CATMINT (also known as catnip) A delicious-smelling, leafy plant that’s hard to find in the wild; often found growing in Twoleg gardens. The best remedy for greencough.
CHERVIL A sweet-smelling plant with large, spreading, fernlike leaves and small white flowers. The juice of the leaves can be used for infected wounds, and chewing the roots helps with bellyache.
COBWEB Spiderwebs can be found all over the forest; be careful not to bring along the spider when you take the web! Medicine cats wrap it around an injury to soak up the blood and keep the wound clean. Stops bleeding.
COLTSFOOT A flowering plant, a bit like a dandelion, with yellow or white flowers. The leaves can be chewed into a pulp, which is eaten to help shortness of breath.
COMFREY Identifiable by its large leaves and small bell-shaped flowers, which can be pink, white, or purple. The fat black roots of this plant can be chewed into a poultice to mend broken bones or soothe wounds.
DOCK A plant similar to sorrel. The leaf can be chewed up and applied to soothe scratches.
DRIED OAK LEAF Collected in the autumn and stored in a dry place. Stops infections.
FEVERFEW A small bush with flowers like daisies. The leaves can be eaten to cool down body temperature, particularly for cats with fever or chills.
GOLDENROD A tall plant with bright yellow flowers. A poultice of this is terrific for healing wounds.
HONEY A sweet, golden liquid created by bees. Difficult to collect without getting stung, but great for soothing infections or the throats of cats who have breathed smoke.
HORSETAIL A tall plant with bristly stems that grows in marshy areas. The leaves can be used to treat infected wounds. Usually chewed up and applied as a poultice.
JUNIPER BERRIES A bush with spiky dark green leaves and purple berries. The berries soothe bellyaches and help cats who are having trouble breathing.
LAVENDER A small purple flowering plant. Cures fever.
MARIGOLD A bright orange or yellow flower that grows low to the ground. The petals or leaves can be chewed into a pulp and applied as a poultice to wounds. Stops infection.
MOUSE BILE A bad-smelling liquid that is the only remedy for ticks. Dab a little moss soaked in bile on a tick and it’ll fall right off. Wash paws thoroughly in running water afterward.
POPPY SEED Small black seeds shaken from a dried poppy flower, these are fed to cats to help them sleep. Soothes cats suffering from shock and distress. Not recommended for nursing queens.
STINGING NETTLE The spiny green seeds can be administered to a cat who’s swallowed poison, while the leaves can be applied to a wound to bring down swelling.
TANSY A strong-smelling plant with round yellow flowers. Good for curing coughs, but must be eaten in small doses.
THYME This herb can be eaten to calm anxiety and frayed nerves.
WATERMINT A leafy green plant found in streams or damp earth. Usually chewed into a pulp and then fed to a cat suffering bellyache.
WILD GARLIC Rolling in a patch of wild garlic can help prevent infection, especially for dangerous wounds like rat bites.
YARROW A flowering plant whose leaves can be made into a poultice and applied to wounds or scratches to expel poison.
NOTE:
DEATHBERRIES Red berries that can be fatally poisonous to kits and elders. They are NOT a medicine. Known to Twolegs as yew berries. BEWARE!
Cats Outside the Clans
BLOODCLAN
Clan character: Not so much a Clan as a loosely organized group of cats who have come together for their mutual protection in hostile and crowded living conditions. These cats have no warrior code, no belief in StarClan, no ceremonies, and no formal training for young cats. Their leader rules by strength and fear.
Habitat: Twolegplace.
Leader: Scourge is a small black cat with icy blue eyes and a high-pitched voice. He wears a collar studded with the teeth of the dogs and cats he has killed, and attached to his claws are dog’s teeth. Cruel, calculating, and deadly, Scourge murdered Tigerstar with one blow.
Deputy: Scourge does not have an official deputy, but the closest cat to him is Bone, a large, muscular, black-and-white tom with green eyes. He does all of Scourge’s dirty work and reinforces the black cat’s leadership with violence and brutality. He also wears a collar studded with teeth.
