Fire And Ice

Fireheart searched for the right words but Graystripe hissed first, “I know what you’re going to say. And I won’t stop seeing her!”

“You’re a mouse-brained fool!” Fireheart spat back. “They’ll soon work out it’s you. Bluestar will guess, or some cat from RiverClan’ll recognize your scent. Tigerclaw’s probably guessed already!”

Graystripe shot Fireheart an anxious glance. “Do you really think so?”

“I don’t know,” Fireheart admitted, relieved to hear a note of fear in Graystripe’s voice. Graystripe had been acting as if he had no idea what might happen if the Clan found out about his affair. “But once he starts thinking about it…”

“Okay, okay!” spat Graystripe. He was silent for a moment. “What if I promise we’ll meet only at Fourtrees? That way our scent will be hard to detect, and I won’t have to go into RiverClan territory. Will you leave me alone then?”

Fireheart felt his heart sink. Graystripe was not going to give up Silverstream that easily. Then he nodded. This had to be better than creeping into hostile Clan territory to see her.

“Satisfied?” Graystripe’s eyes flashed in the gloom, but his voice sounded shaky. Fireheart felt a pang of regret for their lost friendship, and a rush of sympathy for the gray warrior. He stretched his head forward to nuzzle Graystripe’s flank, but Graystripe ran on ahead, leaving Fireheart alone at the back of the group.

Even though the cats were tired from the journey, Bluestar called a meeting as soon as they were home. Most of the Clan was still awake anyway. The Gathering had been shorter than usual, and the sudden cloud cover had alarmed even the cats left in the camp.

While Bluestar and Tigerclaw settled themselves on the Highrock, Fireheart hurried over to the nursery. He wanted to know how Cloudkit was. He poked his head through the entrance. It was pitch black and warm inside.

“Hello, Fireheart,” Brindleface whispered, a faint shadow shifting in the gloom. “Cloudkit’s much better. Yellowfang gave him feverfew. It was just a chill.” The queen sounded relieved. “What happened at the Gathering?”

“StarClan sent clouds to cover the moon. Bluestar’s called a meeting. Can you come?”

Fireheart listened to Brindleface sniffing her kits. “Yes, I think I can,” she answered finally. “My kits will sleep for a while.”

Fireheart withdrew his head, and together they joined the cats gathered in the clearing. Fireheart felt fur brush against him, and Cinderpaw glanced up at him with wide, worried eyes.

Bluestar had already begun. “The greatest threat seems to be from RiverClan and ShadowClan. We must be prepared for the possibility that these two Clans have united against us.”

Shocked meows rippled through the Clan.

“Do you really think they’ve joined together?” Yellowfang rasped. “RiverClan has the best sources of prey, but I can’t imagine they’d want to share with ShadowClan.” Fireheart remembered Silverstream’s words about RiverClan’s hunger after the Twoleg invasion, but he held his tongue, fearful that Bluestar would want to know where he’d heard such a story.

“They didn’t deny it,” Tigerclaw pointed out.

Bluestar nodded. “Whatever the truth, we must be on full alert. From tonight, each patrol will have four cats, at least three of them warriors. The patrols will be more frequent, two each night, and one during the day, as well as the dawn and dusk patrols. We must put a stop to RiverClan’s and ShadowClan’s raids on our territory, and since they have chosen to ignore our words, we must be prepared to fight.”

The Clan yowled their agreement. Fireheart joined in even though he was worried about what this open hostility might mean for Graystripe. He looked around at the other cats. He could see all their eyes shining—except Graystripe’s. The gray warrior sat with his head bowed in the shadows at the edge of the clearing.

When the noise died away, Bluestar spoke again. “The first patrol will leave before dawn.” She jumped down from the Highrock. Tigerclaw followed, and the rest of the Clan broke up into small groups. Fireheart could hear them murmuring nervously as he padded to the warriors’ den.

Fireheart settled into his nest, kneading the moss with his paws to make it comfortable. An owl hooted at the top of the ravine. He knew he would not sleep yet. His mind was racing with the accusations that had flown around the Gathering. He understood RiverClan’s anger. They had picked up the scent of ThunderClan cats in their territory, and they were hungry now that their prey had been depleted by the Twoleg invasion.

But what about ShadowClan? It was smaller since ThunderClan had helped them to chase out their tyrannical former leader and his band of followers. Brokenstar had even admitted to killing Raggedstar, his own father, to become Clan leader. But the Clan had been left in peace to recover from Brokenstar’s bloody rule. And Fireheart couldn’t help thinking that, with fewer mouths to feed, ShadowClan had no need to raid ThunderClan’s hunting grounds, or anyone else’s.