by Erin Hunter
“Why are you here?” Leafstar asked. “Are you looking for Firestar? He and Sandstorm left us long ago.”
Stick glanced at his companions; his tail-tip twitched and Leafstar sensed he was ordering them to leave the talking to him. “We often talk about Firestar and Sandstorm,” he replied. “And we’ve always been interested in learning more about Clans.”
Sharpclaw’s gaze flicked from one cat to the next. “You took quite a risk coming in search of them,” he pointed out. “It doesn’t sound as if you knew much about Firestar’s plans.”
The scrawny brown tom shrugged. “The risk paid off.”
Sharpclaw exchanged a wary glance with Leafstar. She could tell that he was impressed by the strangers’ courage, though he still wasn’t inclined to trust them. Leafstar felt uneasy, too, and guessed from the hesitant glances they were sharing that her Clanmates felt the same. Creekkit looked up at her mother, Fallowfern, and asked in a penetrating whisper, “Who are those cats, and what are they doing here?”
Fallowfern gently covered the kit’s mouth with her tail, but Leafstar knew that the question had to be answered. “Yes, why are you here?” She addressed Stick, since he seemed to be the leader. “You’re welcome to visit, of course.…”
Cora stepped forward; her eyes were gentle and unthreatening. “We believe we could learn a lot from you,” she explained. “How to hunt, how to guard our territory—”
“Yeah, we did a brilliant job of that today!” Cherrytail muttered.
“And how to protect our kin,” the black she-cat finished, untroubled by the interruption.
Leafstar was flattered by the respect in Cora’s tone. “We’re only just starting out ourselves,” she admitted. “We still have a lot to learn, too. We—”
“We’d be glad to teach you what you want to know,” Sharpclaw interrupted, his tail-tip twitching. Turning to Leafstar, he added, “We can always use extra help with hunting, right?”
Leafstar heard a gasp from one of her Clanmates, and noticed one or two uneasy looks at the deputy’s tone; it almost sounded as if he was telling his Clan leader what to do. But for now she had to make it clear to every cat, including the visitors, that she was in charge. I’ll have a word with him about that later.
“Of course,” she meowed calmly. “Four extra cats—”
A loud wail from Echosong’s den interrupted her. “My leg hurts!”
Leafstar realized that Sagepaw must have woken up. Echosong, who had been sitting at the entrance of her den, immediately vanished inside, with Petalnose hard on her paws.
“What’s that?” Cora asked, looking shocked. The other newcomers were wide-eyed, too, their pelts beginning to bristle.
“Nothing to worry about,” Leafstar reassured them. “One of our young cats had an accident earlier, but our medicine cat is taking care of him.”
“A medicine cat?” Coal echoed. “You mean you have a cat who looks after you when you’re hurt or ill? I’d like to learn more about that.”
Leafstar’s pelt was still prickling with pride in the way Echosong had dealt with Sagepaw’s injury. Surely there was no harm in sharing her skills with these visitors? “Yes, you can do that,” she told Coal. “Why don’t you go down to Echosong’s den and watch what she does? Tinycloud, go with him and tell Echosong I said it was all right for Coal to be there.”
The young white warrior dipped her head and waved her tail to beckon Coal. “Thank you,” he mewed to Leafstar, and padded off after Tinycloud. Leafstar noticed that Tinycloud managed to keep a tail-length ahead of the black tom, as if she didn’t want him getting too close to her.
Leafstar also noticed that Sharpclaw was staring at her with narrowed eyes, as if he was questioning her decision to let Coal into the medicine cat’s den.
Stop being so sensitive! she scolded herself. Sharpclaw is a good deputy. He was the one who said we should let the visitors see how we live in the first place.
Stick, Cora, and Shorty were looking expectantly at Leafstar. It was like being faced with three new apprentices. Did they really want to learn what Clan cats did? Leafstar tried to think of any reason why she couldn’t use the offer of free help in exchange for some hunting and fighting tips. With Harveymoon and Macgyver back in Twolegplace, there was room for some extra paws. Checking the fresh-kill pile, she saw it was still well stocked, so there was no point in sending them out on hunting patrols right now.
“Would you like to join a training session with our apprentices?” she suggested. “We all train together, because even warriors have to practice their battle skills.”
