Chapter 17

“Blacksky’s acting so weird again,” Sunclaw complained. “I mean, not again. Always! Can you please do something about it?”

Swirlstem turned to him. “Like what, exactly? ‘Hey, Blacksky, stop acting weird so Sunclaw will stop bugging me about it. Thank you.’”

“No,” Sunclaw said. “Not like that!”

“Then what?” Swirlstem snapped. “How is she acting weird?”

“Well,” Sunclaw meowed slowly. “She keeps going out in the night. And then when she comes back I ask her where she went and she just says the dirtplace, but I definitely always smell forest on her.”

That is weird. Swirlstem didn’t want to admit it out loud, though. Not until Sunclaw stopped bugging her. “Well, then, maybe you should follow her,” she suggested.

“Okay.” Sunclaw fidgeted nervously (Sunclaw? Goldenclaw’s son? Fidgeting nervously?). “But…honestly, I don’t want to go into the forest by myself.” He gave her a pleading look, which was even more weird. “Please?”

Wow, he really cares about his sister. Just like me. Swirlstem nodded. “Okay. Fine. We’ll do it tonight.”

The sun was already half below the horizon. Spiralpaw hadn’t been seen since she had stormed off earlier. Swirlstem and Sunclaw went straight to their nests, keeping an eye on Blacksky the whole time, who was also going to bed early (okay, fine, Sunclaw, very weird).

It was nearly pitch black and Swirlstem was half asleep when Sunclaw hissed at her. “Come on, she’s leaving.”

It was true—a black-and-white shape was slipping stealthily out of the den. Swirlstem and Sunclaw waited a moment until she was out of earshot, then crept out after her.

The moonlight illuminated Blacksky’s white parts for a moment, and then she shot into the shadows. Swirlstem followed her, keeping her breaths short and shallow. She could hear Sunclaw not far behind her.

Swirlstem nearly jumped out of her fur when a new voice hissed, “What are you doing?” It took her a moment to realize it was Curlstar’s voice. The ThunderClan leader was crouched in the shadows of the Highledge, her yellow gaze fixed on the two cats.

Blacksky was already out of the camp. Swirlstem crossed the clearing and hurriedly explained to her, “Sunclaw says Blacksky’s been acting weird lately, so we’re following her to see where she’s going.”

Curlstar nodded without any further questions and followed them out the thorn tunnel. Swirlstem felt a spark of relief and pride. She’s such a good and trusting leader. She never questions her Clanmates.

The forest was dark and eerie in the night. Swirlstem felt a jolt of fear that Bubble might be crouched in the shadows, but she pushed it away. Blacksky was nearly out of sight. They had to keep up with her.

The three cats ran as silently as they could through the forest. When they lost sight of Blacksky, they followed her scent trail, though at one point she seemed to have disguised her scent. It was mingled with plants, and it was harder to distinguish.

“Ow!” Sunclaw suddenly yelped. Swirlstem and Curlstar stopped and looked back. “Sorry,” the golden tabby meowed. “A thorn poked me.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Curlstar urged. Swirlstem felt panic rising in her chest. Blacksky was nowhere to be seen, and her scent trail was getting fainter and fainter and more covered by plants.

Sunclaw scrambled to his paws and the three cats carried on. Swirlstem couldn’t help feeling a spike of annoyance when Sunclaw tripped over something and went flying into their faces.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Sunclaw cried, untangling himself from them. He winced. “Ouch. You should carry on without me.” He stretched a wrenched paw and winced again.

“We’re not leaving a Clanmate behind,” Curlstar said loyally. “Let’s first see how bad the injury is. If it is, we need to get you back to camp and this mission will be over.” He opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him with a stern look. “Blacksky will come back, you know. We’ll try again another night.”

Fortunately, Sunclaw seemed to be fine, so they could continue the mission, but he couldn’t keep a steady pace with them. “I’ll go off by myself,” he said eventually when they stopped for the seventh time to wait for him. “I have a feeling I know where she might be, but I don’t know why.”

“But—” Swirlstem started. How would he be safe with a hurt paw and Bubble supposedly lurking around?

“I’ll be fine,” he insisted. “I, um—I—er, me and Blacksky, um—we’re sort of experts at surviving by ourselves. Um.”

Swirlstem squinted at him. Why did he look and sound so uncomfortable?

“Okay,” Curlstar agreed. If she’d noticed what Swirlstem had noticed, she kept it to herself. “But be really careful, okay? I’m not going to lose another Clanmate.” Her yellow eyes blazed.

“Okay,” Sunclaw promised, nodding solemnly.

The three cats split up, Sunclaw heading in the direction of the lake and Curlstar and Swirlstem heading in the direction of the SkyClan border. Swirlstem thought she caught a tiny whiff of Blacksky’s scent, but she might have just imagined it.

As they headed through the dark forest, the faint moonlight lighting their path, Swirlstem felt a flicker of fear. It seemed likely that Bubble could attack them—or Sunclaw—now, when they were so vulnerable. If Bubble and her whole group comes after us, what will we do? We’ll be way outnumbered.

“What do you think Blacksky’s up to?” Curlstar whispered to her.

Swirlstem tried to shrug, but the space was so tight her shoulders hit a bush and the rustling sound echoed in the silence. She froze and pricked her ears. Was that a sound she’d heard? No, probably just her own fear tricking her.

There it was again—Swirlstem’s breath caught in her throat. “Did you hear that?” she murmured to her sister, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible.

“Hear what? No, I didn’t.” She shut her mouth and the two of them listened in silence. Swirlstem was afraid that Curlstar could hear her thumping heart.

