“I didn’t know you wanted to be a medicine apprentice,” Plumclaw purred. “Congratulations!”
“Yeah.” Tallkit licked blood from his lips. “Congratulations.” He couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy. You’ll be doing what you want while I spend all day digging holes.
“Tallkit?” Barkkit was frowning at him. “What’s wrong?”
Tallkit lifted his chin. He wasn’t being fair to his friend. “Nothing. I’m really happy for you!”
Barkkit noticed his mouse. “You’re eating prey!”
Tallkit puffed out his fur proudly. “It’s good.”
“I like shrew best,” Barkkit told him. “It tastes heathery.” He glanced over his shoulder at the grassy clearing. “Do you want to play Rabbit?”
Tallkit took a quick bite of mouse and pushed the rest toward Plumclaw. “Here.”
“Thanks,” she meowed. “Are you sure you’ve had enough?”
“Plenty.” Tallkit jumped to his paws. “Shall I be rabbit this time?” he asked Barkkit.
Barkkit flicked his stubby tail. “Yes.”
“Okay,” Tallkit mewed. “But I’m not hiding under any gorse bushes. They’re way too prickly.”
“Don’t worry,” Barkkit reassured him. “If you step on another thorn, I can always pull it out.”
Chapter 5
“Let all cats old enough to hunt gather at Tallrock.” Blue sky framed Heatherstar as she called from the top. Behind her, the distant moor rolled wide and green, rippling with heather not quite in bloom.
A soft breeze tugged at Tallkit’s pelt as he sat on the rim of the Meeting Hollow. His Clanmates swarmed around him, streaming down into the sandy dip. A warm newleaf had brought rich prey and now, as greenleaf set in, the Clan’s warriors were plump and sleek. Tallkit glanced at the tunnelers as they clustered at one end of the hollow. Woollytail’s eyes were bright and Hickorynose paced impatiently around him while Plumclaw’s tail-tip flicked with excitement. Hawkheart and Reedfeather sat still as stone at the foot of Tallrock while the moor runners filled up the rest of the hollow.
“Sit down and stop fidgeting.” Cloudrunner beckoned Stagpaw with a flick of his tail. Doepaw was already waiting between Aspenfall and Ryepaw.
The elders clambered stiffly into the hollow, Flamepelt leading the way. Whiteberry pressed close to Lilywhisker as she dragged her leg behind her. Flailfoot followed. “This is the ceremony I’ve been looking forward to,” he rasped.
Tallkit’s heart leaped like a rabbit in his chest.
Sandgorse stood beside him. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” Tallkit glanced at Palebird. Her round eyes, which had been dull for so long, were bright and focused.
She leaned forward and began lapping the fur on Tallkit’s shoulders. “I want you looking your best,” she purred.
Brown fur flashed at the entrance to the medicine den as Barkpaw hurried out. The young apprentice scrambled into the hollow and took his place beside Hawkheart. The medicine cat flashed him a reproachful look.
“Sorry, Hawkheart.” Tallkit heard Barkpaw’s hushed apology. “I was sorting the comfrey leaves.”
Shrewpaw caught Tallkit’s eye. He was sitting beside his mentor, Hareflight. Tallkit could guess what he was thinking. You’re going to be Wormpaw now. Tallkit looked away. I’ll be an apprentice, he told himself. It doesn’t matter whether I’m a tunneler or a moor runner.
Heatherstar leaped down from Tallrock and crossed the hollow. She stopped in the middle and surveyed her Clan until her gaze rested on Tallkit. His pelt burned. “Tallkit!” Heatherstar called.
Palebird nudged him forward. Paws slipping on the dry sand, Tallkit scrambled down into the hollow and stopped in front of Heatherstar.
“It is rare that I give an apprentice name to only one cat.” Heatherstar’s blue eyes bored into him. “Let us remember your littermate, Finchkit.” She glanced up at Palebird. “WindClan mourns the loss of one so young, but she is at peace, safe with StarClan.”
Tallkit wondered if his littermate was watching his ceremony. Would she be jealous that she never got the chance to have her apprentice name? Perhaps StarClan would grant her one.
“Tallpaw.” Heatherstar’s mew jerked his thoughts back. “I have thought long and hard about who should mentor you.”
Tallpaw heard murmurs of excitement from the tunnelers. “She’ll choose Woollytail, surely?” Plumclaw’s whisper hissed across the hollow.
Heatherstar’s gaze didn’t waver. “I have chosen Dawnstripe.” She turned her head toward the moor runners. “Come forward, Dawnstripe.”
Tallpaw gripped the earth as the ground seemed to sway beneath him. But I’m supposed to be a tunneler. He looked at Sandgorse, sitting above the hollow. His father’s eyes glittered with outrage.
Tallpaw swallowed as Dawnstripe padded toward him. I’m not going underground. Relief fluttered deep in his belly.
“Heatherstar!” Woollytail’s sharp mew cut across the hollow. “You promised us a tunneler!”
Paws thumped onto the earth behind Tallpaw. He spun around, heart lurching. Sandgorse had jumped into the clearing. “You’ve made a mistake, Heatherstar.”
Heatherstar shook her head. “No, I haven’t, Sandgorse.”
“But I’m a tunneler. Palebird’s a tunneler. We want Tallpaw to follow in our paw steps.”
Heatherstar dipped her head. “I know,” she meowed quietly. “But I have watched Tallpaw. He doesn’t have a tunneler’s nature or physique.”
“That’s not true!” Sandgorse snapped. “Look at this tail. It’s easily long enough to pull him out of a cave-in. And he has strong paws and short fur, to keep the sand out.”
Heatherstar held Sandgorse’s gaze. “He can run like the wind and leap like a hare. He chases imaginary prey when he thinks no one is watching.”
Palebird jumped down beside her mate. “He can chase real prey in the tunnels!” she hissed.
Heatherstar didn’t flinch. “I’ve seen him when the wind’s up. It gets into his fur so he can’t sit still. He needs to be aboveground. He needs be true to his nature.”
“True to his nature?” Woollytail spat. “What kit doesn’t run and jump?”
Hickorynose snorted. “In leaf-bare, you said that the tunnels were too dangerous. Now you say a kit likes the wind in his fur. What excuse will you use next time you give the moor runners an apprentice?”
Sandgorse took a step closer to Heatherstar, his pelt bristling. “Tunneling is in his nature,” he growled. “How could it not be? His kin are tunnelers stretching back for moons.”
Heatherstar’s tail twitched. “If Tallpaw wants to train as a tunneler later, he can. But I want him to train as a moor runner first.”
Tallpaw flinched as he saw Palebird’s tail droop. She clambered out of the hollow and padded, head down, back to the nursery. Should I tell Heatherstar that I want to be a tunneling apprentice? Tallpaw looked desperately from the WindClan leader to his father.
“He’s my son,” Sandgorse snarled. “I’ll decide his future.”
Heatherstar stiffened. “I decide the future of my warriors.” She turned to Dawnstripe. “Share your speed and courage with Tallpaw. Make him a warrior the whole of WindClan can be proud of.”
Tallpaw’s heart thumped like rabbit paws on hollow earth. Dawnstripe was one of WindClan’s fastest runners and had never backed down in a fight. He could learn so much from her. I will make WindClan proud.
He fought to stop himself from trembling as Dawnstripe touched her muzzle to his head, and he pricked his ears, listening for his Clanmates’ cheers. Paws shifted on the sand around him. No cat called his apprentice name. Nervously Tallpaw glanced over his shoulder. Sandgorse had turned his tail on the ceremony. The tunnelers stared in stony silence.