Stonestream’s shadow loomed behind her, followed by the smaller dark brown outline of Voletooth with plump, lazy Swallowtail beside him, given away by her distinctive rolling gait. I narrowed my eyes in satisfaction. One cat each.
“ShadowClan, attack!” I yowled, springing out of the ferns. Halfway across the black stone, Mistyfoot froze. The other RiverClan cats stumbled into her, dropping their fish.
The stone felt rough and hot under my paws as I raced to tackle the RiverClan deputy. I was too fast for Mistyfoot to react; crashing into her, I swept her paws from under her belly and raked my claws along her flank. Beside me, Tawnypelt challenged Swallowtail with a furious hiss; quick as lightning, the RiverClan she-cat spun around and lashed out with her front paws, catching Tawnypelt’s ears. Just before I sprang at her, I had time to be impressed that the overfed she-cat could move so neatly. I landed on Swallowtail’s back with my claws out; the dark tabby screeched and collapsed to the ground underneath me. I jumped clear as she flopped sideways, trying to crush me. The weight of her body as well as all that fish-tasting fur would have squashed the breath out of me.
A flash of gray at the edge of my sight warned that Stonestream was coming to help his Clanmate; he was met by Oakfur and Tawnypelt, side by side on their hind legs, driving him back with perfectly matched blows. On the far side of the patrol, Rowanclaw had wrestled Voletooth onto his back and was holding his scruff in his jaws while raking the brown tom’s belly with his hind legs.
Behind me, I heard Mistyfoot scramble to her paws. Her breath came in jagged gasps as she snarled, “Blackstar! What are you doing?”
I took a step backward from Swallowtail and flicked my tail from side to side, ordering my
Clanmates to surround the hunting patrol and hold them in place. Instantly, my warriors stopped fighting and ran into position. Cedarheart placed himself between Swallowtail and the halfbridge, blocking off that means of escape in case the cats tried to swim away. Rowanclaw and Tawnypelt stood on the far side of the patrol with their backs to the rest of RiverClan’s territory. They were vulnerable to being attacked from behind, but the rest of us would keep half an eye on the dense undergrowth, checking for RiverClan warriors coming to their Clanmates’ rescue.
Oakfur lined up beside me and curled his lip when Stonestream took a pace toward him. The RiverClan cat blinked and stepped back.
“Wise move,” Oakfur growled.
I flashed a glance at him. This was an ambush, not a war. We had won the first skirmish without trouble; from now on, I would handle the talking.
Mistyfoot spoke first. “What in the name of StarClan is going on?” she demanded.
I took a deep breath, letting my anger root me to the ground through my unsheathed claws. Losing my temper would be a sign of weakness, and right now, with my warriors surrounding the RiverClan patrol, I was in control. “Leopardstar promised that you would no longer fish from the halfbridge.”
Mistyfoot’s eyes flashed. “She promised we would not hunt when Twolegs could see us. We have kept her word.”
“You know full well that you are making enough noise to summon Twolegs from the other side of the mountains.” My words hissed through my clenched teeth. “How are we supposed to hunt if all our prey has been scared off before our patrols can set out?”
“Perhaps your patrols should learn to hunt better,” sneered Voletooth. “Or do you teach your apprentices to sit with their mouths open until a piece of fresh-kill hops inside?”
I ignored Voletooth and spoke to Mistyfoot again. “Every Clan deserves a fair chance to make their new territory their home. Your selfishness is making that harder for us.”
“Selfishness?” Mistyfoot echoed. “Since when was feeding our Clanmates selfish? Voletooth is right; you need to stop blaming us for the fact that you can’t catch enough prey.”
Curling his lip in anger, Rowanclaw swiped the air with his front paw. “We caught you easily enough tonight,” he reminded her.
Stonestream leaped forward. “Let’s see how brave you are in an honest fight,” he challenged.
“Instead of sneaking around like foxes!”
Rowanclaw reared up on his hind legs and let the moonlight gleam on his thorn-sharp claws.
“Oh, that would be my pleasure,” he growled. “Would you like to land the first strike, or shall I?”
“Stop!” yowled Mistyfoot. “This is not a battle we want to fight.”
I rounded on her and snarled, “It is a battle that we will fight if you don’t stop fishing from the halfbridge.” But I signaled with my tail for my warriors to leave the RiverClan cats alone.
“You should be ashamed of going back on your leader’s promise,” I growled to Mistyfoot.
“Leopardstar knew what she was agreeing to when I told her the problems you were causing by fishing from the halfbridge. I gave her a fair chance to end it, and she chose not to take it.”
Mistyfoot’s eyes flashed in the silvery light. “She chose to let her hunting patrols do what they do best, and feed their Clanmates.”
“Then we’ll respond with what we do best, which is fighting without mercy to protect our Clanmates,” I replied calmly.
There was a flicker of uncertainty in Mistyfoot’s gaze. She knew as well as I did that her warriors stood no chance against mine in a full-scale battle. “Okay, you’ve made your point,” she meowed. “We’ll stop fishing from here, and leave you to figure out how to catch the prey in your new territory.”
I felt Tawnypelt bristle at the RiverClan deputy’s thinly hidden insult. Don’t worry; she’s not going to get away with that. “You think that’s it, do you?” I queried. “One halfhearted skirmish and I’ll leave you in peace?”
Mistyfoot glanced warily at my patrol. “What else do you want?”
“Fresh-kill,” I answered. “You owe us for lost nights of hunting.”
Stonestream snorted. “Are you serious? You think we’re going to surrender our Clanmates’ food to you just because you can skulk in shadows and jump out on cats in their own territory?”
I shook my head. “No. You’re going to give us your food because next time we’ll do more than skulk in the shadows. Next time we’ll bring a patrol right into your camp and rip the ears of each of your warriors so that every Clan knows that Leopardstar cannot keep a promise.” I let my claws scrape on the stone, twisting my paws so that the starlight caught the sharpened tips.
Mistyfoot stood rock-still, with only a blink to suggest that she was shocked by my threat. “I… I think Leopardstar will agree to what you want,” she meowed. “As you say, each Clan should have a time of peace to settle into its new home.”
“We’ll take half of whatever you catch,” I ordered. The knowledge that we had won made my pelt tingle, but I kept my voice steady. “Leave it on the halfbridge at dusk each day until the next half-moon. And if we see a single cat fishing here, we’ll be in your camp before you hear us coming.”
Mistyfoot dipped her head. “Since we have… removed the problem, there is no need to mention it at the Gathering, I presume?” She sounded as if she were speaking through gritted teeth. “It is of no interest to the other Clans, after all.”
I did my best to hide a flash of amusement. How satisfying to have the RiverClan deputy beg to keep Leopardstar’s betrayal a secret from the other Clans. I was half tempted to refuse and let
WindClan and ThunderClan know of RiverClan’s mean spirit toward their newly settled neighbor.
But that would only cause more trouble, and Mistyfoot was right: Peace was needed while our territories were still only half-known.
“Very well,” I meowed. The RiverClan deputy turned to leave, but I called her back. I needed to make sure that she knew ShadowClan had not been softened by the Great Journey, that we owed nothing to any Clan and would not shy away from waging war against our former allies.