Chapter 7
Joyous yowls filled the camp as Suefall and Bobbywind curled around the two bundles resting beside the CrookedTree. Moonpaw exchanged a disbelieved glance with Beanstalk before charging towards them.
"How did they get here?"
"I don't know!" cried Suefall, pressing her fur against theirs. "Thank StarClan they're okay, oh, thank StarClan!"
"I found them!" Chirpkit boasted. Pebblefur pulled her close to his flank, shushing her.
Creststar, who had been speaking with Pinefoot and Peachnose beside the warriors' den, was now flying through the camp.
"Are they okay?" Her eyes sparkled with hope.
"They look skinny," Bobbywind replied.
Creststar turned to Moonpaw. "Fetch them some prey."
Moonpaw nodded and brought them the plumpest shrew from the fresh-kill pile.
As they began to eat, Moonpaw got her first clear look at the kits. One was a deep gray tabby, the other black as night, both only three or four moons old.
The Clan crowded around them, purring with delight.
"I'm so glad you're both safe," whispered Bobbywind, touching his nose to each of their heads.
"It was so scary," whispered the black kit.
"But we were brave!" said the tabby.
"I'm sure you were."
Once the shrew was nothing but bones, Moonpaw cleared it away. Canarypelt stalked out of the medicine den, briefly greeted the she-kits, and began to inspect them. When finished, he turned to their parents.
"They have a few scratches, and Opalkit has a bite mark on her tail, but it's nothing severe."
Suefall purred with relief.
"Really?" mewed the black kit. That must be Opalkit, Moonpaw thought. "You might be wrong. It hurt a lot!"
Canarypelt licked her ear. "I'm sure it did. I'm sorry you got injured."
Creststar sprang onto CrookedTree. There was no need to gather the Clan for this meeting — they were already surrounding her.
"StarClan has gifted us with the safe return of Opalkit and Jasminekit!" she declared. Triumphant caterwauls met her words. "While they must be exhausted, I ask that they tell us where they've been, and how they made it home."
Bobbywind gazed at Creststar for a moment, then reluctantly backed away from his children. Suefall remained curled around them as if she thought they would be snatched away again.
Moonpaw craned her neck above the crowd. She saw a blue glint in the shadows of the medicine den, and knew that Bootpaw was watching.
"After the Uprising stole us from the beach," began Jasminekit in a bold voice, "we were trapped in a smelly hole with a bunch of other prisoners. A big, mean cat named Ranch asked us every day where our camp was, but we wouldn't tell!"
"Even if he did scratch us," added Opalkit.
"We were so stubborn that Razor himself couldn't make us talk."
Eyes lit up around Moonpaw, though she didn't know why. Pelts ruffled against her, scared whispers sounded throughout camp.
"But one night," continued Jasminekit, "Ranch, the dumb furball, fell asleep. One of the prisoners crawled out of the hole, and we followed her, but Opalkit stepped on Ranch's tail —"
"Did not! You did!"
Jasminekit glowered at her sister. "Whatever. So, Ranch woke up. Opalkit and I ran and ran, and the prisoner followed us. She helped us out of the camp. Ranch was gaining on her, so she told us to go back home as fast as we could while she fought him off. It took two whole days, but we made it!"
Moonpaw lifted her head, joining in with the Clan as they yowled for the courageous kits.
"Everyone is so glad you're back safely," Creststar said. "I'm sure you're both in need of rest. Suefall, you may take them to the nursery."
Suefall rose, gently leading her daughters towards the nettle enclosure.
Bobbywind remained still. "When do we launch an attack?" he asked.
The Clan leader tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"Surely, you plan to get revenge on the Uprising for this?"
"Bobbywind, we cannot risk losing cats in unnecessary battles. You know this."
"Unnecessary?" he echoed. "They trapped and tormented my children!"
Awkward murmurs rippled through the cats. Moonpaw fixed her blue gaze on the ground, uneasiness pricking her pelt.
"Bobbywind is right." Froststripe stepped forward, eyes slitted. "They need to pay."
Pinefoot thrust her way through the crowd, then hopped onto CrookedTree beside Creststar. "Do you question your leader?"
A pause, then: "Yes."
Moonpaw gasped, her claws springing out of their sheaths. Heads whipped around to gape at Froststripe. The silver tabby raised her head defiantly. Creststar met her gaze, and Moonpaw saw shock and hurt cross her face. "Explain yourself."
"You preach about keeping your cats safe, but when you have the chance to defend them, you deny it? You allow weakness to spread like poison through the veins of this Clan. You recruit frail souls that break with a single battle. You feel sympathy for our enemies, choosing them over us. How can I not question you?"
Moonpaw swung her head to and fro, sharing indignant glances with her Clanmates. Canarypelt shook his head in disgust, Peachnose bared her teeth.
"My sister is right." Pebblefur stepped forward. "I believe you can strengthen this Clan. You built it with your own paws. But in battle you show only your heart, never your claws."
"I, too, agree," Bobbywind announced.
Creststar flinched against the crowd. Pinefoot pressed against her comfortingly, snarling down at the traitors.
"None of that is true!" Chirpkit yowled. "My mother is the greatest leader ever!"
Blueflow quickly swept her tail over the kit's mouth.
Moonpaw waited with bated breath for Creststar to defend herself. And if she wouldn't, then surely, Pinefoot or Canarypelt would.
But they only stared, and the Clan stared back.
"StarClan wouldn't be happy to hear you defy your Clan leader like this," Moonpaw meowed, without even realizing the words she was saying.
"What would you know about StarClan?" Bobbywind hissed.
"Enough to know that they chose Creststar as leader for a reason!"
"If you were aware of anything, apprentice," snarled Froststripe, "You would know that StarClan gave up on the Rebellion many moons ago!"
"That's not true!" Moonpaw stared at Canarypelt for help. Dark clouds rolled over the moon, blotting the camp black. Lightning cracked, illuminating the shocked, enraged, and despaired faces surrounding Moonpaw.
As a boom of thunder roared, rain pelted down.
"Let me guess," Frost stripe hissed, "you mousebrained believers think this is a sign?"
Canarypelt, at last, spoke. "I think this is a storm. I also think that this bickering needs to cease before it gets worse."
Creststar at last came to her senses, though her voice quavered when she next spoke. "I agree. Meeting dismissed."
Slowly, uncertainly, Moonpaw's Clanmates dispersed. Froststripe's cold eyes flashed in the storm. Moonpaw looked away. As the relentless rain poured down, the peaty earth became a bed of thick, squelching mud. Dark treetops tossed in the forest above. A bone-chilling wind raced through camp, sending the ferns into a frenzied flutter.
Moonpaw dragged herself across the hollow and ducked into the apprentices' den. Curling in her nest, she wrapped her tail over her nose, trying to drown out the pattering of raindrops. Trying to drown out the war that had just begun within her own Clan.