Can I leave? Should I stay?
Two days had passed since Dovewing’s ultimatum, and still Tigerheart’s thoughts chased around his head like kittens trying to catch their own tails. He had one more day to make up his mind, but the right decision felt like a piece of prey he just could not catch. What am I going to do?
“Tigerheart?” Grassheart’s mew shook him from his thoughts.
He turned his gaze distractedly toward her and found the pale brown tabby blinking at him. “We’re supposed to be hunting, right?” Irritation edged her mew.
“Yes.” Tigerheart shook out his pelt. “Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”
“Think later. Our Clanmates are hungry.” Grassheart sniffed and cast her sharp gaze around the forest. “We need to take something back to the fresh-kill pile. Have you noticed the way Ratscar’s ribs are sticking through his pelt?”
Guilt dropped like another stone in Tigerheart’s belly. His Clanmates were hungry. Dovewing was expecting kits. His father was struggling to regain the respect of their Clan. He should be able to fix everything, but he couldn’t even focus on catching prey.
Snowbird’s white pelt showed between the withering ferns a few tail-lengths away. The she-cat was sniffing the pine-strewn earth. “I think I’ve picked up a rabbit trail.”
Grassheart hurried to her side. “How fresh is it?”
“Fresh enough.” Snowbird began to creep away from the ferns, her tail-tip twitching with excitement. As Grassheart shadowed her, Tigerheart glanced toward the SkyClan border. He could smell their scent where it marked the pines at the top of the rise. Had he made the right decision when he suggested SkyClan should take some of ShadowClan’s land? There might be more prey if they had more space to hunt. And yet how could they spare the cats needed to cover so much territory? He flicked his tail. It had been the right thing to do. SkyClan needed a home. And after all the problems the Clans had had with the rogues, maybe StarClan would look favorably on cats who spread kindness where there had been fear and mistrust. He just wished his Clanmates thought the same. But Scorchfur, Snowbird, and Stonewing had made it clear that they were not going to pretend they were content to give up land to another Clan. Tigerheart closed his eyes as fresh worries crowded his thoughts.
Above him, thrushes sounded like they were having their own arguments over territory. A cold wind rustled the branches. Grassheart and Snowbird were out of sight now, tracking the rabbit. As Tigerheart turned to follow them, paw steps thrummed at the top of the rise.
“Hey, Tigerheart!” Sandynose stood at the SkyClan border, Rabbitleap beside him. Their pelts were ruffled and their eyes bright. Sandynose’s flanks heaved. “The squirrels in this forest are fast!” He glanced at the trunk of the pine beside him. A tail bobbed upward and disappeared among the branches.
Rabbitleap dipped his head politely to Tigerheart. “I hope you’re having better luck than us.”
“Not yet,” Tigerheart mewed heavily. Did luck have anything to do with it? Perhaps if he were a better warrior, he’d be able to feed his Clan single-pawed. If he were a better son, Rowanstar wouldn’t be so overwhelmed by leadership. If he were a better mate—
Small paws thumped the ground.
Grassheart’s urgent mew sounded through the trees. “Prey!”
Tigerheart stiffened as a rabbit raced past him, shooting up the rise so fast he didn’t have time to untangle himself from his thoughts and give chase. It hared across the border, a tail-length from Sandynose.
The SkyClan tom ran after it. Pelt bristling with excitement, Rabbitleap raced after him.
Tigerheart froze. He’d let prey fall into another Clan’s paws.
“You mouse-brain!” Grassheart thundered to a halt beside him. “Why didn’t you catch it?”
Snowbird caught up to them, eyes sparking with anger. “We drove it straight toward you!” She shot a look at Grassheart. “I thought Rowanstar was the unreliable one.”
“Like father, like son,” Grassheart snorted crossly.
“That’s not fair!” Tigerheart shot back. “Rowanstar could outhunt any of you, and I was distracted—”
He realized the two she-cats had stopped listening. They were looking up the deserted slope. Their noses twitched.
“I smell SkyClan.” Snowbird curled her lip at Tigerheart. “Is that what distracted you? Were there SkyClan cats here?”
