Tigerheart shrugged. “It’s okay. I trust you. We’re friends, right?”
Dovepaw felt her ears burn. “I guess.”
Tigerheart’s sleek tabby pelt shone in the light rippling through the pines. He padded toward her and touched her muzzle with his. “It’s nice to see you,” he meowed. He sat down and licked a paw before running it along his whiskers. “I’ve missed talking to you since the quest.”
“Me too.” Dovepaw felt her fur flatten. Once a friend, always a friend. Why should borders stop that? “I mean, there are the Gatherings,” she went on, “but it’s not the same.”
“I know what you mean,” he agreed. He began licking his flank, smoothing a stray tuft into place. “It was fun, wasn’t it? Building nests beneath the stars and waking up each morning in a new place, but with the same familiar faces.” He sounded restless, and Dovepaw wondered if he was frustrated at being confined to his territory.
“I tried to visit Sedgewhisker, you know.”
“You did?” Tigerheart looked up from his washing. “How is she?”
“She was bitten by a dog, but nothing serious.”
“I noticed the wound at the Gathering.” Tigerheart narrowed his eyes. “I wondered what it was.”
“But everyone got so angry with me!” Dovepaw’s pads itched with frustration. “All they were bothered about was that I’d crossed the border. But I was worried about her. We’re all Clan cats, aren’t we? Is it wrong to care about one another?”
Tigerheart gazed into her eyes. “No, it isn’t.”
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Dovepaw looked away.
“Do you remember when the dam burst?” Tigerheart’s mew was brisk, as though he could sense her discomfort and wanted to distract her. “The river nearly washed us to StarClan.” He stood up and began to knead the ground. “And we had to cling to nothing but branches to keep our heads above water.” He leaped for a low twig jutting from a pine trunk and swung by his forepaws.
Dovepaw purred with amusement. “What about trying to drag the logs out of the dam? That was like trying to pull the forest up by its roots!”
“I thought you were so brave!” Tigerheart told her.
“You were braver,” she argued.
“No way! I was terrified!”
“I couldn’t tell.” Dovepaw found herself staring into his soft amber eyes. Words dried on her tongue.
“Tigerheart!” The call of a ShadowClan cat made her freeze.
Tigerheart bristled, then quickly nudged her past the brambles and bundled her across the scent line. “See you soon!” he hissed before turning back to meet his Clanmate.
Dovepaw glanced around. No one had seen her. She scooted away from the border and headed home through the trees. Warm with thoughts of Tigerheart, she felt a purr rise in her throat. This was one friendship that Lionblaze and Jayfeather couldn’t spoil, because they were never going to know about it.
She lifted her nose. And if they thought she was going to spy on ShadowClan for them, they were very much mistaken. Clanmates were Clanmates, but friends were just as precious.
CHAPTER 19
“Clanmates are everything. And we’re your Clanmates now.”
Hawkfrost gazed deep into Ivypaw’s eyes, and she began to relax. The gray, mist-wrapped forest suddenly seemed less strange. The sound of warriors training beyond the half-shadowed trees felt familiar. She was with Clanmates.
At first, when Ivypaw had dreamed herself beyond the flower-flecked meadow and into the forest, she’d been nervous. She’d crept between the towering trunks with her fur prickling, stiffening every time a yowl drifted from the misty depths of the woods.
But then Hawkfrost had found her, padding out of the shadows, his blue gaze sparking with pleasure as he saw her.
“Don’t be scared of them,” he’d reassured her when she’d jumped at a sudden, muffled noise.
“But who are they?” Ivypaw flicked her tail toward two wraithlike forms wrestling in a clearing a few tree-lengths away.
“Your Clanmates,” Hawkfrost answered.
“They’re ThunderClan?” Ivypaw blinked. This couldn’t be such a bad place if ThunderClan came here.
Hawkfrost didn’t answer, just scraped a line in the moldering earth. “See if you can make it past this mark,” he challenged.
More training!
Ivypaw crouched down, wincing at the ache in her shoulders. The pain followed her from dream to waking and back. As she’d hunted with Icecloud and Toadstep that day after sunhigh, she’d struggled to keep up. Nightly training with Hawkfrost had taken its toll, but Ivypaw knew she was growing stronger, and his praise was worth much more because it was so hard-won.
