Veil Of Shadows

Chapter 23

Rootspring poked his head into the medicine cats’ den to see his father, Tree, flexing his injured leg. “It feels fine,” Tree told Frecklewish.

The medicine cat sniffed at the poultice she had placed on Tree’s wound; Rootspring caught the clean tang of horsetail.

“It seems to be healing well,” she meowed. “But I would stay off it for a day or two. Come back and see me if it starts swelling or feeling hot.”

“Yes, I think I’ll give tonight’s Gathering a miss,” Tree responded. With a wry look at Rootspring, he added, “You can’t imagine how upset I am about that.”

Rootspring stifled a snort of amusement. “I’ll stay behind and keep you company, if you like,” he offered.

“No, you must go,” Tree insisted. “Like it or not, you have an important part to play in the Clans right now. You need to be there.”

Rootspring twitched his whiskers doubtfully. Being important is overrated, if you ask me. But he had to admit that his father was right.

“Okay,” he sighed.

He headed out into the clearing, and Tree limped after him. “Good luck,” he mewed to his son.

“Thanks, I’ll need it. Just make sure you get a good night’s sleep.”

“Your mother will see to that.” Tree whisked his tail in farewell and padded off to the warriors’ den.

The sun had set, and Leafstar was already waiting beside the fern tunnel along with the cats she had chosen to go to the Gathering. “There you are, Rootspring!” she exclaimed as he joined his Clanmates. “We’ve been waiting for you. We can’t go without you; I have a feeling we’re going to need you tonight.”

Just what Tree said, Rootspring thought, his paws tingling with apprehension. Am I ever going to get to be just a normal warrior?

When Rootspring padded up the shore of the Gathering island and pushed his way through the bushes into the clearing, most of the other Clan cats were already there. They seemed shaken by what had happened, glancing nervously from side to side. He wouldn’t blame them for half expecting another fight to break out, yet they were mingling with one another instead of bunching up into groups divided by Clan.

Rootspring had hardly had time to take that in when he noticed something else: Around the edges of the clearing lurked the spirits of the cats who had died in the battle. A shiver ran through Rootspring from paws to tail-tip.

They should have gone to StarClan—but they’re still here.

Rootspring had always been told that when a warrior died, his spirit would join StarClan and be at peace, but these were crouching with every muscle tensed, their fur bristling and their eyes wide and scared as they looked around the clearing. Some of them were gazing forlornly at their living Clanmates, who couldn’t see them.

Slipping cautiously along the line of the bushes, Rootspring looked for the real Bramblestar’s ghost, but there was no sign of him, not even when Rootspring had covered the entire clearing twice to be sure he hadn’t missed the ghost leader.

After the battle on the previous day, Rootspring had managed to speak briefly with Shadowsight.

“I found Bramblestar’s spirit trapped in a hollow tree in the Dark Forest,” the young medicine cat had explained. “Once he was free, he should have been able to return.”

“But I haven’t seen him,” Rootspring had responded. “Have you?”

Shadowsight had shaken his head. “His spirit is out there somewhere—but where?”

Now Rootspring was almost ready to despair. Will the real Bramblestar ever return?

He had to give up his search as the four remaining Clan leaders, along with Squirrelflight, leaped into the tree and Tigerstar let out a commanding yowl. “Cats of all Clans, the Gathering has begun!”

Leafstar rose on her branch and took a pace forward, as if she was about to take charge. Rootspring half expected Tigerstar to object, but he remained silent, and every cat turned to listen to the SkyClan leader.

“This has been a terrible time for the Clans,” Leafstar began. “I’m sure we can all agree that we’ve made some dreadful mistakes. I know there are wounds on our bodies and in our spirits that will take some time to heal, but now is not the time for revenge or retribution. And now is definitely not the time for punishing cats for past wrongdoings.”

Harestar murmured agreement, dipping his head respectfully to the SkyClan leader. “Bramblestar was a false leader and a bad cat,” he pointed out, “but it is possible that StarClan disappeared because we’ve all broken the code so many times. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for us all to start sticking to it more closely. Maybe if we do, StarClan will come back.”

Rootspring felt his heart clench painfully at the WindClan leader’s words. Bristlefrost thought things might get easier, but it sounds like she was wrong. Harestar seemed totally haunted by his journey to the abandoned StarClan and his encounter with the fading warrior spirits.

