A Dangerous Path (Warriors 4)

Yowls of protest from ThunderClan warriors broke out before Tigerstar had finished speaking. Fireheart was too stunned to join in. He had been concerned all along that meeting with his kits at Gatherings would not be enough for Tigerstar, but he had never expected a public demand for the kits to be handed over to ShadowClan.

Bluestar drew herself up and waited for the noise to die away before she replied. “Certainly not,” she meowed. “These are ThunderClan kits. They are apprenticed now, and they will stay where they belong.”

“In ThunderClan?” Tigerstar challenged her. “I think not, Bluestar. The kits belong with me, and my warriors will take care of their apprentice training.”

By that argument, Fireheart thought, Graystripe’s kits should be returned to ThunderClan, although he guessed that Bluestar wouldn’t want to reopen that debate with RiverClan. He was relieved to see that Bluestar was not going to back down easily. “Your concern is natural, Tigerstar. But you can be sure that the kits will receive the best possible training in ThunderClan.”

Tigerstar paused again, his gaze sweeping around the clearing, and when he spoke again it was not just to Bluestar but to the whole audience of cats. “The ThunderClan leader tells me how well my kits will be trained under her guidance—but ThunderClan have a poor record in looking after their young cats. One kit carried off by a hawk. One apprentice savaged to death and another permanently crippled when they were sent out alone without a warrior. Does any cat wonder that I’m concerned about the safety of my kits?”

Gasps of horror came from all around the clearing. Fireheart gaped up at the ShadowClan leader. How had Tigerstar learned about Swiftpaw and Brightpaw? It was too soon for news to have traveled to ShadowClan, except…Darkstripe! Fireheart thought, flexing his claws in anger. That treacherous warrior must have gone straight to Tigerstar and blurted out everything!

In his fury Fireheart missed Bluestar’s reply, and when he made himself concentrate Tigerstar was speaking again. “I don’t see what’s so difficult,” he meowed smoothly. “After all, it won’t be the first time that ThunderClan has handed over kits to other Clans. Will it, Bluestar?”

Fear clenched in Fireheart’s belly. Tigerstar was referring obliquely to Mistyfoot and Stonefur. Graypool had told Tigerstar that they had been born in ThunderClan. Fireheart thanked StarClan that Tigerstar did not know the names of the kits or who their mother was. But what little he knew was more than the rest of ThunderClan.

Fireheart glanced sideways at Stonefur, sitting only a couple of tail-lengths away. The blue-gray tom had drawn himself up, his head erect, and he was staring up at the Great Rock. His gaze was not fixed on Tigerstar, Fireheart noticed, but on Bluestar, and the expression in his eyes was one of pure hatred.

Digging his claws into the ground, Fireheart waited for the ThunderClan leader’s response. He could see how shaken she was, and when she managed to reply every word seemed to catch in her throat like thorns. “The past is the past. We must judge each situation on its own merits. I will think carefully about what you say, Tigerstar, and give you my answer at the next Gathering.”

Fireheart doubted that Tigerstar would consent to wait for a whole moon, but to his surprise the ShadowClan leader dipped his head and stepped back a pace. “Very well,” he agreed. “One more moon—but no longer.”

CHAPTER 23

Fireheart padded warily through Tallpines toward the Twolegplace. Heavy rain had fallen the night before, so that wet ash and burned debris clung to his paws. All his senses were alert, not for prey, but for any sign that the dark threat in the forest would emerge to attack his small group of cats as it had attacked Swiftpaw and Lostface.

The injured she-cat was following Fireheart now, with Cloudtail at her side, while Graystripe brought up the rear, watchful for anything that might come upon them from behind. They were on their way to visit Cloudtail’s mother, Princess. The young warrior had insisted on bringing Lostface with them.

“You have to leave camp sooner or later,” he had meowed. “We’re not going anywhere near Snakerocks. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Fireheart was amazed at how much Lostface trusted Cloudtail. She was obviously terrified by the thought of venturing outside the shelter of the camp. She jumped at every sound, every crackle of leaves under her paws, yet she kept going, and Fireheart thought he saw in her a return of the courage she had shown when she was Brightpaw.

