Warriors AU: The Darkest Hour

Chapter 2

As Sandstorm bounded across to Oakstar's den, Smallear spun around to face him. Her eyes were burning with anger. "There are two Riverclan cats here," she growled. "Mauling our leader's body!"

"No—no, they're not." Sandstorm gasped. "They've a right to be here."

He realized that the rest of the Clan had gathered anxiously behind him and he heard Brightheart yowling a challenge, with snarls of rage breaking out all around.

Sandstorm whirled to face them. "Keep back!" he ordered. "It's all right. Blackclaw and Stonefur—"

"You know they're here?" The voice was Darkstripe's; the dark tabby thrust her way through the crowd to stand nose to nose with Sandstorm. "You let enemy cats into our camp—into our leader's den?"

Sandstorm took a breath, forcing himself to stay calm. He deeply mistrusted the black-striped tabby. When the Clan had been preparing to escape the dog pack, Darkstripe had tried to slip away with Goldenstar's kits. She had sworn that she knew nothing of Goldenstar's plot to destroy Thunderclan with the dogs, but Sandstorm was no sure he believed her.

"Have you forgotten what I told you?" he asked. "Blackclaw and Stonefur helped me to pull Oakstar out of the river."

"So you say!" Darkstripe spat. "How do we know you're telling the truth? Why should Riverclan cats help Thunderclan?"

"They've helped us often enough in the past," Sandstorm reminded her. "Most of us would have died after the fire if Riverclan hadn't given us shelter."

"That's true," meowed Mousefur. He had returned with Cinderpelt from the medicine cat's den in time to hear the confrontation, and now he pushed forward to stand beside Darkstripe. "But it's no excuse to leave them alone in the den with Oakstar's body. What are they doing in there?"

"We are giving honor to Oakstar."

Stonefur spoke defiantly, and Sandstorm turned his head to see that the Riverclan deputy and Blackclaw had appeared in the mouth of the den. They both looked taken aback at the reaction of the Thunderclan cats, their fur beginning to bristle as they realized they were being treated as intruders.

"We wanted to say good-bye to her," Blackclaw meowed.

"Why?" Mousefur demanded.

Sandstorm's stomach clenched as Blackclaw faced the dusky brown tom and answered, "She was our mother."

Silence fell, broken only by the call of a blackbird from the edge of the camp. Sandstorm's mind raced as he faced the shocked, hostile stares of his Clan. His gaze met Fireheart's; she looked dismayed, as if she guessed that Sandstorm would never have chosen for Thunderclan to discover their leader's secret like this.

"Your mother?" growled Smallear. "I don't believe it. Oakstar would never have allowed her kits to be raised in another Clan."

"Believe it or not, it's true," Stonefur retorted.

Sandstorm stepped forward, warning Stonefur to stay silent with a flick of his tail. "I'll deal with this now. You and Blackclaw had better go."

Stonefur gave him a curt nod and took the lead as her and Blackclaw made their way toward the gorse tunnel. Sandstorm heard one or two furious hisses as the Thunderclan cats parted to let them pass.

"The thanks of the Clan go with you," Sandstorm called out after them, his voice echoing thinly off the Highrock.

Blackclaw and Stonefur didn't respond. They didn't even turn to look back before they vanished into the tunnel.

Every hair on Sandstorm's pelt prickled with the desire to turn and run from his new responsibilities. The secret that had been so heavy to keep—that Oakstar had given up her kits to another Clan—would be heavier still in the sharing. He wished that he had been given more time to think of what to say, but he knew that it was better for his Clan to hear the truth from him now, instead of from Goldenstar at the next Gathering. As Clan leader he had to face the task, however little he liked it.