Hawkflame spoke gently. "Poolpelt, would you like to join a hunting patrol today?"
Poolpelt gazed at him, trying to focus.

A moon had passed since she'd left Goldenkit with Goldenfur.
The nursery walls had been fortified with brambles.
Two warriors sat guard through each freezing night to make sure that no fox or badger would ever steal into the nursery again.

The Clan had believed Poolpelt's story—that she'd awoken to find her kits gone.
Every cat believed that they had been stolen by an animal that had snuck into the nursery, driven by starvation to venture into camp for the first time.
They'd searched the snowy forest for days, not knowing where to look, the scent trail killed by freezing snow.
Poolpelt had scoured the woods with her own Clanmates, numb with guilt, reminding herself over and over that she'd done it for the Clan.

Meanwhile hunger and sorrow gripped the Clan.
They spoke in low voices and huddled in knots, eyeing Poolpelt with pity that stabbed her like thorns.
She was sick of telling lies.

She hardly noticed how empty the fresh-kill pile was these days.
She was too miserable to eat, wishing only to hide in sleep.

She felt as though the shard of ice piercing her heart would never melt.
She'll be safe with Goldenfur.
The thought wasn't enough to ease her grief.

Was Sunkit watching from StarClan, hating Poolpelt for stealing his life?
Had Feathershine explained that his life had been sacrificed for the good of the Clan?

"Poolpelt." Hawkflame rested his tail on her shoulder and repeated his question. "Do you feel up to hunting?"

"I'll hunt with you, if you like." Braveheart hurried to join her. Sadness shadowed his gaze.
He was grieving as a father would grieve.
He'd worked harder than any other cat to reinforce the nursery, and his pelt was still tufted and scratches from the brambles he'd woven tightly along the stone walls.
Poolpelt wished she could tell him that the two kits lived on, safe and cherished, across the river.

She shrugged off Hawkflame's tail. "I'd rather hunt alone."
Hawkflame nodded. "As you wish."
Braveheart turned away, his eyes clouding.

"Poolpelt!" Amberleaf caught up to her, pressing close as she padded toward the tunnel. "Are you going to be all right?"
No! Nothing will ever be all right ever again. Poolpelt longed to curl up against her best friend's warm fur and go to sleep for a moon.
"I'll be fine," she replied, feeling hollow.

She scrambled up the side of the ravine and headed into the snowy forest.
As the Owl Tree came into view, a squirrel darted across her path.
She froze, her paws burning with cold on the ice-hardened forest floor.
The squirrel had a nut in its jaws and was scrabbling among the roots of an oak.

Poolpelt dropped into a hunting crouch, tail straight, belly lifted from the snow.
Sunkit. Does he still remember his IceClan hunting crouch in StarClan?

Pushing away the thought, she thrust down with her hind paws and sprang, landing squarely and killing the squirrel with a single bite.

"Nice catch."
Flowertail's rasping mew made her whip around. The squirrel swung from her jaws.
She dropped it. "What are you doing here?" The elders rarely made it up the ravine.
"I still have legs, you know," she snapped.

To was jarring to hear a Clanmate speak to her in a voice that wasn't honeyed with sympathy. She straightened and met her gaze. "What do you want?"
"You did the right thing."
"For whom?"
"For your Clan." Flowertail narrowed her eyes. "The prophecy left no room for kits. You must blaze alone at the head of your Clan."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Flowertail blinked. "It is not your destiny to feel better; it's your destiny to save your Clan."
"And I will. But I will always regret what I've done."

"The kits were your choice," Flowertail pointed out. "StarClan made no provision for them."
"StarClan made me sacrifice everything I loved. Goldenkit—!"
Flowertail cut her off. "They're alive, aren't they?"

"Not Sunkit."
"StarClan will honor his loss."
"What about my loss?"

"It is small compared with the fate of your Clan."
Poolpelt shook her head, trying to clear it.
Was she just being selfish?
What was one broken heart compared to the safety of her Clanmates?
Where was her loyalty?
She dipped her head. "I'll serve my Clan," she promised.

"Good." Flowertail nodded. "Icestar wants to talk to you."
She padded away into the snowy trees.

