Эрин Хантер - Path Of A Warrior

“It was me,” Redtail broke in hurriedly, before they could start fighting. He couldn’t let Tigerclaw take all the blame. “I attacked Sorrelpaw because she was hunting on our territory.” He hung his head. “I didn’t mean to be so rough. And I’m sorry we didn’t wait for you before—”

“We’ve got nothing to apologize for,” Tigerclaw interrupted, his eyes cold. “The apprentice trespassed on our territory and needed to be taught a lesson.”

The end of Stagleap’s tail twitched and he hunkered down, ready to spring. “I think maybe it’s you two who need to be taught a lesson,” he muttered. He moved forward until they were nearly nose to nose. The two toms looked evenly matched, Redtail saw, both huge and muscular. But Stagleap was older and an experienced warrior; he might be more than a match for Tigerclaw.

“Go ahead and try,” Tigerclaw taunted. He looked excited, almost eager.

I’ll have to fight, too, Redtail realized, his stomach sinking. I can’t abandon Tigerclaw. But Stagleap is so huge!

The big toms glared at each other for a long moment, muscles tensed and teeth bared. Then, just behind Stagleap, Sorrelpaw wobbled on her paws, giving a small whimper. Fresh blood from her wound was running down her side, Redtail noticed with a pang of guilt.

Stagleap broke eye contact with Tigerclaw to look down at his apprentice, his glare softening. “You’ll be okay, Sorrelpaw,” he told her. Shifting his eyes back to Tigerclaw and Redtail, he said, “I’d love to tear your fur off, but it’ll have to wait for another day. I’m taking Sorrelpaw back to WindClan.”

Tigerclaw hissed, but Redtail said quickly, “Okay, of course.”

Stagleap looked sternly at him. “I’m sure Sunstar doesn’t know anything about this,” he meowed. “He’s an honorable leader. Out of respect for him, I’m going to report this so Heatherstar can give him a chance to make it right. But if Sunstar doesn’t get his warriors under control, you can be sure that WindClan will be back to settle this.”

“Spitting threats while you run away does sound like WindClan,” Tigerclaw retorted smoothly. “But if you do come back, I’ll be waiting.”

“Me too,” Redtail added, and winced at his own words. I have to support Tigerclaw, don’t I?

With a sigh, Stagleap turned his back on them and coaxed Sorrelpaw into motion, heading back toward Fourtrees. The little apprentice was limping and leaning heavily against Stagleap, clearly in pain.

“You did well, Redtail,” Tigerclaw murmured as they watched them go. “We can’t let WindClan cats think they can get away with crossing our borders.”

I suppose that’s true, Redtail thought. But his mouth felt dry and sour, and the shallow scratches on his belly stung. There was a guilty, queasy feeling in his stomach. If I did the right thing, why do I feel so wrong?

Chapter Five

As he padded back into camp beside Tigerclaw, Redtail ached all over. He longed for the cool darkness of the warriors’ den, where he could lie down in his nest and try to forget what had happened.

At the sight of them, Runningkit and Mousekit abandoned the ball of moss they were batting back and forth across the clearing and ran toward them.

“Redtail! Redtail!” Runningkit yowled. “Didn’t you get any prey?”

We forgot the vole, Redtail realized.

Mousekit followed, her eyes wide. “Did you get hurt?” she asked, looking at the scratches on Redtail’s side. “Was it badgers? Were you very brave?”

No, I wasn’t brave. I was cruel. Redtail ignored them, stalking past the kits toward the warriors’ den. He couldn’t tell them what had happened, what he’d done.

“We don’t have time to talk now, kits,” Tigerclaw meowed importantly. “We have to report to Sunstar. Redtail, wait.”

Halfway to the warriors’ den, Redtail stopped and turned around to look at Tigerclaw. “What?”

Tigerclaw came forward and circled around Redtail, blocking his path. “Where do you think you’re going? You have to come with me so we can tell Sunstar what happened.”

“What did happen?” Mousekit asked curiously, but both toms ignored her.

“Mousekit! Runningkit! Stop bothering them and come here!” White-eye called, and the kits ran off. Redtail felt a surge of gratitude to White-eye. He didn’t want the kits to hear any of this.

What would Sunstar think? Redtail had been considering the fight with Sorrelpaw on the walk back to camp. And he thought Stagleap was right—Sunstar wouldn’t be too impressed that Redtail had beaten up an apprentice. “I guess I should get this over with,” he said grimly.

Tigerclaw nudged him toward Sunstar’s den. “Just follow my lead.”

As they approached the Highrock, Sunstar pushed his way through the lichen covering the entrance to his den. “What’s the matter?” he asked, seeing the expressions on Redtail’s and Tigerclaw’s faces.

“We’ve got trouble,” Tigerclaw warned before Redtail could respond, and Sunstar’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Come inside and tell me what you mean.”

Tigerclaw and Redtail followed Sunstar into his den. How can I explain why I attacked Sorrelpaw? Redtail wondered guiltily.

But he didn’t have to speak at all. Once inside, Tigerclaw began talking immediately. “We were hunting in the woods near Fourtrees, stalking a juicy rabbit,” he explained. “Just as we were about to catch it, a WindClan apprentice, Sorrelpaw, came over the border from Fourtrees. She scared off our prey on purpose, just out of spite, then blamed us for hunting on our own territory.”

Sunstar cocked his head to one side. “Just an apprentice making a mistake over border markers, surely? It happens. I hope you gave her a scolding and sent her back to WindClan.”

Tigerclaw looked solemn. “I thought so, too, but when I pointed out the boundaries, she hissed at me and said it was time WindClan taught us a lesson. She said ThunderClan was just a bunch of bullies who thought everything belonged to us.”

Redtail stared at Tigerclaw in surprise. Sorrelpaw did say that, but that’s not exactly how it happened. Tigerclaw was making the whole fight sound like Sorrelpaw had been starting trouble on purpose and Tigerclaw had been calm and kind. “Uh …” Tigerclaw shot him a warning look, and Redtail closed his mouth again. Maybe Tigerclaw had seen something Redtail hadn’t in the apprentice’s behavior.

“We waited for Sorrelpaw’s mentor,” Tigerclaw went on. “We assumed that she was out of control and that he’d want to know what trouble she’d been starting. It was Stagleap, that big WindClan warrior.”

Sunstar nodded; he knew who Stagleap was.

“When we told Stagleap what Sorrelpaw had done, he just laughed and asked what we were planning to do about it. And they scratched Redtail. Redtail, show Sunstar.”

Redtail turned slightly, to show Sunstar the shallow scratches on his side. Sunstar examined them seriously. He flicked his ear nervously. Tigerclaw is twisting things. Sunstar wouldn’t be so impressed by these wounds if he saw what I did to Sorrelpaw.

“Stagleap said there was nothing we could do,” Tigerclaw finished. “He said, ‘It isn’t like Sunstar will attack. He won’t want to make WindClan angry.’”

Sunstar’s eyes widened, and he bristled. “He said that, did he?”

“He did,” Tigerclaw answered. “That’s when Redtail drove them away.”

Redtail winced. He’d overpowered an apprentice and hurt her, but he hadn’t driven anyone away. He remembered the disgusted look on Stagleap’s face, and a wave of shame washed over him.