Tallstar's Revenge (40 page)

Sparrow went back to washing his paws. “Give our regards to Heatherstar and Hawkheart,” he mewed. “Tell them we wish them well.”

“I'm sure they would do the same for you,” Talltail croaked. He dipped his head to Mole. “Take care.” He wondered if the elderly tom would make it through many more leaf-bares.

“Travel well, Talltail,” Mole rasped.

“I will.” Turning, Talltail padded from the camp.

“Good-bye! Good-bye!” Bess and Reena called behind him.

“Watch out for dogs!” warned Algernon.

“I will,” Talltail muttered.

What will the Clan think when the rogues don't appear next greenleaf? Will they think something terrible has happened? Or will they remember Sandgorse's death, and think that the rogues are too ashamed to return?
Talltail shook himself. He had left WindClan. What they felt about something far in the future was not his concern.

Jake hurried to meet him as he emerged from the bracken. “Is everything okay?”

Talltail nodded, heading between the trees.

Jake fell in beside him. “Did Sandgorse really save Sparrow?”

Fresh grief welled in Talltail's throat. “Yes,” he meowed thickly.

Jake pressed against him. “Then your father died a hero,” he murmured.

Talltail couldn't answer, his eyes clouding.

They padded through the woods, heading upslope until they reached the clearing where they'd first made camp. The hollow between the oak roots was still lined with wool and Talltail climbed in gratefully, too weary to hunt.

“I'll catch something,” Jake offered. He headed away, returning as the sun touched the tops of the trees. He was carrying a tattered, old blackbird.

Talltail wrinkled his nose. “Couldn't you find one that was even older?” he teased, climbing out to sniff the ancient bird.

Jake lifted his muzzle. “I caught it, didn't I?” He took a bite, screwing up his face as he chewed the tough flesh.

Talltail bit into the bird. The blackbird was more sinew than meat, but he swallowed it anyway, grateful for Jake's new hunting skills.

“Will you go home now?” Jake's mew was muffled by feathers.

“I don't know if I have a home.” Talltail took another bite.

“Of course you do!” Jake struggled to swallow. “You have WindClan!”

“I
left
WindClan.”

“They'd let you back.”

“I thought I'd keep traveling for a while,” Talltail muttered. “Would you like that?”

Jake took another bite of blackbird and chewed. “I think you should go home.”

“Home?” Talltail blinked at him. “I have no home. I don't even know who I am anymore.”

Jake leaned forward and rested his muzzle on the top of Talltail's head. His chin felt warm and soft. “I know who you are. You're my best friend, and you always will be.”

C
HAPTER
39

Talltail was dreaming. Stars whirled around
him, twirling him through blackness. Then he plummeted down until the wind pulled at his fur and his eyes watered. Exhilaration surged through him as he fell, until soft peat touched his pads and Talltail realized he was standing on the ground. He blinked, and the darkness cleared. Light spilled around him, flooding the landscape. Above, a wide, blue sky stretched to the horizon. Heather as purple as dusk rippled over the soft curve of a hill. Grass, greener than Jake's eyes, lay in swathes between the bushes, its scent so rich it made Talltail dizzy. A tawny pelt was slinking through the heather.

Brackenwing!

Talltail's heart leaped. He bounded toward the she-cat, but she was moving too swiftly. Other pelts showed around her—black, gray, tortoiseshell—pelts he didn't recognize. But he knew their scent as well as his own.
WindClan.
He was in StarClan's hunting grounds.

“Brackenwing!” he called across the heather, but Brackenwing didn't stop. Talltail hurried after her, trying to catch the eye of the other cats as he passed. But no cat seemed to notice him. A tabby looked straight through him as though he didn't exist. A striped tom didn't flinch as Talltail raced by.

I must catch Brackenwing! She'll know me.

He burst from the heather onto a grassy summit. Brackenwing was looking down into a valley.

Talltail raced to her side. “It's me, Talltail!” he cried.

Brackenwing didn't move. She just kept staring down the slope. Talltail followed her gaze. Cats were moving over the grass below.
Palebird. Dawnstripe. Hareflight. Hickorynose.
Talltail's heart lurched as he recognized their pelts. Brackenwing was watching what was happening in WindClan territory. Talltail's paws ached with pain that felt like longing. Slowly at first, then faster, his feet carried him forward until Talltail found himself racing down the slope toward his Clanmates.

“Palebird!” He yowled his mother's name, the sight of her tugging deep in his belly as though she'd hooked her claws in and was pulling him closer. Talltail's mother didn't look around.

