“I thought we were down here to learn about fighting?” Toadstep remarked as they padded on.
“You are,” Hollyleaf countered. “But you wouldn’t be able to fight a beetle in these narrow tunnels. When it comes to a battle, we’ll have to confront our enemies in larger spaces. The tunnels are useful to flee or pursue, but not for combat. If you try, you’re more likely to hit the walls than your opponent.”
“Sorry I asked,” Toadstep muttered.
As the tunnel grew slightly wider Hollyleaf took the lead again and headed along a twisting side passage. At last Dove-wing realized that she could see, very dimly, the shapes of the cats in front of her. The sound of running water came from up ahead; her pelt prickled at the thought of a flood rising to engulf them.
Moments later the cats emerged into an underground cave. A crack in the roof, high above their heads, gave them enough light to see one another. A river ran across the center of the cavern; Hollyleaf flicked her tail at it.
“See? It’s greenleaf now, so the water level is very low. Nothing at all to worry about.” She seemed hesitant as the cats gathered around her. “I wonder what’s best…” she murmured, half to herself. “Attack or defense?”
“Don’t you even know that?” Thornclaw snapped. “What did you get us down here for?”
Toadstep shot Thornclaw a sharp look, though he said nothing.
“I didn’t spend my time down here fighting,” Hollyleaf retorted. “I had no enemies because I saw no other cats.”
That must have been so lonely, Dovewing thought, with a sympathetic glance at the black she-cat.
“But you know more than any of us about moving around in darkness and confined spaces,” Brackenfur meowed. “That’s what will be helpful. What should we do if a patrol of WindClan cats ambushes us here?”
Hollyleaf gave him a brief nod. “Right,” she began. “You need to remember that the space is small, so you have to change your fighting moves. Keep your blows short and tight, otherwise you risk knocking your paws against the walls.”
Toadstep reared up on his hindpaws, keeping his forelegs tucked into his body while extending his claws against an imaginary enemy. “Like this?”
“Very good,” Hollyleaf mewed. “But don’t rear up unless you know there’s enough space above your head. Braining yourself on the tunnel roof would be a bad idea.”
Dovewing stifled a mrrow of amusement. “Is it better to fight in the light or the dark?” she asked.
Hollyleaf paused for a moment. “It depends,” she replied. “If you think you can beat your opponent, lead them away from the light so you can take advantage of the darkness. But if not, keep them close to the light so you can aim your blows accurately.”
Dovewing glanced around the cavern, suppressing a shiver as she imagined it full of clawing, screeching cats. The advice Hollyleaf was giving suddenly made the coming battle seem closer.
“Right,” Hollyleaf mewed briskly. “Let’s practice. Toadstep, you seem keen, so you can be a ThunderClan warrior. Dove-wing, you be the WindClan warrior that’s attacking him.”
“Great!” Toadstep crouched down, lashing his tail. “Come and get me, WindClan scum!”
“Scum yourself!” Dovewing retorted.
She leaped at Toadstep, but forgot what Hollyleaf had said about keeping moves small and tight. As Toadstep dodged aside, her leap took her too far, and she narrowly missed charging into the cave wall. Her paws skidded, while Toadstep took the chance to deliver a couple of hard blows to her hindquarters.
“Well done!” Hollyleaf called.
Dovewing gritted her teeth. Turning tightly, she reared up as Toadstep came in for the attack, and used the backflip she had learned in the training session with Bumblestripe. Toadstep saw the move coming, but too late, and lost his balance. Dovewing leaped on top of him, battering at him with her forepaws.
But as Toadstep rolled over, wriggling to free himself, one of Dovewing’s flailing paws hit the wall. She let out a yowl of pain. Taking advantage of her brief distraction, Toadstep threw her off and wrapped his forepaws around her neck. However hard she struggled, Dovewing couldn’t dislodge him. Their fight had taken them right up against the cave wall. Heaving Toadstep around, Dovewing managed to trap him in a corner. Though he was still clinging to her neck, he had no way of escaping when she raked at his belly with her hindpaws.
“That’ll do.” Hollyleaf came to separate them. “Very good, both of you. Dovewing, that was a good move, to keep him pressed up against the wall like that. Do you know what you could have done?” she asked Toadstep.
“Not much. I’ll have bruises for a moon,” Toadstep muttered.
“I’ll show you. Brackenfur, come over here and shove me into the corner.”
As the ginger warrior charged at her, Hollyleaf sprang up against the wall and pushed off in an enormous leap that carried her right over Brackenfur’s head. She landed lightly and spun around, ready to attack.
“Brilliant!” Dovewing exclaimed.
There was a murmur of appreciation from the other cats.
“You need space, of course,” Hollyleaf meowed, dipping her head. “And you have to be careful not to scrape your pads. The walls aren’t always smooth. Why don’t you all pair up and practice that?” she suggested.
Within a few heartbeats the cave was full of leaping cats. Dovewing took Ivypool as her partner. It took a few tries before either of them could do the move effectively.
“This is hard!” Ivypool panted. “But it might come in handy you-know-where,” she added in a lower voice.
“Think of it as stalking and pouncing on prey,” Dovewing mewed. “I’ve found that helps.”
“Okay,” Hollyleaf called. “Now I want to try something else. Brightheart, you’ve developed new fighting moves to take advantage of your blind side. Is there anything you can tell us that would help us here?”
Brightheart dipped her head, clearly pleased at being invited to contribute. “I’m used to darkness on one side,” she began, “so the darkness down here doesn’t bother me all that much. You need to make sure you’re using your whiskers and your tail-tip. They’ll help you judge how far away you are from the tunnel walls.”
Hollyleaf nodded. “Let’s try a practice round to show us how that works. Ivypool, come and fight with her.”
Ivypool leaped forward and tried to trap Brightheart against the cave wall. But Brightheart seemed to know exactly where she was without needing to look behind her. She slid to one side and raked her paw down Ivypool’s flank.
“Great!” Ivypool wheezed, struggling to get her breath back. “If your claws were out, I’d be crow-food.”
Brightheart repeated the sequence, but this time slowed down her moves so that every cat could see how she used her tail and whiskers. “Don’t forget you can’t always see your enemy down here,” she added. “You’ll need to use hearing and scent much more than you do when you’re fighting out in the open.”
“Good point,” Hollyleaf meowed. “We’ll do an exercise now to practice that. I’m going to take you into the tunnels one by one, and leave you there. You have to find your way back to us by listening and smelling.”
“What if we can’t?” Thornclaw asked with a twitch of his tail-tip.
“Then I’ll come and get you, mouse-brain,” Hollyleaf retorted. “Come on, you can be first. Meanwhile, the rest of you can practice Brightheart’s moves.”
She disappeared into a nearby tunnel, with Thornclaw trailing reluctantly after her. Dovewing was surprised when the tabby warrior returned soon after Hollyleaf, giving himself a couple of complacent licks as he emerged into the cave again.