Thunder And Shadow

She turned. Twigpaw wasn’t following. Her sister stood beside the camp wall, her eyes flashing in the darkness. “What are you doing?” Violetpaw dem anded. Did Twigpaw want to get into trouble?

“I went to find our mother,” Twigpaw hissed. “She’s gone. She’s dead. You were right.”

Violetpaw stared at her. “Of course she’s dead. Why else would she have abandoned us? Did y ou come just to tell m e that?”

She saw pain glitter in Twigpaw’s eyes. Frustration welled in her chest. What did Twigpaw want from her? “I’m sorry! But don’t expect m e to be surprised.” She glanced nervously around the camp. The stench of ThunderClan cat was bound to wake som eone soon. “Look,” she growled, “I know y ou’re upset, but y ou’ve got to get out of here.”

“Don’t you care?” Twigpaw stared at her, still not m oving.

Violetpaw’s pelt spiked. Were her dum b sister’s paws rooted to the ground? “What difference does it make?” she reasoned. “We’re not kits any more. We’re apprentices. We’re going to be warriors. We have homes and Clanmates.”

“But we don’t have kin,” Twigpaw whispered. “Only each other. We have to stick together.”

Twigpaw was m aking even less sense. “You want to j oin ShadowClan?”

“Of course not,” Twigpaw snapped. “I just wanted to see y ou. I wanted to know that y ou’re here for m e.”

Violetpaw narrowed her eyes, bewildered. “Of course I’m here for y ou. But you’re in ThunderClan.”

Paw steps brushed the earth nearby. “Who’s there?”

Violetpaw’s heart leaped into her throat as she recognized her m entor’s mew.

Dawnpelt was skirting the camp wall, m aking her way from the warriors’ den. Her cream pelt glowed in the moonlight.

“Quick!” Violetpaw m otioned Twigpaw toward the dirtplace tunnel with a flick of her nose.

But Twigpaw was staring at Dawnpelt, her eyes wide with fear. Violetpaw pressed back a growl.

Was Twigpaw totally m ouse-brained? Did she really think she could stand arguing in another Clan’s camp without being noticed?

Violetpaw hurried toward Dawnpelt. “Hi,” she mewed, try ing to sound innocent. Perhaps Dawnpelt hadn’t noticed Twigpaw.

But Dawnpelt looked past her, her ears flattening. “I sm ell ThunderClan,” she growled.

“Who’s there?” She pushed past Violetpaw and padded toward Twigpaw.

“It’s just m e.” Twigpaw’s mew sounded sm all. “I had to see Violetpaw. It wasn’t her fault. I sneaked in and woke her up. She was try ing to get rid of m e.” She shot a reproachful look at Violetpaw.

Violetpaw rolled her eyes. What else did she expect? Her Clanmates had been right all along: ThunderClan cats were frog-brained.

Dawnpelt paced around Twigpaw, her hackles lifting. “Did you come to spy on us?”

“No!” Twigpaw sounded offended. “I told y ou. I had to speak with Violetpaw.”

“What about?” Dawnpelt stopped a whisker from her nose and glared at her.

“About our mother,” Twigpaw told her. “She’s dead.”

Dawnpelt flashed a look at Violetpaw. “Is that news?”

Violetpaw padded forward, sighing. “It’s news to Twigpaw.” She stopped beside her m entor, feeling a sudden wave of pity for her littermate. “She was hoping our mother was still alive.”

Dawnpelt sniffed Twigpaw warily. “What changed y our m ind?”

“I went searching for her.” Twigpaw sounded forlorn. “I saw the Thunderpath where she’d m ade our nest. When I saw the m onsters, I knew one of them must have killed her.”

“Give her a break,” Violetpaw mewed softly. “She didn’t mean any harm.”

Dawnpelt narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “She can’t just come here every time she wants to tell you som ething.”

“It was som ething im portant!” Twigpaw lifted her chin.

“You thought it was im portant,” Dawnpelt growled. “That doesn’t mean every one agrees.

You’re as arrogant as y our Clanmates.”

Don’t criticize my sister! Violetpaw glared at Dawnpelt. “Just let her go home. No one need ever know she cam e.”

A voice sounded from the clearing. “It’s a bit late for that.”

Violetpaw stiffened. Tawny pelt was staring at them, the fur spiking along her spine. Scorchfur and Yarrowleaf padded sleepily from the warriors’ den. Snowbird and Tigerheart followed.

Kinkfur peeked from the elders’ den. Whorlkit and Flowerkit tum bled out of the nursery, their eyes widening as they saw Twigpaw.

“Invasion!” Whorlkit dashed across the clearing, y owling loudly.

Grassheart darted from her den, panic lighting her eyes. She wrapped her tail around

Flowerkit and stared at Whorlkit as he hared around the clearing, his fur fluffed out excitedly.

Violetpaw shrank inside her pelt as Crowfrost padded sleepily from his den.

“What’s happened?” He blinked in the moonlight, his gaze widening as it reached Twigpaw.

Dawnpelt lifted her tail. “A ThunderClan apprentice has found her way into our camp.”

“Twigpaw.” Crowfrost looked relieved as he saw Twigpaw standing alone in the clearing. He put out a paw to stop Whorlkit as the young tom hared toward him. “Go back to y our mother,” he ordered. As Whorlkit trudged reluctantly toward Grassheart, Crowfrost turned back to Dawnpelt.

“Is it just Twigpaw?”