Veil Of Shadows

Murmurs of shock and protest broke out at Rootpaw’s revelation. Bristlefrost wondered if the medicine cats had shared their news of the vision with their leaders, as Rootpaw and Tree had planned to encourage them to do. I can’t blame them if they didn’t, she thought. It’s so weird!

“I find that very hard to believe,” Crowfeather meowed. “Why would Bramblestar appear to you, and not to a cat of his own Clan?”

“Don’t forget Rootpaw has the Sisters’ blood,” Alderheart pointed out. “And I saw Bramblestar’s spirit at the medicine-cat meeting, as clear as I see you now.”

“So did I,” Jayfeather added. “At least, I heard his voice. It was Bramblestar.”

Bristlefrost was dismayed to see that even with the backing of the medicine cats, some of the rebels still didn’t believe Rootpaw, or were so confused they didn’t know what to believe. And these are the cats who are already resisting Bramblestar, she thought. If even they have trouble believing he’s not really himself, how will the rest of the Clans react?

“I haven’t seen the spirit,” she meowed. “But I know that the cat who calls himself Bramblestar is nothing like our real leader.”

“You’re right, Bristlefrost!” Twigbranch exclaimed. “The real Bramblestar would never have treated me this way.”

Twigbranch’s support made Bristlefrost realize that it was time to share another fact about their so-called leader. The resistance fighters should know the truth. “There’s something else you need to know,” Bristlefrost went on, as the cats settled down again to listen. “On the night that Shadowsight disappeared, I saw Bramblestar returning to the camp with blood on his muzzle and his chest fur. And before that, I’m sure that some cat tried to kill Sparkpelt, too.”

This time the yowls of shock and horror were even louder. Tigerstar and Dovewing were staring at each other, their eyes filled with identical expressions of anguish. Only for a moment—then Tigerstar wrenched his gaze away and leaped onto a nearby rock to seize control of the crowd.

“We must kill Bramblestar!” he announced.

Caterwauls of fervent agreement came from most of the ShadowClan cats, though Bristlefrost could hear protests, too. Eventually Tawnypelt managed to make herself heard.

“All of you know that Bramblestar is my brother,” she meowed. “And I grieve at the thought of killing his body.” She hesitated for a heartbeat, struggling to force the words out. “But whatever destructive spirit is inside him cannot be allowed to continue.”

“No!” Bristlefrost raised her voice, her whole body quivering with outrage. “We just told you the real Bramblestar is still around! How can you suggest killing his body? What would happen to the real Bramblestar then?”

“Maybe he’d return,” Lionblaze suggested hopefully. “Like when a leader loses a life in the normal way.”

“And maybe he wouldn’t,” Twigbranch retorted. “Do we have the right to risk it?”

Once again the meeting erupted into chaos, every cat demanding to be heard, while no cat wanted to listen. Bristlefrost tried to make sense of the argument, finding a tiny shred of hope in the way that most of the ThunderClan cats were horrified at the thought of killing their leader’s body.

“Bramblestar’s dying is what got us into this mess,” Crowfeather pointed out. “Would killing him even work?”

“We can’t take that risk,” Stemleaf insisted.

The young ShadowClan warrior Conefoot flicked his tail dismissively. “Do we know the real Bramblestar is still there to worry about?” he asked. “Rootpaw says he hasn’t seen him since the medicine-cat meeting.”

Squirrelflight pushed her way through the crowd and leaped up onto the rock beside Tigerstar. She waved her tail for silence, and the caterwauling died down to hostile hissing and muttering.

“Bramblestar isn’t gone,” Squirrelflight insisted, her green gaze compelling the attention of the crowd. “He wouldn’t leave me like this, I’m sure of it.” Turning to Tigerstar, she added fiercely, “If you won’t give up on Shadowsight, you should understand that I won’t give up on Bramblestar.”

Tigerstar’s voice was full of bitterness as he replied. “I’m sure Shadowsight is dead. If he were alive, he would never have left ShadowClan. If he were able, he would have come home.”

“Maybe not.” Dovewing was clearly trying to comfort her mate. “Remember, we once left the Clans without telling any cat—StarClan, how I regret that now!”

The argument broke out again, though more quietly this time. The cats must have been growing exhausted from shock and apprehension. Bristlefrost felt her muscles tense with fear as she realized that most of the cats in the clearing felt that they should kill, or at least drive out, the false Bramblestar.