Warriors: Power Of Three 4 - Eclipse (8 page)

Jaypaw followed, his brother’s tail brushing his nose. Out in the open, he soon recognized the ground beneath his paws; they were following the bottom of the slope. Keeping close to Lionpaw’s tail, and with Hollypaw’s fur brushing his flank, he found it easy to keep up with Cinderpaw as she began to pick up speed.

“She looks confident!” Hollypaw mewed. “Her tail is up.”

Lionpaw stopped without warning. “She’s turning around!”

he hissed.

Jaypaw skidded to a halt just before he crashed into his brother. He felt Hollypaw’s teeth grasp his tail and drag him backward; then Lionpaw bundled him sideways and the three of them tumbled through a wall of ferns in time to hear Cinderpaw’s paw steps thrumming past.

“That was close!” Lionpaw panted.

In the distance, a screech split the air and Jaypaw heard the fluttering of wings.

“Mouse dung!” An angry mew rang through the trees.

“Sounds like Honeypaw’s missed her first catch,” Lionpaw guessed.

“Never mind Honeypaw,” Hollypaw mewed. “Cinderpaw’s getting away!” She pushed her way out of the ferns and began to give chase. Lionpaw nudged Jaypaw after her, and they were once more hurrying through the forest after the apprentice.

Jaypaw recognized a scent. “Squirrel!”

Cinderpaw’s footsteps grew quicker.

“She’s following it,” Lionpaw mewed.

“I can see her!” Hollypaw whispered. “She’s definitely stalking it. She’s keeping lower than a snake.”

“Has the squirrel seen her?” Jaypaw asked.

“It’s fleeing,” Lionpaw answered. “But it’s still on the ground. I think it knows something’s up, but it’s not climbing yet.”

“It’s trying to escape,” Hollypaw hissed to Jaypaw. “Cinderpaw’s going to have to make her move soon.”

“It’s running along a fallen tree,” Lionpaw mewed,

“heading for an oak. Cinderpaw’s got to attack now or she’ll lose it.”

“There she goes!” Hollypaw mewed triumphantly. “What a leap—” Her voice broke off.

“What’s the matter?” Jaypaw felt a flash of alarm. Through the bushes, he heard a scraping sound, followed by a dull thud.

“She mistimed the jump!” Lionpaw gasped.

“She’s crashed on top of the fallen tree!” Hollypaw yelped.

The air was suddenly thick with pain.

“She’s hurt!” Hollypaw screeched. But Jaypaw was already racing for Cinderpaw, praying nothing would trip him up.

Hollypaw pelted past him and leaped up to her friend, who was helpless and moaning with pain on the trunk. Jaypaw clawed his way up the trunk, the rotting bark splintering beneath his paws. Panting, he crouched beside Cinderpaw.

Cloudtail exploded from the bushes. “Is she hurt?”

Waves of agony flooded from Cinderpaw’s injured leg. Jaypaw pressed his cheek to it. It was swelling already, hot and trembling. “It’s her bad leg!” he called.

Cinderpaw’s breathing was sharp and shallow. “It just buckled as I jumped,” she croaked.

Cloudtail scrabbled onto the trunk, pushing Hollypaw to one side. “I knew she wasn’t ready!”

“We need to get her back to camp,” Jaypaw told him. “Hollypaw, you go on ahead and warn Leafpool.”

Hollypaw hesitated, not wanting to leave her friend.

“Go on!” Jaypaw ordered.

Hollypaw scrambled away, the undergrowth rustling as she disappeared into the forest.

“It’s okay, Cinderpaw,” Cloudtail soothed. “We’ll get you home.” He called to Lionpaw, who was still on the forest floor.

“I’m going to hold her by her scruff and jump down. I need you to make sure her injured leg doesn’t hit anything, or touch the ground. Do you think you can do that?”

“Yes.”

Cinderpaw moaned as Cloudtail lifted her carefully by the loose fur at the back of her neck.

Lionpaw’s hind paws stumped heavily on the forest floor as he reached up to help. Jaypaw leaped down beside him, his pelt brushing Cinderpaw’s as she dangled in midair. Carefully, Cloudtail slid down from the tree. Cinderpaw wailed as they landed and Cloudtail laid her on the ground.

Jaypaw pressed his cheek to her trembling flank. Her heart was steady and strong. “Can you walk on three legs?”

“I think so,” she groaned.

“We’ll help you,” Lionpaw promised.

Fur scraped the leafy floor as Cinderpaw dragged herself onto three paws. Jaypaw scuttled out of the way to let Lionpaw and Cloudtail press against either side of her. Slowly, the injured apprentice limped forward, her paws thudding unevenly on the ground.

Every step stabbed Jaypaw like a thorn. “Can’t you carry her?” He bristled with frustration. “Leafpool needs to check her over.” What if she goes into shock?

