by Erin Hunter
Dappletail wriggled up beside her—on the side where White-eye could see. “Are we at the river?” she mewed.
White-eye shifted to make room under the ferns. “Yup. Look!”
Ahead of them, the ground was covered with small gray stones, sloping down to the thick black water that flowed swiftly by, sparkling with reflected stars.
“It’s kind of spooky at night,” Dappletail whispered, shrinking back against White-eye’s sturdy shoulder.
White-eye gave her a nudge. “We’ll be fine,” she assured her. There was no way she was going back to the camp now. This was the biggest adventure she’d ever had! In fact, it was probably the biggest adventure any ThunderClan cat had had. They didn’t need to take RiverClan’s prey—it was greenleaf, and the woods were thrumming with juicy birds and squirrels—but White-eye wanted to know what fish tasted like, and why RiverClan was so snooty about its prey being the best of all the Clans’.
Dappletail jumped onto a flattened rock at the edge of the river and peered into the water. “I don’t see any fish,” she whispered. “Do you think they’ve gone to sleep?”
White-eye huffed impatiently as she squeezed onto the rock beside her. “Fish don’t sleep!”
“They must,” Dappletail argued. “Otherwise they’d be really tired.”
“Well, maybe some of them are awake.” White-eye wriggled forward until her front legs dangled over the water.
Dappletail eyed her dubiously. “Is that how RiverClan cats catch fish? You look like you’re about to fall in.”
“Look!” White-eye strained her neck out, her whiskers quivering with the effort. “There’s something over there!” She tensed her hindquarters, and before Dappletail could say anything, she leaped off the rock with her front paws outstretched and plummeted into the water with an enormous splash.
Dappletail sprang back, blinking as drops flew into her eyes. She shook her head and stared at the river. The current flowed as swiftly as ever, but now it was carrying White-eye, gasping and scrabbling to keep her head above the surface.
“White-eye!” Dappletail wailed. “Come back!”
“I’m … trying …” came the muffled reply. There was another splash and White-eye’s head bobbed under a wave as the water swept her around a rock.
Dappletail stood on the shore, her tail bristling with shock. “Help!” she yowled.
White-eye reappeared farther downstream. “Don’t … tell anyone … we’re … here,” she spluttered. “Get … into … trouble....”
“But you’re drowning!” Dappletail shrieked. “Help!”
Somewhere in the forest an owl hooted, but there were no sounds of cats coming to help. Dappletail looked at the swift black river, took a deep breath, and ran into the waves. The water was so cold she couldn’t breathe. Waves slapped around her, cutting her off from either shore and filling her ears with a deafening hiss.
Swimming’s just like running, but in water, right?
She untangled her legs and tried to move them as if she were walking on grass, but as soon as she hauled herself upright in the water she sank and had to scrabble back to the surface, gasping for air. This was the worst idea White-eye had ever had!
“What in the name of StarClan is going on?”
An angry voice sounded above Dappletail’s head, and she floundered around to see who was speaking. A brown-and-white tom was standing on a rock on the RiverClan side of the river, his eyes huge as moons.
“Help!” Dappletail yowled, before a wave filled her mouth and made her cough.
Another cat appeared beside the first one. “Owlfur, it’s clearly not out for a nighttime swim. You’d better go fish it out before it drowns.”
The brown-and-white tom slid into the water and his small head began bobbing steadily toward Dappletail. She kept her mouth shut and flailed with her paws, trying to stay in the same place. She winced as the tom clamped his jaws tightly in the scruff of her neck, and she felt herself being dragged through the water toward the shore. Her paws scraped against stones and she staggered out with most of the river streaming from her fur.
“My Clanmate!” she coughed. She twitched her tail downriver. “She’s still in there!”
“Mouse-brains!” hissed the second cat. He braced his thick-pelted gray shoulders and headed for the river. “Owlfur, you stay here and make sure this feather-head doesn’t try to follow me.” He broke into a run and disappeared into the river, his pace staying the same even when he started swimming.
“You’re from ThunderClan, aren’t you?” Owlfur mewed disapprovingly.
