Jaypaw couldn’t answer. He didn’t know why any of this was happening, and StarClan wasn’t giving any answers.
“Is Honeyfern all right?” he asked.
“Just a few scratches,” Sorreltail replied. “Once she’s seen those two off, she’ll rejoin the patrol.” She turned to go. “I should get back to them too.”
Jaypaw darted in front of her, ready to block her path, but it wasn’t necessary. She gasped in pain when she tried to put weight on her sprained paw.
“Let’s get that seen to,” he mewed. He pressed against her shoulder and began to guide her up the slope back toward camp. With a pang, he remembered helping Cinderpaw this way after her accident in her warrior assessment. That seemed moons ago now.
Panting, they neared camp, Jaypaw stumbling under her weight. He was relieved when he heard Graystripe pounding toward him.
“Here, let me take over.” The gray warrior nosed him out of the way and supported Sorreltail for the last few paw steps into camp.
Leafpool hurried across the clearing to meet them, comfrey leaves bundled between her jaws. “Lay her here,” she ordered, dropping the comfrey.
She’s in safe paws now. Jaypaw turned, preparing to go out again.
“Wait!” Graystripe blocked his path. “What’s it like out there?”
“RiverClan are fighting with WindClan,” Jaypaw told him.
“I’ll try to find out how far they’ve gotten into our territory.”
He padded past Graystripe, feeling the warrior’s tail touch his back.
“Try to reach Firestar,” Graystripe meowed. “Warn him about RiverClan, but don’t take any risks.”
Jaypaw pushed his way out through the thorn barrier once more and headed inland, toward the border, where he could hear Firestar’s patrol battling the WindClan ambush. Ashfur’s yowl rang through the trees, desperate but determined.
They hadn’t been beaten yet.
Jaypaw weaved through the trees, feeling his way with his whiskers, keeping low. His pelt bristled as he remained alert for any sound other than the distant cries of battle.
“Stupid brambles!”
A sudden unfamiliar mew sent Jaypaw scooting backward into a clump of ferns. They swallowed him and he froze, relieved to be hidden.
“Did you hear that?” The mew was only a few tail-lengths away.
Jaypaw tasted the air. RiverClan again!
“Hear what?”
“That rustling.”
“Everything rustles in this dumb place.”
Four RiverClan cats were making clumsy progress through the woods. One of them tripped, setting a whole bramble bush rattling.
“Could you make any more noise, Reedwhisker?”
“Shut up, Mosspelt! You’re the one that yelped like a kit when you fell down that rabbit hole!”
Jaypaw’s whiskers twitched. Like fish out of water. He waited for them to pass. They’re heading for the WindClan border.
Firestar’s patrol!
He had to get there first. He backed out from the ferns as quietly as he could and darted along a fox trail. He knew it led directly to the border stream. For once he was grateful for the stench of fox; it made it easy to follow the trail and would hide his own scent. The sound of battle grew louder. Jaypaw smelled blood and sensed fear and pain flooding the forest.
He slowed as he heard scuffling ahead and tasted the air.
Lionpaw.
The scent of his brother was strong.
He pricked his ears. Lionpaw was fighting two WindClan warriors single-pawed. Jaypaw unsheathed his claws, wishing he could help. But Lionpaw sounded as though he was doing okay by himself. One of the WindClan warriors was already hopping on three legs, and the other was scrabbling on the ground, backing away in a hurry.
“Run home, cowards!” Lionpaw sneered as the bushes beside Jaypaw exploded and the two WindClan warriors pelted past him.
“Lionpaw?” Jaypaw hissed.
“Jaypaw? Is that you?” Lionpaw darted toward him. “Are you okay?” He was breathing hard, and his pelt smelled of blood. Energy was pulsing from him as though a fire raged in his belly, and Jaypaw could sense that his mind was caught in a whirl of exhilaration.
“Four RiverClan cats are heading this way to help WindClan,” Jaypaw warned.
“RiverClan?” Lionpaw sounded shocked for a moment.
Then his mew hardened. “I’ll sort them out.” He hurried away, leaving Jaypaw blinking in surprise.
“You can’t tackle them on your own!” Jaypaw called after him.
But Lionpaw had vanished among the trees.
“Jaypaw?” Firestar’s mew sounded close to his ear. “What are you doing here?”
“RiverClan have joined WindClan in the battle.”
Firestar drew in a sharp breath. Fear flickered from his pelt for an instant. “Go tell Brambleclaw.” The ThunderClan leader’s mew was grim. “Can you find the way?”
Jaypaw nodded.
“We’re outnumbered here,” Firestar went on. “We may need to retreat to the hollow and defend ourselves there.”
Jaypaw’s heart lurched. That would give WindClan control of the rest of the territory. It would no longer be a question of protecting their borders. They would be fighting for their lives. He longed for Firestar to tell him it would be all right, but the ThunderClan leader had plunged away, back into battle.
Jaypaw lifted his muzzle, finding his bearings. The lake breeze was blowing from behind him. The sound of Brambleclaw’s patrol screeched somewhere ahead. He pushed on through the undergrowth, heading for the noise, whiskers twitching, paws feeling gingerly ahead with each step. He couldn’t risk tripping and hurting himself. He had to warn the Clan deputy about WindClan’s RiverClan allies.
Birds were stirring in the trees, chattering anxiously as the sound of battle unsettled the forest. The air began to taste warm. Dawn must be on its way.
Jaypaw’s forepaws slipped as the ground dipped down steeply in front of him. Unsheathing his claws, he skittered down the slope, half running, half falling into a soft swath of ferns at the bottom. Only tail-lengths ahead, claws scraped against stone. Cats hissed and yowled, and the air smelled of blood.
And of fish. RiverClan were here already.
He’d found Brambleclaw’s patrol too late!
Jaypaw trembled as he sensed exhaustion flooding from his Clanmates. They couldn’t hold out much longer.
“Jaypaw?” Hollypaw was backing through the ferns toward him. “I thought I smelled you.” Her words were slurred, and her pelt was sticky with blood. She was as close to being beaten as he’d ever known. And yet determination still stiffened her battered body.
I should have brought traveling herbs to give her strength.
“What are you doing here?” she panted.
“I came to warn you that RiverClan have come to help WindClan.”
“Thanks, but we know,” she mewed grimly. Suddenly she pushed him back. “Stay out of the way!” Paws were padding toward them. Jaypaw smelled a RiverClan tom advancing.
A growl rumbled in Hollypaw’s throat. Jaypaw sensed the power and energy rippling beneath the RiverClan warrior’s pelt. It was an unfair match! Hollypaw was exhausted. He had to help her. Crouching beside her, he faced the tom and ripped at the ground with his claws.
Then he froze. Another scent was tainting the air.
ShadowClan!
Tawnypelt was fighting close to Brambleclaw. Was ShadowClan battling them too?
Paws pounded up the Twoleg path. More ShadowClan!
Jaypaw felt a wave of despair break over him. How could they possibly fight three Clans? Had StarClan given up on them entirely? He stumbled back into the ferns. There was nothing he could do now to save his Clan.