She swished her tail over the ground and stared at Hawkfrost. He sat calmly watching her behind the line he had drawn. She narrowed her eyes, keeping her rump still as he’d taught her.
Wait a moment. Then another. She ran through an old lesson in her head. Until they’re not sure what you’re going to do.
Ivypaw lunged, forepaws stretching, claws unsheathed. She looked for Hawkfrost’s first sign of movement, knew he’d double-bluff, pretending to move one way, then another, then back. She kept her hind paws on the ground until she was sure of his direction, then used them to steer her pounce and caught him off balance, swiping his muzzle with one front paw.
He batted her back with a hefty blow to her shoulder, and she fell sprawling to the ground. She sat up, shaking the dizziness from her head.
Hawkfrost was staring at the line. The earth was scuffed, but only on her side.
“You didn’t cross it,” he growled. “Try again.”
Ivypaw tucked her hind legs under her, concentrating. She barely saw the shadow move at the edge of her vision.
A voice rumbled from the mist. “Hello, Hawkfrost.”
Stiffening, Ivypaw spun around. A massive dark tom padded out. Brambleclaw? No. This cat had the same broad shoulders and tabby pelt, but his eyes glittered like a fox’s.
“Who—” Ivypaw didn’t get a chance to finish her question. Hawkfrost slammed into her, flinging her down and pinning her shoulders to the ground. He leaned in close, baring his teeth. “I’ve warned you before about getting distracted,” he growled.
She struggled to her paws, eager to examine the newcomer, but wary of taking her eyes from Hawkfrost.
The blue-eyed tom nodded. “Meet Tigerstar.”
With his permission, Ivypaw turned to stare at the dark warrior. He was bigger than Brambleclaw and his pelt was crisscrossed with scars. “T-Tigerstar?” She’d heard many stories about this warrior, stories that made her paws tremble.
She was surprised when his gaze softened. “Don’t believe everything you hear, little one,” he rumbled.
Could he read her mind? “I—I wasn’t,” she stammered. “I mean, I didn’t…”
Tigerstar weaved around her, his pelt brushing hers. “You’re among friends now, Ivypaw,” he murmured. “I know what the Clan cats say about me. But they can’t see into my heart.” He sat down. “Success is lonely. I was punished for wanting to lead my Clan. They misunderstood my desire to guide them through hardship. And so they forced me to leave.”
“You mean ThunderClan?” Ivypaw struggled to remember the details of the nursery tales she’d heard.
“They were my birth Clan.” Tigerstar sighed. “If I’d led them, they would not have lost so many. Instead they drove me out. But they could not destroy my loyalty to the Clan that raised me.”
Ivypaw narrowed her eyes. “But you led ShadowClan.”
“What else could I do?” Tigerstar shrugged. “Turn rogue? What true warrior would do that?” He leaned toward her, his eyes round and sincere. “We are Clanmates in every way.” He turned to Hawkfrost. “How’s she doing?”
Hawkfrost flicked Ivypaw’s flank with his tail. “Show him.”
“Show him what?” Ivypaw suddenly felt nervous.
Hawkfrost cocked his head. “How fast you can turn. How accuratel
y you can pounce.”
Ivypaw dropped to her belly, then sprang up, pushing with her hind legs as hard as she could. She landed and turned instantly on one hind paw, then leaped again, landing on a twig that she’d fixed in her gaze. She plucked it up with her forepaw and snapped it in midair. Then she came to rest, paws straight, tail down, muscles tensed to leap again if she had to.
“Very neat,” Tigerstar murmured. He padded toward her and without warning stretched out a massive forepaw and tossed one of the broken pieces of twig into the air. It arced over her head.
“Catch it!” he ordered.
Without thinking, Ivypaw jumped, twisted in midair, and stretched to pluck the twig from the air, catching it without effort and landing on three legs. Pleased with herself, she dropped the twig at Tigerstar’s paws.
Tigerstar’s amber gaze glowed. “She’s ready,” he purred to Hawkfrost.
Excitement thrilled through Ivypaw. “Ready for what?”
Tigerstar swung his gaze toward her. His eyes narrowed very slightly. “I hadn’t planned on telling you yet….” He glanced at Hawkfrost as though debating. “But I suppose the sooner we act, the safer your Clanmates will be.”
