SkyClan's Destiny

by Erin Hunter

  “Well, it’s all you’re getting for now,” Leafstar retorted. “Snookpaw fell in the river fetching this. He could have died.”

  Lichenfur blinked. “Clumsy apprentice,” she muttered. “He should watch where he’s putting his paws.”

  Biting back an angry retort, Leafstar left her and went to find a sunny spot where she could sit and clean the river water from her pelt. She was drowsing in the sunlight when she heard excited squeaks behind her. Fallowfern’s kits were scampering over to the bottom of the trail where Sharpclaw and the border patrol were climbing down.

  “Billystorm! Billystorm!” Plumkit squealed. “Snookpaw fell in the river and he nearly drowned!”

  “What?” Billystorm leaped down the last couple of tail-lengths, his fur beginning to fluff up and his eyes wide with horror. “Where is he?”

  “It’s not as bad as that.” Leafstar rose to her paws and padded over to the ginger-and-white tom. “He did fall in the river, fetching moss from the cave. But he was fine. He went home.”

  Billystorm let his neck fur lie flat again, though his eyes were still full of concern. “I’ll check on him later,” he promised. “My Twoleg nest isn’t far from his.”

  “Thanks,” Leafstar replied. “I’m worried about him. I wish he’d stayed and let Echosong take a look at him.”

  “You can come with me to see him if you like,” Billystorm suggested.

  “Me—come with you to the Twolegplace?” Leafstar felt every hair on her pelt start to prickle. “No thanks, Billystorm. I don’t feel comfortable among Twoleg nests.”

  “Unlike your Clanmates,” Billystorm murmured.

  Leafstar didn’t respond. She hadn’t forgotten his report that he had seen—or thought he saw—Sharpclaw and Stick leading a patrol in the Twolegplace. But she didn’t want to hear any more of the rumors. In the end she hadn’t confronted Sharpclaw about it, because she knew her deputy would never do such a thing without telling her.

  Billystorm must have mistaken some kittypets for our warriors.

  “What’s this I hear about Snookpaw?” Sharpclaw called, padding over to her with Fallowfern’s kits tumbling around his paws. “Is he all right?”

  “He will be,” Leafstar assured him.

  “At least we have enough warriors for the rest of today’s patrols,” Sharpclaw meowed. He hurried off, calling to Waspwhisker and Petalnose as he went.

  “I’d better go with him,” Billystorm meowed. “I’ve nothing to do, seeing that my apprentice isn’t here. I’d promised to show him some fighting moves.”

  “Show us instead!” Fallowfern’s kits chorused, scrabbling at his fur until they nearly knocked him off his paws.

  Billystorm cast an amused glance at Leafstar. “You’re not apprenticed yet,” he told the kits.

  “But you could help me with them if you want,” Leafstar mewed. “Fallowfern is worn out from looking after them. Besides, she wants to help Clovertail move into the new birthing den. We could take them off her paws for a bit.”

  “Yes, please!” Creekkit begged. “I can fight better than all the others.”

  “Can’t!” Nettlekit squeaked, jumping on his littermate.

  Leafstar let out a small mrrow of laughter as she watched the kits rolling around, battering at one another with tiny paws.

  “Are they bothering you, Leafstar?” Fallowfern puffed, bounding up with a harassed look.

  “Not a bit,” Leafstar replied. “Should we take them for a while? It would leave you free to help Clovertail.”

  “Oh, would you?” Fallowfern’s voice was full of gratitude. “Now listen,” she went on sternly to her kits. “You do exactly what Leafstar and Billystorm tell you. I don’t want to hear that you’ve put one whisker out of place. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Fallowfern.” The kits sat up, their fur rumpled and their eyes wide and innocent. “We’ll be good.”

  “And hedgehogs will fly,” Billystorm whispered into Leafstar’s ear.

  As Fallowfern padded off to join Clovertail, Billystorm rounded up the kits. “Come on. We’ll go to the training area.”

  “Yes!” Rabbitkit bounced up and down with his tail waving. “Last one there’s a kittypet!”

  All four kits took off in a flurry of sand. When Leafstar and Billystorm caught up to them at the training area, Creekkit was crouched in the middle of the open space. His lips were drawn back to display tiny sharp teeth. “I’m a fox and I’m attacking the camp!” he announced.

