Warriors: Power Of Three 1 - Sight (31 page)

Hollypaw’s eyes grew round. She hadn’t seen so much fresh-kill in ages.

As Thornclaw dropped his catch onto the patch of earth that had been empty for too long, Firestar got to his paws to greet the returning patrol. “It looks like the prey’s running richer already!”

Lionpaw padded excitedly around Ashfur. “There were primroses on the ShadowClan border and buds on the Sky Oak!”

“And prey seemed to be moving in every burrow,”

Whitewing added.

Firestar scanned the clearing. “Brambleclaw?”

The deputy came hurrying out of the warriors’ den, Squirrelflight behind him.

“The prey’s running again.” Firestar flicked his tail toward the fresh-kill pile. “Lead another patrol out toward the WindClan border and see what you can catch.”

Brambleclaw’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Berrypaw!” he called to his apprentice. “We’re going hunting.”

Berrypaw stopped chasing the kits.

“Can we come too?” Foxkit begged.

Icekit swiped her brother playfully around the ears. “We’re only kits,” she mewed. “They’ll never let us go with them.”

“But watch this hunting move!” Foxkit crouched down, sticking his tail in the air and wiggling his haunches. He lunged forward and landed on a leaf, pinning it to the ground.

Icekit’s short whiskers quivered with amusement. “Next time we need leaves, I’m sure Brambleclaw will ask you to help!”

“You’ll make a great warrior,” Berrypaw told him. “And I promise to bring something tasty back for you.”

Hollypaw darted forward. “Can I go with them?” she asked Brambleclaw.

“You’re going to the Gathering tonight,” he meowed. “I want you to save your energy for that.”

“But I’ve been asleep half the morning,” she protested.

“You’re half-starved, like the rest of the Clan,” Brambleclaw told her. “Rest and eat today. You can hunt tomorrow.”

“But Lionpaw’s been hunting!” Hollypaw answered hotly.

“It’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair. Stay in camp.” He nodded to Squirrelflight and together they led Berrypaw out into the forest.

Furious, Hollypaw turned and stomped across the clearing. Her Clan was starving and they wouldn’t let her hunt!

For a moment she wondered whether to sneak out of camp and hunt by herself. But if she got caught Firestar probably wouldn’t let her go to the Gathering or hunting tomorrow. It wasn’t worth it.

Overhead, the great white moon made the hollow glow with silver light.

Hollypaw sniffed the air. Clear skies. A good sign.

Graystripe and Millie waited in the clearing with Ashfur and Stormfur. Brackenfur sat beside them, tugging with his teeth at the fur between his claws. Squirrelflight washed her ears as Brambleclaw stood next to her and glanced up at Highledge. They would leave for the Gathering as soon as Firestar appeared.

The apprentices were fidgeting beside the thorn barrier.

“Do you think Blackstar will mention the battle?”

Cinderpaw mewed.

Honeypaw paced in front of the camp entrance. “I bet ShadowClan never talks about its defeats.”

“What do you think, Hollypaw?” Lionpaw asked. But Hollypaw hardly heard. Jaypaw was staring at the patrol as it prepared to leave camp. His clear blue gaze gave nothing away, but she knew how disappointed he must be.

She padded over to him. “I’ll tell you about it as soon as I get back,” she promised.

Jaypaw didn’t reply.

She pressed her flank against his. “You’ll go to the next Gathering, I’m sure,” she comforted him. “Poppypaw and Mousefur will be better by then.”

“I know.” Only the smallest twitch of his tail betrayed his frustration.

“Hollypaw!” Brackenfur’s call made her jump. Firestar had leaped down from Highledge, Sandstorm behind him.

“I’ve got to go,” she mewed.

“Hurry up!” Lionpaw called as she hurried to join the others.

Hollypaw glanced over her shoulder at Jaypaw. He had gotten to his paws and was padding slowly toward the elders’

den.

“Jaypaw will be fine,” Cinderpaw reassured her.

Hollypaw stiffened her shoulders. Jaypaw was taking care of his Clan. Besides, she didn’t want to worry about her brother right now. This was her first Gathering as a warrior apprentice, and her paws tingled with anticipation.

Firestar signaled with a flick of his tail, then dived out through the thorn tunnel. Brambleclaw and the other warriors sped after him. The apprentices bunched together as they raced to be first out of camp. Lionpaw’s pelt brushed against Hollypaw’s. His fur was bristling as they burst from the tunnel.

“Do you think the other Clans know I’m a warrior apprentice now?” Hollypaw panted, ducking through the bracken.