“I was talking to Sandynose and Rabbitleap,” Tigerheart confessed. He wished that was all that had been distracting him.
Grassheart frowned as she stared at the churned pine needles where the rabbit had scrambled to the top of the slope. “And you let our prey run right into their paws,” she growled.
Irritation rippled beneath Tigerheart’s pelt. He’d had enough of trying to persuade his Clanmates that having SkyClan as neighbors would make them safer, not weaker. He was tired of making excuses for Rowanstar. He was tired of chasing prey that preferred other Clans’ land. Maybe I should leave with Dovewing! Dovewing made him happy. She needed him, and so did their kits. And he loved her.
Pine needles swished at the top of the rise. Sandynose and Rabbitleap appeared at the border. The fat rabbit Tigerheart had missed was dangling from Sandynose’s jaws.
Snowbird hissed, her eyes glittering with fury. “Have you come to gloat with our prey?”
Sandynose tossed the dead rabbit down the slope. “We came to return it.” He glared haughtily at the white she-cat.
Snowbird bristled. “We don’t need you to hunt for us!”
Tigerheart caught her eye, warning her to be quiet. When a Clan was hungry, pride was sometimes worth swallowing.
Grassheart padded toward the rabbit and glanced back at Snowbird. “Ratscar will be grateful for the meal.”
Snowbird narrowed her eyes. Tigerheart looked at her expectantly. Surely she could smell the warmth of its blood? Wasn’t she hungry enough to accept SkyClan’s kindness? Tigerheart’s belly ached with hunger. He hadn’t eaten since sunhigh yesterday.
Grassheart turned her gaze to him. “We should take it.”
Tigerheart nodded. “It would have been our catch if I’d been quicker.”
As Snowbird growled under her breath, Grassheart dipped her head to Sandynose and Rabbitleap. “It was kind of you to return the prey.”
Sandynose bowed stiffly and turned away. Wordlessly, the SkyClan warriors padded from the border.
Snowbird sniffed. “They’re almost as smug as ThunderClan.”
“They were being generous,” Grassheart pointed out.
Tigerheart’s pelt prickled hotly. Another Clan had killed prey that he should have caught. He tried to ignore his shame. At least this was a chance to persuade Snowbird that giving SkyClan their land had been a good idea. “We’re lucky to have such honorable warriors close by.”
Snowbird headed back toward the ferns, her tail twitching. “Only you could see luck in losing half our territory,” she grumbled.
Grassheart rolled her eyes at him. “She’ll be fine once she sees Ratscar eating this.” She scooped up the rabbit and headed toward home.
Tigerheart scanned the clearing as he led Grassheart and Snowbird into camp. “Where’s Ratscar?” he called to Whorlpaw, who was sharing tongues with Flowerpaw at the edge. There was no sign of the skinny elder.
Whorlpaw looked up. “He’s doing border patrol with Juniperclaw.”
Tigerheart blinked. Elders weren’t supposed to go on border patrol.
Scorchfur was at the fresh-kill pile. “I offered to take his place, but he said there were so few cats in ShadowClan now, he should help.” His gaze flicked to the rabbit Grassheart was carrying. “Nice catch.” He looked hopefully at Snowbird. “Any more where that came from?”
“We’ll go out again soon,” Tigerheart promised. He glanced at Rowanstar and Tawnypelt at the head of the clearing. They were talking, their pelts prickling anxiously. Shouldn’t they be leading a hunting patrol? Talking wasn’t going to save the Clan.
The bramble entrance rustled. Tigerheart turned, surprised to see Juniperclaw leading Willowshine and Alderheart into the camp. He pricked his ears. It was strange to have the ThunderClan medicine cat here, even stranger to see RiverClan’s. Mistystar had been determined to restore her Clan’s strength and had decided, after the last Gathering, that she should close its borders. So why was Willowshine roaming outside her territory?
Ratscar followed them in, his mangy old pelt rippling with unease.