Notable history: Came to the forest after being offered a deal by Tigerstar, recently made leader of ShadowClan. In return for helping him drive out the other Clans, BloodClan would be allowed hunting rights in the forest. Firestar told Scourge about Tigerstar’s past, how he had tried over and over to control the whole forest and failed every time, and how he lied, betrayed, and murdered to satisfy his endless greed for power. Scourge refused to fight on Tigerstar’s behalf, and when Tigerstar insisted, Scourge killed him, ripping all nine lives from him with a single blow. With Tigerstar dead, the forest Clans united against BloodClan and drove them out, back to Twolegplace. Scourge himself was killed by Firestar, leader of ThunderClan and Tigerstar’s chief opponent.
BARLEY SPEAKS:
Flight from BloodClan
I never questioned my life with BloodClan until I met Fuzz. I thought all cats lived in terror, afraid of being punished by one of Scourge’s minions. I thought every cat had to find his food by scrabbling through Twoleg trash. I thought all cats slept in dark, cold alleys and dreaded the day they got too sick or too old to take care of themselves.
My mother taught me and my littermates how to scrounge for food and how to fight. She loved us, but she had to be harsh, or we would never learn to survive. When we were twelve moons old, she threw us out of her den. She had no choice. Scourge had decreed that all cats must fend for themselves. I think he was afraid that strong families might challenge him. As long as we were isolated from one another, we had to rely on Scourge.
I knew my two brothers would seek out Bone and try to become part of Scourge’s guard. They admired strength and power, and they wanted some for themselves.
Although it was against the rules, my sister and I stayed together. Violet was a tiny cat, pale orange with thin darker orange stripes. Her paws were small and white and always seemed too delicate for the hard Thunderpaths we ran across or the dirty garbage heaps we had to dig through. We found a hollow below a bush in a Twoleg park where we both could live.
It wasn’t a great den. Rain seeped through the branches and into the ground until we were shivering and soaked. And there were always Twolegs around, often with dogs, who sniffed loudly at the entrance to our den.
Violet was terrified of both the Twolegs and the dogs, and I was terrified that Bone would find out we were living together. I convinced her that she should stay inside the den all the time. It was safer, and I could hunt for both of us. I think she was relieved. She could still go out at night, when the park was empty, and stretch her legs in the moonlight.
Bone caught me a few times with an extra mouse in my teeth. When he snarled at me, I would give him both mice and tell him they were an offering for Scourge. He liked that, although he must have known I was lying, just as I knew that those mice would disappear into his own mouth the moment I walked away.
Once I ran into my brothers as they patrolled the dump where Scourge made his den. At first I nearly didn’t recognize them. Their eyes were now cold and hard. And around their necks were collars studded with teeth. I stopped and stared at them as they strutted up to me.
“Jumper?” I meowed. “Hoot?”
“Those aren’t our names anymore,” Hoot sneered. “I am Snake.”
“And I am Ice,” hissed Jumper. “And don’t even think about hunting here.”
I hurried away. I’d had my ears battered enough by Scourge’s guards. In fact, my ribs were aching and my back leg was bleeding from a beating I had received the morning I met Fuzz. Bone and one of his guards had decided to demonstrate fighting skills on me for a pair of terrified kits.
When I got away, I limped onto a small Thunderpath, looking for prey that lived o
n the edge of the forest. A Twoleg monster came out of nowhere. I shot up the nearest tree and over a fence so fast that I tumbled off and landed with a thud in the grass.
“Mrrrow!” a voice exclaimed. “That was some jump!”
My whole body tensed to run, but I was too winded to scramble back up. I lay there as the strange cat padded closer. I could tell from his scent that he wasn’t BloodClan. He smelled of milk and Twolegs. There was the bright blue collar around his neck, with a small silver bell that jingled as he moved. He was plumper than BloodClan cats, and his long gray fur was feathery and well-groomed. He looked at me as if the moon had fallen into his yard.
“My name is Fuzz!” He jumped back into a play-crouch. “What’s yours?”
“Er—Barley,” I meowed.
“Hello, Erbarley!” Fuzz meowed.
“No, just Barley,” I meowed.
“All right, Justbarley,” Fuzz meowed.
I began to get the idea that this wasn’t the brightest cat I’d ever met.
