Veil Of Shadows

“But I haven’t seen him,” Rootspring had responded. “Have you?”

Shadowsight had shaken his head. “His spirit is out there somewhere—but where?”

Now Rootspring was almost ready to despair. Will the real Bramblestar ever return?

He had to give up his search as the four remaining Clan leaders, along with Squirrelflight, leaped into the tree and Tigerstar let out a commanding yowl. “Cats of all Clans, the Gathering has begun!”

Leafstar rose on her branch and took a pace forward, as if she was about to take charge. Rootspring half expected Tigerstar to object, but he remained silent, and every cat turned to listen to the SkyClan leader.

“This has been a terrible time for the Clans,” Leafstar began. “I’m sure we can all agree that we’ve made some dreadful mistakes. I know there are wounds on our bodies and in our spirits that will take some time to heal, but now is not the time for revenge or retribution. And now is definitely not the time for punishing cats for past wrongdoings.”

Harestar murmured agreement, dipping his head respectfully to the SkyClan leader. “Bramblestar was a false leader and a bad cat,” he pointed out, “but it is possible that StarClan disappeared because we’ve all broken the code so many times. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for us all to start sticking to it more closely. Maybe if we do, StarClan will come back.”

Rootspring felt his heart clench painfully at the WindClan leader’s words. Bristlefrost thought things might get easier, but it sounds like she was wrong. Harestar seemed totally haunted by his journey to the abandoned StarClan and his encounter with the fading warrior spirits.

Tigerstar straightened up, standing tall at the end of the branch he had chosen. Rootspring guessed that he was trying to dominate the Gathering as much as Bramblestar had instinctively done in the past.

“I respect StarClan as much as any cat,” he meowed. “But if I’m honest, I trust them well enough to know when a cat has lived a good and honorable life. All the cats accused of codebreaking may have violated the rules, but can you truly say that there was darkness in their hearts?”

A ripple of unease passed through the Gathering. “What are you saying?” Crowfeather demanded. “That we should change the warrior code?”

“Or ignore it altogether?” Lionblaze added. “That’s madness! StarClan will never come back then!”

Rootspring realized for the first time that the exiled Crowfeather had taken his place as deputy on the roots of the Great Oak, and that Lionblaze, who must be the new ThunderClan deputy, was sitting by his side. Glancing around, he saw that the other exiles were in the clearing, too.

It’s good to see them back where they belong, he thought, feeling a little encouraged.

“That’s what the false Bramblestar wanted us all to believe,” Tigerstar responded to Lionblaze’s objection. “But isn’t it clear now that everything he told us rose from his malice? Frightening us into believing that StarClan was angry with us was just a tool he used to control us all.”

“How do you know that?” Mistystar asked. “After all, no cat can deny that we have heard nothing from StarClan for moons now.”

“I don’t know for certain,” Tigerstar replied. “But when Shadowsight traveled as a spirit into the Dark Forest, he saw glittering stars trapped in a pool, as though StarClan was somehow being kept away from their hunting grounds.”

“What?” Rootspring saw Harestar’s eyes widen and his ears angle forward as if he couldn’t be sure he had heard right. “With all due respect, Tigerstar, that sounds like a load of thistle-fluff! Stars trapped in the Dark Forest? Driven out of their hunting grounds? Tigerstar, I was there, in StarClan’s hunting grounds, and so were the spirits of our warrior ancestors. They were faded and in distress, but they were there.”

Leafstar stretched out her tail to the WindClan leader in a calming gesture. “Medicine cats’ visions shouldn’t always be taken literally,” she meowed. “There’s no reason to believe that Shadowsight’s experiences in spirit form are any easier to make sense of than omens from StarClan.”

While she was speaking, Tigerstar’s shoulder fur gradually bushed up, and his eyes glittered with fury. “What do you know about it?” he snarled, words pouring out of him like a flooding stream. “It was Shadowsight who traveled to the Dark Forest, nearly killing himself to do it. It was Shadowsight who was nearly murdered by the false Bramblestar, Shadowsight who endured your scorn for sharing the visions he believed were from StarClan. When will any of you bee-brains listen to my son? He’s telling us how to get StarClan back!”

His voice rang out across the clearing, and for a few moments after he had finished, every cat was stunned to silence. Mistystar was the first to speak, dipping her head respectfully to the ShadowClan leader.