Thunderstar flicked his ears, a friendly gesture. “Nothing’s going on,” he mewed. “I just wanted these cats to hear what you had to say. You’ve been up to check out the land by Highstones?”
Shadowstar narrowed her eyes. “We did plan to talk to you about that,” she meowed. “But right now I’m more worried about something I scented while crossing your borders. Are you … Are you sheltering Quick Water?”
The big ginger tom stiffened. “ThunderClan has the right to allow any cat we like onto our lands,” he told her. “You and Skystar can’t exile cats from our territory.”
Dropping into a crouch, Shadowstar felt her ears flatten, as Raven Pelt tensed beside her. “Do you know what Quick Water did?” she hissed. “She tried to kill me. She did kill Sun Shadow!” This must have been what Pebble Heart’s vision was about. The threat to ShadowClan—to all the Clans—wasn’t gone.
She wouldn’t tell Thunderstar that Quick Water had managed to kill her once. No other Clan needed to know, or guess, how close she was to the end of her nine lives.
At her hostility, the cats beside Thunderstar rose to their paws, but Thunderstar waved his tail at them. “Sit down,” he ordered. “Shadowstar, I know what you think happened—”
“What I think?” Shadowstar yowled, outraged. “I know what happened.”
“And I saw it, too,” Raven Pelt added. “Quick Water attacked Shadowstar.”
Thunderstar shifted his paws uncomfortably. “Quick Water says she didn’t do it, and I believe her,” he meowed. “You were probably attacked by a rogue who wanted that territory for herself, one who resembled—”
Shadowstar broke in again. “I know Quick Water and I know her scent,” she hissed. “Do you really think I would mistake a rogue for her?”
“It was raining, wasn’t it?” Thunderstar challenged her. “And with the smells from the Thunderpath, you couldn’t have caught her scent well.”
Hot rage swept over Shadowstar, and she breathed slowly, willing herself to calm down. She and Raven Pelt couldn’t win a fight against these ThunderClan warriors, not alone. “Quick Water is a danger to the Clans,” she meowed, glaring into Thunderstar’s eyes—amber, she noticed. “Even if you don’t care about my life, or the threat to ShadowClan, sheltering a cat who tried to kill me could drag all the Clans into battle. Is that what you want?”
Thunderstar flicked his tail. “Your threats won’t change my mind,” he mewed evenly. “I believe Quick Water, and, if this leads to battle, at least my conscience will be clear.” His eyes softened and his voice turned pleading. “You have to understand: I’ve trusted Quick Water all my life,” he added. “She’s lived through everything the Clans have had to face. She deserves the benefit of the doubt, doesn’t she?”
Shadowstar felt her shoulders slump. “You’ve known me just as long,” she meowed. “And I thought you trusted me.”
Thunderstar looked apologetic, but he didn’t drop his gaze. “I believe Quick Water,” he mewed again. “And I will protect her.”
Shadowstar brushed her tail across Raven Pelt’s back. Time to go. “This isn’t over,” she told Thunderstar, who nodded solemnly. She was afraid for a moment that the ThunderClan warriors would spring at her, but she and Raven Pelt left the camp unchallenged.
As they headed back toward their own territory, Raven Pelt asked apprehensively, “What happens now?”
Shadowstar felt a heavy dread settle in her gut. Her mind cast back to one of her earliest memories of Thunderstar—a time when he was known only as Thunder, and she was a cat called Tall Shadow. She’d just killed Fircone, a rogue cat, in front of him, and explained that she’d had no choice. We must fight or die.
Was she walking closer to another such day? Was it her final death she could feel right now, circling above her like a hawk?
“We can’t let Quick Water stay in the forest,” she told him. “She’s a threat to ShadowClan. If we can’t make Thunderstar see reason … we may have to fight.”
Fight or die …
Chapter Seven
Shadowstar paced nervously across the Great Rock, waiting for the other Clans. In the clearing below, ShadowClan stood quietly, with none of the usual chatter of a Gathering. It felt strange to be at Fourtrees when the moon was less than half full, but she hadn’t been willing to wait for the next full moon to talk to the Clans all together. She had called this Gathering about Quick Water.
Windstar arrived first, leaping up to stand beside her. “I see you’ve named a new deputy at last,” she said, nodding down to where Raven Pelt stood beside her own deputy and mate, Gorse Fur. “Good choice.”
RiverClan and SkyClan were streaming into the clearing, and Riverstar and Skystar joined them at the top of the Great Rock. Skystar only nodded solemnly, but Riverstar seemed cheerful.
“I hope you called this Gathering to tell us you’ve found a great territory for SkyClan,” he meowed brightly.
“It’s not about that,” Shadowstar told him, then raised her head. ThunderClan was entering the clearing. Thunderstar and Sparrow Fur led the way, followed by a group of ThunderClan’s largest warriors, all surrounding a smaller cat. Shadowstar caught her breath. Quick Water. Thunderstar had brought her to the meeting, already making a public statement about who he believed. The ShadowClan cats in the clearing muttered to one another, glancing up at Shadowstar in confusion, as did the SkyClan cats. The other Clans looked at one another as if wondering when Quick Water had defected to ThunderClan.
Thunderstar leaped onto the Great Rock without looking at Shadowstar, and sat neatly, his tail wrapped around his paws. Skystar, she saw, was staring at his son, puzzled. Good, she thought. Maybe he didn’t know about this. Maybe they’re not conspiring together… .
“Since we’re all here now, Shadowstar, do you want to report on the territory up by the Highstones?” Windstar asked briskly.
Shadowstar slashed her tail. “The territory’s a possibility, but that’s not why I called this Gathering.” She took a deep breath and quickly told the other cats what had happened, from her suspicions that Quick Water had led the dogs to attack her and Sun Shadow to the fact that Quick Water had tried to kill her on the Thunderpath by the Highstones. “Quick Water has broken the code we all promised to live by,” she told them. “Skystar did the right thing and exiled her from his territory, only for Thunderstar to welcome her into his Clan. We cannot allow this murderer to stay in any Clan’s territory. She’s no longer a true Clan cat.” She looked around. Windstar and Riverstar seemed bewildered, and Skystar was glaring at his son.
Thunderstar stood up in a smooth, fluid motion. He was the largest and youngest of the leaders, a powerful opponent. Shadowstar didn’t want to have to fight him.
“I understand why Shadowstar and Skystar want to exile Quick Water, but I don’t think she’s to blame for what happened to Shadowstar,” he announced. “And I’m not going to drive a cat I trust off my own territory because another Clan tells me to.”
Skystar growled at Thunderstar. “If I choose to exile one of my cats, it’s my business. It’s not your place to interfere.”