Darkest Night

Did he really mean it? “What about Sandynose and Plumwillow, Reedpaw and Dewpaw?”

“They can manage without me.” Finpaw fluffed out his pelt. “I don’t care if I’m ThunderClan or SkyClan or even ShadowClan. Just as long as I’m with you.”

Twigpaw stared at him, unable to find words. She nodded to him and padded out of camp. Her heart struggled from beneath the weight of grief, and seemed to sing with the birds twittering in the branches overhead as, purring, he followed her.

CHAPTER 23

“Why did she ask us to meet here?” Alderheart’s breath billowed in the cold night air. He paced the lakeshore, pebbles crunching beneath his paws. This was SkyClan land now, but it still carried the scent of ShadowClan. A few tail-lengths away lay the RiverClan border.

“I don’t know. She said we were to get as close to RiverClan’s shoreline as we could.” Kestrelflight peered over the border. “I guess she’ll tell us when she comes.”

Leafpool had arrived at ThunderClan’s camp that morning, promising she’d be home soon but that first, all the medicine cats must meet beside the lake at moonhigh. Then she’d left, hurrying away to give the same message to WindClan.

Now the waning moon hung in the crow-black sky. Stars glittered over the lake. Alderheart fluffed out his pelt against the chill and glanced at Jayfeather.

It surprised him that the blind medicine cat wasn’t complaining. He sat silently now, blinking into the darkness.

“Are you warm enough?” Alderheart asked.

Jayfeather sniffed. “What does it matter? I’m here and I’m staying whether I’m cold or not.”

Alderheart felt reassured. Jayfeather would always be Jayfeather. Leafpool’s secretiveness had unnerved him. It wasn’t like her. He’d tried to read her gaze while she’d told him about the meeting. But it gave nothing away. Was she planning to break more bad news? Was there worse to come than ShadowClan’s collapse?

One spark of hope had lit the gloom that had hung around Alderheart since the Gathering two nights ago. Twigpaw had arrived at the ThunderClan camp with Finpaw. She’d begged Bramblestar to take them in, and had told him that when she’d followed her kin to SkyClan, she hadn’t realized how deep her loyalty to ThunderClan reached.

Bramblestar hadn’t said yes yet. He was worried about Twigpaw’s fickleness and wasn’t yet sure he trusted Finpaw. According to Bramblestar, the SkyClan tom had left his own Clan too easily. But he had promised to consider their request if they could prove their loyalty, and Alderheart secretly felt sure that his father couldn’t turn them away when they had nowhere left to go.

“Look!” Kestrelflight lifted his tail excitedly.

An owl was swooping across the lake. The water was so still it reflected the great outstretched wings along with the moonlight. The owl glided above the water for the length of the lake before sweeping into the air and circling around the island. Its cry echoed around the hills as it disappeared among the trees.

“Was that a sign from StarClan?” Kestrelflight gasped. “Owls rarely go near the water.”

Jayfeather pulled his paws in tighter. “What do you think they’re trying to tell us?” he grunted. “That an owl will save us?”

Kestrelflight turned on him crossly. “Why wouldn’t it be a sign?”

“We’ve had plenty of signs already,” Jayfeather gazed at him blindly. “We don’t need any more.”

Alderheart padded between them. “I would like to solve one prophecy before we get another one,” he conceded. He felt frustrated that he’d made no progress on finding the six-toed cat—if it even was a six-toed cat they were meant to find. The rockslide had left him little time to search beyond Clan borders.

The undergrowth at the top of the shore shivered. Four shadows moved in the moonlight.

“Leafpool!” Alderheart recognized her scent before he could make her out clearly. Puddleshine was with her, and two more cats he’d never seen before.

They padded down the shore and stopped in front of him.

Leafpool dipped her head. “Thank you for coming.”

Jayfeather’s nose twitched. “Who are they?” His blind blue gaze pointed straight at the two cats standing behind Leafpool.

Puddleshine whisked his tail happily. “They are SkyClan’s medicine cats.”

The mottled brown she-cat padded forward, her eyes shining. “I’m Frecklewish.” She nodded to the black-and-white tom behind her. “This is my apprentice, Fidgetpaw.”

“Hello.” Fidgetpaw sounded nervous.

“SkyClan has three medicine cats now!” Kestrelflight sounded surprised. “WindClan is the only Clan left with one. I think it’s time I found myself an apprentice.”

Alderheart caught Puddleshine’s eye. Kestrelflight had included the ShadowClan tom among SkyClan’s medicine cats. How could he concede so easily that ShadowClan no longer existed? He looked away quickly. “Twigpaw said that the patrol had returned, but she didn’t say they’d brought back your medicine cats.”

Jayfeather flicked his tail toward Leafpool. “You can come home now that SkyClan no longer needs you.”