“It’s so good to see you, Fireheart!” Ravenpaw nudged him in return and turned his eyes to Sandstorm. “And can this really be Sandpaw?”
“Sandstorm!” the ginger she-cat corrected him sharply.
“Of course. The last time I saw you, you were half the size!” The black tom’s eyes narrowed. “How’s Dustpaw?”
Fireheart understood Ravenpaw’s wary tone. Sandstorm and Dustpelt had trained at the same time as him, and had viewed Ravenpaw more as a rival than a denmate. When Ravenpaw had fled from his mentor, Tigerclaw, and gone to live in the Twoleg territory beyond the uplands, Dustpaw and Sandpaw had not been sad to see him go. Fireheart doubted that Ravenpaw had missed them either.
“Dustpelt’s fine.” Sandstorm shrugged. “He has his own apprentice now.”
“And is this one your apprentice?” Ravenpaw asked, looking at Brightpaw.
Fireheart felt his ears twitch as Sandstorm answered curtly, “I don’t have an apprentice yet. This is Whitestorm’s. Her name is Brightpaw.”
The warm breeze ruffled the leaves at the tops of the trees. Fireheart glanced up at the noise. This unexpected meeting had disarmed him, and he’d let his guard slip. He scanned the undergrowth warily as he remembered the threat of Tigerclaw and his band of rogues. “What are you doing here, Ravenpaw?” he asked urgently.
Ravenpaw, who had been studying Sandstorm with a curious expression in his amber eyes, turned his head. “Looking for you.”
“Really? Why?” Fireheart knew it had to be important for Ravenpaw to come back to the forest. The young black cat had lived in constant fear after he had accidentally witnessed Tigerclaw killing Redtail, the ThunderClan deputy. When Tigerclaw had tried to kill Ravenpaw too, to keep him quiet, Fireheart and Graystripe had helped their friend escape. Ravenpaw now lived on a Twoleg farm with Barley, another loner—a cat who wasn’t a kittypet, nor part of a forest Clan. Ravenpaw must have a very good reason for returning to his old enemy’s territory now. After all, he had no way of knowing that Tigerclaw’s treachery had been revealed and he had been driven out of ThunderClan. As far as Ravenpaw knew, Tigerclaw was still the deputy.
Ravenpaw flicked his tail uneasily. “A cat has come to live on the edge of my territory,” he began.
Fireheart stared at him, confused, and Ravenpaw tried to explain. “I found him while I was out hunting. He was scared and lost. He didn’t say much, but he smelled of ThunderClan.”
“ThunderClan?” Fireheart echoed.
“I asked him if he had come over the uplands, but he didn’t seem to have any idea where he was. So I took him back to the Twoleg nest where he said he was living.”
“So he was a kittypet?” Sandstorm was staring intently at the black cat. “Are you sure it was ThunderClan you smelled on him?”
“I wouldn’t forget the scent I was born to,” Ravenpaw retorted. “And he didn’t seem like the usual sort of kittypet. In fact he didn’t seem at all pleased to be back with his Twolegs.”
A glimmer of excitement sparked in Fireheart’s belly, but he forced himself to stay silent until Ravenpaw had finished his story.
“I couldn’t get his scent out of my mind. I went back to the Twoleg nest to speak to him again, but he was shut in. I tried to talk to him through a window, but the Twoleg chased me away.”
“What color was this cat?” Fireheart felt Sandstorm glance sharply at him.
“White,” replied Ravenpaw. “He had a fluffy white pelt.”
“But…that sounds like Cloudpaw!” It was Brightpaw who spoke.
“Then you know him?” Ravenpaw meowed. “Was I right? Is he a ThunderClan cat?”
Fireheart hardly heard Ravenpaw’s words. Cloudpaw was safe! He began to circle his old friend, his paws tingling with joy and relief. “Was he okay? What did he say?”
“W-well,” stammered Ravenpaw, turning his head to follow Fireheart as he padded around him. “Like I said, the first time I met him he seemed utterly lost.”