Tigerheart sat down in the shadow of the rock and watched the two medicine cats approach Rowanstar. They looked worried. Did they bring news from StarClan? Perhaps they’d had a vision as ominous as Dovewing’s dreams. Perhaps Alderheart had noticed that she was expecting kits. He searched the ThunderClan tom’s gaze, looking for a sign that Alderheart knew more than he should, but Alderheart was staring at Rowanstar as Willowshine spoke.
“I’ve had a vision. We need to find a cat with an extra claw,” she told the ShadowClan leader. “It’s the only way to fend off the coming storm.”
“Do you know any cats with six toes?” Alderheart leaned forward, his gaze fixing more intently on Rowanstar.
No visions of shadows swallowing the ThunderClan nursery. No hint that Dovewing was expecting kits. Tigerheart’s thoughts drifted. Should I be relieved? If the medicine cats hadn’t shared Dovewing’s dream, maybe she was wrong. This new prophecy about a six-toed cat might be enough to show her that her dream was just a dream. If it was something more, then StarClan would have shared it with the medicine cats, not just her.
Scorchfur’s sharp mew hooked him from his thoughts. “How can we send out a search party? We have barely enough cats to patrol our borders.”
Rowanstar dipped his head in agreement. “The SkyClan border can’t be left unguarded.”
Anxiety pricked Tigerheart’s belly. How could he leave a Clan that didn’t even have enough cats for a search party? There must be some way to persuade Dovewing to stay. He pictured meeting her at sunset tomorrow. What could he say to make her see that they would be safer raising kits with their Clans, beside the lake? And yet he couldn’t shake the worry that maybe she was right: Darktail had nearly destroyed them. Perhaps the Clans were no longer strong enough to protect their kits.
An angry hiss jerked him from his thoughts. Scorchfur and Tawnypelt were facing each other, eyes blazing with fury.
“Why do you think we chose a rogue over Rowanstar?” Scorchfur snarled. “He was a weak leader then; he’s a weak leader now.”
Tawnypelt’s fur bushed. Spitting, she sliced her claws across her Clanmate’s muzzle.
Tigerheart froze. What was happening? Why was his Clan fighting itself? As he watched, Scorchfur swung his claws at Tawnypelt’s face.
Tawnypelt ducked away, yowling with pain.
Her eye! Panic sparked Tigerheart into action. With a yowl, he threw himself between the fighting cats. He shoved Scorchfur away from Tawnypelt and shielded her, hissing.
Rowanstar stared, his gaze stricken with shock.
Tigerheart turned to face Tawnypelt. “Are you okay?” He gasped at the blood welling beside his mother’s eye. He felt fur brush his flank as Puddleshine slid in beside him and gently eased him out of the way.
What in StarClan had they been fighting about? Dazed with shock, Tigerheart turned. Alderheart and Willowshine were hurrying out of camp. Scorchfur had backed to the edge of the clearing.
Rowanstar stared at the dark gray tom with undisguised contempt. “How can we trust a Clanmate who turns on his own so easily?”
Scorchfur glared back at him. “How can we trust a leader who gives up on his Clan at the first sign of threat?”
Tigerheart’s gaze flitted from the two toms back to his mother. Puddleshine was quickly lapping the blood beside her eye. “It’s only a flesh wound,” he reassured her. “Your vision won’t be harmed.”
Relief swept Tigerheart as Puddleshine led Tawnypelt toward the medicine den. He could hardly believe that one Clanmate had tried to blind another. Nothing could be further from the warrior code. He’d known tensions had been running high, but how had it come to this? I should have stopped it. If his thoughts hadn’t been wrapped up in Dovewing, he might have prevented his Clanmates turning on one another. Instead I was worrying about whether I should leave my Clan. Guilt choked him. He pictured Dovewing, waiting, frightened and alone, carrying their kits. Love seemed to tear his heart into two; the pain left him breathless.
“Tigerheart.” Puddleshine was padding toward him, Rowanstar at his heels.
“Is Tawnypelt all right?” Tigerheart met his gaze anxiously.
Puddleshine nodded. “She’s in my den. I put herbs on the wound. She’s resting. But I must speak with you and your father.”
Tigerheart frowned. “Why?”
The medicine cat’s gaze moved from father to son, dark with warning. “There’s something I must share with both of you.”