Shadow (book)/Chapter 20

==Chapter description==
:Sunbeam nervously eats a frog, anxious about Nightheart's final task and worried about his whereabouts. Berryheart questions her about where Nightheart is, and Sunbeam makes an excuse that he has gone for a walk. Tigerstar suggests that they head to where Nightheart will perform his task, and Berryheart reluctantly leads ShadowClan to a pine tree outside the camp, where they wait. Sunbeam frets over Nightheart's absence while Berryheart seems pleased, though in the meantime, Tigerstar has Berryheart explain the task. She says that Nightheart needs to fight rats in a tunnel, catch prey, and bring back an unbroken pigeon egg. Tigerstar points out the complexity of the task, but Berryheart insists that it needs to be difficult.
:Nightheart arrives at last, and Berryheart explains his task to him, while Sunbeam feels eager to begin her life with him afterward. Nightheart attacks the rats and manages to defeat them, and he asks if he can count the rat he killed as a piece of prey, but Berryheart tells him to catch three different ones. Nightheart successfully brings back his prey and moves on to the final part of his task, and Sunbeam feels confident in his abilities. Nightheart climbs into the tree with the pigeon's nest and, to Sunbeam's horror, stays on the weak branch holding the nest. The branch breaks and Nightheart falls with the nest, grabbing onto another branch below, while the eggs shatter on the ground. Berryheart, pleased, tells Nightheart that he failed his task, and Tigerstar says that he needs to leave.
:Sunbeam takes Nightheart aside and confronts him, but when he seems remorseful rather than annoyed, she realizes that he failed deliberately. Nightheart reassures her that he wants to be with her, but feels that ThunderClan needs him and that it is his home, and he believes he can show them who he is and communicate better. Sunbeam turns away from him and leaves, heartbroken, and meets Berryheart at the Twoleg path. Berryheart comforts her, telling her that outsiders are untrustworthy, and Sunbeam begins to think that her mother may be right.
==Characters==
===Major===
===Minor===
===Mentioned===
==Important events==
*Nightheart deliberately fails his third task to go back to ThunderClan.
==Notes and references==
Category:Shadow (book)
Category:A Starless Clan arc
Category:Chapter subpages