Dappletail nodded, her whiskers heavy with drops.
“Let me guess. You were trying to steal our fish.”
Dappletail’s head drooped even lower. “S-sorry,” she muttered.
The brown-and-white tom hissed, then raised his head. “Looks like Hailstar found your Clanmate,” he meowed.
Hailstar? Oh, great. We’ve been rescued by the leader of RiverClan.
“Dappletail! Look!”
Noisy splashing behind her made Dappletail turn around. White-eye was stumbling out of the water with Hailstar shoving her from behind. Her pelt was slicked to her sides and her ears looked huge against her wet head, but his eyes shone as she dropped a twitching silver fish onto the stones.
“I caught a fish!”
Hailstar rolled his eyes. “You squashed it against a rock,” he corrected. “And it wasn’t yours to catch in the first place.” His eyes narrowed. “You’re trespassing and stealing. What do you say about that?”
“Hey! Are those our missing ThunderClan warriors?”
There was a shout from across the river. On the far shore, Pinestar and his deputy, Sunfall, were standing at the edge of the water, their fur frosted by starlight.
“We caught some unusual prey tonight,” Hailstar called back. “Why not come across and see if it suits your appetite better?”
The ThunderClan cats ran along the shore and jumped across the stepping-stones, clearly visible in the low greenleaf river. Dappletail glanced sideways at White-eye as they waited for their Clan leader to arrive.
“I am never, ever listening to you again!” she hissed.
The four older cats stood in a line in front of Dappletail and White-eye and surveyed them.
“Just how many rules of the warrior code did you want to break tonight?” Pinestar began. “Trespassing, stealing prey, catching food for yourself … ”
“I wanted to see what fish tasted like,” White-eye mumbled.
Pinestar leaned closer to her. “We are from ThunderClan,” he growled. “We. Don’t. Eat. Fish.”
Owlfur stepped forward. “Wait, I have an idea. Since these mouse-brains seem so determined to be RiverClan cats, why not let them eat their fresh-kill? After all, White-eye caught it.”
Dappletail looked up in surprise. Weren’t they going to be punished?
Pinestar’s eyes gleamed. “What a good idea, Owlfur. White-eye, Dappletail, eat up. Don’t waste a scrap, or that would be very insulting to your hosts.”
White-eye didn’t wait to be asked again. She opened her mouth wide and sank her jaws into the fish just behind its head. Feeling very uncomfortable with the other cats watching, Dappletail crouched by the tail of the fish and took a bite.
Yuck!
Both cats sprang back, their lips curling. Wet, cold, slimy, tasting of stones and weeds and mud …
Hailstar cocked his head on one side. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s disgusting!” White-eye spluttered.
Sunfall looked shocked. “You can’t say that when RiverClan is so generously letting you eat your catch.”
Dappletail forced herself to swallow and concentrated very hard on not being sick. “Please don’t make us eat any more,” she meowed.
Pinestar looked at them both. “The warrior code exists for a reason. ThunderClan cats don’t eat fish, don’t catch fish, don’t swim, don’t have anything to do with the river at all. RiverClan cats
don’t eat squirrels, so they don’t live in the woods. ShadowClan cats don’t eat rabbits, so they don’t live on the moor.”
Hailstar spoke up. “I think nearly being drowned is enough of a lesson for now. Go back to your Clan and leave the fish to us.”
White-eye nodded hard. “No more fishing,” she promised.
“No more adventures ever,” Dappletail meowed. ThunderClan cats ate ThunderClan fresh-kill; as far as she cared, RiverClan cats could have all the fish in the world.
CODE THREE
ELDERS AND KITS MUST BE FED BEFORE APPRENTICES AND WARRIORS.
Caring for the weaker members of the Clan lies at the heart of the way we live. We are taught to respect elders who fought for the Clan in the past and kits who can’t yet hunt for themselves. However, moons ago, when the blood of warriors flowed thick and fast over Sunningrocks, if you had asked a warrior what he or she fought for, the warlike answer would have shocked you. All that would change thanks to a visionary warrior called Splashheart, who went on to lead RiverClan and bring peace to the forest. Let me take you back....