At the front of the gathered cats, Mintpaw gave an excited wriggle. “That would be great!” she exclaimed. “I can show them my best move.”
“You mean the one where you get sand in your face?” Snookpaw teased. “Sure, we’ll show them that one!”
Stick glanced at Cora and Shorty, then nodded to Leafstar. “I think we’d all enjoy that,” he meowed.
“Then let’s go.”
As soon as Leafstar spoke the three apprentices raced off up the gorge toward the flat training area just beyond the bend in the cliff. Fallowfern’s kits jumped up and pattered after them, only to be herded gently back by their mother.
“But we want to train, too!” Nettlekit protested.
“That’s right,” Plumkit added. “We know lots of battle moves!”
“You’re not even apprentices yet,” Fallowfern pointed out. “You’re too young.”
“Mouse dung!” Rabbitkit lashed his tail while Creekkit let out an annoyed hiss.
“Never mind, you can have your own practice by the pool,” their mother consoled them. “Just as long as you don’t fall in!”
The four kits let out squeaks of excitement and launched themselves toward the flat stretch of pebbles at the water’s edge, with their mother trotting rapidly behind them.
The warriors headed up the gorge after the apprentices, with Sharpclaw in the lead. Waspwhisker came down from his lookout post while Tinycloud and Petalnose emerged from Echosong’s den and bounded up to them. “Wait for us!” Tinycloud panted.
As Leafstar was preparing to follow, Billystorm paused beside her.
“Do you think some of us ought to hunt?” he asked, too softly for any other cat to hear. “There’ll be four extra mouths to feed tonight.”
Leafstar felt a stab of embarrassment that one of the daylight-warriors had needed to point this out. “Oh, thanks.” She also felt encouraged that the ginger-and-white tom had come up with the suggestion. Ever since Billystorm had caused an argument by leaving on the day of the snow, he had worked hard, as if he was trying to make up for a bad decision. “Do you want to lead a patrol?”
“I can’t,” Billystorm pointed out. “I have to supervise Snookpaw’s training.”
Leafstar nodded. “You’re right; that’s more important. Patchfoot,” she called, “will you lead a hunting patrol? Take Cherrytail, Shrewtooth, and Rockshade with you.”
Rockshade halted and glanced over his shoulder. “Do I have to?” he complained. “I wanted to join the training session.”
“When your Clan leader tells you to, then you have to,” Billystorm meowed sharply.
Rockshade gave him a glare as he fell in behind Shrewtooth and Cherrytail. “What would a kittypet know about it?” he muttered into Cherrytail’s ear, just loud enough for Leafstar and Billystorm to hear.
Leafstar opened her jaws, preparing a stinging rebuke, but Billystorm shook his head and she stayed silent.
“It doesn’t matter,” the ginger-and-white tom mewed. “Scolding him will only make him worse. Let’s go and see what those apprentices are doing.”
By the time Leafstar and Billystorm reached the training area, Sharpclaw was dividing the other cats into two groups.
“Sparrowpelt, you lead this one,” he meowed, “and Waspwhisker, you can lead the other.”
Leafstar padded to the edge of the broad stretch of sand where Cora, Stick, and Shorty were sitti
ng.
“Do you do this all the time?” Cora asked, wide-eyed.
Leafstar shook her head. “Usually we train in smaller groups, or mentors practice battle moves with their apprentices. But Sharpclaw likes to work on bigger exercises now and again.”
“What do you want us to do?” Billystorm called to Sharpclaw, padding over to join his apprentice.
“You see this thorn tree?” Sharpclaw flicked his tail toward a dead and twisted tree that stood a few tail-lengths away from the edge of the training area. “Whichever cat touches the trunk first wins for their patrol.”
“I can do that!” Mintpaw leaped to her paws and bounded off in the direction of the tree, only to skid to a halt as Sharpclaw raised his tail to stop her.
“It’s not going to be as easy as that, Mintpaw,” the Clan deputy warned with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “While you’re trying to reach the tree, the other group will be trying, too. What do you think will happen?”
Ebonyclaw took a step forward. “They’ll try to stop us?”
Sharpclaw gave her a curt nod, while Leafstar felt pleased that one of the daylight-warriors had given the right answer.
