Chapter Three

"Blackflame?" Firelight growled, muzzle close to his. "You don't smell like any Clan cat to me. You're one of them, aren't you? Is that why you're lingering around here?"

Blackflame blinked curiously. "Them? I'm not sure who you're talking about."

Firelight hissed angrily. "Don't play around with me!"

"Firelight!" Shadowheart pushed the ginger warrior away from the stranger. "I really don't think he's one of Hawk's rogues."

The tom laid there, looking from Firelight to Shadowheart. "Can I get up now? Or is your friend here going to dig more claws into me?"

"Keep talking like that and I'll be more than happy to," snapped Firelight as she glared at him.

Shadowheart sighed, pushing between the two cats. "Look, we just came here for questions."

Rolling to his paws, Blackflame shook his fur out. "I was actually hoping to see one of you again. I was looking for one of the Clans here."

Looking for one of the Clans? Shadowheart studied the strange tom. Firelight was right that he hadn't carried any scent from a Clan, however the tom somehow had a warrior name. Just who was this cat?

"What Clan are you looking for? And why?" Shadowheart managed to ask, Firelight tensed behind him.

Sitting down, Blackflame scratched behind his ear nonchalantly. "I was looking for a Clan called LeafClan," he told them. "My mother was a warrior there."

Firelight hissed. "What? There's no way you'd be from our Clan! We have no stories of any missing kits, or single queens!"

Find the one who lurks in the shadows. The mysterious omen echoed through Shadowheart's thoughts. Was this the cat who lurks in the shadows? If he truly came from LeafClan, why was he separated? Shadowheart had to know the truth.

"My mother left the Clan before I was born," the black tabby explained. "At least, that was what I was told by the one who raised me. Her name was Silversky."

A flash of shock lit across Firelight's sharp gaze. Fur bristling along her spine as if she had seen a ghost, she flattened her ears. "How do you know about Silversky?"

Silversky...that was Echostar and Foxstar's sister wasn't it? Shadowheart recalled. She ran away when she was expecting kits, and then later turned up dead. His eyes grew round. Was Blackflame really the kit of Silversky? Where had he been up until now?

"The cat who raised me, his name was Mole, told me that Silversky was my mother," Blackflame replied. "He knew about her because of the cat he used to follow. I believe his name was Hawk? Either way, he saved my life when Hawk attacked my mother."

Shadowheart felt his blood run cold. "Hawk...he killed Silversky?"

"Not quite," the looked to the side. "My mother thought jumping into a river with me would save us. But it had been storming, and the river was flooded. Instead, she drowned while Mole was able to save me."

"We need to tell Foxstar. You're coming with us," Firelight decided. She gave him a pointed look. "Any funny moves and I'll claw your muzzle off."

"How kind of you," Blackflame commented, a teasing glint in his silver eyes.

Shadowheart walked beside Blackflame, keeping quiet as they followed Firelight back to camp. Upon entering camp, the cats in the clearing noticed Blackflame quickly. Foxstar was coming out of her den when she spotted them. Her amber eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Who is this?" she demanded, coming to stand before them.

Firelight dipped her head respectfully. "This is the cat who saved Shadowheart from the foxes," she began. "He says his name is Blackflame."

Casting a glance towards him, Foxstar looked back to Firelight. "He doesn't carry any Clan scent on him."

"He smells of twolegplace," Longwhisker growled, padding up towards them. "How can we be so sure he's not a rogue?"

"I asked the same thing," argued Firelight. "But then..."

Foxstar raised her head in a commanding way. "What is it, Firelight? Tell me."

Not meeting her gaze, Firelight looked away. "He says Silversky is his mother. And that he knows how she died."

Shock filled the LeafClan leader's face. She stepped back, before flattening her ears with a snarl. "That's impossible. My sister drowned in an unfortunate accident. She has no kits."

Blackflame stepped forward. "I'm telling the truth. Silversky was my mother, and her death was no accident. Hawk drove her to jump into the river. It was the only way she could save me."

The Clan erupted into protests. Every cat in uproar over the long dead queen possibly having any surviving kits. Shadowheart flattened his ears as their protest rang through the clearing.

"Liar!"

"There's no way we should believe this outsider!"

"He's one of the rogues! Can't you smell it on his fur?"

Foxstar turned and bounded up the Highoak. "Enough!" she yowled, lashing her tail. "There is only one way to settle this. I will speak with StarClan."

"What if it's a trap?" Lionclaw called out.

"I agree with Lionclaw," Timberfall yowled. "You should take some warriors with you. It isn't safe."

"What will we do with this stranger then?" Dawnrise asked.

"Will my kits be safe?" Cloudflight fretted, quickly wrapping her tail around her three kits.

"Silence!" Foxstar ordered, her eyes blazing. "I will take two warriors with me in the event that this is a trap. As for our "guest", he will stay in my den under guard until StarClan gives me an answer. No cat is to go inside for any reason, that is final."

Coming down from the Highoak. Foxstar made for the entrance to camp. "Longwhisker, you will decide which cats to keep guard. Sagepelt and Alderleaf will accompany me to the Cavern of Stars."

Longwhisker dipped his head. "Understood," he looked to Blackflame. "You heard Foxstar. Make this easier on yourself and go in there willingly."

"I have no intention to cause trouble," Blackflame meowed calmly. "You'll see soon enough that I'm telling the truth."

With that, the tabby voluntarily crept into Foxstar's den to await her return. Longwhisker gestured for Sandpool and Ivyfrost to stand guard, while Foxstar disappeared out of camp with Alderleaf and Sagepelt. Cloudflight ushered her kits into the nursery. Lionclaw and Rainfall sat outside in protect their kits, while the elders' talked in hushed voices among themselves. The cats had all disbanded into tiny groups, and a sense of unease gripped the camp.

Silverleaf padded over to Shadowheart, Ravenpaw at his heels. "Do you think he's telling the truth?" the silver warrior asked.

"I heard stories of Silversky," Ravenpaw added. "But I never thought one of her kits would suddenly show up!"

"We don't know if Blackflame is really one of her kits," Firelight corrected the black apprentice. "Until Foxstar comes back from the Moonpuddle, he'll be treated like any other prisoner."

Shadowheart frowned. "But what if he is? Is it right to treat him this way?"

"It might not be the fairest action," Silverleaf agreed. "But Foxstar has to take caution. Especially with Hawk lurking around."

Feeling exhausted, Shadowheart just padded across camp to the warriors' den. He crawled into his nest and curled into a tight ball. He just wanted all of this to be over. How much longer did things have to keep happening, before he was able to put a stop to Hawk? And what about Cinder? What could he possibly do to save her? Then the mystery of his real parents haunted him constantly. Just who was he really? A rogue? A kittypet? A loner?

StarClan had proven useless, only giving him more questions than answers. Shadowheart didn't even know where to start. Then to add more to his anxiety, this strange tom suddenly appears and claims to be a long lost son of a deceased LeafClan queen. What would come of this? Will StarClan answer Foxstar? And is Blackflame truly who he says he is?

Shadowheart had no idea. All he wanted was for things to be normal. Despite how much he wished it, he knew this was only the beginning.