“Steady, there.” Cloudtail wouldn’t let him hurry them.

“We could damage her leg more.”

At last they reached the thorn barrier and made the final snail-slow steps through the tunnel.

Hollypaw was waiting for them inside, her pelt bristling with worry. “She’s walking!”

“Not exactly,” Cinderpaw grunted.

“How bad is it?” Graystripe called across the clearing.

Daisy was at the nursery entrance. “Is it broken again?”

“We don’t know yet.” Jaypaw circled his patient anxiously as Lionpaw and Cloudtail helped her to hobble across the clearing. Hollypaw held the brambles to one side as they reached Leafpool’s den.

“Lie down here,” Leafpool told Cinderpaw as soon as they entered. From the smell of it she had already prepared a bed of fresh moss in a quiet corner of the cave.

Cinderpaw grunted with pain as her fur brushed the moss.

“Outside, please.” Leafpool shooed Hollypaw and Lionpaw away.

Hollypaw objected. “But I want to stay with Cinderpaw!”

“You can visit her later.” Leafpool was adamant. The two apprentices were bundled out of the entrance. “What happened?” Leafpool’s mew was brittle as she turned to Cloudtail.

The warrior began to explain. “She was jumping over a fallen tree—”

Cinderpaw butted in. “My stupid leg gave way! And now I’ve failed my assessment!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Cloudtail tried to reassure her, but Cinderpaw was pulsing with anger.

“Of course it matters!” she snapped. “I don’t want Honeypaw and Poppypaw to move to the warriors’ den without me. I wanted to sit the warriors’ vigil with them, not on my own!”

“I know you’re upset,” Leafpool soothed. “Let’s just see if we can make you more comfortable.” Her mew was calm, but Jaypaw could sense distress crackling beneath her pelt as she began to run her pads over Cinderpaw’s leg. “Nothing broken,” she mewed. “It’s not as bad as before.”

“Feels like it’s worse,” Cinderpaw grumbled.

“You’ve just wrenched the muscles,” Leafpool assured her.

“They’ll heal with rest.”

“But why did it give way?”

Leafpool didn’t answer but spoke instead to Cloudtail.

“Leave her to me,” she mewed softly. “I’ll let you know how she is as soon as I’ve finished treating her.”

Jaypaw ducked out of the way to let Cloudtail pass as the warrior padded out of the den. He wondered whether he should offer to help, but Leafpool seemed so caught up in Cinderpaw’s injury that he remained quiet, crouching near the entrance, ready if she needed him.

“Why did it give way?” Cinderpaw repeated her question more fiercely. “Didn’t it heal properly last time? Will it always be weak? What if I can never be a warrior?”

Jaypaw felt Leafpool’s rush of panic like a hot wind flattening his pelt.

“You’ll be fine,” Leafpool soothed. “I’ve made a poultice.”

She padded to the back of the den. Jaypaw smelled the tang of nettle and comfrey in the ointment she brought back and began smoothing over Cinderpaw’s leg. “Take these poppy seeds,” Leafpool advised. “They’ll help you to rest.”

Jaypaw listened as Cinderpaw’s breathing slowed and deepened. Leafpool sat motionless beside her, and only when Cinderpaw finally drifted into sleep did she turn away.

Surprise pricked from her when she saw Jaypaw. “Are you still here?”

Jaypaw sat up, stiff from crouching so long. “I wouldn’t leave while we had a patient.”

“I thought you’d gone out with the others,” Leafpool murmured absently.

“You shouldn’t have told Cloudtail she was ready for her assessment.”

“That’s not for you to judge.” Leafpool’s voice quavered.

“You didn’t even watch a training session to make sure she was fully fit.”

“You don’t understand!”

“I do,” Jaypaw answered quietly. He nodded toward the cave entrance, beckoning Leafpool outside. She followed him to the bramble patch. No one would overhear them there.

Jaypaw took a deep breath. “I know that you want Cinderpaw to become a warrior as soon as possible. You don’t want her to suffer the same fate as Cinderpelt.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Leafpool demanded. “Not being able to become a warrior broke Cinderpelt’s heart.”

There are worse fates. “You’re obsessed with the past,” Jaypaw warned her. “You want to make sure everything turns out the way you think it should.”

“I just want to do what’s right.”

“You can’t always do the right thing. No matter how much you want to.”

“I know.” Grief pulsed from his mentor, sharper and deeper than Jaypaw expected. “But I’ll always try.”

Hollypaw watched the dawn sky lighten. Was it too early to visit Cinderpaw? Leafpool had shooed her away the night before; her patient had been sleeping.

The thorn barrier rustled. The dawn patrol was returning.

