by Erin Hunter
“I think StarClan will have noticed that Graystripe’s with us and not them,” Leafpool meowed dryly.
“But what about the warrior code? Is he officially dead according to the warrior code?”
“Did he look like he was dead last night?” Leafpool meowed.
“But if he’s not dead, then surely he’s still dep—”
“We are here to heal.” Leafpool looked directly at her.
“Firestar’s problems are not ours, unless StarClan wishes them to be. Now, are you going?”
“Going?” Hollypaw echoed.
“To fetch the borage.” Leafpool sighed. “If you’re not back before sunhigh I shall wake them without you.”
“I’m going!” Hollypaw promised, spinning around and pushing her way out of the den.
* * *
Up on the ridge, a cold, fresh breeze was blowing through the trees from across the lake. Hollypaw thought she could detect the scent of RiverClan on it.
Her paws itched to go exploring, but she wanted to get back before Graystripe and Millie woke up. She ducked her head and began to sniff the ground, hoping to find a scent trail that might lead her to borage. She desperately tried to remember what it smelled like in the medicine den, but her nose was too full of the scents of water and wind.
She padded down the steep slope, heading for where the trees thinned. The sun sparkled on the lake. What a great day for hunting! She pushed the thought away. She was hunting.
Hunting for borage. Sniffing the ground once more, she picked up a tangy scent that seemed familiar. She followed it carefully, clambering over the low boulders that dimpled the ground, and tracked the scent into some long grass, where she spotted green, jagged leaves growing in a clump on long, thin stems. They carried the scent she had been following. It was stronger up close and more bitter. Was this borage? She had seen this before, she was sure.
She glanced up at the sun. It shone high above her.
Leafpool would be waking Graystripe and Millie soon.
Quickly she nipped a few stems, breaking them at the base, careful not to swallow any of the bitter sap. She pitied the cat who had to eat such a foul-tasting herb as she picked up the fallen stems in her jaws and hurried back to the camp.
* * *
“This isn’t borage.” Leafpool stared in dismay at the stems Hollypaw had placed in front of her. “This is yarrow. This makes cats sick.”
Hollypaw closed her eyes, ashamed and angry. Why couldn’t she remember anything Leafpool taught her?
“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Leafpool encouraged.
“There’s a lot to learn.”
Hollypaw couldn’t meet her eyes. Don’t make excuses for me. I should be doing better than this by now!
“Come on,” Leafpool meowed briskly. “We can do without borage. Fetch some marigold leaves and we’ll go and wake Graystripe.”
Marigold leaves! Hollypaw knew what they looked like.
She bounded to the back of the cave and picked up a mouthful, then followed Leafpool across the clearing to Graystripe and Millie’s makeshift den.
Firestar stood outside with Sandstorm and Honeypaw.
Dustpelt, Thornclaw, Poppypaw, and Hazelpaw milled around eagerly. Graystripe and Millie, still ruffled from sleep, sat among them. Millie was staring from face to face, her ears twitching. Even Graystripe looked uncomfortable, like he had forgotten what it was like to have so many cats around him.
“Have you been awake long?” Leafpool asked, weaving through the others to reach Graystripe. She glanced sternly at the cats clustered around the gray warrior and his mate. “I hope no cat woke you.”
“No.” Graystripe drew his paws closer in and tucked his
tail tighter around him. “The sun woke us.”
“You can catch up with everyone later.” Leafpool twitched her tail, making it clear she wanted the other cats to leave.
“Let me know how they are when you’ve finished,” Firestar requested before he led his Clanmates away.
Graystripe’s shoulders loosened as they left. Millie looked relieved too.
“Any scratches?” Leafpool asked.
“Millie has a cut on one of her pads.”
“Let’s have a look.”
Gingerly Millie held up her forepaw. “There’s a thorn in there,” Leafpool meowed. “Jaypaw was right; it’s infected.”
She flicked her tail at Hollypaw. “My apprentice will pull it out while I prepare some leaves to heal the infection.”
