"Well, why wouldn't Paledusk have done it?" Autumnleap asked in a low voice.
He and Frostmask were sprawled out in the nursery, Newtkit and Mistkit nestled between their two bodies while the other queens and kits played out in the camp. Even though it had been a couple of days since Frostmask first told Autumnleap about Paledusk, they still found themselves returning to the conversation at every chance they got— when they were alone and could talk in hushed voices to not risk anyone overhearing.
Autumnleap seemed convinced that Paledusk had been the one to tell WindClan about Newtkit and Mistkit. Frostmask found his suspicion understandable— after all, he had none of the positive interactions with Paledusk that Frostmask had. All Autumnleap knew of him was that he was SkyClan's deputy, and that he'd badly wounded him when they were apprentices and killed Swoopstrike.
Frostmask had also once been equally, if not more, suspicious and furious towards Paledusk when she'd first found out her relation to him seasons ago. But, in the moons since then, he'd proved himself to be a valuable ally. It wouldn't be fair for her to discount all the ways he'd helped her just because of this one new suspicion of him, right?
"Because he hasn't lied to me before," Frostmask responded in a murmur. "He helped me figure out how to determine what prey was poisoned or not, remember? And, he's been right about his warnings about ThunderClan and WindClan. It just doesn't make sense for him to help me so many times, but then turn around and try to hurt me so badly by telling WindClan about the kits, right? But we do know a cat who would love to hurt me more than probably anything else in this world…"
Autumnleap nodded.
"Dampfang," he said with a grim growl.
"Exactly," Frostmask sighed. "I—"
But she cut herself off as Mistkit stirred against her tail, waking up with an inquisitive squeak. Wobbling slightly, he lifted his head up and his little eyes cracked open for the first time.
Frostmask's breath caught in her throat as he gazed around blearily before his eyes finally drifted up to her face. Their eyes met, his the same murky grey-blue color that every kitten was born with. With another squeak, he took a couple of unbalanced steps forward as if trying to get closer to her before bumping into his sister's side, although Newtkit was still sleeping too soundly to stir. Seemingly satisfied with the progress he made, Mistkit settled down next to Newtkit, his eyes drifting shut again.
A loud purr started rumbling in Frostmask's throat without prompting, and no more than an instant later, Autumnleap was echoing her with a purr of his own.
"He's caught up to his sister now," Autumnleap murmured, bending his head to give Mistkit's back a lick.
Frostmask nodded. Newtkit's eyes had opened just yesterday. Frostmask had been a bit worried about Mistkit when he didn't follow her the same day— he had been weaker than Newtkit when they'd first found them, after all. But, now her anxieties were settled. He seemed to be hitting the same milestones as her; he just had to do it in his own time.
Soon the kits would start to pick up on their parents' words, and she and Autumnleap would have to be much more careful about what they talked about in front of them. On one paw, Frostmask was excited for them to grow so she could teach them all about ShadowClan and see what personalities they would develop, but on the other paw, as they got older, keeping an eye on them would require a lot more work when they no longer just slept and ate all day. And, Frostmask was already so busy!
Frostmask glanced up at Autumnleap, her gaze softening. At least she wasn't doing this alone.
Even though she hadn't come to any sort of real conclusion about the situation with WindClan, the kits, Dampfang and Paledusk, she already felt so much lighter after sharing the burden of her secrets with Autumnleap. She was no longer trapped in her own mind with her thoughts and fears.
As if sensing her gaze on him, Autumnleap lifted his eyes too. His expression became more solemn as they made eye-contact as if remembering the danger their kits could be in, if someone had told WindClan about their outsider blood.
"Anyway though, I think we should keep an eye on Dampfang for sure," he said, bringing them back to the conversation as his purr died down. "He does have a motive for telling WindClan. But, that doesn't mean that we should totally disregard Paledusk either. There are just too many little things that seem off about the timing of the attack and his warning about it… Are you sure that he's never lied to you before?"
Frostmask's purr also fell silent as she wracked her memories, trying to recall her every meeting with Paledusk over the past moons. But, it was difficult. How was she supposed to remember every little detail that they had talked about? Her general sense was that Paledusk had been truthful and helpful towards her, but maybe there had been small lies in parts, who could say? But, could she really hold that against Paledusk when she'd been omitting information from him too? She'd of course not told him certain things— especially about ShadowClan's weakness during the long, hard leaf-bare.
Frostmask opened her mouth, about to respond to Autumnleap, but before she could get any words out, her mind finally finished shifting through her memories of meetings with Paledusk, reaching the earliest one— when she had first found out about him after SkyClan's attack on their camp, and she him gone into SkyClan territory to confront him.
Frostmask slowly closed her mouth again, her brow furrowing.
Her thoughts about that night were shadowed by the haze of anger and betrayal that had thrummed through her after Sedgestar's accusation against her. It made some of her memories clouded, but it conversely sharpened others— searing them into her mind forever. And, out of those clear memories, there were two things obviously incompatible with each other: Sedgestar derisively spitting that her worthless SkyClan father hadn't wanted her or her mother. And, Paledusk swearing that he'd never known that May had his kits, but that he had wanted her to join SkyClan to be with him— May had been the one who refused and rejected SkyClan.
Frostmask's stomach clenched painfully like she'd swallowed a huge lump of ice.
