Erin Hunter - Path of Stars

“The monster missed you by a whisker!” Sparrow Fur croaked.

Clear Sky loosened his grip on Black Ear. “Is the kit alive?” He hardly dared ask. The wind from the monster had hit them hard. Pain throbbed in his tail. His flanks were numb.

Thunder leaned down and sniffed the wet scrap of fur beside Clear Sky’s belly.

Black Ear mewled softly. “I want to go home.”

Relief washed Clear Sky’s aching body. He struggled to sit up, wincing at the pain in his tail, and sniffed the kit. Rogue stench bathed the tiny tom’s scruff, and his pelt reeked of Thunderpath fumes.

“Did the rogues hurt you?”

“They wouldn’t let me go home.” Black Ear looked up at Clear Sky, eyes glistening with fear. “Is

Slate okay? I saw them hurt her. Then they took me away.”

Clear Sky’s throat tightened. “Slate’s fine,” he promised the kit. “She just has a few scratches.

Pebble Heart is taking care of her.”

“Are Silver Stripe and White Tail all right too?” Black Ear asked.

Clear Sky pressed his muzzle to Black Ear’s cheek. “They’re safe and sound.” He was trembling, his pelt soaked with freezing water. But he’d saved Black Ear. As the kit scrambled shakily to his paws, he thought of Tiny Branch, safe in his nest at home. “We need to get you back to your mother.”

“First we need to get him warm and dry. Let’s head for Tall Shadow’s camp. It’s closest.”

Sparrow Fur plucked Black Ear up by his scruff.

“Ow!” The kit struggled, churning his paws. “My scruff hurts!”

“Here.” Thunder crouched in front of him. “You can ride on my back.”

Sparrow Fur laid Black Ear gently between Thunder’s shoulder blades and lifted a paw to pat

Thunder’s thick fur around the kit. “Just make sure you hang on.”

Black Ear snuggled deeper in, curling his claws into Thunder’s pelt.

Clear Sky glanced at Thunder.

Thunder looked worried. “Are you well enough to travel?”

Clear Sky ached in every limb. But he wasn’t staying here. “I’m fine.” He pushed himself onto his paws and tested his legs. They seemed to hold, though he couldn’t stop them shaking. The worst pain was in his tail. He hardly dared look. It felt as though the monster had shredded it. “My tail,” he croaked softly.

Sparrow Fur sniffed it. “It’s injured,” she meowed. “Can you move it?”

Clear Sky tried to lift it. Pain blazed though him, but his tail remained limp. He glanced at it nervously. It drooped behind him like a dead snake, slick with filth from the Thunderpath.

Sparrow Fur shook out her pelt. “While you go to Tall Shadow’s camp, I’ll fetch Pebble Heart and tell Slate and Gray Wing that Black Ear is safe. Pebble Heart might know how to fix Clear Sky’s tail.”

Black Ear lifted his muzzle. “ I want to go back to the moor!”

Sparrow Fur met the kit’s gaze. “You need shelter and warmth. You’ve had a nasty shock. If Slate is well enough, I’ll bring her back with Pebble Heart.”

“Will you bring Gray Wing, too?” Black Ear eyed the tortoiseshell hopefully.

Clear Sky frowned as he saw Sparrow Fur and Thunder exchange an anxious look. “What’s wrong with Gray Wing?”

Thunder’s ear twitched. “Nothing,” he mewed quickly. “He’s probably still out looking for Black

Ear.”

Clear Sky narrowed his eyes. Thunder was lying. He glanced at Black Ear. There was something Thunder didn’t want the kit to know. He touched his nose to Black Ear’s head, changing the subject.

“You’re lucky,” he meowed. “Not many kits get to visit another camp before they’re a moon old.” He tried to ignore the pain in his tail. His pads stung, scratched by the Thunderpath.

Sparrow Fur turned toward the moor. “I’ll be as quick as I can.” Nodding a farewell, she hurried away through the pines.

