Thunder And Shadow

“Tell me more!” Her own panicked mew woke her, and she lifted her head sharply. She blinked into darkness, disappointm ent swam ping her. She was back in her makeshift nest, rain beating the j uniper branches above her. Cold water dripped through the leaves and soaked into her pelt. Shivering, she closed her eyes and tried to remember every detail of the vision. Her heart pounded. What had StarClan been try ing to tell her? I have to understand! If only she could figure it out, she might finally find her way home.

Chapter 1

Alderpaw’s gaze drifted toward the trailing brambles at the entrance of the medicine den. Outside, leaves would be drifting into the hollow. Leaf-fall had come so soon! Less than a moon ago he’d been trekking back from his quest beneath sunny blue skies.

“Alderpaw!”

Jayfeather’s sharp mew snapped him from his thoughts. He turned his attention back to the herbs piled in front of him.

“You’re meant to be separating the y arrow from the coltsfoot.” Jayfeather glared at him with sightless blue eyes.

“Sorry,” Alderpaw mumbled. Nothing he did seem ed to please Jayfeather. Hurriedly he began to peel the wide, lim p y arrow leaves away from the brittle coltsfoot.

Beside him, Leafpool reached deeper into the crevice at the back of the cave. She hauled out another pawful of leaves. “I think that’s the last of them. Once we’ve sorted these, we can decide what we need to gather before leaf-bare.”

“We’ll need catm int,” Jayfeather mewed. “If we’d gathered more last y ear, we might not have lost Spiderleg.”

At the far side of the medicine den, Briarlight pushed herself upright in her nest. “I can help with the sorting.”

“Thanks,” Jayfeather told her without turning. “But we have enough cats here already.” His ears twitched irritably as he added, “And kits.”

Alderpaw glanced guiltily at Twigkit. The young cat was play ing with a leaf just inside the entrance. She stood on her hind legs, reaching up to bat the leaf into the air, then ducked as it drifted down, to catch it on her back. As it landed between her shoulder blades, she gave a mrrow of delight. “I had to bring her with m e,” Alderpaw explained. “She didn’t have any one to play with.”

“What about Lily heart’s kits?” Jayfeather snapped. “They’re her nestmates, aren’t they?”

Leafpool pushed a pile of thyme to one side. “Lily heart’s kits are nearly five moons old,” she rem inded Jayfeather gently. “They’re far too boisterous for Twigkit.”

And they’re not interested in having a young kit tag along. Alderpaw was grateful that Lily heart had agreed to raise Twigkit along with her own kits, Leafkit, Larkkit, and Honey kit, but he wished the older kits had more patience with their foster littermate. Still, he knew they would be apprentices soon; they were more interested in pretending to hunt and fight than in play ing nursery gam es with Twigkit.

If only her sister, Violetkit, had been allowed to stay with her in ThunderClan. Alderpaw remembered with a spark of disgust how callously the ShadowClan cats had carried Twigkit’s sister away from the Gathering. They hadn’t cared that they were separating orphaned littermates. All they cared about was that Needlepaw—a ShadowClan apprentice—had helped find them. And since the kits might be part of a prophecy sent from StarClan, Rowanstar was determ ined to claim one of them for his Clan.

Anger surged through Alderpaw. It was m y prophecy! I led the quest that found them. And y et that wasn’t why he resented losing Violetkit so much. He felt sorry for Twigkit. And for Violetkit.

Was ShadowClan taking care of her? Did she have a foster mother as kind as Lily heart? Mem ories of his own kithood with his sister, Sparkpaw, and his mother, Squirrelflight, warm ed his heart. How would I have felt if I had been separated from them?

Twigkit batted the leaf into the air once again, then leaped, her short fluffy tail whipping to balance her as she spun in the air. Nim bly she caught the leaf between her forepaws.

“She’s agile.” Leafpool watched approvingly.

“She should be play ing outside,” Jayfeather huffed. “A medicine den is no place for kits.”

“She could play with Briarlight,” Alderpaw suggested.

Because of her crippled hind legs, it was im portant for Briarlight to keep her forelegs strong and active and her lungs clear. Chasing a leaf with Twigkit would be good exercise.

Jayfeather frowned, but Leafpool spoke before he could obj ect. “That’s a great idea, Alderpaw.” She called to Twigkit. “Would you like to play catch with Briarlight?”

Twigkit blinked at Leafpool, her eyes sparkling with delight. “Can I?”

“Of course,” Briarlight purred. “You can play with me any time you like.”

Jayfeather huffed and began untangling the pile of thyme. “Does this mean she’s going to be in here even more?”