Author's Note: Remember everyone, there will be no chapter tomorrow because it's Christmas and I will be with family! Happy holidays everyone!
Brackenkit was curled up in a mossy nest near the entrance to Cinderpelt's den. She raised her head as Sandstar approached with the medicine cat, but her eyes were heavy and it looked as though she was finding it difficult to move.
Fireheart was crouched close beside her on guard duty. "Poor little scrap," she murmured to Sandstar. "She nearly died. We've got to do something about Darkstripe."
The flame-colored she-cat was looking as anxious as Cinderpelt; she would have heard Brackenkit's story too, Sandstar realized. He nodded. "You can leave Darkstripe to me." Settling down beside Brackenkit, he mewed gently, "I'm glad to see you're awake, Brackenkit. Can you tell me what happened to you?"
The tiny golden brown tabby kit blinked up at him. "Sootkit and Rainkit were asleep in the nursery," she began in a faint voice. "But I wasn't sleepy. My father wasn't watching, so I went to play in the ravine. I wanted to catch a mouse. And then I saw Darkstripe." Her voice shook as she hesitated.
"Go on," Sandstar encouraged her.
"She was coming up the ravine by herself. I knew she should have had Sorreltail with her, and I... I wondered where she was going. I followed her—I remembered the time she took Squirrelpaw and Rowanpaw out of the camp, and I thought I might have an adventure like that, too."
Sandstar felt a pang of sadness as he remembered how Brackenkit was always so bright and curious, getting into trouble because of her misguided courage. This limp scrap of fur didn't look at all adventurous now, and Sandstar could only hope that with Cinderpelt's care she would soon be her lively self again.
"I followed her a long way," Brackenkit went on, sounding rather proud of herself. "I'd never been so far from the camp. I hid from Darkstripe too—she didn't know I was there. And then she met another cat—a cat I'd never seen before."
"What other cat? What did it look like? What scent did it have?" Sandstar questioned her urgently.
Brackenkit looked bewildered. "I didn't recognize the scent," she mewed. Her nose wrinkled. "But it was yucky. She was a big white cat—bigger than you, Sandstar. And she had black paws."
Sandstar stared at her as he realized whom she had seen. "Blackfoot!" he exclaimed. "Goldenstar's deputy. That was Shadowclan scent you smelled, Brackenkit."
"And what's Darkstripe doing, meeting the Shadowclan deputy on our territory?" Fireheart growled. "That's what I'd like to know."
"So what happened then?" Sandstar prompted the kit.
"I got scared," Brackenkit admitted, looking down at her paws. "I ran back to camp, but I think Darkstripe must have heard me, because she caught up with me in the ravine. I thought she would be angry because I spied on her, but she told me how clever I was. She gave me some red berries for a special treat. They looked tasty, but when I ate them I started to feel really ill... And I don't remember anything else, except waking up here."
She sank her head on her paws again as she finished, as if telling the long story had exhausted her.
Cinderpelt nosed her gently, checking her breathing. "Those were deathberries," he mewed. "You must never, ever touch them again."
"I won't, Cinderpelt, I promise," murmured the tiny kit.
"Thank you, Brackenkit," Sandstar meowed. He was angry but not surprised to discover that Silverstream had been right all along. The real shock was the news that Blackfoot had been seen on Thunderclan territory, and that Darkstripe had obviously arranged to meet her.
"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.
Sandstar wanted to be fair, so that no cat, not even Darkstripe herself, could accuse him of persecuting Goldenstar's former allies. Even more than that, Sandstar was still afraid of what Darkstripe might do if she left Thunderclan and was free to go to Goldenstar. But he was left with no choice. Exile was the only possible sentence for a cat guilty of Darkstripe's crimes.
"You could have been a valuable warrior," he went on to Darkstripe. "I gave you one chance after another to prove yourself. I wanted to trust you, and—"
"Trust me?" Darkstripe interrupted. "You've never trusted me. Do you think I didn't know you told that tortoiseshell fool to watch me?" She spat the last words toward Sorreltail, still seated beside her. "Did you expect me to live the rest of my days with a shadow?"
"No. I was waiting for you to show your loyalty." Sandstar crouched on the rock and held Darkstripe's furious gaze without flinching. "This is the Clan where you were born; these are the cats you grew up with. Doesn't that mean anything to you? The warrior code says you should protect them with your life!"
As Darkstripe rose to her paws Sandstar thought he could see fear flickering in her eyes, as if the dark warrior had never intended to make a final break with Thunderclan. She could not be sure, after all, that Goldenstar would welcome her; she had refused to follow the former deputy into exile, and she had failed in her attempt to take Squirrelpaw and Rowanpaw to their father before the attack from the dogs. Goldenstar was not a cat who forgave easily.
But there was no trace of fear or regret in Darkstripe's voice as she spoke. "This is not my Clan," she hissed scornfully, to gasps of shock from the warriors around her. "Not any longer. Thunderclan is led by a kittypet, and there's nothing left to fight for. I feel no loyalty to Thunderclan. In the whole forest, the only cat worth following is Goldenstar."
