Lionpaw felt a prickle of guilt. Perhaps he was just worried about them.
At the entrance to the nursery, Millie pressed her muzzle into Graystripe’s pelt. She looked weary, but as she stepped back Lionpaw could see her eyes glittering with determination. She would die to save her kits.
Daisy squeezed out behind her and called across the clearing, “Take care, Spiderleg!” But the warrior was talking to Berrynose and didn’t turn. Had he heard?
Ferncloud weaved around Dustpelt, then nodded a brisk farewell to her mate before turning to Foxpaw. “Be strong and brave, and do exactly as you’re ordered.”
“Of course.” Foxpaw nodded.
Ferncloud opened her mouth to say more but turned away, her eyes clouding for an instant. She had watched her mate, Dustpelt, leave for battle many times, but it was harder to say good-bye to one of her kits.
Icepaw scampered to her mother’s side. “I’ll be strong and brave too!”
Ferncloud touched her muzzle to the little cat’s ear. “I know.”
“Lionpaw!” Firestar called from the mouth of the thorn tunnel. His patrol was already filing out into the forest.
“Good luck!” Lionpaw whispered to Hollypaw and Jaypaw before running out of the camp after his Clanmates.
Firestar led them quickly through the woods, keeping to the undergrowth. No cat spoke as they moved through the bushes. In the darkness, Lionpaw stumbled over roots and tripped on stones. They were heading into battle, but the familiar tingle of excitement was dulled by worry. What if his hunch was right? Had WindClan really been sneaking through the fox hole he’d discovered?
Berrynose was jostling behind him, but Lionpaw refused to let him pass.
“Mouse dung!” The cream-colored tom suddenly cursed.
Lionpaw turned to see him hopping about, flapping his paw.
“What happened?”
“A dumb mouse hole tripped me.”
“Are you okay?”
Berrynose pressed his sore paw carefully to the ground, then sighed with relief. “Nothing sprained.”
The rest of the patrol had pushed on ahead.
“We’d better catch up,” Lionpaw whispered.
He quickened his pace, glancing back to make sure Berrynose was keeping up.
The scent of WindClan soured the air. Worse, it was growing stronger as they neared the border, until it seemed every leaf and twig were tainted by their stench. Lionpaw’s heart was racing. Why hadn’t he done something about the tunnel?
He should have told Firestar, or blocked it up.
An angry yowl made him jump.
“The fox-hearted cowards!” Firestar was furious.
Lionpaw burst from the undergrowth to see the ThunderClan leader standing at the edge of the thicket where the fox hole lay concealed. The patrol gathered around it and, even in the moonlight filtering through the trees, the WindClan paw prints were obvious. The forest floor had been trodden to mud by the comings and goings of the WindClan intruders.
“They must have been using this for ages!” Ashfur growled.
Firestar stooped to sniff the prints. “They used it tonight; that’s for sure.”
Spiderleg was squeezing out of the thicket, using the same gap Lionpaw had wriggled through days earlier. “There’s a tunnel in here,” he confirmed. “I didn’t go down too far, but it stinks of WindClan, and leads toward their territory.”
“Then we must block it up,” Firestar ordered. “No more WindClan warriors will be coming in this way.”
“Or leaving,” Ashfur hissed.
Poppyfrost glanced around nervously. “But they’re here already.”
“Then we’ll deal with them next,” Firestar promised. He grabbed a dead branch in his jaws and rammed it into the gap in the thicket. “We can seal off the entrance to the tunnel later,” he meowed. “Blocking this opening should be enough for now.”
Ashfur turned and began kicking mud against the gap in the brambles. The others followed suit. Lionpaw grabbed a broken branch and shoved it in beside Firestar’s, churned-up earth spattering his f lank. Why hadn’t he done this days ago?
Firestar nudged him out of the way. “You and Poppyfrost stand guard.” He nodded to the others. “We’ll continue checking the border.” He led them away from the thicket in silence, each cat prowling now as if hunting for prey. WindClan prey.
Standing by the heap of branches blocking the way into the thicket, Lionpaw scanned the forest, whiskers stiff.
Poppyfrost paced a little ways from him, nose twitching.
He glanced at her. “Any sign?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but a bush rustled a few tail-lengths ahead of them. She froze.
A shadow streaked toward her.
Nightcloud!
“Attac—” Lionpaw’s warning was cut off as Harespring shot from beneath a bramble and slammed him to the ground.
Struggling to his paws, Lionpaw screeched again as WindClan warriors swarmed from the shadows on every side.
Chapter 13
A rising wind stirred the forest. Branches rattled and leaves showered down onto the patrol as Hollypaw followed her Clanmates through the woods.
It’s so dark!
She glanced up. No starlight glittered through the leaves, and clouds had hidden the moon.
Brackenfur’s tail brushed her cheek. He was only a few paw steps ahead of her, but she could hardly see him.
“Stay close,” he whispered.
The patrol was moving slowly, picking its way through the forest. WindClan might be hiding anywhere, waiting for them to pass by.
“Ow!” Mousewhisker’s muted yelp from behind made Hollypaw jump.
“Are you all right?” she hissed over her shoulder.
“Scratched my eye on a bramble.”
Hollypaw stopped and peered through the darkness at Mousewhisker’s cut. Blood was welling around his eye and it was already puffed up.
Mousewhisker brushed away the drips with his paw. “I’ll be okay,” he mewed.
“Keep up!” Brackenfur called to them.
Falling in beside Mousewhisker to guide him, Hollypaw quickened her pace. It was like running blind. Her paws fell on leaves, then mud, then tangled roots. She sniffed the air, her heart racing as she tried to picture where she was. This was how Jaypaw must feel all the time.
Only when her paws scraped against stone did she realize they had reached the old Twoleg path. It was dotted with tufts of weeds, and she had to be careful not to trip.
“Stay close together,” Brambleclaw warned. Hollypaw could only just make out his shadow in the darkness. “It’ll be easy for WindClan to surprise us.”
What do WindClan want? The question whirled in Hollypaw’s mind. All of our territory? But where would we go? We don’t deserve this! Only ThunderClan had tried to help when other Clans refused. Daisy, Millie, Stormfur, and Brook would have had to survive as loners if ThunderClan hadn’t welcomed them.
And Firestar would never have been able to save ThunderClan—to save all the Clans—if Bluestar hadn’t taken him in as a kittypet all those moons ago.
Why did the other Clans make such a fuss about it?
Because the warrior code rejects kittypets, loners, and rogues.
As the grim answer flashed in Hollypaw’s mind, the ground seemed to rock beneath her paws. Her Clan had been ignoring the warrior code forever! Glancing ahead, she could just make out the abandoned Twoleg nest looming darkly against the black sky. It seemed to sway in front of her.
“Ambush!”
Brambleclaw’s yowl snapped her back to alertness and she realized the nest was not swaying, but swarming with the shadows of WindClan warriors. They streamed from the openings, their night-grayed pelts ghostly in the darkness.