Shattered Sky

Bramblestar gave Rowanstar a hard look, and Rowanstar’s lips pulled back in a snarl. But Bramblestar went on before the ShadowClan leader could argue. “Besides, it’s not just that attacking now would put the RiverClan cats at risk”—he dipped his head briefly to Mistystar—“but that even though we still outnumber the rogues, it’s by a smaller margin. We can’t count on WindClan’s help. The RiverClan warriors are still recovering from their injuries; they are nowhere near ready to take on another battle. And Darktail is a vicious cat. Even if we could kill him and defeat his followers, we would shed too much blood in doing so. Besides, the rogues now hold two territories. If we retake one, they can always retreat to the other.”

In the midst of his anxieties, Alderheart felt warm with pride as he listened to his father’s measured, reasonable words. Mistystar was nodding her agreement, and even Rowanstar seemed to relax, his neck fur lying flat again.

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” he mewed reluctantly. Then Rowanstar shook his head helplessly. “Why would Onestar allow the other Clans to just wither?” he murmured. “Why would he not fight to keep our way of life alive?”

No cat had an answer to that. Even Bramblestar responded with nothing but a sigh.

While Alderheart and Jayfeather took a closer look at the patrol’s injuries, the ThunderClan leader climbed back up the tumbled rocks and raised his voice to address the Clan from the Highledge.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a meeting of the Clans!”

Most of the warriors were already out in the clearing. Alderheart spotted Briarlight dragging herself to the entrance of the medicine cats’ den, while Daisy and Leafpool emerged from the nursery, where they were caring for some of the injured RiverClan warriors.

“We need a plan,” Bramblestar began, when all the cats were settled in the clearing, looking up at the Highledge. “The rogues have surprised us again by attacking RiverClan, and Rowanstar is right that we can’t go on like this. I know that we’re overcrowded here, and every cat is uncomfortable and tense. But there are many reasons why we can’t mount an attack on the rogues right now. If any cat has an idea of what we might do instead, I’d be happy to hear it.”

For a moment no cat responded. Alderheart spotted many of his Clanmates looking blankly at each other. Then he heard Lionblaze clear his throat as the golden tabby warrior rose to his paws.

“Yesterday, Cinderheart and I found out that we’re expecting our second litter of kits,” Lionblaze meowed, his eyes shining proudly.

Alderheart remembered how excited Leafpool had been the day before when she’d given Lionblaze and Cinderheart the news. But when he glanced over at her now, he saw that her expression was somber. The rest of his Clanmates erupted into yowls of congratulation, but the happy sounds quickly died away and an awkward silence fell.

Every cat has realized just how terrible a time this is to bring kits into the world, Alderheart thought.

“I can’t have my kits born when every moment we’re expecting to be driven out of our territory,” Lionblaze continued fervently, as if he had read Alderheart’s mind. “Will the Clans even be here by then? For the first time, it seems possible that they won’t.”

Cinderheart padded quietly up to her mate’s side and rested her tail on his shoulder. “What will happen to our kits?” she mewed, looking up at Bramblestar. “What will happen to all of us, if there are no Clans anymore?”

“That… that can’t happen!” Mousewhisker exclaimed.

“That’s right,” Poppyfrost agreed with a shudder. “There have always been Clans.”

Lionblaze shook his head. “Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away,” he stated. “Remember the prophecy: ‘Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky.’ We’re no closer to finding out what it means than we were moons ago.”

“We’ve had other things on our minds!” Cloudtail snapped.

Lionblaze dipped his head to the senior warrior. “True, but it seems obvious now that the sky has darkened for all of the Clans. If we don’t put our heads together and find a way to clear it, we could lose everything.” He lashed his tail. “Everything!”

Alderheart felt a chill pass through him from ears to tail-tip. No cat had spoken so boldly before about what might happen if the Clan cats failed to drive away the rogues. We need to find SkyClan and bring them back, Alderheart thought. I’m sure that would clear the sky! But there’s no way to make that happen right now.

He could feel the tension in the air as his Clanmates shifted uneasily, and from somewhere in the crowd a cat let out a whimper of fear.

The horrified silence seemed to stretch out for moons, until suddenly Mistystar spoke.