Warriors; Roar of the River

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Blackfeather could hardly tell when he’d made it into the trees. It was far too dark to see without the moon’s light, and he could hardly make out the stars. Is StarClan even watching us right now? Maybe the moon disappeared because of the turmoil on StarClan’s territory. Maybe everything’s fine at the Gathering. Blackfeather slowed his pace as he nearly landed on his muzzle. Instead, he tried to use his night vision. ShadowClan is trained to hunt and fight in the dark, right? He kept slinking through the dark, avoiding aerial roots and an occasional hole. He heard a grunt behind him and snorted as he saw Emberleaf picking herself up.

“You okay?” He asked. She nodded. “My leg is fine now. But even if something’s happening at the Gathering, we’ll never be able to warn them in time.”

“Warn them about what?” Blackfeather meowed as they moved through the trees. “That Minnowstar and Shadefall are just carrying out Flameheat’s plan for revenge? How could she convince them that getting rid of the code would save the Clans?”

“Some cats are very loyal to StarClan. If only they could see how torn our ancestors are,” Emberleaf mewed in return. “But I believe Yellowfang’s story. She claims that Flameheat wants revenge, and wouldn’t that make sense?”

Blackfeather stared out into the trees, a twig crunching under his paw. “Maybe,” Blackfeather grunted. “Flameheat really believes that StarClan took her life.”

“Maybe they did,” Emberleaf mewed. “They are the same cats that told Darkstar we were terrible kits, destined to destroy everything. And it wasn’t like they were right. Some of them are the reason Shadefall is killing so many.”

Blackfeather dipped his head. “I know,” he meowed. Guilt ran through him like blood in his veins. “Emberleaf, I’m sorry I never trusted you. I never realized that there were rumors over all our heads, and that we’d work better together to prove ourselves. It’s probably our bitterness toward each other that impacted the way others thought of us.”

“It’s Flameheat’s fault, not yours,” Emberleaf meowed. “Sparrowstripe told me that she was feeding you lies since she was able to meet you in your dreams. It seems that all Flameheat can do is tell lies to get what she wants. She probably lied to her Clanmates when she left to bring us to ShadowClan, she lied to you and Shadefall about me, and she lied to so many StarClan cats. Even they have been decieved about what is really best for the Clans.”

Blackfeather didn’t respond. He kept moving, unsure of how long it would take them to reach their Clanmates. Emberleaf kept pace with him as he broke into a sprint. I hope Leafpaw is okay, he thought. She seemed pretty mad at me when I left.

It was much later when Blackfeather and Emberleaf got back to ShadowClan territory, although Blackfeather couldn’t tell where the moon was in the sky. The pine forest was blanketed in total darkness, and Blackfeather slowed down a bit. He let Emberleaf take the lead, and she moved through pine needles and dodged the trunks of trees. A sharp wind whipped his fur as he followed.

Emberleaf mewed, “I’ll head to the camp and see who’s there. You head to the island and see if the Clans are still there.”