Veil Of Shadows

“Tigerstar, just now you might be too angry at everything that happened—at the unfair accusations leveled at yourself and Dovewing, and your kits—to be truly thinking clearly.”

“I agree.” Squirrelflight, who had so far listened to the leaders in silence, spoke up. “Shadowsight’s contributions have been very valuable,” she continued, “but even if what he said is true, that doesn’t tell us how to defeat whatever lies in Bramblestar’s body. To beat him, we must figure out who he is.”

“Yes!” Harestar turned an enthusiastic gaze onto Squirrelflight. “You know Bramblestar better than any of us. What do you think?”

Squirrelflight paused for a moment, clearly in deep thought. “He said . . . he came back for me.” For a few heartbeats longer she went on thinking, then shook her head, her shoulders drooping. “I’m still not sure. . . .”

The Clan leaders broke out into the same old argument, about StarClan and why they had disappeared. Rootspring felt a tingle of foreboding in his paws. After all we’ve been through, are we just going to start up the same fight all over again?

“Well,” Tigerstar meowed at last, “at least all the exiled cats can go home again.”

“I’m not sure,” Mistystar responded, to Rootspring’s surprise. “Icewing and Harelight, come and stand here at the foot of the Great Oak.”

Rootspring watched in confusion as the two warriors Misty-star had named emerged from the crowd of their Clanmates and stood side by side, gazing up at their leader with uneasy expressions. What is Mistystar thinking? he wondered. Icewing and Harelight were never exiled.

“I believed that you were loyal RiverClan warriors,” Mistystar meowed, pain in her blue eyes as she looked down. “Yet in the battle I saw you fighting against your Clan. You disobeyed my orders. Even now that I know the false Bramblestar was evil, I must send you into exile.”

The two warriors gaped at their leader, too stunned for the moment to protest or defend themselves.

In the silence Mothwing rose from her place beside the other medicine cats. “Mistystar—” she began.

“Mothwing, I see that I was wrong to exile you,” Mistystar interrupted. “I am sorry for it. You are welcome to return to RiverClan.”

“No, Mistystar,” Mothwing retorted; a gasp went up from the cats who surrounded her at the single word. “I will never feel welcome in a Clan where warriors are exiled unjustly. Icewing and Harelight risked their safety and their lives to oppose the evil presence inside Bramblestar. We should be thanking them, not sending them into exile. Besides,” the medicine cat continued, “I chose to be a RiverClan cat, and I have served my Clan faithfully, and yet you drove me away because of my birth, which I had no control over. It will be hard for me to forget that.”

For a heartbeat Rootspring thought that Mistystar wavered, her jaws parted to speak, and yet no words came out. Then she took a deep breath and spoke. “Then Mothwing, Icewing, Harelight—you are no longer RiverClan cats.”

“That’s not fair!” Icewing exclaimed. “Okay, we did fight on ShadowClan’s side, but Mothwing never did anything wrong.”

“Yeah, can’t we even atone somehow?” Harelight asked.

Mistystar’s only reply was a lash of her tail.

Rootspring could feel shock passing through the Gathering like ripples from a stone thrown into a pool. How could Mistystar do this to her medicine cat and two loyal warriors? And where are they expected to go?

“Mistystar, are you sure about this?” Leafstar asked. “We are all taking our exiles back and forgiving them. Harelight and Icewing were only trying to do what they thought was right. Fighting in the battle must have been the hardest decision they have ever had to make.”

“And they made the wrong decision.” Mistystar’s blue eyes were full of distress, but her tone was unwavering. “They must bear the consequences.”

The other leaders exchanged regretful glances, but there was obviously no point in arguing further.

“In that case,” Tigerstar announced eventually, “they had better come with me to ShadowClan. They will always have a home there.”

Sharp cries of shock rose up from the assembled cats. “Who are you, and what have you done with Tigerstar?” Needleclaw muttered into Rootspring’s ear.

Meanwhile, Tigerstar announced that the Gathering was at an end. A stunned air had fallen over every cat as the crowd began to break up into their separate Clans, ready to go home.

Mistystar was the first leader to leap down from the Great Oak and summon her Clan with a whisk of her tail. She led them off with a determined stride toward the encircling bushes, leaving the three exiles standing clustered together as they watched their Clanmates leaving without them. Icewing took a pace toward the ShadowClan cats, then halted.