by Erin Hunter
There! Adderfang was thrusting a WindClan cat from him with flailing hind legs, only to be set upon by two more warriors; his claws shone and his teeth were bared. He twisted suddenly to protect his belly, fending off one warrior with a shove of his massive shoulders; but the other clung to him, and Adderfang howled as the warrior’s claws ripped hunks of fur from his pelt. On the other side of the clearing, Sunfall and Sparrowpelt were fighting side by side with their backs to the brambles. They slashed and sliced at the four WindClan cats who came at them in a vicious assault, raking the Thunder warriors’ muzzles, snapping at their legs till the ground around them ran red.
Dappletail screeched as two WindClan cats dived on her, their eyes wild. Her shriek made Stormtail spin around from where he fought, paw to paw, with a WindClan warrior. He sent his opponent whirling away with a massive swipe and raced to help his Clanmate. Stormtail pushed one warrior away with his shoulder, flipping him to the side, before sinking his teeth into the sodden tabby pelt of the other. The tabby let out an agonized shriek that pierced Bluepaw’s belly. As Stormtail’s eyes blazed and WindClan blood sprayed from his mouth, she reminded herself that her father was just being a brave warrior, defending his Clanmate.
“Come on!” Swiftbreeze’s sharp order shook Bluepaw out of her frozen horror, and she skidded down the slope after her Clanmate and plunged through the tangled bramble wall.
She could feel her muzzle bleeding from the thorns by the time she burst into the clearing after Swiftbreeze and raced to where Leopardpaw lay. A long wound stretched along the apprentice’s flank, showing bright pink flesh beneath her black fur. Swiftbreeze grasped Leopardpaw by the scruff and began to drag her kit across the clearing toward a gap in the brambles. Bluepaw tried to help, nudging Leopardpaw along with her nose, but Leopardpaw kicked out.
“I can walk!” she gasped, twisting and clawing at the ground. Swiftbreeze let her find her paws, but as soon as she let go of her kit’s scruff, Leopardpaw collapsed, her legs too shaky to hold her. Swiftbreeze grabbed her again, and Leopardpaw staggered toward the edge of the clearing. Bluepaw followed, her nose filled with the scent of blood and fear and torn fur.
“ThunderClan brought kits!” A gray-flecked WindClan warrior was staring at Bluepaw.
Bluepaw stopped and growled at the warrior. “I’m not a kit!”
The WindClan warrior advanced on her, his eyes gleaming. “Then show me your battle moves, young warrior.”
Fear shot through her. She didn’t know any. She’d been an apprentice for only two sunrises! She fought the urge to back away. I was born a warrior! she told herself. But her legs wouldn’t stop trembling as the WindClan cat advanced, his whiskers twitching as he unsheathed his claws.
“Hawkheart!” A voice rang across the clearing.
Bluepaw recognized Heatherstar, the leader of WindClan. She was at the center of the fighting, with fur bristling and blue eyes wide. Her fierce gaze was fixed on the gray-flecked warrior. “Get back to tending the injured like you’re supposed to!” she ordered.
Hawkheart snarled at Bluepaw. “Looks like you’re going to have to wait a little longer for your first battle scar,” he sneered before turning away.
“Bluepaw!” Swiftbreeze was struggling to get Leopardpaw through the narrow gap between the brambles at the edge of the clearing. Bluepaw hurried to help, pushing Leopardpaw from behind as Swiftbreeze guided her up the slope and out of the camp.
“Is Hawkheart a medicine cat or a warrior?” Bluepaw puffed as Leopardpaw limped over the top of the rise.
“He used to be the fiercest warrior in WindClan till StarClan called him to be medicine cat.” Swiftbreeze had stopped to catch her breath and let Leopardpaw rest while she sniffed at her wound. “It’s just a shallow wound and torn fur,” Swiftbreeze meowed, relief flooding her mew.
Featherwhisker was already bounding across the grass toward them, his pelt slicked by the rain, with Snowpaw at his heels. He dropped his herb bundle and unrolled the leaf wrap, picking out a wad of cobweb with his teeth and stretching it over Leopardpaw’s wound with careful claws.
Bluepaw glanced back at the battle still raging below. From the top of the rise she could see the whole of the clearing. Stormtail and Dappletail were fighting side by side now. Smallear and Robinwing had joined up as well, lashing out with their paws in perfect time with each other. Were the WindClan cats so ferocious that ThunderClan warriors couldn’t face them alone?
