The Darkest Hour

He paced slowly back toward the WindClan leader, using the time it took to cross the clearing to think. When he stood in front of Tallstar, he saw his own shock reflected in the eyes of the older cat.

“I can’t believe what I’ve just seen,” the WindClan leader. “Nine lives gone—just like that.”

Firestar nodded. “No cat would blame you if you took your Clan and left the forest to find another place to live.” He did not doubt Tallstar’s courage, but felt unable to assume that he would stay to fight such a terrible enemy.

Tallstar stiffened and his neck fur bristled. “WindClan was driven from the forest once,” he hissed. “Never again. Our territory is o u r s, and we’ll fight for it. Is ThunderClan with us?”

Even before Firestar replied he heard a murmuring from his own cats, defiance and determination mingled together. “We’ll fight,” he promised. “And we’ll be proud to stand side by side with WindClan.”

The two leaders looked into each other’s eyes for a few heartbeats. Firestar could see that Tallstar shared the fear neither of them had spoken, that their resolve to fight the invading cats could mean the destruction of both their Clans.

“We’ll go now to prepare ourselves,” Tallstar meowed at last. “And we’ll meet you here again in three days, at dawn.”

“At dawn,” Firestar echoed. “And may StarClan be with us all.”

He watched the WindClan cats retreat up the slope toward their territory before he turned to his own warriors. They looked subdued, eyes wide with apprehension, yet Firestar knew that none of them would flinch from the coming battle. They had followed him to Fourtrees expecting to fight, and even though their enemies were more terrible than any cat could have imagined, they would still defy them to keep the forest that they loved.

“I’m proud of you all,” Firestar mewed quietly. “If an y cats can drive out BloodClan, you can.”

Sandstorm padded over to him and pressed her muzzle against his shoulder. “With you to lead us, we will do anything,” she promised.

For a moment Firestar felt too overwhelmed to speak. Far from lifting his spirits, his warriors’ expectations weighed on him heavily. “Let’s get back to camp,” he managed to meow at last. “We’ve a lot to do. Graystripe, Cloudtail, scout ahead. I wouldn’t put it past Scourge to lay an ambush for us.”

The two warriors bounded away in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. A few moments later Firestar led the rest of his cats after them, putting Dustpelt at the rear to keep watch. As they headed swiftly through the forest Firestar thought that he could feel Scourge’s cold, malignant eyes following their pawsteps. Once before, when the dog pack was loose, Firestar had felt like prey in the forest, and now his enemy had a face all the more terrible for being one of his own kind.

But if the BloodClan leader was watching them he gave no sign of it, and the ThunderClan warriors reached the ravine unchallenged.

Firestar noticed that Bramblepaw had begun to lag behind, his tail trailing on the ground. “What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

Bramblepaw raised his eyes to his mentor’s, and Firestar was shocked by the depths of sick horror in his gaze.

“I thought I hated my father,” he mewed quietly. “I didn’t want to join his Clan. But I didn’t want him to die like that.”

“I know.” Firestar pressed his muzzle against the young cat’s side. “But it’s over now, and you’re free of him.”

Bramblepaw turned his head away. “I don’t think I’ll ever be free of him,” he murmured. “Even now that he’s dead, no cat will forget that I’m his son. And what about Tawnypaw?” His voice choked. “How could she choose to follow him?”

“I don’t know.” Firestar understood how much pain Tawnypaw’s betrayal must have caused her brother. “But if we come through this, I promise that we’ll find a way of talking to her.”

“Does that mean you will let her come back to ThunderClan?”

“I can’t be sure of anything,” Firestar admitted. “We don’t even know if she wants to come back. But I’ll give her a fair hearing, and do the best I can for her.”

“Thank you, Firestar.” Bramblepaw’s voice was tired and defeated. “I suppose that’s more than she deserves.” He dipped his head to his mentor and padded on toward the gorse tunnel.

Firestar gazed down from the Highrock as the cats of ThunderClan emerged from their dens and gathered below him. He could see from their horror-struck expressions that the news of BloodClan’s threat and Tigerstar’s terrible death had already spread throughout the camp. He knew that it was his duty to give them hope and courage, but he did not know if he could, when he had so little for himself.