Graystripe and Dustpelt padded into the camp, followed by Whitewing and Icepaw. Whitewing was trying to persuade her apprentice to be quiet. “You’ve been chattering nonstop since we left,” she scolded. “We’re home now, and your Clanmates are still sleeping.”

“But I was only asking Graystripe if I could go with him to tell Firestar.” It had been Icepaw’s first dawn patrol, and the young apprentice was fizzing with energy.

“This is serious news.” Graystripe flicked Icepaw’s ear gently with his tail. “I’m not sure Firestar will want you bouncing around his den while he hears it.”

Hollypaw pricked her ears. “What news?” She padded forward.

“You’ll know soon enough,” Graystripe called as he followed Dustpelt up the rocks to Highledge.

Disappointed, Hollypaw turned away and stared at the medicine cat’s den. I’l just peek in and see if anyone’s awake. She padded to the cave and nosed her way through the brambles that covered the entrance. Blinking to adjust to the half-light, she saw Leafpool mixing herbs by a cleft in the rock.

Hollypaw entered the den. “Is that for Cinderpaw?” she whispered.

Leafpool nodded without looking up. “Yes, it is.”

“I’ve come to see her,” Hollypaw explained. “Is she awake?”

A croaking mew sounded from a nest in the shadows. “I’ve been awake for ages.” Cinderpaw sounded in pain. Hollypaw hurried over to her friend’s nest. The gray apprentice lay awkwardly on the moss, her injured leg sticking out, her eyes dull.

Leafpool padded across the cave and dropped a mouthful of leaves beside the nest.

Hollypaw gazed anxiously at the medicine cat. “Is she okay?”

“She’s wrenched the muscles in her leg.”

“In that case, she just needs to start using it,” Hollypaw mewed brightly. “To build up her strength.”

“Easy for you to say,” Cinderpaw grumbled.

“Come on, try stretching it,” Hollypaw encouraged.

Trembling, Cinderpaw strained to move her leg. “I can’t!”

Hollypaw’s heart lurched. Cinderpaw had never sounded so miserable.

“It’s bound to be stiff,” Leafpool told her.

Hollypaw narrowed her eyes. There was sharpness in the medicine cat’s voice. Was she frustrated that Cinderpaw was making such a fuss?

“Try stretching it again,” Leafpool meowed.

“Yes,” Hollypaw agreed. “The sooner you start moving around, the better.”

Screwing up her face, Cinderpaw struggled to her feet.

“Try putting a little weight on it,” Leafpool suggested.

Cinderpaw gingerly pressed her paw to the ground. “Ow!”

She flopped back into her nest. “It hurts too much, and I’m too tired.”

“Eat these herbs.” Leafpool nosed the pile of leaves close to Cinderpaw’s face. “I’ll fetch some more ointment to soothe the swelling.” The medicine cat was frowning. Was she worried, or upset?

As Leafpool padded to the other side of the cave, Hollypaw decided to try to distract her friend. “Icepaw’s been on her first patrol.”

“Really?” Cinderpaw sounded uninterested.

Hollypaw searched for something else to tell her. Should she share what Brambleclaw had told her last night? She’s going to find out anyway. “Firestar’s giving Poppypaw and Honeypaw their warrior names today.”

Cinderpaw turned her head away and closed her eyes.

“It’ll be your turn soon,” Hollypaw promised.

“I just want to sleep,” Cinderpaw muttered, without opening her eyes.

“Okay.” Feeling wretched, Hollypaw padded to the entrance.

“Don’t forget to eat those herbs!” she called over her shoulder.

Cinderpaw merely grunted, and Hollypaw pushed her way out through the brambles.

Jaypaw was heading toward the den.

Hollypaw greeted him. “You’re up early.”

“I’ve been checking on Millie.” He halted beside her. “Were you visiting Cinderpaw?”

“Yes.” Hollypaw sighed. “She seems even worse than the last time she hurt her leg.”

“She’ll feel better once the swelling goes down.”

“Will she be able to walk again?” Hollypaw’s ears twitched.

She realized with a jolt that she was terrified of the answer.

Jaypaw blinked. “Of course she will! She’s only wrenched her leg. She should heal quicker this time.”

Is that true? Hollypaw searched his face. “But Cinderpaw won’t even try to move. Last time, we could hardly keep her still.”

“She’s just upset,” Jaypaw mewed. “She was so close to making warrior, and now she’s got to wait.”

“But Leafpool seemed really worried.”

“Leafpool!” Jaypaw snorted angrily and padded past her into the den.

Surprised, Hollypaw watched him go. Had he fallen out with his mentor? But what have they got to fall out over?

“Hollypaw!” Foxpaw’s excited mew made her spin around.

The young apprentice nearly crashed into her as she skidded to a halt. “Firestar’s about to give Poppypaw and Honeypaw their warrior names!”