Veil Of Shadows

Bramblestar had exiled many cats, and had encouraged other Clans to exile theirs. Bristlefrost’s eyes flicked between Jayfeather, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, Lionblaze, and Mothwing, along with most of ShadowClan. Now that they were allied with the rebels, there were almost enough of them to form a Clan of their own.

But that’s not what we want to do, she thought uneasily.

Noticing Twigbranch sitting by herself at the edge of the crowd, Bristlefrost padded over to her. “Greetings,” she mewed, sitting beside her. “Are you okay?”

Twigbranch shrugged uneasily. “I suppose . . . ,” she mewed. “To be honest, Bristlefrost, I don’t feel like I belong here. I can’t wait for the half-moon to be up so that I can go home.”

Bristlefrost stared at her in surprise. “You really want to do that—knowing the truth about Bramblestar?”

“Bramblestar isn’t the only cat in ThunderClan,” Twigbranch responded. “I love my Clan, and I think of myself as a ThunderClan cat. I’m going back as soon as I can.”

“But you can be a real help to us here,” Bristlefrost pointed out.

“I can be a real help there, too,” Twigbranch meowed. “I can’t turn my back on ThunderClan, but what I can do is resist the false Bramblestar from within. After all, Bristlefrost, isn’t that what you’re doing?”

Okay, I stuck my paw in my mouth there, Bristlefrost thought regretfully. But maybe Twigbranch was right. They weren’t so different, and it would help to have another cat on the inside, keeping a close eye on Bramblestar and helping to limit the damage he tried to do.

While she and Twigbranch had been talking, Harelight and Icewing, warriors of RiverClan, had slipped out of the undergrowth to join the group. Clearly the rebels had been waiting for them to arrive. Every cat settled down in the shade cast by the thicket; Tigerstar ordered a couple of the younger ShadowClan warriors to remain standing on watch. Bristlefrost padded over to sit beside Stemleaf and Spotfur, anticipation fluttering in her belly.

Squirrelflight was the first to speak, stepping forward into the center of the group. “There’s something I need to tell every cat,” she began. “Mothwing and Bristlefrost and I have convinced the false Bramblestar that I am dead. It was the only way to stop him looking for me.”

Bristlefrost saw the rebel cats flick up their ears in surprise. “How did you do that?” Conefoot called out.

“Never mind,” Squirrelflight responded. “That’s not important. The point is, for StarClan’s sake, if you meet the impostor, don’t give me away. If he discovers I’m alive, it will cause no end of trouble.”

Bristlefrost suppressed a shiver and felt Stemleaf rest his tail-tip briefly on her shoulder. I don’t even want to think about what Bramblestar would do to me if he found out I lied to him.

“I’m not sure I like the idea of lying to a Clan leader,” Crowfeather meowed thoughtfully. “Especially your own,” he went on, with a glance at the ThunderClan cats.

“We can lie to him, no problem,” Spotfur retorted.

“Yeah, because he’s not our leader,” Stemleaf added.

Crowfeather shrugged. “Good point.”

“Then are we agreed?” Tigerstar asked, his gaze traveling over the assembled cats as he rose to stand beside Squirrelflight. “No cat will even mention Squirrelflight to Bramblestar, and if he should ask you, she’s dead, okay?”

Murmurs of assent rose from the crowd of cats. Squirrelflight dipped her head. “Thank you,” she mewed, and stepped back to sit down again.

“And now we have more news,” Tigerstar went on; to Bristlefrost’s surprise she saw a gleam of happiness in his eyes. “Frecklewish, I think this is for you to tell.”

The SkyClan medicine cat rose to her paws. “Yes, I have news,” she announced. “And for once, it’s good. Shadowsight has been found. He’s alive, but unconscious, in the SkyClan medicine-cat den. Fidgetflake is taking care of him.”

Gasps of astonishment and soft purrs of pleasure greeted the medicine cat’s news. “Thank StarClan,” some cat mewed softly.

Jayfeather’s harsher tones cut across the sounds. “How did a ShadowClan cat end up in the SkyClan medicine cat den?” he asked.

Bristlefrost noticed that Rootpaw was glancing around awkwardly as if he expected some older cat to tell the story. But no cat spoke.

Eventually Frecklewish meowed, “Come on, Rootpaw. Spit it out.”

“I was the one who found him,” Rootpaw explained, still looking faintly embarrassed to be addressing the whole group. “It’s a long story—I can’t tell it all now—but I could see that another cat had attacked him and he’d been terribly wounded.”

“Who attacked him?” Jayfeather asked. “Was it Bramblestar?”

Rootpaw shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s been unconscious since I found him, so he hasn’t been able to tell us anything. But whoever did it nearly killed him.”