This wasn’t the first time Violetshine had heard those words from her Clan leader. A quarter moon had passed since Leafstar had turned Sleekwhisker and Yarrowleaf away from SkyClan, and Tree still hadn’t decided what his place in the Clan should be. The Clan leader was losing patience; she had asked Violetshine to bring Tree to her den, and now her tail-tip twitched to and fro as she confronted the yellow tom.

“If you don’t want to be a medicine cat, you must train to be a warrior. You can’t just sleep in the sun all day.”

Like we’ve had much sun lately, Violetshine thought as she listened to the argument. But she could see Leafstar’s point. No Clan cat had the right to sit around and do nothing.

“But it’s not right for me to be a medicine cat or a warrior,” Tree objected. “Why do I have to fit into a specific position?”

“Because that’s how Clans work,” Leafstar retorted, her voice tense and her neck fur beginning to bristle. “If you don’t want to be part of the Clan—”

“No,” Tree interrupted. “I do want to stay here. I just haven’t found my place. . . .”

“Then it’s time you did,” Leafstar snapped, “and stop all this dithering around. We’re not going to keep you here if you don’t contribute.”

A pang of fear shook Violetshine like a gust of icy wind. She mustn’t send Tree away. . . .

“Tree, why don’t you come hunting with me?” she suggested desperately. “While you try to figure it all out, you might as well learn some warrior skills, right?”

Tree blinked, hesitating, then reluctantly mewed, “Okay.”

“Well, thank StarClan for that!” Leafstar exclaimed, still looking irritated. “And thank you, Violetshine. Maybe if Tree tries the warrior way of hunting, he’ll get to like it.”

And maybe hedgehogs fly, Violetshine thought. She knew that she had to find a place for Tree, but she couldn’t imagine what that would be.

As Violetshine led the way across the camp to the fern tunnel, she spotted the group of former ShadowClan cats, all of them glaring after Leafstar as she returned to her den. Scorchfur muttered something to Snowbird with a hostile lash of his tail.

Violetshine suppressed a sigh, reflecting how much tension there had been in the Clan since Leafstar had turned Yarrowleaf and Sleekwhisker away. Juniperclaw, Scorchfur, and Snowbird had been all but ignoring orders from the leader and deputy, or being as slow and uncooperative as they could. Every one of them had been criticizing Leafstar, loudly and openly where the whole Clan could hear them. Only rebukes from Rowanclaw and Tawnypelt had kept them from outright defiance; they were listening to Rowanclaw as if he were their leader still.