Dark River

The brambles rustled and a few moments later paws pounded into the clearing. Onestar. Jaypaw recognized Whitetail and Weaselfur with him.

“What’s this about?” the WindClan leader demanded.

“Firestar sent us,” Leafpool meowed.

“Why?” Onestar paced warily around them. “Are you in trouble?”

“No.”

“Then why come here?” Onestar halted so close to them that Jaypaw could smell the rabbit blood on his breath. “Does Firestar still think there’s some kind of special relationship between our Clans? Because there isn’t!”

“Firestar understands that.”

Jaypaw was impressed with how calm Leafpool sounded, even though he could feel her trembling against him.

“Firestar doesn’t want to shed blood over our shared border,” she went on.

“Why did he attack our apprentices, then?” Onestar’s tail swished through the air.

“WindClan warriors unsheathed their claws first,” Leafpool meowed. “We were only defending the border they crossed.”

“It was our prey!” Tornear hissed.

Yowls of agreement rose around the clearing.

“Not once it’d crossed the border,” Jaypaw hissed.

Leafpool’s tail brushed his mouth. She shifted, her pads squelching against the slippery earth. The rain was beginning to fall steadily. “We didn’t come here to argue!”

“Then why did you come?” Onestar growled.

“To talk.”

Tornear tore at the ground. “Was Firestar too mouse-hearted to come himself?”

“Firestar didn’t want to provoke you by sending a warrior patrol,” Leafpool explained. “He wants to soothe the situa-tion, not inflame it.”

Crowfeather was circling them. “Then he shouldn’t have sent anyone!”

Anger surged through Leafpool; Jaypaw felt it hot against his pelt. “Not every cat hides from his responsibilities!” she hissed.

Crowfeather halted. “Are you saying that’s what I would do?” His whiskers brushed Jaypaw’s face as the WindClan warrior leaned in toward Leafpool.

“Get out of the way!” Onestar hissed, nudging Crowfeather aside. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Firestar wants to know if RiverClan has invaded your territory.” Leafpool was growing impatient. “Is that why you’ve been hunting so close to our border? Are you being forced into ThunderClan territory or do you simply want to take our land because you are foolish enough to believe you can?”

Jaypaw was shocked by her fierceness. He felt Onestar freeze; Leafpool had surprised the WindClan leader too.

Angry whispers darted between the watching cats. The air seemed to crackle like greenleaf lightning as the rising wind drove the rain harder into the camp. Jaypaw tensed, waiting for Onestar’s answer.

“RiverClan has not invaded our lands,” Onestar began slowly. “But that doesn’t mean they won’t. Does Firestar expect us to wait until they do? Does he think we should sit around like fat voles waiting to be pounced on?”

“But you are not voles,” Leafpool snapped. “Why not defend your RiverClan border instead of threatening ours?”

“We will defend what borders we have to,” Onestar retorted. “And take what territory we need.”

“You don’t even know that RiverClan is going to invade,” Leafpool pressed. “Why threaten us?”

Tornear growled. “You sound like a blackbird singing the same song over and over again!”

“Barkface could speak to Mothwing at the next Moonpool gathering,” Leafpool suggested, her mew suddenly coaxing.

“He can find out exactly what RiverClan intends. It may turn out you have nothing to be afraid of.”

“We aren’t afraid!” Crowfeather hissed.

“Then why won’t you listen to reason?” Leafpool pressed.

“You are honorable warriors. Why let yourselves be driven by suspicion instead of truth?”

“Listen to her!” Weaselfur sneered. “Trying to steal time for her Clan with clever words.”

“WindClan fights with claws not words,” Tornear warned.

Jaypaw bristled. “It’s like trying to show worms to moles!” he hissed. “They’re too blind to see beyond their own noses.”

“We’re too blind?” Weaselfur mocked.

“Wait!” Onestar ordered. “Perhaps she’s right. Perhaps we should give RiverClan a chance to explain what’s going on before we do anything.”

“A chance to invade, more like,” Tornear growled.

“You saw how desperate RiverClan looked at the Gathering,” Crowfeather argued. “And every patrol we see looks hungrier than the last. We can’t trust them!”

“But they haven’t invaded yet,” Onestar pointed out.

“They crossed the border,” Tornear reminded him.

“Only once.”

Jaypaw sensed the WindClan leader’s mind slow. He was thinking.

“We can’t let them drive us into unnecessary bloodshed,” Onestar murmured.

Suddenly, a panicked yowl split the air beyond the camp wall. The dripping brambles shook and a WindClan queen skidded into the clearing. “My kits are gone!” she screeched.

“Sedgekit?”

“Thistlekit?”

Alarmed mews filled the camp.

“Sedgekit, Thistlekit, and Swallowkit!” panted the queen.

“All of them! Disappeared!”

“When did you last see them?” Onestar demanded.