Erin Hunter - Sunset

A sudden yowl from inside the camp made him decide. He was too worried about what would happen to Stormfur and Brook if he left. Hawkfrost was right about the warrior code not allowing a cat to catch prey in another Clan’s territory, but surely Leopardstar would make allowances for the Tribe cat who was unfamiliar with Clan ways?

Brambleclaw leaped from the bank to a rock in midstream, water bubbling around his paws. A second leap brought him to the far bank, where he clawed up a beech tree whose branches overhung the thorn barrier. By creeping among the rustling leaves, his claws sunk into the bark to hold him steady, Brambleclaw could look down into the camp.

Reeds and bushes grew thickly along the banks of both streams, but there was a clear space in the center of the camp.

Leopardstar, the Clan leader, stood there, with her deputy Mistyfoot beside her and several other cats in a ragged circle around them. They were staring at Stormfur and Brook, who stood close together, shifting their paws uneasily. At first Brambleclaw couldn’t see Mothwing.

Hawkfrost stood in front of his leader. He was in the middle of reporting what had happened. “So this mousebrained excuse for a cat,” he meowed, flicking his tail at Brook, “chased the squirrel across the border into ShadowClan and killed it. And was almost flattened by a monster on the way back. It’s a pity it missed, is all I can say.”

Brambleclaw was too far away to hear Stormfur’s snarl, but he saw the fur on his neck and shoulders begin to bristle.

“There’s no need to say things like that.” Leopardstar’s voice was calm. “Brook, is what Hawkfrost says true?”

Brook dipped her head awkwardly. “Yes, Leopardstar, it’s true. But I didn’t realize that what I did was wrong. It won’t happen again.”

“It shouldn’t have happened even once .” Brambleclaw’s heart sank as he saw Blackclaw thrusting his way to the front of the crowd. He was one of the most aggressive RiverClan warriors. “Even a kit knows that you don’t cross Clan boundaries.”

“Did any ShadowClan cats see this?” Leopardstar asked.

It was Stormfur who replied. “I don’t think so. I didn’t spot any, and you can’t scent anything down there except for Twolegs and their monsters, so they’ll never know we were there.”

Leopardstar nodded, but before she could speak, Hawkfrost broke in. “It doesn’t matter whether ShadowClan saw her or not. It’s still against the warrior code. No cat has a place here if they don’t know that.”

A murmur rose from the listening cats; Brambleclaw sank his claws deeper into the tree branch when he realized most of them sounded as if they agreed with Hawkfrost.

“We should send her back where she came from,” Blackclaw declared.

Stormfur whipped around to face him. “If she goes, I go.”

Blackclaw didn’t reply, just opened his jaws in an insolent yawn. Stormfur unsheathed his claws, only to freeze at a sharp command from Mistyfoot.

“Stormfur, no!” The deputy stepped forward until she stood facing the gray warrior. Her blue eyes were regretful as she continued, “Think carefully, Stormfur. How long do you and Brook plan on staying here, anyway? We are all glad to see you again, but perhaps it’s time you went back to your Tribe.”

“Yes, get rid of her ,” some cat meowed from the back of the crowd. “Stormfur can stay if he likes, but what use is she?”

“She can’t even fight,” Blackclaw added. “My apprentice could rip her fur off.”

Stormfur’s eyes gleamed with fury. “Where Brook comes from, the cave-guards fight, and the prey-hunters feed the Tribe. Brook was a prey-hunter. She never had to fight until she came here.”

“I’m doing my best to learn,” Brook added.

“You’re doing fine.” Stormfur touched her shoulder with the tip of his tail. “You’ll fight as well as any cat soon.”

“If she gets the chance,” Blackclaw mewed. “Can’t you see the Clan doesn’t want her here?”

“Yes, what about Mothwing’s dream?” another voice asked. “StarClan told us there are two things that don’t belong in the Clan.”

Brambleclaw’s belly clenched as he remembered the dream Mothwing had described at the Gathering, of two stones in the stream that looked different from all the others, interrupting the smooth flow of the current. The stream had flowed properly again only after the stones had been washed away. Did that really mean Stormfur and Brook had no place in RiverClan?

“Mothwing?” Hawkfrost glanced around. “Mothwing, where are you?”

The golden tabby rose to her paws. She had been sitting at the back of the cats, and her paws dragged as she padded forward to stand beside her brother.

“Have StarClan sent you a clearer sign?” Hawkfrost demanded.

Mothwing hesitated, her head bowed.

“Well, Mothwing?” Leopardstar prompted, her voice edged with impatience.

The medicine cat looked up, meeting her brother’s gaze.

Her voice was steady as she replied, “No. StarClan have told me nothing. I said at the Gathering that we shouldn’t be too quick to assume we know what the dream meant—if it meant anything. Sometimes a dream is just a dream.”

Yowls of protest rose from the Clan. “Have you forgotten what I said to you at the Gathering?” Hawkfrost snarled.

“No, but—” Mothwing began, breaking off as Leopardstar interrupted her.

“Mothwing, you are the medicine cat. You need to tell us what to do.”

“I’m sorry.” Mothwing’s head dropped again.

“The dream seems clear enough to me ,” Blackclaw snarled.

“Nothing will be right in RiverClan unless we get rid of these two.”

Murmurs of agreement filled the clearing. Leopardstar glanced at Mistyfoot and said something to her deputy, too quietly for Brambleclaw to hear. Meanwhile Hawkfrost padded across to Stormfur until the two cats stood nose to nose. “You obviously have no respect for the warrior code, either of you,” he rasped. “Go back to the Tribe, where you belong.”

Stormfur let out a yowl of pure fury. Leaping at Hawkfrost, he bowled the huge tabby over and battered at his belly with his powerful hind paws, clawing out tufts of fur. Hawkfrost retaliated by sinking his claws into Stormfur’s shoulders and trying to bite his throat.

“No!” Brook screeched, trying to thrust herself between the two battling warriors. “Stormfur, stop!”

Brambleclaw raked his claws along the branch. Every hair on his pelt was telling him to hurl himself out of the tree and join in the fight on Stormfur’s side, but he had to stay where he was. It would just cause even more trouble, and Firestar would be furious if one of his warriors launched an attack in another Clan’s camp.

Below, Stormfur was holding his own, ignoring Brook’s pleas to stop as he slashed his claws along Hawkfrost’s side.

The tabby warrior flailed under Stormfur’s weight, doing little more than shielding his face with his paws. Brambleclaw’s eyes narrowed; surely Hawkfrost could fight better than this?

Their training sessions with Tigerstar had made him stronger and more skillful than any cat in the forest, except perhaps Brambleclaw himself. Now, instead of throwing himself into the fight, he was trying to dodge Stormfur’s attack, and his few blows were feeble and badly aimed.

Brambleclaw knew exactly what he was doing.

Hawkfrost didn’t want to beat Stormfur in a fight; he wanted him gone for good. He must have been turning his Clanmates against the visitors for a long time. At the Gathering he had been the one to insist that Mothwing tell her dream, and he had interpreted it for her. Brook’s mistake with the squirrel had given him the excuse he needed, and now he had provoked Stormfur into attacking him so the others would drive him out.