Warriors AU: The Darkest Hour

Chapter 10

"What are you going to do about Darkstripe?" asked Fireheart.

"I'll have to question her," Sandstar replied. "But I don't expect she'll tell me anything."

"She can't stay in Thunderclan after this," Fireheart pointed out, her voice hard as flint. "There's more than one cat who would rip her throat out for a couple of mousetails."

"Leave her to me," Sandstar mewed grimly.

Cinderpelt stayed with Brackenkit, who was drifting off to sleep again, while Sandstar returned to the main clearing with Fireheart. Many of the cats were still there, sharing tongues after the earlier meeting. Brindleface was heading for the gorse tunnel with Tigerclaw and Longtail.

The patrol turned back and all the cats look up, startled, as Sandstar bounded to the top of the Highrock and yowled the summons to another meeting. His gaze sought out Darkstripe, but there was no sign of her.

"Where's Darkstripe?" he meowed at Silverstream as his friend made his way to the base of the rock.

"In the den," Silverstream replied.

"Fetch her."

Silverstream disappeared into the warriors' den, and emerged a moment later with Darkstripe and Sorreltail by his side. All three cats returned to the base of the Highrock, where Darkstripe sat and looked up at Sandstar with a sneer on her face.

"Well?" she asked. "What does out noble leader want now?"

Sandstar met her eyes steadily. "Brackenkit is awake."

For a few heartbeats Darkstripe held his gaze, and then she looked away. "Have you called a Clan meeting to tell us that?" her tone was scoffing, but her fur had bristled uneasily at the news.

"Cats of Thunderclan." Sandstar raised his voice. "I've called you together so that you can witness what Darkstripe has to say. You all heard what happened to Brackenkit yesterday. She's awake now, and Cinderpelt says she'll be fine. I've talked to her and she confirms what Silverstream said. Darkstripe did feed her the deathberries. So, Darkstripe"—his gaze went back to the dark warrior below—"what have you to say for yourself?"

"She's lying," Darkstripe retorted. An angry hiss came from more than one of the cats around her, and she added, blustering. "Or she made a mistake. Kits never listen to what any cat says. She obviously didn't hear me properly when I told her not to eat them."

"She's not lying or mistaken," Sandstar meowed. "And she told me something even more interesting: your reason for feeding her the deathberries. She saw you meeting Blackfoot, the deputy of Shadowclan, on our territory. Would you like to tell us what that was all about?"

More furious snarls came from the Clan, and a cat at the back of the crowd yowled, "Traitor!" Sandstar had to signal with his tail for silence, and it was several moments before the angry cats quieted down again.

Darkstripe waited until she could make herself heard. "I don't have to justify myself to a kittypet," she growled.

Sandstar's claws scraped against the rock beneath his paws, and he felt reassured by their sharpness. "That's exactly what you have to do. I want to know what you and Goldenstar are planning." Panic suddenly flooded over him, and he forced it back. "Darkstripe, you know what Goldenstar tried to do to us. The dog pack would have torn the whole Clan to pieces. How can you even think of following him after that?"

Darkstripe met his eyes resentfully and did not reply. Sandstar remembered how he had caught her on the morning the pack attacked, trying to slip away from the camp with Goldenstar's kits. Darkstripe had known that Goldenstar was planning something; she would have abandoned the rest of the Clan to a ghastly death without even trying to warn them. That was what her loyalty to Thunderclan was worth.