Hollypaw carried her prey across to the fresh-kill pile.
“What’s going on?” she asked Cloudtail, who was sharing a thrush with his mate, Brightheart.
“Icekit and Foxkit are going to be apprenticed,” Brightheart replied.
“And about time, too,” Cloudtail muttered. “They frightened my fur off the other day, yowling that ShadowClan was attacking us.”
His mate gave him a gentle prod with one forepaw. “Kits are kits, Cloudtail. You know they’ll be good warriors one day.”
His only reply was a snort.
Hollypaw looked around for the other apprentices.
Honeypaw was sitting close to Berrynose, who was ignoring her and talking to Birchfall instead. Jaypaw appeared from behind the bramble screen at the entrance to the medicine cats’ den, and a heartbeat later Leafpool joined him.
Hollypaw took a paw step toward them, but she felt awkward about joining them in case they were discussing medicine cat business.
Poppypaw and Cinderpaw were sitting near Sandstorm and Graystripe, and as Hollypaw glanced around she spotted Lionpaw emerging from the apprentices’ den to find a place next to them. Hollypaw bounded across.
Ferncloud emerged from the nursery with Foxkit and Icekit. Dustpelt followed; the brown tabby warrior looked ready to burst with pride.
The kits’ eyes were bright with excitement, and their glossy pelts shone in the sunlight. Both of them were trying hard to be dignified, but halfway across the clearing Icekit gave a little bounce; her father caught up to her and flicked her over the ear with his tail. After that she managed to walk calmly until she and her brother reached the front.
Firestar bounded down the tumbled rocks from the Highledge and called both kits to stand in front of him.
“Squirrelflight,” he began, “your time for an apprentice is long overdue. You will be mentor to Foxpaw.”
Squirrelflight stepped out of the crowd, her head and tail held high. As she padded toward Firestar, Foxkit ran up to meet her.
“Squirrelflight, the whole Clan knows your courage and loyalty,” Firestar continued. “Do your best to pass these qualities on to Foxpaw.”
Foxpaw reached up to touch noses with Squirrelflight, and the two cats withdrew to the side of the hollow.
Squirrelflight’s a mentor now, Hollypaw told herself. And she had kits. It is possible to do both.
Firestar’s gaze rested on a young white she-cat.
“Whitewing, you too are ready for your first apprentice. You will be mentor to Icepaw.”
Eyes glowing with happiness, Whitewing padded over to her apprentice. They touched noses and followed the other new apprentice and his mentor to the side of the clearing.
The rest of the Clan began to crowd around, congratulating them and calling the apprentices by their new names.
Hollypaw noticed that Berrynose and Birchfall stayed where they were.
“Huh!” Birchfall exclaimed, loud enough for the cats around him to hear. “I don’t know why Firestar picked Whitewing. I’d be just as good as her at mentoring.”
“Firestar picks the best cat for the job,” Sandstorm told him as she walked past. “Whitewing is older than you. And don’t forget she could have been made a warrior much sooner, but she asked to put it off so you wouldn’t be the only apprentice.”
Birchfall muttered something Hollypaw didn’t catch.
“You’ll have an apprentice soon,” Sandstorm assured him.
“For once the Clan has plenty of kits.”
Birchfall didn’t dare complain any more, but he still looked discontented. Berrynose whispered something in his ear, and the two young toms moved away with their heads close together.
Hollypaw sighed. She didn’t know what had gotten into Birchfall lately. He used to be good fun; he had been made a warrior so recently that he still remembered what it was like to be an apprentice. Now he’s being as much of a pain in the tail as Berrynose, she thought.
By the time Hollypaw got close enough to congratulate the apprentices, the cats were drifting away to get on with their duties. Hollypaw felt a touch on her shoulder and turned to see her mentor, Brackenfur.
“Firestar wants us to do the evening patrol with him,” the golden tabby tom mewed. “Are you ready?”
“Sure.”
Hollypaw’s heart began to race and she felt every hair on her pelt rise with excitement. Apprentices didn’t often go on patrol with the Clan leader. This was her chance to show Firestar what she had learned! Twisting her neck, she gave her shoulders a few swift licks. She would have liked to give herself a thorough grooming, but there wasn’t enough time. As Firestar padded over to join her and Brackenfur, she just hoped her fur wasn’t sticking up and she hadn’t collected any burrs in her pelt.
“Let’s go,” the Clan leader meowed. “We need to renew the scent markers along the ShadowClan border.”
The sun was going down as Hollypaw followed the two toms through the thorn tunnel and into the forest. Scarlet light washed over the ground, barred with the long shadows of trees. Only the wind rustling in the branches broke the silence, along with the faint scuffling of prey in the undergrowth.
Hollypaw ignored the enticing prey-scents; this wasn’t a hunting patrol. She concentrated on looking and listening, and when she tasted the air it was to make sure that there were no unusual scents—especially not the scent of ShadowClan warriors on ThunderClan territory.
Firestar halted. “Listen!”
Hollypaw froze, ears straining. Her neck fur bristled when she heard, faint in the distance, the yowls and shrieks of fighting cats.
“That way!” Firestar mewed, sweeping his tail around to point. “Come on!”
He bounded off through the ferns with Brackenfur hard on his paws. Hollypaw raced after them. Grass brushed her belly fur and brambles clawed at her pelt as she sped past.
The noise of squalling and spitting grew louder.
For a heartbeat she lost sight of her leader as the cats rounded a hazel thicket. She heard Firestar yowl, “Stop!”
Bursting into the open, she halted at the top of a bank. Below, in a hollow lined with bracken, five cats writhed viciously.
Powerful scents of ShadowClan and ThunderClan flooded over her. Horrified, Hollypaw spotted Berrynose’s cream-colored pelt and Birchfall’s tabby one. The two ThunderClan warriors were clearly outmatched by the three hefty ShadowClan cats.
Hollypaw sprang forward, eager to help her Clanmates, only to find Firestar’s tail barring her way.
“No,” he mewed. “That’s ShadowClan territory.”
Hollypaw dug her claws into the ground as she stared down at her Clanmates. What were Berrynose and Birchfall doing in another Clan’s territory? Opening her jaws to draw in air, she picked out both ThunderClan and ShadowClan scent markings, faint and mingled together. She realized she was standing right on the border.
Raising his voice again, Firestar repeated, “Stop!”
To Hollypaw’s relief, the cats sprang apart. She recognized Russetfur, the ShadowClan deputy, with warriors Oakfur and Rowanclaw, who gave Birchfall a last cuff around the ear before facing Firestar.
“What’s going on here?” Firestar demanded.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Russetfur retorted.
“Why are your warriors trespassing on our territory?”
“We know why,” Oakfur added, with a lash of his tail.
“ThunderClan never cared about boundaries.”
“That’s not—” Hollypaw began to protest, but Brackenfur slapped his tail across her mouth to keep her quiet.
Firestar’s gaze raked over Berrynose and Birchfall. Though his voice was quiet, it was cold as the lake in leaf-bare, and Hollypaw realized that he was furious. “Well?” he asked.