"Are you okay?" Brambleclaw had dropped back to pad beside him. "I know you must be missing Ashfur."

Fury at Brambleclaw's misunderstanding flooded through Lionblaze. "I'm fine!" he snapped, knowing he was being il ogical. "Stay out of my fur, wil you?"

Brambleclaw's eyes widened, but he said nothing, just nodded and quickened his pace again to catch up with Firestar.

"You shouldn't claw his whiskers off," Sorreltail mewed, padding up to Lionblaze and touching his ear with her nose. "Brambleclaw is bound to be worried about you; that's what fathers do." Her amber eyes gleamed with affection. "My kits are warriors now, but they'l always be my kits."

Lionblaze gave her an awkward nod, but he couldn't reply. His secret trapped him like rising floodwater, cutting him off from every cat in his Clan.

He's not my father! Lionblaze wanted to yowl.

Everything you've been told is a lie!

CHAPTER 2.

A chilly wind was blowing from the moor when Firestar and his patrol reached the stream that marked the border with WindClan. Lionblaze's paws tingled as he padded up to the edge of the bank.

This was close to where they had found Ashfur. He tried to shut out the memories of Ashfur's slick gray body, wedged behind a rock and bobbing in the current. Yet he could not regret Ashfur's death.

Each cat leaped across the stream and raced into WindClan territory without even checking for scent.

Lionblaze guessed that they, too, were spooked by the memory of the dead warrior. Firestar led them on, stil at a run, until the stream was hidden behind them by rocks and reeds.

Lionblaze tasted the air and shivered. There was a tang of snow that must have come from the mountains. A dark haze like storm clouds crouched on the horizon; Lionblaze knew he was looking at the distant home of the Tribe of Rushing Water. How are they managing? he wondered. Leaf-bare would be even harder where snow lay thick on bare rock and prey was scarce. But I wish I could go back, he added to himself, knowing he meant not just back to the mountains, but back in time as wel . When I was with the Tribe, I knew who I was and where my destiny was leading.

"There are WindClan cats nearby," Firestar meowed.

Lionblaze jumped guiltily; thinking about the Tribe, he had never noticed the WindClan scent, though it was strong and fresh. For the first time he started to wonder how their mission would turn out. There was stil hostility between ThunderClan and WindClan; Onestar was bound to see an accusation behind Firestar's questions.

The ThunderClan leader headed across the moor toward the WindClan camp with his warriors at his flanks. Wind buffeted their fur, and a strong gust nearly carried Sorreltail off her paws.

"I can't imagine why cats would choose to live here!" she hissed as she struggled to regain her balance.

"We like it here!" A loud meow rang out across the moorland.

Lionblaze looked up to see a WindClan patrol appearing over the shoulder of the hil . Tornear, the cat who had spoken, was in the lead, fol owed by Crowfeather, Whitetail, and Heathertail.

Meeting Heathertail's gaze, Lionblaze saw nothing but cold contempt in the eyes of the cat who had once been his friend-and even more than that.

Bitter regret surged through him. As he looked back, those times had been the happiest and easiest of his life, even though he had broken the warrior code to meet Heathertail in the tunnels beneath the forest.

Now she looked as if she would have kil ed him for a couple of mousetails; Lionblaze shuddered as he pictured his own body lying in the stream.

"Greetings, Tornear." Firestar dipped his head as the WindClan patrol approached.

"What are you doing here?" Tornear sounded wary but not hostile, though Crowfeather's neck fur was bristling and Whitetail had unsheathed her claws.

"I need to speak with Onestar," Firestar explained.

"May we visit your camp?"

Tornear hesitated, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, then gave a brusque nod. "Very wel , but we'l escort you. And you'd better not start anything."

"We only want to talk," Firestar promised.

Taking the lead, Tornear headed farther up the hil in the direction of the WindClan camp. Crowfeather and Whitetail flanked the ThunderClan patrol on either side, while Heathertail brought up the rear.

