“What if we don’t want you back?” a former ShadowClan cat called out, his words followed by a scattered chorus of agreement.

Twigpaw could understand why some cats were annoyed by RiverClan’s withdrawal and sudden return, but she thought it was mouse-brained even to consider not letting them back in.

StarClan wants there to be five Clans—every cat knows that, she thought. So why can’t the other Clans let it go?

Bramblestar stepped forward again and raised his tail for silence, but the unrest in the clearing didn’t die down. Twigpaw glanced up at the moon, half expecting StarClan to show their anger by covering it with cloud, but it still sailed serenely above the trees.

Then the angry murmuring turned to surprise; Twigpaw turned her head to see Tree rising to his paws. “The timing is awkward,” he began, completely confident in addressing the whole Gathering of cats, some of whom hardly knew him. “But would the rest of you rather not have RiverClan back at all? Doesn’t StarClan want all the Clans to work together? And someday, when the other Clans need them, RiverClan will return the favor.”

“We will indeed,” Mistystar agreed.

Many of the cats had fallen silent; Twigpaw couldn’t tell whether they saw sense in what Tree said, or whether they were too shocked by his sudden intervention to respond.

But there were still others who weren’t impressed at all.

“Who is this cat?” Breezepelt of WindClan demanded. “Wasn’t he a rogue?”

“He was. And he isn’t even a real Clan cat now!” Thornclaw added. “Who is he to tell us what to do?”

Twigpaw saw Violetshine leap to her paws as if she was about to plunge into the argument, but before she could speak, Leafstar raised her voice from her place in the Great Oak.

“Tree is not exactly a rogue,” she explained, “or even a loner. He has been living with SkyClan for more than a moon now. Remember how he helped ShadowClan’s cats speak with their dead Clanmates?” She took a deep breath, her gaze raking around the clearing, and the remaining cats grew quiet under her authority.

“Now I have more news. Tree and I have discussed his staying with us in SkyClan, and creating a new Clan role,” she continued. “He will be a mediator—just as the medicine cats cure wounds and illnesses, Tree’s job will be to cure disagreements.”

The brief silence in the clearing broke up again into confused questioning.

“But he’s not a Clan cat!”

“Yeah, he doesn’t know how Clans work. What’s his advice worth?”

“True, he’s not a Clan cat,” Leafstar agreed calmly. “But I believe that might actually help him work out differences. He sees to the heart of an issue, without the fixed ideas we Clan cats have about one another.”