Darkest Night

Twigpaw shrank beneath her pelt. Was the ginger she-cat blaming her? I found SkyClan and brought them here. This fact, which had made her so proud initially, had begun to peck at her like a crow. The camp was overcrowded, and where would SkyClan live? But my father is in SkyClan. I have a family now. Despite the happy thought, worry wormed in Twigpaw’s belly. Perhaps I was being selfish by bringing them to the lake. Perhaps there isn’t room for another Clan.

“Who’s going to give up territory to make room for them?” Sparkpelt stared at Lionblaze as though the golden tom should have an answer.

He shrugged. “Let StarClan decide.”

“StarClan wanted them back.” Cherryfall pawed through the day’s catch. “Let StarClan find them somewhere to live.”

Fernsong shifted his paws. “At least the prey is running well,” he meowed. “I just hope we have enough to feed everyone tonight.”

“Bramblestar sent out five hunting parties today,” Ivypool reminded him. “And RiverClan will bring prey with them when they return from working on their camp.”

“If they return,” Sparkpelt sniffed. “Last night Mistystar and her patrol didn’t come back at all.”

Twigpaw felt a twinge of irritation. “I thought you wanted them gone.” Why was Sparkpelt being so crabby? She was usually so positive about everything. “You should be happy they didn’t come back.”

Sparkpelt flicked her tail dismissively. “Let’s take our prey home.” She snatched a shrew and a vole by their tails.

“Good idea.” Ivypool picked up the thrush.

Twigpaw grabbed her mouse. At least with her mouth full Sparkpelt won’t be able to complain anymore. Lionblaze, Cherryfall, and Fernsong gathered up the last of the prey, and together they headed back to the hollow.

At the camp entrance, Twigpaw waited for the rest of the patrol to duck through the thorn tunnel. The branches scraped her pelt as she followed them through. On the other side, cats crowded the clearing, chattering like a flock of starlings. Scents swirled around her. RiverClan and SkyClan scent mingled with the smell of her Clanmates. And the faint odor of ShadowClan still lingered on the bushes around the edge of the camp.

As usual, SkyClan’s warriors lay around the apprentices’ den, soaking up the last of the late-greenleaf sun before its rays disappeared behind the cliff top. Two of their apprentices, Dewpaw and Finpaw, practiced battle moves in the clearing, while Reedpaw jeered fondly at her brothers’ clumsy leaps and rolls. Leaf-fall was coming fast; leaves drifted down from the trees at the top of the hollow, falling softly around them.

Twigpaw scanned SkyClan, looking for Hawkwing, Blossomheart, and Violetpaw. Her kin. When ShadowClan had returned to their own territory a few days ago, Rowanstar had allowed Violetpaw to remain behind so that she could spend time with their father and his sister. Twigpaw loved sharing the camp with kin at last, and when she couldn’t see their pelts among the others, she wondered, with a prickle of anxiety, where they were. She couldn’t let go of the fear that she might lose them again.

Leafstar stood near her Clan. Twigpaw caught her eye. The mottled brown-and-cream SkyClan leader must have seen worry in her gaze, because she nodded toward the medicine den. “Alderheart is checking on Hawkwing,” she called over the murmur of voices. “Violetpaw went with him.”

Twigpaw’s pelt prickled with concern. “Is he okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Leafstar purred. “Alderheart’s checked on all of us today. I think your medicine cat likes making us eat herbs.”

Blossomheart, the SkyClan she-cat who Twigpaw had recently learned was her father’s littermate, lifted her head. “He says it’ll help us build up our strength, but I think he just likes to see the look on our faces as we swallow them.”

Outside the nursery, Tinycloud shuddered. “I’m not swallowing any more herbs till I’ve kitted,” she mewed indignantly. She glanced at her bulging belly. “There’s hardly room for these kits in my belly, even without herbs.”

Blossomfall lay beside her. “Your kits will come soon enough.” As she spoke, Stemkit and Eaglekit scrambled over their mother and hurtled after Plumkit and Shellkit, who were darting among the other cats, squealing with delight as they played warrior and prey. Blossomfall purred loudly. “And as you know, once they do, you won’t get any peace.”