Where was the rest of her patrol? She couldn’t defend the ferns without help. She scanned the clearing.
Leafpool was staring at her, her eyes wide. I bet she’s impressed with my moves, Ivypaw thought.
Leafpool blinked as Dustpelt blindsided her. Rolling over onto her side, the pale tabby warrior scrabbled to escape, but Dustpelt held her down and she could do nothing but lash her tail.
“I give up!” Leafpool yowled.
“You’ve lost anyway!” Cinderheart was standing beside the hazel bush. “I claim this bush for CinderClan!”
Birchfall was scrambling to his paws. He dipped his head to Ivypaw. “Good moves for an apprentice.”
Leafpool struggled out from under Dustpelt and padded across the clearing. “Yes,” she agreed. “Very nice moves. Where did you learn them?”
Ivypaw wasn’t going to give her secret away. “I k-kind of worked them out for myself.” Why shouldn’t her Clanmates think she was as talented as Dovepaw?
“That last one looked like a RiverClan move,” Dustpelt commented, padding over.
Ivypaw shrugged, making her eyes as round and innocent as she could. Dustpelt was wrong. It was a StarClan move!
“Whatever it looked like,” Birchfall meowed warmly, “it was a good one. I’ll remember to look out for it in the future.”
Leafpool was still staring at her quizzically. “Do it again,” she suggested. “We could all learn it.”
Ivypaw opened her mouth. “I—I don’t remember exactly what I did.” She didn’t want to share her secret moves with any cat. Nor did she want Dustpelt analyzing it any more. Leafpool already looked suspicious. They both might have known Hawkfrost when he was alive, and recognized his special technique.
Dustpelt flicked his tail. “Too bad.” He turned and called to Cinderheart, who was still proudly guarding her captured ferns. “Are you going to give us a chance to make it even?”
“Okay,” Cinderheart agreed. “But this time we start from the bracken. Your patrol on one side, ours on the other.”
Relieved that the attention had slipped away from her, Ivypaw followed Blossomfall, Leafpool, and Dustpelt into the bracken on one side of the clearing. She crouched among the brittle branches and peeped out into the clearing.
The bracken opposite trembled as Cinderheart’s patrol prepared for the attack.
“Blossomfall,” Dustpelt hissed. “You’re fast. I want you to race for the ferns while the rest of us stop them from reaching the hazel.”
Blossomfall dropped into a crouch with her haunches bunched underneath her.
“Ready?” Dustpelt whispered.
Before any of them could answer, the bracken on the far side of the clearing crashed apart and Cinderheart’s patrol pelted out.
“Go!” Dustpelt yowled.
Blossomfall dashed toward the ferns while Ivypaw hurtled out beside Dustpelt and Leafpool and raced to block the path to the hazel. Birchfall and Bumblestripe were already charging for it while Cinderheart and Hazeltail rushed to stop Blossomfall from reaching the ferns.
Blossomfall tried to zigzag out of their way, but Cinderheart and Hazeltail brought her down.
“Help her!” Dustpelt yowled to Leafpool. As Leafpool veered away, Ivypaw pelted beside Dustpelt, stretching her stride to match the warrior’s bound for bound. Bumblestripe was almost at the hazel.
You’re not winning again! Ivypaw sprang forward, stretching her forepaws to grasp Bumblestripe’s tail. She tugged it and he stumbled. She hauled herself close enough to nip his hind legs.
“Ow!” He flicked his haunches up out of the way, then spun and swung a clumsy paw at Ivypaw’s muzzle.
She ducked and swerved, hooking a forepaw around his and sending him crashing onto his side.
“Too easy!” she crowed, leaping on top of him.
He didn’t even struggle, but gazed up at her, his eyes dark with sadness.
“What’s up?” Surprised, she sat back on her haunches and let him clamber to his paws.
A yowl sounded behind them. Dustpelt was wrestling with Birchfall. But the battle could wait. Something was wrong with Bumblestripe.
“Are you okay?” Ivypaw prompted.
The warrior was staring sadly at the hazel bush. Was he just trying to trick her? Was he about to make a sudden dash for it? Ivypaw narrowed her eyes, tensing.
