Long Shadows

“What are we going to do about our mother?” Dawnpaw asked her brother and sister.

Tigerpaw and Flamepaw looked blankly at each other.

“Don’t worry about that now,” Lionblaze assured them.

“We’ll tell Tawnypelt what happened. You need to get back to your camp right away, and we need to get off your territory.”

“Yeah.” Tigerpaw’s eyes gleamed. “Don’t you dare cross our borders once we renew the scent marks!”

The apprentices bounded off through the trees. Lionblaze watched them until they were out of sight, then headed back toward his own territory with Hollyleaf and Jaypaw at his side.

“I can’t believe our fake sign turned into a real message from StarClan!” Hollyleaf exclaimed. “Jaypaw, do you think that StarClan needed us to set the trap before they could appear?”

Jaypaw shrugged. “I don’t know, but I doubt it.”

“I think they wanted the apprentices to show them how desperate they were to save their Clan,” Lionblaze suggested.

“Tigerpaw and the others wouldn’t have gone through all that if they didn’t want to bring ShadowClan back to StarClan and the warrior code.”

“We were desperate, too.” Hollyleaf lashed her tail. “Nothing matters more than preserving the warrior code.”

“And what in the name of StarClan are we going to tell Tawnypelt?” Jaypaw asked. “The truth would be a really bad idea—I can feel it in my pelt.”

“I don’t know.” Hollyleaf sounded worried. “I don’t want Firestar to know what we did, either. He would put me and Lionblaze back on apprentice duties before you could say ‘mouse.’”

Lionblaze drew ahead a few paw steps, his mind drifting from the conversation behind him. His paws were itching to know what Sol would do after Blackstar told him to leave ShadowClan.

Will he keep his promise? he wondered. Will he come to mentor the three of us to our true destiny?

Chapter 10

Hollyleaf leaped, sinking her claws into the vole and dispatching it with a quick nip to the neck. Straightening up with her prey in her jaws, she spotted Lionblaze approaching through the bracken, dragging the limp body of a rabbit.

“Hey, great catch!” she mumbled around the vole.

Twilight had fallen, and deep shadows lay on the forest floor. Hollyleaf and Lionblaze had stopped near the dead tree to hunt on their way back to camp, while Jaypaw looked for fresh herbs.

“Let’s get back,” he meowed, padding up with a bunch of tansy. “I’m worried about the sick cats. Leafpool can’t do everything, and if I’m any later she’ll have my pelt for bedding.”

“Okay.” Hollyleaf retrieved the mouse she had killed earlier and led the way back to camp, carrying her prey.

Every hair on her pelt was tingling with relief that they had been able to save ShadowClan. Only one problem remained: What were they going to tell Tawnypelt?

Lionblaze pushed through the thorn tunnel ahead of her, the hind legs of his rabbit leaving faint scars in the dust. As she emerged into the camp, Hollyleaf could see that the clearing was almost empty. Many cats would already be in their dens. She spotted Sandstorm and Squirrelflight sharing a thrush beside the fresh-kill pile, while Poppyfrost was padding toward the dirtplace tunnel.

“Hey, Poppyfrost!” Lionblaze bounded forward, letting his rabbit fall. “Have you seen Tawnypelt?”

Poppyfrost nodded. “She’s in Firestar’s den with Brambleclaw.”

“Hang on,” Hollyleaf meowed to her brother as he padded back to her. “We haven’t decided what to tell her yet.”

“We can’t talk now,” Jaypaw stated. “I have to check in with Leafpool. I’ll find you later.” Without waiting for a reply he bounded over to the medicine cats’ den and disappeared behind the brambles.

Lionblaze yawned and arched his back in a long stretch.

“I’m worn out. Let’s drop off this prey and go to our den for a rest. We don’t need to worry about Tawnypelt right now; she’s busy.”

“Okay.”

The two young warriors picked up their prey and carried it over to the fresh-kill pile.

“You’ve been hunting,” Squirrelflight mewed approvingly.

“Well done.”

“How did you get that mud all over you?” Sandstorm narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Were you hunting for frogs?”

“It’s just a bit wet out there,” Lionblaze mumbled, not looking at the older she-cat.

Amusement glimmered in Sandstorm’s green eyes; she opened her mouth to reply, only to be distracted by the sound of cats pushing their way through the barrier. Birchfall emerged; Hollyleaf’s fur tingled with surprise when she saw that Littlecloud was following him, with Whitewing and Icepaw bringing up the rear.

Sandstorm leaped to her paws. “What’s this?” She bounded across the clearing to confront the ShadowClan medicine cat.

Squirrelflight rose more slowly. “I’d better let Firestar know,” she murmured, and headed for the tumbled rocks that led to the Highledge.