The Sun Trail

by Erin Hunter

  “Okay,” Shattered Ice meowed. “Let’s split up. Clear Sky, you lead the first group, and then keep watch for the rest of us at the other side. Quick Water, Tall Shadow, Cloud Spots, and Jackdaw’s Cry, go with him.” As the cats he had named gathered together, he went on: “Rainswept Flower, Dappled Pelt, Turtle Tail, and Falling Feather, come with me. And Gray Wing, you lead the last group, with Jagged Peak, Hawk Swoop, and Moon Shadow.”

  Gray Wing nodded in response, and braced himself for the crossing.

  Every cat seemed to feel better now that Shattered Ice had come up with a plan. Clear Sky led his group to the edge of the Thunderpath and waited for a glittering blue monster to pass. The sound of its roaring died away into silence.

  “Now!” Clear Sky yowled.

  His group sprang forward and raced across the Thunderpath, their paws barely skimming the surface. Clear Sky ran alongside Tall Shadow, making sure that she didn’t lag behind. They reached the other side with heartbeats to spare before the next monster appeared. Gray Wing lost sight of them in the long grass.

  “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Shattered Ice declared, as he flicked his tail to wave his own group up to the edge.

  He and his cats had to wait a long time before the next gap in the continuous lines of monsters. Clear Sky reappeared at the other side and signaled to them with his tail.

  “Okay! Now!” he yowled.

  The cats were leaping forward onto the Thunderpath when Clear Sky let out another shriek. “No! Go back!”

  With screeches of alarm the cats retreated. Shattered Ice grabbed Falling Feather by the scruff and hauled her out of danger as a bright red monster appeared out of nowhere, flashing past with a snarl.

  “Dungeater!” Turtle Tail yowled after it. She seemed to have forgotten how nervous she had been.

  Shattered Ice and his group approached the edge of the Thunderpath again, more cautious than ever after their narrow escape. But this time the path cleared quickly, and no monsters threatened them as they raced across.

  Gray Wing gestured with his tail to gather his own group together. Trying to force his paws to stop shaking, he lined up Jagged Peak, Moon Shadow, and Hawk Swoop at the edge of the Thunderpath. Stooping, he pressed his ear to the stone surface, but he couldn’t sense any vibrations.

  “Okay . . . now!”

  With his group hard on his paws, he bounded onto the Thunderpath. But as they reached the halfway point, he heard the roar of an approaching monster, growing rapidly louder until the sound filled the whole world.

  “Faster!” Gray Wing screeched.

  He had almost reached the edge when Clear Sky leaped out from the grass, barged past him and headed for the middle of the Thunderpath. Horrified, Gray Wing skidded to a halt and turned to see Jagged Peak crouching in the path of the monster, frozen with terror. Clear Sky scooped him up by his scruff and leaped back in two mighty strides, just as the gigantic monster thundered past.

  “You stupid, stupid kit!” Clear Sky snarled, dropping Jagged Peak and glaring at him. “Don’t you know by now not to stop in the middle like that?”

  Jagged Peak cowered down into the grass as if trying to hide from his brother’s fury. “I—I’m sorry,” he stammered.

  “It’s my fault too,” Gray Wing meowed. “I should have realized he wasn’t with me.”

  Before his littermate could respond, Quick Water pushed her way forward. “Clear Sky, calm down,” she snapped. “It was a scary moment for all of us.” Bending over Jagged Peak, she gave his head fur a couple of quick licks. “Come on,” she murmured. “You can walk with me for a bit.”

  Jagged Peak struggled to his paws, giving Quick Water a grateful glance.

  Every cat was shaky, their fur ruffled and dirty. They stumbled up the grassy slope in front of them, their excitement gone, their courage almost spent.

  The slope led onto open moorland covered in tough, springy grass and clumps of gorse. Gray Wing relaxed, reveling in the open sky and the breeze that carried the scent of rabbits.

  I could live my whole life here.

  Toward nightfall, they came across a shallow hollow lined with gorse bushes and small rocks that offered shelter. A pool of peaty brown water lay at the bottom.

  “We’ll stay here for now,” Tall Shadow said. “We can rest and explore, and decide whether this is the place Stoneteller meant for us to find.”

  After a couple of days spent drowsing in the hollow, venturing out only to hunt rabbits, Clear Sky was the first to lead out a group to explore, taking Dappled Pelt, Falling Feather, and Moon Shadow with him.