“Briarlight would have loved this,” Bumblestripe mewed quietly. Anger flashed in his gaze. “It’s just not fair!” he growled. “She was trying to help Longtail. Why did StarClan have to punish her?”
Ivypaw wished she had an answer. “Sometimes bad things happen.” The words felt lame on her tongue.
“Then what’s the point of StarClan?” Bumblestripe looked utterly defeated.
Ivypaw padded to his side and pressed her head against his shoulder. “Briarlight won’t let this beat her,” she murmured.
“No.” Bumblestripe sighed. “But it didn’t have to happen.”
Feeling her Clanmate’s grief in every shaking breath, Ivypaw imagined Dovepaw dragging herself around the hollow like half-dead fresh-kill. She understood Bumblestripe’s fury. It was so unfair.
“We won!”
Leafpool had captured the ferns. She pressed a frond beneath her paws while Hazeltail circled her, snorting. Cinderheart dipped her head in gracious defeat, then glanced over to Bumblestripe. Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement. She was clearly trying to guess why the two young cats were sitting so close.
Then she blinked and nodded.
She understood.
“Hey! You two!” Cinderheart turned to Dustpelt and Birchfall. The toms were still fighting. Dustpelt thrust Birchfall away with his powerful hind legs, but Birchfall landed on his paws and spun around, ready to attack again.
Cinderheart cleared her throat. “I hate to break it up,” she called. “But the battle’s over.”
Dustpelt and Birchfall halted and stared in surprise at the gray she-cat.
Birchfall sat down, the fur ruffling on his shoulders. “We were just practicing battle moves,” he meowed self-consciously.
“Yes,” Dustpelt agreed. “That’s what training’s all about, isn’t it?”
Cinderheart’s whiskers twitched. “And I suppose if we happen to enjoy it, StarClan won’t mind too much,” she teased.
The sun was lifting over the trees, brightening the sky. “Looks like it’ll be a good day for hunting,” Leafpool commented.
Cinderheart nodded. “Let’s get back to camp and see if Brambleclaw wants us to join a patrol.”
Dustpelt nodded. “The Clan needs fattening before leaf-bare.”
Birchfall led the way through the bracken and disappeared among the trees. Cinderheart, Blossomfall, and Dustpelt followed.
Bumblestripe drew away from Ivypaw, his pelt smooth where she’d pressed it. “Thanks,” he murmured. He hurried to catch up with his sister and fell in beside her.
Ivypaw followed, feeling left out as the two young warriors walked side by side, speaking softly to each other.
“Ivypaw.” Leafpool’s gentle mew made Ivypaw jump. The pale warrior had caught up to her and was padding at her side. Leaves crunched underpaw, golden as Brackenfur’s pelt.
“Those were pretty advanced moves,” Leafpool commented.
Ivypaw glanced sideways but the she-cat’s amber gaze was fixed on the path ahead.
“I guess I just did them accidentally.”
“Lucky,” Leafpool commented.
“I suppose.” Guilt itched in Ivypaw’s pelt.
“And you’re sure you couldn’t do them again?” Leafpool pressed.
Leave me alone! Ivypaw quickened her pace, irritated when Leafpool kept up. Every other cat in the Clan had secrets—including Leafpool. Why wasn’t she allowed to have her own?
CHAPTER 15
“Why didn’t you want me to bring Dovepaw?” Lionblaze sat down beside the wall. The abandoned Twoleg nest loomed above them, stark against the leafless forest.
“I did
n’t want to scare her.” Jayfeather patted earth around his precious catmint, shoring up its delicate stems against the snow he knew would come too soon.
“She’s got to know sometime,” Lionblaze pointed out.
But not yet.
Jayfeather stiffened.
Pawsteps.
He lifted his muzzle and tasted the air.
Lionblaze jerked around. “What is it?” His pelt was pricking. “Oh, it’s just Sandstorm’s patrol.”
Bushes swished as Sandstorm and Cloudtail raced through the trees nearby. Squirrelflight and Spiderleg pelted after them.
“So what did you want to know?” Lionblaze swished his tail over the cold earth.
“Have you had any dreams about Tigerstar lately?”
“None.”
Jayfeather sighed.
“What’s on your mind?” Lionblaze kneaded the earth.
