“I’ve chosen a new deputy,” she went on. She almost purred in amusement when she saw Juniper Branch and Mouse Ear eagerly pricking up their ears. “This is a brave and loyal cat, one who I know will always try to make the best choices for ShadowClan.” She thought of Raven Pelt chasing after Quick Water, of him speaking up to Skystar. He would guide the Clan well. “I say these words before StarClan, so that Sun Shadow and the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of ShadowClan is Raven Pelt.”
“Raven Pelt! Raven Pelt!” the Clan cheered, and Shadowstar leaped down to touch her nose to her new deputy’s.
“Thank you,” he gasped, his yellow eyes wide with surprise. “I’ll try to … I’ll do my best to be a good deputy, I really will.”
“I know you will,” Shadowstar purred. And when the time comes, you’ll be a good leader.
The Clan was crowding around, congratulating Raven Pelt.
“If it can’t be me, I’m glad it’s you,” Juniper Branch meowed, brushing her muzzle against his. Mouse Ear seemed less pleased, but even he congratulated Raven Pelt stiffly.
When Shadowstar finally settled in her nest that night, aching with exhaustion, she felt more at peace than she had since Sun Shadow’s death. But is a new deputy enough to keep ShadowClan strong and together? She hoped so. It was impossible to know for sure.
As she began to drift into sleep, she suddenly shivered. I’ve appointed ShadowClan’s next leader. Does this mean I’ve taken a paw step closer to my death?
Shadowstar was deeply asleep when a screech of terror broke through the night, jerking her awake. Pebble Heart! Her heart pounding hard, she scrambled out of her nest. Worried heads were poking out of the warrior den, but she passed them without a word and slipped between the boulders into the medicine cat’s den.
Pebble Heart lay in his bed, his eyes wide but unseeing. Every muscle seemed tense, his legs stiff, and he was whimpering, his mouth partly open.
“Pebble Heart!” Shadowstar shook him. “Pebble Heart, wake up!”
He blinked, and gradually his body relaxed and his eyes focused. “Shadowstar,” he murmured.
“What’s happening? Do you need some herbs?” Shadowstar looked doubtfully at the neatly sorted dried leaves and roots at the side of Pebble Heart’s den.
“No, I’m all right.” Pebble Heart sat up, still looking groggy. “It was just a dream.”
“A regular dream or a medicine-cat dream?” Shadowstar asked apprehensively. Even as a kit, before the Clan had had a medicine cat, Pebble Heart had been sent dreams by StarClan, warning of danger or pointing a path for the Clans to follow.
“I’m not sure,” Pebble Heart began slowly. “But it felt true.” He looked up at Shadowstar, his amber gaze apprehensive. “I dreamed that the trees around the camp were bending and swaying, like they were being attacked by a fierce wind. But there was no wind. And when the first tree fell, it …” He hesitated, his tail swishing across the floor of his den as Shadowstar felt a cold claw scrape at her chest fur. She knew what he was going to say.
“It knocked over the next tree… . Soon, every tree was falling down… .”
If ShadowClan falls apart, it could destroy all the Clans. That was what Gray Wing had said to her, the last time she was in StarClan. Could Pebble Heart’s vision be telling her the same thing?
“But we’ve just gotten rid of the threat,” Shadowstar meowed, staring at him. “And now we’re in danger again? StarClan, what’s going on?”
Chapter Six
Shadowstar and Pebble Heart decided not to tell any other cat, not even Raven Pelt, about Pebble Heart’s dream.
“If what you saw is a vision from StarClan, trouble will find us soon enough,” Shadowstar had told him grimly, “and if it was just a dream, there’s no reason to worry the Clan.” Pebble Heart had agreed, but Shadowstar knew that, like her, he was sure the dream had been a warning.
As she and Raven Pelt padded toward ThunderClan’s territory, she decided not to think about it. All she could do was try to protect her Clan, and she would do that with or without StarClan’s warning.
Instead, Shadowstar would help Raven Pelt learn how to be a Clan leader.
“We’ll talk to Thunderstar about the territory up near the Highstones,” she told him now. “If he thinks that SkyClan should consider moving there, it’ll help all the Clans to come to an agreement.”
Raven Pelt’s whiskers twitched in confusion. “But it’s not a very good territory.”
“No,” Shadowstar agreed with a sigh. “But it’s an option, and the other Clans will never give up territory. Not without blood being shed. If SkyClan does end up losing its own territory, surely it’s better for them to stay close instead of ending up with nowhere to go.”
Raven Pelt’s tail drooped. “I guess.”
“A leader has to think of their own Clan first,” Shadowstar told him gently. “But we should try to treat the other Clans as fairly as we can.”
As they came out of the pine forest near the Thunderpath, Shadowstar’s spine prickled, and she shivered. Something was wrong. She sniffed the air, and then looked around, half expecting to be attacked. Just like yesterday, she’d caught a familiar whiff of cat over the Thunderpath scent. A scent that smelled like …
Quick Water?
No, she decided. I must be imagining it. After all the danger she’d run into around Thunderpaths, she was seeing trouble where there wasn’t any. Quick Water had been exiled; she wouldn’t dare intrude on any Clan’s territory now.
Side by side, she and Raven Pelt crossed the Thunderpath. The sun was shining brightly, and a warm breeze rustled the leaves of the trees overhead.
The scent seemed stronger here. I am imagining it, Shadowstar told herself. Aren’t I?
Raven Pelt stopped suddenly and opened his mouth to scent the air. “Do you smell that?” he said. “I think it’s Quick Water’s scent. If she’s left Clan lands, shouldn’t it have faded by now?”
“It should have,” Shadowstar said grimly. So, she hadn’t been imagining it. Quick Water must be hanging around ThunderClan territory. Was she trespassing, unwilling to go off alone onto rogue lands? Or was ThunderClan sheltering the cat who had murdered Sun Shadow?
She began to hurry. “We need to talk to Thunderstar.”
Just across the ThunderClan border, Shadowstar caught sight of a black-and-white pelt through the underbrush. “Leaf!” she called, and the tom trotted out of the bushes, trailed by a smaller white-and-yellow she-cat.
“Hello, Shadowstar, Raven Pelt,” Leaf meowed, dipping his head respectfully. “What brings you onto ThunderClan territory?”
“We need to speak to Thunderstar,” Shadowstar told him. “Will you escort us to your camp?”
“Of course,” Leaf answered amiably. “Blue Whisker, why don’t you go ahead and let Thunderstar know we’re coming?” The younger cat flicked her tail in acknowledgment and hurried off. Well, if Quick Water’s in their camp, she’ll be long gone by the time we get there, Shadowstar thought, watching her go.
When they arrived at ThunderClan’s camp, the clearing was almost empty, not just of Quick Water, but of most of ThunderClan. No cats were relaxing or sharing prey. Thunderstar sat at one end of the clearing, his deputy, Owl Eyes, and four of his toughest warriors beside him.
Shadowstar eyed them. “What’s going on?” she asked. Her pelt was prickling with apprehension, and Raven Pelt pushed closer to her, protecting her side. She had always liked Thunderstar. But then, she had always liked Quick Water, too. Is this an attack? she wondered, and then, sickeningly, Am I leading another deputy to his death?