Tigerstar straightened up, standing tall at the end of the branch he had chosen. Rootspring guessed that he was trying to dominate the Gathering as much as Bramblestar had instinctively done in the past.

“I respect StarClan as much as any cat,” he meowed. “But if I’m honest, I trust them well enough to know when a cat has lived a good and honorable life. All the cats accused of codebreaking may have violated the rules, but can you truly say that there was darkness in their hearts?”

A ripple of unease passed through the Gathering. “What are you saying?” Crowfeather demanded. “That we should change the warrior code?”

“Or ignore it altogether?” Lionblaze added. “That’s madness! StarClan will never come back then!”

Rootspring realized for the first time that the exiled Crowfeather had taken his place as deputy on the roots of the Great Oak, and that Lionblaze, who must be the new ThunderClan deputy, was sitting by his side. Glancing around, he saw that the other exiles were in the clearing, too.

It’s good to see them back where they belong, he thought, feeling a little encouraged.

“That’s what the false Bramblestar wanted us all to believe,” Tigerstar responded to Lionblaze’s objection. “But isn’t it clear now that everything he told us rose from his malice? Frightening us into believing that StarClan was angry with us was just a tool he used to control us all.”

“How do you know that?” Mistystar asked. “After all, no cat can deny that we have heard nothing from StarClan for moons now.”

“I don’t know for certain,” Tigerstar replied. “But when Shadowsight traveled as a spirit into the Dark Forest, he saw glittering stars trapped in a pool, as though StarClan was somehow being kept away from their hunting grounds.”

“What?” Rootspring saw Harestar’s eyes widen and his ears angle forward as if he couldn’t be sure he had heard right. “With all due respect, Tigerstar, that sounds like a load of thistle-fluff! Stars trapped in the Dark Forest? Driven out of their hunting grounds? Tigerstar, I was there, in StarClan’s hunting grounds, and so were the spirits of our warrior ancestors. They were faded and in distress, but they were there.”

Leafstar stretched out her tail to the WindClan leader in a calming gesture. “Medicine cats’ visions shouldn’t always be taken literally,” she meowed. “There’s no reason to believe that Shadowsight’s experiences in spirit form are any easier to make sense of than omens from StarClan.”

While she was speaking, Tigerstar’s shoulder fur gradually bushed up, and his eyes glittered with fury. “What do you know about it?” he snarled, words pouring out of him like a flooding stream. “It was Shadowsight who traveled to the Dark Forest, nearly killing himself to do it. It was Shadowsight who was nearly murdered by the false Bramblestar, Shadowsight who endured your scorn for sharing the visions he believed were from StarClan. When will any of you bee-brains listen to my son? He’s telling us how to get StarClan back!”

His voice rang out across the clearing, and for a few moments after he had finished, every cat was stunned to silence. Mistystar was the first to speak, dipping her head respectfully to the ShadowClan leader.

“Tigerstar, just now you might be too angry at everything that happened—at the unfair accusations leveled at yourself and Dovewing, and your kits—to be truly thinking clearly.”

“I agree.” Squirrelflight, who had so far listened to the leaders in silence, spoke up. “Shadowsight’s contributions have been very valuable,” she continued, “but even if what he said is true, that doesn’t tell us how to defeat whatever lies in Bramblestar’s body. To beat him, we must figure out who he is.”

“Yes!” Harestar turned an enthusiastic gaze onto Squirrelflight. “You know Bramblestar better than any of us. What do you think?”

Squirrelflight paused for a moment, clearly in deep thought. “He said . . . he came back for me.” For a few heartbeats longer she went on thinking, then shook her head, her shoulders drooping. “I’m still not sure. . . .”

The Clan leaders broke out into the same old argument, about StarClan and why they had disappeared. Rootspring felt a tingle of foreboding in his paws. After all we’ve been through, are we just going to start up the same fight all over again?

“Well,” Tigerstar meowed at last, “at least all the exiled cats can go home again.”

“I’m not sure,” Mistystar responded, to Rootspring’s surprise. “Icewing and Harelight, come and stand here at the foot of the Great Oak.”