Poolpelt met the IceClan leader as she was climbing over the top of the ravine.
"Poolpelt." Icestar greeted her. "I wanted to talk to you away from the camp." She headed into the snowy forest. "Walk with me."

Poolpelt fell in beside her old mentor, remembering how she had spoken to her after the death of Whiteclaw and Raindapple and again when she'd been grieving for Feathershine.
"Is this another lecture to tell me to leave the past behind?" she said sarcastically.
She shook her head. "It seems you are destined to suffer," she sighed.

Poolpelt,looked into her eyes and saw how the IceClan leader had aged in the last few seasons.
Making IceClan strong and feared among the other Clans had cost her three lives in battle; sickness had taken another two.

The IceClan leader ducked under a low-hanging fern. "I can tell only what I've told you before. Life goes on."
They brushed past a snowy bush, hazing the branches with snow. "Leaf-bare is followed by newleaf and then by greenleaf. You must take heart from that, after the loss of your kits. I know that you will be okay—and even stronger than before."

Would she be so sympathetic if she knew one of them lived on, with DawnClan?
The fur prickled along her spine at the thought.

They padded farther through the snowy trees, and saw Icerocks coming forward and they sat down at the shore of the river, watching the river flowed through the two sides.

"Are you ready to take on the deputyship?" she asked.

This was it. The moment she'd longed for.
The reward for what I have given up.

"Rainpelt won't get any better," Icestar went on. "She's asked to move to the elders's den. A new deputy must be found."
She gazed hard into her eyes. "Will you be that deputy?"

Poolpelt blinked. "What about Blackfrost?" She had to know why Icestar hadn't chosen the fierce warrior instead of her.

Icestar stared into the trees. "Blackfrost would be a popular choice," she conceded. "No cat can doubt his courage, or his battle skills, or his pride in his Clan. But I don't want my Clan to be led into endless fighting. Our borders are strong enough without being marked over and over in blood. IceClan deserves to live in peace, and I believe you can give it that."

Icestar repeated her offer. "Are you ready, Poolpelt?"
Poolpelt nodded. "I'm ready."

The drifts sparkled in the dying sun, and pink light dappled the snowy clearing.

Icestar climbed up onto the Highrock. "All cats old enough to drift in the snow, gather below the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"
All cats stood and padded forward, sitting down.

"Rainpelt, step forward."
Rainpelt nodded and took a step forward, her shoulders were hunched, her haunches drawn in as though in pain. Her ribs pushed against her ragged pelt.

"Rainpelt, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?"
Rainpelt dipped her head low. "It is."
Icestar purred. "Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest."
"Rainpelt! Rainpelt!" The clans cats cheered.

As Rainpelt went back into the crowd, Icestar looked down at her Clan. "I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve my choice. The new deputy of IceClan is Poolpelt!"
"Poolpelt! Poolpelt!"

She felt the pale sun warm her pelt and breathed in the scents of the forest, her home.
And now her territory, even more than before.

Featherfall cheered for her, pride singing in her yowl.
But Blackfrost drowned her out with a yowl that reached for StarClan.
Poolpelt shifted her black paws.
The warrior's eyes were gleaming with fury, and she guessed his loud call was just a trick to fool the Clan into believing the new deputy had his full support.

Whatever it had cost her, she was the only cat who could stand in Blackfrost's way.
Only she knew what he was capable of.

For the first time in moons, there was enough fresh-kill for a feast.
Early newleaf had brought mice from their holes and birds from their secluded leaf-bare nests.

As the Clan cats shared what they had, Icestar beckoned Poolpelt to her den.
"I know I've made the right choice." Icestar swished through the lichen and sat down, a silhouette in the shadowy den. "You still have a lot to learn, but I'm looking forward to mentoring you again."
Poolpelt dipped her head. "I'm ready to learn."

The Clan leader shook her head. "We must work together if we are to guide the Clan well. Never be afraid of sharing your worries with me."

Icestar went on, "You have suffered much and lost much, and yet you still serve your Clanmates, putting their needs before yours, willing to sacrifice all for the sake of your Clan."
"My Clan is all I have now," Poolpelt confessed. "I will give every breath in my body to serve it." Regret tugged in her belly.

But I am the bluest flames. And this is the path I will follow.