Hollypaw gulped and inhaled a fragment of marigold leaf from the bunch she still held in her jaws. She coughed, spitting the leaves out onto the ground, and glanced anxiously at Millie, who gazed equally anxiously back. Hollypaw knew she couldn’t refuse. This was what she had wanted, a chance to practice instead of simply learning. She peered closely at Millie’s paw. Sure enough, a thorn was buried deep in the pad.
To Hollypaw’s dismay she could see blood and pus oozing around it.
“That must be sore,” she breathed. Did she really have to pull it out with her teeth?
Leafpool narrowed her eyes. “Perhaps I’d better do it.”
Self-consciously, Hollypaw backed away and let Leafpool take her place. “Shall I chew the marigold leaves into a
poultice?” she offered, her fur prickling with guilt.
“Yes.” Leafpool was concentrating on Millie’s paw with a detached intensity that Hollypaw wished she could copy.
Why was it all so difficult?
Graystripe began to wash his face. “It’s so good to see the Clan again,” he meowed between licks. “I always hoped I would find you, but I guess I never knew for sure. . . .”
“How did you know where we were?” Hollypaw asked.
“Ravenpaw told us to head toward the setting sun. We were lucky, and StarClan watched over us.”
“Were you angry at Firestar when you found he’d left without you?” Hollypaw meowed boldly.
Graystripe twitched the tip of his tail. “Yes, I was disappointed, but I can understand why he did it. The forest was in ruins. No cat could have survived there.”
“Ow!” Millie leaped backward and began to lick her paw.
Leafpool was holding the thorn between her teeth. She spat it out. “Press the marigold into the wound with your paw,” she told Hollypaw.
Millie held out her sore paw, which was bleeding and swollen where the thorn had been stuck. Hollypaw shuddered and rubbed her paw in the marigold pulp. She began to smear the juice gingerly onto Millie’s swollen pad. Millie stayed very still, even though it must have hurt.
“Cinderpelt would be proud of you both,” Graystripe meowed.
I wish that were true, Hollypaw thought, forcing herself to hold back the bile rising in her throat. But if Cinderpelt is really
watching me right now, she’ll know that I can’t do anything right for Leafpool.
“We’ll do some battle training this afternoon,” Leafpool announced after they had finished treating Graystripe and Millie. “Even medicine cats need to know how to defend their Clan in battle.”
Hollypaw’s heart soared. No pus, no bitter-tasting herbs, no cats wincing in pain—this was going to be fun! They climbed the slope outside the camp, heading away from the lake, and followed the track that led down to the mossy hollow that the apprentices used for battle training. As they padded through the trees, Hollypaw heard energetic mews up ahead. She sniffed the air. Cinderpaw and Cloudtail were already there.
She raced ahead of Leafpool, wanting to know what real warrior training was like. Through the trees she glimpsed the small gray tabby rushing toward Cloudtail. The white warrior twisted faster than a leaf caught in a breeze, and Cinderpaw hurtled past, missing him entirely.
“No, no!” Cloudtail meowed. “Didn’t you hear what I told you? Aim for where you think I’m going to be, not where I am!”
“Sorry!” Cinderpaw panted. “Can I try it one more time?”
Hollypaw padded down the bank and into the cl
earing.
“Hello,” she mewed.
“Are you collecting herbs?” Cloudtail asked.
“No. Leafpool’s going to teach me some fighting moves.”
“Great!” Cinderpaw mewed. “We can train together.”
Leafpool padded to Hollypaw’s side. “Maybe another time,”
she meowed. “I think it’s better if I show Hollypaw some basic moves before she joins in with warrior apprentices.”
Hollypaw scowled and scuffed the earth with her paw.
Cinderpaw looked back at Cloudtail. “Can we try that move again?”
Cloudtail nodded. “Just remember—” But Cinderpaw was already hurtling toward him. He whipped around in a circle once more, and once more dodged neatly out of her path.
“Come on,” Leafpool meowed to Hollypaw. “We’ll use that space over there.” She pointed with her nose to the far side of the mossy green clearing. Hollypaw noticed how smooth and soft it looked. Perfect for fighting on. No roots to trip over, no leaves to skid on.