  “We went as far as the river,” Clear Sky reported when they came back. “There’s a massive waterfall, thundering down into a gorge.”

  “No cave behind it, though,” Falling Feather mewed regretfully.

  On the following day, Gray Wing set out with Cloud Spots, Rainswept Flower, Jagged Peak, and Turtle Tail. The sun shone brightly in a blue sky, clear except for a few wisps of white cloud. A breeze was blowing from the forest in front of them, bringing with it the scent of fresh, growing vegetation.

  “This feels so good!” Turtle Tail sighed, pausing to arch her back in a long stretch.

  “No rain, no Thunderpaths, and plenty of prey,” Rainswept Flower agreed. “What else could we want?”

  “We need to learn more about the place first,” Gray Wing warned her. “There might be dangers we know nothing about.”

  Trekking on across the moor, they came to a steep slope leading downward. Ahead of them Gray Wing spotted a clump of fresh green leaves rustling in the wind. At first he wasn’t sure what it was, until he realized that he was looking at the tops of several trees.

  “Let’s go look!” Jagged Peak meowed eagerly, springing forward.

  Gray Wing hauled him back by hooking his tail around the young cat’s neck. “Yes, we’ll go look,” he replied sternly. “But you will stay with the rest of us and not dash around like a demented snow hare!”

  Jagged Peak nodded, but flexed his claws impatiently as he followed Gray Wing.

  The moorland grass gave way to lush fern and undergrowth. Pushing through at the head of his group, Gray Wing halted, letting out a gasp of amazement.

  In front of him the ground fell away into a vast, circular hollow. The sides were lined with ferns and bushes, and at the bottom, four magnificent oak trees stretched their branches to the sky.

  “Wow!” Cloud Spots breathed out at Gray Wing’s shoulder.

  Jagged Peak’s voice rose in an excited squeak: “Why don’t we live here?”

  Gray Wing gave him a quelling look, but didn’t reply. As he led the way down the slope, ears alert for possible danger, he began to feel once again the familiar sensation of being trapped under the trees. The branches arched overhead, interlacing so that he could only see patches of open sky.

  In the middle of the four oaks, a huge jagged rock stretched many tail-lengths into the air. Jagged Peak bunched his muscles and tried to leap onto the top, but it was too high for him. He dropped back, his claws scrabbling at the rock face.

  “Clear Sky would be able to leap up there!” he mewed, with an annoyed flick of his tail.

  “Yes, but why would he want to?” Gray Wing pointed out. Avoiding an argument with Jagged Peak, he added, “We should stop for a while and hunt. There’s bound to be prey among all this undergrowth.”

  Jagged Peak headed off at once.

  “Stay in the hollow!” Gray Wing called after him.

  The rest of the group split up. As Gray Wing had hoped, the prey was plentiful, and before long they gathered at the base of the rock to eat. As he swallowed bites of mouse, he heard rustling in the bushes on the side of the hollow. Tasting the air, he picked up the scent of cat.

  “It’s a rogue,” Turtle Tail whispered.

  Watching the movement of the branches, Gray Wing caught glimpses of a ginger pelt; the strange cat was moving toward the top of the hollow. More movement appeared farther up, and a black-and-white face p
opped out for a moment between the fronds of a clump of fern.

  “There are more of them!” Jagged Peak sprang to his paws, his claws extended. “We should fight them off.”

  Cloud Spots moved to block the young cat before he could go charging off the slope. “Are you flea-brained?” he hissed. “Why should we fight them? They’re not doing us any harm.”

  “But they—” Jagged Peak began to protest.

  “Cloud Spots is right,” Gray Wing meowed, remembering the claws of the kittypet he had fought in the Twolegplace. “We’re not fit for fighting yet, and we need to have a much clearer idea of this place before we risk meeting hostile cats.”

  “For all we know, they might be friendly,” Rainswept Flower added.

  Jagged Peak gave a snort of disbelief, but didn’t say any more. Gray Wing cast a wary eye back toward the cat peering out from the ferns. He did not know if these cats would cause them trouble or not—but he would keep his eyes and ears open, just in case.

  Two sunrises later, Gray Wing was hunting alone on the moor. The warm, bright weather had given way to a raw chill, with clouds covering the sky and a smattering of rain on the wind.