“You should let my Twolegs take a look at that leg.”
“Oh, no!” I couldn’t think of anything more alarming.
“Don’t worry,” Fuzz purred. “They do this all the time. It’s their job.” He let out a yowl loud enough to wake a sleeping badger on the far side of the forest. The door to the Twoleg nest swung open, and a tree-tall Twoleg male stepped out into the garden.
I must have blacked out. When I awoke, I was nestled in something soft, surrounded by warmth. I opened my eyes slowly.
Fuzz’s face was a mouse-length from my own, peering at me with his giant green eyes.
“You’re awake!” he meowed, sounding delighted and amazed. “Have some milk!”
I twisted around to sniff at my leg. It was wrapped in a soft white web of stuff and felt much better. I tried to stand and realized I could put my weight on it with only a little pain.
Suddenly I remembered Violet. I glanced up at the window. The sky outside was dark.
“How long have I been here?” I asked Fuzz.
“All day,” Fuzz meowed cheerfully.
“I have to get back to my sister,” I meowed, scrambling to my feet. “She’ll be so worried.”
“Well, eat something before you go,” Fuzz urged me. I swiped my tongue around the saucer, licking up the scraps of tuna that were left. The flavor was dazzling. Fuzz led me through a flap in the door. Then I was back out in the yard, scrambling over the fence and hurrying back to the park.
The moon was high in the sky when I reached our den.
“Violet?” I called, crawling into the darkness below the branches. “Violet?”
Bone’s scent hit my nose just before he spoke from the shadows. “Your sister is not here.”
I froze, all my muscles turning to stone. “W-where is she?” I stammered.
“She came looking for you.” The black-and-white cat stood and stretched his long, muscular legs. His eyes gleamed in the fragments of moonlight. “What an interesting setup you have here, Barley. You and your sister, living in this den. Isn’t that against the rules?”
“I’m just taking care of her,” I meowed. “We’re no threat to Scourge.”
“That is for Scourge to decide,” Bone hissed. “Come.” He stalked out of the bush, brushing past the thorns as if he didn’t feel them. I hurried after him, my heart sinking as we approached the trash heap where Scourge held court.
The small black cat was perched atop a mound of discarded Twoleg things. The teeth on his collar and claws glinted like the freezing chips of ice that were his eyes. Cats were gathered all around the mound, waiting for something to happen. Below Scourge, in a cleared circle of dirt, my sister was sitting with her shoulders hunched. Her eyes were huge and terrified.
“Violet,” I cried, springing forward, but Bone whirled around and slammed his paw into my head so I was knocked aside, my vision spinning. I crouched for a moment, shaking my head.
“This is what we do with cats who break the rules,” Scourge hissed in his eerily high-pitched voice. He flicked his tail at the shadows to his left. My brothers emerged into the moonlight, their teeth bared in furious snarls.
“No!” I yowled. “Leave her alone! Fight me, if you must! She’s done no harm!”
“It’s true,” Scourge snarled. “You are the one who broke the rules. You are the one who must be punished.” He swiped his tongue over his paw, making us all wait for a long, horrible moment. Then he looked down at me with a sinister twitch of his whiskers. “And what better punishment could there be than for you to watch your sister die right in front of you.”
“No!” I wailed, but before I could move, Bone leaped on me and pinned me down. I could only struggle futilely, my claws scrabbling at the ground, as Snake and Ice stalked up to Violet. There was a flash of claws and a shriek of pain from Violet. And then my poor little sister was lying on the ground, blood spilling out of her, her paws twitching feebly. I stared in horror as Snake and Ice licked the blood off their paws and slunk back into the shadows. Scourge nodded, looking pleased, and then he melted away into the darkness, with all his followers disappearing behind him. Bone lifted his paws and looked down at me with disgust in his eyes.
“Don’t ever try to fight BloodClan again,” he snarled. “We always win.”
Then he too vanished into the darkness.
I crawled over to Violet, my breathing coming in ragged gasps. She was so still, so small. I nosed her face gently and suddenly her eyes opened.
“Barley.” She coughed. “Help me.”
She was alive! I frantically tried to stop the blood spilling out of the long slice in her stomach, but I didn’t know anything about healing another cat.