"I… I guess there is this one thing," Frostmask muttered in a low voice. "The day Sedgestar told me that my father was a SkyClan cat, he also said that he didn't want me or my mother in SkyClan. But, when I later confronted Paledusk about that he told me that the truth was that he did want May to join him in SkyClan. But, it was May who didn't want to be in any clan at the time, so they broke up, and Paledusk never knew that she had his kits… At the time, I assumed that Sedgestar had been lying to make himself sound better for rescuing me."
Frostmask's ears flattened down, and she ducked her head, staring down at her paws.
"But… do you think… maybe it was Paledusk that lied?" she whispered. "Did he really not want me or May to join him in SkyClan? Even though we were dying?"
Autumnleap swept his tail over to comfortingly drape it on her side. His touch was soft, but his voice firm when he spoke.
"You have to find out from Sedgestar what May said to him exactly. We need to figure out which story is true."
Frostmask's gaze flashed back to his, her eyes widening. "But, wouldn't it be suspicious for me to suddenly ask Sedgestar about my father?! He'll think that I'm disloyal! That I want to join SkyClan!"
"He's not going to think you're disloyal just because you ask him one question," Autumnleap said, although he blinked at her sympathetically. "I know that you're worried, and Sedgestar did really betray you once. But, I think he feels bad about that, and that he's changed. He wouldn't have made you his deputy if he didn't trust you. He picked you to replace Grovepelt, who was probably the cat he trusted most in the world!"
Frostmask shook her head.
"There's no way he trusts me as much as Grovepelt," she scoffed.
Autumnleap flicked his ears, knocking away her protest.
"But, my point that he trusts you still stands," he said. "There must be a way for you to ask him about it without coming across as suspicious. But we have to find out if Sedgestar's story is true or not! Then we'll know if Paledusk is untrustworthy."
Frostmask flicked her tail as she thought.
"I guess that I could say to Sedgestar that taking in Newtkit and Mistkit has gotten me thinking more about my own parents…" she muttered.
Autumnleap nodded, his eyes brightening. "Yeah, that's great!"
He leaned in to give her cheek an encouraging nudge with his muzzle.
"See, that's why you're the deputy, not me," he teased. "I don't have the cunning for it."
Frostmask huffed in quiet laughter, but her stomach still clenched at the thought of talking about this with Sedgestar.
"Okay," she murmured. "I'll talk to him about it soon. But, I better get going now. Sunhigh will be ending soon, and I have patrols to send out. I think I might go out on one of them. I've been cooped up in camp all day."
Autumnleap nodded in understanding, and Frostmask rose to her paws, sparing a final affectionate glance towards him and her kits. Then, after arching her back in a stretch, she slipped from the den.
Frostmask blinked as she emerged into the bright camp. It was a mostly peaceful scene. Poolcloud and Dewleaf cuddled together as they watched their four kits running amok in the cleaning, racing each other from the Oak Tree to Clanrock. Treefur and Greytail were gossiping in front of the elders' den. And, Rowanheart was grooming Snakeeyes' pelt in front of the entrance to the medicine cat's den.
Gratitude stirred in Frostmask's chest as her eyes skimmed over the white-furred warrior. Fresh wounds still marked her pelt, but her blue and green eyes were bright as she lounged in front of the medicine cat's den, soaking up the warm sunshine.
They were lucky that Snakeeyes was recovering so well from WindClan's ambush, and they were especially lucky that the retaliation Sedgestar led yesterday went so smoothly as well. Injuries overall had been minor.
Frostmask had been unable to participate in the fight, since she was still supposed to be a 'nursing queen.' Although most cats probably expected her to maintain some duties as deputy, going on a battle patrol would definitely raise questions. Of course, that was assuming that WindClan didn't already know that Frostmask's kits weren't hers by blood…
Frostmask shook her ears. Frustratingly, Sedgestar said that he hadn't gotten any new information from any of the WindClan cats during the fight, so they remained in the dark, left with only speculating about who could be at fault.
Frostmask's tail lashed at the thought, her eyes searching for Dampfang in camp, but she couldn't spot him. Ever since Pineshade ended things with him, he seemed to keep more to himself than ever before, although he still of course made time to be a thorn in Frostmask's side.
She scowled to herself.
Although these days he's less of a single thorn and more of an entire bramble bush!
Shaking off the angry thoughts, Frostmask took a deep breath to compose herself before letting out a quiet yowl, summoning the warriors to her for patrol assignments. She sat down, curling her fluffy tail around her paws as her clan-mates rose to their paws from all different parts of the camp and came to gather around her.
Frostmask swept her gaze over her clan-mates as they approached. After so many days of practice, handing out patrols and speaking in front of all her clan-mates was growing easier and easier, although her ease was now tainted with suspicion after the WindClan ambush. Could one of her clan-mates really have betrayed them? Or had it been Paledusk like Autumnleap suspected?
Frostmask again pulled herself from her thoughts as her clan-mates settled down.
"Even though our fight against WindClan yesterday went well and sent Rabbitstar a fierce and swift message that ShadowClan is not to be trifled with," Frostmask began without preamble, "we still need to remain alert for any attacks from both his border and ThunderClan's. Redclaw, I'd like you to lead the WindClan border patrol this evening."
The senior warrior dipped her mottled colored head to Frostmask in agreement.
