Graystripe emerges from the warriors' den and pauses. He gazes across the clearing to where Sandstorm is crouched by the nettle patch, gulping down a piece of fresh-kill. He has told two extra warriors that Bluestar wanted to come with him to Snakerocks, but so far he had not spoken to Sandstorm about the mission they are going to be doing tomorrow.
He knows that he can not imagine going without her but fear for her safety penetrates his belly/ Taking a deep breath, he pads over to the nettle patch and sits down beside her. Sandstorm swallows the last mouthful of squirrel.
"Graystripe? What is it?"
"I am worried about this mission and what we'll face. I worried for your safety despite me knowing that you're fast and brave, and the Clan needs you."
The she-cat turns her green gaze on him, but Graystripe can not read the expression there.
"I need you," he blurts out, emotions tumbling out of him " I want you there beside me with the other cats we've assembled. Despite being worried about your safety because being by your side always reassures me and gives me strength. I couldn't have come this far without your support…."
"I'm glad you care for me. But I can take care of myself. And…." she adds, " I want you by my side for when we face those dogs. You also give me strength with your words and presence."
Graystripe feels too full of emotion to answer knowing that she feels the same. He stretched out his head to press against her flank, and to his delight she did not move away. Instead she looks up at him again, and he feels as if he were drowning in the depths of her green gaze.
"I love you, Stripes." Sandstorm mews as her green eyes glow with warmth.
"I love you too, Sand," he whispers.
Sandstorm lets out a purr and touches her nose to his. "I want you beside me always." Graystripe mews as he breathes in her scent, rejoicing in the warmth of her body. He suddenly feels that he will always be happy if he could stay like this forever. But he knows that he cannot.
"Sandstorm," he tells her, lifting his head. "I know what we're going to face out there. It's more dangerous than I ever imagined. I'm glad you're facing it with me."
Sandstorm's purr grows deeper, a vibration that fills her whole body. "I'm glad too," she mews.
Graystripe sets a double watch on the camp that night and keeps vigil himself in the center of the clearing. A growing sense of horror creeps over him as he listens to the wind sighing through the bare trees.
It seems to carry Fireheart's voice to him, murmuring about the enemy that never slept: Tigerstar, the dogs—or both. The enemy is about to unleash its fury, and no cat is safe. The next day, Graystripe knows, could see the final destruction of his Clan.
As he watches the moon above him, barely waning from the full, Cinderpelt emerges from her den and pads across the clearing to sit beside him.
"If you're leading a patrol tomorrow, you should get some sleep," she advises. "You'll need your strength."
"I know," he agrees. "But I don't think I could sleep."
He raises his eyes to the moon again and the glittering stars of Silverpelt.
"It looks so peaceful up there. But down here…"
"Yes," murmurs Cinderpelt. "Down here I can feel the evil growing. The forest is dark with it, and StarClan cannot help us. It's up to us."
"I know. It's up to us and our strength to beat the dogs. We are all in this together."
Cinderpelt meets his gaze, her eyes shining with the reflected light of the moon. "You're right. We're not alone. The clan is facing this threat together. We're all with you."
Graystripe hopes she is right. The Clan would survive only if it is united and faces this dark threat together. They have supported him when he made them stay in Riverclan but would they join him in facing the pack?
She keeps watch with him in silence until the moon begins to set.
Then she meows, "Graystripe, I'm telling you as your medicine cat that you need to rest. What happens tomorrow could determine the very future of this Clan, and we need all our warriors to be at full strength."
Reluctantly he admits that she is right. Giving Cinderpelt's ear a farewell lick, he gets to his paws, pading off to the warriors' den, and curls himself into the moss beside Sandstorm. But his sleep is broken, and his dreams are dark.
Once he thinks he sees Fireheart bounding toward him, and his heart lifts in joy, but before she reaches him she turns into a huge dog with gaping jaws and eyes like flames.
Graystripe wakes shuddering, to see that the first light of dawn is beginning to seep into the sky. This could be the last dawn I'll ever see, he thinks. Death waits for us out there.
