Chapter 8
Iceshadow lifted her head. A dark shape was lingering outside the nursery, despite the fact that it was late, near moonhigh. "Stormyheart?" she called softly, "Is that you?"
Stormyheart ducked his way in and carefully picked his way around Frostflower, Shrikekit, and Graykit. "Nightfire and Fennelclaw just moved to Sunnyflower's den," he whispered.
"I hope this whitecough outbreak gets under control," Iceshadow murmured. It had been a quarter-moon since the last Gathering, and so far Nightfire, Fennelclaw, Brookpaw, and Highleap had all been diagnosed with whitecough. The remaining warriors and apprentices were all being worked to the bone. Iceshadow's son, Leapfoot, looked especially exhausted. It felt as though every time she turned around, he was returning from a hunting patrol.
"Leapfoot's been working really hard," Iceshadow added.
Stormyheart nodded. "I just hope that he doesn't work himself sick."
Iceshadow mewed agreement. "So, what's really on your mind?" she asked, tucking Rowankit back against her belly with a hind leg.
"It's Olivepaw," he finally mewed, "There's not much more that I can teach him, but Strongstar's been so busy going on patrol that I haven't had a chance to talk to him. Goldentail agrees. Olivepaw and Barkpaw are ready to be warriors."
"Okay, I'll talk to him when he comes and looks in on the kits next," Iceshadow promised.
"Thank you so much." Stormyheart stared down warmly at his sons and daughter. "They really are beautiful, you know."
Iceshadow purred. "Of course I know."
He nudged Ploverkit closer to Iceshadow's belly and then turned and disappeared back into the snowy night.
Iceshadow gazed at her kits, unable to rest now that Stormyheart had woken her. She knew that the main reason he'd come was to check on her and the kits, not to talk about Olivepaw or the whitecough outbreak. As much as Iceshadow loved her kits, she wished that she didn't have to stay in camp all the time watching them. She'd much rather have been out, hunting and patrolling.
At least, at two moons old, they were starting to eat some prey, if she chewed it for them first. Soon, they'd be weaned off her milk, and she could go hunting again.
Iceshadow glanced over at Frostflower. The flecked white queen didn't seem to have quite the same passion to return to warrior duties. Her kits ate only solid prey now, but Frostflower remained in the nursery and camp, watching over them. Iceshadow figured she would probably become a permanent asset to the nursery.
Iceshadow closed her eyes.
"Iceshadow."
Her eyes opened in confusion; she was back in the nursery, and there was someone at the entrance of the nursery, a gray tom. Strongstar?
No, no…Stormwing.
Iceshadow leaped to her paws. "Stormwing?"
"This is a dream. Don't worry." The bulky gray tom gestured to her with his tail. "Come."
Iceshadow stood on paws light as air and carefully made her way across the nursery and outside. Stormwing was waiting, his blue-gray fur shining silver. Starlight sparkled at his paws and in his silver-green eyes.
"Stormwing," she breathed. She couldn't believe he was right here, in front of her, as real and tangible as though he had never died. She stepped forward and tried to get a trace of his warm, familiar scent in his nose, but she could scent only the cold frosty smell of starlight. Her heart ached. "Stormwing, what are you doing here?"
Stormwing purred. "Always straight down to business, I see, Iceshadow."
"Fine. How's Streamtail?" Iceshadow asked stiffly, although inwardly she did really want to know how her mother was doing.
"She's fine." Stormwing's expression grew serious. "Beware, Iceshadow. SkyClan is about to undergo a harsh leaf-bare. The loyalty of your warriors must be absolute. They cannot be led astray by anything."
"SkyClan has loyal warriors!" Iceshadow growled, insulted by Stormwing's insinuation.
"Really?" Stormwing's eyes were suddenly piercing. "Even Leapfoot?"
"Are you suggesting that my son isn't loyal?" Iceshadow spat. She pulled away from her brother. "Leapfoot has been working twice as hard to feed our Clan!"
"Out of loyalty, or out of guilt?" Stormwing challenged.
"Guilt for what?" Iceshadow's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly felt doubt pricking at her heart. What does Stormwing know?
"Only you can discover the truth, Iceshadow." Stormwing flicked his tail. "But know that I do not warn in vain." He started to fade.
"Wait! Stormwing!"
"Iceshadow?"