Then I remembered Fuzz and the Twoleg. It was risky, but it was the only thing I could think of to do.
I closed my mouth gently around the scruff of Violet’s neck and dragged her out of the dump. She kept letting out little yips of pain, but she didn’t struggle. I dragged her all the way down the small Thunderpath to the gate in the Twoleg fence where Fuzz lived. And then I laid her down on the path and started yowling with all my heart.
Fuzz shot out the cat door a few moments later, his face as brightly confused as ever. He sprang up to the top of the gate and teetered precariously, gawking at me and Violet.
“Who’s that?” he exclaimed. “She’s the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen! Why is she so sad? Oh, my whiskers, is she bleeding too? What on earth is wrong with your Twolegs? Why don’t they take better care of you?”
“Fuzz, I need your help,” I panted. “I need your Twoleg to take care of Violet for me.”
“Where are you going?” Fuzz asked, all wide-eyed innocence. Until he said that, I hadn’t really thought about it. I knew I couldn’t stay anywhere near BloodClan. She would be safe only here in this Twoleg nest—and she would be safe only if I was far away. Then perhaps Scourge and Bone would forget about us.
“The far side of the forest,” I meowed. “Please will you take care of her?”
“Sure,” Fuzz meowed. “She doesn’t look like she eats much tuna. Maybe she’ll share hers with me.” He tilted his head at Violet.
The door opened behind him, spilling yellow light into the garden. I bent my head to whisper in Violet’s ear.
“You’ll be safe now,” I meowed. “Remember, I love you.”
She blinked up at me. “I love you too, Barley.”
“I’ll always be your brother,” I meowed. “However far apart we are.”
“Bye, Justbarley!” Fuzz meowed.
I dashed across the Thunderpath and up a tree. From there, I watched as the Twoleg swung open the gate and saw Violet. He made a sad, shocked sound, then leaned over to gently pick her up. From the way he cradled her as they went back inside, I could tell that he would take care of her. I didn’t know why I felt so sure we could trust him, but I did.
Fuzz scampered after them. His long, fluffy tail whisking through the door was the last I saw of the Twoleg nest be
fore I turned and ran swiftly toward the woods.
I traveled quickly through the trees. I could smell other cats around me, but I was afraid they would be like BloodClan, so I didn’t stop. I crossed a stream and ran through a clearing guarded by four tall oak trees. I scrambled up a rocky slope and found myself on an open moor, where I ran even faster, as if my life depended on it. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between myself and BloodClan.
Finally, as the sun was rising over the distant hills, I came to a large Twoleg nest. It smelled of hay and mice and sunshine. I could tell after a short exploration that Twolegs came here often but didn’t stay long. Something about it felt safe and friendly. Nothing could have been more different from the dark alleys and cold puddles of Twolegplace.
I dug my way into a pile of hay and curled up, breathing in the sweet warmth.
I would be safe here. Safe and free to live my own life. Maybe one day I’d go back and look for Violet—or maybe she’d be happy living with Fuzz and his Twolegs. Maybe she’d get plump on tuna and sleep on the bed with the Twolegs, purring contentedly. The important thing was we’d escaped from BloodClan.
Scourge couldn’t hurt us anymore.
THE TRIBE OF RUSHING WATER
Tribe character: Smaller and leaner than forest cats. They smear their fur with mud for camouflage against the rocks. Tribe cats are born as either cave-guards or prey-hunters and are known as to-bes while training. Their warrior ancestors belong to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, cats who appear in whispers in the leaves and the pattern of water over stones. Their most sacred place is the Cave of Pointed Stones, where the Healer may interpret signs in the way rain drips from the roof and in the shadows of the stalagmites and stalactites cast by moonlight.
Habitat: The mountains.
Camp: A rocky path leads behind a waterfall into a huge cave, as broad as the waterfall and screened from the outside world by the rushing water. The cave burrows under the mountain. Narrow passages lead off on either side, one to the Cave of the Pointed Stones, one to the nursery. Cats sleep in hollows on the cave floor lined with moss and eagle or heron feathers. A trickle of water runs down a mossy rock into a small, clear pool, providing fresh drinking water.