Ivypaw leaned forward. Was ThunderClan in danger?
“ShadowClan is planning to invade your territory.”
“Invade?” Ivypaw’s heart quickened. She knew there’d been activity near the border, but not enough to suggest an immediate threat. “Why?”
With a sigh, Tigerstar began to explain. “Many moons ago, Firestar gave a large strip of your territory to ShadowClan. He told his Clanmates they had no use for it. That it would be a hassle to defend.”
Ivypaw blinked. “He gave it away?” She knew it was only the piece of land Twolegs used to build greenleaf nests, but anything that pushed the ShadowClan border farther from the prey-rich forest must be important. And she had always assumed ShadowClan had won it by force. “Why?”
Tigerstar shook his head sadly. “Firestar’s been afraid of ShadowClan since he left his kittypet life. The stories of their ferociousness always seemed to get under his fur.”
“But Firestar’s not frightened of anything!” Ivypaw objected.
“Really?” Tigerstar looked surprised. “I suppose he must appear that way to an apprentice. But I knew him before he was a warrior, when he was young enough to believe nursery stories.”
“He wouldn’t still believe such nonsense!” Ivypaw exclaimed.
“Of course not.” Tigerstar tucked his tail over his paws. “What warrior would? But still he decided that it was easier to give up territory than risk lives defending it. And unfortunately ShadowClan saw it as weakness, not wisdom.”
Suspicion pricked in Ivypaw’s pelt. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked. “You were once ShadowClan’s leader. Why do you want to give away their plans?”
Tigerstar’s gaze sharpened. “ThunderClan is my birth Clan. My loyalty lies with them even though they drove me out and forced me to beg for a home with another Clan.” He glanced at his paws. “I’d rather be a humble warrior than live outside the Clans, without the warrior code to guide my paws.” He looked up. “ThunderClan must be warned of the danger.”
“You really think they’ll invade?”
Hawkfrost padded closer. “They’ve already had a taste of ThunderClan territory.”
“How much more do they want?” Ivypaw’s heart was pounding. She had to defend her Clan!
Tigerstar tipped his head to one side. “Only the land up to the abandoned Twoleg nest,” he told her.
“But that’s where Jayfeather grows his herbs!”
“Do you think they don’t know that?” Tigerstar murmured.
Ivypaw felt foolish. Of course! “What can I do?”
Tigerstar closed his eyes for a moment. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
“Of course I am!”
“Then,” Tigerstar mewed, “you must persuade Firestar to take back the territory he gave away to ShadowClan.”
“Will that stop them?”
“It’ll send them an important message,” Tigerstar growled. “It’ll prove that ThunderClan doesn’t fear them.”
Ivypaw clawed at the earth. “We don’t!”
Hawkfrost pushed his muzzle close to Ivypaw’s. “But does ShadowClan know that?”
“They will if we attack first!” Ivypaw exclaimed.
Tigerstar looked pleased. “Exactly.”
Ivypaw frowned. “How can I get ThunderClan to launch an attack?”
“Speak to Firestar.”
“He won’t listen to me!” Ivypaw flattened her ears. “And if I tell him the message came from you, he’ll never believe it!”
“Then don’t tell him.” Tigerstar stood up. “He’ll believe anything you want him to, if you put it the right way.”
Ivypaw’s mind was whirling. How would she find the words to persuade Firestar? “I don’t know…” she breathed.
Tigerstar caught her gaze and held it. “You’ll find a way, Clanmate.”
CHAPTER 20
“I’ll find a way,” Ivypaw murmured as Tigerstar led Hawkfrost away into the mist.
“A way to where?” Blossomfall’s mew sounded in her ear.
Ivypaw blinked open her eyes. Early morning light filtered through the branches overhanging the den.
Blossomfall huffed at her and turned back to Bumblestripe. “It’s bad enough that we have to sleep in the apprentices’ den again,” she complained, “without them chattering like sparrows in their sleep.”
Alarmed, Ivypaw sat up. What else had she said?
Cold air nipped her nose. She smelled the sharp tang of frost. The first of the season.
Dovepaw was stirring in the nest beside her. “What’s going on?” she mewed sleepily. She raised her gray head and gazed around the den, blinking.
