Эрин Хантер - Path Of A Warrior

large, dark brown tabby tom

MEDICINE CAT

SAGEWHISKER

—

white she-cat with long whiskers

APPRENTICE, YELLOWFANG

(dark gray she-cat with a broad, flattened face)

WARRIORS

DEERLEAP

—

gray tabby she-cat with white legs

BLIZZARDWING

—

mottled white tom

FOXHEART

—

bright ginger she-cat

WOLFSTEP

—

tom with a torn ear

CROWTAIL

—

black tabby she-cat

APPRENTICE, CLOUDPAW

(white tom with blue eyes)

BRACKENFOOT

—

pale ginger tom with dark ginger legs

ARCHEYE

—

gray tabby tom with black stripes and thick stripe over eye

HOLLYFLOWER

—

dark-gray-and-white she-cat

MUDCLAW

—

gray tom with brown legs

LIZARDSTRIPE

—

pale brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

TOADSKIP

—

dark brown tabby tom with white splashes and white legs

FEATHERSTORM

—

brown tabby she-cat

SCORCHWIND

—

ginger tabby tom

NEWTSPECK

—

black-and-ginger tabby she-cat

ASHHEART

—

pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

AMBERLEAF

—

dark orange she-cat with brown legs and ears

FROGTAIL

—

dark gray tom

POOLCLOUD

—

gray-and-white she-cat

NETTLESPOT

—

white she-cat with ginger flecks

FINCHFLIGHT

—

black-and-white tom

NUTWHISKER

—

brown tom with amber eyes

ROWANBERRY

—

cream-and-brown she-cat with amber eyes

MOUSEWING

—

black tom with long, thick fur

ELDERS

LITTLEBIRD

—

small ginger tabby she-cat

LIZARDFANG

—

light brown tabby tom with one hooked tooth

STONETOOTH

—

gray tabby tom with long teeth

WINDCLAN

LEADER

HEATHERSTAR

—

pinkish-gray she-cat with blue eyes

DEPUTY

TALLTAIL

—

large black-and-white tom with amber eyes

MEDICINE CATS

HAWKHEART

—

stone-gray tom with flecks of darker brown fur

BARKFACE

—

short-tailed brown tom

WARRIORS

DAWNSTRIPE

—

pale gold tabby with creamy stripes

REDCLAW

—

dark ginger tom

WOOLLYTAIL

—

gray-and-white tom with bright yellow eyes

DEADFOOT

—

lean black tom with a twisted left paw

STAGLEAP

—

dark brown tom with amber eyes

APPRENTICE, SORRELPAW

(gray-and-brown she-cat)

HICKORYNOSE

—

brown tom

APPLEDAWN

—

pale cream she-cat

MEADOWSLIP

—

gray she-cat

MISTMOUSE

—

light brown tabby she-cat

HAREFLIGHT

—

light brown tom

DOESPRING

—

light brown she-cat

APPRENTICE, PIGEONPAW

(dark gray tom with white patches)

LARKSPLASH

—

tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

SHREWCLAW

—

dark brown tom with yellow eyes

ASPENFALL

—

gray-and-white tom

PLUMCLAW

—

dark gray she-cat

QUEENS

PALEBIRD

—

black-and-white she-cat (mother to Wrenkit, Rabbitkit, Flykit, and Bristlekit)

RYESTALK

—

gray tabby she-cat

ELDERS

WHITEBERRY

—

small, pure white tom

LILYWHISKER

—

light brown she-cat with amber eyes and a crippled hind leg

FLAILFOOT

—

black tom with yellow eyes

Maps

Chapter One

Redpaw carefully patted some fresh moss into the corner of a nest in the ThunderClan warriors’ den, then sighed. “This is so boring. I want to go hunting.”

His sister Willowpaw dragged more moss into the den, wrinkling her nose at the taste as she dropped it beside him. “At least we’re not picking ticks off the elders like Frostpaw and Brindlepaw,” she mewed.

Redpaw patted the new moss into place. “But pretty soon they’ll have their warrior ceremonies, and we’ll be the only apprentices left, and we’ll have to do all the worst jobs in camp for moons ,” he complained. “Whitestorm and Tigerclaw already became warriors. And we don’t even have Spottedpaw helping us anymore.”

Willowpaw peeked out the entrance to the warriors’ den toward where their littermate, Spottedpaw, was laying out herbs to dry in the sun. “Medicine-cat apprentices work pretty hard, too,” she purred, her blue eyes shining with amusement. “Not just you, Redpaw.”

Redpaw’s whiskers twitched. “I know I’m being silly,” he admitted. “I just wanted to go hunting with Sparrowpelt and Tigerclaw and the others.”

He would have gone with them, if it had been an ordinary hunting patrol. Sparrowpelt was his mentor; the tabby might be a little grumpy sometimes, but he wouldn’t leave Redpaw out of a hunt. But today their hunting patrol had gone toward Sunningrocks, and ThunderClan’s leader, Sunstar, had deemed the rocks near the river too dangerous for apprentices.

“We’ve been fighting over Sunningrocks with RiverClan for years,” Sparrowpelt had explained to Redpaw, his tail twitching. “Some cats say that the rocks were in the river once, so RiverClan thinks of them as theirs. I don’t know about that—they’ve been on ThunderClan land as long as any cat in the Clans now can remember. But RiverClan won’t admit they’re ours. We went and warned RiverClan off, not long before you became an apprentice, but Sunstar’s nervous that they might be biding their time and planning an ambush.”

So, Redpaw thought with another sigh, I’m stuck freshening nests in camp instead of catching prey.

It was all useful work, of course. Redpaw knew that, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help his Clan. But apprentice duties around camp weren’t any fun, compared with hunting.

There was nothing Redpaw liked better than hunting: prowling through ThunderClan’s forest territory, sniffing the air for the scent of prey, his ears pricked for even the faintest sound. After he’d spotted his prey, he loved the feeling of his muscles tensing, his heart pounding, as he carefully stalked it. And there was nothing more exhilarating than the final pounce.