“Dawnstripe!” Surely she would speak to him? But his mentor kept padding across the grass, her tail down.

Talltail ran faster. He had to make them see him! But his paws grew heavier with each step. The harder he pushed, the slower he ran, as though the air around him had turned to water and was holding him back.

“Dawnstripe!” The longing in his paws deepened; the claws hooking his belly tugged him harder. But he couldn't get close enough to make the other cats notice him. “Dawnstripe!”

A paw poked his shoulder. “Wake up!”

Talltail jerked up his head. Jake was nudging him with a paw. “Another bad dream?” he meowed.

Talltail frowned. “Not exactly.” He could still see his Clanmates as clearly as if they were in front of him. The claws in his belly tugged again. He flinched.

Jake leaned closer. “Are you okay?”

Talltail lifted his muzzle and gazed at Jake. “My belly hurts. And my paws. As though they're being pulled by something I cannot see.”

Jake sat back, nodding. “Your home is calling you.”

“What do you mean?” Talltail pushed himself up.

A purr rumbled in Jake's throat. “Don't you know?”

Talltail tipped his head on one side. “No.”

“I guess Clan cats aren't used to leaving home.” Jake sounded amused. “I know the feeling you're having. The nagging pain, the tug in my pelt and paws? I get that whenever I'm away from my home too long.”

“Really?” Talltail blinked. “Why?”

“Every creature needs to belong somewhere,” Jake told him. “Your paws know where that is, even if you don't.”

Suddenly anxious, Talltail hopped out the nest. “But I don't belong anywhere.”

“Are you sure?” Jake mewed. “What about your Clan?”

“I
left
my Clan.” Why did everyone act like he had just strayed for a while? Talltail glared at Jake. “My paws must be calling me somewhere else.”

Jake shrugged. “Wherever it is, let them guide you. The pain won't go away otherwise.”

Talltail circled restlessly. “Will you come with me?”

“For a while.” Jake watched him, his expression guarded.

Talltail stopped. “This feeling I have—do you have it too?” Jake nodded, and Talltail felt a tiny, cold stone inside his belly. “You want to go back to your Twoleg, don't you?”

Jake was quiet for a long time. Then he ran one front paw lightly over the ground. “That's where I belong,” he mewed. “I can't stay away forever.”

“I won't stop you,” Talltail whispered. But he wondered if that was true. He didn't like the ache in his paws, or the claws tugging at his belly. The future suddenly stretched into shadow. And he hadn't even done what he'd set out to do—he hadn't killed Sparrow. He knew he'd made the right decision when he let the rogue live, but where was the satisfaction? It felt like returning from a hunting patrol with no fresh-kill for his Clan. He felt lost and empty, and his dumb paws were tugging him who knew where. Would he really be able to let Jake go?

“Come on.” Jake headed toward the field. “Let's catch a rabbit first. Last one to that tussock is a fox-breath!”

 

Jake caught the rabbit. Talltail was impressed. He'd chased it, but Jake was the one who veered around to cut off its escape and killed it with a single bite. The kittypet looked thrilled, his eyes gleaming as he carried it back to Talltail.

“I could teach you warriors a thing or two about hunting!” Jake teased as they ate.

After burying the remains of the rabbit, they climbed the craggy summit they'd crossed on their way into the valley. Clouds covered the sky, blocking the weak, leaf-bare sun. The breeze had lost its icy chill, but it was blustery, cold, and damp as it lifted Talltail's fur. He felt better now that his belly was full, the rich flavor of fresh-kill distracting him from the invisible tugging claws.

As they reached the top, Jake sat down and gazed at the landscape ahead. “What can you see?”

Talltail squinted through the wind that was battering his whiskers. He felt as though he were being assessed on Outlook Rock. “Fields.” He recognized the first meadow he'd crossed with Jake. More meadows stretched around it, surrounding a dark mass of walls and dens. “And Twolegplace.” It sprouted in the middle of the valley like an ugly forest.

“What about beyond?” Jake prompted.

Talltail peered at the smudge of leaf-bare forest on the far side. “ThunderClan territory, I guess.”

“And beyond that?”

Talltail narrowed his eyes. Where the distant horizon met the sky, he could see swathes of brown heather. In a few more moons, they'd be greener than grass, burgeoning with fresh growth.
The moor.
His paws itched to pull him forward at the sight of his old home. He forced himself to stand still, but the effort made his heart ache.

