Is it possible that the ThunderClan cats who didn’t want me back were right? Maybe I really don’t belong there. . . .

Determinedly Twigpaw shook off the thought. She wouldn’t believe it. She had needed some time to figure it out, but now she knew that ThunderClan was her true home.

I’m sure I belong in ThunderClan. I just have to convince the others, too.

And she knew she had to do it right away, while the terrifying vision was still fresh in her mind.

Picking up the pace again, Twigpaw raced back to camp, barely pausing to take a breath. She was relieved to see it looking just as she’d left it, not like the terrible ruined camp of her vision. As soon as she emerged from the thorn tunnel, she spotted Bramblestar and Alderheart, standing just outside the medicine-cat den, deep in conversation. Hoping neither cat would see her, she crept close enough to overhear. “So what do you suggest we do?” Bramblestar was asking.

“I suppose we must wait and see,” Alderheart replied. “But it worries me that there’s no right answer about ShadowClan. I don’t want to see the Clan disappear, but if they manage to revive it, it will really test SkyClan’s patience.”

“It will all become clear soon,” Bramblestar responded, resting his tail-tip reassuringly on Alderheart’s shoulder. “StarClan clearly has a plan. You need to focus on your duties here. Several of our cats are still sick.”

Alderheart murmured agreement. “I think Leafpool may be coming down with it. She vomited on our way back from the Moonpool.”

Bramblestar sighed. “There you are, then. ThunderClan needs your skills.”

Though Alderheart nodded warily, Twigpaw thought he still looked worried. I hate seeing him like this.

Trembling shook Twigpaw’s limbs as she remembered her terrifying vision at the Moonpool. Alderheart’s wrong that there’s no right answer about ShadowClan. They must be revived, or the storm will destroy us.

She couldn’t tell Bramblestar and Alderheart what she’d seen at the Moonpool. The Moonpool was a place only for medicine cats. She couldn’t let them know she’d trespassed there, not when some cats didn’t even think she belonged in ThunderClan.

Twigpaw almost despaired. She knew she was only a ThunderClan apprentice. She had no idea how she could affect what happened in ShadowClan.

Then a thought struck her. Maybe I should reach out to my sister. She might be a SkyClan warrior these days, but she used to be in ShadowClan. They’re the same Clan now; she’s Clanmates with all the ShadowClan cats again. And she won’t tell anyone I went to the Moonpool. But a fresh chill of fear coursed through her as she considered the idea. What if Violetshine turns me away?

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

“You have to do something.”