“Brambleclaw wants us to try something different,” Brackenfur panted.
His gaze fell upon Foxleap; the tawny tabby was beating Crowfrost backward, helped now by Toadstep. Overwhelmed, the ShadowClan warrior turned and slipped back among his own ranks. Brackenfur nodded approvingly and beckoned with his tail.
Foxleap raced over, Toadstep a pace behind. “What is it?”
“ShadowClan keeps regrouping,” Thornclaw told them. “They’re pushing us back across the field.”
Toadstep nodded. “It’s impossible to get a good grip on this grass.”
“Brambleclaw wants us to outflank them,” Brackenfur told him.
Ivypaw leaned forward. “How?”
“I’m going to lead a separate patrol,” Thornclaw meowed, “and try to draw ShadowClan away from the clearing, back into their own territory.”
Brackenfur rubbed his muzzle with one paw. “We stand a better chance in the woods,” he growled. “There are brambles and trees. The ground will feel more familiar. And we can try out our new tree tactics.”
Dovepaw’s eyes widened. “But won’t ShadowClan just fight harder if we invade their territory?”
“That’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Brackenfur muttered. “We’ll never beat them out here in the open.”
Lionblaze bounded toward them, Rosepetal and Sorreltail behind him. “Are you ready?” he asked Thornclaw.
Thornclaw nodded and headed toward ShadowClan’s woods.
Dovepaw glanced at her sister. What if they were caught between two rows of ShadowClan warriors?
But Ivypaw seemed undaunted. She scrambled after Thornclaw. Dovepaw hurtled after, her heart pounding.
“Hey! Where are they going?”
She heard the shocked yowl of a ShadowClan warrior behind them.
“They’ve broken rank!”
Dovepaw tried to concentrate on her Clanmates, slipping after them through the pines, feeling the needles underpaw, adjusting to the gloom of ShadowClan’s woods as she weaved past a swath of brambles. Ivypaw was already scooting up a tree, gripping the bark like a squirrel.
Dovepaw glanced back through the bramble hedge at the battle still raging in the clearing. It looked like chaos. Where were the battle skills they’d all been taught? From here it looked like a tangled mass of writhing pelts, and she was agonizingly aware of each shriek of pain and fear, the tearing of fur, the crunch of teeth as each cat struggled in its own private battle. How could they bear to do this to one another?
“Dovepaw!” Lionblaze’s mew dragged her attention back.
ShadowClan warriors were pounding toward the pines, thundering over the grass, spitting with rage.
“Quick, climb that tree!”
Dovepaw looked in dismay at the smooth, slender pine trunk. Her Clanmates had already scrambled up their own trees and were clinging to narrow branches, staring down, poised to drop on the fast-approaching ShadowClan warriors.
“Move!” Lionblaze nosed her upward and she clawed her way to the lowest branch.
Below, Lionblaze turned to face the ShadowClan attack as warriors streamed through the trees, Blackstar leading. The ShadowClan leader’s face was twisted in rage. “Can’t you even respect the border you just made?” He blinked in surprise at Lionblaze and Thornclaw. “Where are the rest of you?” he demanded.
His warriors skidded to a halt beside him.
Lionblaze glanced up and Blackstar followed his gaze, his eyes widening as he spotted the ThunderClan warriors clinging to the branches above.
Brackenfur was trembling in an effort to hang on. He dropped a moment before Thornclaw gave the signal.
“Now!”
The other ThunderClan cats began to dive on the ShadowClan patrol. Dovepaw clung, trembling, to her branch. Pelts swam beneath her like fish. She fixed her gaze on the light brown pelt of Owlclaw, then leaped.
Oh, StarClan!
The branch sagged beneath her. Her paws slithered wildly. With a yowl of shock, she landed unevenly on Owlclaw’s back. It was ungraceful but it was enough to floor him. He collapsed beneath her weight.
“What in the name of StarClan are you doing?” Owlclaw heaved her off and turned, his paws raised. Dovepaw ducked the first swipe and nipped at his leg.
“Need help?” Rosepetal appeared at her side and began to bat the tabby away, backing him against a bramble bush till he shrieked with pain.
Dovepaw scanned the fighting cats closest to her. Lionblaze had Ratscar pinned to a tree. Ivypaw was wrestling with Starlingpaw again. Hadn’t the ShadowClan apprentice learned her lesson? Toadstep was squirming beneath a dark tabby tom, his tail lashing wildly.
Tigerheart!
“Fighting like squirrels!” Tigerheart hissed. “Doesn’t ThunderClan have any pride?” He tore at Toadstep’s spine with vicious hind claws, sending fur flying as Toadstep screeched in agony.
Anger surged in Dovepaw’s chest. She had to help her Clanmate. Then she paused. It was Tigerheart! Could she really hurt her friend?
Oh, StarClan! Do we really have to fight each other?
As she hesitated, Foxleap knocked Tigerheart from Toadstep’s back. Relief washed over Dovepaw.
“Help me!” Sorreltail’s furious mew sounded behind her.
Dovepaw spun to see her Clanmate swiping at Smokefoot. The dark ShadowClan warrior was snarling with his teeth bared, sharp claws glinting. Sorreltail reared and fell against him, their chests clashing as Smokefoot rose to meet her challenge. Her hind paws scrabbled, sending needles showering against Dovepaw’s pelt. Dovepaw sprang forward to help, knocking Smokefoot’s paws from under him so that he landed with a grunt on his belly.
“Thanks,” Sorreltail growled, and dived on the tom. Dovepaw leaned away from the flurry of paws and caught sight of Ivypaw. She was steadily beating Starlingpaw backward, her forepaws slashing with vicious accuracy.
Wow! Dovepaw was impressed. Ivypaw was a brilliant fighter. Then Dovepaw stiffened as a dark brown pelt flashed at the edge of her vision. She reared up to get a better look, staring over the tangle of pelts.
Tigerheart was streaking toward Ivypaw.
He mustn’t hurt her!
Panic surging in her throat, Dovepaw barged through the battling cats. She dived beneath Crowfrost and burst out just in time to see Tigerheart leap for Ivypaw.
“Ivypaw!” Dovepaw’s warning was lost in the shrieks of battle.
She watched her sister turn and spot Tigerheart lunging toward her. Thank StarClan! Dovepaw flexed her claws and prepared to go to Ivypaw’s rescue. Then she paused.
Tigerheart had stopped midleap and landed clumsily on all four paws. His gaze caught Ivypaw’s and the two cats stared at each other.
Dovepaw felt her chest tighten.
Tigerheart had nodded at Ivypaw. A tiny nod. So tiny that Dovepaw wondered if she had imagined it. Then the ShadowClan warrior turned and vanished into the battle, his pelt blurring alongside Owlfur’s as he fought Thornclaw and Foxleap.
Dovepaw waited for relief to come. Her sister was safe. Tigerheart had not hurt her. But there was no relief inside her. Some other emotion jabbed her belly. A feeling that said she didn’t want Tigerheart to look at Ivypaw that way. The same way he had looked at Dovepaw when he told her he wanted to stay friends.
Am I jealous?
Dovepaw tried to shake the nagging pang away.
Why had Tigerheart looked at Ivypaw like that? Had he recognized the silver-and-white she-cat as Dovepaw’s sister?
No. That wasn’t the look. Something else had lit his gaze, something far more knowing. It almost looked as if they’d met before. But I would know! Dovepaw bristled. Had Ivypaw been sneaking out of camp to meet the ShadowClan warrior? Was that why there was so much distance between the sisters now? Was that why Tigerheart had sought Dovepaw’s friendship?