Though she was irritated, Violetshine wasn’t surprised her Clanmates would react that way when they saw Twigpaw again. The sooner we get this over with, the better.

She was relieved to see Hawkwing talking to Sparrowpelt in the center of the camp, and bounded over to join him. “I need to talk to you,” she declared.

Sparrowpelt gave her a friendly nod. “I’ll get that hunting patrol together,” he meowed to Hawkwing, whipping around and vanishing into the warriors’ den.

“So what—” Hawkwing began, and broke off. “Hey, Twigpaw!” He pressed his nose into his daughter’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”

Twigpaw looked encouraged to see her father, leaning into him with a happy purr. But she straightened up nervously a moment later as Leafstar appeared through the lichen screen at the entrance to her den.

“What’s this?” she asked, leaping down from the roots of the cedar tree and stalking across the camp to Violetshine and the others. “Twigpaw, why are you here?”

Violetshine felt she should be the one to reply. “We need to talk to you and Hawkwing,” she mewed. “Please, Leafstar, will you hear us out?”

Leafstar hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Very well.”

“We’re worried about the prophecy,” Violetshine began. “The way that StarClan says there have to be five Clans, and now there are only three. We think we might have found a way to help.”

The Clan leader’s gaze was fixed on Violetshine, who felt a wave of relief that Leafstar was clearly taking her seriously. But there was a skeptical look in her amber eyes. I mustn’t put a paw wrong if I want to convince her, Violetshine thought.

“Go on,” Leafstar meowed.

Violetshine swallowed. “We want to ask Tawnypelt if she would be leader and rebuild ShadowClan.”

Leafstar’s expression changed; her amber eyes smoldered with anger. “Rebuild ShadowClan?” she hissed.

Violetshine glanced at her father for support; her heart began to pound harder when she saw that he too looked annoyed, his ears laid back and his claws sliding out.

Maybe I’m making a mistake, Violetshine thought. I knew I should never have listened to Twigpaw! I only went along with this because I care about her!

“Leafstar, what do you think?” Tree asked in his usual straightforward manner.

“Enough!” Leafstar swung around on him. “How can you ask that question? I’m angry. Of course I’m angry. All SkyClan has ever wanted is a safe place to live and hunt, surrounded by the other Clans. We suffered terribly to find that, and lost so many of our cats.”

“But you’re here now,” Tree pointed out.