypelt guided him forward. Violetshine followed behind. She looked nervous, as though she was self-conscious about being the only SkyClan cat.

Jayfeather bristled. “Why are they here?” he demanded.

Kestrelflight blinked at Puddleshine. “Did you know they were coming?”

“They have to be here,” Puddleshine explained. “They need to see what Tree can show us.”

Alderheart’s thoughts swam. What was the six-toed cat going to show them? And what did ShadowClan have to do with it? His heart quickened. Did Tree know how to keep ShadowClan from disappearing?

“Is this close to the place?” Leafpool gazed at Violetshine as the young warrior neared the water’s edge.

Violetshine’s eyes flashed with fear as she gazed across the border. “Close enough,” she breathed.

Jayfeather lashed his tail. “What’s going on?”

“We have to be close to where Needletail died,” Leafpool meowed softly.

“And the others.” Juniperclaw padded forward, his eyes dark. His Clanmates shifted nervously around him.

“Tree has the power to bring dead cats from the darkness so we can see them,” Leafpool explained.

See the dead? Alderheart’s pelt prickled uneasily. “How?”

Leafpool blinked at him. “I don’t know. Nor does he. It was a gift he was born with.”

Tree padded to the border. “The dead are all around us, all the time,” he meowed. “I can sense them, and sometimes I can make them appear.”

Alderheart glanced over his shoulder, shivering. Unease wormed beneath his pelt. Are we being watched by more than StarClan? Was Needletail ever close by when he was missing her?

“I can’t make all dead cats appear,” Tree went on. “Needletail told me about StarClan. I’ve never seen a StarClan cat. I think I can only sense cats who are still tied to the living. They’ve stuck close to us. They can’t move on until they’ve done what they feel they need to do. Like Needletail.” The loner glanced at Violetshine. “She will only find her way to StarClan when she has finished what she started here.”

Violetshine’s eyes glistened with emotion as Tree went on.

Puddleshine’s eyes were wide with excitement. “He says he might be able to make our lost Clanmates appear,” he mewed breathlessly. “So many are gone. And we don’t know whether they died or got lost or left with the rogues.”

Jayfeather fur ruffled. “Is that all you want to know? Which of your Clanmates are dead?”

Kestrelflight padded closer to the loner and followed his gaze across the border. “How will seeing the dead help fend off a storm? That’s what the six-toed cat was for, right?”

Leafpool exchanged glances with Puddleshine and Frecklewish. “We don’t know. But that is his power. Let him use it.” She turned to Tree as though signaling to him to begin.

Alderheart felt silence rise like a flood around him, swallowing every breath of wind. The cats were as still as ice as they watched Tree gaze over the water. Hardly daring to breathe, Alderheart strained to see movement, but nothing appeared on the wide, flat expanse. Disappointment tugged at his belly.

“What are we doing here?” Rowanstar’s explosive mew shattered the peace. “There’s nothing to see. This is crazy! That loner has bees in his brain. He’s mocking us!”

“Hush.” Tawnypelt soothed him.

Violetshine padded closer to Tree. She was staring at him with complete trust. Once more, Alderheart turned his gaze to the lake. His heart lurched as he saw movement. In the breathless air, the water began to stir. Ripples moved across it as figures emerged through the surface.

Cats waded from the depths, emerging dry and wide-eyed onto the shore. Light glowed softly beneath their pelts.

“Beenose!” Scorchfur hurried forward to touch noses with his kit.

His Clanmates streamed around him, rushing to greet the dead.

“Mistcloud!”

“Lioneye!”

“Dawnpelt!”

They called their names, joy and grief choking their mews in equal measure.

Puddleshine’s ears twitched anxiously. “Where are Cloverfoot and Slatefur?”

“Where’s Berryheart and Yarrowleaf?” Scorchfur asked Beenose.

“And Sleekwhisker?” Juniperclaw scanned the dead cats for his littermate.

“If they’re not with us, or in StarClan, they must still be alive,” Beenose murmured.

“Alive?” Juniperclaw blinked.

“Where?” Stonewing mewed.