“If they don’t, I’m sure you’ll tell them,” Lionpaw teased.

Hollypaw nudged him with her shoulder and sent him veering against a bramble bush.

“Hey!” he protested. Hollypaw sped ahead and Lionpaw pelted after her.

She raced past Ashfur and Stormfur and swerved to shelter behind Brackenfur. “Help!” she squealed. “Lionpaw’s trying to get me!”

A purr rumbled in Brackenfur’s throat. “Don’t hide behind me!” He lengthened his stride and shot forward, leaving Hollypaw undefended. Lionpaw caught up with her and nudged her, making her stumble.

“Now we’re even!” he called.

“I’ll get you later!” she threatened.

The patrol pounded down the slope toward the lakeshore.

Graystripe pulled ahead, clearly excited to be going to a Gathering with his Clan once more. He glanced, eyes shining, at Millie, as she caught up with him. “Do you still think you made the right decision, coming with me to the Clan?”

“Wherever you are is the right place for me to be,” Millie replied quietly.

Leaves turned to grass and then marsh beneath their paws, and the cats slowed as they skirted the lake. They had to travel slowly over the boggy earth, which gave way under every pawstep.

Before long Hollypaw could see the silhouette of the fallen tree bridging the gap between shore and island. Her paws tingled, and she quickened her step. Firestar and Squirrelflight were already crossing, with Sandstorm and Honeypaw right behind them, while Brambleclaw and Berrypaw waited their turn next to Leafpool.

“Are you ready?” Brackenfur asked as he caught up to her by the tree-bridge.

“Totally!” she mewed.

“Up you go, then.” Brackenfur waited while Hollypaw scrambled up among the tangled roots. She unsheathed her claws, ready for the slippery bark. Gripping on tightly, she wove her way among the twigs and knotholes, relieved when she had crossed the black, lapping water and could jump down onto the shore.

While the other cats crossed behind her, Hollypaw watched for Firestar’s signal. Moonlight glittered on the lake beyond the trees, and she could smell the scents of the other Clans already on the island. Her heart thumped as hard as rabbits’ paws when Firestar nodded and headed into the undergrowth.

Hollypaw couldn’t wait to talk to her fellow apprentices.

She was one of them now, and she realized how much she had felt like an outsider when she had been a medicine cat apprentice.

“I hope—” she began.

But Lionpaw had halted. He was staring into the clearing.

“Something’s wrong,” he whispered.

“What?” Hollypaw glanced around, suddenly apprehensive.

It seemed different from last time. The other cats were huddled with their Clanmates, not milling around or sharing tongues with different Clans. They looked thinner and angrier, their eyes gleaming like foxes’.

“What’s wrong with everyone?” Hollypaw mewed.

“It’s been a tough leaf-bare,” Firestar reassured his Clanmates. “Everyone’s weaker and hungrier. They’ll be warier. So be cautious.”

Hollypaw stayed by her brother. She didn’t like the angry glances that flashed from warrior to warrior.

“Don’t worry,” Lionpaw murmured. “Everyone will settle down soon.”

A hiss and a yowl made Hollypaw jerk her head around.

Fur and claws flew as Berrypaw leaped onto Owlpaw. The ShadowClan apprentice wrestled him over and pinned him to the ground, but Berrypaw slid sideways with a quick, clean jerk and unbalanced him.

“Stop it!” Brambleclaw’s fierce mew echoed around the trees. He raced to his apprentice and plucked him away from Owlpaw by his scruff. Berrypaw’s legs still churned in the air, his claws gleaming in the moonlight.

“There’s a truce!” Brambleclaw reminded him sternly.

Hollypaw glanced up at the moon. Thin wisps of cloud were drifting in front of it. Her heart lurched. Had Berrypaw and Owlpaw upset StarClan?

Berrypaw shook out his pelt as Brambleclaw dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. “Owlpaw started it,” he growled. “He called me a kittypet!”

Hollypaw felt her pelt bristle. Berrypaw had been training for moons to be a ThunderClan warrior. And yet he wasn’t truly Clanborn. He had been born in horseplace with Hazelpaw and Mousepaw, not in the hollow. Daisy had brought them to ThunderClan only to stop the Twolegs from taking them away.

A yowl sounded from the Great Oak. “Let the Gathering begin!” Firestar called.

Hollypaw wove her way through her Clanmates to sit between Leafpool and Brambleclaw. Lionpaw squeezed in beside her.

“Look at the way Blackstar is glaring at us!” she gulped.

