Wait For It | ▪︎ Tigerclaw

chapter 53

⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱

THE SNOW HAD stopped, and the clouds had cleared away by the time the ThunderClan cats – Fireheart, Whiterose and Graystripe among them – left the camp and headed through the forest toward Fourtrees. The snow-covered ground seemed to glow in the white light of the full moon, and frost glittered on every twig and stone.

It dazzled Whiterose as she looked around, she suppressed a murmur of amusement as she spied Tigerclaw shooting her glances from where he padded alongside Bluestar.

A breeze blew toward them, ruffling the surface of the snow and bearing the scent of many cats. Whiterose shivered with excitement. The territories of all four Clans met in the sacred hollow, and at every full moon a truce was declared for the Clans to gather beneath the four great oaks that stood in the centre of the steep-sided clearing.

Fireheart fell in behind Bluestar, who had already dropped into a crouch to creep the last few tail-lengths to the top of the slope and peer down into the glade. Whiterose walked beside her brother.

A rock reared up in the centre of the clearing between the oaks, its jagged outline black against the snow. As Whiterose waited for Bluestar's signal to move, she watched the other Clan cats greeting one another below. She could not help noticing the glares and raised hackles as WindClan faced the cats of RiverClan and ShadowClan. Clearly none of them had forgotten the recent battle; if it weren't for the truce, they would be clawing one another's fur.

Fireheart recognized Tallstar, the leader of WindClan, sitting near the Great Rock, with his deputy, Deadfoot, beside him. Not far away, Runningnose and Mudfur, the medicine cats of ShadowClan and RiverClan, sat side by side, gazing at the other cats with eyes that reflected the moon.

Beside Whiterose, Graystripe's muscles were tense, and his yellow eyes glowed with excitement as he stared down into the glade. Following his gaze, Whiterose saw Silverstream emerge from the shadow, her beautiful black-and-silver coat rippling in the moonlight.

Fireheart suppressed a sigh beside his sister and leaned over to Graystripe. "If you're going to talk to her, be careful who sees you," he warned his friend.

"Don't worry," Graystripe meowed. His front paws kneaded the hard ground as he waited for the moment when he could be with the RiverClan she-cat again.

Whiterose glanced at Bluestar, expecting her to give the signal to descend into the clearing, but instead she saw Whitestorm pad up and crouch beside Bluestar in the snow.

"Bluestar," Whiterose heard the noble white warrior murmur, "What are you going to say about Brokentail? Will you tell the other Clans that we're sheltering him?"

Whiterose waited tensely for Bluestar's answer a shiver went up her spine. Brokentail had once been Brokenstar, leader of ShadowClan. He had murdered his own father, Raggedstar, and stolen kits from ThunderClan. In retaliation, ThunderClan had helped Brokenstar's own Clan to drive him out into the forest. Not long after, Brokenstar had led a band of rogue cats to attack the ThunderClan camp.