  “Stay away or I’ll rip your fur off!” Plumkit responded, sliding out her claws.

  “That’s enough.” Billystorm strode out into the sandy space and raised his tail to block Plumkit as she hurled herself at her brother.

  “Watch it, the fox will get you!” she squealed.

  Billystorm sidestepped rapidly to stop Creekkit from sinking his teeth into his hind leg.

  “This is not a training session,” Leafstar reminded the excited kits. “That won’t happen until you’re apprentices.”

  “But that’s moons away,” Creekkit muttered, disappointed. “I want to show you my battle moves.”

  “We’ll play some games instead,” Billystorm meowed. “Let’s see how good you are at climbing.”

  The kits bounced around him as he led the way across to the thorn tree that Sharpclaw had used for his training exercises. Its lower branches were thick and strong, safe for the kits to improve their skills.

  “When you climb,” Billystorm began, holding the kits back with his tail so that they didn’t hurl themselves into the tree, “you need to look for paw holds. Places you can dig your claws in. You must never move until you know where you’re going to put your paws next. And always think about how you’re going to get down. That way, climbing is safe.”

  The kits nodded seriously as the ginger tom finished speaking.

  “Okay,” Leafstar meowed. “Rabbitkit, let’s see if you can climb up to that first branch.”

  The tiny brown tom scampered up to the tree and fixed his claws into a knot-hole, then scrabbled with his hind paws to boost himself up the trunk. Soon he sat panting on the branch. “I did it!” he exclaimed.

  “Well done,” Billystorm praised him. “Plumkit, you next.”

  The dark gray she-cat climbed quickly and neatly to sit beside her brother on the branch. Nettlekit followed. “I was faster than you,” he boasted as he crouched on the branch next to the others.

  “We’re not trying to be fast; we’re trying to be safe,” Billystorm pointed out, waving his tail for Creekkit to climb.

  The little gray tabby scrambled up the trunk, but when he reached the branch he slipped and dangled down with his hind paws waving. “Help!” he squealed.

  “Go on, you can pull yourself up,” Leafstar encouraged him.

  With a massive effort Creekkit hauled himself up and managed to fasten his hind claws into the branch. “Made it!” he gasped.

  “Very good, all of you,” Billystorm meowed. “Now let’s see you come down. One at a time, and slowly, Nettlekit.”

  Leafstar remembered her mother teaching her to climb, seasons ago in the woods. Coming down was always harder and more frightening than going up.

  Billystorm guided Creekkit down, then Rabbitkit and Nettlekit. “Where’s Plumkit?” he asked, looking around. “Did she get down already?”

  A screech of terror interrupted him. Tipping her head back, Leafstar saw Plumkit perched almost at the top of the tree, all four paws clinging to the stump of a broken branch. “I’m stuck!” she wailed. “I can’t get down!”

  “You shouldn’t be up there in the first place,” Billystorm mewed exasperatedly.

  “And we should have kept a better eye on her,” Leafstar added. “Okay, Plumkit, I’m coming to get you.”

  Muscles pumping, Leafstar raced up the tree. Plumkit was trembling when she reached her. “I’m going to fall!” she whimpered.

  “No, you’re not,” Leafstar reassured her, touching her on one shoulder with the tip of
her tail. “Look, put your hind paw just here…”

  Slowly Leafstar guided the tiny she-cat down the tree. Plumkit’s courage had returned by the time she reached the lowest branch, and she sprang off, landing on Billystorm, who had stretched out to rest underneath.

  Billystorm jumped up, baring his teeth and growling with pretend fierceness. “I’ll teach you to pounce on me!”

  Plumkit let out a mrrow of laughter.

  “Teach me, too!” Rabbitkit squealed, scrambling up the tree again and hurling himself down on Billystorm. “I’m not scared of you!”

  Billystorm rolled his eyes at Leafstar as all four kits raced up the tree and jumped down, springing around with their tails high as he growled at them and swiped at them with his claws sheathed. Leafstar joined in, too, pretending to be asleep until some kit landed on top of her and cuffed her over the ears with tiny paws.

  I haven’t had so much fun in moons!

  “We’ve got to fight these beasts!” Nettlekit announced. “Rabbitkit, Plumkit, you attack from that side.”

