Darkest Night

“Two more sunups?” Hawkwing glanced questioningly at Molewhisker.

Molewhisker nodded. “We won’t be there in time for tomorrow’s full-moon gathering.” He sounded unworried. Violetpaw guessed that the ThunderClan tom had enjoyed his adventure with the SkyClan cats.

So what if they missed the Gathering? Wouldn’t it be better to let their new Clanmates settle in before they met the other Clans? She remembered how overwhelmed she’d felt the first time she’d seen so many cats. And the other Clans would have more time to get used to the idea of SkyClan’s new Clanmates. She wondered, with a twinge of unease, how ShadowClan would feel about SkyClan growing so fast. She guessed that it wasn’t what they’d planned when they’d offered SkyClan part of their territory. But she pushed the thought away. Who cared how ShadowClan felt? She wasn’t a ShadowClan cat anymore. Her new home was with SkyClan.

As the sun slipped below the horizon, Violetpaw felt a chill in her fur. Her belly growled with hunger.

“I’m tired,” Fringepaw mewed.

“I’m hungry,” Nectarpaw chimed in.

Mintfur pulled up and turned to the patrol. She looked at Hawkwing. “Should we make camp for the night?”

Violetpaw lifted her aching paws one at a time and shook them out, hoping he’d say yes.

Hawkwing scanned the hillside. He nodded to a dip where bushes gathered. A few trees circled it, promising shelter. “Let’s try over there,” he meowed. “That hollow looks like it might make a good camp.”

Nettlesplash whisked his tail. “You check out the hollow. I’ll take Gravelpaw and Nectarpaw hunting with Mintfur.”

“I want to hunt too!” Palepaw mewed.

Hawkwing dipped his head. “Okay. We’ll join you when we’ve had a look.”

“I can make nests,” Violetpaw offered. She could see a stretch of bracken farther downslope where she could gather fronds.

“I’ll help,” Fidgetpaw offered.

Frecklewish narrowed her gaze as she peered through the dying light. “I think I can see burdock. I’ll dig up some roots. It will help with our aching paws.”

Cloudmist blinked gratefully at the medicine cat. “It feels good to be part of a real Clan again.”

Violetpaw’s heart ached with sudden happiness. By the time the moon rose, she’d be settled into a fresh nest with a full belly, Clanmates at her side. She purred to herself. Clan life was better than she’d ever imagined before.

Violetpaw dreamed. Sunlight bathed a wide field. Ahead of her, a fat mouse scuttled through the grass. Licking her lips, she prepared to pounce. Something pricked at her pelt. Go away. She burrowed deeper into her dream. The mouse was moving sleepily in the sunshine. It would be an easy catch. Her pelt pricked more sharply. Stop it! Irritation tightened Violetpaw’s belly. Something was trying to wake her. She grumbled in her sleep, trying to ignore the feeling that was pestering her.

It nagged harder, dragging her at last into wakefulness.

She opened her eyes.

Darkness shrouded the small hollow. She could hear the soft breathing of her sleeping companions.

What had woken her? Puzzled, she lifted her head and tasted the air.

The cool night air carried the scent of Needletail.

She came back! Quickly, Violetpaw scrambled out of her nest. She threaded her way between her Clanmates and padded out of the hollow. The hillside was drenched in moonlight. She scanned the rippling grass for Needletail. Please be here. A shadow moved near the bottom of the slope where heather crowded. As Violetpaw raced toward it, the shadow slipped into the heather. “Needletail!” she hissed desperately as she neared. “Stop!” She crashed through the bushes, spying Needletail’s pelt moving between the branches.

“Wait!” Fury pounded in Violetpaw’s chest. “Why do you wake me up just to run away?” Was this Needletail’s revenge? “I’m sorry I left! You told me to, remember? I wanted to save you! I just felt like there was nothing I could do. If I’d stayed, Darktail would have killed me, and then he’d have killed all our Clanmates. Did you want that?”

Needletail’s pelt swished between the bushes. Then there was silence. Had she left?

Violetpaw pushed her way through the heather until it opened into a small clearing. Needletail waited there, her green eyes glinting in the moonlight.

“Are you angry with me?” Violetpaw stared at her. “Is that why you keep appearing?”

Needletail nodded toward a tom, curled in a moss nest beneath a clump of heather.

Violetpaw froze, then hurried toward Needletail and lowered her voice. “Who is he?”

Needletail blinked at her. “He’s a cat I met many moons ago.”

Violetpaw was so surprised to hear Needletail’s voice again that she hardly heard the words. Why now? She forced herself to concentrate as Needletail went on.

“I knew him when I was alive. Now he’s around every time I return.”

“Return?” Violetpaw’s thoughts were spinning. “Return from where? Are you with StarClan?”

Needletail looked down at her softly glowing pelt. No stars showed there. “Do I look like I’m with StarClan?”