Dovewing halted and looked back at him, then shook her head. Her eyes were sad, but her voice was firm. “No, I belong with Tigerstar now. I’ve chosen a mate and kits over ThunderClan. I’m sorry.”
Alderheart blinked in shock, and Violetshine saw his claws extend, scraping on the rock. “But we all thought you were dead,” he protested. “And Ivypool will want to see you. She has kits now, too.”
For a moment Dovewing hesitated, her indecision clear in her eyes. Then, leaving the kits, she bounded down the slope until she had caught up with Tigerstar. They spoke together for a few moments; then Dovewing leaped back up the slope to Alderheart.
“I’ll come and visit ThunderClan before I go to ShadowClan,” she mewed hesitantly, “if you think they’d like to see me. I’ve missed you all terribly. Come on, kits.”
She and Alderheart headed down the slope side by side, both of them helping the kits over the uneven places.
“Well, Violetshine?” Leafstar came to stand beside her, a challenge in her voice. “Are you sure about coming back with us? You can’t be like Twigpaw, or the other ShadowClan cats, and come and go as you please. Either you’re a SkyClan warrior forever, or you need to leave now.”
Violetshine drew herself up proudly. “I don’t have the slightest doubt, Leafstar,” she responded. “I’m a SkyClan cat.”
CHAPTER 21
A cool dawn breeze swept through the forest, and the warriors of StarClan were winking out one by one, by the time Alderheart reached the ThunderClan camp with Dovewing and her kits. He was so exhausted that he could barely put one paw in front of another, and his head was still spinning with wonder.
I can hardly believe that Tigerstar has been brought back from the dead, he thought. Surely it’s a sign that he’s something special.
Relief flowed over Alderheart like a cooling breeze as he reflected that now there were five Clans again. I’m sure we were on the edge of disaster, but now, thank StarClan, I’m starting to think that everything will be all right.
On the long trek from the Moonpool, Dovewing had questioned Alderheart about what had been happening since she left ThunderClan. She listened eagerly as he told her about Ivypool’s and Cinderheart’s kits, and grieved at the news of Briarlight’s death.
“She was such an amazing cat,” Dovewing meowed. “I sometimes think she had more courage than the rest of the Clan put together. I’ll never forget her. I just wish I could have been there to say good-bye to her.”
All the while the three kits were bouncing around their mother’s paws, demanding to know all about Clan life and their kin.
“Will we be made warriors?” Pouncekit asked.
“Not right away,” Dovewing told them. “You have to be apprentices first, and you’re not quite old enough for that yet.”
That drew a groan of protest from all three kits, but soon they were chasing around again, extending their tiny claws and bushing up their soft fur.
“I’m a warrior! Get off our territory!”
“No, you get off, mange-pelt!”
“I don’t know where they get their energy from,” Dovewing sighed.
Now, with the camp entrance in sight, she halted and faced Alderheart. Even in the faint light of the waning moon, he could see how nervous she looked.
“Do you think ThunderClan will forgive me?” she asked. “I ran away, and now I’m leaving to join another Clan. How can they see it as anything but a betrayal?”
Alderheart had an uneasy feeling that she might be right, but he tried to reassure her. “Every cat has been worried about you,” he mewed. “They’ll be so relieved to see you that they’ll understand.”
Dovewing didn’t look as if she entirely believed him, but she said no more, and let Alderheart lead the way through the thorn tunnel and into the camp.
Inside the stone hollow the Clan hadn’t yet begun to stir, and at first Alderheart thought that no cats at all were outside their dens. Then two figures loomed up beside him: Twigbranch and Finleap, keeping their warrior vigil.
At first Twigbranch simply dipped her head to Alderheart as he entered, but when she saw Dovewing and her kits following him, she let out an excited squeal, completely forgetting the rule that she should stay silent.
“Dovewing!”
Her cry echoed around the camp. For a moment it was followed by silence; then cats came bundling out of the warriors’ den, racing across the camp to surround Dovewing and the kits. Graystripe and Millie bounded over from their nests under the hazel bush, while Jayfeather and Leafpool appeared, blinking, at the entrance to the medicine cats’ den.
So Leafpool is home from RiverClan, Alderheart thought, pleased to see her again.
Fastest of all, Ivypool shot out of the nursery and skidded to a halt beside her sister, pressing up against her and drinking in her scent. For a few moments she was unable to speak, she was purring so hard.
“Where have you been?” Dovewing’s father, Birchfall, thrust his way through the crowd, with her mother, Whitewing, hard on his paws. “We thought you were dead.”
“It’s so wonderful to see you again!” Whitewing exclaimed.
Dovewing seemed almost overwhelmed at first, trying to answer every question at once, until Ivypool’s kits came wriggling their way through the crowd, sniffing inquisitively at the newcomers.
“Are these yours, Ivypool?” Dovewing asked. “What lovely kits!”
“Yes, they’re mine and Fernsong’s,” Ivypool replied proudly. “This is Bristlekit, this is Thriftkit, and this is Flipkit.”
“They’re kind of small,” Lightkit remarked, stepping up warily to touch noses with Bristlekit. “Not like us!”
“They’re only a few days old,” Ivypool explained. “Their eyes only opened this morning.”
“They’re beautiful!” Dovewing introduced her own kits, explaining to them, “These kits are your kin. Their mother is my sister, Ivypool—you remember I told you about her.”
The two sets of kits examined each other with wide-open eyes. “It’s great to have kin,” Pouncekit mewed with a purr of satisfaction.
Bumblestripe, who had been Dovewing’s mate for a brief time, padded up and dipped his head stiffly to her. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he told her.
Alderheart could tell that he really meant it, but at the same time he recognized the hurt in Bumblestripe’s voice. It can’t be easy, knowing she chose to be with a cat from another Clan.
“And there’s more to tell you,” Alderheart meowed. “Tigerstar is alive.”
His news caused barely a ripple among the Clan; they were all too focused on Dovewing’s unexpected return.
“Yes, these are Tigerstar’s kits,” Dovewing added. “He’s my mate now. I had to leave, because I was afraid I wouldn’t be welcome here anymore, carrying kits with a father in ShadowClan.”
For a moment there was an awkward pause, the ThunderClan cats exchanging doubtful glances. Alderheart supposed it was asking a bit much for them to be thrilled with the news that Tigerstar was the father of Dovewing’s kits.
“Well, a lot of things have changed between the Clans,” Squirrelflight declared at last. “Anyway, Dovewing, we’re just happy that you’re back.”
“And there was another reason I left,” Dovewing went on. “I was having terrible dreams where our nursery was destroyed and my kits died.”
A murmur of sympathy rose from the surrounding cats.
“I wish you’d let me know,” Daisy mewed, stroking Dovewing’s shoulder with her tail-tip. “I could have told you that all she-cats have weird dreams when they’re expecting kits.”