  His littermates scampered off; Billystorm and Leafstar found themselves surrounded with the kits creeping up on them in a kind of hunter’s crouch.

  “Are you scared?” Plumkit meowed.

  “You should be!” Creekkit squeaked. “We’re fiercer than you!”

  “It’s getting late,” Billystorm mewed at last. “Time to go back to camp.”

  A chorus of protest came from the kits.

  “We’re not tired,” Plumkit insisted. “We want to play some more.”

  “I know, but Fallowfern will be wondering where you are.” Leafstar noticed that a blackbird had landed on one of the highest branches of the thorn tree. “You see that bird? Billystorm, do you think you could catch it?”

  Billystorm looked up, his eyes narrowing. “I expect so.”

  “Off you go, then. Kits, this is how a SkyClan warrior hunts.”

  The kits watched, enthralled, as Billystorm leaped into the tree and crept up to the higher branches, trying not to shake the one where the bird was perching. Leafstar admired his perfect balance.

  He’s so good at jumping and climbing. He must be a SkyClan descendant.

  Billystorm shuffled along a branch until he had enough space for a clear leap at the blackbird. At the last moment it tried to take off, but he grabbed it in his strong jaws and bounded down the tree again to drop the limp body in front of the kits.

  “That was great!” Rabbitkit squeaked.

  “I want to learn to do that,” Nettlekit mewed. “Show us now!”

  “Another time, little ones,” Leafstar promised.

  “You can share,” Billystorm meowed, nudging his prey toward the kits. “Blackbird is very tasty.”

  The kits gathered around the fresh-kill, scrambling over one another in their eagerness.

  “It’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten!” Plumkit announced, looking up with a feather on her nose.

  The sun was going down by the time the kits had finished eating.

  “Come on,” Leafstar meowed. “Now we really do have to go back to camp.”

  “Don’t wanna…” Nettlekit protested, his words punctuated by a massive yawn. “Wanna climb some more…”

  “The only place you’re going to climb is into your nest,” Billystorm told him, rounding up the littermates with a sweep of his tail. “Let’s go.”

  The kits were stumbling from tiredness as they followed Leafstar back to the Rockpile, where Fallowfern was waiting.

  “Thank you so much!” the pale brown she-cat exclaimed. “Have they behaved themselves?”

  “They’ve been fine,” Billystorm assured her.

  “Good. We’ve made Clovertail really comfortable in the new birthing den. It won’t be long before her kits come.”

  “Can we play with them?” Plumkit asked, her voice muzzy with sleep.

  “Not at first,” her mother warned. “They’ll be too little. Now say ‘thank you’ to Leafstar and Billystorm for looking after you.”

  “Thank you!” the kits chorused.

  “Can we do it again tomorrow?” Nettlekit pleaded.

  “We’ll see,” Leafstar purred. “Go with your mother now. I don’t know how Fallowfern manages all four of them,” she added to Billystorm as she watched the she-cat herding her litter up the trail toward the nursery. “I’m worn out!”

  “Me too,” Billystorm agreed. “But they’re great kits. I enjoyed playing with them.”

  “You’d better go home now and check on Snookpaw,” Leafstar mewed. “Tell him to get well soon. We’re all missing him.”

  “I’ll do that.” Billystorm whisked his tail lightly over Leafstar’s flank, then headed up the trail that led to the top of the gorge.

  Even though Leafstar had said she was worn out, the session with the kits had left her feeling playful. Her paws tingled with energy. Part of her wanted to race along the top of the cliff, feeling the wind in her fur, or roll in crackly leaves under the trees.

  You’re not a kit anymore! she scolded herself. Better settle for a juicy piece of fresh-kill instead.

  Her heart lighter than it had been for many days, she padded off to join her Clanmates as they ate.

  CHAPTER 15

  Leafstar brushed through the dew-laden grass, pausing to glance over her shoulder at the rest of the border patrol. “Shorty, try to keep up,” she called. “I know the rats are gone, but it’s not a good idea to get separated around here.”

  “Sorry.” The Twolegplace cat plodded up to stand beside Petalnose. Trying to muffle a yawn, he added, “I can’t get used to these early mornings.”

