Dark River

“Are we going to pick any?”

“Not yet.” Leafpool’s paws scuffed across the ground as she carried the dripping moss to Cinderpaw’s nest. “But I want to know whether there’ll be a good harvest this year.”

“There’s been enough rain.” Jaypaw tucked his nose between his paws and closed his eyes. “Good night.”

“Sleep well.” Leafpool’s nest crunched as she climbed into it and started washing. The gentle lapping of her tongue

began to lull Jaypaw to sleep.

“Leafpool?”

Firestar’s mew woke him with a start. The ThunderClan leader was pushing his way through the bramble entrance.

Jaypaw lifted his head, instantly alert and trying to sense what pulsed beneath their visitor’s pelt.

Unease.

Leafpool jumped out of her nest. “What is it?”

“This concerns both of you,” Firestar meowed.

Jaypaw got up too, not bothering to pretend he hadn’t been listening.

“Is something wrong?” Leafpool whispered anxiously.

Firestar shifted his paws. “I want you both to travel to the WindClan camp tomorrow.”

“The WindClan camp?” Leafpool echoed. “Do you want us to speak to Barkface?”

“No.” Firestar was choosing his words carefully. “Onestar.”

“Why us?”

“Only you can make the journey. If I send warriors, they’ll be seen as a threat.”

“What do you want us to say to him?” Leafpool sounded puzzled.

“I need you to find out what’s going on in WindClan.”

A spying mission! Jaypaw felt a surge of excitement. He wants us to find out their weaknesses. But something wasn’t right. He could detect no scheming in Firestar’s mind. Only honest anxiety.

“I’ve just been speaking with Mousefur,” Firestar

explained. “She seems to think Hollypaw is right and that all this talk of battle has grown out of gossip and guesswork. I need you to find out whether RiverClan has actually invaded WindClan territory.”

Jaypaw blinked. “What difference does that make?”

“If there’s going to be a battle with WindClan, I want it to be for a good reason,” Firestar replied.

Leafpool swished her tail over the ground. “But if they cross our border, isn’t that reason enough?”

“Yes,” growled Firestar, “but we might be able to stop them from crossing the border from now on.”

“They’ve already done it once and gotten away with it,”

Jaypaw pointed out. He ignored Leafpool’s hiss of warning; apprentices weren’t meant to speak to the Clan leader in that way.

“That could have just been a mistake.” Jaypaw felt Firestar’s amber gaze warm his pelt. “Their apprentices would not be the first to stray onto another Clan’s territory.”

He means Hollypaw!

Firestar went on. “It makes sense for WindClan to invade us if RiverClan has taken their territory. But what if Onestar leads an attack just because he’s afraid that RiverClan might take his territory? Blood would be shed for no reason.”

“I don’t understand what you think we can do.” Leafpool plucked at the ground. “If we find out that RiverClan hasn’t invaded, do you want us to ask Onestar not to fight? Won’t that make us look weak?”

Firestar stiffened. “You must make it clear that we are ready to fight if we have to,” he meowed. “I’d just rather fight a battle driven by real need, not empty fears.”

“But still, you want us to persuade Onestar not to attack us unless he has no other option?” Leafpool pressed. “Won’t we look like cowards?”

Anger flashed from Firestar’s pelt. “We’re not cowards,”

he snapped, “but why should we fight pointless battles to prove it?”

Dawn was bright but cold. A pale sun peeped over the forest at the top of the hollow but Jaypaw could smell rain on the wind. He waited at the camp entrance while Firestar gave his final orders to their escort. Brambleclaw and Dusltpelt were going to accompany them to the WindClan border and wait for their return.

Leafpool pressed against him. Jaypaw could still sense doubt darkening his mentor’s thoughts. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“Yes.” Jaypaw’s tail twitched with excitement. There was more to being a medicine cat than picking herbs and looking after sick cats after all. The future of the Clan could depend on what he and Leafpool found out.

There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.

“Come on, then.” Brambleclaw padded through the thorn tunnel. Leafpool headed after him and Jaypaw followed, leaving Dustpelt to fall in behind. He could feel the warrior’s

dark pelt bristling with uncertainty. Dustpelt thought that Firestar was being hasty, that it was too soon to let WindClan know they would rather avoid a battle. Brambleclaw’s thoughts were harder to read, his mind clouded by doubt one moment, brightened by hope the next.

The patrol padded wordlessly over the ridge and down into the open moorland, which stretched into WindClan territory. Dustpelt was the first to voice his disquiet as they reached the border. “Are we just going to sit and wait for a WindClan patrol to ask us if we need help?” His mew was scathing.

“Yes,” Brambleclaw growled.

Dustpelt paced up and down, re-marking the bushes, irritation flashing from him so fiercely that it made Jaypaw’s fur stand on end. How humiliating to wait for permission from WindClan to go any farther.

“Perhaps Jaypaw and I should go on by ourselves,” Leafpool suggested. “That’s what we’d do if we needed to speak with Barkface.”

Jaypaw nodded. They were medicine cats. They might as well take advantage of their special freedom to travel.

“No.” Brambleclaw’s mew was firm. “You’re not going to speak with Barkface, and it’s too soon after our run- in with that WindClan patrol for you to walk into their territory without them knowing. My duty is to make sure you’re safe.”

His fur brushed the grass as he sat down. “We’ll wait.”

Jaypaw sniffed the air. The sun was warming the earth and he could smell heather budding and young rabbits. Suddenly,

he stiffened: A musky tang edged the wind. “WindClan cats are coming.” He recognized the scents of Harepaw and Tornear. There were two more cats with them. Their scents were familiar but he couldn’t yet name them.

“It’s Nightcloud.”

Jaypaw felt tension spiking from Leafpool as she identified the WindClan she-cat. He knew there was some connection between his mentor and Nightcloud, who was the mate of Crowfeather. He had felt it thicken the air between them before, but he had no idea what it could be. As he probed Leafpool’s mind, his paws pricked with surprise. Was that jealousy?

“Tornear, Harepaw, and Owlwhisker are with her,” Dustpelt murmured. “Not bad, though I would have preferred it if Tornear had stayed in his nest.” Dustpelt’s pelt tickled Jaypaw’s flank as the warrior fluffed out his fur defensively.

“Relax,” Brambleclaw ordered. “They mustn’t think we’re showing any sign of aggression.”

“Because we’re begging a favor,” Dustpelt muttered under his breath.

“Silence!” Brambleclaw hissed. Then he raised his voice.

“Tornear!”

Hostility slammed against Jaypaw like a wave as the WindClan cats spotted the ThunderClan patrol. The air seemed to crackle around him and he tensed, suddenly afraid.