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Oakheart cut her off. “Look!” He nodded at her littermates, who were disappearing after Beetlenose around a bend in the river. “You’d better catch up. You don’t want to miss anything.”

“Oh!” Sedgepaw tore away after Loudpaw and Reedpaw.

Crookedjaw’s whiskers twitched. “We’re not going to be bored for a while.” He followed Oakheart downstream. Sedgepaw was going to be fun to mentor.

“Is this how I stalk?” Sedgepaw was waiting just past the bend, crouching on the grassy bank, her tail down and her legs bent. She looked like a frog.

“Not bad,” Crookedjaw meowed.

Oakheart headed on to catch up with Loudpaw, who was racing Reedpaw up and down the shore while Beetlenose padded steadily on.

“When will I learn to catch a fish?” Sedgepaw hopped down the bank and joined Crookedjaw. “What’s the best fish to catch? What was your first fish?”

Crookedjaw’s head was spinning. “Slow down,” he meowed.

“Sorry!” Sedgepaw flattened her ears. “I know I talk too much but I just want to be the best apprentice. I’m so glad you’re my mentor. You’re the strongest cat in RiverClan, except Rippleclaw, but he’s old—not an elder or anything—but you’re younger and you remember what it’s like to be a ’paw. And I’m going to listen to everything you tell me—”

Crookedjaw felt a twinge of guilt. He’d never been this enthusiastic with Cedarpelt. He’d valued his mentor’s training; it had been useful. But it was Mapleshade who’d taught him the most about courage and skill in battle. He gazed at Sedgepaw. She was still chattering like a blackbird. Would she have a StarClan mentor, too?

No. Surely there wasn’t room in the Clan for more than one warrior with a great destiny?

Crookedjaw yawned. Most of the Clan had gone to their nests for the night. The moss draping Hailstar’s entrance twitched behind him as the RiverClan leader disappeared for the night. Ottersplash, Lakeshine, and Shimmerpelt were shaking the dusty moss from their nests. The elders were murmuring in their den.

The wind had already dropped and the night was silent and still.

Willowbreeze nudged him toward their den. “Let’s go to sleep.”

Curled in their nest, Crookedjaw closed his eyes. Willowbreeze wriggled closer, tucking her nose into his fur. Crookedjaw sighed happily. I’m a mentor. There was nothing to stop him from becoming deputy now. Purring, he drifted into sleep.

“So you’re a mentor.” Mapleshade’s rasping mew woke him into a dream. The forest loomed dark around him.

He puffed out his chest. “Yes.”

“With an apprentice of your own.” Her amber eyes glowed. “Do you think you’ve got nothing left to learn?”

“No!” Crookedjaw gasped. “I know I’m not ready to be leader. I’m not even ready to be deputy!” Didn’t she realize how relieved he was to see her again? It had been such a long time since he’d dreamed of her. He was worried he was losing his edge over the other warriors in the Clan. Beetlenose had caught more fish than him yesterday. “I want you to teach me everything you know. I want to become the best leader I can. My Clan deserves that.”

Mapleshade narrowed her eyes. “Good,” she murmured. “You’re still worthy of my teaching.” She circled him, her gaze unwavering.

“Look!” Crookedjaw ran, leaped, and twisted in the air, kicking out with his hind legs and jabbing with his forepaws. He landed skillfully on all four paws. He’d been practicing the move since he’d seen Thistleclaw do it. He was sure he’d gotten it right.

“Not bad, I suppose,” she conceded.

“Not bad?” He stared at her. It was brilliant.

“Tell me your promise,” she demanded.

“Again?”

“Tell me that there’s nothing as important as looking after your Clan, no matter what it costs you!” Her eyes burned.

Crookedjaw frowned. “Okay.” He gritted his teeth. “There’s nothing as important as looking after my—”

“Say it like you really mean it!” Mapleshade thrust her face into his.

Straightening, Crookedjaw tried again. “There’s nothing as important as looking after my Clan, no matter what it costs me!” he meowed loudly.

“Promise?”

“I promise.” His ear twitched. Why did she keep insisting he promised over and over again? And was this promise the reason Mapleshade had led the Twolegs to Willowbreeze?

Chapter 29

Greenleaf had taken hold. The sun shone from a wide blue sky and the beech copse swayed in the breeze. Sedgepaw crouched beneath the whispering leaves, chest pressed to the grass.

“Quietly now.” Crookedjaw dropped a leaf a tail-length in front of her. “Pretend this is a bird. It has better hearing than you. It’s faster than you.” He leaned closer. “And it’s much more frightened than you.”

Sedgepaw narrowed her eyes. She pulled herself forward, silent as a snake. Good. Crookedjaw willed her on. One paw at a time, she crept up on the leaf. Then, in a sudden flurry of paws, she jumped.

“Did I get it? Did I get it?” she squeaked.

Crookedjaw’s heart sank. She’d landed half a tail-length past it.

Oakheart shrugged. “It was a good try.”

“You could do better, though.” Beetlenose padded from the trees, while Reedpaw and Loudpaw snuffled with amusement behind him. He silenced them with a flick of his tail. “Sedgepaw,” he meowed gently. “You’ve got a lot of strength in your hind legs.” He glanced at Crookedjaw, making sure that it was okay to offer advice to his apprentice.

Crookedjaw nodded. “Go ahead.” He could use all the help he could get with Sedgepaw. She had so much enthusiasm; it was painful watching her fail at every task by a whisker.

Beetlenose hooked the leaf in his paw. “You need to adjust your jump to take all that strength into account.” He dropped the leaf in front of her. “Don’t push so hard and keep your eye on your target.”

Sedgepaw crouched again. “I’ll get it this time.”

“If it doesn’t get you first,” Reedpaw teased.

Sedgepaw wriggled her hindquarters and jumped. She landed square on top of the leaf and sat up, ears twitching as she stared at the ground around her. “Where did it go? Did I miss it again?”

Reedpaw rolled his eyes. “Can we go fishing now?” he mewed. “It’s getting hot.”

“You need to learn how to hunt birds as well as fish,” Crookedjaw reminded him.

Loudpaw sniffed. “I want to learn battle moves. We need to win back Sunningrocks!” ThunderClan had reset the scent markers, making Sunningrocks theirs again just after leaf-fall, and Hailstar had refused to risk lives seizing it back during the hardest moons.

Oakheart sighed. “Perhaps we should just give ThunderClan leaf-bare hunting rights there,” he suggested. “That’s always when they take it. They must need the prey.”

“What?” Beetlenose stared at him. “They’ll take over our whole territory if we start making promises like that.”

“Yeah!” Reedpaw lined up beside his mentor. “They’ve got a whole forest! If they can’t find enough prey they must be bad hunters.”

Crookedjaw flicked the end of his tail. “Shellheart’s been trying to persuade Hailstar to reclaim Sunningrocks for a moon. I don’t know why he’s hesitating. It was easy last time.”

Loudpaw ripped at the grass. “Are we going to learn battle moves or not?”

Sedgepaw flattened her ears. “My shoulder’s still sore from last time we tried.”

“You should move quicker,” Reedpaw snapped.

“I move quicker than you!” Sedgepaw retorted.

Yes, but always in the wrong direction. Crookedjaw swallowed back a sigh. He padded to the edge of the beech copse and looked across the meadow. “Let’s try some of the moves Oakheart invented for distracting Twolegs.” Sedgepaw could practice her hunting skills later, when Loudpaw and Reedpaw weren’t around to tease her.