“He’s not just going to give up, is he?” Jayfeather sniffed at a patch of borage that he’d discovered growing wild beside the Twoleg wall. “Help me with this.” The biggest leaves had withered, but he could scent new shoots near the base that he wanted to collect. They were good for treating fever. He parted the dying stems so that Lionblaze could see the young growth. “Can you pick those?” he asked, holding back the foliage.
“Okay.” Lionblaze began to pluck out the shoots, making the air sharp with the scent of sap.
“So?” Lionblaze prompted. “Who do you think Tigerstar’s visiting?”
“Definitely Breezepelt. Why else would he attack me?”
Lionblaze plucked another pawful of shoots. He was quiet but Jayfeather could sense his mind turning. Finally he spoke.
“I thought I was special,” he murmured. “I thought that’s why he visited me. Because we were kin and he thought I’d make the best warrior.”
“You are special,” Jayfeather insisted.
“But Tigerstar never believed in the prophecy.”
“No.”
“And we were never really kin,” Lionblaze pointed out. “He knew all along that Brambleclaw wasn’t our father.”
“Yes.”
Lionblaze sat back on his haunches. “So why did he visit me?”
Jayfeather let go of the stems and they swished back together. “Even without kinship or the prophecy, you’re one of our strongest warriors,” he reasoned.
“Is that all he wants?” Lionblaze asked. “Strong warriors?”
“He clearly needs warriors to fight for him.” Jayfeather began to bank earth up around the broken stems to protect them. “He’s already using Breezepelt. And remember the ghost warrior who fought with Breezepelt? Tigerstar must have found allies in the Dark Forest.”
“Allies?” Lionblaze growled.
“Not all cats go to StarClan,” Jayfeather reminded him. “But why is he doing this now?”
“He hates Firestar. All the Clans know it. What could be better than raising a force against him when he’s least expecting it?”
“I suppose.”
Lionblaze lapped at his chest. “Breezepelt seems like a strange choice for a recruit. He doesn’t have any kinship with Tigerstar.”
“But he does resent us because we are Crowfeather’s kits.” Jayfeather pawed the shoots into a pile. “Tigerstar’s clever. He knows most warriors are too loyal to break the code. So he has to exploit weakness.”
“He couldn’t exploit me!”
Jayfeather felt a surge of affection for his brother. “Of course not. But he tried. Who knows who else he may be trying to influence?”
Lionblaze’s paws shifted. “So we have to work out which cats have weaknesses he might use?”
“Or kinship.” Jayfeather sensed Lionblaze stiffen. “What is it?”
“That must be how he got to Tigerheart!” Lionblaze’s tail was flicking over the ground. “Do you remember me telling you the battle moves he used on the beavers were pure Tigerstar?”
“Of course!” Jayfeather’s belly tightened. Things were beginning to make sense. “And I found him at the border that night WindClan brought Dovepaw home, remember?”
“So all those ShadowClan scents we’ve been finding could be Tigerheart, scouting out the border on Tigerstar’s command?”
“Right,” Jayfeather agreed. “Tigerheart’s an obvious choice, right down to his name. Which means we can pretty much assume that Tigerstar is exploiting both kinship and the weakness of other cats to recruit them to his side.”
A growl rumbled in Lionblaze’s throat. “How do we stop him?”
“We can’t, not yet. We’ll just have to be on our guard,” Jayfeather warned. “We can’t prove any of this, and no cat will admit their loyalty lies outside their own Clan.”
“We could try to find out if more cats are being trained by him.”
Jayfeather gave the borage another sniff. “Watch them at Gatherings,” he instructed. “See if any others cross our borders. I’ll find out what I can at the medicine cat Gathering tonight.”
“Okay,” Lionblaze agreed. “So far we know of one WindClan and one ShadowClan cat. What about RiverClan?”
Jayfeather narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Is there a RiverClan warrior who hates us as much as Breezepelt? One whose weakness Tigerstar could exploit?”
“I can’t think of one,” Lionblaze answered. “But…” His voice trailed away.
Jayfeather leaned forward. “What?”
“Tigerstar had a son, didn’t he?”