Owl Eyes slid in beside Clear Sky and pressed his shoulder against him. “Lean on me.”

Clear Sky stiffened, resisting help, but another spike of pain made him gasp. Reluctantly, he let his weight rest against the young tom and limped slowly toward Tall Shadow’s camp.

As they neared the bramble wall of the camp, flecks of snow drifted down from the pines. The forest floor was lightly dusted, but the trees held a heavy weight of snow. The sounds of the forest were muffled beneath them, and shadow pressed on every side. Clear Sky felt as though he were walking in a strange dream. Cold seemed to reach through his pelt and his flesh, reaching his bones until he felt himself shivering.

“Clear Sky?” Jagged Peak’s surprised mew rang between the trees.

Clear Sky blinked through the darkness and made out the gray tom’s shape.

Jagged Peak hurried toward them. “What happened?” He pulled up and stared, first at Clear Sky, then at the bedraggled kit on Thunder’s back.

Owl Eyes pressed harder against Clear Sky. “Slash attacked Wind Runner’s camp while we were at the meeting. They took Black Ear. But we got him back.”

Jagged Peak’s eyes flashed with outrage. “Will we ever see the back of that fox-heart?”

Thunder growled. “I think he knows that he’d be a fool to show his pelt anywhere near us after this.” He nodded toward the camp. “We need to get Black Ear somewhere warm, and Clear Sky needs rest. He was hit by a monster.”

“It didn’t hit me,” Clear Sky croaked.

“Just your tail,” Thunder grunted. He padded past Jagged Peak, heading toward camp.

Black Ear stared up into the branches from between Thunder’s shoulder blades. “Is it always this dark?”

“It’s not yet dawn.” Jagged Peak hurried to catch up with Thunder.

“Then why are you awake?” Black Ear asked.

“We’ve been waiting for news.”

“Jagged Peak?” Tall Shadow’s mew sounded from the entrance. Her eyes widened as she stuck out her head and saw the party. Her gaze flicked over them quickly; then she withdrew and called across her camp. “Mouse Ear! We need your den! Clear Sky is injured. Holly! Black Ear is with them. He looks frozen to the bone.”

By the time Clear Sky had trailed through the entrance after Thunder, cats were moving around the camp. He could hardly see them, shadows against the bramble walls.

“This way.” Mouse Ear’s reassuring mew beckoned them toward the edge of the clearing.

A gap opened in the thick bramble wall. Thunder ducked in first and Clear Sky stumbled after, leaving Jagged Peak and Owl Eyes outside. He smelled the warmth of Mouse Ear’s nest. The tom had clearly been sleeping in it until only a few moments ago. Clear Sky padded toward it and collapsed gratefully into the softness of the moss-lined pine brush.

Thunder tipped Black Ear next to him, and the kit snuggled close for warmth as Holly slid into the den.

Holly crouched beside them and began lapping the wet kit.

Black Ear began to purr at once. “You smell like Slate, only different,” he told Holly.

Thunder shifted beside the nest. “Slate is surely on her way here,” he insisted, “with Pebble Heart.” He hoped he was right.

Holly lifted her head, her nose twitching. She glanced at Clear Sky’s tail.

Clear Sky saw her wince, and his heart quickened. “Is it bad?”

“I’ve seen worse,” Holly meowed briskly, and returned to watching Black Ear. “This kit is freezing. Can you fetch more moss, Thunder?”

“Of course.” Thunder nodded and disappeared from the den.

Weariness swept over Clear Sky. “Will Black Ear be okay?” he asked thickly.

“He’ll be fine once he’s warm.” She blinked at Clear Sky. “Why don’t you close your eyes and get some sleep while we wait for Pebble Heart.”

Clear Sky didn’t argue. His pelt felt as heavy as dead prey. His paws stung, and the throbbing in his tail possessed every thought. Head swimming, he rested his muzzle against the side of the nest and closed his eyes.