further blood being spilled over a stretch of land that was too bare to offer good hunting.
“It wasn’t worth fighting over,” Stormfur commented.
“Firestar was right to give it up.”
Dustpelt snorted. “ThunderClan has never given up territory before!”
“No,” agreed Brackenfur.
Spiderleg turned in an agitated circle, tail lashing, but Brackenfur went on. “However, the land was too exposed, and the Twolegs will be there soon, once it’s greenleaf.”
“And ThunderClan are more used to hunting in the forest,” Stormfur added.
“Firestar still shouldn’t have given it up so easily,”
Spiderleg insisted.
Lionkit watched nervously from his hiding place as Spiderleg glared at Stormfur. The long-limbed black warrior was more hotheaded than his father, Dustpelt. But Stormfur refused to be intimidated.
“We gave up nothing but a piece of barren land that was too close to Twoleg territory!” he hissed.
“You sound like Brambleclaw.” Dustpelt curled his lip. “He only agreed with Firestar’s decision because any cat knows he’d rather face a pack of dogs than a Twoleg!”
Lionkit’s fur bristled with anger. His father wasn’t scared of anything!
“Brambleclaw sided with Firestar because it was a wise decision, not because he was scared of Twolegs!” Stormfur retorted.
“Was it wise to stand before all the Clans and announce that ThunderClan can no longer defend its boundaries?”
Spiderleg meowed hotly. “ShadowClan have no right to set one mangy paw on ThunderClan land!”
“Well, it’s ShadowClan land now,” Stormfur concluded.
Spiderleg glared at him. “Of course, you don’t care how much territory we give up,” he snarled. “You’re not a ThunderClan cat!”
Lionkit flinched. Stormfur had fought off the invading ShadowClan warriors as fiercely as any cat. He watched closely, waiting to see how the gray warrior would react. But Stormfur only stared back at Spiderleg, his eyes wide with shock.
Brackenfur stepped between them, his eyes glinting anxiously in the moonlight. “It doesn’t matter if we disagree,”
he meowed. “The decision has been made.”
“But now ShadowClan will think they can take whatever they want from us!” Spiderleg objected.
“Firestar made it clear that he was doing ShadowClan a favor when he let them take the land,” Brackenfur reminded him. “He left no cat in any doubt that he was acting out of wisdom rather than weakness.”
“Then why did Onestar and Leopardstar look so interested?” Dustpelt snapped. “It was obvious they thought ThunderClan couldn’t defend their territory.”
“What if WindClan decide they want a piece of the forest on the other side?” Spiderleg chipped in. “Onestar hasn’t exactly been a friend of ours since he became leader.”
“He’s been okay since he helped us with the badger attack,”
Brackenfur pointed out.
“But he’s still going to be looking out for his Clan,”
Dustpelt argued. “If he thinks we’re weak he might see a chance to expand his territory.”
“Can you imagine Firestar giving up any prey-rich part of our territory?” Stormfur asked.
Dustpelt glared at him for a moment, then dipped his head. “No,” he conceded.
“And we don’t have to worry about RiverClan,”
Brackenfur pressed. “We share no boundaries with them, and Leopardstar’s been pretty quiet since Hawkfrost died on our territory.”
“Does any cat really know what happened to Hawkfrost?”
Stormfur asked.
“Only that Firestar found his body while he was on patrol with Brambleclaw and Ashfur,” Spiderleg meowed.
Lionkit did not fully understand. He had heard Daisy and Ferncloud talking about Hawkfrost, the RiverClan deputy who had died on ThunderClan territory, impaled on a wooden spike from a fox trap. No one was sure what the RiverClan warrior had been doing there. Lionkit had tried to ask his father once about Hawkfrost—after all, Hawkfrost was Brambleclaw’s half brother and therefore
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