| "Today's fight hadn't been about prey, or hunger, or hunting rights. The tangling of relationships between the two Clans had caused the skirmish. It had poisoned feelings, not just between Clans but between Clanmates, weakening the Clan from within as cat turned against cat." |
| — Lionblaze's thoughts in Night Whispers, chapter 18 |
- Below contains in-depth information for chapter eighteen of Night Whispers. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.
- Chapter Number: 18 (of 25)
- Page Numbers: 195-208
Chapter description[]
- Lionblaze works to patch the elders' den with leaves, trying to stop drafts of wind from chilling the inside of the den. He hears Sandstorm cough, but she insists that she has just swallowed a snowflake. The warrior thinks about how Birchfall and Toadstep have been working to gather leaves for the patching, and he thanks them when they return with more. They ask if he needs more, and Lionblaze replies that he can patch the back of the den as well if they get some. Toadstep and Birchfall leave, and Mousefur adds that he better do a good job because she was cold last night.
- Brambleclaw comes over to Lionblaze, asking him to lead a hunting patrol near the WindClan border. He asks if that is smart, but the deputy insists that they need to be taught a lesson about chasing prey in ThunderClan's territory. Lionblaze agrees, so Brambleclaw assigns Cinderheart, Leafpool, and Dovepaw to go with him. The warrior gathers his patrol together and heads out of camp. Lionblaze is not happy he has to patrol with Cinderheart and does his best to avoid Leafpool. He leads them out of camp and near the WindClan border, telling Dovepaw to stop yawning.
- As they near the border stream, he sends the rest of his patrol to hunt up past the brambles. Lionblaze hears rustling, and he turns to see Crowfeather and Breezepelt hunting. He hides behind a bush, watching as the black warrior swats at a thrush. However, the bird falls into ThunderClan territory, where Lionblaze kills it. Breezepelt protests that it is his, but he replies that it is not on WindClan land. Lionblaze says he can come and get it, and the black warrior jumps across the scent markers. They start to fight, and the ThunderClan tom quickly pins Breezepelt down. The two toms continue to tussle, Breezepelt's blood spattering across the snow.
- Leafpool shrieks at them to stop, demanding to know how Crowfeather can watch his own sons fight. Nightcloud stalks out of the bracken, insisting that her mate is only father to Breezepelt. The black warrior prepares to strike at Lionblaze, but Leafpool darts in the way, and his blows hit her instead. Lionblaze watches in shock as Crowfeather hauls Breezepelt off of her, reminding the she-cat that she chose her Clan. Leafpool meows that she did love him, but he counters that it was not enough. Nightcloud drags Crowfeather away from Leafpool, but he turns on the black she-cat with a hiss. Breezepelt darts between them with a wail of protest, telling him to leave his mother alone.
- Lionblaze feels sick, thinking this has gone way beyond a border skirmish. The three WindClan warriors leave, saying they can have the puny bird. Lionblaze wonders if he should stop fighting Clan cats since he can not be injured, and Dovepaw's accusation of him cheating echoes in his mind. He turns to the rest of his patrol and insists they continue hunting, and he outwardly defends his decision to challenge Breezepelt. Cinderheart says that he is the one who changed everything between them, and he feels frustrated because the prophecy is not his fault. The patrol catches a good haul and brings it back to camp. Many cats are appreciative, commenting that the fresh-kill pile looks like a pile again.
- Lionblaze stares across the clearing, thinking about Leafpool and Cinderheart. He hears Sandstorm coughing, which prompts Brightheart to fetch Jayfeather to check her over. The medicine cat discovers that she has whitecough, and Leafpool offers to go get feverfew. However, Jayfeather disagrees, since their patch at the abandoned Twoleg nest will die if any more is gathered. He insists that he will be the one to decide when they use herbs, since he is the medicine cat. Tension fills the air between him and Leafpool, but she stalks away to the warriors' den. Firestar asks what happened on patrol today, and Lionblaze reports that he won a skirmish over prey. However, he silently thinks that the fight was really about poisoned feelings, and he thinks it might be a good thing for each Clan to face the upcoming dangers alone.
Characters[]
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| Night Whispers chapters | |
|---|---|
| Prologue • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14 • Chapter 15 • Chapter 16 • Chapter 17 • Chapter 18 • Chapter 19 • Chapter 20 • Chapter 21 • Chapter 22 • Chapter 23 • Chapter 24 • Chapter 25 | |