“We’ll start with a defensive move, I think.” Leafpool turned her back on Hollypaw and meowed over her shoulder,
“I want you to watch me and then copy what I do.” She dipped her head, twisted around, and rolled onto her back before springing back up onto her paws. The whole move was over in a heartbeat. “Do you want to have a go?”
Hollypaw nodded. “I think I’ve got it.” She ducked her head, twisted around, and rolled over, leaping to her paws again in an instant.
Cloudtail called across the clearing, “Was that your first go?”
“Yes,” Hollypaw answered. “Did I do it right?” She glanced anxiously at Leafpool.
“You did it brilliantly,” Leafpool told her. “Let’s try something else.”
Leafpool demonstrated a few more moves, and Hollypaw copied each one with the same fierce intensity. Although Cloudtail made no more comments, she knew he was keeping one eye on her.
“We could try some combat now,” Leafpool suggested after a while. “Run at me and try to get past me.”
“How?” Hollypaw asked.
“Any way you can,” Leafpool told her. “We’ll discuss tactics afterward.”
Hollypaw crouched down and stared at Leafpool. Her gaze flitted to a sapling at the edge of the clearing behind the medicine cat. That was where she would aim. Leafpool was merely an obstacle to avoid. She darted forward, aware that Leafpool was rearing onto her hind legs, ready to bring her weight down on Hollypaw the moment she tried to slip past.
Hollypaw saw that the medicine cat was leaning back a little and guessed that her weight was mostly balanced on one side.
With lightning speed, she swerved the other way. Leafpool didn’t have a chance to rebalance herself, and she slammed down a mouse-length away from where Hollypaw flashed by.
Hollypaw felt a rush of triumph as she reached the sapling and spun to see Leafpool blinking with surprise. Then a prick of guilt jabbed her. Was she meant to be faster than her mentor?
“That was very good!” Leafpool panted.
“Yes, it was!” Cloudtail was padding over from the other
side of the clearing, Cinderpaw on his heels.
“You were so fast!” Cinderpaw complimented her.
“Thanks!” Hollypaw trotted back to Leafpool’s side.
Cloudtail dipped his head toward Leafpool. “Tell me if I’m butting in,” he began, “but I think Cinderpaw and Hollypaw should try training together. Cinderpaw has more energy than a well-fed rabbit, and she has more experience than Hollypaw. But Hollypaw knows how to watch and listen, and she clearly has an instinct for judging her opponent.”
Hollypaw was almost too excited to speak. A real warrior was offering to help with her battle training!
“I don’t see why not,” Leafpool meowed.
Cloudtail flicked his tail. “Cinderpaw, why don’t you show Hollypaw that fighting move we’ve been practicing?”
Cinderpaw led Hollypaw into the center of the clearing.
The sunshine flooding through the branches overhead dappled her smoky pelt. “You come at me, and I’m going to try to unbalance you.”
Hollypaw took a quick breath, then threw herself at Cinderpaw. Before she knew what was happening,
Cinderpaw had knocked one of her forelegs from under her with a powerful front paw, then tipped her over with a rolling shove from her hind legs.
Hollypaw scrambled to her feet and shook herself. “Wow!”
she mewed, impressed. “Can I try?” She wanted to try the move in a slightly different way. As soon as Cinderpaw rushed her, she ducked her head, knocking Cinderpaw’s
forepaw from under her with her muzzle. She was so low to the ground that it was easy to roll onto her side from there and thrust her hind legs in a powerful kick that sent Cinderpaw flying.
Cinderpaw scrambled to her paws. “I love the way you used your muzzle instead of your paw! It made your rollover much smoother. Can I try it that way on you?”
“Sure!”
Cinderpaw lunged for Hollypaw, this time using her muzzle to unbalance her, just as Hollypaw had done. She finished the move with a hind kick so much quicker that it sent Hollypaw skidding backward across the clearing.
Hollypaw sat up, panting.
“That was great, you two,” Cloudtail praised them.
Cinderpaw licked her paw and drew it over her ear to wipe off some moss that had caught on it. As she went to lick it again her paw twitched as though she were flicking dirt from between her claws. Hollypaw’s whiskers twitched with amusement; Cinderpaw’s little paw flick was something none of the other cats did.