  “You will, sooner or later,” Petalnose promised.

  Leafstar gave him a nod and carried on. Above the trees the sky was pale and clear, promising hot sunshine later. The only sound was the swish of grass and the soft rustling of branches.

  As they approached the clearing where they had fought the rats, Leafstar halted and stretched her jaws wide to taste the air, almost gagging on the rotting scents from the heap of Twoleg waste. But the traces of rat were faint and stale; they hadn’t returned.

  “I can smell another cat,” she mewed after a moment. “Cherrytail, is that the loner you told us about?”

  The fourth member of the patrol tasted the air. “That’s him,” she confirmed. “Fresh, too. He’s been here again.”

  Leafstar tracked the scent for a few paw steps. It led across the border in the direction of the Twolegplace, though she didn’t think it had been left by any kittypet. The scent was too green and sharp for that, not muffled by Twoleg smells.

  “Do you want us to follow it?” Cherrytail asked, her paws working in the grass.

  Leafstar thought for a couple of heartbeats. “It doesn’t seem worth it,” she meowed. “It’s the only scent here, so the loner hasn’t been stealing prey. But I’ll make sure all the Clan knows to keep a lookout.”

  Was that the right decision? she wondered as she led the patrol back through the trees. What would Firestar have done?

  At the top of the gorge, Leafstar was pleased to spot Billystorm on the trail ahead of her, though her pleasure faded when she realized that his apprentice wasn’t with him. She quickened her pace and caught up to the ginger-and-white tom as he reached the bottom of the ravine. “Hi. What happened to Snookpaw? Is he okay?”

  Billystorm turned at the sound of her voice; his green eyes showed that he shared her concern. “I don’t know. I went to his nest, but I couldn’t find him, and he didn’t answer when I called out to him. I think his Twolegs must have shut him inside.”

  Uneasiness stirred within Leafstar. Snookpaw had never found it hard to get out before. “Maybe he’s still tired after yesterday,” she began. “We’ll have to—”

  She broke off at the sound of excited squealing as Fallowfern’s kits swarmed around them.

  “Billystorm!” Nettlekit squeaked. “We’ve been waiting for you. Play with us again!”

  “Yes, be that giant
beast,” Plumkit urged. “Leafstar, you too. You were scary!”

  “You’ll have to wait,” Billystorm told them. “You were very lucky to have your Clan leader all to yourselves yesterday.”

  Leafstar twitched her whiskers with amusement. “Maybe later, kits,” she meowed. “I’ve got to check the patrols now.”

  As she was speaking, Fallowfern bounded up, looking flustered. “Are you bothering Leafstar and Billystorm again?” she asked her kits. “Come with me right away. You haven’t even been groomed this morning!”

  With an apologetic glance at Leafstar, she hustled the kits off to a flat stone near the water’s edge and started to groom Rabbitkit with firm strokes of her tongue.

  “Billystorm, are you ready for a hunting patrol?” Sharpclaw meowed, padding up with Stick and Sparrowpelt. When the ginger-and-white tom nodded, he waved his tail to where Waspwhisker was waiting with his apprentice, Mintpaw, and Tinycloud and Macgyver. “Over there.”

  Billystorm dipped his head to Leafstar and padded over to join the patrol, who headed downstream with Waspwhisker in the lead. Sharpclaw gathered his own patrol, beckoning with his tail to Coal, who was washing his paws near the fresh-kill pile.

  “I thought we’d try the woods near the rat heap,” he meowed to Leafstar.

  “Good idea,” Leafstar replied. “You can keep an eye open for that loner. My border patrol scented him again today.”

  “Will do.” Sharpclaw gave her a brisk nod and led his patrol up the trail.

  With her Clanmates organized for the day, there was little for Leafstar to do, but she felt too energetic to sit and drowse in the sun. I think I’ll go and see how the prey is running, she decided. I haven’t hunted alone for at least a moon.

  But as Leafstar climbed the trail, she found Cora outside the warriors’ den with her paws tucked under her and her eyes fixed on the distance. She jumped when Leafstar’s shadow fell across her.

  “You startled me,” she mewed. “I was … thinking of something else, I guess. Were you looking for one of the warriors? I think they’re all out hunting.”

  “No, I’m just off for some hunting myself.”