A Mystical Battle
The shape was little more than a flicker beneath the surface of the water, a trembling shadow cast on the stones crisscrossed with waving green fronds. Splashheart kept absolutely still, waiting for the fish to come closer. Another flicker, less than a tail-length away, and Splashheart shot out one paw, his unsheathed claws slicing through the cold water. When he felt his pad brush against the fat, slick body, he curled his paw and swiped it toward him. The fish flew out of the water, scattering silver droplets, and landed on the bank beside him, where he finished it off with a swift blow.
“Good catch,” said a voice behind him. It was Reedshine, the dark orange she-cat who had mentored him until two sunrises ago, when he received his warrior name.
“Thanks,” Splashheart purred. “Want to share?”
Reedshine padded closer and sniffed at the fish before taking a bite. Splashheart bent down and took a mouthful from the other side of the fish. This was only his second catch as a warrior, and it tasted as good as the first.
On the other side of the river, Sunningrocks loomed, casting a heavy black shadow onto the water. These smooth gray rocks quickly grew warm in the sun, making them perfect to lie on and share tongues or just watch the river sliding past below. Some of RiverClan’s elders could remember when the river flowed on the other side of Sunningrocks, cutting off RiverClan from ThunderClan’s wooded territory. But then a great flood came one leaf-fall and the river burst its banks to surround the rocks, until they resembled a bleak gray island. When the floodwater went away, the river had carved a new course on RiverClan’s side of the rocks. Before the next sunrise, ThunderClan had claimed Sunningrocks as its own, swarming across the dried-out riverbed to set scent markers along the new riverbank. The Clans had fought over them many times since, and at the moment the scent markers lay on the far side of the rocks, keeping ThunderClan firmly out.
Splashheart narrowed his eyes. There was a cat creeping along the far riverbank, head and tail low. The cat was half hidden by the shadow from the rocks, but it was a leaner, sleeker-furred shape than RiverClan cats, who grew plump and thick-pelted thanks to their watery prey. ThunderClan!
“ThunderClan intruders on Sunningrocks!” he yowled.
“I’ll fetch help!” Reedshine told him. “Stay on this side of the river until I get back.” She plunged into the reeds, her orange pelt quickly vanishing among the rattling brown stalks.
Splashheart’s fur stood on end and his paws tingled. His first battle as a warrior!
“This is our territory now, fish-fur!” snarled a cat from the other side of the river.
“Never!” Splashheart hissed. He sank his claws into the edge of the bank, ready to leap into the water and start the battle on his own.
“Splashheart, wait!” Darkstar burst out from the reeds behind him.
Splashheart whirled around to face his leader. “We can’t let them get away with this!” he protested.
The small brown she-cat met his gaze. “We won’t,” she promised grimly. Dry stalks rattled behind her and suddenly the bank was thronging with cats, warriors and apprentices, their fur fluffed up and their claws gleaming in the sun.
“RiverClan, attack!” yowled Darkstar, plunging into the river.
Splashheart scanned the rocks. Thank StarClan, they didn’t seem to be outnumbered. Blackbee and Eeltail were chasing after a ThunderClan she-cat who was streaking for the cover of the ferns at the bottom of the rocks; Reedshine held another warrior in a paw lock, hissing a warning into his face. Darkstar had satisfied herself with a quick slash of claws across a dark brown cat’s ears before standing back to let him run away, yowling.
As the warriors’ screeches faded among quivering ferns, Splashheart heard a scraping noise from behind a tumble of boulders. He gathered his haunches beneath him and sprang onto the top of the nearest boulder. A pair of terrified amber eyes stared up at him from the other side.
“Don’t hurt me!” bleated the small black-and-white cat—an apprentice, by the look of him.
“Then stay off our territory!” hissed Splashheart.
The ThunderClan cat didn’t move. Instead, he curled his lip in a snarl. “Are you sure you want to threaten me, fish-fur?” he challenged.
Too late, Splashheart heard the scrape of claws on the rocks above him and felt a rush of air as two sleek-furred shapes landed, one at each flank. In a heartbeat, his face was thrust down against the rock. “Care to threaten us as well?” growled a voice in his ear, and the massive paw pressed harder on his neck.
