Chapter 10

Moonshine pelted blindly through the forest, her heart hammering in her throat. Everywhere she went, she thought she smelled rogue scent, but a heartbeat later it would be gone and she’d tell herself that she’d imagined it. Her mind was reliving every rogue attack that had ever happened to her, and she couldn’t stop it.

The first one, when we were apprentices. More, more, and more…they kept coming. And coming. And another one, and I lost—I lost Flakeheart and Treasure and now my Clan is broken and I don’t know what to do and Golden is in trouble and I just ran away from him—

Moonshine clenched her teeth and pushed harder. Even if all was lost, even if everyone she cared about might be gone, she would still go on. At least she would’ve tried. At least I would have been a good warrior. At least I would have tried to save everyone.

She didn’t know what was more important anymore—the cats she loved, or her Clan? There wasn’t even Clans anymore, or at least the rogues had driven them out the last time she’d seen them. Surely now all that mattered was Silverfur and Shadow and Golden, and surviving by themselves and not losing anyone else, and building their own Clan, like Silverfur had insisted.

So she would do that.

Moonshine burst through the camp entrance, yowling “Silverfur!” at the top of her lungs. For a heartbeat no one answered, and she was afraid that Silverfur and Shadow were still out training, but soon flashes of silver and dark gray rushed up to greet her.

“What happened?” Silverfur demanded. “Where’s Golden?”

Moonshine took a moment to catch her breath. “We—we ran into some rogues,” she gasped. “There’s two of them, and Golden sent me back to get help.”

Silverfur frowned at her. “What? Why didn’t you two just hold them off yourselves?”

Yeah, why didn’t we just do that? “I don’t know!” Moonshine yowled out loud. “All I know is that Golden needs help! H-he told me to run back, and I just did it! There’s no turning back—come on, come on!” Silverfur nodded solemnly.

Moonshine dashed out of the rocky clearing with Silverfur and Shadow. As they ran back to help Golden, Silverfur hissed, mostly to herself, “He doesn’t even know any battle moves.”

“Maybe, but he survived a long time by himself,” Moonshine panted. Her legs were starting to get numb from all the running.

“Sure,” Silverfur replied doubtfully.

“I really hope he’s okay,” Shadow whispered, his blue eyes as round as the moons. “He’s the best friend I ever had.”

I know, Moonshine thought. She didn’t have the breath or the energy to talk out loud anymore. He’s such a good cat. He doesn’t deserve this.

At one point, her paw painfully hit a rock jutting out of the ground and sent her tumbling to the ground. Silverfur cast a glance at her and ran past with Shadow, leaving her alone.

Yes, do that, Moonshine thought with relief. She struggled back to her paws, breathing heavily, her chest aching. She didn’t think she could run anymore. She would have to leave Silverfur and Shadow to fight off the rogues.

But Golden…I want to see him.

Moonshine stood still for a moment, still panting. She thought of her kithood, when she’d won all those races against Leafkit. She thought of when she’d been an apprentice, keeping up easily with her mentor while Leafpaw lagged behind, when she’d been the first one to reach camp and the fresh-kill pile. She felt a surge of energy.

I can do this. I’ve run so much before. I escaped that rogue who chased me to the river. I came this far. Moonshine forced herself to keep running.

The smell and shapes of the trees around her told her she was near the rogue camp. She pushed on harder. Golden.

Surprisingly, she nearly collided with Silverfur and Shadow. They had begun to slow down, panting as well. “We’re almost there,” she encouraged her friends, who looked surprised to see her.

Moonshine burst into the clearing with Silverfur and Shadow behind her. The birds had gone silent. There were marks in the dirt where a fight had been. And right outside the rock den, was Golden and one of the gray-furred rogues.

Moonshine’s breath caught in her throat as she realized they were both lying on the ground, but when she crept closer, Golden raised his body and met her eyes. Relief flooded through her.

She opened her mouth to say something and stopped when she saw that the gray rogue was completely still and covered with deep, bloody claw marks, his sightless eyes staring up at nothing. Her eyes darted to Golden.

There was blood splattered all over his claws.

Her mind immediately went, But—but—I thought—I thought he—he couldn’t—he wouldn’t have—he didn’t…

“What happened?” Moonshine finally forced out.

Golden stared at her, his amber eyes wide with horror. He took a moment to find his voice. “I-I…”

“Did you…”

“No!” Golden yelped, leaping to his paws. “No, Moonshine! I know what you’re thinking—you think I killed him! You’re wrong, because I didn’t! It didn’t go like that! It’s not like that! That didn’t happen! NO!”

Moonshine had never seen him so angry and fearful and hurt in her life. She padded to his side and rested her tail tip on his back reassuringly. He tensed under her but didn’t pull away. She felt him slowly relaxing.

“I didn’t kill him,” Golden murmured. “I mean…I didn’t kill him…”

Moonshine glanced down at the body of the rogue, wondering which one it was of the two she’d seen. The size and shade of gray told her the answer. Boulder, she realized. The one that attacked Golden. So if it wasn’t Golden that killed him…who?

The two of them sat quietly, staring at the dead body.

“What happened?” she asked after a moment.

Silverfur and Shadow padded up to them. Moonshine had nearly forgotten they were there. “Yes, what in StarClan happened?” Silverfur demanded. Moonshine admired that her voice was firm and gentle at the same time.

“Well, you see…” Golden began shakily. “Boulder attacked me. Him,” he added to Silverfur and Shadow, flicking his tail at the body. “I tried to block his blows and dodge him. It was pretty easy. I actually learned a lot, just from that fight.” His eyes glowed for a heartbeat. “Anyway, then, suddenly, I don’t know how, but Rock—the other rogue—jumped in, and he…he killed him. Just like that.”

“How did he kill him?” Moonshine asked in confusion.

“I don’t know,” Golden repeated. “It was too fast, and I was tired from the fight. In a flash, Boulder was on the ground, instantly dead from a neck wound. Then Rock ran away.”

Moonshine blinked. “I don’t know how he could have managed to run away with such slowness in talking and moving like that,” she tried to joke.

Golden smiled and shifted, then winced. Moonshine realized with a jolt that there were bloody scratches all over his sides. His long golden fur had covered it up so well she hadn’t noticed until now. “How did you get those?” she gasped. “I thought you said blocking Boulder was easy.”

“Before Rock left, he somehow made all these scratches on me,” Golden meowed. “Again, I don’t know how. I’m sorry. I was too shocked by Boulder’s death and too overwhelmed with pain when he lashed out at me.”

“It’s okay,” Moonshine told him reassuringly. “Let’s just get you back to camp and get you treated.”

“Yes, definitely,” Silverfur agreed. “Hopefully Rock isn’t lurking around.”

Moonshine had a feeling he was, but all she cared about right now was getting Golden and the others back safely. This was her Clan now. This was her family. These were her friends that she’d stay loyal to no matter what, fight side by side with, share fresh-kill, and sleep with. She would devote her life to building this Clan of Silverfur’s, and serving as a loyal warrior.

With Golden.