Warriors 04 - Rising Storm by Erin Hunter

helped ShadowClan before, when we drove out Brokentail,” he explained quietly.
    But ThunderClan also gave sanctuary to the ShadowClan leader , Fireheart thought with a ripple of unease. Had Whitethroat forgotten that? Then he realized that Brokentail had forced these cats into their apprenticeships when they were barely old enough to leave their mothers’ sides. Banishing their cruel leader must have come as such a relief that what had happened to him afterward paled into insignificance. And now that Brokentail was dead, there was no threat to the ShadowClan warriors from the ThunderClan camp beyond normal Clan rivalry.
    Whitethroat went on: “We hoped you would be able to help us now. Nightstar is sick. The camp is in chaos with so many cats ill. There are not enough herbs or fresh-kill to go around.”
    â€œWhat’s Runningnose doing? He’s your medicine cat. It’s up to him to tend to you!” spat Yellowfang, before Fireheart could say anything.
    Fireheart was taken aback by her tone. Yellowfang had once belonged to ShadowClan. Even though Fireheart knewher loyalties lay with ThunderClan now, he was surprised at her lack of compassion toward her former Clanmates.
    â€œNightstar seemed all right at the Gathering last night,” Darkstripe growled.
    â€œYes,” agreed Bluestar, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
    But Fireheart remembered how frail the ShadowClan leader had seemed, and he was not surprised when Littlecloud mewed, “He got worse when he returned to the camp. Runningnose was with him all night. He won’t leave Nightstar’s side. He let a kit die at its mother’s belly without even a poppy seed to ease its journey to StarClan! We are afraid that he’ll let us die too. Please help us!”
    Littlecloud’s plea sounded real enough to Fireheart. He looked hopefully at Bluestar, but her blue eyes still looked bewildered.
    â€œThey must leave,” insisted Yellowfang in a low growl.
    â€œWhy?” Fireheart blurted out. “They’re no threat to us in this state!”
    â€œThey carry a disease I’ve seen before in ShadowClan.” Yellowfang began to circle the ShadowClan cats, studying them but keeping her distance. “It killed many cats last time.”
    â€œIt’s not greencough, is it?” Fireheart asked. Some of the ThunderClan cats began to edge slowly backward as Fireheart mentioned the sickness that had ravaged their own Clan during leaf-bare.
    â€œNo. It has no name,” Yellowfang muttered, keeping her eyes fixed on the captives. “It comes from the rats that live on a Twoleg dump on the far side of ShadowClan territory.” Sheglared at Littlecloud. “Surely the elders know those Twoleg rats carry sickness, and must never be taken as prey?”
    â€œAn apprentice brought the rat back,” explained Littlecloud. “He was too young to remember.”
    Fireheart listened to the sick cat’s labored breathing as the ThunderClan cats looked on in silence. “What should we do?” he asked Bluestar.
    Yellowfang spoke up before she could answer. “Bluestar, it is not long since greencough devastated our Clan,” she reminded her. “You lost a life then.” The medicine cat narrowed her eyes, and Fireheart guessed what she must be thinking. Only he and Yellowfang knew that Bluestar was on her last life. If the disease spread into ThunderClan, she might die, and ThunderClan would be left without a leader. The thought turned Fireheart’s blood to ice, and he shivered in spite of the hot morning sun.
    Bluestar nodded. “You are right, Yellowfang,” she meowed quietly. “These cats must leave. Fireheart, send them away.” Her voice was flat and expressionless as she turned back to her den.
    Reluctantly, his relief at reaching a decision tempered by pity for the sick cats, Fireheart meowed, “Sandstorm and I will escort the ShadowClan warriors back to