Even if my Clan believes me . . . it’s not a long distance from “medicine cat” to “crazy furball,” Shadowpaw reflected. What if I am imagining it? Spiresight was right sometimes, but he talked a lot of nonsense, too. . . .
“Exactly!” Tigerstar’s loud, assertive voice jerked Shadowpaw out of his reflections. “I’m glad we all agree. Cloverfoot, please set the new border-patrol schedules and send out hunting patrols.”
The Clan leader leaped down from the branch and disappeared into his den, leaving his deputy to carry out his orders. Meanwhile, most of the warriors drew together in little groups, talking with their heads together and glancing over their shoulders at Shadowpaw.
As he turned away from them, wanting to be alone, Shadowpaw caught Puddleshine’s eye. His mentor looked curious but didn’t call to him. He could stand to be rid of me for a while, Shadowpaw mused. Let him get some real medicine-cat work done, without worrying about me, and all the trouble I’m causing.
Leaving the camp behind him, Shadowpaw headed out into the forest. Clouds lay low over the tops of the pine trees, and the light underneath them was dim, though it was not long past sunhigh. The surface of the snow glimmered eerily in the dusk, unbroken by any traces of prey. Shadowpaw’s paws and legs grew numb with cold as he broke through the crusty surface into the powdery snow beneath.
Eventually he came to a tall rock where wind had scoured most of the snow away, and he leaped to the top of it to get away from the freezing flakes for a while. From here Shadowpaw could just make out the lake, and parts of the other territories in the distance.
“I don’t want to hurt any of you,” he murmured. “Even I don’t know if my visions are real. I wish I did. . . .”
As Shadowpaw sat there, tucking in his paws and his tail to make himself as small as he could against the cold, the view in front of him began to change. A red stain spread over the icy blue of the lake, the color intensifying until the surface was blazing with scarlet fire. Shadowpaw felt himself being lifted up, as if he were a bird, passing beyond the trees until he could look down on the whole of the lake and the territories around it.
The fire raged more fiercely, spreading out into long lines that followed the boundaries of the Clans, until each Clan was separated from the others by leaping walls of flame. Then the fire began to creep inward, greedily devouring the trees and undergrowth as it encroached on the camps.
“No . . . ,” Shadowpaw whispered, his eyes wide with horror.
There was no way for the cats to escape. Shadowpaw couldn’t see them, but he could hear their wails and screeches of terror. He could smell the smoke and hear the crackle of the flames as they roared around the rock where he crouched, trembling with fear. His head swam, and darkness swirled in front of his eyes. He coughed as ash caught in his throat and filled his lungs, gasping for breath as his senses spiraled away.
Before Shadowpaw could lose consciousness, the vision ended as quickly as it had come. Shadowpaw took in huge gulps of cold, clean air, gazing stunned at the forest, which was peaceful, snow-covered, unharmed. The lake was still frozen; even the smell of smoke had vanished.
The fire is coming, and the flames will scatter the Clans! he realized. I have to tell them!
“Oh, it definitely means something.” Tigerstar’s tones were grave. “And that ‘something’ is not good.”
Shadowpaw was sitting with his father just outside the Clan leader’s den. He had raced back to camp as soon as he had recovered from his vision, and at once Tigerstar had called his senior warriors around him: Cloverfoot, Tawnypelt, and Dovewing, along with Shadowpaw’s mentor, Puddleshine.
“I’m most concerned about the Clans being scattered,” Puddleshine meowed. “The fire might not mean real fire; StarClan often uses symbols when they send messages. But it sounds like they’re warning us that the Clans will be torn apart and destroyed by . . . maybe some outside force.”
Shadowpaw noticed that Tigerstar was staring hard at Puddleshine as the medicine cat was speaking. Puddleshine noticed it, too. “What?” he asked.
“You just said that StarClan uses symbols,” Tigerstar pointed out. “So do you finally believe that Shadowpaw is getting these messages from StarClan?”
Puddleshine frowned painfully, then nodded. “I’m not sure there’s any other explanation,” he admitted. “Shadowpaw’s visions have always been . . . unusual. But this one seems like a clear message.”
Every hair on Shadowpaw’s pelt tingled with satisfaction. At last!
“So we have to warn the other Clans,” Dovewing meowed.
“I’ve half a mind to keep the information to myself,” Tigerstar growled, his gaze fixed straight ahead to where the forest trees crowded close. “The other Clans have made it clear they don’t want listen to us anyway.”
“But—” Dovewing tried to interrupt, but Tigerstar ignored her.
“Don’t forget,” he continued, “the other Clans have so little trust in us, they tried to break through to StarClan without us. They attacked the ice on the Moonpool! Maybe the reason Shadowpaw has been able to talk to StarClan is that we’re the only Clan StarClan isn’t angry with.”
Cloverfoot blinked thoughtfully. “This latest vision showed that the fire was dangerous to all the Clans,” she mewed. “That surely means we’ll all suffer if we’re torn apart—including ShadowClan.”
“Yes,” Tawnypelt agreed. “Hasn’t StarClan told us before? The Clans are strongest when we stand together. Our experience with Darktail taught us that.”
Tigerstar still looked undecided, flexing his claws and twitching his tail-tip irritably. “I still don’t see why we have to be responsible for saving the other Clans, after the way they’ve treated us,” he huffed.
Dovewing gazed at Tigerstar with clear green eyes. “Because we’re warriors,” she responded. “We’re loyal to ShadowClan, but we still have a code. We have honor.”
Tigerstar let out a long sigh, then nodded reluctantly. “What do you think we should do?” he asked his deputy.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about closing our borders. Instead I would call an emergency Gathering,” Cloverfoot replied. “The other leaders need to know this, and we all need to discuss what to do about this latest vision.” She turned to Shadowpaw, warmth in her gaze. “This message is so clear, even the most stubborn Clans won’t be able to ignore it—whether it comes from ShadowClan or not.”
Tigerstar rose to his paws, looking decisive once more. “Good. We’ll do it. Cloverfoot, please send out messengers to the other Clans.”
It felt strange to Shadowpaw to be approaching the Gathering island in the dark. There was no full moon, and in any case the cloud cover was so thick that very little light could penetrate it. Shadowpaw could hardly see his own paws in front of him as he made the crossing on the tree-bridge.
His belly fluttered nervously as he padded over to join the other medicine cats in the clearing, but at least he had Puddleshine by his side, and this time he knew his mentor would support him. He’d already met with the other medicine cats, just prior to this meeting, to explain Shadowpaw’s vision and what he thought it meant. All the others, even Jayfeather, greeted him when he sat beside them, and their wide eyes, the way they dipped their heads respectfully to him, suggested to Shadowpaw that at least they were willing to listen.
But the warriors aren’t going to like the content of my message, he realized with a jolt of apprehension. What if they turn even more hostile?