Where was Moonflower?
Bluepaw’s blood chilled. She hadn’t seen her mother—not even once.
“Hawkheart!” A WindClan voice rose from one edge of the clearing. “There are ThunderClan cats in your den!”
Snowpaw stretched up to see better over the bramble wall. “They’ve managed to get to the medicine supplies!” she mewed triumphantly.
“Be quiet and hold this!” Featherwhisker ordered, pressing the apprentice’s white front paw down on one end of the cobweb.
While her sister helped pad Leopardpaw’s wound, Bluepaw gazed down at the clearing. Her fur felt cold and prickly: Something was wrong. Hawkheart was already streaking away from the WindClan tabby he’d been tending to. He was heading for a tunnel where the earth dipped away between the brambles. That must be the medicine cat’s den. Two WindClan warriors were heading inside, disappearing with a flick of their tails. Hawkheart skidded to a halt at the opening and crouched down, his eyes narrowing and his tail thrashing back and forth.
Featherwhisker finished smoothing the cobweb along Leopardpaw’s wound. “Help me guide her back to the rock,” he told Snowpaw. “It’s more sheltered there, and we’ll need help to get her back to the camp.”
Snowpaw began to ease Leopardpaw to her paws and nudge her away from the edge of the hollow, but Bluepaw couldn’t move. She stared at Hawkheart, unable to swallow.
A screech rang from inside the den and Stonepelt hurtled out, blood pumping from a gash in his shoulder and a WindClan warrior slashing at his tail. Then came Moonflower, pursued by another warrior; her gray fur was streaked and specked with torn herbs.
Bluepaw froze.
As Moonflower exploded from the den, Hawkheart lunged at her and snatched her up with his powerful front paws, then flung her like prey across the clearing. Bluepaw saw the shock on her mother’s face as she landed hard and struggled to find her feet. But she wasn’t fast enough. Hawkheart pounced on her, ripping with his teeth and claws.
No! Stop!
Where was Stormtail? Bluepaw looked around frantically, her head whipping from side to side. Surely he’d rescue Moonflower as he had rescued Dappletail? But the gray warrior was still fighting at the younger cat’s side, beating off WindClan warrior after WindClan warrior.
Moonflower was on her own.
Bluepaw gasped as her mother wrenched herself from Hawkheart and landed a searing blow on his muzzle. But the medicine cat didn’t even stumble. Instead he lunged again and, grabbing Moonflower by the throat, sent her skidding across the blood-slicked clearing.
“Noooooooo!” Bluepaw wailed. She sprang forward, about to plunge down the slope, but Swiftbreeze’s teeth sunk into her tail and dragged her back.
“Don’t go down there!” Swiftbreeze warned through clenched jaws.
“But Moonflower’s hurt!” Bluepaw stared at her mother, not moving, on the wet ground, rain washing her pelt.
“She’s just dazed,” Swiftbreeze meowed. “She’ll get up in a moment.”
“She doesn’t have a moment!”
Below them, Hawkheart was padding toward Moonflower with his lips curled in a snarl.
“We must help her!” Bluepaw was breathless with panic as she tried to struggle out of Swiftbreeze’s grip.
Suddenly Pinestar’s call rose above the screeching of battle.
“ThunderClan! Retreat!”
Thank StarClan!
Relief flooded Bluepaw as Hawkheart stopped in his tracks and the other warriors stopped fighting and sat back on their haunches, staring at the ThunderC
lan leader. Silence fell like night over the camp, except for the pounding of the rain and wind whistling across the moor.
Heatherstar shook the rain from her whiskers and padded slowly toward Pinestar. The ThunderClan leader’s ear was torn, and blood streaked his fox-colored pelt. He met Heatherstar’s blue glare with a hollow gaze and seemed to flinch as she spoke.
“This attack was unjust,” she spat. “StarClan would never have let you win.”
Pinestar didn’t reply.
“Take your wounded and leave.” Heatherstar’s growl was edged with sneering contempt.
Pinestar blinked, then dipped his head.
The ThunderClan warriors began to head for the camp entrance, tails down, heads bowed. Robinwing was limping badly and Sunfall, bleeding from his cheek, pressed against her to help her walk. Smallear struggled to his paws, flanks heaving, and weaved uncertainly across the clearing until Sparrowpelt hurried to guide him. Stonepelt licked at a gash in his shoulder before limping toward the entrance. Adderfang’s eyes gleamed with rage and he ignored the hisses of the WindClan warriors as he stalked past them. Dappletail leaned against Stormtail’s broad shoulders, with trickles of blood washing down around her eyes.
