(Note: Buckle in folks, it's about to get real!)
The day after witnessing SunClan, the group was well-rested and well-fed. Duskfur had put together a small hunting patrol in the morning, and they had returned with enough fresh-kill to keep everyone's stomachs full. Thorncloud even tried a lizard – and decided it was definitely the worst thing she had ever tasted. She left the slimy thing for Shadepool to finish.
Pebblefoot returned from the hunting patrol with a fish he'd plucked from a mountain stream. He shared it with Thorncloud, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that she enjoyed the taste. There must have been RainClan in her blood after all.
They gathered to discuss their plan of action when the sun was high in the sky. Thorncloud gingerly rubbed her sore pads on a dock leaf as she listened; she'd asked Pebblefoot to collect some if he saw it while hunting, and he hadn't disappointed.
"I think we should stay for a few days," Copperfur was saying. "We can watch them, figure out how their clan works, and then figure out an attack plan from there."
"It's too risky," Flameclaw said. "We're sitting ducks here. If they see us, we'll be fresh-kill."
"I think we should return home and tell our clans," Duskfur said. "There's nothing that we can do against their forces. The faster we get back, the more time we have to lead a proper attack with more warriors."
"We can't return with half of the story," Pebblefoot said.
"I agree," said Bumblestripe. "We need to know more about them first. I want to know how he's getting so many cats to join, and if they're actually a threat. Those kittypets could be useless for all we know."
"Plus there's the matter of what StarClan thinks," Thorncloud chimed in. Eyes turned to her. She tried her best not to shrink under their questioning looks. She had done too much of that lately. Speak with confidence, she told herself, and forced herself to straighten up. "I mean, if Sunstar has actually been accepted by StarClan or not. The clans will want to know if we're going up against a leader with one life or nine."
Pebblefoot nodded in agreement. "A very fine point," he said. "But Duskfur is also right; we can't go up against them."
Bumblestripe looked at his clanmate. "Do you think… we could talk to Sunstar?" he asked.
"What?" Several cats said the word at once. Thorncloud shook her head. "Do you think a cat who's been exiled from his clan wants to talk to the very cats who sent him away?" she asked.
"Clans sometimes visit one another for special occasions," Copperfur said, his eyes flickering to Thorncloud. She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you think of it like we're respectfully approaching him to speak, clan to clan, maybe he would accept."
"I don't know," Flameclaw said uneasily. "It sounds risky to me."
"If he wants to be treated like SunClan will be a fifth clan, he should be at least open to talking to the other cats," Duskfur murmured.
"Think about it – worst case scenario, he says no," Bumblestripe said. "If he attacks us, we attack back. We could do it at sunset, when the dusk patrol is out. That way there'll be less cats against us."
"That might actually work," Pebblefoot said. "Let's say three cats go out on patrol. Three of SunClan are barely apprentices, so they won't be hard to get around. That leaves nine cats against us."
"Almost one for one," Ebonystreak said. "I like those odds!"
"Okay, we'll do that, then," Duskfur said. "First, we approach to talk. If that backfires… we'll fight."
As planned, they waited until the sun began to set. Ebonystreak and Copperfur found an inconspicuous place to spy on the SunClan camp, waiting for the dusk patrol to leave. The other scattered among the rocks, in small groups, to wait for the word to get into place.
Thorncloud paced back and forth nervously. Duskfur had suggested they send only a few cats to speak with Sunstar so that he didn't feel threatened, and have the rest of the group waiting in the shadows for the first sign of trouble. The group would be her, Duskfur, and Pebblefoot. Bumblestripe had wanted to join, but Pebblefoot said the fewer the RainClan cats, the better; one warrior from his ex-clan would be useful, but any more than that may aggravate him and remind him of his exile.
The other two were fine choices – a clan deputy showed authority, and made it more believable that they wanted to talk civilly – and an experienced warrior from RainClan that Sunstar recognized would benefit them, too. But why Thorncloud was chosen, she couldn't be certain. Pebblefoot and Duskfur had been speaking, their heads lowered, glancing over at her every few moments. When they finally approached, Duskfur said that her diplomacy would be useful in the encounter with the SunClan leader. By the look in Pebblefoot's eye, she suspected it had been his idea.
