The Apprentice's Quest

Alderpaw thought that his heart would shatter into icy splinters. Curling his tail around Twigkit, he drew her back from Rowanstar. “It’s no use, little ones,” he mewed.

“This is the way it has to be.”

“Take her quickly,” Bramblestar snapped at Rowanstar.

Instantly the ShadowClan leader swung around and headed away to where his own Clan were gathering ready to leave. Dangling from his jaws, Violetkit twisted around so that she could still see her sister.

“Twigkit! Twigkit!” she kept on calling until she vanished from Alderpaw’s sight.

Alderpaw imagined himself being separated from Sparkpaw, and how much it would hurt.

But the pain that clawed through him now was even bigger than that. He felt that the Clans were being swept down a long, dark tunnel, and that this terrible separation was only the beginning of even more terrible troubles to come.

I should feel happy, he told himself. I found the kits, and they might be the thing that will save the Clans if we embrace them.

But instead a sense of foreboding hung over him, like a storm cloud that was only waiting for the right moment to release its fury.

He was jerked back to the present by a sharp nudge from Sparkpaw. “Stop dreaming!

Twigkit needs you.”

The little gray kit had collapsed into a heap, letting out a desolate mewling. Alderpaw bent over her and licked her head and her ears.

“Don’t be sad, little one,” he murmured. “We’ll look after you. And you’ll see Violetkit again, when you’re old enough to come to Gatherings.”

“But it’s not the same,” Twigkit whimpered.

“I want Violetkit now! And what will she do without Lilyheart?”

“A ShadowClan cat will look after her,” Sparkpaw promised. “A nice ShadowClan cat.”

Alderpaw stroked Twigkit gently with his tail, and Sparkpaw nuzzled her from the other side, but the little kit wouldn’t be comforted.

“The others are leaving,” Sparkpaw mewed.

“We should go too.”

Looking up, Alderpaw saw that Bramblestar and his other Clanmates were gathering near the foot of the Great Oak, while the ShadowClan cats streamed past them on their way to the tree-bridge. Among them he spotted Needlepaw, with Violetkit riding on her back.

For a moment Needlepaw caught Alderpaw’s eye, and Alderpaw stared back at her. His head was buzzing with questions, like they were bees in a hive.

Did you tell them about SkyClan? Will you? Will you take care of Violetkit? Do you miss me?

But Needlepaw’s glance was not friendly, and almost at once she turned away and followed her Clanmates. Violetkit looked scared as Needlepaw flattened herself to thrust her way through the bushes. Then they were gone.

Alderpaw wondered what Violetkit’s future would hold. He remembered the loneliness he had sensed in Needlepaw, and he wondered whether Violetkit would share it now that she had lost her sister. But he realized that there was nothing he could do to control what would happen to her. I can take care of Twigkit, he thought, looking down at the gray kit. I always will, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that she’s happy. Touching his nose to hers, he felt a sense of warmth spreading through him. If nothing else comes of my quest, at least I can make sure that this little one has a good life.