The ShadowClan leader was staring down at the ThunderClan cats through slitted eyes, his lips twitching as though he only just suppressed a snarl.

Leopardstar spoke first. “RiverClan has suffered this past moon.” The golden-spotted tabby gazed solemnly around the Clans. “Just when we hoped newleaf would bring an end to the hard season, new frosts brought more hunger, and with it, sickness.”

Cats from all four Clans murmured in agreement.

Leopardstar narrowed her eyes. “Who knows what the next seasons will bring? Twolegs invaded our territories last greenleaf. Will they come in greater numbers this time and destroy our land, just as they did in the forest?”

“Why should they?” Ashfoot called from among WindClan.

“Why should leaf-bare have brought so much tragedy?”

Leopardstar shot back. “Is StarClan trying to send us a message? Could it be that we do not belong here?”

“I’ve had no signs from StarClan to suggest anything like that!” Leafpool put in quickly.

“Nor I!” Barkface agreed.

“We’ve always had to endure times of hunger and sickness,” Squirrelflight pointed out. “Even back in the forest!”

“Squirrelflight’s right!” Onestar agreed.

Leopardstar glanced sideways to Blackstar, and Hollypaw noticed her flick her tail, as though she was prompting the ShadowClan leader to do something.

Blackstar’s eyes grew thin and hostile. “Littlecloud has had a sign!” he announced.

All eyes turned to Littlecloud. The ShadowClan medicine cat’s pelt was ruffled, and his eyes were clouded with anxiety.

“I dreamed that a warrior brought strange new prey into the camp, a bird I had never seen before. I bit into it and found its belly writhing with maggots.”

Anxious whispers rippled around the Clans. They were silenced by Blackstar. “StarClan is warning us that strangers are poisoning the Clans!”

“They might be warning us to be wary of unfamiliar prey!”

Leafpool objected.

A shadow fell over the clearing, and Hollypaw saw with dread that more thin clouds were passing in front of the moon. StarClan was definitely unhappy.

Blackstar glared at Firestar. “You have given a home to so many cats born outside the forest that you are weakening Clan blood,” he accused. “Why else would StarClan let us suffer?”

He stared accusingly at the ThunderClan leader, then let his gaze sweep over Stormfur, Brook, Berrypaw, and Millie.

Outrage churned in Hollypaw’s belly. They are all warriors!

Even she had distant kittypet blood, but she was Clanborn through and through.

“Kittypets and outsiders!” Oakfur sneered.

“You are destroying the warrior code!” Owlpaw yowled.

Brambleclaw’s pelt bristled, and Stormfur got to his paws, curling his lip in a snarl. But Firestar’s fierce gaze flashed across the Clans, silencing them.

“We will not be blamed for bad weather!” he hissed.

“We suffered worse things in our old home. StarClan led us here. Did any cat expect that they would lead us to an easy life?” The Clans listened in silence at first; then some cats began to murmur in agreement as he went on. “Surely it is our struggle against hardship that makes us true warriors.”

He glared at Blackstar. “You think fresh blood in the Clans will weaken us? A life without hardship would weaken us more.”

Onestar nodded. “Blackstar talks as though StarClan should grant us nothing but blessings. Does he want us to live the spoiled life of kittypets?”

Blackstar shot him a look of cold fury.

Ashfur got to his paws. “Pure blood is no guarantee of virtue!”

“May I have permission to speak?” Hollypaw turned and saw Squirrelflight padding her way to the front of the Clan.

Firestar nodded.

Squirrelflight gazed calmly around the Clans. Hollypaw felt pride warming her pelt. Go on, Squirrelflight!

“We have all suffered,” Squirrelflight acknowledged. “But we must look forward, not back. Newleaf has come. Our territories are warming up and filling with prey. Thanks to Mothwing, we all have a good supply of catmint.”

As she spoke, a warm breeze swept across the island. The clearing brightened as the clouds started to drift away from the moon.

“StarClan agrees with her!”

“It’s a sign!”

Pelts smoothed and tails fell still as the cats began to calm down.

Squirrelflight went on. “This is the start of our second newleaf by the lake. We should mark its return with a special Gathering.”

Hollypaw leaned forward, puzzled.

“While the moon is still full, we could meet in daylight.”

“Why should we do that?” Blackstar snapped. “The truce comes only with the full moon.”

“The moon is as full during the day as it is at night,”

Crowfeather pointed out.

“We should meet,” Squirrelflight pressed, “to share skills and training methods. To show that we have not forgotten the Great Journey that brought us here, when the warrior code protected us as one.”