Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

They need to be back in the forest. Tigerheart’s belly twisted with worry at Dovewing’s words. “Which forest?” he asked bluntly.

Dovewing hesitated.

“You said that Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit mustn’t be strangers to Ivypool’s kits,” he pressed. “Do you plan to raise them in ThunderClan?”

Dovewing shifted her paws self-consciously.

“You know I have to go back to ShadowClan,” he breathed.

“I know.” She dropped her gaze. “My heart tells me to be with you. My head tells me to raise my kits among my kin.”

“They’re my kits too,” Tigerheart pointed out.

Alarm sparked in her eyes. “Would you try to take them from me if I don’t join ShadowClan?”

The pain in her mew sliced his heart. Now he was making her choose, and trying to use their kits to pressure her. “I’m sorry,” he blurted guiltily. “Of course I wouldn’t. If you want to be with ThunderClan, the kits must stay with you until they are old enough to make their own decision.”

Her fur smoothed. She lifted her chin. “We don’t need to think about that yet,” she mewed decisively. “It’s a long way to the lake, and we don’t know what we’ll find when we get there. Let’s get home first, then worry about what to do next.”

Tigerheart padded forward, guessing that, despite her words, Dovewing must be feeling as anxious as he was. Could they really make such a journey with kits? He tried not to think of all the dangers that lay between the city and the lake. Even the thought of Pouncekit beside the Silverpath made his belly clench. The wind from a Thundersnake was strong enough to sweep her beneath its paws. He closed his eyes, trying not to tremble as he pressed his cheek against Dovewing’s. “Everything will be okay,” he murmured softly, trying to reassure himself as much as Dovewing.

Fierce blinked slowly at Tigerheart. He wondered for a moment if she’d heard him. “We have to leave,” he meowed again. “My Clan needs me.”

Fierce got to her paws and dipped her head to Tigerheart. “We will miss you.”

Dovewing sat behind him. He could hear Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit fidgeting beside her. The kits had been fizzing with excitement since Tigerheart and Dovewing had told them that they were going back to the lake.

“We’re going to be warriors!” Lightkit had squeaked.

“Can we ride real badgers when we get to the forest?” Pouncekit had asked eagerly.

Shadowkit’s gray pelt had rippled nervously. “Will we see a Thundersnake?”

Tigerheart and Dovewing had answered as many questions as they could, but as the kits grew noisier, Tigerheart knew he’d have to break the news to Fierce before the guardian cats overheard them. Telling Pouncekit, Shadowkit, and Lightkit to sit quietly, he’d crossed the floor to share their news with Fierce.

The tortoiseshell beckoned the other guardian cats closer now with a flick of her tail. Cobweb and Rascal left the scraps they were sharing. Mittens, Ant, and Cinnamon padded from the strip of sunshine they had been bathing in. Spire and Blaze left Feather and Scowl watching from their nests. Dotty, Pipsqueak, Peanut, and Bracken fanned out around Tigerheart and Dovewing, while Boots watched from beneath the wooden ledge near the entrance.

Fierce lifted her chin. “Tigerheart and Dovewing have to leave us,” she announced.

Dotty frowned. “Where are you going?”

“Have you found a new den?” Mittens asked.

“We’re going back to the lake,” Tigerheart told them. “My Clan needs me.”

Cinnamon padded closer, her eyes sharp with interest. “How do you know?”

“I think a StarClan cat spoke to me through Spire.” Tigerheart decided that it was easier to be honest, even if the cats didn’t believe him. “ShadowClan is in trouble.”

Blaze glanced at Spire in surprise. “How did it talk through you? Did it come to visit?”

Spire met the young tom’s gaze. “I heard a voice in a vision.”

“And that’s why you’re leaving?” Mittens’s eyes widened.

“That’s crazy!” Rascal spluttered. “Spire’s always having visions. We don’t act on them.”

Cinnamon had narrowed her eyes. “You forget that where Tigerheart and Dovewing come from, cats take dreams seriously.” Her gaze drifted toward Dovewing. “Isn’t that what brought you here in the first place?”

“Yes.” Dovewing wrapped her tail around Shadowkit, who huddled closer as the guardian cats stared. “And now a dream is taking us home. Our hearts tell us it’s the right thing to do.”

Mittens sniffed. “It seems like a weird way to make decisions.”

Spire blinked slowly at the tabby tom. “You listen to your belly when it’s hungry and your throat when it’s thirsty. Why not be guided by your heart when it speaks to you?”

Fierce padded forward and touched her muzzle to Tigerheart’s cheek, then to Dovewing’s. “We are glad you came. You have taught us a lot, and we’ll miss you when you’re gone. But I guessed you wouldn’t stay forever.” She looked fondly at Pouncekit and Lightkit. “The call of home is strongest when you have kits.” She purred at Shadowkit. “I’m glad they will be raised among their own kind as warriors.”

“ I want to be a warrior!” Blaze’s mew took Tigerheart by surprise. The kit was beginning to lose his kit fluff, but he still wasn’t old enough to become a ’paw.

“You’re too young,” he answered.

“ They’re not!” Blaze pointed his nose as Pouncekit and Lightkit.

“They’ll have to train for many moons,” Tigerheart explained.

“I could train too.” Blaze stared at him boldly. “Let me come. I can help you scavenge and take care of the kits.”

Dovewing shifted her paws uneasily. “You’re still a kit yourself.”

Spire padded to Blaze’s side. “Let him join you,” he mewed softly. “It would make my decision easier.”

Dovewing tipped her head. Tigerheart blinked at the skinny tom in surprise. “What decision?” he asked.

“I’m traveling with you,” Spire told him.

I will not live beside the widewater. Tigerheart remembered their conversation. Spire had wanted Blaze to go, but he hadn’t wanted to come with them. “I’ll take Blaze. If he’s prepared to train hard, then he might make a great warrior one day. But you said you didn’t belong beside the lake.”

“It is not important that I belong,” Spire mewed softly. “It is only important that I make the journey.”

Cinnamon swished her tail. “I want to come too.”

“So do I.” Ant hurried to the she-cat’s side.

They stared hopefully at Tigerheart.

Taken aback, Tigerheart looked at Dovewing. Suddenly their small party had become a patrol. He guided Dovewing to the side of the den. “What do you think?” he whispered.

“I think that we are traveling with young kits.” Dovewing looked past him to where Cinnamon and Ant were watching hopefully. “They would be safer if we had company.”

“But what will ShadowClan say if I return with strangers?” Would they turn them away? Tigerheart wouldn’t blame them. “They will remember what happened when they took in rogues.”

“These cats aren’t rogues,” Dovewing reminded him. “We have seen them fight to protect their denmates, and scavenge for others. They take care of their sick like Clan cats.” She looked at Tigerheart defiantly. “If ShadowClan won’t take them in, then ThunderClan will.”

He saw a flash of pride in her green gaze. Unease prickled beneath his pelt. Here, among the guardian cats, it had been easy to forget she was a ThunderClan cat. She was clearly still fiercely proud of her Clan and shared their values. Could she ever learn to live as a ShadowClan cat? He pushed the thought away. They were both warriors. That was enough for now. “Okay.” He turned to Cinnamon and Ant. “You can come.”