Discovery of a Plan
Nightfrost shared tongues with Whitestorm.
At the entrance to the camp the patrol passed Longtail on his way in. The pale warrior was shaking as if with cold, and his eyes were staring. Instantly alarmed, Fireheart crossed the clearing to meet him. Nightfrost, after mewing to Whitestorm, followed his brother, equally as wary.
"What's happened?" he asked.
Longtail shuddered. "Fireheart, there's something I have to tell you."
"What's the problem?"
As he drew closer, Nightfrost caught an unexpected scent on Longtail's fur-the stench of the Thunderpath. The acrid scent was unmistakable.
"Where have you been?" Fireheart growled, his alarm turned to suspicion . "To ShadowClan, maybe, to see Tigerstar? Don't try to deny it; your fur stinks of the Thunderpath!"
"Fireheart, it's not what you think." Longtail sounded worried. "Okay, I did go that way, but I didn't go anywhere near ShadowClan. I went to Snakerocks."
"Snakerocks? What for?"
"I've scented Tigerstar there," Longtail explained. "Two or three times lately."
"And you didn't report it?" Fireheart mewed, his fur bristling with fury. "A cat from another Clan on our territory-a murderer and a traitor, what's more-and you didn't report it?"
"I…I thought…" stammered Longtail.
"I know what you thought," Fireheart snarled. "You thought, 'This is Tigerstar. He can do what he likes.' Don't lie to me. You and Darkstripe were his allies when he was in ThunderClan, and you're still his allies now. It was you or Darkstripe who told him about Snowkit-don't try to deny it."
"It was Darkstripe." Longtail scuffled the dry earth with his paws.
"So that traitor could accuse Bluestar of negligence in front of the entire Gathering," Fireheart concluded grimly. "So you could help him steal a couple of apprentices from this Clan. That's it, isn't it? You're plotting with Tigerstar to steal his kits."
"No-no, you've got it wrong," meowed Longtail. "I don't know anything about that. Darkstripe and Tigerstar often meet together on the border by the Thunderpath, but they don't tell me what it's about." He glared resentfully. "Anyway, this isn't about the kits at all. I went to Snakerocks to find out what Tigerstar was doing there. And I found something that you need to see."
Fireheart stared at him. "You want me to come with you, to Snakerocks-where you admit you've scented Tigerstar? Do you think I'm quite mad?"
"But, Fireheart-"
"Silence!" Fireheart hissed. "You and Darkstripe were always Tigerstar's allies. Why should I trust what you say now?"
Nightfrost touched Fireheart's shoulder with his tail. "Wait a second, Fireheart. Perhaps you should listen to Longtail just this once," Nightfrost mewed calmly and leaned to Fireheart's ear. "You should give him a chance. Unlike Darkstripe, he's more loyal to the clan."
Fireheart signed and flatten his fur. "All right, go on. What's the problem?"
"There are dogs living at Snakerocks," Longtail blurted out.
"Dogs?"
"Dogs, Fireheart," meowed Longtail. "A whole pack of them. I told you I scented Tigerstar over at Snakerocks. I…I thought I should warn him about the danger there and I wanted to know what he was doing so far into ThunderClan territory. Well, I found out." He shuddered.
"Go on," Fireheart urged.
"You know the caves?" Longtail meowed. "I was just coming up to them when I saw Tigerstar, but he didn't see me. I thought he was stealing prey at first because he was dragging a dead rabbit along, but he left it on the ground just outside the cave entrance." He broke off, his eyes clouding with terror as he saw again something unseen by the other cats.
"And then?" Nightfrost prompted.
"Then this…this creature appeared out of the cave. I swear it was the biggest dog I've ever seen. Forget the stupid things that come with Twolegs. This was huge. I only saw its front paws and its head…enormous slavering jaws, and you've never seen such teeth." Longtail's eyes were wide with the memory of fear.
"It snatched the rabbit and dragged it into the cave," he continued. "And then the howling and barking started. It sounded as if there were more dogs in there, all fighting over the rabbit. It was hard to understand what they were saying, but I think they were saying 'pack, pack' and 'kill, kill.'"
Fireheart stiffened, every limb locked in terror.
"You say Tigerstar fed these dogs?" Nightfrost questioned Longtail in his brother's place. "What does he think he's doing?"
"I don't know," the pale warrior admitted. "When he dropped the rabbit, he jumped on top of the rock. I don't think the first dog saw him. Then he went away."
"You didn't speak to him?" Fireheart asked.
"No, Fireheart, I didn't. He never knew I was there. I'll swear by anything you like-by StarClan, by the life of Bluestar-I don't know what Tigerstar is doing."
"What do you think?" Fireheart asked the smaller tom.
"I think we need to investigate," meowed the older warrior grimly. "And I'm just wondering how much Darkstripe knows about all this."
"So am I," agreed Fireheart. "But I'm not going to ask him. If he is in league with Tigerstar, he won't tell us anything useful." Rounding on Longtail, he added, "Don't you dare say a word to Darkstripe about this. Stay away from him."
"I…I will, Fireheart," the pale warrior stammered.
"We still need to know why Tigerstar is taking such an enormous risk, feeding fresh-kill to these dogs," Nightfrost went on. "If you want to lead a patrol up to Snakerocks, I'll come with you."
