The Raging Storm

“Please,” Bramblestar pleaded, “don’t make a rash decision. We can still find a solution, I know it.”

Leafstar eyed him coldly. “If it will make you happier, I will consult with my warriors tonight and decide in the morning.” She leaped from the branch, and the crowd opened below to let her pass as she headed toward her Clanmates. Sagenose and Bellaleaf met her silently, their eyes dark.

Twigbranch felt Finleap move beside her. He was trembling. “They’re really going to leave,” he mumbled. She hardly heard him. Her heart was racing. I have to speak to Hawkwing and Violetshine before they leave. As she darted across the clearing, threading between her Clanmates, she heard Finleap calling. “Twigbranch!”

She ignored him. Didn’t he understand? This might be the last chance she had to speak to her kin. “Hawkwing!” She reached her father, breathless.

He pressed his muzzle to her head.

Violetshine stared at her. “We’re leaving.” Grief glistened in her gaze.

“You can’t go!” Twigbranch looked at them desperately.

“We must follow our Clan,” Hawkwing told her.

“I’m sure Bramblestar will let you join ThunderClan. You can stay by the lake with me.” Twigbranch stared desperately at her father. “You mustn’t leave. I’ll be alone!”

Violetshine glanced at Hawkwing uncertainly. He blinked back at her and turned to Twigbranch. “We are SkyClan,” he told her. “Where SkyClan goes, we go.”

“You could come with us,” Violetshine mewed eagerly. “Leafstar would take you back. And Finleap too. We could all be together.” Twigbranch hesitated. Perhaps she should leave with them. “You’ve been SkyClan before. You could be SkyClan again,” Violetshine pressed. “All your kin are in SkyClan.”

Twigbranch’s fur prickled. What about ThunderClan? It had taken her so long to discover she truly belonged there. But her ThunderClan Clanmates weren’t kin. How could she live without kin? As her thoughts whirled, her heart seemed to crack. She took a breath and met Violetshine’s hopeful gaze. She knew what she must do. “I’m ThunderClan now.” Twigbranch dropped her gaze. “I never belonged in SkyClan. I’m not sure I ever could.”

She felt Hawkwing’s breath on her muzzle as he leaned closer. “You have to do what you feel is right. And so do we.”

She looked up, a lump in her throat. “Please don’t leave me.”

Hawkwing’s eyes rounded with sorrow. “There’s nothing I can do. I’m SkyClan’s deputy. My Clan needs me. I can’t leave them.”

Anger surged in Twigbranch’s chest. “But you can leave me

!” She glared at Violetshine. “How can you go after all we’ve been through?”

Violetshine stared back at her in surprise. “But you left me, over and over.”

Twigbranch froze. It was true. She’d abandoned her sister, first to ShadowClan and then to SkyClan. Guilt washed over her. Was this what it felt like for Violetshine?

“SkyClan!” Leafstar called to her Clanmates from the long grass. Harrybrook and Macgyver hurried after her.

“We must go,” Hawkwing mewed huskily. He turned away.

Twigbranch gazed frantically at Violetshine. “Is this the last time I’ll see you?”

“I don’t know.” Violetshine touched her muzzle to Twigbranch’s. Her breath was warm in the chilly night air. “It’s up to Leafstar now.”

“Good-bye.” Twigbranch could hardly speak. Her throat tightened as Violetshine pulled away and headed after Hawkwing. As she turned back to her Clanmates, she saw Finleap. He was watching Plumwillow and Sandynose disappear into the grass. She hurried to his side. “Did you say good-bye?”

He didn’t answer. The sorrow in his gaze pierced her heart.

“Are you planning to go with them if they leave?” She felt numb.

He stared at her. “I love you, Twigbranch. But if you don’t want to have kits, I should go with my kin. At least I’ll be somewhere I belong, instead of chasing a dream that might never come true.”

Twigbranch stared at him. “Don’t you care what I want?” Anger cut through her grief. “Having kits isn’t just your choice. It’s our choice. And just because I don’t want to have kits now doesn’t mean I never will.”

Finleap’s ears twitched self-consciously. She didn’t wait for him to respond.

“You’re meant to love me,” she snapped. “Not the family I might give you. If you won’t wait until I’m ready, then I guess you weren’t the cat I thought you were. Maybe you should

leave.”

Pushing past him, she headed into the long grass.

CHAPTER 15

Violetshine followed Hawkwing across the tree-bridge and jumped down onto the shore. They were heading home to the pine forest, probably for the last time. Clouds were drifting across the moon, and a breeze rippled the surface of the lake. The weather was changing. She landed next to him, the gravel shifting beneath her paws. “Will Twigbranch be all right without us?”

Hawkwing hesitated. “She has ThunderClan. They are her family now.”

“And I guess she has Finleap,” Violetshine mewed hopefully.