Darkest Night

“I will,” she promised. “As soon as Frecklewish and Fidgetpaw have settled in, and I’ve shown them where the best herbs can be gathered.”

“Let’s worry about herbs later!” Frecklewish shifted impatiently. “There’s more to tell. Hawkwing’s patrol brought back more than just Clanmates.”

There was excitement in her mew. Alderheart blinked at her.

Kestrelflight pricked his ears. “What else did they bring?”

Leafpool turned her muzzle toward the forest. A fifth shadow emerged from the undergrowth.

Jayfeather’s nose wrinkled. “A loner?”

Alderheart detected the scent of a tom, and stiffened nervously. The loner looked sleek and well-muscled, his yellow pelt glowing in the moonlight as he padded toward them.

As he reached Leafpool, he dipped his head to the medicine cats. “I’m Tree.”

Jayfeather’s gaze narrowed. “You’re the six-toed cat.”

“How did you guess?” Alderheart turned to the blind medicine cat in surprise.

Jayfeather padded forward and sniffed the tom. “Why else would Leafpool make so much drama out of bringing us out?”

Leafpool sniffed. “There’s another reason I asked you here. Didn’t you think it was strange I wanted to meet on this stretch of shore?”

“I thought you wanted to save us the trek to the Moonpool,” Jayfeather grunted.

Alderheart wasn’t listening. He was staring at Tree’s paws. Which one had six toes? It was hard to see in the moonlight. Suddenly, he saw it—an extra claw among the toes on his hind leg, just as StarClan had predicted. He wished Willowshine could be here to see it for herself.

Kestrelflight blinked at Leafpool. “Is there something special about this place?”

Frecklewish and Leafpool exchanged glances.

“Yes.” Frecklewish answered. “We’ve had a chance to talk with Tree. He has a power that might help us.”

“I hope he does,” Jayfeather sniffed. “Why else would StarClan ask us to find him?”

Kestrelflight flicked his tail. “What is it?”

“How’s it connected to this piece of shore?” Alderheart’s ears twitched. How was the six-toed cat going to help?

Paw steps sounded at the edge of the forest. Cats were padding from the trees, slinking onto the shore. The scents of ShadowClan filled the air. Scorchfur and Juniperclaw led their Clanmates across the pebbles. Tawnypelt walked beside Rowanstar. The ShadowClan leader gazed ahead blankly as Tawnypelt guided him forward. Violetshine followed behind. She looked nervous, as though she was self-conscious about being the only SkyClan cat.

Jayfeather bristled. “Why are they here?” he demanded.

Kestrelflight blinked at Puddleshine. “Did you know they were coming?”

“They have to be here,” Puddleshine explained. “They need to see what Tree can show us.”

Alderheart’s thoughts swam. What was the six-toed cat going to show them? And what did ShadowClan have to do with it? His heart quickened. Did Tree know how to keep ShadowClan from disappearing?

“Is this close to the place?” Leafpool gazed at Violetshine as the young warrior neared the water’s edge.

Violetshine’s eyes flashed with fear as she gazed across the border. “Close enough,” she breathed.

Jayfeather lashed his tail. “What’s going on?”

“We have to be close to where Needletail died,” Leafpool meowed softly.

“And the others.” Juniperclaw padded forward, his eyes dark. His Clanmates shifted nervously around him.

“Tree has the power to bring dead cats from the darkness so we can see them,” Leafpool explained.

See the dead? Alderheart’s pelt prickled uneasily. “How?”

Leafpool blinked at him. “I don’t know. Nor does he. It was a gift he was born with.”

Tree padded to the border. “The dead are all around us, all the time,” he meowed. “I can sense them, and sometimes I can make them appear.”

Alderheart glanced over his shoulder, shivering. Unease wormed beneath his pelt. Are we being watched by more than StarClan? Was Needletail ever close by when he was missing her?

“I can’t make all dead cats appear,” Tree went on. “Needletail told me about StarClan. I’ve never seen a StarClan cat. I think I can only sense cats who are still tied to the living. They’ve stuck close to us. They can’t move on until they’ve done what they feel they need to do. Like Needletail.” The loner glanced at Violetshine. “She will only find her way to StarClan when she has finished what she started here.”

Violetshine’s eyes glistened with emotion as Tree went on.

Puddleshine’s eyes were wide with excitement. “He says he might be able to make our lost Clanmates appear,” he mewed breathlessly. “So many are gone. And we don’t know whether they died or got lost or left with the rogues.”

Jayfeather fur ruffled. “Is that all you want to know? Which of your Clanmates are dead?”

Kestrelflight padded closer to the loner and followed his gaze across the border. “How will seeing the dead help fend off a storm? That’s what the six-toed cat was for, right?”

Leafpool exchanged glances with Puddleshine and Frecklewish. “We don’t know. But that is his power. Let him use it.” She turned to Tree as though signaling to him to begin.