Lionblaze was acutely conscious of her, padding just behind him, and felt her gaze pierce him like a thorn.

behind him, and felt her gaze pierce him like a thorn.

At last Tornear led them up the long slope toward the circle of gorse bushes that surrounded the WindClan camp. Pushing through the thorns, Lionblaze paused to look down. It was a bleak place: a wide hol ow of rough moorland grass where stones poked up through the thin soil. Twisted thornbushes gave the only shelter, except for the disused badgers' set that was now the elders' den.

Lionblaze spotted Onestar sitting near the middle of the hol ow, talking to Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat. A few other WindClan cats-including the deputy, Ashfoot, and Crowfeather's son, Breezepelt-stood around listening.

Lionblaze's paws pricked with curiosity as he recognized the urgency in Barkface's stance and expression; Lionblaze couldn't hear what he was saying, but it looked as though he was sharing grave news with his Clan leader.

What's all that about? Lionblaze wondered. They can't know anything about Ashfur!

Onestar glanced up as Tornear raced down the slope to announce the visitors. Seeing Firestar and the others, he hesitated for a few heartbeats, then spoke quickly to Barkface. The medicine cat nodded, and at last Onestar signaled with his tail to let Firestar bring his warriors down into the camp.

"Greetings, Onestar." Firestar halted in front of the WindClan leader and bowed his head. "Thank you for al owing us to talk to you."

The look Onestar gave to Firestar showed none of their old friendship. "Say what you have to say," he mewed cautiously.

His edgy tone made Lionblaze wonder if al was wel in WindClan. Maybe there's something he doesn't want us to know about. Glancing around, he saw that al the WindClan cats looked skinny and underfed, but that was just as usual for WindClan.

"I'd like to speak to you in private," Firestar began.

Onestar's neck fur rose and he shook his head.

"Anything you have to say can be said in front of my Clanmates."

While he was speaking, Ashfoot padded up and stood by her leader's side. She said nothing, just surveyed the ThunderClan cats with calm, clear eyes.

"Wel ?" Onestar prompted.

"If that's how you want it." Lionblaze's bel y churned as Firestar continued: "On the night of the Gathering, we found Ashfur's body in the stream that marks our border. There was a gash in his throat; we think a cat kil ed him."

Instantly the WindClan warriors began to bristle, and Breezepelt let out an indignant yowl.

Onestar lashed his tail and dug his claws hard into the ground. His eyes blazed with anger. "How dare you assume we had anything to do with it?" he hissed. "We have nothing to gain from kil ing one of your warriors."

"None of us had any quarrel with Ashfur," Whitetail put in.

"This Clan is loyal to the warrior code,"

Crowfeather growled, his lip curling in a snarl.

Lionblaze braced himself, ready for the fight he was sure would break out at any moment. But Firestar remained calm; not even his tail-tip twitched.

"No cat is accusing you," he insisted. "We came to ask if you saw anything on the border that night."

"What, like one of my warriors kil ing Ashfur?"

Onestar's fur was stil fluffed up with anger. "Look to your own Clanmates first, Firestar. Question their loyalty to the warrior code, not ours."

Lionblaze felt the fur rising on his neck and shoulders; Brackenfur and Sorreltail were bristling, too, while Brambleclaw flexed his claws in and out at the veiled insult. So what if there are cats of mixed blood in ThunderClan? Lionblaze thought fiercely.

We're all loyal. He pictured Ashfur's body again, soaked and limp. All except one.

He spotted Heathertail standing off to one side, her gaze fixed on him. She seemed to be daring him to strike out so that she would have an excuse to jump on him and sink her claws into his fur.

Breezepelt had padded so close to her that their pelts were brushing, and he met Lionblaze's stare with a chal enge in his eyes. Heathertail is mine now, he seemed to be saying.

You're welcome to her, Lionblaze glared back.

"Then you saw nothing?" Firestar pressed; his voice had hardened, insisting on an answer.

"Nothing." Onestar spat out the word like a piece of crow-food. "Now get out of our territory. Ashfoot, take a couple of warriors and escort them to the border."

