The Raging Storm

Violetshine puffed out her chest. “He is genuine. He’s got a good heart, and just because he doesn’t act like a warrior doesn’t mean he isn’t important to the Clan. You wait and see. Frecklewish is right. He does have a way with other cats. Sometimes words are more powerful than claws, and they cause far less bloodshed.”

Mintfur’s whiskers twitched with amusement. “It sounds like you’re fond of him, Violetshine.”

Violetshine felt hot beneath her pelt. “So what if I am?” She and Tree had a special bond. She’d found him, and he was closer to her than he was to any other cat in SkyClan. Her paws prickled with happiness at the thought.

“Sandynose.” Fidgetflake’s anxious mew made the cats turn. The apprentice medicine cat had crossed the ditch and was sniffing the ground beyond. “Come and smell this.”

Sandynose leaped the ditch and sniffed the ground beside Fidgetflake.

“Do you smell ShadowClan?” Fidgetflake asked.

“Yes.” Sandynose’s fur lifted along his spine. He padded quickly forward and sniffed the ground again. He paced one way then the other, sniffing as he went. “ShadowClan cats have been here.”

As Mintfur hurried to join him, Violetshine followed, her belly tightening. ShadowClan scent hung in the air. “They’ve crossed the border into our territory,” she breathed.

Sandynose was already following the scent trail to the border. He stopped beside a bush and flattened his ears. “They crossed here.”

“Do you recognize the scents?” Mintfur asked.

He shook his head. “They don’t smell like any of the cats who stayed in our camp.”

Violetshine pushed back the fear that was pressing in her throat. “ShadowClan does have some cats who grew up outside the territories,” she murmured, remembering the gossip she’d heard about an adventure Tigerstar and Dovewing had once had, far away from the lake. “Those cats could have strayed over the scent line without realizing. They haven’t lived here that long, so maybe they don’t recognize the borders yet.”

Mintfur snorted. “Even those cats must know what a scent marker means.”

Sandynose’s pelt bristled. “Let’s head back to camp. Leafstar should hear about this.”

Sunshine filtered between the pine and alder branches crisscrossing above the SkyClan camp.

“You’re sure the scents were on our side of the border?” Leafstar’s amber eyes narrowed.

“I know where the border is even if ShadowClan doesn’t,” Sandynose snapped.

Leafstar shifted her hindquarters. The returning patrol had woken the SkyClan leader from a nap. Beside Sandynose, Violetshine felt her belly tighten. The warrior had worked himself into a rage on the journey back to camp, and Mintfur agreed with him that ShadowClan had crossed SkyClan’s border on purpose. Frecklewish and Fidgetflake had tried to reason with them. It might have been an accident. But Sandynose was convinced that a ShadowClan patrol had left its scent on SkyClan land deliberately.

Hawkwing, who was clearing weed from the small stream that cut through the camp, kept working but pricked his ears as Leafstar considered her response. Tree, lying stretched in a pool of sunlight, lifted his head sleepily and watched. Macgyver, Nettlesplash, and Bellaleaf left their work patching holes in the elders’ den and padded closer, while Blossomheart and Harrybrook looked up from the mouse they were sharing beside the fresh-kill pile. Pigeonpaw and Nectarpaw paused from practicing battle moves in the clearing to watch as well.

“I don’t think we should jump to any conclusions,” Leafstar said at last.

Plumwillow poked her head out of the warriors’ den. “Conclusions about what?”

Pigeonpaw blinked at her. “ShadowClan cats invading our territory.”

“They didn’t invade,” Nectarpaw mewed.

“Their scent is on our land,” Sandynose snapped.

Plumwillow slid from the den, her pelt bristling. “What are ShadowClan cats doing on our land?”

Leafstar stood up. “That’s what we’re trying to decide.”

“It can’t have been anything good,” Macgyver meowed. Nettlesplash and Bellaleaf muttered in agreement.

“It was probably an accident.” Blossomheart left her mouse and padded closer.

Harrybrook got to his paws. “Perhaps it was a clumsy apprentice with a bad sense of direction.”

“That’s what I said.” Violetshine was eager to avoid conflict. StarClan wanted all of them to live peacefully around the lake, didn’t they? “Don’t forget they have new warriors who aren’t Clanborn.”

“Exactly,” Blossomheart agreed. “One of them could have strayed across the border without realizing.”

“Nonsense!” Mintfur snorted. “The border was clearly marked. Any cat would have smelled it. Even one who’s not Clanborn.”

“Silence.” Leafstar flicked her tail sharply. “We don’t know why ShadowClan crossed the border. But I’m not willing to accuse them of aggression when we don’t have the facts.”

“You should be protecting SkyClan, not defending ShadowClan,” Sandynose muttered.