The Darkest Hour

“I got scared,” Sorrelkit admitted, looking down at her paws. “I ran back to camp, but I think Darkstripe must have heard me, because he caught up with me in the ravine. I thought he would be angry because I spied on him, but he told me how clever I was. He gave me some red berries for a special treat. They looked tasty, but when I ate them I started to feel really ill… And I don’t remember anything else, except waking up here.”

She sank her head on her paws again as she finished, as if telling the long story had exhausted her.

Cinderpelt nosed her gently, checking her breathing. “Those were deathberries,” she mewed. “You must never, ever touch them again.”

“I won’t, Cinderpelt, I promise,” murmured the tiny kit.

“Thank you, Sorrelkit,” Firestar meowed. He was angry but not surprised to discover that Graystripe had been right all along. The real shock was the news that Blackfoot had been seen on ThunderClan territory, and that Darkstripe had obviously arranged to meet him.

“What are you going to do about Darkstripe?” asked Sandstorm.

“I’ll have to question him,” Firestar replied. “But I don’t expect he’ll tell me anything.”

“He can’t stay in ThunderClan after this,” Sandstorm pointed out, her voice hard as flint. “There’s more than one cat who would rip his throat out for a couple of mouse tails.”

“Leave him to me,” Firestar mewed grimly.

Cinderpelt stayed with Sorrelkit, who was drifting off to sleep again, while Firestar returned to the main clearing with Sandstorm. Many of the cats were still there, sharing tongues after the earlier meeting. Whitestorm was heading for the gorse tunnel with Goldenflower and Longtail.

The patrol turned back and all the cats looked up, startled, as Firestar bounded to the top of the Highrock and yowled the summons to another meeting. His gaze sought out Darkstripe, but there was no sign of him.

“Where’s Darkstripe?” he meowed at Graystripe as his friend made his way to the base of the rock.

“In the den,” Graystripe replied.

“Fetch him.”

Graystripe disappeared into the warriors’ den, and emerged a moment later with Darkstripe and Brackenfur by his side. All three cats returned to the base of the Highrock, where Darkstripe sat and looked up at Firestar with a sneer on his face.

“Well?” he asked. “What does our noble leader want now?”

Firestar met his eyes steadily. “Sorrelkit is awake.”

For a few heartbeats Darkstripe held his gaze, and then he looked away. “Have you called a Clan meeting to tell us that?” His tone was scoffing, but his fur had bristled u n easily at the new s.

“Cats of ThunderClan.” Firestar raised his voice. “I’ve called you together so that you can witness what Darkstripe has to say. You all heard what happened to Sorrelkit yesterday. She’s awake now, and Cinderpelt says she’ll be fine. I’ve talked to her and she confirms what Graystripe said. Darkstripe did feed her the death berries. So, Darkstripe”—his gaze went back to the dark warrior below—“what have you to say for yours e l f?”

“She’s lying,” Darkstripe retorted. An angry hiss cam e from more than one of the cats around him, and he added, blustering, “Or she made a mistake. Kits never listen to what any cat says. She obviously didn’t hear me properly when I told her not to eat them.”

“She’s not lying or mistaken,” Firestar meowed. “And she told me something even more interesting: your reason for feeding her the deathberries. She saw you meeting Blackfoot, the deputy of ShadowClan, on our territory. Would you like to tell us what that was all about?”

More furious snarls came from the Clan, and a cat at the back of the crowd yowled, “Traitor!” Firestar had to signal with his tail for silence, and it was several moments before the angry cats quieted down again.

Darkstripe waited until he could make himself heard. “I don’t have to justify myself to a kittypet,” he growled.

Firestar’s claws scraped against the rock beneath his paws, and he felt reassured by their sharpness. “That’s exactly what you have to do. I want to know what you and Tigerstar are planning.” Panic suddenly flooded over him, and he forced it back. “Darkstripe, you know what Tigerstar tried to do to us. The dog pack would have torn the whole Clan to pieces. How can you even think of following him after that?”

Darkstripe met his eyes resentfully and did not reply. Firestar remembered how he had caught him on the morning the pack attacked, trying to slip away from the camp with Tigerstar’s kits. Darkstripe had known that Tigerstar was planning something; he would have abandoned the rest of the Clan to a ghastly death without even trying to warn them. That was what his loyalty to ThunderClan was worth.