“What did you think?” Hollypaw asked, turning to Leafpool. But Leafpool did not answer. She was staring at Cinderpaw with a look of startled disbelief. Hollypaw wondered if the apprentice had suddenly changed into a badger, but Cinderpaw was still sitting quietly, washing her ears.
“Leafpool?” Hollypaw mewed again.
Leafpool dragged her gaze from Cinderpaw, her eyes still
round with shock. “Y-yes?”
“Are you okay?”
Leafpool shook her head as though to clear it. “Yes, of course. It’s just that Cinderpelt used to flick her paw just like that.” She glanced uneasily back at Cinderpaw, who had finished washing and was circling Cloudtail.
“Will you teach me how to do a back kick?” the gray apprentice begged.
“It’ll be dusk soon,” Cloudtail observed. “I think we should head back to camp.”
Leafpool nodded. “I want to check Millie’s paw while there’s still light.”
The sky was darkening above the trees, and the air was growing chillier. Even so, Hollypaw was sorry to leave the mossy clearing. Her body felt bruised and tired, but her mind was buzzing as she tried to work out how to make the moves she had learned even better.
As she followed Cloudtail and Cinderpaw up the bank and into the trees, Leafpool fell into step beside her. “You fought well. I was really impressed.”
For a moment Hollypaw was thrilled. Joy surged
through her paws, making them light as dandelion floss.
Then her heart plummeted. She’s never praised me like this for being a medicine cat apprentice. Why wasn’t she as good at remembering herbs as she was at remembering fighting moves?
It will happen! Hollypaw told herself firmly. One day her mind would be as sharp in the medicine den as it was in the mossy clearing. It was just a matter of time. She had chosen to become a medicine cat, and she was not about to let herself or her Clan down.
Chapter 13
Jaypaw dawdled over his meal, taking minuscule bites from the mouse he had plucked from the fresh-kill pile.
Brook padded past with Stormfur. “No appetite today?”
“Not much,” Jaypaw muttered.
He went back to nibbling at his meal as the two warriors took fresh-kill from the pile and settled at the edge of the clearing. He was in no hurry to begin his apprentice duties.
Still confined to camp— days after Crowfeather had brought him home—he was bored with clearing out dens and running errands. This morning he was supposed to clean out Graystripe and Millie’s den. The new arrivals had recovered enough to eat in the clearing with the rest of the Clan.
“Nice catch, Dustpelt!” Graystripe called out from below Highledge, where he was sharing a rabbit with Millie.
“Thanks,” Dustpelt meowed back.
Jaypaw liked Graystripe. He was easygoing and good-humored, though still guarded when there were lots of cats around. Millie was all right too, for a kittypet. Still, he wasn’t looking forward to clearing the soiled moss from their den while they went out on their first patrol. It wasn’t fair; they
would be out exploring the forest while he would be scrabbling through their stinky bedding.
He took another tiny bite from his mouse. He could sense Brightheart watching him from where she sat by the halfrock.
She was sharing tongues with Dustpelt, but her gaze kept flicking back to him. He could feel her frustration like thorns in his pelt. What did she expect of him? Was he supposed to be happy about cleaning out dens instead of learning how to hunt and fight? Even though he was confined to camp, there was enough space in the clearing for her to teach him some battle moves. But she seemed interested only in making him run around looking after his Clanmates. Was that all she thought he was good for?
“Hurry up, Jaypaw,” Brightheart called. “Once you finish Graystripe’s den, I promised Ferncloud that you’d play with her kits while she went hunting. She hasn’t been out of the camp for two moons.”
Jaypaw lashed his tail. “And when am I going to get to hunt?”
“Once you’ve learned to serve your Clan without complaining,” Brightheart told him mildly.
Jaypaw heard an amused purr rumble in Dustpelt’s throat.
“You’ll have to take him out eventually, Brightheart,” he meowed. “Before he drives us all crazy.”
“It was Firestar who confined him to camp,” Brightheart pointed out.
“I’m sure you could persuade Firestar that Jaypaw needs to be out training,” Dustpelt argued.
Jaypaw’s heart skipped with hope.