"I will take the ThunderClan border," Frostmask continued. "I would be happy for the excuse to stretch my legs. Dustleap and Beeclaw, you two lead the evening's hunting patrols. And, Marshnose—"
Frostmask glanced over at the tabby and white warrior, who met her gaze cooly. "I'd like for you to take any cats not on patrol, and who aren't too tired from the morning patrols, out for some battle training practice. You'll be in charge of organizing whatever training you wish."
Marshnose gave a curt nod. "Fine then."
"That's everything," Frostmask said, standing as she dismissed the crowd. "Poolcloud, Mosspounce, and Murmurstep, do you guys want to come on my patrol?"
"Sounds fun!" Mosspounce chirped while Poolcloud and Murmurstep nodded in agreement.
As her clan-mates padded off to follow her instructions, one cat who had been in the back of the crowd lingered behind. Frostmask stiffened as she finally caught a good glimpse of him as he stalked out of the shadows of Clanrock and up to her, his dark shoulder fur already bristling.
"I'll meet you guys by the thorn tunnel in a moment," Frostmask muttered to Poolcloud, Murmurstep, and Mosspounce. "I've got to take care of this first."
Her friends padded off as Frostmask turned to Dampfang. When she met his gaze, he bared his teeth at her.
"What is this, Frostmask? You haven't assigned me to lead any patrols in days," he growled accusatively.
Frostmask's lip twitched as she fought back a snarl.
"I haven't? Sorry, I hadn't noticed," she responded coldly.
It was a blatant lie, of course, but with her growing suspicions of Dampfang, she was too wary of him to put him in charge of any patrols. He could still patrol if someone invited him on one, but hopefully he couldn't cause too much trouble that way. She'd also been subtly splitting up his friends, keeping Dampfang from easily gathering them all together to scheme. Today Marshnose had been ordered to go to battle training, while Dustleap had been ordered to hunt.
Dampfang narrowed his harsh green eyes at Frostmask, clearly not buying it.
"Sedgestar didn't take me on the battle patrol either," he hissed. "And, I'm the best fighter ShadowClan's got."
"You should take at up with Sedgestar then," Frostmask said in clipped tones. "He chose the cats in that patrol, not me."
Dampfang released a wordless hiss.
"I won't stand for this unfair treatment," he snarled. "A deputy can't be biased against her clan-mates!"
Frostmask glanced around at their other clan-mates nonchalantly, watching as they all walked about, following her orders without complaint.
"Really? Because no one else seems to have a problem with me," she said.
Dampfang's gaze blazed in anger, and he took a step closer to her, lowering his voice to a menacing rumble so no one could overhear.
"Don't be so sure. You forget that the only reason that any of ShadowClan listens to you is because of Sedgestar," Dampfang growled. "No sane cat here would ever really believe in you. If Sedgestar wasn't here propping you up, it would be clear what you really are— nothing. Just a wannabe clan-cat. A sad little rogue who ended up in a position of power by happenstance. Because of a foolish decision by a leader who is growing increasingly erratic—"
"Watch your tongue, Dampfang!" Frostmask cut him off with a snarl, her hackles bristling as her anger rose. "Sedgestar has already commanded you to not argue about me being deputy anymore, but what you're saying now is hardly better! In fact, it almost sounds like treason. If you ever say anything like this again, I may have to start taking your idle threats against me and Sedgestar seriously!"
Dampfang's eyes widened in outrage.
"Has Sedgestar become such a tyrant that it is treasonous now to speak your mind?!" he snapped, his tail trashing. "The ShadowClan I was born in valued independent thought. What happened to that Clan?!"
Frostmask flattened her ears against her head.
"Independence is one thing," she growled. "Defiance is another. If every cat here was as defiant as you, there would be no Clan left."
Dampfang's eyes narrowed to slits.
"But, I'm not the only cat here who thinks this way," he said in a low rumble.
"But, you are the only cat here who loathes me so much that you're willing to challenge me and our leader at every turn!" Frostmask snapped. "So I can at least be reassured in that."
Without another word, she turned on her heel and stalked away, going to gather up the cats for her patrol. But, her stomach still churned like she was going to be sick even as she walked away from Dampfang.
No matter her dislike of the tom, she had never thought of him capable of putting kits' lives in danger before the incident with WindClan. But now, she had no idea what Dampfang's limits actually were, and it set her teeth on edge.
I should tell Sedgestar about what Dampfang said.
Promising herself to bring it up with him along with her question about May and Paledusk once she got back from her patrol, Frostmask gathered Poolcloud, Mosspounce, and Murmurstep, and they headed out of camp and towards the ThunderClan border.
The walk through the forest was peaceful, filled with only her and her friends' voices and laughter. Poolcloud gushed over Lichenkit's talent for remembering the names of plants as she spent more and more time trailing her uncle Elmclaw around, begging him to teach her about his herbs. Mosspounce eagerly expressed her desire to mentor one of Poolcloud's kits, while Murmurstep leaned over to whisper in Frostmask's ear that Sedgestar, under no circumstances, should make Mosspounce a mentor because she'd probably lose her poor scrap of an apprentice in the forest on their very first day. Frostmask purred in amusement, and she almost convinced herself that despite the stress and weirdness of the past few sunrises, today may actually be a perfectly normal day.
But that illusion shattered as they approached the thunderpath. Before it was even in sight, Frostmask could tell something was wrong. The powerful reek of ThunderClan hung in the air, much too strong to just be their markers from across the thunderpath.