His deputy gave him a brisk nod and waved her tail to beckon Tornear and Breezepelt, who padded tail to beckon Tornear and Breezepelt, who padded up to the ThunderClan patrol with truculent stares.

Firestar dipped his head toward the WindClan leader. "Thank you, Onestar. If you learn anything more, wil you please send us a message?"

Onestar didn't reply. Fol owing Firestar's lead, Lionblaze tried to stay dignified as he and the others were herded up the side of the hol ow and through the barrier of gorse bushes onto the open moor.

None of the WindClan cats spoke as they conducted Firestar's patrol back to the border.

Ashfoot set a brisk pace, but Lionblaze would have liked to go racing ahead, to return to the woods, away from the cold eyes of these hostile cats. Yet there was no safety in the woods, either-nowhere he could hide from the death of Ashfur and al it meant for his Clan.

On the hil side above the stream, Ashfoot halted.

"You can go back to the camp," she ordered Breezepelt and Tornear. "I'l see them the rest of the way."

"Why?" Breezepelt demanded.

"You're needed for a hunting patrol," the WindClan deputy replied. "Or do you think the rabbits wil come running into the camp on their own?"

Breezepelt let out an annoyed hiss, and Tornear looked uneasy, stopping once to glance back as both cats climbed to the top of the hil and vanished over it in the direction of the camp.

Ashfoot silently watched until they were out of sight, then turned to Firestar with a sigh. "I wanted to talk to you alone, Firestar. There's something I have to tel you."

Lionblaze's bel y lurched. Had Ashfoot been by the stream that night? Could she put a name to the cat whose teeth had torn out Ashfur's life? But the WindClan deputy looked too calm for a cat who had been a witness to murder.

"Go on," Firestar meowed.

"A few sunrises ago," Ashfoot continued, "I was leading the dawn patrol along the stream when I spotted Sol-you remember, the cat who took over ShadowClan for a while?"

"Sol?" Firestar's green eyes stretched wide. "I thought he had left the lake."

"No-or at least, he was here a few days ago."

"Then why didn't Onestar tel me about him?"

Firestar's shock was giving way to anger.

Ashfoot shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

Lionblaze knew that she was a fair-minded cat; she couldn't be happy about the tensions between her own Clan and ThunderClan. But her loyalty to Onestar wouldn't let her speak openly.

"Ashfur's death is your problem, not ours," she pointed out. "You can't expect Onestar to be happy when you come barging into his camp accusing his cats of murder."

"We didn't-" Brambleclaw began indignantly, his amber eyes blazing.

Firestar raised his tail for silence. "Let's end this misunderstanding now," he meowed to Ashfoot. "We are not accusing WindClan of anything. We just want to find out anything we can about Ashfur's death.

Now tel us what you know about Sol. Where did you see him? When?"

"It was about a quarter moon ago," Ashfoot replied. "He was near the lake, in the woods on your side of the stream. I don't think he saw us; he was too busy eating some fresh-kil ."

"Prey-stealing!" Sorreltail hissed.

"That's not the day Ashfur died," Brackenfur murmured thoughtful y. "But it's close to the place where we found his body."

"Very close," Firestar agreed. "Thank you, Ashfoot. That's the most useful thing we've learned so far."

Ashfoot dipped her head. "I'm glad to be of help. I wish you and your Clan wel , Firestar."

Lionblaze could see the sympathy in her eyes.

She can tell we're in trouble, he realized. If only she knew how much!

Sunhigh was past and long black shadows were beginning to creep across the hol ow when Firestar's patrol returned. The queens and Birchfal were drowsily sharing tongues outside the nursery, while Cloudtail, Brightheart, and Hazeltail were crouched beside the fresh-kil pile. Foxpaw and Icepaw were practicing fighting moves outside their den.

Lionblaze heard Icepaw screech, "WindClan murderer! I'l rip your pelt off!"

Firestar sighed. "We'd better put a stop to that. I'l cal another meeting right away."

Brambleclaw's whiskers twitched in surprise.