“You’ll need to think about attack and defense,” he went on, addressing all the cats. “It’s not just about getting there first; you have to stop the other group beating you to it. Can you think of any moves that would be useful?”
“Claw their ears off!” Tinycloud meowed loudly.
Sharpclaw merely flicked one ear, while Bouncefire muttered, “Mouse-brain!”
Frecklepaw raised her tail. “We could choose one cat to run for the tree,” she suggested. “And then the others could get in the way when the other group tries to stop her.”
“Good idea!” Ebonyclaw praised her apprentice before Sharpclaw could comment.
“Or we could create a diversion,” Sparrowpelt meowed. “If one cat yowled, ‘Fox!’ its teammates could dash for the tree while the other cats were looking for it.”
“That would have been a great idea,” Sharpclaw commented drily, “if you hadn’t just told every cat what you’re going to do.”
Sparrowpelt shrugged. “You asked for suggestions.”
“So I did.” Sharpclaw twitched his whiskers. “Okay, I’ll give you a moment to decide what your team will do, and when I say ‘now,’ start racing.”
Leafstar watched as the two groups huddled together, whispering urgently while casting suspicious glances at their rivals.
“This is going to be really useful for us,” Stick remarked. “It’s the sort of thing that would help us get to a bit of prey before another cat.”
“Or a good sleeping place,” Shorty added.
Leafstar nodded, remembering back to when she had been a loner, without a Clan to support her or a den that she could really call her own. “Life’s much better when you’re not on your own,” she murmured, half to herself.
Cora opened her jaws to respond, but just then Sharpclaw yowled, “Now!”
The two groups of cats exploded outward like seeds from a gorse pod. Tinycloud let out a screech and raced for the tree, ducking around Waspwhisker’s outstretched paws, but before she got within reach she was bowled over by Bouncefire. The two littermates rolled over together in a whirl of flailing paws and tails.
Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw worked as a team to weave their way past Petalnose, who didn’t seem to know which cat to attack first. Leafstar thought they had a clear run to the tree, until Billystorm came charging up, swatted Frecklepaw aside with one blow of his paw, and shouldered Ebonyclaw away. Petalnose wrapped her paws around the black she-cat’s neck and dragged her over onto her back.
Leafstar heard Cora gasp, and saw her and Shorty wince as the battling cats tumbled into the dust, attacking one another with piercing caterwauls.
“It’s all right,” she reassured them. Pride warmed her from ears to tail-tip as her Clanmates showed off their strength and courage. And Sharpclaw knows exactly how to get the best from them. “All claws are sheathed when they’re training. And they have to learn to land lightly and get back onto their paws before an enemy can strike a death blow.”
“That’s a good move,” Stick pointed out, angling his ears to where Sparrowpelt had just intercepted Waspwhisker a couple of tail-lengths from the tree, hooked his paws out from under him, and leaped on top of him, pummeling him around the ears with his forepaws. “I’ll have to remember that one.”
Sharpclaw, who was standing nearby, dipped his head to acknowledge the loner’s praise. “Our young cats learn that move almost as soon as they’re apprenticed,” he meowed. “We can teach you, if you want.”
“We’re here to learn,” Stick responded.
Leafstar realized that she hadn’t seen Snookpaw in the middle of the combat. Glancing around, she spotted the tip of a black paw poking out from the bottom of a heap of boulders between the fighting cats and the tree.
A heartbeat later, Snookpaw appeared, creeping along the ground in his best hunter’s crouch. The other cats were too preoccupied to notice him. A tail-length from the tree he sprang into the air and landed just beside the trunk as if he was pouncing on prey.
“I did it!” he yowled triumphantly, stretching his paws up the trunk to score his claws down the bark. “I won!”
The tussling cats broke apart, Waspwhisker’s group spinning around to stare at the apprentice, while Sparrowpelt’s patrol wore identical smug expressions, as if they’d just caught a plump thrush.
Sparrowpelt licked his paw and drew it over one ear. “Well done!” he told Snookpaw. “I knew they’d never spot you sneaking up like that if we kept them busy.”
“Mouse dung!” Bouncefire exclaimed. “I never thought of that!”
Billystorm bounded over to his apprentice and stretched his tail over the young cat’s shoulders. “Good job,” he meowed.
