Эрин Хантер: Shattered Sky

Ivypool brushed her tail reassuringly over Twigpaw’s shoulders. “Your first battle is always tough,” she meowed. Her silver-and-white pelt was as neat as if she had just groomed it, and her voice was full of confidence. “But stick close to me, and I’ll look after you.”

Relief flooded through Twigpaw, and she blinked gratefully at her mentor. I’m so happy to be Ivypool’s apprentice, she thought. She always has my back.

“Cats of all Clans…” Bramblestar’s voice rang out across the assembled cats. “The time has come to take the rogues by surprise and force them out of ShadowClan territory.”

“Yes,” Rowanstar agreed. The ShadowClan leader’s voice was quiet but invited no argument. He stood at the front of the crowd, his ginger fur beginning to glow as the light strengthened. His mate, Tawnypelt, had positioned herself close beside him. “We must get rid of the rogues once and for all . The future of the Clans depends on it!”

Onestar, the leader of WindClan, glared at Rowanstar and gave an irritated lash of his tail. “That’s an interesting order,” he meowed, “coming from the cat who allowed the rogues to live on his territory for moons, until finally most of his Clan decided they would rather follow Darktail! Maybe, Rowanstar,” he added, “you could stop issuing orders to cats who are cleaning up your mess.”

Rowanstar’s neck fur bristled and he drew his lips back in the beginning of a snarl. “And just maybe,” he retorted bitterly, “WindClan cats could mind their own business.”

“You made it our business!” Onestar snapped.

“Enough!” Mistystar of RiverClan thrust her way between the two furious leaders, holding herself with authority. “What hope do we have if we fight among ourselves? Rowanstar is right about one thing: the rogues must be driven out. They killed Furzepelt, they enticed ShadowClan warriors away from their Clan, and now they’ve stolen ShadowClan’s territory. It’s time to get rid of these fiends once and for all.”

“Exactly,” Bramblestar agreed, his voice level. “So please can we stop blaming one another, and work together to drive out these rogues?”

He glanced from Rowanstar to Onestar and back again. Onestar dipped his head in acquiescence, while Rowanstar turned aside, breathing heavily and shaking out his fur.

Seeing the leaders fight like that only made Twigpaw more nervous; she felt as if she had a belly full of mice that were chasing one another’s tails.

“Are you ready?” Ivypool asked.

Twigpaw hesitated. “I’m worried about my sister,” she confessed at last. “Poor Violetpaw is with the rogues now, and she’s bound to be caught up in all of this. What if she gets hurt?”

“Violetpaw is strong and smart.” A new voice chimed in; Twigpaw turned her head to see the ShadowClan deputy, Tigerheart, standing just behind her, with her Clanmate Dovewing by his side. “She’ll be okay,” Tigerheart continued reassuringly. “And none of the cats here would seriously injure an apprentice.”

“Thank you.” Twigpaw gave the dark brown tabby cat a grateful glance, though she noticed her mentor’s tail-tip twitching back and forth in irritation. I wonder why Ivypool doesn’t seem to like Tigerheart.

Bramblestar waved his tail as a signal for the assembled cats to move. His muscles rippled under his dark tabby pelt as he led the way. Padding forward as one cat, the combined forces of the four Clans slid silently after him through the long grass and crossed into ShadowClan territory. Twigpaw shivered as the reek of the border markers wafted over her.

Every cat kept quiet under the shadow of the trees, paw steps soundless on the thick layer of pine needles that covered the ground. They spread out as they headed toward the ShadowClan camp.

But before the bushes that surrounded the camp came into view, Twigpaw spotted movement among the trees ahead. A patrol emerged: four of the ShadowClan cats who had chosen to remain on their own territory with the rogues. Sleekwhisker was in the lead.

The patrol halted as they spotted the crowd of cats stalking purposefully toward them. They stared as if they could not believe what was in front of them.

Sleekwhisker was the first to recover from the shock. “Intruders!” she screeched. “We’re under attack! All cats—back to camp, now!”

She whirled around and vanished into the trees, her patrol hard on her paws.

Harespring, the WindClan deputy, looked at his paws and shook his head. “There goes our chance of surprising them,” he muttered.

“Into your groups!” Bramblestar ordered.

Before they’d left the ThunderClan camp, every cat had been assigned to a group that would fight together in the battle. Now Twigpaw knew exactly where she was supposed to be. Still nervous, and amazed at how fast everything was happening, she raced forward, following Lionblaze. Her paws hardly touched the ground as wind flowed through her fur. Ivypool, Dovewing, and Tigerheart pelted along beside her.

The mingled scents of many cats told Twigpaw that they were now very close to the ShadowClan camp. At the same moment, cats began to stream out of the bushes ahead. Twigpaw’s eyes widened, and for a heartbeat her flying paws faltered, as she realized just how many rogues there were now that former ShadowClan cats had joined them—far more than she had seen or heard of before.

The silence of the forest was split by yowls and caterwauling as the two groups of cats clashed. Twigpaw found herself face to face with Juniperclaw. For a moment she hesitated, unsure what to do, until the ShadowClan tom swiped at her, claws extended and jaws gaping in a snarl. Instinctively Twigpaw ducked underneath his outstretched leg and raked her claws across Juniperclaw’s underbelly, her fighting lessons with Ivypool echoing in her mind.

Juniperclaw let out a hiss of fury and reared back to pounce on top of Twigpaw, who dodged to one side, swiping at his flank. But Juniperclaw jumped back quickly enough that Twigpaw’s blow never landed. Growling fiercely, Twigpaw leaped toward her adversary, throwing up a paw to block the ShadowClan warrior as he slashed at her shoulder.

Excitement flooded through Twigpaw as her body remembered all the fighting moves she’d learned in training. This feels natural… it feels right . I’m fighting for my Clan!

She dashed at Juniperclaw again, bunching her muscles to leap upon his back. But at the last moment Juniperclaw reared onto his hind legs and twisted to one side, pinning Twigpaw to the ground. The ShadowClan warrior’s glaring eyes and sharp teeth were less than a mouse-length from her face.

“You’re good, apprentice,” he hissed. “But not that good.”

Unable to breathe under his weight, Twigpaw tried to bring up her hind paws to bat at the ShadowClan cat’s belly, but Juniperclaw was too heavy; Twigpaw couldn’t push him far enough away to get any strength behind her blows.

What do I do now? she wondered, fighting off panic.

Suddenly a silver-and-white blur flashed across Twigpaw’s vision as Ivypool leaped right over her, knocking Juniperclaw away. The ShadowClan cat fell to the ground, paws flailing, while Ivypool followed up her leap with a couple of hard blows across his shoulders.

“Scram, flea-pelt!” she snarled.

Juniperclaw scrambled to his paws and fled; Twigpaw lost sight of him among the battling cats.

“Thanks, Ivypool,” she gasped, forcing herself upright again.

“My pleasure,” Ivypool mewed swiftly; then she hurled herself toward Lionblaze and Dovewing, who were battling three of the rogues.

Her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath, Twigpaw took a moment to look around. Everywhere cats were locked in combat. Her spirits rose as she realized that the Clan cats seemed to be winning the fight. She saw Bramblestar knock Rain to the ground, while Cherryfall was darting to and fro, slashing at Sleekwhisker, whose efforts to defend herself grew feebler with every heartbeat.