Without warning, Swiftbreeze halted. Bluepaw slithered to a stop beside her. Blinking, she saw the ground drop away in front of her. A steep slope led down to a wall of brambles, much thicker than the gorse leading into ThunderClan’s camp. On the far side of the brambles, the ground flattened out. The scents were much stronger now, and Bluepaw knew that this must be the WindClan camp, its central clearing open to the sky.
Her eyes stretching wide in horror, Bluepaw watched as the battle raged. Screeches and yowls ripped through the howling wind. Blood stained the ground and frothed in red puddles, lathered by the rain. Fur, heavy with flesh, flew in clumps and snagged on the brambles. Bluepaw narrowed her eyes, trying to pick out which cat was which among her Clanmates.
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.