Then as he raises his head he sees that Sandstorm is sitting beside him, watching over him while he sleeps. As he sees the love in her eyes he feels new strength flowing through his limbs and the fear from his dreams disappears. He sits up and gives the she-cat's ear a gentle lick.
"It's time," he meows. Bracing himself, he rouses the cats he and Bluestar have chosen the evening before for his patrol to Snakerocks. Cloudtail almost leaps out of his nest, his tail lashing fiercely at the thought of confronting the creatures who have injured Brightspirit.
Brindleface, who has been sleeping close to the young warrior, awakes with him and follows him to the edge of the den. "May StarClan go with you," she mews, grooming the scraps of moss out of his fur. Cloudtail presses his muzzle against hers. "Don't worry," he assures his foster mother. "I'll tell you all about it when I come back."
Graystripe wakes Whitestorm, and then pads across the den to where Brackenfur lies curled up in a pile of heather. Prodding him with one paw, he murmurs, "Come on."
Brackenfur blinks and sits up. "It's dawn already."
"Fraid so." he mews to the young warrior. He goes to wake Longtail. The pale warrior shivers as he crawls out of his nest, but his eyes are determined. "I'll show you that you and the clan can trust me," he promises quietly.
"The Clan needs you, Longtail," Graystripe meows to his friend reassuringly . "Far more than Tigerstar and Darkstripe need you, believe me. I also trust you already. I know you won't betray us."
Longtail brightens at that and follows him with the other warriors out to the nettle patch. They gulp down fresh-kill while Graystripe quickly reminds them of what Longtail has told him the day before. "We're going to investigate," he meows. "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, not yet—have you got that, Cloudtail?"
Cloudtail's blue eyes burn into his, and he does not reply.
"I won't take you, Cloudtail, unless you promise to do as you're told without question."
"Oh, all right." The tip of Cloudtail's tail flicks irritably. "I want every last dog turned into crowfood, but I'll do it your way, Graystripe."
"Good." His gaze sweeps over the rest of the patrol. "Any questions?"
"What if we come across Tigerstar?" asks Sandstorm.
"A cat from another Clan on our territory?" Graystripe bares his teeth.
"Yes, you can attack him."
Cloudtail lets out a growl of satisfaction. Gulping down the last of his fresh-kill, he leads the way out of the camp and up the ravine. Although the sun has nearly risen, clouds cover the sky, and shadows still lie thick among the trees. There is a strong smell of rabbit not far from the camp, but Graystripe ignores it. There is no time to hunt as they have to report back and then get rid of the dogs.
The warriors advance warily in single file with him in the lead and Whitestorm keeping watch at the rear. After what he has learned from Longtail, Graystripe feels even more strongly that the familiar forest has become full of danger, and his fur prickles with the expectation of attack.
All is quiet until they draw close to Snakerocks. He is just considering the best way to approach the caves when Brackenfur meows, "What's that?" He plunges into a clump of dead bracken.
A moment later Graystripe hears his voice, strained and hoarse.
"Come and look at this." He follows the sound and finds Brackenfur crouched over a dead rabbit. Its throat has been torn out, and its fur is stiff with dried blood.
"The pack has been killing again," Longtail mews grimly. "
Then why didn't they eat the prey?" asks Sandstorm, coming up to sniff at the limp, gray-brown body. She sniffs again.
"Graystripe, there's a ShadowClan scent here!"
He opens his jaws and draws the forest breeze over the glands in the roof of his mouth. Sandstorm is right. The scent is faint but unmistakable.
"Tigerstar killed this rabbit," he murmurs, "and then left it here. What for, I wonder?"
He remembers how Longtail had reported seeing Tigerstar feeding the pack with rabbit, and the reek of rabbit that has followed them all the way from the ThunderClan camp. Backing away from the prey, he summons Cloudtail with a flick of his tail.
"Go back along the way we came," he instructs. "You're looking for dead rabbits. If you find any, check for other scents, and then come and tell me. Whitestorm, you go with him."
He watches the two warriors retreat and then turns to Brackenfur. "Stay here and guard this. Sandstorm, Longtail, come with me."
Even more cautiously now, pausing to taste the air every few steps, Graystripe draws closer to Snakerocks. It isn't long before they discover another dead rabbit lying exposed on a rock, with the same betraying scent of Tigerstar lingering around it. By this time they are in sight of the mouth of the cave.
