Long Shadows

“Right up there?” Tigerpaw exclaimed. “Cool!”

“But why are they here?” Jaypaw insisted, an edge to his voice.

Hollyleaf explained how the dawn patrol had met Tawnypelt and her kits in the forest, and brought them back to camp. “She said she didn’t want to be part of a Clan who didn’t look to their warrior ancestors anymore,” she finished.

Jaypaw said nothing, but looked thoughtful, his whiskers quivering as if he had scented prey. Hollyleaf guessed he was wondering how many more cats wanted to leave, and whether Tawnypelt and her kits would be any help in his plans to make a sign from StarClan.

More cats had begun to appear from the warriors’ den.

Dustpelt padded across to the fresh-kill pile, followed by Mousewhisker and Honeyfern. Foxpaw and Icepaw bounded across from the apprentices’ den.

“In StarClan’s name, what’s going on here?” Dustpelt asked, his lip curling. “What has happened to the fresh-kill pile? It looks as if a horde of badgers has trampled through it.”

“Er… we’ve got visitors,” Hollyleaf mewed.

Dustpelt’s tail shot straight up as he stared at the apprentices. “ShadowClan cats?” He let out an irritated sigh. “Have they left any dry prey?”

Tigerpaw spoke up. “We didn’t want to eat the soggy pieces.”

“No other cat wants to eat them, either,” Honeyfern pointed out, pawing through the remains of the pile to see if she could find a drier piece.

“And what are we supposed to do?” Icepaw demanded, flicking a sodden rabbit with her tail. “Mousefur will claw our ears off if we take her that!”

Hollyleaf turned to the three ShadowClan apprentices.

“That wasn’t a very polite thing to do, was it?”

All three young cats studied their paws, their tails drooping. “We’re sorry,” Flamepaw mumbled.

“Sol says we can only rely on ourselves to take the best care of us,” Dawnpaw explained. “He says we shouldn’t spend all our time thinking about fighting and marking the borders.

Then there’d be time for every cat to catch enough prey for themselves, and there wouldn’t be any problem.”

Hollyleaf exchanged a shocked glance with Lionblaze.

Where was the warrior code in the way of life Sol had imposed on ShadowClan?

“What about cats who can’t hunt for themselves?” she asked Dawnpaw.

The apprentice looked uncertain. “Well… we wouldn’t let any cat starve.”

You might not, but others would, if it kept them from going hungry, Hollyleaf thought. And you three look as if you’re pretty close to starving.

“Dawnpaw, you shouldn’t listen to that dumb ol’ patchy cat,” Tigerpaw declared, giving his sister a shove. “He won’t let us train to be warriors anymore. I want to fight for my Clan!”

“And I’d really like to be a medicine cat,” Flamepaw added, scoring his paw angrily through the wet earth. “But Sol says we wouldn’t need special cats if every cat knew about herbs and stuff. I was going to be Littlecloud’s apprentice, but now we don’t even have mentors anymore.”

“Blackstar says we have to call him Blackfoot,” Dawnpaw added, her tail drooping.

“It sounds as if ShadowClan is breaking up,” Dustpelt remarked, gulping down the last of a blackbird and swiping his tongue around his jaws. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’d be sorry to see it happen. Your Clan has some fine warriors.” He signaled to Mousewhisker and Honeyfern with a wave of his tail. “Come on—let’s get some patrols organized and see if we can find some prey that’s fit to eat.”

He stalked off toward the warriors’ den. Icepaw and Foxpaw picked up the rabbit and carried it between them toward the elders’ den.

“You can explain why it’s wet,” Icepaw meowed.

“No, you can,” Foxpaw retorted.

Hollyleaf watched them go. Her paws were trembling, yet she felt rooted to the ground. “What can we do?” she asked, hardly expecting a reply. There was nothing they could do to restore ShadowClan’s faith in their warrior ancestors. Even Jaypaw’s plan to fake a sign from StarClan didn’t hold out much hope now they’d heard how much Sol had poisoned ShadowClan against the code.

Lionblaze shook his head; his amber eyes were uneasy. “I don’t know.”

“Tell us more about Sol,” Jaypaw prompted. “Does he—”

“Hey, I look like you, don’t I?” Tigerpaw interrupted, stretching out a paw to compare his golden pelt with Lionblaze’s. “That must be because we share kin.”

“That’s right,” Lionblaze mewed, giving the smaller cat’s ear a friendly lick. “Your mother and our father were littermates.”

Tigerpaw nodded proudly. “Tigerstar was their father. I’m named after him. He was the greatest warrior ever!”

Lionblaze twitched his ears. “We should all try to be the greatest warriors ever.”

Dawnpaw was gazing up at the Highledge, as if she was waiting for her mother to reappear. “Are we going to join ThunderClan?” she asked; she didn’t sound enthusiastic.

“After all, it’s where our mother was born.”