A Dangerous Path (Warriors 4)

“I’ve scented Tigerstar there,” Longtail explained. “Two or three times lately.”

“And you didn’t report it?” Fireheart felt his fur bristle with fury. “A cat from another Clan on our territory—a murderer and a traitor, what’s more—and you didn’t report it?”

“I…I thought…” stammered Longtail.

“I know what you thought,” Fireheart snarled. “You thought, ‘This is Tigerstar. He can do what he likes.’ Don’t lie to me. You and Darkstripe were his allies when he was in ThunderClan, and you’re still his allies now. It was you or Darkstripe who told him about Swiftpaw and Lostface—don’t try to deny it.”

“It was Darkstripe.” Longtail scuffled the dry earth with his paws.

“So that traitor could accuse Bluestar of negligence in front of the entire Gathering,” Fireheart concluded grimly. “So you could help him steal a couple of apprentices from this Clan. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re plotting with Tigerstar to steal his kits.”

“No—no, you’ve got it wrong,” meowed Longtail. “I don’t know anything about that. Darkstripe and Tigerstar often meet together on the border by the Thunderpath, but they don’t tell me what it’s about.” He glared resentfully. “Anyway, this isn’t about the kits at all. I went to Snakerocks to find out what Tigerstar was doing there. And I found something that you need to see.”

Fireheart stared at him. “You want me to come with you, to Snakerocks—where you admit you’ve scented Tigerstar? Do you think I’m quite mad?”

“But, Fireheart—”

“Silence!” Fireheart hissed. “You and Darkstripe were always Tigerstar’s allies. Why should I trust what you say now?”

He turned and stalked away. He was convinced that Longtail and Darkstripe were setting a trap for him, just as Tigerstar had once set a trap for Bluestar beside the Thunderpath. If he were mouse-brained enough to go with Longtail to Snakerocks, he might never come back.

He found that his paws had taken him to the medicine cat’s clearing. As he brushed through the ferns, Cinderpelt put her head out of the cleft in the rock.

“Who—Fireheart! What’s the matter?”

Fireheart halted, trying to get his anger under control.

Cinderpelt’s blue eyes widened in consternation; she padded to his side and pressed her gray flank against him. “Steady, Fireheart. What got you worked up like this?”

“It’s just…” Fireheart flicked his tail toward the main clearing. “Longtail. I’m convinced he and Darkstripe are plotting against the Clan.”

Cinderpelt narrowed her eyes. “What makes you think that?”

“Longtail wants to lure me out to Snakerocks. He told me he scented Tigerstar there. I think they’re setting a trap for me.”

Dismay spread over the medicine cat’s face, but when she spoke her words were not what Fireheart had expected.

“Fireheart—do you know how much you sound like Bluestar?”

Fireheart opened his mouth to reply, and could not. What did Cinderpelt mean? He was nothing like Bluestar, with her irrational fears that every cat in the Clan was trying to betray her. Or was he? He forced himself to relax, letting the fur on his shoulders lie flat again.

“Come on, Fireheart,” Cinderpelt urged. “If he meant to lead you into a trap with Tigerstar, would he tell you he’d scented him? Even Longtail isn’t as mouse-brained as that!”

“I…suppose not,” Fireheart admitted reluctantly.

“Then why don’t you go and ask him what it’s all about?” As he hesitated, she added, “I know he and Darkstripe were Tigerstar’s friends when he was here, but Longtail at least seems to be loyal to the Clan now. Besides, if he is tempted to betray the Clan, you won’t help by refusing to listen when he tries to tell you something. That’s just pushing him into Tigerstar’s paws.”

“I know.” Fireheart sighed. “I’m sorry, Cinderpelt.”

Cinderpelt let out a little purr and touched her nose to his. “Go and talk to him. I’ll come with you.”

Bracing himself, Fireheart headed out into the clearing again, looking around for Longtail. A chill ran through him as he realized that he might have already driven the pale warrior out in search of Tigerstar, but when he checked the warriors’ den he was there, crouched in a huddle with Whitestorm.