“If we follow the path of a bird”—Jake pointed his nose directly toward the moor— “we only need to cut through the edge of Twolegplace before we reach Clan territory.”

“Why do we need to go to Clan territory?” Talltail nodded toward the fields sweeping on every side. “There are so many other places we could go.”

“But I've always wanted to see where the Clans live,” Jake reminded him. “I've looked in from my fence so often. Now that I'm with you, I can see the territories close up.”

“I don't think ThunderClan would be pleased to find me showing their home to a kittypet.”

“Go on,” Jake coaxed. “We won't get caught. I just want to take a look.” He blinked at Talltail.

Talltail felt a prickle of unease. He couldn't refuse his friend after everything they'd been through. “We'll just look,” he muttered. “Then go somewhere else.”

Jake didn't reply, but followed Talltail around the rocks to the smooth grass beyond. They skirted the hedge, staying outside Twolegplace until a row of dens jutted into their path.

Talltail halted at the bottom of a wooden fence. “You lead.” He flicked the tip of his tail. “This is your territory, not mine.”

Jake hopped easily onto the fence, balancing as Talltail scrambled up behind him. A maze of fence-tops zigzagged ahead. Jake began to pad along them, turning one way, then another, as they bypassed row after row of gardens. Talltail followed, concentrating as he tried to keep his balance on the narrow strip of wood despite the buffeting wind.

His paws ached with the effort by the time they'd crossed Twolegplace. As he spotted trees crowding beyond the fences, he hurried forward, sliding past Jake and taking the lead. There were faint ThunderClan scents as he neared.

Talltail dropped onto the forest floor and began sniffing the roots of an elm. No ThunderClan warrior had brushed past this bark. He padded on, heading deeper into the forest.

Leaves crunched behind him as Jake caught up. “I can smell Thunderpath!”

Talltail stiffened. They must be near the Thunderpath that cut between ThunderClan territory and ShadowClan's forest as it headed close to Fourtrees. The claws that had been sunk into his belly ever since his dream suddenly tugged harder.

Jake paced around him, tail flicking excitedly. “The moor's close?”

“Close enough.” Above, the branches clattered as wind stirred the forest.

“Let's take a look,” Jake suggested.

“It's dangerous,” Talltail told him. “We'd have to follow the Thunderpath along the ThunderClan border.”

“We've done dangerous things before.” Jake began to head toward the rumble of the Thunderpath. “Let's go a little farther. I want to see WindClan territory.”

Talltail wondered if he should argue. But the tugging in his belly silenced him. Perhaps a glimpse of his old home would remind him why he'd left. Perhaps he could keep going: past WindClan territory, past Highstones. He could finally see the mountains for himself.

He followed Jake. His thoughts were as jumbled as the familiar scents that wreathed around him as he headed closer to Clan territory. Memories crowded at the edges of his mind: chasing rabbits across the moor; sitting vigil on Outlook Rock; plunging through the heather with Doespring; the first time he'd outrun Stagpaw. Then he pictured Wrenkit and Hopkit scrambling clumsily over the tussocks to beg him for a badger ride. His heart twisted with a sudden and terrible ache.

“Which way now?” Jake's call jolted him from his thoughts.

Talltail tasted the air. They were close to the Thunderpath. He glanced along the line of thick bushes at the forest's edge, which crowded for light where it cut through the trees. “Let's head along there.” The bushes would give them shelter from the Thunderpath, and somewhere to hide if a ThunderClan patrol passed.

He led Jake over the leaf-strewn forest floor, pushing through frost-withered bracken until he reached a long swathe of brambles. Ears straining for the sound of ThunderClan warriors, mouth open for scents, Talltail pushed on. The clouds began to clear, driven toward the horizon by the brisk wind. Before long, the sun was shining weakly through the branches. As it slid behind them, Talltail detected more familiar scents. Above the tang of ThunderClan and the stink of ShadowClan, he could smell the sweet scent of heather. Even in leaf-bare it seemed to drench the air. And the earthy musk of peat and rabbit rolled toward him. Without thinking, Talltail quickened his pace. Suddenly the Thunderpath veered away, leaving the cats trekking through thick forest. The ground steepened beneath Talltail's paws and he was soon out of breath, climbing blindly through bracken until light showed between the trees at the top of the slope.

He wrinkled his nose as he picked up ThunderClan's border scent. “We're nearly there.” At last they broke from the trees. A deep hollow yawned ahead of them and Talltail stared at the four tall oaks growing at the center.