“Why have they stayed away from their Clan?” Grassheart’s eyes rounded questioningly.

Alderheart blinked, as shocked as ShadowClan to hear that so many of their Clanmates might still be out there, alive somewhere. His attention was snatched away as he recognized a ghostly pelt. His heart seemed to skip. “Needletail.” He stared at her as she padded from the water, her pelt dry as bone and glowing as though she were lit from the inside. Grief choked him.

She stopped in front of him, her eyes flashing in the teasing way they used to when she was still alive. “Did you miss me?”

“Of course.” Alderheart’s mew caught in his throat. She hadn’t changed. Even her scent was the same. He felt her breath on his cheek as she turned her muzzle.

“Violetpaw.” Needletail’s eyes glowed with affection as she saw her friend.

“I’m Violetshine now.” She raced to meet Needletail, a purr rumbling in her chest. She stopped short and blinked, as though a thought had just struck her. “You’re not with StarClan.”

“Not yet,” Needletail told her. “But I am with Clanmates now, thanks to you and Tree. And we will not go far until you are all safe.”

“You’re not angry with me anymore?” Violetshine blinked at her anxiously.

“I never was,” Needletail murmured. “You were the best friend I ever had. We will always be sisters.”

Rowanstar stood as though his paws had become part of the shore, staring wordlessly.

Tawnypelt hurried from his side and brushed her muzzle against the cheek of first Birchbark and then Lioneye. “It’s good to see you once more.”

“We never left you,” Lioneye mewed.

“We couldn’t,” Birchbark told her. “Not until we’d seen the wrongs put right.”

Beenose slid between them and faced Tawnypelt. “You must save ShadowClan.”

“How?” Rowanstar pushed past his Clanmates, growling, and faced the dead cats. “There’s nothing left!”

Beenose stared at him, her eyes glittering in the moonlight. “There is you, and there is still hope. You must fight for your Clan, Rowanstar.”

“You must find your missing Clanmates,” Lioneye told him.

Rowanstar lashed his tail. “Don’t look to me for leadership!” he snarled. “I failed my Clan. I failed my kin.” Pain crossed his face. Was he thinking of Tigerheart? “I’m not worthy of being their leader.”

Panic fluttered in Alderheart’s belly. He was giving up! “Rowanstar.” He faced the ginger tom. “You can try. You can—”

Rowanstar cut him off with a hiss. “Don’t call me Rowanstar! I have no right to that name.”

“But StarClan gave it to you!” How could he deny the gift given by his ancestors? Did he doubt their wisdom?

“StarClan was wrong.” Rowanstar’s green gaze burned with rage. “From now on I am Rowanclaw.”

As he spoke, the ghostly cats began to fade.

“No!” Alderheart’s darted forward, trying to reach Needletail as she began to shimmer into the cold, night air.

Puddleshine stared desperately at his fading Clanmates. “Don’t leave!”

“We have questions to ask!” Tawnypelt wailed.

Needletail’s eyes burned for a moment longer. She threw Alderheart a knowing look and disappeared.

“I’m sorry.” Tree broke the startled silence. “It’s hard to hold them here long.” He looked hopefully at the distraught cats. “They delivered their message, right?”

Leafpool padded to Tree’s side. “Yes,” she told him gently. “Thank you for bringing them here.”

Tree blinked at her anxiously. “So everything’s going to be okay now? You can save the Clans?”

The loner waited for an answer, but no cat spoke.

Alderheart gazed at him, wondering at Tree’s simple faith. Didn’t he realize that the dead cats hadn’t delivered a message of hope? They’d delivered a warning.

All the prophecies StarClan had sent since he had become a medicine cat had told him to do one thing: bring the five Clans together to keep them strong. And now StarClan had gone to extraordinary measures to bring them this message—they must save ShadowClan. But ShadowClan couldn’t survive without a savior, and if Rowanclaw wasn’t up to the job, who would be?

He stared into the lake where the ghost cats had disappeared and felt a chill to his very bones.

What is left of ShadowClan? And how long before it’s too late to save them?