“Nothing,” Ivypaw told her. She hopped out of her nest.
“Where are you going?” Dovepaw called.
“To talk to Firestar.”
Dovepaw sat up. “Why?”
Blossomfall’s whiskers twitched. “I suppose Firestar’s used to consulting with apprentices these days,” she commented with an edge to her voice.
Ivypaw ignored them both. She slid under the branch spanning the entrance and padded into the clearing.
Cinderheart was sharing tongues with Sorreltail and Poppyfrost outside the nursery. Molekit and Cherrykit tumbled over the frost-whitened ground, fighting to reach a rolling ball of moss. Millie was disappearing through the trailing brambles of the medicine den, while Cloudtail and Brightheart shared a mouse beneath Highledge.
“Ivypaw!” Cinderheart called.
“I’m busy,” Ivypaw told her. She was already halfway to the rockfall.
Cinderheart stood up. “Where are you going?”
“I need to see Firestar.” Ivypaw didn’t stop. “It’s urgent.”
She began to scramble up the rocks. Cloudtail and Brightheart looked up from their meal and stared at her, round-eyed.
Self-conscious now that her Clanmates were watching, Ivypaw kept going. The future of ThunderClan depended on her. She paused at the entrance to Firestar’s den, acutely aware of Cinderheart’s gaze burning her fur from the bottom of the hollow. “Firestar?” She tried to keep the tremble from her mew. He might think she’d gone mad.
“Ivypaw?” Firestar’s mew echoed from inside the cave.
“Yes,” she replied. “I need to talk to you.”
“Come in.” The ThunderClan leader sounded surprised.
Ivypaw’s heart quickened as she stepped into the shadowy den. Graystripe and Brambleclaw were sitting with Firestar.
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep up the extra patrols,” Graystripe was urging. The three senior warriors were clearly in the middle of a heated discussion.
Firestar nodded, then turned his attention to Ivypaw. “Well?”
She glanced around at the smooth rock walls and at the soft nest of bracken and moss in the far cor
ner. She’d never been in here before. “Ummm.” She suddenly wished she’d planned exactly what she was going to say.
Firestar turned back to his warriors. “While Ivypaw finds her voice, let’s carry on.”
“Are the extra patrols worth the effort?” Brambleclaw flicked his tail. “With leaf-bare coming, we should be hunting, and it looks like ShadowClan has stopped crossing the border—”
Heat surged under Ivypaw’s pelt. “That’s not true!”
The three warriors turned and stared at her.
“Have you seen them?” Firestar demanded.
“No.” How in the name of StarClan was she going to explain that she knew something these cats didn’t?
“I—I had a dream.”
Brambleclaw flattened his ears. Graystripe put his head to one side.
“Go on,” Firestar prompted gently.
Ivypaw blurted out the first words that came to her. “I dreamed that I was standing at the edge of ThunderClan territory…on that strip of grass beside the place where Twolegs come in greenleaf.” She tried to read the warriors’ expressions. Were they taking her seriously? “The place that used to belong to ThunderClan. The place you gave to ShadowClan.”
Firestar narrowed his eyes. “How did you know that? It was before you were born.”
“Probably heard it from Mousefur,” Brambleclaw muttered.
Ivypaw shook her head. “It was all in the dream. How you gave it to ShadowClan because it was useless hunting, not worth defending.”
“Go on.” Firestar was leaning forward now, his ears pricked.
“I saw the stream and it was running with blood.” Ivypaw felt her words coming quickly. Now that she’d started, this was easier than she’d thought. “ThunderClan blood. And ShadowClan cats were patrolling the edge, purring, and they were saying that soon the whole forest would run with ThunderClan blood and they’d own it all, because ThunderClan was no more dangerous than a swarm of beetles, and beetles could be crushed.”
As Ivypaw took a steadying breath, she realized that the three warriors were staring at her, captivated. Encouraged, she went on. “So I ran back to the hollow, but ShadowClan cats were everywhere: all through the forest, hiding behind bushes, hunting for squirrels, training for battle, all the way up to the Twoleg nest. They were gathering Jayfeather’s herbs and saying ShadowClan would never be sick again.” She ran out of words. Had they believed her?