But now she was more nervous than ever. Bumblestripe watched her as he tore apart a scrawny mouse, still grumpy from being told to stay behind. "Stop pacing," he said. "You're going to wear your claws down to stubs."
"Sorry," Thorncloud said, but she continued her path back and forth. "I just don't know what I'm doing! What if I say the wrong thing?"
"You won't," Bumblestripe assured her. "Let Duskfur do most of the talking. Besides, you always know what to say."
She thought of Tigerfang's proclamation at the river that Thorncloud wasn't her sister. She grimaced. "Not always," she said.
"If it weren't for you, Thorncloud, I might not even be on this mission," he said, making her look up in surprise. "When we met at Fourtrees, you convinced me pretty easily that we had to meet again and talk about the prophecy. You even managed to tame Cloudstorm." His whiskers twitched with amusement. "And trust me, she's hard to tame. I've tried."
There was a soft look in his eye. Thorncloud smiled. "You like her, don't you?" she asked. "Is she your mate?"
Bumblestripe ducked his head, embarrassed. "N-No," he stammered. "I mean, she's my best friend. I care about her a lot. But, you know… she's a fine cat."
Thorncloud thought of Tallfeather, and she nodded. "I understand."
There was a rustling, and the scrabbling of claws on rock, and then Ebonystreak appeared over a ledge. "The dusk patrol just set out!" she said, her eyes bright with excitement. "Duskfur and Pebblefoot are waiting for you over there." She pointed her tail up the rocky path, and Thorncloud took a deep breath. It was time.
Bumblestripe joined Flameclaw, Copperfur, Shadepool, and Ebonystreak, while Thorncloud padded up beside Duskfur and Pebblefoot. The other five started on their route to circle around; earlier, Shadepool had scouted a good place to wait on the other side of the SunClan camp, where the group could join quickly if the meeting went south.
The rocklands looked like a sea of glowing red, the harsh dusk light casting strange shadows around them. Thorncloud walked behind the two older warriors. Duskfur led them back to the ledge where they had first spied on SunClan, and leapt up. Pebblefoot followed, and then Thorncloud joined them.
Not far off, perched on a rock, the huge yellow tom that Thorncloud had seen the night before noticed them. He immediately jumped down and ran towards them. His muscles rippled under his fur. Thorncloud wouldn't want to meet this cat in battle.
"Who are you?" the tom hissed, dropping into a defensive stance. "Sunstar! We have invaders!"
"We come in peace," Duskfur said evenly. "We wish to speak with your leader."
Thorncloud saw below the Flatrock, Sunstar's lithe form slunk out into the sunset glow. He padded over swiftly, but retained an air of nonchalance. Thorncloud suspected he had been waiting for the moment when clan cats would show up.
"Stand down, Simba," Sunstar said, his eyes lingering on Pebblefoot. "These are forest cats."
Simba bristled, and sat up straight. "Shall I get the other warriors?" he asked.
Thorncloud was unsettled by how quickly the former kittypet had taken to Sunstar's leadership. The golden tom narrowed his eyes. "Get Scorchback and Twitch," he ordered. "Tell them to come to my den."
He turned and flicked his tail at the forest cats. Thorncloud blinked. He was really inviting them into camp, just like that. Duskfur and Pebblefoot mirrored her hesitation, but then Duskfur began to follow Sunstar.
Thorncloud examined the camp as they passed through. It wasn't as big as the SnowClan camp, but it was decently sized. They passed a number of caves – she counted four – and a small fresh-kill pile in a dip in the rock, shaded from the sun by a rocky overhang. There was also a small trickling mountain stream that ended in a shallow pool on one end of the camp, giving them a fresh supply of water.
Lastly they arrived at the Flatrock. It was about two cats tall, and flat on top, and as they rounded the side, Thorncloud saw it was hollowed out inside. Sunstar sat at the mouth of the den. There wasn't enough room for all of them to sit inside, so the forest clan cats sat awkwardly in front of the den before the SunClan leader.
