Эрин Хантер - Shattered Sky

“That’s right,” Icewing added. “Thanks to you, we’ve driven Darktail and his rogues out of our territory!”

Alderheart admired the courage of the RiverClan cats, but he felt like he was choking on his worry for Violetpaw and Needletail. Darktail was covered with scratches. He had blood on his pelt. Whose blood was it?

His stomach turned.

“Does any cat know what happened to Violetpaw and Needletail?” he asked.

Reedwhisker shook his head, studying his paws. “Darktail said that Needletail would pay the price for Violetpaw’s betrayal. He dragged them off—and as far as we know, neither of them has come back to camp.”

Alderheart’s legs felt weak with foreboding. They could both be dead! They probably are… And all because I asked Violetpaw for her help!

Squirrelflight gave him a sympathetic look from deep green eyes, as though she could read his thoughts, and pressed her flank against his. “Stay strong,” she encouraged him. “You couldn’t have known what would happen, and giving up now will put all these cats at risk.”

“We have to look for them,” Alderheart whispered.

Squirrelflight gently shook her head. “There’s no time right now,” she mewed. “We have to get these cats back to ThunderClan, to let the medicine cats treat them properly.”

“Excuse me?” Mistystar rose to her paws, looking annoyed. “This is RiverClan territory. There’s no way we’re going to leave it for Darktail to take over again.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Bramblestar told her with a respectful dip of his head. “Darktail will have other things on his mind; he’ll know we’ll be coming for him in ShadowClan next. Besides, your cats need more care than you can give them here, and your medicine cats are still in our camp.”

“He’s right,” Reedwhisker agreed hoarsely. “There’s so much work to be done before RiverClan can live here again.”

Mistystar hesitated for a moment, a look of deep thought in her blue eyes. “Very well,” she meowed at last. “But only for a day or two, until my warriors are fully recovered.”

She whisked her tail, beckoning to some of her other Clanmates to help the former prisoners to their paws. Glancing around the camp, Alderheart saw that every cat was getting ready to leave.

The tabby she-cat, Zelda, padded up to Bramblestar and dipped her head politely. The young black tom was with her. “I’m Zelda,” she mewed, “and this is Loki. We’re kittypets.”

Bramblestar’s ears angled forward in surprise. “You fight pretty well, for kittypets,” he told her, then added, “But what are kittypets even doing here?”

“Darktail brought us into camp,” Zelda explained, “and then he wouldn’t let us go. We thought it was fun at first, until we found out what he was really like.”

“There was another of our friends with us too,” Loki added. “But he was killed when Darktail made us attack RiverClan.” He shivered, his eyes full of sorrow.

Bramblestar nodded understandingly. “And now you’d like to go home?”

“Not yet,” Zelda meowed. “We want to stay until Darktail is defeated. He’s so cruel… We want to be sure that he’s gone for good.”

Loki nodded vigorously. “Can we come with you?”

“Of course.” Bramblestar’s eyes gleamed with approval. “Any cat is welcome who wants to fight against Darktail.”

The sky was growing pale with dawn, and the last warriors of StarClan were fading from the sky, when Alderheart followed Bramblestar and the rest of the warriors back to the ThunderClan camp.

As they crossed ShadowClan territory, they were careful to stay close to the lake, and every cat was alert for any sign or scent of Darktail and his remaining rogues. But the pine forest remained dark and silent.

I wonder if it’s too much to hope for, that the rogues have simply fled, Alderheart thought. It would be great if they never bothered us again! They’ve already given us enough trouble.

But the whereabouts of the rogues weren’t Alderheart’s main concern. Padding along at the rear of the group, he couldn’t put Violetpaw and Needletail out of his mind.

Why would Darktail have taken them to the lake? he asked himself. Was he going to drown them? Alderheart halted for a moment, his breath catching in his throat. Could that be what happened to Dawnpelt and the other missing cats?

Alderheart didn’t feel much relief as he and the rest of the cats splashed through the stream that marked the border with ShadowClan. It was good to be back on familiar territory, but his worries still crowded everything else out of his mind. He wondered whether he should ask Bramblestar if he could take out a patrol and go to search for Violetpaw and Needletail.

I could ask him… but I don’t think he’ll agree. He’ll want every cat to concentrate on getting ready to drive out the rogues.

Alderheart padded through the thorn tunnel into the camp, surrounded by a fog of misery. Their victory seemed less important than his fears that Violetpaw had sacrificed herself—because of the plan that he had made.

But as Alderheart entered the clearing, he halted, gazing around in sudden bewilderment. Surely there are far more cats here than when we left for RiverClan territory?

Then he spotted a small gray she-cat, her brilliant green eyes widening as she noticed him.

Twigpaw… How can it be?

Alderheart rushed toward her and plunged his muzzle into her shoulder fur, nuzzling her affectionately. “Twigpaw… Is it really you?” he choked out. “We all thought you were dead!”

“Oh, Alderheart!” Twigpaw purred. “I’m so glad to see you again. I’m sorry—you must have been so worried about me.”

Scolding her for running off was the last thing on Alderheart’s mind. He was too pleased to see her. “Where have you been all this time?” he asked.

“I went to find SkyClan, in the barn you saw in your dream,” Twigpaw explained. “Because I wanted to know if the cat you saw was really my kin.”

She settled herself on the ground, and Alderheart sat down beside her, reveling in the warmth of her pelt and the scent he had thought never to smell again.

“And you found them?” he asked, hearing the surprise and admiration in his voice. After all the time I’ve spent wishing we could find them and bring them back… “You found SkyClan, and you brought them here?”

Twigpaw nodded, beaming with pride. “It wasn’t easy,” she said, “but I did.”

Hovering a tail-length away was the dark gray tom he had seen in his dream. He looked exactly like Twigpaw, except that his eyes were warm amber—like Violetpaw’s.

Alderheart rose to his paws. “Are you…?” he began.

The gray tom took a pace toward him and dipped his head politely. “I am Hawkwing,” he meowed. “I’m Twigpaw’s father.”

“And he’s deputy of SkyClan!” Twigpaw announced proudly.

Alderheart dipped his head in response. “Welcome to ThunderClan,” he mewed.

“Thank you.” Hawkwing nodded. “It’s nice to get a warm welcome,” he added hastily.

Alderheart glanced around at the assortment of RiverClan, ShadowClan, and ThunderClan cats. He realized for the first time that many of them were eyeing Hawkwing and the other SkyClan cats suspiciously. I guess this is a bit of an awkward time to welcome another Clan into our camp… , he thought. But he was quickly distracted by Twigpaw.

“Isn’t it great?” she asked excitedly, bouncing on her paws. “I’ve never seen so many cats together before! I was surprised to find RiverClan cats here when I got back. And ShadowClan is still staying with us, I see. But—” She broke off, her excitement fading. “Is Violetpaw still with the rogues?”