  Gray Wing scanned the moorland for the least sign of movement. His pads tingled with excitement as he spotted a rabbit racing across the top of the slope. He sprang forward. The rabbit veered aside with a shrill squeal of fear and Gray Wing altered course, stretching out his paws and pushing off from the tough grass to force out every last bit of speed.

  He was reaching for the rabbit when something slammed into him from the side. His paws skidded out from under him and he crashed to the ground, rolling over with legs and tail waving.

  Half stunned, Gray Wing scrambled up to see a wiry brown she-cat glaring at him with yellow eyes. Just beyond her, a thin gray tom was rising to his paws and shaking scraps of grass from his pelt. The rapidly fading scent told Gray Wing that the rabbit had escaped.

  He lashed his tail angrily. “You made me lose my rabbit!”

  “Your rabbit?” The gray tom stepped forward to stand beside the she-cat. “Wind, why do you think this crow-food eater thinks that was his rabbit?”

  “I have no idea, Gorse,” the she-cat, Wind, replied, her neck fur bristling. “We’ve seen you, you know,” she hissed at Gray Wing. “Strolling in here, stealing our prey!”

  “Yes, where did you come from?” Gorse asked aggressively. “I hope you don’t mean to stay long, because—”

  “We’ll stay as long as we like,” Gray Wing retorted. “The prey belongs to the cats who can catch it, and there’s plenty here for all of us.”

  Wind slid out her claws. “That’s not for you to say.”

  Gray Wing braced himself for an attack, but before Wind or Gorse could spring, a cool voice spoke from somewhere behind him. “Having trouble, Gray Wing?”

  Glancing over his shoulder, Gray Wing saw Tall Shadow appearing from behind a lichen-covered boulder. Her paw had healed, and she looked formidable, her green eyes narrowing as she faced the hostile cats. Hawk Swoop was padding at her shoulder, her teeth bared in the beginning of a snarl.

  “These cats knocked me over when I was chasing a rabbit,” Gray Wing explained.

  “We knocked you over?” Wind let out a snort of disgust. “You ran straight into us. You’re as blind as a mole in daylight!”

  “We’re not going to argue,” Tall Shadow mewed, flexing her claws. “I’d leave, if I were you. Or do you want us to make you?”

  Gorse took a step back, and after a heartbeat Wind followed. “Don’t think you’re getting away with this,” she snapped as she retreated. “You’re not welcome here!”

  Tall Shadow stood watching until a fold in the moor hid the two rogues, then led the way back to the hollow on the moors. Before they reached it, a thin rain began to fall, soaking the cats’ pelts. Water welled up from the grass when they set down their paws.

  Gray Wing felt thoroughly dejected. He was glad that Tall Shadow and Hawk Swoop had turned up before a fight started, but . . . I shouldn’t have been so quick to argue. I could have talked to Gorse and Wind . . . do we really want to fight to stay here?

  When they arrived at the hollow, Hawk Swoop told the story to the rest of the cats. “Tall Shadow made them go away,” she finished triumphantly. “She was great!”

  But not every cat was pleased to hear what had happened. “Will it be like that every time we go hunting?” Turtle Tail asked. “I don’t want to have to fight for the right to catch prey.”

  “Neither do I,” Rainswept Flower agreed. “Maybe this isn’t where we’re supposed to live, after all.”

  Cloud Spots nodded. “Suppose Tall Shadow and Hawk Swoop hadn’t turned up when they did. Gray Wing could have been seriously hurt.”

  Jackdaw’s Cry and Dappled Pelt exchanged glances. “If worse comes to worst, we could always go back to the mountains,” Jackdaw’s Cry pointed out. “Prey was scarce, but at least we didn’t have to fight for it.”

  For the next few days the rain continued almost without a break. Exploring didn’t seem exciting anymore, especially with the threat of meeting more hostile cats. Gray Wing and the others huddled under the gorse bushes for shelter, except when hunger drove them out to catch rabbits.

  Four sunrises after his encounter with Wind and Gorse, Gray Wing awoke from an uncomfortable doze to see Moon Shadow crashing down the slope among the bushes, dragging something heavy behind him.

  “Look what I caught!” the black tom exclaimed proudly, dropping two squirrels beside the rock where Tall Shadow was sheltering.