The patrol's friendly chattering, mostly courtesy of Mosspounce, died out as they also noticed the scent. Poolcloud rumbled a low, uneasy growl, the long black-and-white fur down his spine bristling.
"Everyone stay alert," Frostmask hissed, falling down into a hunting crouch as her eyes skimmed the shadows between the pine trunks ahead.
Her companions immediately followed her lead and utter silence fell over the patrol as they stalked forward, tracking the ThunderClan scent.
Soon Frostmask's ears pricked as she picked up the sounds of paw-steps crunching through ferns and low voices that certainly did not belong to her clan-mates muttering to each other. Frostmask bit back a growl, her tail fur fluffing out in outrage.
It's like they're not even trying to be sneaky while they're trespassing!
Frostmask prowled around the trunk of a large pine but came to a halt as she spotted the pelts of the trespassing ThunderClan warriors in the distance. Her gaze flickered over the cats. She recognized them as Fernclaw, Foxbite, Brackenstep, and Duskfall, although Frostmask stiffened as she got a clear glimpse of the final cat's brown coat and realized that the ThunderClan deputy, Acornear, was here too.
A vole swung from Foxbite's mouth and Fernclaw clutched a mouse. Out of the corner of Frostmask's eye, she saw Murmurstep stiffen in anger when she noticed the stolen prey, while Mosspounce's eyes narrowed. Even Frostmask struggled to swallow back a growl.
How dare ThunderClan intrude and steal like this from us! Whatever faint scents they may have picked up from me on their territory a moon or more ago, this retaliation is hardly proportional!
Poolcloud touched his tail-tip to Frostmask's shoulder. His amber eyes smoldered, but he didn't move forward yet, a silent question in his gaze. Frostmask nodded. They couldn't allow such blatant disrespect for their borders to stand. Signaling her friends forward, Frostmask strode out of the shadows to challenge the intruders.
"What is the meaning of this, Acornear?!" Frostmask hissed.
She at least got some satisfaction out of the fact that the ThunderClan cats all jerked in surprise at the sound of her voice, whirling to face them, their backs arching defensively. But, the ThunderClannners seemed to regain some confidence when they realized that they outnumbered Frostmask's patrol, their chins lifting again. Acornear stepped forward, his lips curling back in a hostile snarl as he met Frostmask's gaze.
"ThunderClan doesn't fight nursing queens," Acornear growled. "Take your patrol back to camp and things don't have to get ugly, Frostmask."
Frostmask growled, flexing her claws into the ground, but she supposed she should be grateful that ThunderClan at least had seemingly no idea that she hadn't given birth to her kits herself. Frostmask was also glad that she's been spending enough time in the nursery lately that the scents of kits and milk from the den had strongly rubbed off on her. No cat right now would be able to tell, at least from a distance, that she wasn't producing milk.
"Do you serious expect that we'd walk away like timid mice when we catch trespassing warriors on our land?!" Mosspounce cut in, her tail whipping furiously.
"We never know what to expect from ShadowClan!"Foxbite spat, dropping her stolen vole and taking an aggressive step forward, her ginger fur bristling out around her and her unusually long fangs bared. "Everyone knows you can never trust a rat."
Loud growls rumbled from Murmurstep and Poolcloud.
"You wanna say that again to my face?! I can't hear you over your ugly overbite!" Mosspounce snarled, her eyes blazing, but Frostmask swished her tail out in front of her to stop her from charging forward.
"Wait a moment," she murmured to Mosspounce before turning her attention back to Acornear.
"Our clan-mates Swoopstrike and Dappledpelt lost their lives fighting on the behalf of your Clan," she hissed to him. "You should be ashamed of yourselves. I do not know what slight you think ShadowClan has done to you. But regardless, it cannot be so terrible that it warrants this aggression after we've been your allies for so long!"
Foxbite released a wordless hiss at Frostmask in response, and Fernclaw growled as well. But, Acornear at least had the decency to look conflicted. After a moment though, he gave his pelt a sharp shake as if dislodging his doubts.
"We are only repaying you back in kind," Acornear growled. "ThunderClan is not your plaything, and we will not lie here limply as you walk all over us!"
Frostmask rumbled a low growl of frustration, her ears flattening down.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "ShadowClan has always shown ThunderClan respect."
"Forked-tongue liar," Fernclaw hissed, her bright green eyes narrowing. "ShadowClan may have turned into a den of rats, but you and Sedgestar are even worse than that. You're a pair of snakes."
"Shut up!" Poolcloud snarled in Frostmask's defense, his shoulders hunching as his muscles coiled beneath his dense black-and-white pelt.
Frostmask, though, was more confused than offended.
What do they think we've done?
Everything had been good with ThunderClan until after that final battle with SkyClan, the one when Grovepelt was injured and Dappledpelt died. Did it have something to do with that battle? Could ThunderClan have some how pieced together that Sedgestar had asked Morningstar to lead the attack against RiverClan in order to position ThunderClan to receive the brute force of RiverClan's anger? But, Willowstar hadn't even really done anything to retaliate against ThunderClan yet, right?
Acornear's face hardened, and he dug his claws into the ground.
"Fernclaw is right," he growled. "Don't try to deny it, Frostmask. We've picked up ShadowClan scent on our territory as recently as a few days ago, even though Sedgestar swore at the gathering that no ShadowClan cat has been trespassing! Just because you helped us once does not mean that we belong to you, and you can traipse around our territory and steal our prey!"
