Thunder And Shadow

Twigpaw j erked her gaze toward it, her heart skipping a best. ShadowClan? Would Violetpaw be with them? She watched Rowanstar pad into the clearing. As Tawny pelt and Tigerheart followed, she strained to see others behind them, but no cat followed the three ShadowClan warriors.

Pelts ruffled anxiously around Twigpaw as Rowanstar stopped at the edge of the crowd and looked up at Bramblestar. “We come alone,” he meowed curtly.

Twigpaw saw tufts of fur sticking from his pelt. Blood had dried on his m uzzle. He’d been fighting! Her gaze flitted to Tawny pelt and Tigerheart. They looked unharm ed. What had happened to the ShadowClan leader?

Bramblestar shifted on the branch, beckoning Rowanstar to his place beside the others. As the ShadowClan leader wove between the Clans, Bramblestar called to him. “You have recovered from the sickness.” Relief glowed in his moonlit gaze.

Rowanstar leaped onto the low branch and stood beside him. “The whole Clan has recovered.”

Misty star looked surprised. “Then why haven’t you brought them?” Her gaze flicked to Tawny pelt and Tigerheart, who had pushed their way to the front.

Rowanstar lifted his chin. “They wouldn’t j oin us.” His gaze flashed angrily around the Clans.

“They believe you betray ed them by allowing Onestar to withhold the herb we needed so desperately.”

Onestar growled. “You recovered, didn’t y ou? You never really needed it!”

Rowanstar snarled at the WindClan leader. “We only recovered because Harespring and Kestrelflight have more com passion than y ou! They gave us the herb!”

Shocked m urm urs rippled through the crowd. Twigpaw stretched to see over the heads of the bigger cats. Kestrelflight seem ed to shrink beneath his pelt. Harespring stared im passively at the gathered cats, betray ing nothing. Twigpaw’s pelt prickled with curiosity. Why had Alderpaw dropped his gaze? Why was Jayfeather puffing out his chest? Had they known about this? Clearly Onestar hadn’t.

The WindClan leader’s eyes sparked with rage. He glared down at Harespring. “Is this true?”

His deputy looked up steadily. “I could not let a Clan die.”

Kestrelflight padded forward. “I consulted StarClan,” he mewed. “They told m e that it was the right thing to do.”

Onestar’s fur lifted along his spine. He dragged his astonished gaze from his medicine cat to Rowanstar, but before he could speak, the ShadowClan leader flicked his tail. “You were right about the rogues, though, Onestar.”

Onestar stared at him.

“We should have driven them from the edge of our territory moons ago.” Rowanstar’s shoulders drooped. His anger over the herb seem ed to drain from him. Suddenly he looked old, his pelt dull in the moonlight, his ribs showing where the sickness had ravaged him. “They have taken over m y Clan.”

“What do you mean?” Bramblestar padded along the branch, thrusting his m uzzle close as shocked mews rang from the crowd.

Rowanstar m et the ThunderClan leader’s gaze. “Before we left for the Gathering, the rogues entered our camp.”

Misty star stiffened. “Was there a battle? Are many hurt?”

“There was no battle.” Sham e glittered in Rowanstar’s gaze. “My Clan chose them over m e.”

“They chose them?” Bramblestar sounded puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“They said that any ShadowClan cat who cam e here tonight would not be allowed to return to the Clan.”

Twigpaw stared at the ShadowClan cats in confusion. But where is Violetpaw? She couldn’t have decided to stay among the rogues—could she? Twigpaw felt cold as she watched Rowanstar’s paws trem ble beneath him. He no longer looked like a leader. He looked like a hungry, frightened loner.

Onestar curled his lip. “I always said that ShadowClan was no better than rogues.”

Rowanstar glared at him, energy sparking though his pelt suddenly. “That’s not true! They have just m ade a m istake!”

Tigerheart called out from below. “The real ShadowClan cats will come to their senses before long and drive the invaders out!”

Tawny pelt stood beside her son, her chin high. “The sickness scared them. They are like frightened kits looking for som eone strong to protect them!”

Onestar’s tail flicked om inously. “And why didn’t they look to Rowanstar? Isn’t he strong?”

Rowanstar paws suddenly steadied on the branch. He lifted his head, his shoulders squaring. “I have been sick. Crowfrost has died. For day s ShadowClan had no leadership, thanks to y ou. If y ou’d given us the herb earlier, this might never have happened.”

Murm urs of agreem ent sounded around Twigpaw. She turned her head, seeing RiverClan and ThunderClan cats nodding. Even som e of the WindClan cats were staring accusingly at their leader.

“What’s done is done.” Bramblestar’s mew was calm. “For now Rowanstar, Tawny pelt, and Tigerheart will be welcome in ThunderClan. They can stay until their Clanmates realize their m istake.”

Tawny pelt hissed m iserably. “If they realize their m istake.”