Thunder And Shadow

Violetkit looked up, blinking in the afternoon sunshine. She was tired after a m orning spent play ing with Grassheart’s kits. Tawny pelt must have kept her word and spoken to her. As soon as she’d woken that m orning, Grassheart had asked her to take Snakekit, Whorlkit, and Flowerkit outside to play. She’d enj oy ed teaching them the rules of m oss-ball and cat and m ouse. For a while she’d felt less alone. But the kits were resting now, snuggled in their nest beside their mother, and Violetkit had nothing to do.

“Violetkit,” Needlepaw called again.

Violetkit glanced toward Pinenose. The queen was picking irritably through the fresh-kill pile at the far end of the camp. Violetkit scram bled to her paws and hurried across the clearing.

Needlepaw was dragging a large bundle of bracken toward the elders’ den. She let go as Violetkit reached her. “Dum b old cats,” Needlepaw huffed. “They’re always wanting something.

‘Pull this tick, Needlepaw.’ ‘Bring m e food, Needlepaw.’” Needlepaw m im icked their husky mews.

“‘I need new bedding, Needlepaw.’” She sat down wearily.

“Can I help?” Violetkit offered eagerly.

Needlepaw’s eyes brightened. “Yes.”

Violetkit leaned closer, preparing for orders. Would Needlepaw want her to look for m oss around the camp? Or fetch prey from the fresh-kill pile?

Needlepaw leaned close and whispered in Violetkit’s ear. “I need you to travel to the rogues’ camp tonight.”

“Me?” Violetkit blinked at her in surprise. “Are you coming too?”

“Of course not!” Needlepaw rolled her eyes. “How can I leave with every old fleabag in the Clan watching to make sure I stick to m y stupid elder duties?”

Violetkit frowned. “Then why do I need to go?”

“I want you to give a m essage to Rain. I prom ised to m eet him tonight, but I can’t now, since I got caught with y ou.”

Violetkit felt a prickle of guilt in her belly.

“So y ou’ll go?” Needlepaw was staring at her im ploringly.

Violetkit shifted her paws. “How can I? Pinenose will be watching m e. And Grassheart.”

“They’ll be asleep by the time the moon’s up,” Needlepaw mewed. “They sleep like hedgehogs. Nothing will wake them until dawn.”

Violetkit glanced at the nursery. Both queens did sleep heavily. The kits too. She probably could slip out of the nursery without any one noticing. But she’d never been in the forest at night alone.

What if she m et a fox? And what if she was caught? Rowanstar would be m ad. Fear sparked beneath her pelt.

Needlepaw seem ed to read her m ind. “You’ll be fine. If a warrior patrol catches y ou, tell them I m ade you go. And keep an eye out for foxes and owls. Fox stench is easy to spot. Just stay away from it. Check the canopy for owls. Their eyes flash in the dark.”

Owls? Violetkit shivered. She never wanted to see an owl again!

“You have to go!” Needlepaw looked desperate. “Rain will be expecting m e, and if I don’t turn up, he might not like m e any more.”

Sy m pathy filled Violetkit’s heart. Needlepaw was her only real friend in the Clan. She’d been so kind. No one else had taken her to see Twigkit. “Okay,” she agreed.

Needlepaw’s eyes brightened at once. “Thanks! You must reach their camp before moonhigh.”

An owl screeched. Violetkit glanced nervously up through the dark canopy, looking for eyes flashing in the shadows. But this deep into the pine forest, there was hardly a glim pse of light between the closely packed trees. Her heart leaped into her throat as the owl sounded again. She felt sure it had been following her since she crossed the last ditch.

Pelt bushed, she padded onward, fear pushing exhaustion away.

She’d crept from the warm m oss beside Pinenose as soon as she was sure that the two queens and the kits were asleep. Gentle snores had filled the nursery as she squeezed through the entrance. She’d stiffened as she hit the chilly night air, her heart thum ping as she’d crept through the dirtplace tunnel. Alone in the forest, she’d felt like prey. Now she was close to the edge of ShadowClan territory. The rogues’ camp was near. Even in the dark she remembered the route, and she crawled under a bramble that still sm elled of Needlepaw’s scent from last tim e.

The trees thinned bey ond the border where the land sloped up, and Violetkit trekked onward, com forted by the moonlight that began to light her path. At last pine gave way to alder and beech and stars sparkled reassuringly between the bare branches. She strained to see ahead, glim psing the rowan bushes that m arked the edge of the rogues’ camp. I made it!

As pride surged through her, a screech sounded above. She j erked her head up and glim psed the m assive silhouette of an owl. It swooped toward her so fast she froze in panic. Claws glinted as the owl stalled in m idair, twisting its wings as it dropped toward her. She felt a rush of air, then pain as talons dug into her fur.

A cat’s y owl pierced the night. Feathers whipped her ears. The owl’s grip loosened as som ething slam m ed into it, knocking it away.