Crowfeather's Trial

He’s starting to look old, Crowfeather thought. How much use will he be to deal with a crisis like this?

“Onestar,” Bramblestar continued, “I’ll make you the same offer that I made before. ThunderClan is ready to help. We must work together; it’s the only hope we have of driving out the stoats.”

“Great StarClan!” Nightcloud whispered in Crowfeather’s ear, “Let’s not have another argument like the one in our camp. Breezepelt told me all about it, and I couldn’t believe what Onestar said!”

“Onestar wouldn’t say the same now — not at a Gathering,” Crowfeather responded, though he wasn’t at all sure that it was true.

Onestar hesitated for a long moment, staring at the ThunderClan leader. Then, slowly, he dipped his head. “Very well. WindClan thanks you, Bramblestar.”

“RiverClan will help too, if we’re needed,” Mistystar meowed. “And ShadowClan too, Blackstar?”

Blackstar gave his pelt a shake. “I suppose so,” he grunted.

The decision made, the cats in the clearing were settling down again when Crowfeather noticed that his son Lionblaze was looking uncomfortable, shifting impatiently as if he wanted to speak. What’s biting him? he wondered.

Lionblaze suddenly leaped to his paws. “Bramblestar, I want to say something!”

His Clan leader looked down at him, a slight look of disapproval in his eyes. “Very well. Go on,” he mewed.

Crowfeather saw Lionblaze’s glance swivel around the clearing until it lighted on Breezepelt. For a couple of heartbeats the two half brothers glared at each other. Dread bubbled up inside Crowfeather as he realized where this was going.

“I don’t want to fight beside Breezepelt,” Lionblaze growled, with an angry glare at the WindClan warrior, who was sitting beside Heathertail in the shadow of the bushes. “He tried to kill me in the battle with the Dark Forest.”

I thought all that was over. Crowfeather’s heart sank as he had to accept that he was wrong. It was many days since he had heard a WindClan cat speak out against Breezepelt, but he had forgotten how Lionblaze might still be bearing a grudge.

“And I still think WindClan was spying on us when we caught Crowfeather and Breezepelt in the tunnels,” Berrynose added, coming to stand beside Lionblaze.

Crowfeather could hear other ThunderClan warriors murmuring agreement, and was bracing himself to stand up. He didn’t want to make a scene at a Gathering, and he had the horrible feeling that whatever he did, he was going to upset one of his sons. But he couldn’t let the chance pass of showing support for Breezepelt.

However, before Crowfeather had decided what to say, Bramblestar waved his tail for silence once again.

“The trouble with the Dark Forest is over,” the ThunderClan leader meowed decisively. He turned a cold gaze on Lionblaze and Berrynose. “Raking up old quarrels will do no cat any good. We must all learn to trust one another. We must move forward and not think about the past.”

Lionblaze, though he was obviously unhappy about his leader’s rebuke, dipped his head and sat down again. Berrynose sat beside him and muttered something into Lionblaze’s ear.

Crowfeather could hear more grumbling remarks from the cats around him. Though most of them were too low-pitched for him to make out the words, he had a good idea of what was being said.

“ThunderClan would feel that way.” That was Weaselfur; he was sitting so close to Crowfeather that he had no trouble hearing him. “They had cats who trained with the Dark Forest, but no real traitors.” His eyes narrowed with hostility as he turned his head to gaze at Breezepelt.

Crowfeather saw from Breezepelt’s hostile glare at the gray-and-white she-cat that he had noticed, and that he understood Weaselfur’s implication that he was a real traitor, since he had fought on the side of the Dark Forest.

His Clanmates still don’t trust him, Crowfeather thought sadly. Even after all he’s done, battling the stoats and helping to bring Nightcloud home.

For the first time, instead of becoming angry and uncomfortable himself, Crowfeather imagined how his son must be feeling. He rose to speak, but before he could, Breezepelt leaped to his paws and spoke in a voice so confident, his words rang out across all the clearing.

“No cat has to trust me, or the other Dark Forest warriors. We will prove ourselves, and then no other cat will dare to doubt our loyalty.”

“Yes! You’ll see!” Whiskernose yowled.

“We’re just as loyal as the rest of you!” Larkwing added.

Harespring backed up his Clanmates sturdily. “We trained in the Dark Forest to help our Clans!”