“Get off him and fight a cat your own size!” screeched a voice from the riverbank. Splashheart caught a glimpse of dark orange fur leaping toward the boulders. Reedshine! She crashed straight into the warrior holding Splashheart down, and both cats plummeted into the narrow gap where the ThunderClan apprentice was crouching. The young cat jumped on top of Reedshine and began pummeling her belly with his forepaws; as Splashheart scrambled to his feet, he saw bright red streaks blossom in Reedshine’s soft fur. He tried to jump down after her but the other ThunderClan warrior swiped his hind paws from underneath him and rolled him over.
The warrior loomed over him, her green eyes blazing. “StarClan changed the course of the river!” she hissed. “Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan now!”
“Never!” Splashheart spat, but the warrior pressed her paw against his throat and the sky began to go dark and fuzzy.
Suddenly there was a thud as two heavy bodies collided above Splashheart, and the weight on his throat lifted. He gulped down air, almost stopping when it felt like swallowing thorns.
“Don’t just lie there, Splashheart,” hissed Darkstar, who crouched on the rock beside him. “Get down to the shore with the others, quick.” Splashheart sprang down to the stones at the edge of the water. The rest of the RiverClan warriors were huddled together, some of them belly-deep in water.
There was a scuffle behind him and Splashheart turned to see Darkstar half carrying Reedshine down the bank. The dark orange warrior left a trail of dark red smears behind her, and her eyes were half-closed. Splashheart raced over.
“Reedshine, wake up!” He looked at Darkstar. “We have to get her back to camp, now!”
Darkstar opened her mouth to let Reedshine sink gracelessly onto the stones. The leader’s eyes were black with rage. “We will take her back,” she promised. “But first, we will reclaim what is rightfully ours!” She raised her voice at the end so every RiverClan cat heard. They lifted their heads and stared at Darkstar in astonishment.
“But the battle is lost!” Eeltail spat. He jerked his muzzle toward the top of the rocks, where several ThunderClan warriors stood in triumph, their tails kinked high above their backs as they jeered at the defeated cats.
“It is only lost when we stop fighting!” replied Darkstar. She jumped onto the riverbank so all the cats could see her. “Our elders, and our elders’ kin, and
their kin before them, fought to keep Sunningrocks in our territory. Many of them lost their lives, giving up their last breath for stones that belong to us. Can we give up where they did not, turn tail and flee when they kept fighting so that their kits could hunt and play and bask on these rocks? Will you fight with me now, in honor of all our elders and all our unborn kits?”
“We will fight!” roared the RiverClan cats. In that moment, Splashheart saw the rocks swarming with starry shapes of cats who had gone before him, his Clanmates from long ago battling over and over to keep Sunningrocks as their own. Now he would join them, set his paws where their paws once stood, and feel their battles echo around him as he proved himself worthy to walk among them.
With a single yowl, the RiverClan cats surged up the riverbank and onto the boulders. The ThunderClan warriors stood in a line on the far side of the summit, staring at them in astonishment.
“The battle is over,” snarled one of them, a broad-shouldered tabby with amber eyes.
Darkstar faced him boldly, the fur standing up along her spine. “How can that be, when we are not beaten?” she challenged.
With a screech, the tabby sprang at her, but Darkstar sidestepped, spun around, and sank her claws into his back as he crashed to the floor. The RiverClan warriors leaped forward to meet the other ThunderClan cats, and Splashheart felt his teeth sink into short white fur. He didn’t let go until he dragged the cat to the edge of the rocks.
“Go!” he ordered, releasing the cat’s scruff at last. Without looking back, the warrior scrambled down the boulders and disappeared into the ferns at the edge of ThunderClan’s territory.
“Good work,” murmured a voice beside Splashheart. He had plunged back into the throng of cats, and for a moment he couldn’t tell which cat was speaking to him.
“Watch out for that black-and-white tom over there,” the voice continued, and Splashheart saw a ThunderClan warrior stalking toward Eeltail, who was holding down a spitting she-cat.