“Hawkfrost?” Jayfeather gasped. He’d never seen him in StarClan. There was a good chance that he walked the Dark Forest with Tigerstar. “He lived in RiverClan. He’d know exactly which cats to approach.”
“So Tigerstar might not be the only cat training warriors in their dreams,” Lionblaze guessed.
Jayfeather shrugged.
“Oh, great,” Lionblaze growled.
“Let’s head back to camp,” Jayfeather meowed. “I want to rest before the Gathering.”
He padded into the trees. The ferns stroked his pelt as he pushed his way through.
Lionblaze rustled behind him. “Will the herbs be okay?”
“I hope so.” Jayfeather sent a silent prayer to StarClan. “It’s good to know that I have fresh supplies.”
“You seem to enjoy looking after them.”
“Plants do what they’re told,” Jayfeather commented. “Unlike apprentices.”
Lionblaze purred. “Have you thought about taking on an apprentice?”
Jayfeather tensed. “Not while…” The words were hard to say. “Not while Leafpool is around.”
“Are you hoping she’ll be a medicine cat again?”
Jayfeather twitched one ear. “Maybe.” He wasn’t being sentimental. “It just seems like a waste of training for her to turn her back on it. She knows so much, and sometimes I feel that I know so little. The Clan still needs her, Lionblaze. Maybe more than ever.”
“Jayfeather!” Sorreltail was calling from the clearing. “Littlecloud’s here.”
“Coming!” Jayfeather gave Briarlight a sniff. She was fast asleep in her nest. No smell of sickness. He hurried out of his den. He could sense the fragile half-moon hanging over the hollow. The air smelled fresh with a tang of frost. Hard weather was on its way. He trotted across the clearing, finally sure of a route that wouldn’t trip or snag him.
“I thought you usually met the other medicine cats at the border when you go to the Moonpool,” Sorreltail whispered as Jayfeather passed.
“I think he wants to see the tree damage for himself.”
Littlecloud was standing just inside the thorn barrier. Jayfeather could sense the ShadowClan medicine cat’s shock as he stared around the camp.
“I’m amazed you lost only one cat,” Littlecloud commented as Jayfeather reached him. “How’s Briarpaw doing?”
“She’s Briarlight now.”
“Really?” Littlecloud sounded surprised, but Jayfeather didn’t comment as he followed the ShadowClan medicine cat out through the thorns. Fla
metail, Littlecloud’s apprentice, was waiting outside the tunnel.
Good. He was Tigerheart’s littermate. If any cat’s dreams held a clue to the warrior’s intentions, it would be Flametail’s.
Unless Tigerstar was training him too.
A medicine cat? No way!
Jayfeather tried to push the thought away, but it clung to the back of his mind like a tick, making him wary of saying too much.
Littlecloud let Jayfeather take the lead as they headed for the WindClan border. They would meet the other cats there.
“So Firestar made her a warrior anyway?” Littlecloud pursued the news about Briarlight.
“She’s as brave as any warrior.” Jayfeather felt for Flametail’s reaction. How much interest was the young cat taking in their conversation?
“Has she had any sickness?” Flametail stuck his muzzle close to Jayfeather’s.
“None. We’ve kept her moving,” Jayfeather explained. “She does exercises every day and fetches her own food from the fresh-kill pile. It seems to be keeping her chest and belly working fine.”
“How are you keeping her spirits up?” Flametail asked.
Was he looking for a sign of weakness? “No need,” Jayfeather meowed. “She’s very positive.”
He was relieved as they padded from the trees and he scented Kestrelflight, Mothwing, and Willowshine waiting on the WindClan border. He pushed ahead, hurrying over the grass to meet them.
He leaped the stream in a practiced bound. “It’s cold,” he remarked in greeting. An icy wind was whipping off the moorland and ruffling every cat’s fur.
“Not once we get moving.” Kestrelflight was stamping his paws against the chill. The WindClan medicine cat began to lead the way upstream.
“Mothwing.” Jayfeather greeted the RiverClan medicine cat formally. He felt her cool gaze touch his pelt.
“Jayfeather.” There was an edge to her mew. Did she think he’d give away her secret? She was wrong if she did. What would he gain by telling the others she had no connection with StarClan?
“Hopefully the hollow will be sheltered from this wind,” Littlecloud grumbled.