Erin Hunter - Sunset

“We should attack their camp!” Mousefur yowled.

Firestar twitched his tail for silence. “We won’t attack them,” he meowed. “You know as well as I do that we’re not back to full strength yet. If we forced a battle and then lost, it would be a disaster.”

True enough , Brambleclaw thought. Too many ThunderClan cats still bore the marks of the badgers’ claws.

“But from now on,” Firestar continued, “all patrols should look for signs of ShadowClan warriors on our territory.”

Guessing he was about to bring the meeting to a close, Brambleclaw strode forward. “Firestar, there’s something I want to say.”

Firestar dipped his head, inviting him to speak.

Brambleclaw gazed around until he spotted Leafpool, sitting not far from the entrance to her den. “Leafpool, did you tell Littlecloud about the badger attack?” he demanded.

Leafpool looked confused. “Yes—I told him when we met at the Moonpool.”

“And it never occurred to you that he would tell Blackstar?

We wouldn’t have had this trouble if you had kept your mouth shut.”

The medicine cat sprang to her paws, her amber eyes flashing. “I had to tell Littlecloud how Cinderpelt died!” she exclaimed. “Did you think he wouldn’t want to know what happened to her?”

Brambleclaw knew he had been too harsh. But the fight against ShadowClan had shaken him; of all cats Leafpool should know when she was putting her Clan at risk!

“Did you tell the other medicine cats everything ?”

“Barkface already knew,” Leafpool replied. “And Mothwing didn’t come to the Moonpool.” Eyes still gleaming angrily, she added, “Brambleclaw, it’s none of your business what I say to other medicine cats.”

“It is if you need to decide where your loyalties lie,” he retorted. “You’re a ThunderClan cat as well as a medicine cat.”

Leafpool opened her mouth to reply, but said nothing. She looked stricken, and Brambleclaw realized too late that he shouldn’t have accused her so openly of being disloyal.

“How can you say something like that?” Squirrelflight gave him a glare that was fierce enough to scorch his fur. “Of course Leafpool is going to share important news like that with the other medicine cats. Her mentor died , for StarClan’s sake! That matters to all medicine cats, not just ThunderClan.”

“I know, but—” Brambleclaw tried to interrupt, but Squirrelflight swept on.

“It’s not Leafpool’s fault, or Littlecloud’s, that Blackstar and his warriors were mousebrained enough to think they could invade ThunderClan. Besides, we’ve just shown them how wrong they were.”

Brambleclaw couldn’t meet her burning gaze. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Sorry, Leafpool.”

“Squirrelflight is right,” meowed Firestar from the Highledge. “Blackstar is to blame for allowing his warriors to break the agreement we made. You can be sure of this: I’ll take it up with him at the next Gathering.” His eyes darkened and he bared his teeth in the beginnings of a snarl. “If he forces a war between our Clans, he’ll find ThunderClan is ready and waiting for him.”

The full moon floated high in the sky as Brambleclaw leaped off the end of the tree-bridge and onto the island. The mingled scents of many cats surrounded him, and he realized that the ThunderClan warriors were the last to arrive at the Gathering. Firestar was already racing away from the shore, signaling with his tail for his warriors to follow.

Brambleclaw bounded after him, along with Squirrelflight and Dustpelt and the other ThunderClan cats. Flattening himself to the ground, he thrust his way through the thick barrier of bushes and into the moonlit clearing dappled by the spreading branches of the Great Oak.

The tree was in full leaf now; Brambleclaw spotted patches of white fur where Blackstar crouched half hidden on a branch, and the gleam of bright eyes where Leopardstar gazed down on the cats below. Firestar padded up to the roots and nodded to Onestar, before the two remaining leaders clawed their way up the trunk and took their places in the branches.

Almost as soon as he set paw in the clearing, Brambleclaw was aware of a strange tension around him. Cats from other Clans were staring at the ThunderClan warriors as if they were judging them with new eyes; he caught a few murmurs, commenting on the wounds that were still visible on their pelts.

Brambleclaw looked around, hoping to see Stormfur and Brook. He spotted Mistyfoot, the RiverClan deputy, and skirted a group of excited apprentices to sit beside her. “Hi, there,” he meowed. “How’s the prey running in RiverClan?”

“Fine,” Mistyfoot replied. “I hear you had trouble with badgers?”

Brambleclaw nodded, not really wanting to discuss the attack. “How are Stormfur and Brook? Are they here tonight?”

Mistyfoot shook her head. “Leopardstar didn’t choose them to come, but they’re both okay. It’s good to see Stormfur again.” Her blue eyes shone; Brambleclaw knew that her brother, Stonefur, had mentored Stormfur, while Mistyfoot had been his sister Feathertail’s mentor. “I’m sorry he’s only staying for a short time,” she added.

Brambleclaw was surprised. Stormfur and Brook had spoken as if they meant to stay in RiverClan for good. They had clearly said something different to the RiverClan cats.

Perhaps their welcome hadn’t been as warm as Stormfur expected; the fact that they hadn’t been chosen to come to the Gathering suggested that too.

“Are they leaving soon?” he asked.

“I don’t know exactly when,” Mistyfoot mewed. “But I’m sure they’ll want to go back to the Tribe eventually, won’t they?”

She dipped her head to Brambleclaw and walked away to take her place on the roots of the tree beside Russetfur and Ashfoot, the ShadowClan and WindClan deputies. Brambleclaw’s belly tightened as he looked at the space beside them, yet another reminder that ThunderClan had no deputy to stand with the others.

“Hi.”

Brambleclaw jumped. With his eyes fixed hungrily on the three deputies, he hadn’t noticed his sister, Tawnypelt, pad over to sit beside him.

“Hi,” he mewed. “How are you?”

“I’m fine—but what about you?” The tortoiseshell she-cat sounded sympathetic. “I was really sorry to hear about the trouble you had with badgers.”

“I’m perfectly okay, and so is the rest of the Clan.”

Brambleclaw spoke sharply; although Tawnypelt was his sister, she was a ShadowClan warrior too, and he wanted to make it quite clear that ThunderClan was strong. “We’d be even better if Leafpool hadn’t been so quick to tell her medicine cat friends about how much trouble we’re in.”

Tawnypelt looked puzzled. “Leafpool?”

“She told Littlecloud when they met at the Moonpool.”

“But ShadowClan didn’t hear the news from him,” Tawnypelt meowed. “He never even mentioned it.”

“Where did you hear it, then?”

“Hawkfrost told Russetfur and Cedarheart when they saw each other patrolling the RiverClan border,” Tawnypelt explained.

Brambleclaw stared at her in surprise. How had Hawkfrost known about the badger attack, when Mothwing hadn’t been at the Moonpool meeting to hear Leafpool’s news? Then icy claws gripped him: he had told Hawkfrost himself, in the dark forest with Tigerstar. Guilt swept over him. What was worse, he couldn’t even apologize to Leafpool for accusing her, because then he’d have to explain what had really happened.