  “Where did you get those?” Tall Shadow mewed.

  “In the woodland,” Moon Shadow boasted, gazing around as other cats came up to examine his prey. “It was easy.”

  “It was flea-brained,” Tall Shadow snapped. “You shouldn’t have gone there alone. From now on, we hunt in groups.”

  “Who died and put you in charge?” Moon Shadow demanded, his tail-tip twitching in annoyance.

  “Shaded Moss, actually,” Tall Shadow replied. “And it’s not a position I ever asked for.”

  Did Shaded Moss make her his successor? Gray Wing wondered. They talked together a lot. And I don’t think Tall Shadow would lie.

  Though tension was rising among the cats, none of the others challenged Tall Shadow. Gray Wing was aware of a moment of grief. We’re all wondering how different things would be if Shaded Moss were still here.

  He knew that this place wasn’t as wonderful as they had hoped when they set out from the mountains, or even when they first arrived on the moor after crossing the Thunderpath, but in the torrential rain no cat had the appetite for more journeying.

  We’re here . . . we have to make the best of it.

  As the cats shared Moon Shadow’s prey, Gray Wing thought that Clear Sky seemed sad and angry. He hadn’t spoken, except for a brief word of thanks to Moon Shadow, and he only took a couple of mouthfuls.

  “You need to talk to your brother about Bright Stream,” Turtle Tail murmured into Gray Wing’s ear. “You can’t avoid him forever.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Gray Wing responded, though he shrank from the idea of Clear Sky’s fury turned against him.

  Later that day the rain stopped and the sky cleared as wind sent the clouds scudding away. Gray Wing spotted his brother climbing the slope of the hollow alone. Briefly he hesitated. You’ll never have a better chance than this, he told himself, setting out to follow.

  Clear Sky raced across the moor in a direction Gray Wing hadn’t yet walked. Where is he going?

  After a while, he realized that his brother was heading toward the river. Gray Wing had never seen it up close, and curiosity tingled through his pads as he heard the sound of thundering water.

  Clear Sky reached the riverbank at the point where a waterfall crashed down over rocks, throwing up fountains of spray. Beyond the falls, the river ran through sheer walls of stone. The recent rain had left it noisy and foaming. The sound and sight of the tumbl
ing water reminded Gray Wing of his home in the mountains.

  Watching the river, Gray Wing briefly lost sight of Clear Sky before realizing his brother was climbing down one of the narrow paths that led to the water’s edge. Gray Wing followed, setting his paws carefully and hugging the rock face, away from the sheer drop into the river.

  Clear Sky was in no hurry, and Gray Wing soon began to catch up. “Did you come here because it reminds you of our waterfall?” he asked him.

  Startled, Clear Sky spun around. His paws skidded on the slick surface of the path, and he let out a squeal of alarm as he slid over the edge.

  Gray Wing bounded forward, caution forgotten, and managed to grab his brother’s scruff before Clear Sky could plunge into the gorge. For a few heartbeats Clear Sky dangled above the turbulent water, his paws flailing helplessly, Gray Wing’s grip the only thing that kept him from falling. His terrified blue eyes gazed up into Gray Wing’s.

  An image flashed into Gray Wing’s mind of how he had tried to cling to Bright Stream as the eagle dragged her away. “I won’t let you die too,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

  Confusion battled with the fear in Clear Sky’s eyes. “What . . . ?”

  With a mighty effort, Gray Wing hauled his brother upward until he could set his paws firmly on the path again. Clear Sky shook himself; his blue gaze was furious as he glared at Gray Wing. “You flea-brained idiot!” he snarled, his neck fur bristling. “Did you have to creep up on me like that?”

  Gray Wing was still shaking from the thought of what could have happened. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

  Clear Sky glared at him for a moment longer, then let his fur lie flat again. “What did you mean, you won’t let me die too?” he asked.

  Gray Wing took a deep breath. Then the words he had wanted to say for almost a moon tumbled out of him. “I can’t bear what happened to Bright Stream! I know it was my fault she died. I’ve wished over and over we could have switched places. I’m more sorry than I can ever tell you.”

  Clear Sky’s eyes widened and he stared at Gray Wing in astonishment. “It wasn’t your fault she died!” he choked out. “The whole plan was my idea. I should never have let her go out to fight the eagles, not when she was carrying our kits. I killed her!”