Sunrise

“He didn’t kill any ShadowClan cats,” Dustpelt reminded her. “What reason would he have for killing Ashfur?”

Mousefur let out a disgusted hiss. “I wouldn’t put anything past that mangy piece of crow-food.”

“But he must have had a reason,” Brackenfur meowed, backing up Dustpelt. “Not many cats kill just for fun.”

Lionblaze recalled the stories he had heard about Scourge, the leader of BloodClan who had tried to take over in the old forest. He sounded like a cat who had enjoyed killing. But Lionblaze didn’t think Sol was like that.

“Maybe Ashfur caught Sol on our territory,” Brightheart suggested. “They could have fought—”

“But Ashfur hadn’t been fighting,” Sandstorm interrupted. “There were no wounds on him except for the marks on his throat. Isn’t that right, Leafpool?”

Heads turned to look at the medicine cat, who was sitting outside her den, away from the crowd around the Highledge. She replied to Sandstorm with a curt nod, but said nothing.

“Well, then,” Cloudtail meowed, “maybe Sol caught Ashfur unawares, and took the chance to stir up trouble between ThunderClan and WindClan.”

“That sounds like Sol,” Squirrelflight agreed with a flick of her tail. “Set cat against cat, and then step in to seize power for himself.”

“I think we need to know more,” Graystripe mewed quietly. “It’s useful to know that Ashfoot spotted Sol, but that doesn’t set Sol’s teeth in Ashfur’s neck.”

“You’re right.” Firestar nodded toward his former deputy. “Can any cat tell us more about Sol?”

To Lionblaze’s surprise, Hollyleaf tentatively raised her tail. “I…I saw him, Firestar. By the lake, not long after he was driven out of ShadowClan.”

She never told me about that! Uneasiness stirred in Lionblaze’s belly. But he and Jayfeather hadn’t told their sister about the catmint they had fetched from WindClan, either. When did we start keeping secrets from one another?

“Tell us what happened,” Firestar prompted.

“Nothing much,” Hollyleaf replied. “He said the Clans needed him, and he promised he’d be back.”

Cloudtail lashed his tail. “That’s a threat, if ever I heard one!”

“Why didn’t you report this?” Firestar asked Hollyleaf.

Hollyleaf ducked her head. “I didn’t think it mattered,” she told him. “I thought it was just talk because he was angry about losing control of ShadowClan. And he was heading along the lakeshore toward WindClan territory. I thought he was leaving.”

“You still should have mentioned it,” Firestar told her, though his voice was mild. “I could have told the patrols to keep a lookout for him.”

Hollyleaf studied her paws. “I’m sorry, Firestar.”

“Is there anything else we ought to know?” the Clan leader asked.

“I—I’m not sure,” Hollyleaf meowed hesitantly. “Sol mentioned that he had met Midnight the badger, but I can’t see what that has to do with killing Ashfur.”

“It might tell us how to find him,” Brambleclaw pointed out. “If Sol knows Midnight, he might have come from the sun-drown-place!” The Clan deputy’s eyes were glowing; Lionblaze could tell that he was remembering his heroic journey from the old forest to find the badger who would tell the Clans where they would live from now on.

“So what are we going to do?” Dustpelt asked Firestar.

“Why are you even asking?” Thornclaw growled. “We go and deal with Sol, of course!”

Lionblaze remembered how certain Thornclaw had been that morning that a WindClan cat had murdered the gray warrior. It hadn’t taken much to change his mind. But at least no cat was suggesting that a ThunderClan cat was the killer anymore.

They’re glad to accuse Sol because he’s a rogue, he realized.

“We can’t be sure that Sol killed Ashfur,” Firestar meowed over the chorus of agreement that met Thornclaw’s words. “But we need to find out. We’ll send a patrol to the sun-drown-place, to get Sol and bring him back here. Then we can question him, and if he did kill Ashfur, he’ll be punished.”

Prickles ran up and down Lionblaze’s spine at the thought of confronting Sol. He didn’t know whether he wanted to go on the patrol or not. The rogue cat knew more than was natural—more about him than any other cat had ever seemed to know; maybe the answers to Firestar’s questions would be things no cat wanted to hear.

“Brambleclaw, you know the way to the sun-drown-place,” Firestar announced. “You’ll lead the patrol. Brackenfur, Hazeltail, and Birchfall can go with you.”

Lionblaze spotted Birchfall giving Whitewing a regretful look and leaning over to lick her ear. He guessed that Birchfall didn’t want to leave his mate when she was so close to giving birth to her kits.

“This could be dangerous,” Brambleclaw meowed to Firestar. “It might be better to have one or two more cats.”

“True.” The Clan leader glanced around. “Lionblaze and Hollyleaf, then. You can leave at dawn.”