Rootspring watched in confusion as the two warriors Misty-star had named emerged from the crowd of their Clanmates and stood side by side, gazing up at their leader with uneasy expressions. What is Mistystar thinking? he wondered. Icewing and Harelight were never exiled.

“I believed that you were loyal RiverClan warriors,” Mistystar meowed, pain in her blue eyes as she looked down. “Yet in the battle I saw you fighting against your Clan. You disobeyed my orders. Even now that I know the false Bramblestar was evil, I must send you into exile.”

The two warriors gaped at their leader, too stunned for the moment to protest or defend themselves.

In the silence Mothwing rose from her place beside the other medicine cats. “Mistystar—” she began.

“Mothwing, I see that I was wrong to exile you,” Mistystar interrupted. “I am sorry for it. You are welcome to return to RiverClan.”

“No, Mistystar,” Mothwing retorted; a gasp went up from the cats who surrounded her at the single word. “I will never feel welcome in a Clan where warriors are exiled unjustly. Icewing and Harelight risked their safety and their lives to oppose the evil presence inside Bramblestar. We should be thanking them, not sending them into exile. Besides,” the medicine cat continued, “I chose to be a RiverClan cat, and I have served my Clan faithfully, and yet you drove me away because of my birth, which I had no control over. It will be hard for me to forget that.”

For a heartbeat Rootspring thought that Mistystar wavered, her jaws parted to speak, and yet no words came out. Then she took a deep breath and spoke. “Then Mothwing, Icewing, Harelight—you are no longer RiverClan cats.”

“That’s not fair!” Icewing exclaimed. “Okay, we did fight on ShadowClan’s side, but Mothwing never did anything wrong.”

“Yeah, can’t we even atone somehow?” Harelight asked.

Mistystar’s only reply was a lash of her tail.

Rootspring could feel shock passing through the Gathering like ripples from a stone thrown into a pool. How could Mistystar do this to her medicine cat and two loyal warriors? And where are they expected to go?

“Mistystar, are you sure about this?” Leafstar asked. “We are all taking our exiles back and forgiving them. Harelight and Icewing were only trying to do what they thought was right. Fighting in the battle must have been the hardest decision they have ever had to make.”

“And they made the wrong decision.” Mistystar’s blue eyes were full of distress, but her tone was unwavering. “They must bear the consequences.”

The other leaders exchanged regretful glances, but there was obviously no point in arguing further.

“In that case,” Tigerstar announced eventually, “they had better come with me to ShadowClan. They will always have a home there.”

Sharp cries of shock rose up from the assembled cats. “Who are you, and what have you done with Tigerstar?” Needleclaw muttered into Rootspring’s ear.

Meanwhile, Tigerstar announced that the Gathering was at an end. A stunned air had fallen over every cat as the crowd began to break up into their separate Clans, ready to go home.

Mistystar was the first leader to leap down from the Great Oak and summon her Clan with a whisk of her tail. She led them off with a determined stride toward the encircling bushes, leaving the three exiles standing clustered together as they watched their Clanmates leaving without them. Icewing took a pace toward the ShadowClan cats, then halted.

It’s still too strange for them, Rootspring thought. His belly twisted with compassion as he watched RiverClan go. I wonder if the Clans will survive this, he added to himself. How can things possibly feel this terrible, after such a great victory over the fake Bramblestar?

The other leaders had jumped down to gather their Clans when Squirrelflight suddenly let out a loud yowl. “Wait!”

She raced back to the Great Oak and leaped back into the branches. Even from a distance, Rootspring could see that her green eyes were wide and bright, with a lurking trace of horror.

The dispersing cats slowly halted, turning to look curiously up at her. A few RiverClan cats who had already vanished into the bushes pushed their way back into the clearing.

“Don’t worry,” Tigerstar called out, looking over his shoulder at Squirrelflight. “We won’t hurt Bramblestar’s precious body.”

But Squirrelflight shook her head. “That’s not it,” she responded, her voice hoarse. “I know.”

“Know what?” Jayfeather asked crankily. “For StarClan’s sake, come out with it. We’re all tired.”

“I know who has taken over Bramblestar’s body!”

Rootspring gaped, hardly able to believe what he had just heard. Around him, all the cats were letting out exclamations of confusion and surprise.

“And,” Squirrelflight continued, “if I’m right, it’s even worse than we thought.”