Long Shadows

Gathering the herbs into his jaws, Lionblaze headed back to the tunnel. The catmint drowned any other scent, but he kept his ears pricked, and his gaze flickered all around him, alert for rival warriors.

He saw no cat. Slipping back through the crack into the tunnel, he relaxed, thankful to be away from the risk of the accusing gaze of WindClan cats.

Quickening his pace, Lionblaze bounded along as the tunnel grew wider, to halt abruptly when he burst into the cave.

Standing in front of him, her light brown tabby pelt bristling and her blue eyes blazing, was Heatherpaw.

“Thief!”

Lionblaze’s jaws dropped open, letting the catmint fall.

“Heatherpaw!”

“Heather tail,” the she-cat snarled. “You thought you’d got away with it,” she went on, her voice scathing. “But I spotted you, creeping among the rocks. I guessed you would use the tunnels to get back to your own territory.”

“Then… then why didn’t you call for a patrol?” Lionblaze stammered.

Heathertail’s eyes flashed and her lip curled. “You’re not worth it. You may think that you’re the best fighter in all the Clans, but you don’t scare me.”

The red glare of blood surged through Lionblaze’s mind, filling his eyes. “Traitor!” he yowled, leaping for Heathertail with his paws outstretched. He could feel his claws slicing through her throat, and the blood pouring out, soaking her fur and his own, pooling out on the cave floor. A rasping sound of horror came from his throat. The blood was hot and thick on his fur, the reek of it choking his nose.

Then as the red tide ebbed he saw Heathertail watching him, her fur unruffled and her gaze icy. Lionblaze shuddered.

The vision had been so real, and yet he hadn’t moved a paw.

Heathertail padded past him and paused in the mouth of the tunnel that led up into WindClan. “Go, and don’t come back,” she hissed. “You can take the catmint. I’ve no quarrel with ThunderClan; I don’t want to see cats suffer, whatever you might think. Just be careful you don’t end up a bully like your kin, Tigerstar.”

Flicking her tail disdainfully, she vanished into the tunnel.

As he gathered up the scattered stems of catmint, her parting words echoed in Lionblaze’s mind, and his belly churned with fear that they might be true. His dream had nearly come true—he had nearly killed her—and Heathertail had known.

The difference between him and Tigerstar was fading, and Lionblaze was more scared than he had ever been in his life.

Chapter 21

Jaypaw delivered more tansy to the flat rock outside the Twoleg nest, then picked up Lionblaze’s scent and followed it to the mouth of the tunnel. Not many heartbeats had passed before he heard scrabbling sounds from inside, where the ThunderClan cats had built the thorn barrier. Lionblaze’s scent grew stronger, mingled with the smell of catmint.

“You found it!” Jaypaw exclaimed as his brother emerged into the open. “Did any WindClan cats spot you?”

Lionblaze hesitated; Jaypaw was aware of mingled fear and anger coming from him. “Would I be here if they had?” he demanded. “Can you smell any wounds on me?”

Jaypaw shrugged. He didn’t have time to figure out why

Lionblaze sounded as if he had ants in his fur. “You’d better fix that barrier,” he mewed. “We don’t want any cat guessing what we did.”

Lionblaze retreated into the tunnel without a word, while

Jaypaw picked up the bundle of catmint and headed for the Twoleg nest.

“Where did you get that?”

Jaypaw stiffened as he heard Leafpool’s voice. He hadn’t decided what story to tell her, and he’d hoped for time to treat the sick cats before she found out.

“Catmint!” There was joy in Leafpool’s voice as she padded up to him and buried her nose in the leafy stems. “And so fresh and well grown too! It can’t come from the old Twoleg nest.”

“No,” Jaypaw mumbled around the stems. “It came from way up there.” He waved his tail vaguely toward the deepest parts of the territory.

“Thank StarClan!” Leafpool whispered. “They must have shown you where to look.”

“Er… yes, they did.” It was true, Jaypaw realized. He would never have found the catmint if Brightspirit hadn’t guided him to WindClan. “This is all there is,” he added. “No point in looking for any more.”

“This should be more than enough.” Jaypaw could sense that Leafpool was too relieved to ask more searching questions. “Come on, let’s give it to the sick cats right now.”

As they crossed the scent markers around the Twoleg nest, she paused. “Tonight is the half-moon,” she meowed.

“I think both of us can go to the Moonpool this time.”

Jaypaw nodded, his mouth too full of catmint to reply. He wondered if the StarClan cats would be waiting for him, to thank him for saving ShadowClan. He was tempted to walk in Littlecloud’s dreams, to see what explanation he gave to his Clan’s warrior ancestors for rejecting them in favor of Sol. But most of all, he wanted to walk in the paw prints on the path leading down to the Moonpool, and feel part of the ancient cats once more.