When they came in sight of the fence at the end of the Twoleg gardens, Fireheart signaled with his tail for his companions to stop. He could not see Princess, but when he opened his mouth to taste the air, he caught her scent.

“Wait here,” he told the others. “Keep a lookout and call me if there’s trouble.”

Checking again to make sure there were no fresh scents of dogs or Twolegs, he raced across the stretch of open ground and leaped up to the top of Princess’s fence. A flash of white among the bushes in her garden alerted him, and a moment later his sister appeared, picking her way fastidiously across the wet grass.

“Princess!” he called softly.

Princess halted and looked up. As soon as she saw Fireheart she bounded over to the fence and scrambled up to sit beside him.

“Fireheart!” she purred, pressing herself against him. “It’s so good to see you! How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Fireheart replied. “I’ve brought you some visitors—look.”

He pointed with his tail to where the other three cats were crouching on the edge of the trees.

“There’s Cloudpaw!” Princess exclaimed delightedly. “But who are the others?”

“That big gray tom is my friend Graystripe,” Fireheart told her. “You don’t need to worry—he’s much gentler than he looks. And the other cat”—he flinched—“is called Lostface.”

“Lostface!” Princess echoed, opening her eyes wide. “What a horrible name! Why did they call her that?”

“You’ll see,” Fireheart mewed grimly. “She’s been badly hurt, so be kind to her.”

He jumped down from the fence, and after a moment’s hesitation Princess followed him and padded across to where the three cats waited.

Cloudtail ran out to meet his mother, leaving Graystripe with Lostface, and touched noses with her.

“Cloudpaw, it’s ages since I’ve seen you,” Princess purred. “You’re looking wonderful, and haven’t you grown?”

“You’ve got to call me Cloudtail now,” her son announced. “I’m a warrior.”

Princess let out a little trill of joy. “A warrior already? Cloudtail, I’m so proud of you!”

While the tabby queen eagerly questioned her son about his life in the Clan, Fireheart did not forget that danger might be near. “We can’t stay long,” he meowed. “Princess, have you heard anything about a dog loose in the forest?”

Princess turned to him, her eyes wide and scared. “A dog? No, I don’t know anything about that.”

“I think that might have been what the Twolegs were looking for that day Sandstorm and I met you in Tallpines,” Fireheart went on. “I don’t think you should come into the forest alone anymore, not for the time being, anyway. It’s too dangerous.”

“Then you’re in danger all the time,” mewed Princess. Her voice rose in distress. “Oh, Fireheart…!”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about.” Fireheart tried to sound confident. “Just stay in your garden. The dog won’t bother you there.”

“But I worry about you, Fireheart, and Cloudtail. You haven’t got a nest to—Oh!”

Princess had just caught sight of Lostface’s damaged side and could not restrain a squeak of horror. Lostface heard her and crouched closer to the ground, uneasiness showing in her bristling fur.

“Come and meet Lostface,” Cloudtail meowed, giving his mother a hard stare.

Nervously Princess took the few paces that brought her to where Graystripe and Lostface waited. Graystripe nodded to her in greeting, and Lostface gazed up at her with her one good eye.

“Oh, my goodness, whatever happened to you?” Princess blurted out, her paws working on the ground.

“Lostface went out to tackle the dog,” Cloudtail answered. “She was very brave.”

“And it did that to you? Oh, you poor thing!” Princess’s eyes were huger still as she took in the full horror of Lostface’s injuries—the ravaged face, the lost eye, and the shredded ear. “And the same thing could happen to any of you….”

Fireheart gritted his teeth. His sister was saying all the wrong things, and Lostface was gazing at her with deep sadness in her remaining eye. Cloudtail pressed his flank against her and nosed her comfortingly.

“It’s time we were going,” Fireheart decided. “Cloudtail just wanted to give you his news. You’d better get back into your garden.”

“Yes—yes, I will.” Princess backed away, her eyes still fixed on Lostface. “You’ll come and see me again, Fireheart?”

“As soon as I can,” he promised, and added silently, alone.