Iceshadow opened her eyes to see the familiar thorn walls of the nursery roof arcing high overhead. Frostflower was leaning over her. "Are you okay? You kept saying 'Stormwing' in your sleep. Were you dreaming of your brother?"
Iceshadow wanted to growl at her. He was telling me something important! But she forced herself to stay calm. "Yes, I was."
"Well, it's over now." Frostflower curled back in her nest, around Shrikekit and Graykit, who were still asleep.
Iceshadow stretched and carefully detangled herself from her kits. From the light outside, it looked to be just before dawn. She headed out, shivering as her paws sank into a layer of fresh snow. She sat there, by the nursery entrance, content to let the black shadows of her back blend in with the thorns of the nursery and the white fur of her belly with the snow outside.
She heard the rustle of the thorn barrier and looked sharply to her left. To her surprise, there was a cat, coming in from the dirtplace. As she strained to see who it was, Leapfoot emerged. He looked around swiftly, as though nervous he'd be seen, before quickly walking across to the warriors' den. He didn't notice Iceshadow. She lifted her nose to sniff as he went past and smelled the sharp scent of crushed ferns, as though he'd rolled in ferns to hide another scent.
Her eyes narrowed. Was Stormwing right?
He disappeared into the shadows of the warriors' den. Iceshadow stared after him. What are you hiding, Leapfoot?
She considered telling Stormyheart but decided against it. She didn't know enough to condemn Leapfoot yet, just a vague dream and an unusual scent. For all Iceshadow knew, he'd been out hunting and just hadn't found anything.
As the sky lightened, the dawn patrol emerged—Silverclaw, Rosewhisker, Aspenheart, and Hollytail. Rosewhisker nose her way into the apprentices' den to wake Sparrowpaw, her apprentice.
Aspenheart spotted Iceshadow and padded over, his regal gray-brown tabby fur fluffed out against the cold. "Good to see you, Iceshadow. Are your kits growing well?"
Iceshadow nodded, trying to meet his formality. "Yes, they are."
"I'm sure they'll make fine warriors," Aspenheart meowed warmly, "They're already growing pretty big."
Iceshadow purred. "Thistlekit especially. She's so rambunctious and feisty, and she never lets her brothers get away with anything."
"Aspenheart! We have to go!" Silverclaw called irritably.
Aspenheart dipped his head to Iceshadow before returning to his patrol. Silverclaw greeted him with a frosty nod before stalking out of the entrance to camp.
Iceshadow stretched out her limbs, stiff with cold, before padding across the clearing to the fresh-kill pile. It had only a few stale mouse and a skinny sparrow. She'd wait until Frostflower was awake and could share something with her. Her belly rumbled uncomfortably, and she shivered.
"Iceshadow!"
Iceshadow turned swiftly. A small gray tabby head poked out, green eyes gleaming. "Thistlekit, what is it?" Iceshadow asked wearily.
"Can I go out of the camp?" she pleaded.
"You can't, Thistlekit, you're only two moons old," Iceshadow pointed out.
"But Shrikekit and Graykit went outside yesterday, and they're only three moons!" Thistlekit protested.
"What?" Iceshadow's ears pricked. "They did?"
"Shrikekit said that they were going to catch a mouse," Thistlekit confided, "Frostflower was sleeping, so they went out through the dirtplace. They didn't catch anything, though," the little she-cat added with satisfaction.
Iceshadow's ear twitched. She'd have a word with Frostflower when the queen woke up. "Well, they weren't supposed to do that," she told Thistlekit.
Thistlekit hopped out into the snow. Her spiky tabby fur was all rumpled and messy, and Iceshadow had to resist the urge to groom it; Thistlekit would have hated to have her mother fussing over her.
"Is there any good prey?" Thistlekit asked, peering across the clearing at the fresh-kill pile.
"No, not yet," Iceshadow responded. Just then, there was movement at the entrance to Strongstar's den. The powerful gray tom emerged, his eyes bright, moving swiftly despite how skinny he was from the harsh leaf-bare. He padded across the clearing. "Morning, Iceshadow." His gaze fell on Thistlekit, and he purred.
"Oh, Stormyheart says that Olivepaw and Barkpaw are ready to be warriors," Iceshadow told him.
Strongstar nodded. "Goldentail told me last night on the sunset patrol. He must not have had a chance to pass on the news to Stormyheart. Their ceremony will be at sunhigh."
