Leafstar paused, looking up. It didn’t seem as if anything could stop Petalnose now. But just before she reached the top of the tree, the branch she was clinging to gave way with a loud crack. Petalnose swung there for a couple of heartbeats, dangling from the broken half of the branch as it gradually tore away from the tree. Then she plummeted downward, scrabbling at the thorny branches in an attempt to break her fall. She dropped the feather, which fluttered gently down and landed just in front of Leafstar’s paws.
Frecklepaw, who held the other feather, had slid downward as she tried to avoid Petalnose. Ebonyclaw and Waspwhisker were too far away to take the feather from her, and began clambering through the branches to reach her.
Tinycloud and Sparrowpelt were helping Petalnose to her paws. With a swift glance to make sure that the she-cat wasn’t hurt, Leafstar snatched up the feather and leaped into the tree. Thrusting herself up from branch to branch, she suddenly realized that Sharpclaw was crouched above her, his muscles tensed to fight once she came within reach.
I’ve got to get past him. If we start tussling up here, we’ll both fall out of the tree.
She feinted to one side; Sharpclaw moved to intercept her, and his paws slipped on the branch. With a hiss of annoyance he struggled to keep his balance, and Leafstar slid past him on the other side. Digging her claws into the topmost branch, she waved her tail and let out a triumphant yowl, managing not to let go of the feather. Down below, she could see her Clanmates circling at the foot of the tree with a mix of frustration and excitement in their eyes.
Sparrowpelt’s triumphant shout drifted up to her. “She did it! Leafstar won!”
Chapter 7
“We won!” Sparrowpelt waved his tail as the cats poured back down the gorge toward the camp. “Snookpaw, you crept up to the tree like a shadow!”
The apprentice blinked in embarrassment and let out a pleased purr.
“We’ll go hunting tomorrow,” Billystorm promised him. “And you can try out that crouch on real prey.”
“It was just bad luck that we lost,” Waspwhisker meowed; Leafstar was relieved to see that none of his teammates was looking angry that Sparrowpelt’s group had beaten them in both exercises.
“Yes, you just wait till next time,” Mintpaw murmured, her eyes gleaming.
“Did you see me trip up Tinycloud?” Bouncefire boasted. “She never saw me coming!”
“I got in some good blows over your ears, though,” his sister retorted, giving him a flick on the shoulder with her tail. “You’re lucky my claws were sheathed!”
“Frecklepaw, you did well, too.” Ebonyclaw brushed her tail against her apprentice’s shoulder. “You were a strong part of our group.”
“It was fun,” Frecklepaw replied, her eyes shining. “Can we do it again some time?” she asked Sharpclaw shyly.
The deputy nodded. “Of course. It’s the best way of keeping our skills sharp.”
To Leafstar’s surprise, Sharpclaw sounded quite friendly as he spoke to the apprentice, as if he’d forgotten for now that she was a daylight-warrior. Training like this brings us closer together.
Even the visiting cats seemed more at ease among the warriors now. “You could try racing up the cliff,” Stick suggested, pausing to scan the rock face stretching above him. “We could give you some tips there; we’re used to climbing walls in our Twolegplace.”
“I’ll think about it,” Leafstar promised, though privately she wasn’t sure it was a good idea. The memory of Sagepaw’s fall was too vivid in her mind.
Or does that mean we ought to do more climbing practice? she wondered. I’ll have to discuss it with Sharpclaw.
“Or we could show you different ways of dealing with dogs.” Shorty scraped the ground with his front claws. “You must see plenty of them, with a Twolegplace so near.”
Sharpclaw gave him a long look. “Thanks. That could be very useful.”
“And what to do about monsters,” Cora put in. “Or young Twolegs.” She sighed. “Sometimes I think we spend our whole lives dodging something.”
“You wouldn’t have to if you were in a Clan,” Tinycloud meowed, her tail proudly raised. “Clan cats look out for one another.”
“There’s one thing that puzzles me,” Stick went on, as if Tinycloud hadn’t spoken. “In our Twolegplace, we hunt at night, and sleep in the day.”
“But you’re awake all day,” Shorty mewed. “Somehow it doesn’t seem right for cats.”
“Firestar said this is how the other Clans live,” Leafstar answered. “It’s easier to hunt and patrol our borders in daylight.”
“And fight, if we have to,” Sharpclaw added; there was the hint of a challenge in his voice. “We could hunt by night if we wanted to, but we prefer it this way.”
Leafstar spotted Shorty rolling his eyes at Cora, and heard him mutter, “Weird, or what?”
She didn’t bother to argue with them. SkyClan hunted by day and slept by night because that was the way Firestar and Sandstorm had taught them. She couldn’t see that it mattered. As Sharpclaw had said, there was no reason why they couldn’t hunt at night, and sometimes two or three warriors would go out on patrol after dark, especially if the night was fine and the moon shone brightly.
Rounding the last spur of rock, Leafstar saw the Rockpile and the camp ahead of her. Patchfoot and his hunting patrol were padding along the stream, their jaws laden with prey. Tangle and Lichenfur were already crouching beside the fresh-kill pile, sharing a plump pigeon, while Clovertail and Fallowfern lay stretched out at the water’s edge with Fallowfern’s kits scrambling all over them.
As the other cats gathered around the fresh-kill pile, choosing pieces of prey for themselves, Coal emerged from Echosong’s den and bounded up to join them.
“Stick, you have to go and meet Echosong!” he announced. “She’s amazing! She has herbs to cure every illness you can think of, cobwebs to stop bleeding, ointment for cracked pads…”
“Echosong is great!” Bouncefire chimed in. “She looks after every cat in the Clan.”
“Are you going to set up your own Clan?” Tinycloud asked Stick, tipping her head to one side. “Is that why you’ve come here?”
All four visiting cats looked shocked, their eyes wide and their fur beginning to bristle.
“Never!” Stick exclaimed.
“You should,” Tinycloud insisted. “In a Clan you’ve always got other cats to watch your back.”
“We share prey,” Rockshade added. “No cat goes hungry.”
“And we learn how to look after ourselves and our Clanmates.” Mintpaw stretched out her front paws and unsheathed her tiny claws. “Dogs and foxes had better watch out!”
“We help one another,” Ebonyclaw mewed softly, while her apprentice Frecklepaw nodded. “We’re friends.”
Leafstar’s chest swelled with pride as she heard how confident her Clanmates sounded. SkyClan is strong!
Stick shook his head. “We have our own way of life.”
“That’s right.” Leafstar thought that Cora sounded regretful, but there was no hesitation as she backed up the scrawny brown tom. “We can learn from one another, but we don’t want to decide that one way of life is better than all the others.”
“Just what are they doing here, then?”
The muttered words came from behind Leafstar; she looked over her shoulder to see Lichenfur glaring at the visitors from narrowed amber eyes. Leafstar glanced back at the visitors, but none of them seemed to have heard; Sharpclaw invited them to take prey from the fresh-kill pile and they settled down to eat.
“It’s no surprise that other cats want to learn from us,” Rockshade pointed out to the mottled gray elder. “We’re so strong and fierce!”