Frostmask's brow furrowed.
What? They picked up ShadowClan scent on their territory again? But it couldn't have been me this time! I didn't even go through ThunderClan territory to meet with Paledusk!
"But we didn't do that!" Mosspounce snapped, echoing Frostmask's thoughts. "Do all ThunderClan cats have tadpoles inside their heads instead of brains?!"
The ThunderClan cats growled, their tails whipping aggressively, and Frostmask's stomach lurched. A fight was about to break out at any moment, but Frostmask didn't want to start a skirmish and make the tensions with ThunderClan worse when she didn't even understand what they were fighting over!
"Mosspounce, stand down," Frostmask said quickly to her friend before glancing back at Acornear again. "I do not what you are talking about, but I assure you Acornear that no cat has been stealing from ThunderClan by my or Sedgestar's command. I know you are an honorable cat, and I hope a part of you still believes that I am too. I will get to the bottom of this, I promise you."
Acornear's ears pricked in a look of surprise at Frostmask's genuine appeal, and he hesitated. After a tense few heartbeats passed, Acornear finally gave a curt nod, waving his clan-mates back with a swish of his tail.
"See that you do," he hissed. "Come on, ThunderClan."
With a parting hiss from Foxbite, the ThunderClan patrol whirled around and fled ShadowClan's territory, streaking back over the thunderpath and disappearing into the dense undergrowth of their own land.
"You let them get away with our prey!" Mosspounce hissed, glaring at Frostmask accusatively once they were gone.
"Better to lose and mouse and a vole than to start a war," Frostmask retorted, her pelt prickling defensively. "Don't we already have enough to worry about with WindClan?"
"What were ThunderClan even meowing on about?" Murmurstep asked, her long-furred tail swishing in agitation. "We haven't been stealing prey! We haven't done anything at all to them."
"They could just be lying," Poolcloud pointed out.
Mosspounce nodded hard in agreement.
"That's exactly what they're doing! They're just looking for an excuse to start a fight!" she snarled, raking her claws through the peaty ground as she growled in frustration.
Frostmask's brow furrowed, and she felt much less certain than her clan-mate.
"But this is Morningstar and Acornear… Out of all the other leaders and deputies in the forest, I'd think that they'd been the least likely to lie about something like this," she said.
"But, what's the other option?" Murmurstep asked.
Frostmask remained quiet. She knew the other option— there really was some ShadowClan cat trespassing in ThunderClan territory, and it wasn't just her, leaving her scent there on accident.
Frostmask clenched her jaw.
Although she knew exactly which of her clan-mates would do something that reckless and against Sedgestar's orders— Dampfang— she didn't want to accuse him out loud, even to just her group of friends. She didn't want to shake their faith in their clan-mate if she was wrong.
But, what if she was right?
The situation with WindClan knowing about the kits was already suspicious enough, but now this too? Could Dampfang be involved in some kind of grander conspiracy to harm ShadowClan? But, what would he have to gain by provoking ThunderClan?
Despite her lack of evidence against Dampfang, fear still rippled through Frostmask's pelt.
"We need to go back and report this to Sedgestar right now," she muttered.
Spurned on by her worry, Frostmask led her patrol back to camp at a run.
Everything still seemed peaceful as the thorn barrier came into view. Frostmask slipped through the tunnel and entered into the camp, finding it largely as she'd left it. Whatever treacherous forces were lurking beneath the surface, they still had not yet struck. Since she and her patrol had returned early, the camp was pretty empty with most cats still out patrolling, but Frostmask prayed that Sedgestar was here as her gaze darted around the clearing.
She sighed in relief as she spotted him in front of the pine stump that formed the elder's den, chatting with Clearstream and Darkpelt.
"I'll take care of talking with Sedgestar," Frostmask said to Mosspounce, Murmurstep and Poolcloud.
Leaving her friends behind her, Frostmask strode straight up to Sedgestar, dipping her head to him respectfully as he cut off mid-sentence to Clearstream at her approach.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Sedgestar, but something happened on my patrol. May I speak to you about it privately?" she asked.
Frostmask's gaze briefly darted to Darkpelt. Although she wouldn't mind talking about what happened in front of Clearstream, she knew that Darkpelt would certainly not like hearing her imply that his son could be guilty of any sort of treason. It would be much better to talk to Sedgestar about this alone.
Sedgestar's eyes sparked with equal parts interest and concern at her request. "Of course. Let's go to my den."
Giving Darkpelt and Clearstream a nod of goodbye, Sedgestar rose to his paws and led Frostmask to his den in the roots of the Oak Tree. Once they were in the privacy of the earthen cave, her turned back to her.
"What happened? Was it WindClan again?" he asked, his tail already twitching.
Frostmask shook her head.
"No," she said. "I was patrolling the ThunderClan border. There we encountered a patrol led by Acornear on our side of the thunderpath."
Sedgestar held as still as a cat carved from stone as Frostmask described the full events of the confrontation, and everything Acornear had told her about the ShadowClan scents ThunderClan continued to find on their territory.
"Morningstar is escalating," Sedgestar muttered under his breath once Frostmask had finished.
His tail was swishing again, as he stared out at nothing on the dirt wall of the den. Sedgestar seemed to be more talking to himself than to Frostmask, but Frostmask nodded in agreement anyway.