Iceshadow nodded. She wondered if Leapfoot would be at the ceremony. Should I confront him about sneaking out? she wondered. Then she shook herself. If anything, confronting Leapfoot would only make him hide whatever he was doing more deeply than he had before. Better to let him think his sneaking out had gone unnoticed, at least until she could figure out what exactly he was doing.
Thistlekit, tail straight in the air, marched up to Strongstar. "I want to be an apprentice!" she announced.
"I'm afraid you're not old enough, little one," Strongstar murmured, bending over and nudging Thistlekit, "but I'm sure that when you are, you'll make a fantastic warrior."
Thistlekit swatted at his nose. "I'll be the best! I'll be Clan leader! You'll have to call me Thistlestar!"
"Not for a while yet," Strongstar mewed, looking amused, "I think your mother might have that duty first."
Iceshadow shivered. The thought of Strongstar dying, and herself becoming leader, was unimaginable. He was her father as well as her leader; she couldn't bear the thought of losing him as she'd lost Stormwing and Streamtail.
"Iceshadow? Iceshadow, where's Thistlekit?" Frostflower's worried cry rose from the nursery. Iceshadow turned and watched the flecked queen emerge, her blue eyes wide. Vaguely she heard Strongstar heading toward the warriors' den to fetch warriors for a hunting patrol.
"Don't worry, she's with me," Iceshadow assured Frostflower. She flicked Thistlekit with her tail. "Go back into the nursery and wake up your brothers."
"But Iceshadow—" Thistlekit started to protest. She was silenced by a sharp look from the black-and-white she-cat and scampered back inside.
"Frostflower, I think you ought to know something," Iceshadow murmured, "Thistlekit passed along some interesting news." Quickly, she described what her daughter had said about Shrikekit and Graykit sneaking out.
"I don't believe it." Frostflower shook her head. "They're always getting into some kind of trouble. I'll talk to them about it." She vanished back into the nursery. A few heartbeats later, Thistlekit tumbled out, followed by Ploverkit, Hawkkit, and Rowankit. They started to scuffle in the snow.
A sharp bout of coughing made Iceshadow look up swiftly. It was coming from the warriors' den; at that moment Stonewind emerged. His gray fur looked patchy and he was struggling to catch his breath. He was followed closely by Sunpatch; she was his sister of a younger litter, and so far both her littermates, Highleap and Fennelclaw, were sick with whitecough. However, Stonewind sounded worse than any of the other cats so far; his breath was bubbling in his chest, and his eyes looked milky.
"Go to Sunnyflower," Iceshadow ordered sharply, her voice carrying across the clearing. Stonewind looked too exhausted to protest. Leaning heavily on Sunpatch, he limped across the clearing to Sunnyflower's den.
Iceshadow stared after the duo, worried more than she would admit. It was early in leaf-bare for so many cats to be sick—Nightfire, Fennelclaw, Brookpaw, Highleap, and Stonewind, all at once.
She shook herself. Sunnyflower is a good medicine cat. Don't doubt her.
Leafwhisker and Tigerpelt emerged. Both looked unbearably scrawny; Iceshadow had no doubt that they were foregoing their prey-portions so that the warriors, apprentices, and queens could eat well. Tigerpelt strode over to Iceshadow, purring. "How are the kits?"
Iceshadow rolled her eyes. "Troublemakers, as always," she replied. Tigerpelt brushed past her. She turned to see Thistlekit and Ploverkit bundle themselves at the elderly tabby tom. To her relief, he didn't seem to mind. He crashed over sideways playfully. "No! Stop! I give in!"
"My name is Thistlestar, and you can't come walking in here, you mangy RiverClan cat!" Thistlekit yowled.
"No, I'm Ploverstar, and I say that we teach Tigerpelt a lesson!" Ploverkit shrieked, shoving his sister aside. The two kits tussled, while Rowankit and Hawkkit looked on with wide eyes.
Tigerpelt started to purr again, but he broke off with a bitter cough. "I'm sorry, kits, I think I have something caught in my throat," he sputtered, pulling away from them.
A flicker of unease lit inside of Iceshadow. "Tigerpelt, you ought to let Sunnyflower check you out."
"I'm—fine—" Tigerpelt rasped, his words punctuated with coughs.
"I know, but it would put my mind at ease, knowing that you're not sick," Iceshadow told him. He was the eldest cat in the Clan, now that Hareleap was dead, and it was clear by one look at his ragged pelt and sharp, jutting bones that he wasn't eating enough.
