The Raging Storm

CHAPTER 23

Twigbranch stared through the rain. The sky darkened as night drew in. SkyClan scents filled her nose. Behind her they crowded into Tree’s shallow cave, thankful to be out of the rain and to be heading back to the lake. She shifted her paws uneasily. She and Finleap hadn’t spoken on the journey back from the flooded moor. His former Clanmates had clustered around him as they’d traveled, praising him for saving Leafstar and sharing stories of their adventure.

When they’d reached the cave, the nests they’d made were still there, and dry, thanks to the shelter of the overhanging rock. They’d needed to make more. But there was enough space, and even though the fresh bedding they dragged from the woods was wet, there would be a chance to get dry and warm while they rested overnight.

“Hey.”

Fur brushed her flank, and she turned her head to see Finleap beside her. Her heart ached. Would she ever be able to stand this close to him again? “Hey.”

He gazed at her, his yellow eyes glittering with uncertainty. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” She blinked at him. “What for?”

“For saying you were getting too close to Tree.” He glanced back to where Violetshine was making nests for the SkyClan apprentices. Flypaw was helping, excitedly showing Nectarpaw how to shape the ferns with her paws. “I was just angry. I never really thought—”

“It’s okay.” She cut him off. “It doesn’t matter now.”

He tipped his head questioningly. “Now that Violetshine’s back?”

“Now that we’ve found SkyClan.” She turned her face to the woods. “You’ll be going back to them, I guess.”

“Back to SkyClan?”

“If I’m not going to have your kits, you might as well return to your kin.” Sadness pricked Twigbranch’s eyes. Should she change her mind? Having kits now might not be so bad.

“But I thought you loved me.” He sounded surprised. “You told Violetshine you loved me very much.”

“I do,” she mewed softly. “But not enough to have your kits. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

Finleap glanced at his paws. “Let’s forget about kits, huh?”

She blinked in surprise. “Forget?”

“I was wrong, Twigbranch. Seeing SkyClan again made me realize . . . however much I love my kin, I love you more. I don’t want you to have kits if you don’t want to. I can live without them. But I can’t live without you.”

Twigbranch stared at him. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes.” Finleap’s eyes shimmered with love. “I’ve been so wrapped up in feeling hurt, I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you—or how much I was hurting our relationship.”

“And what happens next time you’re upset?” Twigbranch’s mouth was dry. “Will you stop talking to me again?”

“No. Next time we’ll discuss things properly. No more arguments.” Finleap met her gaze solemnly. “Watching you over the past few days has reminded me how amazing you are, Twigbranch. You persuaded Bramblestar to let you bring a patrol here. You found a way of getting SkyClan back to the lake. I’m lucky to have you. I promise I’ll never hurt you again.”

She stared at him, hope surging in her chest. “So you’re really okay with me not having your kits yet?”

“Yes.” He leaned closer. “I’m so sorry I put you through that. I guess it was harder leaving SkyClan than I expected. It took me a while to realize I had no kin in ThunderClan, and then I couldn’t stop thinking of everything I’d left behind. I forgot to value what I had. Look.” He jerked his nose toward SkyClan once more. Tree was holding the side of a nest firmly while Nectarpaw wove an extra bracken stem between the fronds. Violetshine was leaning over the edge to press moss inside. “I know now that having kin isn’t the only way to fit in. I’ll find another way to feel part of ThunderClan.”

“Does that mean you’re not going back to SkyClan?” Her paws trembled.

“Why would I, when you’re in ThunderClan?” He blinked at her. “Let’s enjoy being warriors and mentors for now.”

“If I have kits with any cat, it will be you,” she murmured. Would she ever be ready?

“Okay,” he purred. “But only if we both want them.”

Twigbranch pressed her muzzle against his, happiness warming her pelt for the first time in days. “I love you so much, Finleap.”

“And I love you.”

Tree padded from the woods, a squirrel between his jaws. Macgyver and Sandynose followed him, each carrying a pigeon. They dropped them inside the cave entrance.

Macgyver blinked at Twigbranch. “There’s good hunting here.”

“Harrybrook and Dewspring are bringing more,” Sandynose told her.

Finleap sniffed one of the pigeons. “It smells good.”

Macgyver pushed it toward him. “Take it.”

“We can hunt for ourselves,” Twigbranch told him quickly. She didn’t want to take his catch when there were so many mouths to feed.

“Why bother? By the time both patrols are back, there’ll be enough for everyone,” Tree purred.

Macgyver winked at her. “Besides, it looks like you two have more talking to do.”

Twigbranch looked away, her ears burning.

Macgyver purred. “Don’t be embarrassed. . . . We’ve all been in love before.”

