Tigerheart’s Shadow

“She’s well. The kitting was hard, but she was brave.” Dovewing sat down. “She had three kits. She’s suckling them already.”

“Has she named them?”

She leaned against Tigerheart, her flank warm against his. “Hollowkit, Sunkit… and Spirekit.”

“Spirekit?” Tigerheart stared at her.

Dovewing stretched her forelegs. “Berryheart insisted; no other name would do.”

Tigerheart pondered this. It was not very common for kits to be named after dead cats, but when he thought of bringing another Spire back to ShadowClan, he purred happily. “I think that’s a perfect name. Have you told Blaze?”

“Yes,” Dovewing murmured. “He went straight to Berryheart’s nest to see them.”

Tigerheart looked anxiously into Dovewing green eyes. “Do you think Blaze will be okay? Spiresight cared for him ever since he was born.”

“He will grieve,” Dovewing told him gently.

“Do you think he regrets coming with us to ShadowClan?”

“Not for a moment.” Dovewing turned her gaze toward the rising sun. “Spiresight wanted him to come, remember? I think Blaze will feel he is honoring his best friend’s wishes as well as his own.”

Tigerheart touched his nose to Dovewing’s cheek. She was gentle in her wisdom.

Dovewing purred for a moment, then paused. “It’s strange how Spiresight found Berryheart and the others.”

“I suppose he was guided by StarClan,” Tigerheart murmured.

“I wonder if StarClan guides many cats beyond the lake…” Dovewing met his gaze. “Or do they just touch cats lost warriors will encounter?” As she paused again, Tigerheart wondered what she was trying to say. “Do you think we were meant to travel to the city?” She blinked at him, sunlight flaming in her green gaze.

Tigerheart had never wondered if StarClan had sent Dovewing’s dreams. He’d assumed they were the anxieties of an expectant mother, and he’d followed because he’d trusted Dovewing’s instinct. But she could be right. He remembered, with a shiver, Spiresight’s strange greeting when they’d first met in the gathering-place den. Now they’re both finally here. He blinked at Dovewing. “I think you may be right.” His pelt prickled. “I was alone when I left ShadowClan, but I will return with Clanmates, both new and old. And ShadowClan needs warriors more than ever.” He felt the tug of home like a claw in his belly. I am coming, Rowanstar.

His father needed him.

Can I wait while Berryheart’s kits find their traveling paws? Tigerheart flicked his tail. I’ll have to. He’d found old Clanmates, and he wasn’t going to risk losing them again by leaving them here. When he returned to ShadowClan, he would bring with him enough cats to make the Clan strong once more. He lifted his face to the rising sun. You’ll be proud of me, Rowanstar, I promise. Just hold on until I reach you.

Chapter 33

Tigerheart pricked his ears. Ahead the bracken—still stiff from the morning’s frost—crackled. He dropped into a hunting crouch.

“We don’t need more prey.” Behind him Cloverfoot stood over the squirrel they’d already caught. Blaze held a fat pigeon between his jaws.

“Hush.” Tigerheart flicked his tail impatiently to quiet the tabby she-cat. “Berryheart needs as much food as we can catch until the kits are fully weaned.”

A moon old now, Hollowkit, Sunkit, and Spirekit had tasted their first prey. But although they were growing fast and exploring farther from their nest each day, they still suckled at night.

The bracken crackled again. Pelt prickling excitedly, Tigerheart leaped. He dived between the fronds and clamped his paws over a mouse. It twitched in panic as he hooked it toward him and gave it a killing bite. Its musky scent made his mouth water. Even now, nearly two moons after leaving the city, the taste of forest prey still filled him with pleasure. He wondered if he’d ever get the taste of scrapcan trash off his tongue. He lifted the mouse and carried it back to Cloverfoot.

She purred. “Are you enjoying hunting for your Clan again?”

“I never really stopped.” Tigerheart dropped the mouse beside the squirrel. “The guardian cats were like a Clan to me. But there’s no honor in scavenging. When I bring my Clanmates forest prey, I feel I am feeding them prey worthy of them.”

He picked up the mouse and headed toward the temporary camp they’d built between two swaths of bramble. They had dug nests among the roots and dragged bracken to make a low camp wall where the brambles didn’t reach. Berryheart’s nest was deepest inside the bush, safe from nosy predators. This stretch of hillside had sheltered them peacefully. Owls called where the forest deepened into oak and birch, and foxes screeched in the valley below, but Tigerheart had never scented predators on the territory he’d marked around the camp.