"If you say so," Tigerpelt muttered. His mate, Leafwhisker, had just emerged from the elders' den. "Tigerpelt, I thought I told you to go see Sunnyflower!" she called, "You've been coughing all night!"
Iceshadow's unease grew. She nudged her four kits away from the elder. "Tigerpelt, you didn't tell me that."
"I'm fine, really," he insisted.
"I don't want a cat who's been coughing all night to be near kits as young as mine," Iceshadow replied.
Tigepelt grunted. "I'll be fine, and so will your kits. Every cat coughs during leaf-bare."
Sunnyflower emerged at that moment. She marched across the clearing to Tigerpelt. "You're coming with me. I heard the entire exchange, and you're not well. I think you have whitecough."
Splashpaw poked his head out behind her. "Sunnyflower, there's not enough room in here! We need a better place for the sick cats."
"Why not the elders' den?" Leafwhisker suggested, "If you really need me to, I could sleep with the warriors. The elders' den has plenty of room, and it's close to the medicine den."
"That would work," Sunnyflower mewed approvingly, "Splashpaw, can you go wake your siblings and start setting the elders' den up? Make sure there's lots of moss and bracken so that the sick cats will be warm." She turned to Iceshadow. "Could you get a few cats together to strengthen the walls of the elders' den, to make sure that there's no drafts or anything?"
Sunnyflower suddenly seemed to remember that her niece was a nursing queen. Her ears flattened in discomfort. "I mean—"
"No, it's fine," Iceshadow assured her, "That's not a hard task."
Splashpaw emerged, followed by Lightpaw, Olivepaw, and Barkpaw; Sparrowpaw was out on patrol, and Brookpaw, of course, was ill. Iceshadow padded across the clearing to the warriors' den and poked her head inside.
"Silverclaw, Flowertail, Spottedclaw, and Gingerfur," Iceshadow called softly. The four cats lifted their heads drowsily. "I need you for an important job."
The four cats got up, though Silverclaw didn't look happy about it and stayed close to her mate, Spottedclaw. The rest of the warriors were starting to stir; it was almost sunrise and time for them to wake up.
Iceshadow explained the four warriors' task to them, and they immediately set to work, heading outside to fetch more brambles. The apprentices, too, were busy dragging fern, bracken, and moss in from outside. The camp looked pleasantly busy.
"Olivepaw, Barkpaw, you heard the news, right?" Iceshadow called as the two toms came in, dragging bracken. They looked confused, so Iceshadow enlightened them. "Your warrior ceremony is at sunhigh."
The two toms let out squeals of delight and hurried to drag the bracken to the elders' den.
Iceshadow noticed Leapfoot emerging. He looked tired but determined. Hollytail and Snowfoot followed him out, and the three cats headed for the camp entrance. Iceshadow stared after him. He seemed to be working hard. Was she right to doubt him?
Brindlebreeze and Lightningtail came out next. Iceshadow was stunned to see how they looked—frail, weak, skinny; they had been unable to recover in time from their strange illness before leaf-bare hit. The two littermates stumbled across to the fresh-kill pile and each chose a stale mouse to eat. Normally, Iceshadow would have rebuked warriors for eating before they'd hunted, but it was easy to see how unhealthy they were.
Iceshadow kicked angrily at the snow. She wanted to be out there, hunting for her Clanmates! She loved her kits dearly, but would it really hurt to leave them in Frostflower's care while she helped her Clan? After all, Frostflower seemed to have no interest in returning to warrior duties anytime soon.
Patience, Iceshadow. A warm, familiar smell touched Iceshadow's nose as a breeze swept over her muzzle, carrying the words to her ears. "Streamtail?" Iceshadow breathed. She thought she heard a soft purr before the moment, and the sweet scent, passed.
Iceshadow stared down at her kits, who were beginning to scuffle in the snow. A stab of pain rippled through her. Stormwing and I played like that once, she thought. She remembered it now: Stormkit and Icekit, two kits playing around. Stormkit may have been bigger, but Icekit was always cleverer. She was always Icestar. She could always get the better of Stormkit.
Iceshadow shook herself. Nostalgia would get her nowhere. And yet she couldn't help but find herself yearning for it, for the simplicity of her used-to-be life, when Streamtail and Stormwing were alive, when Strongstar had plenty of lives left and Iceshadow wasn't responsible for the entire Clan.
She closed her eyes. Why does everything have to be so complicated?