“Whitestorm, you’ve got to listen to me,” Longtail was meowing as Fireheart and Cinderpelt entered. There was real fear in his voice. “Fireheart thinks I’m a traitor, and he won’t have anything to do with me.”

“Well, it seems like you’ve been meeting Tigerstar and telling him our news,” Whitestorm pointed out reasonably.

“Not me—Darkstripe,” Longtail protested.

Whitestorm shrugged, as if he weren’t interested in arguing. “All right, go on. What’s the problem?”

“There are dogs living at Snakerocks,” Longtail blurted out.

“Dogs? Have you seen them?” Fireheart interrupted. Both his warriors looked up as he padded over to them, with Cinderpelt just behind.

“You’re sure you want to hear?” Longtail said accusingly. “You’re not going to charge me with plotting again, are you?”

“I’m sorry about that,” Fireheart mewed. “Tell me about the dog.”

“Dogs, Fireheart,” meowed Longtail. “A whole pack of them.” Fireheart’s blood turned to ice at the word pack, but he said nothing, and Longtail went on. “I told you I scented Tigerstar over at Snakerocks. I…I thought I should warn him about the danger there—and I wanted to know what he was doing so far into ThunderClan territory. Well, I found out.” He shuddered.

“Go on,” Fireheart urged. He realized how wrong he had been; Longtail really did have important news to report.

“You know the caves?” Longtail meowed. “I was just coming up to them when I saw Tigerstar, but he didn’t see me. I thought he was stealing prey at first because he was dragging a dead rabbit along, but he left it on the ground just outside the cave entrance.” He broke off, his eyes clouding with terror as he saw again something unseen by the other cats.

“And then?” Whitestorm prompted.

“Then this…this creature appeared out of the cave. I swear it was the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. Forget the stupid things that come with Twolegs. This was huge. I only saw its front paws and its head…enormous slavering jaws, and you’ve never seen such teeth.” Longtail’s eyes were wide with the memory of fear.

“It snatched the rabbit and dragged it into the cave,” he continued. “And then the howling and barking started. It sounded as if there were more dogs in there, all fighting over the rabbit. It was hard to understand what they were saying, but I think they were saying ‘pack, pack’ and ‘kill, kill.’”

Fireheart stiffened, every limb locked in terror, and Cinderpelt mewed quietly, “Those were the words in my dream.”

“And what Lostface said,” Fireheart added. He knew at last what terrible creatures had attacked the young she-cat. He remembered that StarClan had warned Bluestar about a pack. Longtail had discovered the true nature of the evil in the forest, the force that had turned the cats into prey, the hunters into hunted. Not a single dog, separated from its Twolegs, but a whole pack of savage creatures. Fireheart could not imagine where they had come from, but he knew that StarClan would never have unleashed such destruction and risked the balance of life in the whole forest. “And you say Tigerstar fed these dogs?” he questioned Longtail. “What does he think he’s doing?”

“I don’t know,” the pale warrior admitted. “When he dropped the rabbit, he jumped on top of the rock. I don’t think the first dog saw him. Then he went away.”

“You didn’t speak to him?”

“No, Fireheart, I didn’t. He never knew I was there. I’ll swear by anything you like—by StarClan, by the life of Bluestar—I don’t know what Tigerstar is doing.”

His fear convinced Fireheart. He had been expecting an attempt by Tigerstar to steal the kits, but this was something far more complicated

. How could he ever have imagined that the ShadowClan leader would give up his grudge against ThunderClan? He realized that he should have been more afraid of Tigerstar all along. Somehow he was linked to the dark force in the forest. Yet Fireheart didn’t know what Tigerstar wanted with the dogs, or what advantage he could gain by feeding them.

“What do you think?” he asked Whitestorm.

“I think we need to investigate,” meowed the older warrior grimly. “And I’m just wondering how much Darkstripe knows about all this.”