“Yes, very well done.” Sharpclaw’s voice had an edge to it, as if he wasn’t pleased that a daylight-warrior had taken the most important part in his group’s strategy. “Let’s try something else, shall we?”
He gestured with his tail for the cats to gather around him. Leafstar saw that two long, striped hawk feathers lay beside his paws; as the cats approached he pushed them forward.
“This time,” he began, “you have to take one of these feathers right up to the top of the thorn tree. The cat who gets there first wins.”
“Then we should have a feather each,” Tinycloud objected.
“No,” Sharpclaw explained patiently. “This is still an exercise for patrols. You have to decide whether you send one cat up the tree with the feather, or try to do it all together.”
Sparrowpelt nodded. “I get it.” He beckoned with his tail to summon his patrol to the other side of the sand.
“Would you like to join in?” Leafstar asked the visitors.
The thee cats looked at one another, then nodded; Leafstar thought that Cora and Shorty both seemed slightly reluctant.
“Good,” Sharpclaw mewed. “Stick and Cora, you join Waspwhisker’s patrol, and Shorty, you go with Sparrowpelt.”
The visitors moved off, but before he joined his group Stick halted and glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t you ever join in?” he meowed to Leafstar.
“Sometimes,” she replied, surprised by what seemed like a challenge. Flicking her tail at Sharpclaw, she added, “Let’s do it.”
Her deputy nodded. He padded over toward Waspwhisker’s patrol, leaving Leafstar to join Sparrowpelt.
“What do you think we should do this time?” she meowed quietly, dipping her head to Sparrowpelt to show him that he was still in charge.
“They’ll expect us to do something sneaky,” the tabby tom began, “so I suggest we go straight for it. Petalnose, you take the feather and climb as fast as you can. The rest of us will try to keep Waspwhisker’s patrol out of your fur.”
Petalnose nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Leafstar tensed as she waited for Sharpclaw to give the signal to st
art. Energy coursed through her muscles. I haven’t felt like this in moons, she thought. I love training with my Clan.
“Now!” Sharpclaw yowled.
Grabbing the feather in her jaws, Petalnose raced for the tree, veering around Mintpaw as the apprentice tried to stop her. Leafstar realized that all of Waspwhisker’s patrol, except for Mintpaw and Bouncefire, were heading for the tree. Sharpclaw was in the lead with the feather.
Leafstar flung herself into the crush, slamming into Ebonyclaw and carrying the black she-cat off her paws. She ducked underneath a blow from Stick, realizing that the scrawny loner had good instincts even without training. The blow she had avoided could have been better aimed, but he was strong, and not afraid to challenge a Clan leader.
Petalnose and Sharpclaw reached the tree at the same moment. Petalnose flung herself up the trunk, but Billystorm grabbed Sharpclaw’s tail in his jaws as the deputy sprang upward and dragged him down again. Sharpclaw passed the feather rapidly to Frecklepaw before battering at Billystorm with all four paws to break his grip.
Bouncefire jumped on Cora as she tried to reach the tree; Leafstar saw how the she-cat let herself go limp under his paws, then heave herself up and throw him off.
Nice move. Bouncefire should have been expecting that!
With a loud screech, Mintpaw dashed up to Shorty and swiped a paw across his face. The tabby tom stumbled, off balance, but managed to stay on his paws. He wasn’t fast enough to catch Mintpaw, though; the gray apprentice whirled around and headed off Sparrowpelt as he tried to break through to support Petalnose.
By now, Petalnose was halfway up the tree and climbing well. Frecklepaw, Ebonyclaw, and Waspwhisker were scrambling up together a little way below, passing the feather from one to the other, while Sharpclaw had thrown off Billystorm and was racing to overtake Petalnose.
Leafstar paused, looking up. It didn’t seem as if anything could stop Petalnose now. But just before she reached the top of the tree, the branch she was clinging to gave way with a loud crack. Petalnose swung there for a couple of heartbeats, dangling from the broken half of the branch as it gradually tore away from the tree. Then she plummeted downward, scrabbling at the thorny branches in an attempt to break her fall. She dropped the feather, which fluttered gently down and landed just in front of Leafstar’s paws.