Ivypool tucked in her chin and bit down on Antpelt’s outstretched paw. Yes, she thought bleakly. You do. Above her, Antpelt let out a furious yowl and snatched back his foot. Gathering all her strength, Ivypool shoved Antpelt off in time to see Minnowtail jump gracefully down from the tree and land in a clump of fern.
“Well done,” Shredtail meowed as she emerged, looking smug. “It’s a pity more cats aren’t like you.” Swinging around to rake Ivypool, Breezepelt, and Hollowpaw with a glare, he continued, “Right. Time for battle training. I want to see the backflip we practiced last time.”
Ivypool paired up with Hollowpaw while Breezepelt and Minnowtail worked together. The RiverClan cat wasn’t the same nervous apprentice she had tried to help when he first came to the Dark Forest a moon ago. He had learned a lot since then, and his movements were strong and sure. Ivypool was shocked at the power behind his blows as he leaped on top of her, and shocked, too, at her own skill as she slid out from under him and raked her claws over his ears.
She was aware of how she and the others echoed one another’s moves with barely a pause, like a well-ordered patrol who had trained together since they were kitted. You would never think we come from different Clans, she thought, dodging a blow from Hollowpaw and leaping in again to give him a swipe across the ear. Our fighting techniques fit together perfectly. This is a force beyond anything the Clans have seen before. And I’m a part of it.
Ivypool was relieved when finally she heard Shredtail call out, “That’s enough!”
“Did we do well?” Minnowtail mewed, springing up to let Breezepelt get to his paws.
“You’re not here for praise,” Shredtail growled. “Leave that to your precious Clanmates. You’re here to fight. If you survive, count yourself lucky.” He flicked his tail dismissively. “Now get out of here.”
Ivypool stumbled away into the shadowy trees, the other cats keeping pace with her. Breezepelt was limping, and Hollowpaw had oozing scratches from a blow she had given him. Even Minnowtail had fur missing from her hindquarters.
None of the cats spoke to one another. Ivypool spotted Blossomfall through the trees, heading in the same direction and looking equally battered. She knew that Blossomfall had seen her, but she looked too worn out to call a greeting. Ivypool was aware of more cats padding around her, their heads lowered with exhaustion and their flanks heaving.
But we’ll all come back next time we close our eyes, Ivypool thought. The Dark Forest has us trapped like flies in a web.
A full moon floated above the lake, turning its water to silver, as Firestar led his Clan out of the forest. Ivypool padded beside her sister. Even though she was bone tired, she was glad to be going to the Gathering.
I won’t have to go to the Dark Forest tonight, because I’ll be awake for too long.
As the cats followed Firestar along the lakeshore, Ivypool noticed that Dovewing kept shaking her head as if she had just emerged from water. She was letting out soft hisses of frustration.
“Is your hearing still not back?” Ivypool whispered.
Dovewing turned toward her, distress in her wide blue eyes. “No,” she replied. “It’s worse than being deaf! How am I supposed to look after the Clan?”
“Don’t worry,” Ivypool tried to reassure her. “There are warriors all around us.” Anger stabbed at her like a claw as she saw her sister was unconvinced. “But they don’t count, because they’re not part of the prophecy, right?” she added sarcastically.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Dovewing snapped back at her.
“You think?” Ivypool hissed. “I don’t see you going to the Dark Forest every night!”
In her stress, she didn’t realize that her voice was rising, until she saw Brackenfur dropping back to walk beside them.
“Stop it, both of you,” he meowed. “You can at least present a united front at a Gathering. Do you want the other Clans to see ThunderClan warriors squabbling? Not to mention that StarClan will be angry if you argue under the full moon.”
Ivypool gave a reluctant nod and Dovewing muttered, “Sorry.” Brackenfur gave them a hard look from narrowed green eyes, then quickened his pace again to rejoin Cloudtail.
StarClan! Ivypool thought. Sometimes I wonder if they have any power at all. Suppressing a shiver, she recalled everything she had seen in the Dark Forest. I know what those cats can do. How will we ever fight back?
As Firestar led his Clan along the shore toward the tree-bridge, the RiverClan cats emerged from the shrubbery around the stream, with Mistystar at their head. For a few moments every cat milled around in confusion. Ivypool spotted a few hostile looks from the rival Clan.
We can’t fight over which Clan gets to cross the bridge first!
Then Mistystar stepped forward and dipped her head politely to Firestar. “Please, go ahead,” the RiverClan leader meowed, waving her tail for her Clan to retreat a few paces.
“Thank you,” Firestar replied.
He waited on the shore beside Mistystar while Brambleclaw led the ThunderClan cats across the treebridge. Ivypool was waiting her turn when she glanced across at the RiverClan cats and caught the gaze of Minnowtail. For a heartbeat she couldn’t look away, as if the memory of training together in the Dark Forest were a claw pinning her to the RiverClan warrior. Then Minnowtail turned her head aside, and the moment was past. Ivypool realized she was shivering.
“Come on!” Dovewing gave her a prod in the side. “Are you crossing, or are you going to stand there all night?”
“Sorry.” Ivypool leaped onto the tree-bridge and ran across.
There were no other cat scents in the air as she jumped down onto the pebbly shore of the island, meaning that ThunderClan was the first to arrive. The clearing seemed very quiet as Ivypool wriggled underneath the surrounding bushes and padded toward the Great Oak. Dovewing and Brackenfur, who had followed her, set their paws down carefully as if they didn’t want to break the silence.
Then a scamper of paws sounded from beyond the bushes and Ivypool jumped, startled, as excited squeals rose into the air.
“This way! I’ll race you to the Great Oak!”
“I’ll get there first! You couldn’t race a hedgehog!”
Brackenfur let out a mrrow of amusement. “Our apprentices have arrived for their first Gathering.”
Cherrypaw and Molepaw came squirming through the bushes, with Rosepetal right behind them.
“That’s enough,” she meowed. “Don’t even think of racing around the clearing. We have to wait for the leaders and listen quietly while they’re speaking.” She gestured with her tail. “Sit there.”
The two apprentices obeyed her, but they were wriggling with excitement, exchanging bright-eyed glances as they gazed around.
“Wow! The Great Oak is big!” Cherrypaw exclaimed.
The rest of the ThunderClan cats emerged from the bushes, closely followed by RiverClan and WindClan. A few moments later ShadowClan joined them. As the clearing filled up and the different Clan scents mingled, Ivypool crouched in the middle of her own Clanmates, not wanting to see the cats who were familiar to her from the Dark Forest.
I feel as if I half belong with them, she thought uncomfortably. But I’m betraying them already. I wish I could tell the other Clans exactly what’s going on. Maybe then we could make a plan to fight the Dark Forest from within.