Эрин Хантер - Shattered Sky

Twigpaw’s excitement ebbed away, leaving behind a vast well of hurt and confusion. Ivypool’s my mentor. I thought she would always have my back. Why is she turning against me like this?

“Ivypool’s right,” Poppyfrost meowed. “This is no time to weaken our Clan by sending warriors away.”

“Yes.” Thornclaw spoke up from where he sat at the entrance to the nursery. “If the rogues attack us here, what’s going to happen to my kits?”

“Can we afford to help SkyClan when we’re in such danger ourselves?” Cherryfall added.

Twigpaw felt even more hurt that more cats were agreeing with Ivypool. Don’t they understand how important this is—not just for me, but for the whole Clan? Her belly felt as hollow as if she hadn’t eaten for a moon. “But what about me ?” she asked suddenly, without really planning to. Several stunned faces turned toward her—some having the decency to look a bit guilty. “Don’t I have the right to find my kin, if they’re out there?”

Lilyheart, her foster mother, stepped forward and looked at Twigpaw with sympathy. “Of course you do, Twigpaw,” she said gently. “But”—Twigpaw felt a pang in her heart with that but— “when you’re part of a Clan, you must put your needs aside for the good of the Clan. Perhaps right now is not the best time for you to look for your kin.”

Twigpaw could feel her ears turning hot with embarrassment and hurt. She looked down at the ground, unable to believe that her Clanmates were seriously going to prevent her from finding her kin. When the discussion had continued for a few moments more, Bramblestar took a pace forward and raised one paw for silence. “I’ve heard the arguments on both sides now,” he began. “Alderheart, I’m grateful that you’ve shared your vision with us. Eventually I mean for us to do everything we can to help these cats. And Twigpaw, I do understand how important it is for you to find your kin—someday. But the Clan has spoken, and I agree with the majority of our warriors. For now, we must put our own safety first. We will not go to look for SkyClan.” He raised his paw again to cut off protests from Dovewing and Tigerheart. “We need all our warriors to stay on ThunderClan territory until we know what the rogues are going to do next. Alderheart, let me know if you have any more visions.”

Bramblestar turned away and went back into his den, followed by Squirrelflight. The three medicine cats made their way down the tumbled rocks, while the rest of the Clan began to disperse.

For a moment, Twigpaw couldn’t move at all. She felt utterly miserable and betrayed, as if she were sitting at the center of a gray storm cloud. Then she spotted Ivypool heading toward her with a look of concern and apology on her face. But Twigpaw didn’t want to talk to any cat. She rose to her paws, turned her back on Ivypool, and limped away.

First Violetpaw, then Ivypool, and then Lilyheart, she thought wretchedly. Now I know for certain: I can’t expect any cat to be on my side…

“Tell me again.” Needletail’s voice was taut with desperation. “Tell me again what happened.”

Violetpaw flinched. She didn’t want to revisit the horror of what she had witnessed in Puddleshine’s den, but she knew that she had to tell her friend the truth.

“Rain tried to kill Darktail while he lay injured,” she replied. “He pressed down on top of him and tried to stop his breathing. He thought he’d done it, but when he turned his back, Darktail reared up and… and he clawed out his throat.” Her voice shook, and she had to make a massive effort to continue. “I’m sorry, Needletail, but Darktail was only defending himself, just like he told every cat. And he defended me, too,” she added. “I’m sure Rain would have killed me, because I saw what he tried to do.”

Needletail didn’t reply; she just crouched at the foot of a pine tree, looking miserable.

“I know how much you cared about Rain,” Violetpaw went on. “And I know that this must be very hard for you. Come on,” she mewed, trying to encourage Needletail. “Let’s go on looking for prey. You know Darktail wanted us to bring back as much as we can find, and we’ve already caught quite a bit. You’re such a terrific hunter, I’m sure you can find more.”

Needletail’s neck fur began to bristle. “I don’t want to catch prey because Darktail says so,” she muttered.

“But it’s important for us to show our loyalty to the Kin right now,” Violetpaw pointed out.

Needletail glanced up, alarm in her green eyes. “Do you think Darktail doubts my loyalty?” she asked.

Violetpaw shook her head. “No.” I hope he doesn’t, she added silently to herself.

With a sigh, Needletail rose to her paws and headed farther into the trees. Violetpaw followed her, ears pricked for the sound of prey, parting her jaws to taste the air. A few heartbeats later, Needletail halted and angled her ears toward a spot where the ground fell away into a small hollow; at the bottom, ferns grew around a pool. Violetpaw saw the ferns twitching slightly, just before she picked up the scent of vole.

Needletail dropped into the hunter’s crouch and crept silently forward, her paws seeming to float over the ground, her sleek, silver-gray pelt no more than a drifting shadow. When she reached the top of the hollow, she launched herself into an enormous pounce. As she dived into the ferns, Violetpaw heard a thin shriek of terror, abruptly cut off. Needletail emerged with the limp body of the vole in her jaws.

“Great catch!” Violetpaw mewed admiringly.

“It’ll do,” Needletail mumbled around her prey.

As she and Needletail headed back to where they had left the rest of their prey hidden under pine needles, Violetpaw was glad that Needletail had agreed to keep hunting. She knew the truth was that Needletail was too scared of the rogue leader to do anything else.

I’m scared of him too, Violetpaw thought, even though he’s only been nice to me since I backed up his story about how Rain died.

She couldn’t ignore how Darktail looked coldly at Needletail every time the young she-cat crossed his path, and how, in spite of her usual impudence, Needletail hadn’t twitched a whisker against his orders since Rain’s death.

Violetpaw stifled a sigh. Things had changed in camp after that day. Darktail seemed more suspicious and unfriendly toward every cat. Her paws tingled with apprehension every time he turned that brooding, cold look on Needletail.

It’s obvious: because Needletail was so close to Rain, Darktail thinks that she might—or will —betray him just as Rain did. What if Needletail is the next cat he strikes down?

Violetpaw wished that she could help her friend, but she had no idea what to do, except to try to keep Darktail happy with them both. Her fur prickled at the sense of trouble approaching, like a storm cloud swelling on the horizon, ready to release something terrible on the Kin.

She and Needletail were padding alongside a small stream, on their way to their prey cache, when Violetpaw spotted movement among the vegetation that overhung the water. The scent of frog flowed into her jaws. Almost without thinking, she flashed a paw down into the clump of plants and drew it up again with the frog wriggling on her claws. Swiftly she killed it with a bite to its neck.

“Good job,” Needletail commented. “And now we really do have to take our prey back to camp. We’ll need to make two trips as it is.”