He certainly was a threat, but still… “I just want to know what the other Clans would have done,” she confessed.
“But you are not the other Clans.” The silver glow in Skywatcher’s fur blazed out strongly and then began to fade. “You must find your own path.”
His outline grew fainter, until it was no more than a glitter of stardust against the rock, and then was gone.
Leafstar remained staring at the place where he had stood. She still felt troubled. How could she find a path for SkyClan when there were no obvious choices to take? I hope I made the right decisions tonight. I wish I could be sure…
When Leafstar returned to the gorge, the Clan was still feasting and sharing tongues around the bottom of the Rockpile. She was relieved to see that the four newcomers had joined the others and were sharing prey.
Sharpclaw padded over to meet her at the foot of the trail. “We did well tonight,” he remarked, twitching his whiskers in satisfaction. “The Clan feels strong and united.”
“That’s true,” Leafstar murmured.
“The attack on the Twoleg has brought us all together,” her deputy went on. “You see, we don’t really need the kitty-warriors at all.”
Leafstar gazed at him, her mouth open in shock. Does he resent the daylight-warriors so much? She and Sharpclaw had worked well together during the attack, reinforcing each other’s leadership, reading silent signals to keep their Clanmates safe and focused. But now the old divisions were reappearing. Unable to find a reply, Leafstar turned her back on her deputy and stalked off to her den.
The sound of cheerful yowling outside woke Leafstar the next morning. Yawning, she scrambled out of her nest, wincing at the stiffness in her muscles from the trek through the forest and the attack. She felt as though she hadn’t slept for more than a couple of heartbeats, but when she padded to the entrance of her den she saw that the sun had risen above the gorge; warm light slanted over the rocks and glittered on the surface of the river.
Five cats were tumbling over the rim of the gorge and racing down the trail, calling out greetings as they came. Seeing Leafstar, Billystorm halted and waved his tail. “We’re here! We’re ready for the attack!”
Leafstar felt her heart drop down into her paws. What am I going to tell them? She began to make her way across the cliff face toward Billystorm and the others, setting her paws down carefully on the narrow trail. But before she reached them, Cherrytail popped her head out of the warriors’ den, a few tail-lengths below where the daylight-warriors had halted.
“You’re too late!” the tortoiseshell she-cat announced. “We attacked last night, and it went really well!”
Leafstar flinched. If I’d had the chance, I would have been a bit more tactful than that!
“What?” Ebonyclaw arched her back and let out a hiss of annoyance. “You went without us?”
The usually gentle Frecklepaw flicked her tail, looking as angry as her mentor.
Harveymoon and Macgyver glanced at each other with indignation in their eyes. “Hey, I was looking forward to that!” Harveymoon exclaimed.
“Yeah, I made my Twolegs give me more food, just so I’d be ready,” Macgyver agreed.
“I’m sorry,” Leafstar meowed as she reached Billystorm’s side. “Come down by the river, where I can explain properly.”
More cats were emerging from their dens as Leafstar led the way down into the gorge and found a sun-warmed stone near the water’s edge where she could sit and talk to the daylight-warriors. She was aware of their hostile looks and bristling fur as they gathered around her. She was grateful to see Sharpclaw padding up to join her, though less so when Cherrytail, Sparrowpelt, and Waspwhisker bounded after him and sat down on the edge of the group.
We’ve got the makings of a serious split in the Clan here, unless I’m careful.
“I can’t believe you didn’t wait for us!” Ebonyclaw burst out, before Leafstar had the chance to speak. “We planned it all so carefully.”
“Yeah, why did you leave us out?” Harveymoon demanded.
“I’m sorry,” Leafstar began. She sympathized too much with the kittypets to be able to justify herself convincingly. “We needed a clear night for the attack, and after the clouds disappeared—”
“That’s right,” Sharpclaw chipped in. “We couldn’t be sure when we would get another chance.”
Billystorm glanced up at the cloudless blue sky and flicked his ears, though he said nothing. Embarrassment flooded through Leafstar, making her pelt itch. She could see that tonight promised to be just as clear as the night before; they could easily have waited for the kittypets. But we didn’t know that.
“You know, you kittypets want to have it both ways,” Sparrowpelt meowed, stepping forward with his head thrust out aggressively. “You spend time here in the Clan, but then you shove off to your Twoleg nests for strokes and soft beds.”
“It shouldn’t be like that,” Cherrytail agreed. “When Firestar was here, he told us we had to choose, and that’s what we did.”
“But Firestar isn’t here anymore,” Harveymoon pointed out, swinging his head around to glare at Sparrowpelt and his sister.
“The warrior code hasn’t changed,” Sparrowpelt countered. “You have to be proper Clan cats if you want to be included in everything.”
Ebonyclaw jumped to her paws. “Are you saying that we’re not proper Clan cats?” she demanded, her tail lashing.
“You tell me,” Sparrowpelt growled. “Do proper Clan cats eat Twoleg food? Do they purr around Twolegs and beg to be stroked?”
Leafstar’s belly churned as the quarrel she had dreaded erupted; more of the Clan cats were clustering around now, and there were more glares aimed at the daylight-warriors.
“This isn’t right,” Billystorm meowed. He was calmer than the rest, but there was a bitter edge in his voice. “We train and hunt with you, but when there’s anything important going on, you don’t want us. You left us out of the rat attack, and now this.”
“And we managed fine without you, thanks,” Cherrytail flashed back at him.
Before Leafstar could say anything, Sharpclaw shouldered his way between the hostile cats.
“That’s enough,” he growled. “The attack happened, it’s over, and that’s the end of it. Next time we plan something,” he added, “you kittypets might make more effort to be here.”
Sparrowpelt blinked in satisfaction, but Leafstar was appalled by the unfairness of Sharpclaw’s comment. He almost seemed to be deliberately setting the gorge-based cats against the daylight-warriors.
He wouldn’t try to make the full Clan cats drive them out, would he? That would split the Clan forever!
“We’re sorry it happened like this,” Leafstar repeated, rising to her paws. “We made what we thought was the right decision at the time. Now let’s put it behind us.”
As she spoke, she spotted Sharpclaw glaring at her, as if by apologizing she was showing signs of weakness. My Clan, my decisions, she told herself.
“It’s past time to set the patrols,” she reminded Sharpclaw tartly. “Or are we going to sit around in the gorge all day?”
The cats were still grumbling as the deputy sorted them into patrols, and Leafstar guessed it would be a long time before their ruffled feelings were forgotten. At least Sharpclaw had the sense to include all the kittypets in the first set of patrols, though he didn’t ask any of them to lead.
“Petalnose, you and Waspwhisker can take your apprentices and give them some hunting training,” he ordered. “Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw, go with them. Billystorm, you too. No sign yet of Snookpaw?” he asked after a moment’s pause.
Billystorm shook his head. “I went by his nest on my way here this morning,” he replied. “But everything was shut up and quiet.”