“Are you teasing my sister?” Violetshine padded from the back of the cave and gave Macgyver a stern look.

“Just a little.” Macgyver picked up his catch and nudged Sandynose away.

Tree shook the rain from his pelt and settled beside the pigeon they’d left behind. “It would be a shame to waste it.”

Violetshine lay down and leaned against him. She tugged the pigeon closer with her paw and took a bite. “I’m too hungry to argue.”

Finleap caught Twigbranch’s eye. “Let’s eat,” he told her. “I think we’ve both earned our meal tonight.”

“Do you think we should?” Twigbranch glanced guiltily toward SkyClan.

“Of course.” He followed her gaze. Harrybrook and Dewspring were back from their hunt, and the Clan looked happy, giving out prey. Leafstar lay on a pile of bracken, her eyes weary but content as she watched. Flypaw was demonstrating a hunting crouch to some of the other apprentices. Hawkwing was hurrying up the slope, three mice hanging from his jaws. Reedclaw and Plumwillow followed, carrying more.

Relieved to see every cat so relaxed, Twigbranch settled beside Finleap. He tore a wing from the pigeon and passed her the carcass. Her mouth watered as she smelled its warm scent. She sank her teeth into its soft breast and tore away a juicy mouthful. Chewing, she looked at Tree. “Finleap was right. You do know where all the best prey lives.”

Tree’s eyes sparkled. “There’s a difference between knowing where it lives and being able to catch it.” He glanced teasingly at Finleap. “Do you want to catch another scrawny sparrow? Twigbranch might get hungry in the night.”

Finleap huffed. “I was having a bad day.”

Tree purred. “Perhaps you should try fishing instead of hunting. You’re a natural swimmer.” He glanced at Leafstar. “I don’t know how you managed to pull her out of that flood. You were amazing.”

“I guess StarClan guided my paws.” Cheerfully, Finleap tore a bite from the pigeon wing.

Violetshine flicked a feather from her nose with her paw. “How did you find us? We were so far from the lake.”

“We still are,” Tree grunted, his mouth full.

“The search patrol was Twigbranch’s idea,” Finleap explained.

“Tree led the way,” Twigbranch chimed in. “We’d never have known which trail to follow without him.”

“He’s smart for a loner.” Violetshine’s eyes flashed playfully.

“He’ll make a good Clan cat.” Twigbranch took another bite of pigeon.

Violetshine pricked her ears. “You sound as though you approve.”

Twigbranch swallowed. “I do.”

They finished their meal in contented silence. As they began to wash afterward, Hawkwing padded toward them. He was licking his lips. “There’s good hunting around here.” He stopped beside them. “I haven’t tasted squirrel that delicious since the gorge.”

Violetshine rolled her eyes. “Don’t talk about the gorge. We’re not going back there. You’ll have to get used to lake squirrels.”

He touched his nose to her head and settled beside her. The woods were dark now. Night had fallen. Behind him, the other SkyClan cats were climbing into their nests. Harrybrook was already snoring.

Violetshine stared into the shadows beyond the cave, her gaze thoughtful. “How did you know which route to follow after the hollow?” she asked. “Tree wouldn’t have known which way to go.”

“A loner had seen you,” Twigbranch told her.

“Spider!” Violetshine seemed to remember him.

“Yes.” Twigbranch purred.

“You caught up with us pretty quickly,” Hawkwing commented. “And just in time.”

“We knew you were in trouble.” Finleap washed his ear with a paw.

Hawkwing looked at him. “How?”

Finleap and Tree exchanged glances.

“Pebbleshine told Tree,” Twigbranch mewed softly.

Violetshine jerked her muzzle toward Twigbranch. Amazement flashed in her eyes.

“Pebbleshine?” Hawkwing stared at her, confusion clouding his gaze.

“Yes.” Twigbranch’s mew was no more than a whisper.

“She spoke to Tree?” Grief thickened his mew.

“Yes.” Twigbranch’s heart ached with pity as she realized how much her father still missed her mother. “While we were making camp here for the night.”

Violetshine’s pelt prickled. “Are you sure it was her?”

Tree brushed his tail along her flank. “She had Twigbranch’s eyes,” he murmured. “I should have guessed it was her mother.”

“Have you seen her before?” Violetshine blinked at him.

“Yes, we met briefly when she was alive. And she’s the warrior who told me that StarClan should stay by the lake.”

“Why didn’t you tell me it was Pebbleshine?” Violetshine sat up.

“I didn’t realize until I described her to Twigbranch,” he explained. “I had forgotten her name. But suddenly it was obvious.”

Hawkwing’s eyes had clouded. “Is she happy?”

