“What did I just say?” Berrynose demanded.
Dovepaw lifted her chin and stared at him blankly, her pelt growing hot.
With a sigh loud enough to scare off any prey in the area, Berrynose began to pace in front of her. “I said that even the most seasoned warrior needs to work on his hunting crouch and keep working on it.” He halted and whisked the cold air with his tail. “Show me yours.”
Dovepaw dropped into a crouch.
“Tuck your haunches in more, or your spring will be weak.” Berrynose nudged her flank with his nose. He straightened her tail with a paw. “Keep it off the ground. And stop twitching. The noise of fur on leaves will alert your prey.”
Dovepaw lowered her chin, holding it stiff and straight.
“Don’t stick your neck so far out,” Berrynose corrected. “You must be coiled like a snake, ready to strike, not stretched flat like a weasel sniffing for birds’ nests.”
Dovepaw dug her claws into the stone-hard ground.
Cinderheart stepped forward. “She looks fine to me.”
“I bet she couldn’t reach that conker,” Ivypaw dared.
“Bet I could!” Dovepaw slowed her breath, focusing on the prickly shell three tail-lengths ahead. She let energy build in her paws, then leaped.
She landed on it squarely. “Ouch!” Its spines jabbed her pads, and she sprang away, fur bristling.
Ivypaw squealed with amusement. “Sorry, Dovepaw! I didn’t really think you’d jump on top of it.”
“Okay, okay!” Dovepaw sat back on her haunches and lapped at her stinging paws. “I’m a mouse-brain.” She couldn’t help purring.
Ivypaw skipped around her. “Even a mouse isn’t that dumb.”
Dovepaw pretended to look hurt, then sprang at Ivypaw, knocking into her and rolling her over.
“Enough,” Cinderheart mewed affectionately. “Back to work.” She nudged Ivypaw with her muzzle. “Show us your crouch.”
Ivypaw pressed her white belly to the earth.
“You’re leaning to one side,” Berrynose warned.
Ivypaw was still favoring her injured paw. As Dovepaw watched Berrynose and Cinderheart pad around her sister, she pricked her ears and reached for the sound of Lionblaze’s mew. Concentrating hard, she let her senses trace down to the lake, her ear fur pricking as she heard waves shifting pebbles at the shore. Familiar scents hit her nose. Jayfeather and Lionblaze were beside the water, huddled close together on the stones.
“And you’re sure Ivypaw wanted to be there?”
Dovepaw stiffened. Be where? She closed her eyes. Now she could see Lionblaze and Jayfeather shaped in scent and sound, sitting on the shore with the lake lapping beside them, the icy wind lifting their fur.
“She was acting like she belonged there,” Jayfeather muttered.
Lionblaze sucked air through clenched teeth. “This is serious.”
“Serious?” Jayfeather echoed. “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to the Clans! The Dark Forest was filled with cats from every Clan! So many that a battle with the Dark Forest could destroy us all!”
Dovepaw’s fur bristled as Jayfeather’s words sunk in. She’d known that some cats were being targeted by Hawkfrost and Tigerstar, but she couldn’t believe ThunderClan cats would ever be seduced by their lies.
Something slammed into her side, sending her rolling across the frozen earth.
“Ha!” Berrynose loomed over her. “I told you she was asleep, Cinderheart!”
Dovepaw scrambled to her paws, spitting out frosty soil.
“It’s leaf-bare,” Berrynose meowed sharply. “How much prey do you think you’ll catch in your sleep?”
Dovepaw blinked at him. Ivypaw’s being trained by the Dark Forest warriors!
On the other side of the clearing, her sister was getting to her paws, her pelt ruffled from rolling on the sandy earth. She suddenly looked small and tired, her eyes dull, her shoulders drooping.
It can’t be true! Why would they choose her? She doesn’t have any special powers!
Stop! Her thoughts were rushing like a hurricane. She took a gulping breath and steadied her mind. Jayfeather might be wrong. Perhaps Tigerstar was leading him astray, not Ivypaw.
“Dovepaw!” Berrynose’s harsh mew broke into her thoughts again. “Are you this featherbrained when you train with Lionblaze?”
Dovepaw shook her head. “Sorry.” She dropped her gaze. “I’m still a bit distracted after the battle…” She let her voice trail away, relieved to hear Berrynose’s tone soften.
“You’re young,” he mewed gently. “No doubt the battle was hard for you.” He brushed his tail along her flank. “Let’s concentrate on feeding your Clan. It’s every bit as important as fighting. I want to teach you something that will help with leaf-bare hunting.” He trotted to the center of the clearing. “You watch too, Ivypaw.”
Dovepaw glared at her sister as she crossed the clearing.
Ivypaw met her gaze. “Are you okay?”
“Watch this, you two.” Berrynose had dropped into a crouch. He was staring at a small mound of frozen leaves a few tail-lengths ahead. “When the ground is frozen like this, prey can hear every paw step as though it were a woodpecker tapping on a hollow log.” He moved forward slowly, sliding his paws over the frosted leaves.
“You look like a snake,” Ivypaw mewed.
Cinderheart circled her. “And he’ll sound like a snake to any prey,” she pointed out. “They’ll be so busy sniffing for a snake, they won’t think cat until it’s too late.”
As she finished, Berrynose sprang forward, darting fast as a hawk, and landed on the mound of leaves. He sat up and turned.
“You try it, Dovepaw.”
Dovepaw slithered forward a few paces, her frozen paws slipping easy as ice over ice. Then she jumped.
“Perfect!” Berrynose called as she landed on the leaf mound.
Dovepaw whisked her tail. The sooner they got this training over with, the sooner she could question her sister.
“Your turn,” Berrynose told Ivypaw.
Dovepaw sat up straight and blinked at Berrynose. “Why don’t I go off with Ivypaw and put it into practice?” she mewed. “It’s going to be such a short day.” She glanced up through the trees. The sun had hardly cleared the topmost branches. It would begin to sink before long. “Your demonstration was so good that I’m sure Ivypaw will be able to manage this move.”
Berrynose puffed out his chest. “Sounds fair.”
Cinderheart cocked her head. “Are you sure you’ve got it?”
“Absolutely,” Dovepaw promised. “And if Ivypaw needs any help, we’ll come back and find you.”
Cinderheart narrowed her eyes. “Ivypaw?”
Ivypaw nodded.
“Stay away from the ShadowClan border,” Cinderheart warned them.
“Of course!” Dovepaw was already bounding out of the training hollow. She followed a narrow trail between two gorse bushes and headed up the slope to the top of the hollow.
Ivypaw was close on her tail. Dovepaw could feel her sister’s warm breath.
“Good thinking!” Ivypaw puffed. “I couldn’t stand another moment of Berrynose showing off.”
Dovepaw didn’t reply. She was rehearsing questions in her head. Why are you doing this? How could you be so stupid?
They reached the edge of the cliffs. Dovepaw pushed on, following the curve of the sheer stone walls, ignoring the sounds of camp life far below.
“Hey, Rosepetal!” Toadstep was calling to his littermate. “Do you want to come hunting with Mousewhisker and me?”
“Leafpool’s patrol just brought back a thrush.”
“Who knows how long this frost will last? It’s best to keep the fresh-kill pile full.”