A Dangerous Path (Warriors 4)

“Do you know who I am?” meowed Tigerstar.

“Darkstripe said he would take us to meet our father,” replied Bramblekit.

“Are you our father?” Tawnykit added. “You smell a bit like us.”

Tigerstar nodded. “I am.”

The kits exchanged a wondering glance as Darkstripe mewed, “This is Tigerstar, the leader of ShadowClan.”

Their eyes grew huge, and Bramblekit breathed, “Wow! You’re really a Clan leader?”

When Tigerstar dipped his head in agreement, Tawnykit mewed excitedly, “Why can’t we come and live with you in your Clan? You must have a really nice den.”

Tigerstar shook his head. “Your place is with your mother for now,” he told them. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of you. They seem fine, strong kits,” he meowed to Darkstripe. “When will they be apprenticed?”

“In a moon or so,” Darkstripe replied. “It’s a pity I have an apprentice already, or I could mentor one of them myself.”

Fireheart’s claws dug into the ground as a jolt of anger shot through him. Bluestar and I decide who the mentors will be, not you, Darkstripe! He almost hissed the words aloud. And you’re the last cat we would choose, he added silently.

Tigerstar turned his gaze back to his kits. “Can you hunt?” he asked them. “Can you fight? Do you want to be good warriors?”

Both the kits nodded vigorously. “I’m going to be the best warrior in the Clan!” Bramblekit boasted.

Tawnykit refused to be outdone. “And I’ll be the best hunter!”

“Good, good.” Tigerstar gave each kit a quick lick on the head.

Fireheart couldn’t help remembering Graystripe, and how his friend had left the Clan of his birth so that he could stay with the kits he loved. Was it possible that Tigerstar was suffering just as much at being parted from Bramblekit and Tawnykit?

Then Fireheart’s blood ran cold as Bramblekit asked, “Please, Tigerstar, why are you the leader of ShadowClan when our mother is a ThunderClan cat?”

“They don’t know?” Tigerstar asked Darkstripe. The warrior shook his head. “Well, then,” Tigerstar meowed, turning back to the kits, “That’s a long story. Sit down and I’ll tell you.”

Fireheart realized this was the moment when he had to interrupt. The last thing he wanted was for Tigerstar to tell the kits a biased account of how he came to leave ThunderClan. One thing was certain: Tigerstar would never admit that he had been a murderer and a traitor.

Rising to his paws, Fireheart stepped out of the shelter of the hawthorn bush. “Good day, Tigerstar,” he meowed. “You’re a long way from your camp. And so are you, Darkstripe.” His tone sharpened. “What are you doing here with these kits?”

As he padded up to join them, he had the satisfaction of realizing that both Tigerstar and Darkstripe were dumb-founded by his appearance. For a heartbeat they both gaped at him, while the kits bounced across the grass to meet him.

“This is our father!” Tawnykit announced excitedly. “We came all the way from camp to see him.”

“Why did no cat tell us he was the leader of a Clan?” Bramblekit piped up.

Fireheart did not want to answer that question. Instead he confronted Darkstripe with his eyes narrowed. “Well?”

“How did you know we were here?” Darkstripe blustered.

“I saw you crossing the stream. You were making enough racket to wake the whole forest.”

“Fireheart.” Tigerstar dipped his head, the courteous greeting of a leader to the deputy of another Clan. There was no hostility in his tone. “Blame me, not Darkstripe. I wanted to see my kits. You wouldn’t deny me that, surely?”

“That’s all very well,” Fireheart replied in confusion. “But Darkstripe shouldn’t have taken them without permission. It’s dangerous to let kits wander so far away from their camp.” Especially with that dog loose in the forest, he added to himself.

“They’re not wandering—they’re with me,” Darkstripe pointed out.

“What if a hawk attacked? There’s still little cover in some parts of the forest. Have you forgotten Snowkit?” One of the kits let out a whimper and Fireheart stopped; he didn’t want to frighten them. “Take them back to camp, Darkstripe. Now.”

Darkstripe exchanged a glance with Tigerstar and shrugged. To the kits, he meowed, “Come on. Fireheart has spoken, and we must obey.”

The two kits backed away from their father and followed Darkstripe as he set off back to the camp.

“Say good-bye to your father before you go,” Fireheart meowed, forcing himself to speak in a friendly tone. “You’ll see him again when you’re apprentices and can go to Gatherings.”

Both kits turned to mew good-bye.

“Good-bye,” Tigerstar replied. “Work hard, and I shall be proud of you.”

He and Fireheart stood side by side as Darkstripe led the kits back down the slope and across the stream. When they had disappeared into the undergrowth, Tigerstar meowed, “Take care of those kits, Fireheart. I’ll be keeping an eye on them.”

Fireheart’s heart was pounding. When he had exposed the former deputy’s treachery, Tigerstar had threatened to kill him. Now they were alone once more, with no help nearby for Fireheart if the ShadowClan leader attacked. Fireheart’s muscles tensed, but Tigerstar made no move toward him.

“I’ll see they’re looked after,” Fireheart meowed at last. “I’m sure they will be loyal to their Clan. ThunderClan takes care of all its kits.”

“Really?” Tigerstar narrowed his amber eyes. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Tigerstar knew about the two kits who had been taken to Graypool, Fireheart remembered with a jolt. He waited for the ShadowClan leader to challenge him about them. But Tigerstar did not question him, though his knowing expression chilled Fireheart. It was as though he were well aware that Fireheart could tell him more.

Instead Tigerstar dipped his head again and mewed, “We shall meet at the next Gathering. I must return to my Clan now.” Then he turned and padded away.

Fireheart made sure the ShadowClan leader had really gone before he turned away too, following the border toward Fourtrees.

Much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t see that Darkstripe had done any real harm by taking the kits out of the nursery. Fireheart would have had to tell them eventually that their father was the leader of ShadowClan. And Tigerstar himself had behaved with more restraint than Fireheart would have believed possible.

Firmly he put the episode out of his mind. Time was running out. Before sunset, Fireheart knew, he must speak with Tallstar and find another way to solve the dispute over the stolen prey.

CHAPTER 13

Fireheart darted from one clump of gorse to the next as he crossed the moor toward the WindClan camp. He ran with his belly brushing the turf, trying to stay out of sight and longing for the thick undergrowth of his own territory. The last time he had visited the camp, when ThunderClan helped WindClan in a battle against the other two Clans, there had been no need to hide. Now he dared not show himself until he reached Tallstar, or at least met with one of the cats he could call his friends—if any of them were still friendly, after the recent disastrous Gathering. WindClan patrols had attacked him on their territory before; they would be even more hostile now.

The scent of WindClan was all around him, but so far he hadn’t seen any cats. The sun had nearly finished crossing the sky. Fireheart tried not to think about that. He came close to panic when he remembered how little time was left before Bluestar would launch her attack.

He was crossing one of the shallow moorland streams, bounding from rock to rock, when a stronger scent of WindClan cats flooded over him, along with the scent of rabbit. Fireheart’s belly growled in complaint, but he had to ignore it. There was no way he could take WindClan’s prey now—and it smelled as if there was a hunting patrol not far behind anyway. Diving into a clump of bracken at the water’s edge, he peered out cautiously to spot the source of the scent.

Three cats were making their way upstream toward him. At the front of the patrol was his old friend Onewhisker, and Fireheart’s heart lifted. Gorsepaw was with his mentor; they were both carrying rabbits. But to Fireheart’s dismay, the third cat was Mudclaw, the dark, mottled warrior who had stopped Bluestar when she tried to cross WindClan territory to get to Highstones. This cat would never allow Fireheart to bring his message to Tallstar.