"But, he's only doing it because he thinks we provoked him first," Frostmask said.
Sedgestar's eyes snapped to hers again.
"So you think Acornear and Morningstar are telling the truth," he said quietly. "And, a ShadowClan warrior has been trespassing."
"Do you not think so?" Frostmask challenged.
Sedgestar held her gaze for a long moment before he blinked and looked away, and that silence answered her question better than any words could.
"First WindClan somehow finds out about Newtkit and Mistkit, making them more hostile to us. And now ThunderClan is being provoked against ShadowClan too?" Frostmask continued, growing bolder at his agreement. "It's too coincidental."
"At the last gathering, Morningstar said that they'd picked up ShadowClan scents on their territory for the past moon," Sedgestar pointed out. "That's much longer than our problem with WindClan. They could be unrelated."
Frostmask's tail lashed once.
"No, it's a pattern. We're just only able to see it now," she argued.
Were those scents ThunderClan picked in the first place ever mine at all? Or was it all Dampfang?
Frostmask shook her head."It's all just too suspicious. A traitor—"
"You are jumping to conclusions," Sedgestar cut her off. "I appreciate you sharing your intuition, but you must be careful not to accuse your clan-mates of something so serious without proper evidence."
Frostmask set her jaw stubbornly, the building anger and fear in her keeping her from backing down from her leader.
He says I'm jumping to conclusions without proper evidence?! But, he didn't have any problem accusing me as a traitor seasons ago, when I never even did anything! And, now when the evidence is as plain as the nose on his face, he refuses to see it?!
"Not clan-mates. Clan-mate. And, you know who it is and much as I do," Frostmask hissed, her eyes narrowing.
Sedgestar shook his head, taking a pace towards her.
"Do not let your dislike for that tom blind to any other option," he said. "Perhaps one of our clan-mates instead has made the ill-advised decision to become mates with a ThunderClan cat, meeting with them on ThunderClan land and explaining the scents. It's a foolish choice to be sure, but not nearly as dire as treason."
Frostmask rumbled a low, discontented growl.
"Do you know what Dampfang said to me today?" she snapped. "He called you a 'foolish leader' who is making increasingly 'erratic decisions.' Tell me that doesn't sound treasonous to you?"
Sedgestar's ears flattened, and he screwed his eyes shut for a moment like a monstrous headache was pounding beneath his ears.
"I understand why you're so upset. The WindClan situation could put your kits directly at risk, and if ThunderClan turns on us too, then ShadowClan under even more threat. And you may be right about Dampfang, Frostmask," Sedgestar said, and Frostmask blinked in surprise at his concession. "But, we still do not have any proof. What would you have me do? Imprison him or exile him because of a hunch? Do you think my sister will rejoice me banishing her son based on your intuition alone? Would Dewleaf or Darkpelt thank us for it? Do you want me to make the divisions in our Clan even worse and tear it apart completely?"
Frostmask dropped her gaze and her shoulders hunched slightly as some of her fight left her.
"…No," she muttered.
Sedgestar's eyes opened again.
"Do not think I'm discounting your worries. But, if we act too rashly, we risk creating more problems than we solve," he said. "What we need to do now is focus on the issues we can solve, starting with what to do about ThunderClan."
Frostmask took a seat and nodded, reluctantly seeing Sedgestar's wisdom despite her lingering anger and suspicion towards Dampfang.
"You may have adverted a fight with ThunderClan today, but if Morningstar is already willing to escalate to trespassing and stealing, I doubt a battle can be entirely prevented," Sedgestar continued. "So the question is, do we strike first or do we remain defensive?"
Frostmask's ears flicked as she thought, and she drew her tail closer to her, wrapping it around her paws for comfort as anxiety about their threatening neighbors set back in.
"Either option worries me," she murmured. "Especially since I doubt WindClan is done harassing our other border… will ShadowClan be able to stand alone against two clans?"
Sedgestar's ears angled back uncertainly.
"Perhaps we should start more seriously considering a new alliance— one with SkyClan or RiverClan," he muttered.
Frostmask nodded slowly, and both of them fell silent as they thought.
I do still have that offer of alliance from Paledusk, and if it was Dampfang who told WindClan about the kits, then we would have no reason to be wary of him…
Frostmask's features slowly drew down into a frown as a disturbing realization began to take hold of her like creeping ice.
But… Paledusk's offer of alliance… Isn't it coincidental that we're only properly considering it now because WindClan and ThunderClan are threatening our borders? WindClan is doing so because they somehow found out about the kits… Could Paledusk have told them just to put ShadowClan in a bad position, to force us to agree to ally with SkyClan?
Frostmask blinked in shock, giving her ears a small shake.
But, what about ThunderClan? Could he really be involved there? They are hostile because of ShadowClan scents on their territory. …Could Paledusk be planting the scents somehow?
Her belly churned as she recalled the battle in ShadowClan camp, when they'd first thought it'd been RiverClan attacking them, not SkyClan.
SkyClan has disguised their scents as another clan before. Would it really be so surprising if Paledusk knew how to make his scent smell like ShadowClan? And those scents did seem to appear in ThunderClan territory on those very same nights that I went to Fourtrees to meet with Paledusk… to make me think I did it?
Frostmask's muscles clenched, her entire body from nose to tail-tip tense and cold. She inhaled a slow, slightly shaky breath, her heartbeat pounding in her ears like thunder.