Then a whimper—so tiny and soft Swirlstem could have sworn it was just the wind. But it was real. Curlstar turned to her, and her expression told her she’d heard it too. “Who do you think that is?”

Swirlstem’s heart quickened even more, but with hope this time. “Blacksky? Do you think it’s Blacksky?”

“Maybe!” Curlstar started creeping forward cautiously and quickly. Swirlstem followed her.

The whimper sounded again, closer this time. Swirlstem felt a wave of sympathy. It sounded as if the cat was in pain. If it’s Blacksky, we need to find her fast! She moved a bit quicker. Or it could be Bubble tricking us…but that whimper sounds so real. It must be Blacksky.

As they neared the sound, a voice, so ragged and high-pitched with fear Swirlstem couldn’t tell if it was a she-cat or a tom, mewed, “Hello? Is anyone there? Please help me…”

We have to help whoever’s in trouble! Swirlstem turned to her sister. She could tell Curlstar was thinking the same thing. “I think they’re just ahead,” she whispered, flicking her tail. “In that small clearing.”

They rushed forward and burst through the bushes. Blacksky?

A shape was curled up beside a tree root, wrapped in shadows. The cat looked up as they appeared. “Thank you,” he breathed. “Finally.”

Icy cold fear rushed through Swirlstem. This cat was much bigger than Blacksky. He was sleek and all black, with muscles rippling under his pelt. His blue eyes were sharp and piercing, though right now they were filled with pain and desperation.

This was Black.

The rogue who was Bubble’s father.

Here, in ThunderClan territory, all alone (as far as Swirlstem could tell), lying beneath a tree and hurt.

Swirlstem couldn’t believe it. She shouldn’t believe it. This cat was evil; he was on Bubble’s side. She shouldn’t fall for anything, shouldn’t believe a word he said. Should she?

He was hurt. Or at least it really looked like he was hurt. His front paw was lying awkwardly to the side, and his body was stiff as if he was in pain.

“Please,” he croaked, reaching his other paw toward them and then wincing. “Please help me. My paw—I think it might be broken. Please.” He trembled.

Swirlstem couldn’t find any words to say for a moment. Finally she forced out, “We can’t trust you, Black. You’re with Bubble, for StarClan’s sake! How could we trust you?”

“I know,” Curlstar growled, stomping forward until she was right in front of him. “Tell us why you’re here. And tell us where the rest of your stinking group is. And stop whimpering.”

“I’m here because I don’t want to be with my daughter’s group anymore!” Black blurted out. “You’re right—they are terrible and evil and wrong. My daughter is too bloodthirsty and she’s killing cats all over the place. Please, trust me! I hurt my paw while running away from them.” His voice shook.

Curlstar padded back to Swirlstem. “Should we trust him?”

Swirlstem glanced at Black. “Well, he looks really hurt.”

“And we can’t leave an injured cat by himself,” Curlstar finished. She shot a glance at Black. “We’re going to talk in private. Just in case you are still with Bubble and you are pranking us.” He gave them a miserable look.

Curlstar led Swirlstem out of the clearing and behind a bush. “Which one’s the safer option?” she hissed quietly.

“Leaving him be, of course,” Swirlstem replied immediately.

“At least he seems to be alone,” Curlstar pointed out.

“What do you want?”

Curlstar shrugged. “I don’t know. Though we can’t just leave an injured cat behind.”

I wonder how Sunclaw is doing. Has he actually found Blacksky? Swirlstem nodded thoughtfully. “You’re the leader. What do you think?”

“Maybe we should just…trust him?” Curlstar meowed uncertainly.

“Okay,” Swirlstem meowed loyally. “Sure. Fine. Definitely. Yes!” Was that supportive enough? she wondered.

Curlstar sighed. “Okay. If you’re sure…” She turned and walked back into the clearing.

Swirlstem followed after a few moments of silence, wondering if this was really the best idea. What if we made a mistake— She froze.

Her instincts reacted faster than her mind. She leaped at Black, who was holding Curlstar up and halfway through slicing his claws across her throat, not hurt at all.

Swirlstem barreled into the large black tom and sent the two of them flying across the clearing. She found the strength to grab onto his shoulders and drag herself upright, pinning him down with all her strength. “I knew we couldn’t trust you!” she screeched. “You’re the worst! You’re nearly as terrible as Bubble!”

Black gave her a malicious, toothy grin. “Well, you’re as dumb as a rabbit!”

Ugh, in that case, I bet rabbits are pretty smart! Swirlstem dug her claws into his pelt. “How did you—you looked hurt!” She risked a quick glance at his perfectly fine paw.

Black snorted. “Well, I had to fake pain and injuries millions of times to get SkyClan to let me in,” he growled. “Just like what I did with you. When that didn’t work, Fireclaw came to join me instead.”

Swirlstem let out a long hiss. “Now that I’ve seen and heard about you, I bet Fireclaw didn’t even want to join you as a rogue. You forced her into it, didn’t you? Or was she just as stupid and evil and horrible as the rest of you?”

Black gave her another grin, which was now her least favorite grin in the whole world. Then, as fast as a snake, he shot out from under her and disappeared into the forest.

Swirlstem stood there for a few moments, trembling with rage and debating whether to chase him or not. Deciding it was pointless, she sighed and sat down.

“Swirlstem…” A weak voice came from behind her, this time with real pain and agony.

Swirlstem whirled around and ran to her sister’s side. Scarlet blood soaked Curlstar’s fur and the grass beneath her. Her mind screamed for her to get help, but her heart knew it was pointless. Hopeless.

Another failure. Another life lost.

Curlstar’s eyes flicked closed and her chest went still.

“No.”