A Dangerous Path

Chapter 5

The sun was going down, casting long shadows across the clearing, by the time Skyfall went to look for Yellowfang. She found the medicine cat in her den, sorting through the few herbs she collected, and sat just outside the entrance to talk to her.

"Speckletail's kit?" she meowed when Skyfall told her about Brackenfur's suspicions. Her orange eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I can see what he means. I'll take a look at him."

"You'll have to be careful of Speckletail," Skyfall warned her. "When I suggested she might let you check Snowkit, she practically bit my nose off."

"I'm not surprised," Yellowfang rasped. "No queen wants to believe her kits aren't perfect. I'll look him over, don't worry. It's too late to disturb them tonight, and I need to go to Highstones tomorrow."

"So soon?" Skyfall was surprised; she hadn't realized how quickly the days were slipping by.

"Tomorrow night is the half-moon. All the medicine cats meet at the Moonstone then," Yellowfang explained. "I'll be back by tomorrow night at the latest."

"You'll need to take a warrior with you," she meowed. "Last time Bluestar tried to get to Highstones, WindClan wouldn't let her pass through their territory."

Yellowfang scoffed. "I'd like to see a patrol that would dare to stop a medicine cat. StarClan would hardly be forgiving." Her eyes glinted as she turned to Skyfall. "Provided you can part from Longtail long enough, you can come with me as far as Fourtrees."

Skyfall felt hot under the old she-cat's gaze. "I don't know what you mean," she muttered. "Longtail can lead to dawn patrol without me," she mewed out loud. "I'll come with you to Fourtrees."

The next day dawned damp and misty. Tendrils of fog curled between the trees as Yellowfang and Skyfall made their way to Fourtrees. The clinging white clouds dampened the sound of their pawsteps and beaded their fur with tiny droplets. In the silence Skyfall jumped at the sudden alarm call of a bird above her head. She felt half-afraid that they might lose their way in this eerie unfamiliar-looking forest.

But by the time they crossed the stream and began to climb the slope to Fourtrees, the mist had begun to clear, and at the top of the hollow they emerged into bright sunlight. The four massive oaks stood straight ahead of them, their leaves turning red-gold with the approach of leaf-fall.

Yellowfang grumbled and shook the moisture from her pelt. "Well! At least I won't have to scent my way to Highstones now," she rasped.

Skyfall too enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on her pelt. She stretched luxuriously and opened her jaws to taste the air, hoping to pick up the scent of prey.

Instead, the scent of other cats flooded over her. ShadowClan! she thought, her muscles tensing as she glanced from side to side. A moment later she relaxed as she spotted Runningnose, the ShadowClan medicine cat, padding up to the hollow from ShadowClan territory with another cat beside him. This was no hostile warrior. StarClan raised medicine cats above the level of Clan rivalry.

"It looks as if you won't be traveling alone," she meowed to Yellowfang.

They waited until the ShadowClan cats came up to them. As they drew nearer, Skyfall recognized the other cat. It was Littlecloud, a small tabby tom who had almost died in his Clan's recent sickness. He and another warrior, Whitethroat, had tried to seek refuge in ThunderClan. Bluestar had refused to take them in, but Skyfall helped Cinderpelt shelter them and cared for them until they were well enough to travel back to their own territory.

Whitethroat had died soon after, when Tigerclaw and his warriors attacked a ThunderClan patrol. A monster had cut the young cat down on the Thunderpath as he was fleeing from the fight. Reliving the shock of that moment, Skyfall was glad to see that Littlecloud at least looked strong and healthy now.