Veil Of Shadows

“Shellfur’s paw was wounded when he was defending Bramblestar,” Flipclaw explained. “And now it’s infected. I keep applying cobwebs and a poultice made of dried oak leaves, but it’s not getting better! Shellfur has a fever now.”

“Oak leaves?” Sparkpelt asked. “Isn’t that for preventing infection? I remember Alderheart treating my wound with oak leaves once, but when infection set in, he switched to marigold.”

Flipclaw stared at her, stunned. “I didn’t know about marigold,” he murmured. “I thought oak leaves were used to treat infections.”

Sparkpelt’s tail lashed, and her fur bushed up until she looked twice her size. “You weren’t even trained!” she snarled, glaring at Flipclaw. “How are you supposed to save cats’ lives when you can’t even treat an infected wound?”

Bristlefrost cringed in sympathy with her brother, especially when Flipclaw didn’t try to defend himself. He bowed his head, giving his chest fur a couple of miserable licks.

“That’s not fair!” Bristlefrost protested, her whiskers bristling with indignation. “Flipclaw didn’t ask for this. It’s not his fault he isn’t trained.”

“I’m sorry,” Sparkpelt sighed, letting her fur lie flat again. “You’re right, Bristlefrost. It’s not his fault.” Glancing past the bramble screen into the camp, she added, “It’s not your fault at all, Flipclaw. Come with me.”

Flipclaw followed her as she strode out into the open and came to a halt below the Highledge. “Bramblestar!” she yowled. “Come down here! I need a word with you.”

Bristlefrost padded out and stood a few tail-lengths away, her pelt tingling with apprehension at how Bramblestar might react. Flipclaw looked completely terrified at Sparkpelt’s disrespectful tone.

But the impostor looked almost amused as he leaped lazily down the tumbled rocks and strolled up to face Sparkpelt. “Yes?” he rumbled.

“We can’t go on like this, Bramblestar,” Sparkpelt meowed. “Whatever strange dreams Flipclaw had, he isn’t trained, and a Clan can’t function without a trained medicine cat. Do you realize that Shellfur has an infection raging out of control from a simple wound in his paw? Poor Flipclaw’s inexperience is threatening cats’ lives!”

In response, Bramblestar just blinked at her; Bristlefrost guessed that he hadn’t known, but he didn’t much care, either.

“I know you had disagreements with Alderheart and Jayfeather,” Sparkpelt went on. “But surely you can understand that we need a real medicine cat, for the good of the Clan? At the very least, let Brightheart help him until he gets the hang of it! You’ve always been a caring leader,” she added, her voice softening. “Please, won’t you reconsider? I’m asking you not as a warrior, but as your daughter.”

But you’re not his daughter, Bristlefrost thought, suppressing a shiver.

“You make an interesting point,” Bramblestar replied; he sounded quite detached, unaffected by Sparkpelt’s appeal to their kinship. “Bristlefrost, what do you think?”

Reluctantly Bristlefrost padded forward. By this time more warriors were gathering around, wanting to know what the fuss was about, and she felt they might be testing her, waiting for her to put a paw wrong as deputy.

“I understand what Sparkpelt means,” she replied to Bramblestar. “Would you like me to look for Alderheart or Jayfeather?”

“Not just yet,” Bramblestar told her, with a lash of his tail. “True, a good medicine cat is one component of a strong Clan, but there’s another, far more important one: loyalty.”

Bristlefrost cringed inwardly, because she knew where the impostor’s words came from. She remembered what she had told him when he was grieving for Squirrelflight: that he’d need to depend on loyal warriors.

I meant the exiled ones. But clearly, he took it differently.

Bramblestar turned back to Sparkpelt, who was watching him warily, seemingly realizing that her appeal had done more harm than good. “A cat who respects the code must always obey her leader,” he told her in a condescending tone. “She must never question him—”

“The warrior code was given to us by StarClan,” Sparkpelt interrupted, her neck fur beginning to bristle again. “But now StarClan has disappeared! And how do you ever expect to connect to them again if you’ve exiled all the medicine cats?”

Bristlefrost saw Bramblestar begin to swell with fury, his amber eyes smoldering. “It’s because of cats like you that StarClan has abandoned us!” he hissed at Sparkpelt. “Cats who did not trust their leaders! But not anymore. Sparkpelt, you are no longer a ThunderClan cat. You are exiled!”

Sparkpelt’s eyes widened in dismay, but before she could respond, a scratchy voice piped up. “A good warrior doesn’t follow their leader off a cliff.”