River Of Fire

CHAPTER 7

That was close!

Hidden deep within the bushes that surrounded the Moonpool, Twigpaw stood shivering. She had watched the other medicine cats leave, and had almost jumped out of her fur when she thought Alderheart had detected her presence. It took a long time before her heart stopped pounding.

Twigpaw knew that she shouldn’t have come. But when she had heard Alderheart and Jayfeather talking about the prophecy, she had just had the feeling that if she followed them, she could learn something, or do something to help.

From her hiding place among the bushes, Twigpaw had heard nothing of what went on when the medicine cats were gathered at the Moonpool. She couldn’t bring herself to go closer—the Moonpool was only for medicine cats. Her ears twitched with irritation at herself as she huddled in the bushes while the medicine cats were at the Moonpool—she should have thought of that. But she had been close enough to catch scraps of the conversation between Leafpool and Alderheart as they passed by on their way home.

Leafpool says that she’s worried. . . .

Twigpaw stayed still, crouching close to the ground and not even twitching a whisker until she was sure the medicine cats were gone. She had a lot to think about. She knew Alderheart was convinced there should be five Clans, and how worried he was now that there were only three.

Twigpaw wondered what would happen to ThunderClan if ShadowClan was truly gone, and if RiverClan never came back. She knew that Sparkpelt thought the remaining Clans would be stronger, but Twigpaw wasn’t so sure. StarClan had warned of a storm.

Sure now that she wouldn’t be discovered, Twigpaw slid out into the open, shaking leaves and debris from her pelt. She was about to launch herself down the rocky slope, when a sudden thought struck her.

Suppose I go to the Moonpool? Maybe I can help figure out how to drive back the storm.

Twigpaw knew that she wasn’t a medicine cat, and that she had no right to be down there. But if she could somehow get some information, she could reassure Leafpool, and prove her own allegiance to ThunderClan once and for all.

I’ll do it!

Twigpaw took a swift glance over the slope and across the moor to make sure that the medicine cats were gone. Only Alderheart, Leafpool, and Jayfeather were still in sight, and they were a long way off, their figures tiny in the distance.

Taking a deep breath, Twigpaw slid through the bushes and stood at the top of the spiral path.

At first she was transfixed, gazing at the beauty in front of her. Except for the pounding of her heart, she felt as if she had been turned to stone and would never move a paw again. She stood gazing down, drinking in the glimmer of the moon, reflected on the surface of the water. The stream that flowed down the rock face into the pool looked like liquid starlight.

I don’t care if I’m punished for this! It’s worth it, just to see. . . .

Slowly, torn between fear and wonder, Twigpaw began to descend the path, fitting her paws into the depressions made by countless cats before her. At last she reached the water’s edge, and crouched beside it with her nose a mouse-length from the surface.

At first everything was dark and quiet, the only sound the falling water and a soft breeze gently caressing the surface of the pool. Above her head, the stars shone brightly in the deepening dark of the night sky.

Twigpaw bent her head farther and touched her nose to the water. This was how the medicine cats were swept into their visions of StarClan. But for Twigpaw, nothing happened. She raised her head again, twitching water droplets from her whiskers and feeling remarkably silly.

Well, what did you think would happen, you stupid furball?

Feeling that she shouldn’t have come, Twigpaw began to retreat from the water’s edge when a change in the silver light on the surface caught her eye. It had become an ominous scarlet, as if the water were running with blood. She jumped with shock as a loud boom of thunder echoed and echoed around the hollow of the Moonpool.

With a gasp of fear, Twigpaw looked up to see that flame lit the sky from horizon to horizon. At first she flattened herself to the ground, terrified that the warriors of StarClan were coming to punish her.

Then she realized that an image was taking shape. Fire was roaring through the ThunderClan camp—or at least Twigpaw thought it was the ThunderClan camp. There were so many downed trees and piles of smoldering debris that it was hard to be sure.

This can’t be real! Twigpaw thought frantically. I just left the camp, and it was fine.

“Why is this happening?” she asked aloud, hoping that StarClan would answer her.