Bluepaw stared at her mother, waiting for her to get to her paws.
“I have to help Moonflower.” She ripped herself away from Swiftbreeze. Terror was rising in her chest. She wasn’t going to let Hawkheart touch her again! She tore down the slope, pushing past dazed WindClan cats. She tried not to wince as her paws splashed through the blood-soaked puddles.
“Bluepaw! Wait!” Swiftbreeze was chasing after, her mew pleading as Bluepaw skidded to a halt beside her mother.
Moonflower’s eyes were half-open.
Thank StarClan!
“Moonflower! Moonflower!” Bluepaw nudged her mother with her nose, waiting for her limp body to push back. But Moonflower only flopped backward.
Bluepaw stared desperately into her mother’s eyes. “It’s me, Bluepaw!” She hoped to see them flash with recognition, but they were dull, filled with the clouds that scudded across the sky.
“Bluepaw.” Pinestar’s soft mew sounded over her shoulder. She spun around and looked up at him.
“Why won’t she get up?” Bluepaw wailed.
Pinestar shook his head. “She’s dead, Bluepaw.”
“She can’t be!” Bluepaw twisted back to her mother, pressing her paws to her flanks and shaking her. “She can’t be dead. We were fighting warriors, not rogues or loners. Warriors don’t kill without reason!”
Hawkheart growled and Bluepaw looked up to see the WindClan medicine cat crouching a tail-length away.
“She tried to destroy our medicine supply,” he snarled. “That was reason enough.”
“But StarClan told us to do it!” Bluepaw stared at Pinestar in desperation. “We had no choice.” She searched Pinestar’s gaze. “They told us to, didn’t they? Goosefeather said so.”
Hawkheart snorted and got to his paws. “You risked so much on the word of Goosefeather?” With a flick of his tail, he turned and stalked away.
“What does he mean?” Bluepaw whispered. Had all this been for nothing? Moonflower couldn’t be dead. The young apprentice began nudging her again with her muzzle. “Wake up!” she begged. “It was all a mistake. You don’t have to be dead.”
She felt Swiftbreeze’s gentle paw pull her back as Pinestar padded forward and grasped Moonflower by the scruff. In silence, the ThunderClan leader dragged his dead Clanmate across the muddy clearing. Bluepaw broke away from Swiftbreeze and ran along beside, pressing her muzzle into her mother’s sodden fur. She still smelled like Moonflower, of softness and the nursery. Come back! You were going to take us into the wood to get moss for our nests! You promised!
“Moonflower?” Snowpaw’s frightened mew sounded from the top of the slope as they emerged from the brambles. The white apprentice half ran, half slid down the slope and began to lap at Moonflower’s pelt.
“Is she badly hurt?” she asked between licks. “Featherwhisker’s tending to Smallear. Should I call him?”
Bluepaw stared blankly at her sister. “She’s dead,” she whispered.
“No!” Snowpaw’s wail ended in a whimper as her paws crumpled beneath her. As Pinestar trudged up the slope, still carrying Moonflower, Bluepaw dropped to her belly and buried her nose in her sister’s white fur.
“She promised she wouldn’t leave us,” Snowpaw wailed.
“It’s okay,” Bluepaw lied, summoning up every shred of strength she could find. “I’ll take care of you now.”
Snowpaw flashed her an angry glance. “I don’t need taking care of. I need Moonflower!” She leaped to her paws and dived up the slope after Pinestar.
Bluepaw watched her go. I’ll take care of you anyway, she vowed.
She glimpsed Stormtail’s pelt disappearing over the top of the slope. Did he realize Moonflower was dead? She waited for her heart to twist with more pain, but she felt nothing. Determination surged through her. She would take care of Snowpaw, and she would take care of her Clan. She would never lose another cat that she cared for, not like this. She got to her paws and followed her Clanmates up the slope, her heart thumping dully in her chest.
The rain eased as they crossed the moor to the border with Fourtrees. As the shattered Clan passed beneath the four giant oaks, the wind dropped and their branches fell still. Was the silence sent by StarClan? Was it disapproval, a condemnation of the attack? Are they mourning Moonflower? Bluepaw stared up through the heavy branches, their bark soaked black. Suddenly she felt loneliness like a thorn in her heart. She hunched her shoulders and padded after her Clanmates toward home.
