Graystripe dropped his mouse. “Are they in ThunderClan territory now?”
“No,” Thornclaw growled. “But the scents are fresh. It looks like they didn’t listen to Firestar’s last warning, and they’ve been hunting in our territory again.”
“Have you remarked the borders?” Graystripe asked.
“We did it straightaway.” Birchfall was pacing agitatedly around his Clanmates.
“Good.” Graystripe’s claws scraped the ground. “We must report this to Firestar at once.”
The camp was wrapped in the same greenleaf sleepiness as the forest, and hardly any cat stirred as the patrol rushed into the clearing.
“Brightheart?” Cloudtail’s dozy mew sounded from outside the warriors’ den. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back,” Brightheart promised as she scrambled up to Highledge after Thornclaw.
Mousewhisker dropped his mouthful of mallow leaves beside Jaypaw. “Can you manage these?” he asked. “I want to go tell Berrynose and Hazeltail what’s happened.”
This was the first crisis since Mousewhisker had been made a warrior. Jaypaw didn’t begrudge him his excitement.
“No problem.”
As Mousewhisker hurried away, Jaypaw dropped his own mouthful of leaves onto the pile and began to bundle them together, ready to take to the medicine cat den.
“Can I help?” Hollypaw was padding toward him.
“Yes, please.” Jaypaw was sick of the taste of mallow.
“What’s all the fuss about?” Hollypaw pawed some leaves into a pile of her own.
“WindClan have crossed the border again.”
Hollypaw’s pelt bristled. “I would have thought after last time…”
Jaypaw shrugged. Clearly, rescuing WindClan kits wasn’t enough to appease their increasingly hostile neighbors. He braced himself for an indignant speech about how true warriors respected borders, and was surprised to find something else was on Hollypaw’s mind.
“Cinderpaw just told me her assessment’s tomorrow,” she mewed.
Jaypaw stiffened. So soon? “Has Cinderpaw ever complained about her leg hurting?” he asked quietly.
“What?” Hollypaw leaned in closer. “Why? What’s the matter? She’s better, isn’t she?”
Jaypaw nodded. “Leafpool says she is.”
“Well, there’s nothing to worry about then.” Hollypaw sighed. “I wish I could watch.”
“Cinderpaw’s assessment?” An idea sparked in Jaypaw’s mind.
“Of course!”
Jaypaw thought fast. He could keep an eye on her while she was tested. Check that everything was really all right. “Why don’t we?”
“Watch her assessment?” Hollypaw gasped. “But that’s not allowed, surely?”
“Is that part of the warrior code?”
“What are you two talking about?” Lionpaw padded up behind Hollypaw.
“We were thinking about watching Cinderpaw’s assessment tomorrow,” Hollypaw explained.
“Is that allowed?” Lionpaw echoed his sister.
“I doubt it,” Jaypaw mewed. “But we weren’t planning on announcing it from Highledge.”
“Let’s do it!” Lionpaw decided.
“If anyone catches us,” Hollypaw mewed, “we can say we were just trying to get some tips before our own assessment.
No warrior could object to that.”
Birds chittering in the trees above the hollow woke Jaypaw.
Dawn. He stretched and climbed out of his nest, shivering.
Early morning had brought a chill to the hollow, reminding him that leaf-fall would soon be here. He gave his paws and face a quick wash. The assessment would start early, and he had promised to meet Lionpaw and Hollypaw outside the camp.
“Where are you going?” Leafpool’s mew startled him as he headed for the den entrance.
“I left some leaves behind,” he lied.
“Will you be able to find them by yourself?”
“I was only there yesterday,” he snapped. “I know exactly where to find them. I’m not a mouse-brain.” He figured Leafpool would be too worried about offending him to ask him any more questions.
He padded out of the den and through the thorn tunnel.
Brightheart was guarding the entrance. “You’re out early.”
“I’m fetching herbs for Leafpool.”
“Do you need an escort?”
“No,” Jaypaw mewed quickly. “Thanks.”
“The dawn patrol’s out,” Brightheart informed him. “And the assessment’s going to start soon. So there’ll be plenty of your Clanmates around if you need help.”
“I won’t,” he assured her.
He padded away, relieved that he knew this part of the forest so well. He didn’t want Brightheart to see him fall flat on his nose. He headed up the track until he was sure he was out of sight, then ducked into the bushes. Lionpaw had said to meet by the oak where the mushrooms grew. It would be easy to find; this time of year the mushrooms were strong enough for even a sighted cat to smell. He could detect their musty odor from here, and, treading carefully through the undergrowth, he followed his nose until he felt the peaty soil of the mushroom bed beneath his paws.
There was no sign of Lionpaw and Hollypaw.
Then the stench of dirtplace hit his nose. The bushes rustled beside him.
“Sorry we’re late,” Hollypaw panted.
“We couldn’t think of an excuse for leaving the camp,” Lionpaw added. “So we sneaked out through the dirtplace tunnel.”
Jaypaw wrinkled his nose. “I can tell.” They smelled stronger than the mushrooms budding around them.
“And I’ve got prickers in my fur,” Hollypaw complained.
“Try rolling in the soil here,” Jaypaw suggested. “It’ll get rid of the smell and the prickers.”
“Good idea!”
Jaypaw leaped backward as Hollypaw sent gritty earth spraying up into his face. “Thanks!” he muttered.
“It was your idea,” she retorted, scrambling to her paws.
She sniffed loudly at her fur. “It worked!”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Jaypaw mewed.
“Let me try.” Lionpaw copied his sister.
“Now you smell like a couple of mushrooms,” Jaypaw complained.
“It’ll be good camouflage,” Hollypaw pointed out.
“Poor Cinderpaw’ll think she’s being stalked by toadstools,” Lionpaw mewed.
Jaypaw pricked his ears. “Shh!” He could hear the undergrowth rustling in the distance. The scents of Sandstorm, Cloudtail, and Thornclaw drifted on the early-morning breeze.
“Follow me, and keep quiet.”
He began to creep forward as though stalking prey, but a tree root snagged his paw and he stumbled.
“I’ll lead,” Lionpaw whispered. “Tell me which way to go.”
“Straight ahead,” Jaypaw muttered, letting Lionpaw slide past him. “Thornclaw and the others are right in front of us.”
After crawling a few tail-lengths through the undergrowth, Hollypaw tugged on Jaypaw’s tail. “I can hear them,” she hissed.
Jaypaw had already heard Thornclaw’s deep mew. “I hope you’re ready,” he was telling Poppypaw.
“There’s a bramble bush here,” Lionpaw warned. “Stay close behind me and keep low.”
Ducking, Jaypaw crawled after his brother, feeling the barbs scrape his pelt.
Cloudtail’s voice was clear now. “I know you will all do your best. But remember, you are not competing against one another, only yourselves.”
“You can’t help one another, either,” Sandstorm warned.
“This is a test of your solo hunting skills.”
“And we shall be watching you, though you may not see us,” Thornclaw meowed.
Lionpaw halted, and Jaypaw wriggled alongside him, feeling the brambles pressing down on his back. Hollypaw pushed in as well. “This is so exciting!”
“Shh!” Lionpaw hissed.