“You can ask her yourself,” Tree mewed, looking up. “She’s here with us.”

Twigbranch’s heart lurched. “Here?”

Violetshine jumped to her paws. “Where is she?”

Hawkwing stared at Tree. “Can you see her right now?”

Tree nodded. “I can help you see her, too—like I did with the lost ShadowClan cats at the lake.” He got to his paws and closed his eyes. As he stood, still like a rock, the air around them seemed to shimmer. Twigbranch got shakily to her paws as a dark shape moved on the slope in front of the cave. A warm scent touched her nose, and her heart ached with joy. “Pebbleshine,” she whispered.

A white she-cat stopped a tail-length away. Her soft green eyes shone in the darkness. Her pelt was specked with brown, like owl feathers, and there was a sleekness to her fur that reminded Twigbranch of Violetshine. How familiar she looked, and yet Twigbranch had never seen her before.

Violetshine leaned forward, sniffing.

Hawkwing padded past them and touched his nose cautiously to Pebbleshine’s muzzle. “My love.” He closed his eyes, as though drinking in her scent. “I thought I would never see you again.”

“I’m so sorry I left you alone,” Pebbleshine whispered. “I was trapped in the monster. I could feel it taking me farther and farther away. I fought to get out, but there was nothing I could do.”

“I wish I’d been able to find you.” Hawkwing’s mew caught in his throat.

“Losing you was unbearable, but then . . .” Pebbleshine’s gaze drifted from Hawkwing’s. She blinked at Twigbranch and then Violetshine. “Then our kits came.” Love flooded her mew. She padded forward and wove around them. Twigbranch shivered as her mother’s fur brushed hers, no more than a breeze and as cool as stone. “I’ve been with you both since you were born,” Pebbleshine murmured. “Even after I died, I couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t go to StarClan, not while you faced life with only each other.”

“They have me now,” Hawkwing mewed softly. “And their Clans.”

Pebbleshine’s gaze flitted to Tree and then Finleap. “And they have cats who love them.” There was a purr in her mew. “Thank you for letting me speak to them, Tree—just for a moment.”

Tree stared at her, his ears peaked in concentration. “It’s my pleasure. I’m sorry I didn’t realize the connection earlier. I knew you were a Clan cat, but . . .”

Pebbleshine purred. “You are a good cat, Tree. You have always helped me when I needed help. I’m glad they are loved. They don’t need me anymore.”

Panic flared in Twigbranch’s belly. “We will always need you!”

Violetshine stared frantically at her mother. “We’ve only just found you.”

“You have much more now than I could ever give you.” Pebbleshine backed away toward the shadowy woods.

Violetshine darted forward, but Hawkwing waved her back with his tail. “Let her go,” he breathed. “Let her take her place in StarClan, where she belongs. She must be lonely here.”

“She has us!” Twigbranch flashed him an angry look. Hawkwing returned it, his gaze soft. Shame washed her pelt. She was being selfish. She dipped her head. “I’m sorry. Of course she must go.”

“I will still be able to see you from StarClan,” Pebbleshine promised.

“But you won’t be close.” Grief pressed in Twigbranch’s throat.

“I will always be in your heart, just as you are in mine.” Pebbleshine blinked at her fondly. “You will be a great warrior, Twigbranch. I can see that already. And you.” She turned her gentle green gaze on Violetshine. “You’ll be a wonderful mother to those kits.”

“Kits?” Violetshine tipped her head, puzzled.

Pebbleshine glanced at her belly. “Don’t you know?”

Shock showed in Violetshine’s eyes. “I’m going to be a mother!”

Twigbranch pricked her ears. A mother! She lifted her tail happily. Violetshine was going to have the family she’d always wanted. She heard Tree purring loudly. He rubbed his muzzle against Violetshine’s cheek. “I can’t wait to be a father.”

Hawkwing’s eyes shone. “Is that why you’ve been so tired and irritable?” he mewed. “I thought it was just the weather getting you down.”

“So did I!” Violetshine purred at him.

Twigbranch glanced at her mother. Pebbleshine was turning away. “Wait!” Twigbranch hurried after her into the rain. She wanted to drink in her scent once more, but by the time she reached her, the scent had vanished. Her mother moved like a shadow toward the trees.

“I will always love you!” Hawkwing called after her.

“Good-bye!” Violetshine wailed.

“Good-bye, Pebbleshine.” Twigbranch’s words were hardly more than a whisper as she watched her mother disappear into darkness. Her heart ached with loss as she felt the rain pound against her pelt. And then she saw, on the grass where Pebbleshine had walked, that stars seemed to sparkle in her paw prints.