Leopardpaw was limping, but the cobwebs had staunched her bleeding. Dappletail still leaned on Stormtail, and his gaze never left her. Adderfang and Swiftbreeze were helping Pinestar take the weight of Moonflower’s body. Featherwhisker walked beside Smallear, keeping an eye on the unsteady warrior. Snowpaw trailed after, her tail dragging along the ground, caked with mud.
Bluepaw wondered whether to catch up to her, but she couldn’t think of anything to say that might make either of them feel better. Stonepelt halted and looked back; his eyes met hers, brimming with sympathy. He said nothing but waited for her to catch up, then fell in beside her, padding close enough to share his warmth, but not touching. The gash in his shoulder was still streaming blood. It must be deep.
“Has Featherwhisker looked at your wound?” Bluepaw asked. She was surprised by how steady her voice was.
“It can wait till we get back to camp.”
They fell into silence once more as they entered the shelter of the forest and followed the trail back to camp.
By the time Bluepaw entered the clearing, Windflight and Fuzzypelt were circling their battered and injured Clanmates, pelts bristling with alarm. Speckletail came running from the nursery and greeted Smallear with a worried mew, sniffing his pelt to check his injuries.
Goosefeather padded from the medicine den, yawning. “How’d it go?” His eyes widened in surprise as Pinestar laid Moonflower on the ground in front of him and stepped back.
“I don’t know if she managed to destroy their supplies before she died,” he growled.
Goosefeather opened his mouth but no words came out.
“You killed her!” Swiftbreeze’s screech took Bluepaw by surprise, and she flinched as the she-cat lunged at Goosefeather and knocked him to the ground, hissing in his face. “This time one of your ridiculous omens has killed one of your Clanmates!”
“Stop!” Pinestar called.
But Swiftbreeze had already raised her paw, claws unsheathed.
Adderfang and Tawnyspots streaked from the clearing and dragged Swiftbreeze off the shocked medicine cat. They held her back as Goosefeather scrambled to his paws and shook out his ruffled pelt.
Larksong, Mumblefoot, and Weedwhisker had ventured from the tangled branches of the fallen tree.
“You lost?” Larksong sounded as though sh
e could hardly believe her eyes.
Pinestar nodded. “We had to retreat…and Moonflower is dead.”
A wail of grief came from outside the nursery. Poppydawn raced to Moonflower’s body and crouched over her, burying her nose in her pelt.
“What’s wrong?” Thistlekit, Sweetkit, and Rosekit came scampering after her, slithering to a halt when they saw their mother grieving over Moonflower’s lifeless body.
Sweetkit turned her big, round eyes on Bluepaw. “Is she really…dead?” she breathed.
Bluepaw stared back, words stuck in her throat. She glanced at Snowpaw, but her sister was staring at the ground.
Stonepelt stepped forward and glared at Goosefeather. “We should never have been sent into battle!”
“I was only interpreting the signs from StarClan,” Goosefeather defended himself calmly.
“Perhaps you should learn to interpret weather rather than prey.” Robinwing pushed ahead of Pinestar to join Stonepelt. “Would StarClan have blessed a battle with a storm like that?”
Sunfall narrowed his eyes, his gaze flicking to Adderfang and Stormtail. “Perhaps Goosefeather was more eager to satisfy his Clanmates’ wishes than those of StarClan.”
Pinestar shouldered his way to the front. “Enough!” he growled. “Goosefeather is not to blame for our defeat. All warriors risk their lives for the sake of the Clan. It’s part of the warrior code. Our wounded need attention. Arguing won’t help them!”
Featherwhisker hurried forward. “I’ll get more supplies.” He disappeared down the fern tunnel, followed quickly by Goosefeather.
“You can hide from your Clanmates,” Swiftbreeze muttered under her breath. “It’ll be StarClan that judges you.”
Bluepaw felt her paws trembling. She couldn’t shake the lingering suspicion that Goosefeather had caused her mother’s death. As the wounded cats limped to the medicine clearing, Speckletail and Poppydawn collected mint from a patch beside the nursery and plucked rosemary from beside the warriors’ den. Bluepaw watched, cold to the bone, as the two queens began to rub her mother’s body with the herbs. Larksong and Weedwhisker joined them, tucking Moonflower’s paws under her and lapping her pelt.