"Then follow him," Sandstar retorted. "You are no longer a warrior of Thunderclan. If you are found in our territory after sunset today, we shall treat you as we would any enemy. Go now."
Darkstripe's burning gaze held Sandstar's for a moment longer, but she didn't reply. Unhurriedly, she turned her back on Sandstar and stalked toward the camp entrance. The cats nearby drew back as she passed them.
"You know what will be waiting for you if you try to come back," Brightheart snarled, curling his lip. Willowpelt said nothing, but spat, his fur bristling.
As soon as the tip of Darkstripe's tail had vanished into the tunnel, a murmur of speculation broke out among the crowd of cats. One voice rose up clearly. "Has Darkstripe gone to Shadowclan?" asked Rowanpaw.
She had not joined in the Clan'sprotests when Sandstar had tried to force Darkstripe to admit her guilt. Instead she had watched everything in silence fascination, her eyes following the dark warrior every pawstep of the way to the tunnel. She looked shocked and sickened, but there was something else in her expression that Sandstar could not read.
He froze as she asked her question. This apprentice knew that her father was the leader of Shadowclan. Did she understand the full extent of Darkstripe's treachery?
"I don't know," he admitted. "Darkstripe can go where she likes. From now on she is not a member of Thunderclan."
"Does that mean we can chase her out of the territory if we see her?" Brindleface called.
"Yes, it does," Sandstar replied. Addressing all the cats, he added, "If you scent her, or any Shadowclan cats, tell me or Brindleface. And that reminds me—this morning Blossomfall scented rogue cats on our territory. Keep a lookout for them, too, and report anything you find."
Giving the orders helped him calm down. He could not help feeling the first creeping sensations of relief that at last he had Darkstripe out of his fur. There would be no more kittypet taunts, no more worries about weather all the Clan's business was being relayed straight to Goldenstar. Even though Sandstar was worried about what Darkstripe would do now, there was more gain than loss in the dark warrior's departure. Yet still Sandstar could not help wishing that he could have earned her loyalty.
"Hey, Sandstar!" Ferncloud's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "What about Dustpaw? She hasn't got a mentor now."
"Thanks, Ferncloud, I'll deal with that right away. Dustpaw, come up to the rock."
Dustpaw obeyed, leaving Ferncloud's side to step delicately around the cats in her way until she stood at the foot of the Highrock.
Sandstar glanced around to make sure the warrior he wanted was present, and hastily summoned the right words. "Longtail, you are without an apprentice since Swiftpaw died. You were an excellent mentor to her, and I expect you to pass on your skills to Dustpaw for the rest of her apprenticeship."
Longtail sprang to her paws, her eyes wide with surprise and gratitude. Sandstar beckoned her with his tail, hoping that with Darkstripe gone the last of the hostility between himself and Longtail could be buried. The pale tabby warrior could easily be a fine member of the Clan.
Still looking stunned, Longtail padded up to Dustpaw and touched noses with her. Dustpaw dipped her head and both cats withdrew to where Ferncloud and Ashpaw were sitting.
Sandstar leaped down from the Highrock. Now that everything was over exhaustion hit him like a blow from a badger's paw. What he wanted more than anything was to curl up with his friends in the warriors' den, to share tongues and sleep. But as leader of the Clan, he couldn't do that.
Darkstripe's treachery and the knowledge that Shadowclan cats were on his territory had revived all the memories of his nine-lives ceremony. Why had the hill of bones appeared in his dream, and the river of blood that had flowed from it? What did Oakstar's prophecy mean?
Desperate for answers, Sandstar decided he would go to Cinderpelt's den to see if the medicine cat had received any guidance from Starclan.
To his relief, Fireheart was no longer on guard; he did not want the flame-colored she-cat to see him like this. Brackenkit was asleep in her nest, and from the mouth of the split rock came faint sounds of Cinderpelt moving around inside. Sandstar went closer and saw him rearranging the piles of healing herbs and berries that he kept there.
"Nearly out of juniper..." he muttered, then saw Sandstar. "What's the matter? What's happened now?"
He limped out of the den and came up to him, nosing him anxiously as he smelled his fear-scent. "Sandstar, what's wrong?"
Sandstar shook his head to clear it of apprehension. It was a relief to go right back to the beginning, and tell Cinderpelt about the dream that had come to him as he lay beside the Moonstone.
Cinderpelt sat beside him and listened in silence, his steady gaze never leaving his face.
"Oakstar told me, 'Four will become two. Lion and tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest,'" Sandstar finished. "And then blood oozed out of the hill of bones and started to fill the hollow. Blood everywhere... Cinderpelt what does it all mean?"
"I don't know," Cinderpelt confessed. "Starclan has not shown me any of this. Just as they have the power to show me what will happen, so they can choose not to share with me. I'm sorry, Sandstar—but I'll keep thinking about it, and maybe something will happen to make it clearer soon."
He pushed his nose against Sandstar's fur to comfort him, but though Sandstar was grateful for his sympathy, he could not forget the horror of his dream. What dreadful fate lay in store for him? And if even Cinderpelt could not answer that question, what hope was there for Thunderclan?