Coincidence after coincidence after coincidence… She had no hard proof, but she'd have to be a fool to ignore the sickening pattern unfolding in front her like a poisonous flower.
But why would Paledusk so desperately want this alliance between ShadowClan and SkyClan? And why would he put me in such risk to get it. I thought he cared about me!
Frostmask clenched her jaw, her gut twisting as confusion, hurt, and conflict swirled inside her like an out-of-control hurricane.
Could I really have gotten it all wrong? Is Paledusk the true source of all these problems, and not Dampfang?!
Frostmask blinked hard a few times, pulling her gaze back to Sedgestar. She had to ask him about what she spoke with Autumnleap about at sun-high— about what her mother had said when she had brought her to ShadowClan. It was the only thing that would give her some clarity into Paledusk and help her figure out if he could really be capable of such an elaborate deception.
Frostmask took a brief, trembling breath, shoving her emotions back down under the surface and putting on a veneer of calm. Luckily, Sedgestar seemed to have been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to have noticed her inner conflict, and Frostmask was becoming quite an expert at hiding her true feelings.
"Sedgestar?" Frostmask asked, and Sedgestar's eyes refocused on her. "On second thought, I don't think we should seek a new alliance yet. I don't think we should attack ThunderClan yet either. ThunderClan has been our closest alliances for seasons now, and Acornear was at least somewhat willing to hear me out today. There may still be hope to straighten things out with diplomacy. Striking first would remove that option entirely… I don't think it's wise."
Sedgestar blinked at her, mulling her words over.
"And if there is a traitor in ShadowClan, then couldn't they leak any sort of battle plan to the enemy?" Frostmask continued, her tail swishing anxiously. "We need to be more cautious and careful now with our planning than ever before."
After a moment more of hesitation, Sedgestar nodded.
"I agree," he rumbled, his amber gaze approving. "Well thought out, Frostmask."
Frostmask's chest warmed a fraction at his praise, but her worry about Paledusk eclipsed most of her self-satisfaction. She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. She would have to broach the subject of him with Sedgestar now, but she wasn't sure how to do it subtly.
"I will try to speak about this with Morningstar at the next gathering," Sedgestar continued before she had the chance to figure it out. "And, I'll make an announcement to the clan. We will make it clear that no cat is to enter ThunderClan territory without permission, and we will increase patrols on the ThunderClan border. If one of our clan-mates is sneaking over there, more patrols may be enough to deter them as well as keeping ThunderClan out."
Frostmask nodded in agreement, although her brow furrowed in concern as well.
With the increased patrolling we're already doing on WindClan's border and the extra battle training, our clan-mates will soon be exhausted.
Frostmask flicked her ears trying to shake off the thought.
It's not for forever, she promised herself. Just until I'm able to find out what's causing all this.
"Can I also ask you about something unrelated?" Frostmask spoke up.
Sedgestar blinked at her curiously, and Frostmask did her best not to look uncomfortable. It wasn't her most subtle or elegant transition, but she was starting to feel like no longer had the time to be coy. She needed to know what was going on with Paledusk now.
Frostmask inhaled a deep breath to steel herself.
I need to do it, even if it makes Sedgestar believe I'm disloyal… Better that then ShadowClan being torn apart by ThunderClan and WindClan, right?
"What is it?" Sedgestar asked.
Frostmask dipped her head, breaking eye contact for a moment.
"Ever since I've started raising Newtkit and Mistkit, I've been thinking about my own parents more," she murmured, her stomach fluttering nervously. "I keep thinking about something you told me— something that May said when she first brought me to ShadowClan. You told me that May's mate, my… father, didn't want me or May to be with him. Is that really true?"
Frostmask waited in hushed anticipation, but Sedgestar didn't respond. He remained quiet for several long moments, and as the heartbeats dragged past, Frostmask's entire body tensed until she was holding her breath.
Is he not going to tell me?!
"I'm sorry," Sedgestar finally said, his voice gentle. "But, it's true. I know it must be hard for you to hear, especially now that you have kits of your own. I… When May told me, I could hardly believe it myself. All I could think of was Rowanheart, and how I would've moved the heavens and the earth to get to him if he was ever taken from me. I couldn't imagine a father who wouldn't do the same."
Frostmask's paws started to tremble, but she made her eyes look back up to Sedgestar and forced her lungs to start moving again, inhaling a shaky breath. Sedgestar's side of the story remained the same, but it didn't give her any new information. It was still simply Sedgestar's word against Paledusk's.
"Can you tell me what May said exactly? Why he didn't want us?" she rasped.
Sedgestar gave his head a small shake.
"She didn't say why. Only that he would not allow you or your mother to join SkyClan. And…" Sedgestar blinked at her, his amber gaze turning pitying as his expression became even more troubled. "May was injured with a deep claw wound on her shoulder. She told me that her mate was the one who attacked her. But, that's all I know."
Frostmask's eyes widened, and she clenched her jaw to hold back a gasp, her heart thumping painfully against her ribs.
Is that true? Did Paledusk really attack May?!
Frostmask did her best to remain composed, at least on the outside, ruthlessly shoving her shock and dismay down for her to address later— at some point when she wasn't sitting in front of her leader.
Frostmask dipped her head to Sedgestar.
"Thank you for telling me," she said, relieved that her mew came out steady. "Even though it's not a pleasant story."
