Erin Hunter - The Fourth Apprentice

While Firestar and Onestar were climbing the tree to join Blackstar, Lionblaze spotted Jayfeather padding over to touch noses with Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat. Nearby, Littlecloud’s apprentice, Flametail, was sitting with his littermates Tigerheart and Dawnpelt.

Tigerheart sprang to his paws as soon as he saw Lionblaze. “Hi!” he called. “How are you doing?”

“Fine, thanks,” Lionblaze replied curtly. As he turned away, he tried to ignore the hurt in the younger cat’s eyes.

Moons ago, when Tigerheart and his littermates were newly apprenticed, their mother, Tawnypelt, had brought them to ThunderClan because a loner named Sol had taken over ShadowClan. Tawnypelt had been born and raised in ThunderClan; she and her kits had been welcomed, though cautiously, but had gone back to ShadowClan as soon as Sol had been driven out.

I thought they were my kin then, Lionblaze reflected sadly. Brambleclaw is Tawnypelt’s brother… I liked them, especially Tigerheart. But now…

“I wish they would leave me alone,” he muttered aloud to Cinderheart. “They know I’m not their kin.”

Cinderheart’s blue eyes softened. “You can be friends without being kin,” she pointed out. “And isn’t it a good thing to have friends in another Clan instead of enemies?”

How could Cinderheart understand? She hasn’t been betrayed by her parents . Lionblaze’s gaze rested on Tigerheart and Dawnpelt. I wonder if Tigerstar has visited them in their dreams, like he used to visit me in mine? Tigerstar was Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt’s father. He had been a warrior and deputy of ThunderClan, but he had been banished by Bluestar for plotting her death and became leader of ShadowClan. He had dreamed of ruling over all four Clans when he was alive, and he nursed that dream still, even though he now walked in the Dark Forest, with other cats who were denied entry to StarClan. He had come to Lionblaze at night, preying on their shared blood, to train him in the art of merciless fighting and brutal ambition. Lionblaze had learned everything eagerly, but as soon as he found out that Tigerstar was not his kin, he realized that the dead warrior had been using him for his own dark purposes.

Lionblaze forced his paws to carry him toward the young ShadowClan warriors, knowing that he ought to try making up for his unfriendliness, but before he could take more than a couple of steps he heard Onestar calling from the Great Oak.

“Has any cat seen Leopardstar and her Clan?” When nothing but shrugs and shaking heads answered his question, he added, “Weaselfur, go take a look, will you?”

The WindClan warrior pushed his way back through the bushes and returned a moment later. “There’s a patrol on its way,” he reported to his leader. “They’re coming straight across the lake.”

All the cats settled down to wait, their talk dying into silence. Lionblaze sat beside Cinderheart, with a guilty glance across the clearing at the ShadowClan cats. Maybe I’ll talk to them before we leave .

Not many heartbeats had passed before Lionblaze heard more rustling in the bushes and Leopardstar emerged at the head of the RiverClan patrol. He felt his pelt bristle with shock when he saw how frail the RiverClan leader was, every bone visible beneath her spotted pelt and her eyes as dull as the mud left in the lake.

As soon as Leopardstar appeared, Dovepaw sat straight up, her eyes stretched wide with astonishment. Wriggling around to face Lionblaze, she leaned across to him and whispered in his ear, “That’s the sick cat from the RiverClan camp!”

“Are you sure?” Lionblaze was taken aback. That means Leopardstar has been sick for nearly a moon!

Dovepaw nodded, and Lionblaze didn’t ask her any more questions. He didn’t want any other cat to overhear their conversation.

Leopardstar held her head high as she padded across the clearing with Mistyfoot behind her. She paused at the foot of the tree, gazing upward but making no attempt to leap; Mistyfoot murmured something to her.

“I think Mistyfoot is offering to help her,” Cinderheart whispered into Lionblaze’s ear. “Leopardstar must be really ill if she can’t even jump into the tree.”

But as Cinderheart spoke Leopardstar gave her head a decisive shake, gathered her haunches under her, and sprang. Her forepaws just scraped the lowest branch; she dug her claws in and after an undignified scramble managed to pull herself up. She crouched on the branch and glared at the cats below with fierce yellow eyes, as if daring any of them to comment on her awkward jump.

Lionblaze exchanged a glance with Foxleap, who sat next to him. Leopardstar looks as if she’ll fall off that branch at any moment! Then his gaze flicked to his brother, who was sitting at the foot of the tree with the other medicine cats, and he wondered if Jayfeather knew how weak Leopardstar was.

Firestar rose to his paws and let out a yowl to indicate that the Gathering had begun. Even though he was much thinner than usual, he still looked a lot healthier than Leopardstar. “Cats of all Clans,” he began. “We are all suffering from the heat and the lack of water.”

“What else is new?” Crowfeather called from a group of WindClan warriors.

Firestar ignored him. “The problem is getting worse. The stream between our territory and ShadowClan’s has dried up. We think there’s a possibility that there’s a blockage up the stream. Some of the cats from my Clan want to explore and see if that’s true.”

As he spoke, his green gaze rested on Lionblaze, as if to reassure him that he didn’t intend to name Dovepaw, or reveal that the cat who had the idea was only an apprentice. Let’s hope the other cats who heard her by the fresh-kill pile have the sense to keep their mouths shut .

Lionblaze responded to his leader with a tiny nod; glancing at Dovepaw, he was relieved to see that she was listening as attentively as any other cat, but she didn’t look as if she knew more than Firestar was telling.

“Your patrol will be trespassing on ShadowClan territory if they travel upstream,” Blackstar growled in reply to Firestar’s suggestion. “I will not allow it.”

“I think we should send a patrol made up of cats from all four Clans,” Firestar explained. He raised his tail for silence as a ripple of surprise passed through the clearing. “Remember what happened when Twolegs destroyed our home in the old forest?” he went on. “A patrol of six cats, representing all the Clans, went on a quest to find new territories. That was how we survived then; this could be the way to survive now.”

Lionblaze felt a thrill of excitement pass through the clearing. Cats were springing to their paws, their pelts fluffing up and their tails waving.

“I’ll go!” Tigerheart called out.

“So will I!” added Dawnpelt, her eyes shining. “It’ll be a real warriors’ quest!”

“I wasn’t born when the Clans made the Great Journey,” Lionblaze heard Foxleap meowing to Rosepetal. “But I bet it was exciting.”

“I wonder what we’ll find.” Rosepetal’s whiskers were quivering. “I bet a moon of dawn patrols it’s Twolegs again.”

“Or badgers,” replied Foxleap. “I wouldn’t put anything past badgers.”

“I want to go,” Dovepaw whispered to Lionblaze. “Do you think Firestar will choose an apprentice?”

“Don’t worry,” Lionblaze murmured in reply. “You’re the one cat in all the Clans who has to go.”

“You really think we could bring the water back?” It was Onestar who spoke; his voice was cautious, but hope was waking in his eyes.

“I think it’s worth a try,” Firestar responded.

“And who would be in charge of this joint patrol?” Blackstar asked, still sounding belligerent. “You?”