Dark River

Cinderpaw slowly pressed her pad down onto the ground.

She winced and then her face relaxed. “Not bad.” Gingerly she padded forward, then walked more easily to the middle of the clearing. Stretching out her forelegs she pressed her chest toward the ground. “It’s great to be outside again.”

Hollypaw hurried to the honeysuckle bush where she had left a pile of moss after cleaning out the elders’ den. She tore a small clump away with her teeth and rolled it into a ball.

“Can you still catch?” She tossed the ball across the clearing. Her heart lurched. What if Cinderpaw stretched up to catch it? Could her hind leg take the strain?

Cinderpaw let the ball land in front of her and hooked it up with a claw. “Not if you throw as badly as that,” she retorted. She tossed the moss ball back to Hollypaw.

Hollypaw leaped and batted it back. This time Cinderpaw lifted a forepaw and stretched up on three legs to catch the ball between her teeth.

“Nice one!” Hollypaw raced back to her friend.

“I’ve been practicing in the den with Jaypaw,” Cinderpaw mewed, dropping the ball at her paws.

“He’s been playing with you?” Hollypaw was surprised.

Jaypaw always seemed so serious when he was in the medicine den.

“Sometimes,” Cinderpaw told her. “But only to keep me quiet.” She looked at the ground. “Actually, I don’t think he likes having me around.”

“Nonsense!” Hollypaw mewed. “How can a medicine cat resent his patients?” She butted Cinderpaw on the shoulder.

But she could guess just how grouchy Jaypaw had been with Cinderpaw. If only he could hurry up and learn a bit of kindness from Leafpool!

“Can we play?” Foxkit and Icekit came hurtling from the nursery.

Foxkit swiped the moss ball away from Cinderpaw. His fluffy pelt glowed like autumn leaves in the afternoon sunshine.

“Hey!” Icekit skidded past him, knocking the moss ball away.

Foxkit lunged after her. “I got it first!” He tumbled her to the ground.

Hollypaw darted behind the squirming bundle of orange-and-white fluff and picked up the moss ball. “Now neither of you has it.” She flung it over the two kits, and Cinderpaw reached up with a forepaw and snagged it with a claw.

“That’s the trouble with being no bigger than a hedgehog,” Cinderpaw teased. “You can only catch worms!” She flicked the ball back over the kits’ heads for Hollypaw to catch.

Icekit and Foxkit leaped into the air, reaching for the ball as it flew over their heads.

“You’ll have to jump higher than that!” Hollypaw called.

“Not if you can’t throw it!” Foxkit dashed at Hollypaw and leaped onto her back. He scrabbled at her fur, making her stagger sideways.

Icekit grabbed the moss ball from her paws. “Trying to steal our prey!” she hissed.

Foxkit dug his claws into Hollypaw’s pelt. “Thief!”

“She must be a WindClan warrior!” Icekit cried, dropping the moss ball and throwing herself at Hollypaw. “Attack!”

“Help!” Hollypaw pretended to yelp in terror as she tussled with the two kits but, though she was playing, an icy chill shivered deep in her belly. Even the kits were ready to fight WindClan. The coming battle was waiting like a fox in the shadows.

Chapter 17

Jaypaw plucked at the moss in the bottom of his nest, softening it before he curled up for a good night’s sleep. Cinderpaw was already snoring, worn out by her game with Hollypaw. She would be moving back to the apprentices’ den before long, and the medicine den would be quiet again. Good. Outside, the thorn barrier rustled. The last patrol was returning, their unhurried paw steps a signal that everything was fine.

Jaypaw heard water sloshing. Leafpool was soaking a wad of moss in the pool to leave beside Cinderpaw’s nest in case the apprentice woke thirsty in the night. “I think we should take a look at the catmint by the old Twoleg nest tomorrow,” she meowed. “I want to see if there’s much new growth.”

“Are we going to pick any?”

“Not yet.” Leafpool’s paws scuffed across the ground as she carried the dripping moss to Cinderpaw’s nest. “But I want to know whether there’ll be a good harvest this year.”

“There’s been enough rain.” Jaypaw tucked his nose between his paws and closed his eyes. “Good night.”

“Sleep well.” Leafpool’s nest crunched as she climbed into it and started washing. The gentle lapping of her tongue began to lull Jaypaw to sleep.

“Leafpool?”

Firestar’s mew woke him with a start. The ThunderClan leader was pushing his way through the bramble entrance.

Jaypaw lifted his head, instantly alert and trying to sense what pulsed beneath their visitor’s pelt.

Unease.

Leafpool jumped out of her nest. “What is it?”

“This concerns both of you,” Firestar meowed.

Jaypaw got up too, not bothering to pretend he hadn’t been listening.

“Is something wrong?” Leafpool whispered anxiously.

Firestar shifted his paws. “I want you both to travel to the WindClan camp tomorrow.”

“The WindClan camp?” Leafpool echoed. “Do you want us to speak to Barkface?”

“No.” Firestar was choosing his words carefully. “Onestar.”

“Why us?”