At that moment, two cats rounded the Flatrock to sit on either side of their leader. One was Scorchback, the dark orange and white tom that had once been a cat of RainClan. The other was a strange looking cat that Sunstar had called Twitch. He was skinny, and might've been mistaken for completely hairless at a distance. This close, Thorncloud could see that his skin was covered in a delicate dusting of grey fur. His ears were huge, like a bat's, and his skinny tail looked more rat-like than cat-like. She also couldn't help noticing how long and menacing his claws were.
"I'm surprised," Sunstar said, directing his gaze at Pebblefoot. He looked suspicious. "I thought there would be more of you."
"We've only come to talk," Duskfur said.
"Nobody seemed willing to talk when I was exiled from RainClan," Sunstar spat. He glared at his former clanmate. "Or has Goldenstar asked me to come crawling back?"
Pebblefoot shook his head. "Goldenstar stands by his decision," he said. "What we're here to discuss is what your purpose is here at Highstones."
"Isn't it obvious?" Sunstar asked. "I was forced to leave my home, so I made a new one. Now I'm the leader of SunClan, and they are more loyal to me than RainClan ever was."
Duskfur bristled. "You can't just make a new clan," he said. "There have always been four clans in the forest."
"Things change," Sunstar said. "The forest changes. Like the seasons, night and day, dusk and dawn. The forest is never the same, and this is no different. The rocklands have always been unclaimed. The only difference is now they are not. This affects none of your clans."
"Your scents were found on the other clan territories," Thorncloud said.
He eyed her as if his gaze her made of claws. "That was before we adapted to our environment. Now the rocklands are stable enough for SunClan," said Sunstar.
"It better be," Duskfur muttered.
"Is that your whole purpose, then?" Pebblefoot asked. "Survive here, in the rocklands? What about when clans must travel to Highstones? Are we meant to be attacked by your cats protecting the territory that should belong to StarClan?"
"StarClan?" Sunstar echoed. He glanced around. "Do you see any StarClan cats here? No, Pebblefoot. This is land for the living. StarClan has the skies. SunClan needs the rocks. But no," he continued, "we will not block passage to Highstones. Last half-moon, I encouraged my clan to stay away from Mothermouth, so as not to disturb the medicine cats who travelled there. So you see? All I wanted is to run a clan the way I want. And now I'm doing that."
"You mean to stay completely separate from the four clans?" Thorncloud asked.
Sunstar narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course not. I intend to bring my warriors with me to every Gathering, as the other clans do."
"What?" Now Duskfur was seething. "Fourtrees is a sacred space for the four clans! Your clan of rogues and kittypets will not be welcomed there!"
Sunstar turned on the CloudClan deputy, his eyes blazing with rage. "You dare insult my clan?" he asked. Beside him, Scorchback and Twitch hissed. "SunClan may be small, but we will grow just as great as any other clan. Besides, we have the will of StarClan on our side."
Thorncloud heart sunk. "Then… it's true? StarClan has granted you nine lives?"
Now the SunClan leader sat up straight, and lifted his chin towards the stars. "Yes," he said. "I am a true clan leader. With the will of StarClan, none of you can hope to challenge my authority."
Thorncloud's mind was reeling. If that was true, why did Starflower warn us?
"We don't wish to challenge you," Pebblefoot said quickly, tapping Duskfur's shoulders with his tail to calm him. "All we wanted to do was understand what your intentions were. Now that we know, we'll leave you in peace."
"Leave?" Sunstar asked. "Oh, Pebblefoot. If only it were that easy. Did you really think I would send you back without a proper message to the forest clans?" He took a step forward. "Make sure you tell Goldenstar, Galestar, and the others that SunClan will not be messed with."
His eyes turned on Thorncloud, and they were glistening with a thirst for blood. "Scorchback, Twitch…" he said. "We mustn't let them think we aren't serious. Kill the SnowClan warrior."