“Think bush. Like your legs are branches and your claws are twigs, and you have leaves opening up all over your pelt. You’ve got to keep really still, and then your prey will come to you.”

While Tree was still speaking, incredibly, a mouse went skittering past. The yellow tom lazily stretched out one paw and slammed it down on top of the prey. “Like that,” he finished.

Violetshine snorted with laughter. It feels so good to have fun, when everything in camp is so tense. “Tree, no cat but you could hunt like that!”

“It works,” Tree mewed smugly. “Do you want to share?”

“No, we’re a hunting patrol,” Violetshine responded. “The Clan must be fed first. We’ll bury your mouse and then—”

She broke off as Tree stretched out a paw to silence her. He pointed with his tail, and Violetshine spotted movement in the undergrowth. A flash of black fur showed her Juniperclaw, slinking through the bushes in the direction of the old ShadowClan camp.

“What’s going on?” murmured Tree. “Why is he out here alone?”

“Maybe he just wants some herbs or something from his old camp,” Violetshine suggested. But in that case, why does he look so furtive?

“I think we should follow him,” Tree mewed.

Violetshine nodded, and quickly scraped some earth over Tree’s mouse so they could collect it later. Then, side by side, the two cats slipped through the undergrowth, following Juniperclaw’s scent trail.

They caught sight of him again as he climbed the rocky slope up to the ShadowClan camp and disappeared into the brambles at the top. Tree and Violetshine crept up in his paw steps until they could look down into the hollow of the camp.

Down at the bottom of the hollow, where the fresh-kill pile used to be, Yarrowleaf lay stretched out, grooming herself, while Sleekwhisker, beside her, rose to her paws to welcome her brother Juniperclaw.

Violetshine let out a cry of surprise. Alerted, all three cats turned to face her and Tree, as they paced down the slope to join them. Violetshine forced herself not to flinch under the hostile glares from Juniperclaw and Sleekwhisker. Yarrowleaf simply looked terrified.

“Oh, no!” she yowled, while Sleekwhisker asked, “How did you find us?”

“A more important question is, What are you doing here?” Violetshine retorted. “This is SkyClan territory, and Leafstar ordered you to leave.”

Sleekwhisker stretched out her neck and hissed at Violetshine. “You don’t understand. This is our home!”

“Oh, really?” Violetshine refused to be intimidated; she could feel her back fur beginning to bristle. “You think I don’t understand what it was like to grow up in ShadowClan?”

“You didn’t grow up as a real ShadowClan cat,” Sleekwhisker sneered, narrowing her eyes. “You proved that when you ran off to SkyClan!”