Veil Of Shadows

Bramblestar’s only reply to that was a dismissive grunt. “Tension between ThunderClan and ShadowClan was high at the last Gathering,” he continued. “And I’ve heard rumblings that Tigerstar is quite distraught about Shadowsight’s disappearance. What if he uses it to accuse other Clans of wrongdoing, or suggest that we don’t enforce the code as good leaders should?”

The impostor paused, waiting for a reply, but Leafstar said nothing. After a few heartbeats Bramblestar spoke again.

“Eventually the Clans will need to take sides,” he growled. “Those who are willing to commit to getting StarClan back no matter the cost . . . and those who are not.”

Still there was no response from Leafstar. Bramblestar let out an angry snort. “Be there tonight!” he snarled.

Rootpaw heard his paw steps retreating, and Bristlefrost and Whitewing following. When he was sure they had left the camp, he slipped out of his hiding place to see Leafstar sitting at the entrance to her den, her tail wrapped around her forepaws and a thoughtful look in her eyes.

As Rootpaw watched, she rose to her paws and let out a commanding yowl. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beside the Tallstump for a Clan meeting!”

Confident now that no cat would ask where he had been or what he had been doing, Rootpaw strode out into the center of the camp and sat beside Tree and Violetshine, who glanced at each other warily as they reappeared from the warriors’ den. “Another meeting?” Tree asked in a hushed voice. “What now?” Rootpaw could see his father’s confusion reflected in the expressions of several of the gathering warriors.

Needleclaw bounded over to join them. The two medicine cats left their den to sit near Leafstar, while the apprentice Wrenpaw scampered up to the side of her mentor, Rabbitleap. More warriors emerged from their den until almost the whole of SkyClan was assembled. The deputy, Hawkwing, was the last to appear, and padded over to sit at his leader’s side, glancing at Leafstar with a questioning look.

“Some of you know that I have just had a visit from Bramblestar,” Leafstar began, her gaze traveling seriously around her Clan. “He has called us to an emergency Gathering tonight, and he also tells me we must punish the codebreakers in our Clan so that we can reconnect with StarClan. If any of you have any thoughts about that, now is the time to share them with the rest of us.”

“Do we have any codebreakers?” Plumwillow spoke up from somewhere behind Rootpaw.

“Of course not!” Sagenose replied indignantly.

“I don’t know. . . .” Plumwillow’s voice went on, and Rootpaw glanced over his shoulder to see the dark gray she-cat working her claws worriedly into the ground. “We must reconnect with StarClan. It’s been moons since we last heard from them, and the frost seems to be over. So maybe we should investigate whether there are any codebreakers in our Clan.”

“Yes, and if there are, exile them!” Plumwillow’s mate, Sandynose, asserted.

“Fox dung to that!” Macgyver snarled. “Exile our Clanmates on the say-so of another Clan leader? Maybe ThunderClan is just trying to make trouble in the other Clans. Every cat knows how they like to interfere.”

“Yes, we never had trouble reaching our ancestors in StarClan when we still lived in the gorge,” Sparrowpelt agreed.

Leafstar blinked, still thoughtful, not giving away anything of what she felt. After a moment she turned to Hawkwing. “What do you think?” she asked him.

The dark gray tom dipped his head. “I think that causing trouble isn’t like ThunderClan,” he meowed. “Sometimes they like to have a paw in every cat’s business, but as far as I know they’ve never been destructive. I’d like to find out what Bramblestar hopes to achieve.”

Rootpaw’s belly tightened. Should he tell them what he knew? To his surprise, before he could speak, he saw Frecklewish rise to her paws and pad forward to stand beside Leafstar.

“There’s something I should have told you before,” she confessed, “but I was afraid of what it might mean for all the Clans.” She paused, looking around at the gathered cats with trepidation. “The truth is . . . Bramblestar is not the Bramblestar we all know. I saw the real Bramblestar on the night Shadowsight disappeared. He was a ghost, wandering far away from his body.”

Admiration tingled through Rootpaw as he listened to the medicine cat. Frecklewish was taking a brave step, telling the whole Clan even though the other medicine cats had been unwilling to tell even their leaders. But I can’t blame her. . . . She’s doing what’s best for our Clan.

As Frecklewish finished speaking, the Clan remained in a stunned silence for several heartbeats, cats blinking in confusion and trying to make sense of what they had just heard.

“Have you got bees in your brain?” Sparrowpelt growled at last. “Whoever heard of a cat’s spirit wandering out of his body?”