He can just make out the shape of yet another rabbit lying at the edge of the open space in front of it. There is no sign of the pack.
"Where are the dogs?" he mutters, fear growing inside him.
"In that cave," replies Longtail. "That's where I saw Tigerstar leave the rabbit yesterday."
"When they come out, they'll see the rabbit over there, and they'll scent this one…." Graystripe thinks aloud. "And then there's the one Brackenfur found…"
Understanding hits him like a rock and he can scarcely breathe for fear nearly overwhelms him.
"I know what Whitestorm and Cloudtail will find. Tigerstar has laid a trail straight back to the camp."
Longtail crouches down on the forest floor and Sandstorm's eyes stretch wide with horror. "
You mean that he wants to bring the pack right to us?"
Pictures flash through his mind of massive, slavering dogs racing down the sides of the ravine and breaking through the fern wall into the peaceful camp. He can see jaws snapping, limp feline bodies tossed high in the air, kits wailing as cruel teeth reached for them…. He shudders.
"Yes. Come on; we have to break the trail!" Not even an order from StarClan themselves can make Graystripe try to retrieve the rabbit that is close to the cave mouth. But he snatches up the one that lies on the rock and bounds back to where he has left Brackenfur.
He sets down his burden long enough to meow, "Bring that rabbit. We have to warn the camp before the dogs come upon them."
Ears pricking in amazement, Brackenfur obeys. They head back toward the camp, and before they have traveled more than a few fox-lengths he spots Cloudtail and Whitestorm coming to meet them, slipping warily through the undergrowth.
"We've found two more rabbits," Cloudtail reports. "Both stink of Tigerstar."
"Then go and fetch them." Rapidly he explains what he suspects. "We'll dump them in a stream somewhere and break the trail."
"That's all very well," Whitestorm meows thoughtfully. "You can shift the rabbits, but what about the scent?"
Graystripe freezes. Fear was making him stupid, he realizes. The rabbit scent and spilled blood will still lead the pack straight to the ThunderClan camp.
"We'll move the rabbits anyway," he decides 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 head for the camp. Soon they have more rabbits than they can carry. Tigerstar must have hunted all night to catch this many, he thinks grimly.
"Let's leave them all here," Sandstorm suggests when they were still some way from the ravine. Her flanks heave as she gasps for breath, and she has torn a claw, but her eyes glitter with determination, and Graystripe knows that she will run forever if he asks her to.
"If the dogs find a good meal, they'll stop to eat it."
"Good idea," Graystripe meows approvingly to the pale-ginger she-cat.
"It might have been better to leave them closer to the cave," Whitestorm points out, his eyes dark with worry. "That might have stopped the dogs' coming to the camp at all."
"True," he replies, "but there isn't time. The dogs could be on their way already. We don't want to meet them."
Whitestorm nods agreement. They leave the heap of rabbits in full view on the trail and sprint on. Graystripe feels his heart pounding wildly. He should have known his old enemy is connected with the dark force that threatens the forest. Only StarClan knows how Tigerstar has found out that the dogs are at Snakerocks, but he is using them to destroy the Clan he hates.
As he dashes through the trees, Graystripe is afraid that it might be too late to stop him.
At the top of the ravine, he pauses.
"Spread out," he orders his warriors. "Make sure there's no fresh-kill close to the camp."
They head down the ravine, ranging from side to side. Cloudtail draws ahead, and not far from the entrance he sees the white warrior stop dead. He is staring down at something on the ground.
"No! No!" His voice is an earsplitting yowl, and Graystripe's fur bristles in horror.
"No!" Cloudtail yowls again. "Graystripe!"
He dashes to the warrior's side. Cloudtail iss standing stiff-legged, every hair in his pelt on end as if he is facing an enemy. His eyes are fixed on the limp heap of tabby fur huddled at his paws.
"Why, Graystripe?" Cloudtail wails. "Why her?"
He knows the answer, but rage and grief make it hard to speak.
"Because Tigerstar wants the pack to get a taste for cat blood," he rasps.
The dead cat lying in front of them is Brindleface.