Fireheart looked upward, judging the light. "It's too late today," he decided. "By the time we reached Snakerocks, it would be getting dark. But we'll go at dawn tomorrow. I'll find out what Tigerstar thinks he's up to, if it's the last thing I do."
Nightfrost felt a paw shaking him awake. He open his eyes to see Fireheart and yawned, sitting up to clean himself. Fireheart then padded across the den to where Graystripe lay curled up in a pile of heather.
Graystripe blinked and sat up. "This is just like the old days," he mewed, in a vain attempt to sound cheerful. "You and me, charging into danger again." He pushed his forehead against Fireheart's shoulder. "Thanks for choosing me, Fireheart. I'm scared stiff, but I'll prove that I'm loyal to ThunderClan, I promise."
Fireheart pressed against him briefly and left the gray warrior to have a quick wash while he went to wake Longtail. The pale warrior shivered as he crawled out of his nest, but his eyes were determined. "I'll show you that you can trust me," he promised quietly.
Fireheart nodded. "The Clan needs you, Longtail," he meowed. "Far more than Tigerstar and Darkstripe need you, believe me."
Nightfrost padded outside to pick a vole in the pile. He took quick bites out of it as Fireheart reminded them what Longtail had told him.
"We're going to investigate," he meowed. "We can't decide how to get rid of these dogs until we know exactly what we have to face. We're not going to attack them. Are you sure you want to come, Ravenwing?"
"Of course," The tip of Ravenwing's tail flicked irritably. "I don't want to be left out, Fireheart."
"Good." Fireheart's gaze swept over the rest of the patrol. "Any questions?"
"What if we come across Tigerstar?" asked Sandstorm.
"A cat from another Clan on our territory?" Fireheart bared his teeth. "Yes, you can attack him."
Swallowing the last of his fresh-kill, Fireheart led the way out of the camp and up the ravine. Although the sun had nearly risen, clouds covered the sky, and shadows still lay thick among the trees. There was a strong smell of rabbit not far from the camp, but the cats ignored it.
The warriors advanced warily in single file with Fireheart in the lead and Nightfrost keeping watch at the rear. All was quiet until they drew close to Snakerocks, when Graystripe noticed something.
"What's that?"
He plunged into a clump of dead bracken. A moment later the patrol heard his voice, strained and hoarse. "Come and look at this."
Fireheart followed the sound with the rest of the warriors and found Graystripe crouched over a dead rabbit. Its throat had been torn out, and its fur was stiff with dried blood.
"The pack have been killing again," Longtail mewed grimly.
"Then why didn't they eat the prey?" asked Sandstorm, coming up to sniff at the limp, gray-brown body. She sniffed again. "Fireheart, there's ShadowClan scent here!"
Nightfrost took a sniff and reared back, growling.
"Tigerstar killed this rabbit," Fireheart murmured, after taking in the scent from the breeze, "and then left it here. What for, I wonder?"
Backing away from the prey, the deputy summoned Ravenwing with a flick of his tail. "Go back along the way we came," he instructed. "You're looking for dead rabbits. If you find any, check for other scents, and then come and tell me. Nightfrost, you go with him."
Both warriors nodded and padded off, following the rabbit scent.
"Found one!" Ravenwing cried and bounded up the the dead prey.
Nightfrost opened his mouth wide and followed the scent, strangely enough, the trail back to camp.
"Here's another," Nightfrost mewed. "Strange that it should lead to the camp."
"We should tell Fireheart about this," Ravenwing pointed out. Nightfrost nodded and the two warriors padded back warily. Nightfrost let his eyes flick back and forth, ready to warn and fight off if he had to. They reach the others, who were coming back carrying rabbits.
"We've found two more rabbits," Ravenwing reported. "Both stinking of Tigerstar."
"Then go and fetch them. I suspect Tigerstar left a scent trail leading to camp. We'll dump them in a stream somewhere and break the trail."
Nightfrost flicked his ears. The rabbits have been left there for too long to remove the scent. "That's all very well," Nightfrost meowed. "You can shift the rabbits, but what about the scent?"
"We'll move the rabbits anyway," he decided swiftly. "That might slow the dogs up. But we've got to get back and warn the Clan. They'll have to leave the camp."
Racing through the forest, ears pricked for the sound of the pack behind them, they headed for the camp. Soon they had more rabbits than they could carry.
"Let's leave them all here," Sandstorm suggested when they were still some way from the ravine. Her flanks heaved as she gasped for breath, and she had torn a claw, but her eyes glittered with determination. "If the dogs find a good meal, they'll stop to eat it."
"Good idea," Fireheart meowed.
They left the heap of rabbits in full view on the trail and sprinted on. At the top of the ravine, Fireheart paused. "Spread out," he ordered his warriors. "Make sure there's no fresh-kill close to the camp."
They headed down the ravine, ranging from side to side. Ravenwing drew ahead, and not far from the entrance, stop dead. He was staring down at something on the ground.
"No! No!" His voice was an earsplitting yowl. "No! Brindleface! Why?!"
"Because Tigerstar wants the pack to get a taste for cat blood," Fireheart rasped in realization.
I know Last Gathering as doesn't make sense, but you'll see why in one of the later chapters. And no, Bone is a little too loyal to Nightfrost to rebuild it (he doesn't have the intelligence for it either).