But the answer that came was not reassuring at all.

The image of an old, grizzled cat with a broad face formed amid the flames in the sky. Scarlet fire was reflected in her eyes. Her voice rolled out like thunder as she growled, “You don’t belong here!”

Remembering the stories Alderheart had told her when she was a kit, Twigpaw thought she recognized Yellowfang, the former ShadowClan medicine cat who had come to live with ThunderClan, back in the old forest. But she was too terrified to ask the spirit cat’s name or question her again.

Instead Twigpaw leaped back from the water’s edge and raced up the spiral path. Plunging through the bushes, oblivious of the twigs that scraped her sides and snagged in her pelt, she half fell, half scrambled down the rocky slope and fled across the moor.

But when Twigpaw had to stop for breath and looked around her, she noticed a glow on the horizon that showed her where the sun was about to rise. A chill struck through her paws as if she was walking on ice.

How can that be? I was only at the Moonpool for a few heartbeats.

Twigpaw went on more slowly, trying to stop her legs from trembling. The whole experience had shaken her to the depths.

What did that vision of the ruined camp mean? And what did Yellowfang mean when she said I didn’t belong there? Did she mean I didn’t belong at the Moonpool? Or . . . did she mean I shouldn’t be in ThunderClan?

Horror almost overwhelmed Twigpaw as she considered it might be her own presence in ThunderClan that would bring about their destruction. Is it because my kin are in SkyClan, so I belong there? Or do I not belong in ThunderClan because I abandoned it before? That might have been why Yellowfang showed her the vision of the camp destroyed.

Is it possible that the ThunderClan cats who didn’t want me back were right? Maybe I really don’t belong there. . . .

Determinedly Twigpaw shook off the thought. She wouldn’t believe it. She had needed some time to figure it out, but now she knew that ThunderClan was her true home.

I’m sure I belong in ThunderClan. I just have to convince the others, too.

And she knew she had to do it right away, while the terrifying vision was still fresh in her mind.

Picking up the pace again, Twigpaw raced back to camp, barely pausing to take a breath. She was relieved to see it looking just as she’d left it, not like the terrible ruined camp of her vision. As soon as she emerged from the thorn tunnel, she spotted Bramblestar and Alderheart, standing just outside the medicine-cat den, deep in conversation. Hoping neither cat would see her, she crept close enough to overhear. “So what do you suggest we do?” Bramblestar was asking.

“I suppose we must wait and see,” Alderheart replied. “But it worries me that there’s no right answer about ShadowClan. I don’t want to see the Clan disappear, but if they manage to revive it, it will really test SkyClan’s patience.”

“It will all become clear soon,” Bramblestar responded, resting his tail-tip reassuringly on Alderheart’s shoulder. “StarClan clearly has a plan. You need to focus on your duties here. Several of our cats are still sick.”

Alderheart murmured agreement. “I think Leafpool may be coming down with it. She vomited on our way back from the Moonpool.”

Bramblestar sighed. “There you are, then. ThunderClan needs your skills.”

Though Alderheart nodded warily, Twigpaw thought he still looked worried. I hate seeing him like this.

Trembling shook Twigpaw’s limbs as she remembered her terrifying vision at the Moonpool. Alderheart’s wrong that there’s no right answer about ShadowClan. They must be revived, or the storm will destroy us.

She couldn’t tell Bramblestar and Alderheart what she’d seen at the Moonpool. The Moonpool was a place only for medicine cats. She couldn’t let them know she’d trespassed there, not when some cats didn’t even think she belonged in ThunderClan.

Twigpaw almost despaired. She knew she was only a ThunderClan apprentice. She had no idea how she could affect what happened in ShadowClan.

Then a thought struck her. Maybe I should reach out to my sister. She might be a SkyClan warrior these days, but she used to be in ShadowClan. They’re the same Clan now; she’s Clanmates with all the ShadowClan cats again. And she won’t tell anyone I went to the Moonpool. But a fresh chill of fear coursed through her as she considered the idea. What if Violetshine turns me away?