“That’s not surprising. He’s never been outside ThunderClan territory before.” Fireheart weaved impatiently around Sandstorm and Brightpaw. “He hasn’t made his journey to Highstones yet. There’s no way he’d know he was so close to home.”
Sandstorm nodded, and Ravenpaw remarked, “That would explain why he was so upset. He must have thought—”
“Upset?” Fireheart stopped pacing. “Why? Was he hurt?”
“No, no,” Ravenpaw mewed quickly. “He just seemed really miserable. I thought he’d cheer up when I showed him the way back to his Twoleg nest, but he still seemed unhappy. That’s why I came to find you.”
Fireheart looked down at his paws, hardly knowing what to think. He realized that he had been hoping that Cloudpaw would be happy in his new life, even if Fireheart never saw him again.
Ravenpaw blinked uncertainly. “Did I do the right thing in coming here?” he meowed. “Has this…er…Cloudpaw been banished from the Clan?”
Fireheart gravely met Ravenpaw’s gaze. The black cat had risked his life coming here; he deserved an explanation. “Cloudpaw was stolen from the forest by Twolegs,” Fireheart began. “He was my apprentice, and my sister’s son. He’s been missing for a quarter moon. I…I was beginning to think I’d never see him again.”
Sandstorm glanced quizzically at Fireheart. “What makes you think you are going to see him again? He’s living in Ravenpaw’s territory with Twolegs.”
“I’m going to go and get him!” Fireheart declared.
“Go and get him? Why?”
“You heard Ravenpaw. He’s not happy!”
“Are you sure he wants rescuing?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Fireheart countered.
“I wouldn’t need rescuing. I wouldn’t have been taking food from Twolegs in the first place,” Sandstorm pointed out sharply.
There was a startled grunt from Ravenpaw, but the black cat said nothing.
“It would be good to have him back in the den,” Brightpaw put in, but Fireheart hardly heard her. He stared back at Sandstorm, the fur on his neck bristling with anger.
“You think Cloudpaw deserves to be left there, unhappy and alone?” he spat. “Just because he made a stupid mistake?”
Sandstorm snorted impatiently. “That’s not what I’m saying. You don’t even know for sure if he wants to come back.”
“Ravenpaw said he looked miserable,” Fireheart insisted. But even as he spoke, doubt flickered through his mind. What if Cloudpaw had gotten used to kittypet life by now?
“Ravenpaw only spoke to him once.” Sandstorm turned to Ravenpaw. “Did he look upset when you saw him through the Twoleg window?”
Ravenpaw’s whiskers twitched uncomfortably. “It’s hard to say. He was eating.”
Sandstorm whipped her head back to Fireheart. “He’s got a home, he’s got food, and you still think he needs rescuing. What about the Clan? They need you. Cloudpaw sounds like he’s safe. I say leave him there.”
Fireheart stared at Sandstorm. The fur across her shoulders was bristling, and her eyes glittered with determination. With a sinking feeling, Fireheart realized that she was right. How could he leave the Clan now, even for a short while, with Bluestar so weak and Tigerclaw and his band of rogues threatening them? All for the sake of a cat who had already proved to be a lazy, greedy apprentice.
But still, his heart told him he had to try. He couldn’t give up on his belief that Cloudpaw would make a great warrior one day, and the Clan needed all the warriors it could get right now.
“I have to go,” he meowed simply.
“And what if you do manage to bring him back?” Sandstorm argued. “Will he be safe in the forest?”
Fireheart felt a cold shiver run along his spine. Could he bear to bring Cloudpaw home, only to see him slaughtered by Tigerclaw? But even as uncertainty prickled in his paws, he knew what he was going to do. “I’ll be back by sunhigh tomorrow,” he meowed. “Tell Whitestorm where I’ve gone.”
Alarm stretched Sandstorm’s eyes wide. “You’re go
ing right now?”
“I’ll need Ravenpaw to show me where he is, and I can’t expect him to hang around in the forest,” he explained. “Not with Tigerclaw on the loose.”