“They tore us to pieces,” Night mewed angrily.
“Tribe cats aren’t trained to fight like Clan warriors,” Stormfur explained. “We lost the battle and several cats died.” He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice was filled with sorrow. “Jag was one of them.”
“Jag dead?” Squirrelflight exclaimed. “Oh, no—he helped us when we were stuck in the snow on the Great Journey.”
“We’ll all miss him,” Brambleclaw added. “Every cat who knew him.”
“Stoneteller blamed me for the deaths.” Stormfur’s voice sounded bitter as deathberries. “He banished me from the Tribe. Brook insisted on coming with me.”
“What else could I do?” Brook murmured, as if her words were meant for Stormfur alone. Jaypaw remembered seeing them together in the cave, their pelts brushing as they defied the leader of the Tribe.
“And what else could Stoneteller do?” Talon countered.
“Cats were dead; something had to be done.”
“He told us we were dead!” Brook’s voice, so gentle a heartbeat ago, became a furious hiss.
“I can’t believe those Tribe cats dared to come here,” Hollypaw whispered into Jaypaw’s ear. “Not after what they did!”
“I’m so sorry, Stormfur.” Brambleclaw’s meow rumbled deep in his chest. “You should have told us before.”
“What good would it have done?” Stormfur demanded.
“You made us welcome. We’re ThunderClan cats now.”
Jaypaw picked up a murmur from Brook, too low for him to make out what she said. She’s not a ThunderClan cat, he thought. She’s a Tribe cat and always will be. She’s never felt at home here.
Reaching out to her, he couldn’t enter her memory again, but he sensed that her mind was full of rock and wind, of cascading water and screeching birds high in the air, the shadow of their wings big enough to cover a whole patrol.
His attention snapped back to the clearing as Talon began to speak. “We have come to ask for your help.”
A swift intake of breath came from Stormfur, but he didn’t interrupt.
“Stoneteller was wrong.” Talon sounded awkward. “The other cats are stealing all our prey, and the Tribe is dying of hunger.”
“And how is that my problem?” Stormfur asked icily.
“I understand how you feel,” Talon meowed. “I was banished once, when I failed to kill Sharptooth, and I know.
But—”
“It was only because of Stormfur and the other Clan cats that you were able to come back to the Tribe,” Brook reminded him.
“That’s true. But I was able to forgive the Tribe when I knew I could do something to help them. Besides, Brook, you’re my sister, and I miss you. I want you to come home.
You may live under the shadow of trees here, with grass under your paws, but you still belong to the Tribe.”
Jaypaw heard a long sigh from Brook. “I will come back with you. I cannot let my Tribemates suffer, not if there is something I can do for them. Stormfur…” There was a catch in her voice. “You do not have to come. You are not a Tribe cat.”
“Where you go, so do I,” Stormfur told her. “That’s what you said when Stoneteller banished me. Do you think I would do any less for you? I will never forgive Stoneteller for killing me in the eyes of the Tribe, but that is no reason to let your kin suffer.”
“I’ll go too.” Jaypaw’s ears pricked up in astonishment at the sound of Brambleclaw’s voice. “My paw steps have been entwined with the Tribe’s before. I will honor our friendship.”
Jaypaw sensed Stormfur’s surprise. “You don’t have to do this,” the gray warrior meowed.
“Yes, I do. What the Tribe needs now are strong, fit warriors. How can they defend themselves when they’re weakened by hunger and constant fighting?”
“I’m coming too!” Squirrelflight sounded as if her mind was made up. “You didn’t manage to leave me behind last time, and I wasn’t even a warrior then.”
“Firestar?” Brambleclaw asked. “What do you think? May we go?”
Jaypaw’s belly tightened as he waited for Firestar’s answer.
He hadn’t had the chance to work out what this might mean for him, yet he knew it was really important for ThunderClan warriors to go to the mountains. But Brambleclaw was Clan deputy; would Firestar let him leave the Clan?
“Yes, you may,” Firestar meowed. “The Tribe gave the Clans food and shelter on the Great Journey. It is our turn to help them. It’s for Stormfur and Brook, too,” he added.
“You’ve been loyal ThunderClan cats. We owe you for your help after the badgers attacked.”
“Thank you.” Talon’s voice was husky with relief. “All the Tribe of Rushing Water thanks you for this.”
Jaypaw was aware of excitement and shared purpose surging from the warriors. His paws itched to share it. But even if ThunderClan warriors were traveling to the mountains, would they ever let an apprentice join them?
Chapter 10
Every hair on Lionpaw’s pelt prickled with excitement. The moment he’d longed for had come—the chance to go to the mountains! Four ThunderClan cats wouldn’t be enough to deal with the invaders, not if they were as strong as Stormfur and Talon said. Surely StarClan had arranged this, so that he could go visit the Tribe and find out about them, and show them how real warriors lived.
His claws scratched the earth floor of the hollow as the walls loomed overhead, closing him in. He had never felt so confined before. The weight of stone seemed to press on his fur. He wanted to race up the nearest cliff and run through the forest, across the hills, all the way to the mountains, with the wind in his fur.
“Calm down,” Jaypaw mewed. “They’re hardly going to take apprentices along!”
Lionpaw rolled his eyes. “Jaypaw, I wish you wouldn’t keep reading my mind.”
“You mean you want to go to the mountains?” Hollypaw asked.
“They’ll need more cats,” Lionpaw pointed out, ready to defend himself. “Four’s not enough. But Jaypaw’s probably right,” he added, his excitement fading as he realized that what the Tribe needed was help from experienced warriors.
“They won’t take apprentices.”
“Hollypaw wants to go, and so do I,” Jaypaw announced unexpectedly. “Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight are going, so why shouldn’t we see if we can go too? Even if they say no, they can’t claw us just for asking.”
“You really want to go?” Lionpaw meowed to Hollypaw.
She bounced to her paws, her tail fluffed out and her whiskers quivering. “I want to find out how the Tribe cats live. I’ve never met cats who are different from us. We could learn a lot.”
Jaypaw murmured agreement, though he said nothing about his own reasons for wanting to go. But that was Jaypaw, Lionpaw reflected; he always buried his thoughts deeper than hidden prey.
“I want to know what else there is besides the forest, too,” he confessed. “I know this is ThunderClan’s home, but there are loads of other territories out there. What are they like?”
“Well, then, we should—” Hollypaw began, breaking off as Firestar rose to his paws.
“We need to discuss this,” he meowed, “but my den is too small for all the cats who are going. Let’s go into the forest.”
Glancing at the other cats who stood listening, he added, “Graystripe, Sandstorm, Leafpool, you come too.”
Lionpaw watched as the cats headed toward the thorn tunnel. The rest of the Clan seemed reluctant to go back to their dens or return to their duties. They huddled together, their eyes doubtful.
“There’s no way we should risk our own warriors to help the Tribe,” Spiderleg complained, loud enough for the departing cats to hear him. “Haven’t we got enough problems of our own?”