"Yes, well…" Sedgestar cleared his throat and shuffled his paws a bit like he wasn't sure what else to say.
"Do you have anything else we need to talk about? Otherwise, I'd like to go be with my kits," Frostmask added, still avoiding his eyes.
"No, you're dismissed," Sedgestar said, looking a bit relieved to escape the awkward turn of conversation. "I'll call the clan meeting about ThunderClan later into the night, when the rest of the patrols have returned."
Frostmask nodded, rising to her paws and padding out of the den. Once she finally exited Sedgestar's presence, she allowed the new, troubling information to wash over her again. Instead of immediately heading to the nursery and presenting it to Autumnleap, Frostmask hurried to the secluded corner of camp behind the Oak Tree to think about it alone. She crouched there to hide under the overhanging thorn barrier, hoping that no one would bother her as her mind spun.
Frostmask wracked her earliest memories, trying to pull up any scrap of detail she might have missed before when she'd thought about that long, terrible walk from May's den to ShadowClan territory— some image that could verify or refute what Sedgestar had told her.
She'd been so little that the memories had become faded by time. But, as Frostmask placed herself back in the paw-steps of her younger self, she could still recall the scent of blood in the air. But, Frostmask also remembered the pain in her paws and her cracked and bleeding pads… That was where the blood scent was coming from right? May didn't have any blood on her shoulder, did she?
Frostmask silently cursed her foggy memories. Why couldn't she remember?!
Her thoughts whirled desperately, searching for a solution. She needed more information, otherwise how did she know that Sedgestar wasn't just misremembering, and Paledusk's versions of events were actually true? It had been many seasons ago at this point, after all.
There were other ShadowClan cats who had been on that patrol— Emberflower and Beeclaw. She could ask them, but surely their stories would be the same as Sedgestar's, right? Sedgestar wouldn't tell her something that he knew his mate or Beeclaw could easily refute.
Unless… Sedgestar had made up the story about Paledusk attacking May, and ordered them to tell her the same to keep Frostmask from wanting to go join SkyClan.
Frostmask blinked miserably, her stomach twisting more and more until she felt like she was going to retch.
Could Sedgestar have really done that? She knew he could be secretive and manipulative… but a part of her also thought that they'd grown closer since she became deputy, and that he did trust her now, like Autumnleap said. Sedgestar wouldn't tell her such a terrible lie, right? But if he wasn't lying or misremembering, then that meant Paledusk had driven them away and attacked May, his own mate!
Frostmask ground her teeth together, her shoulders hunching as her emotions overwhelmed her.
She needed another opinion. She needed someone who knew something about Paledusk and May to act as a tiebreaker between Sedgestar's version of events and Paledusk's. It would be the only way for her to find out who Paledusk really was and what he was capable of.
But who else is there to ask? May is dead! Slatewhisker knew her, but he's dead too! No other cats in ShadowClan know anything, and Paledusk kept his relationship with May a secret from SkyClan. No one else knows about my parents. No one else would have any more information about what really happened between them!
Frostmask's eyes widened, her pelt bristling out as an idea suddenly struck her like a lightning bolt.
No one else knows about Paledusk and May… expect for maybe one cat.
Her heart hammering, Frostmask suddenly scrambled to her paws, sprinting to the nursery. She rushed inside, only slowing to tip-toe around Larkfoot, Amberberry, Dewleaf, and their kits as they napped, so she could make it to Autumnleap's side without waking them.
Autumnleap was sleeping too, his eyes shut and his fluffy bulk curled delicately around Newtkit and Mistkit. Frostmask prodded his auburn side unceremoniously with her paw until Autumnleap lifted his head, his brow furrowed.
"Huh? What's going on?" he mumbled, turning his bleary gave onto her.
"Shh," Frostmask hushed him so he wouldn't wake the others.
Autumnleap blinked at her in confusion, and Frostmask crouched down by his side, putting her muzzle close to his ear.
"Autumnleap, I know what I have to do to find out about who Paledusk really is," she said in a whisper that trembled with anticipation. "There is only one cat who could know something… I need to talk to Birdstrike!"
Author's Note: Frostmask is so annoyed that Sedgestar had to go and learn his lesson about jumping to conclusions about people being traitors lol.
Reviews:
Cactopus: I love the zombie apocalypse team lol, it's very accurate. Dampfang is a little bastard for sure! I won't be commenting about whether or not he'll be dying though haha.
Brian.H.H: Thank you! And yep you're sadly totally right that I had to just skim over the fight with WindClan. It's not the main focus right now anyway, but action scenes are always exciting lol.
Yeah, I went back and forth with myself quite a bit about if I wanted Frostmask to tell Autumnleap the whole truth right off the bat or sort of trickle-truth it so the lies come out more slowly. But, the more I thought about it, the more I felt like Autumnleap would be so much more hurt by her telling him the truth in pieces versus coming clean all at once. Like obviously he was still hurt by her keeping secrets from him, but I think he'd be a lot more hurt by her having this opportunity to tell him the truth, but telling him a half-truth instead. And, then only telling him more of the truth later when it's dragged out of her. I didn't want to put poor Autumnleap through that, and I feel like Frostmask is perceptive enough to realize it too. So I just had her rip the band-aid off.
Shadowhunter474: Haha well poor Frostmask is definitely still stressed, but now her stress is about unraveling who Paledusk is!