Эрин Хантер - Thunder Rising

The rabbit sat up, startled, then raced for the edge of the clearing and vanished into a hole among the roots of an oak tree. Thunder halted, frustrated. Shame throbbed through his whole body as he heard a mrrow of laughter from Shattered Ice.

Shattered Ice padded over, looking down at him, the laughter gone from his expression. “All right, all right,” he sighed. “Don’t look so upset. It’s not the end of the world. I’ll help you learn, okay?”

Thunder brightened up immediately. “Sure!”

“Start by getting low and listening for little animals in the bushes,” Shattered Ice instructed him.

Obediently Thunder crouched. “Like this?”

Shattered Ice moved slowly around him, examining his position with a critical eye. “Not bad,” he commented. “Move your forepaws back a bit, and keep your tail out of the way.”

Thunder felt his denmate pushing his haunches down with one paw. The pose felt awkward for a moment, until he began to get used to it.

“That’s the right position,” Shattered Ice meowed. “Stay like that for a moment so you remember—”

“Teaching your friend how to steal prey?” asked a sudden voice.

Thunder whirled around. Two strange cats had appeared at the edge of the clearing: a black-and-white tom and a smaller yellow she-cat. Thunder realized they must have approached them from upwind while Shattered Ice was showing him how to crouch. They were staring at Thunder and Shattered Ice with hostile eyes. I was right , Thunder thought. We weren’t alone.

Shattered Ice had whipped around too, and was returning the strange cats’ glares. “Leaf. Petal,” he mewed, moving protectively in front of Thunder. “How nice to see you.”

The newcomers padded forward and stalked around Thunder and Shattered Ice, their shoulder fur bristling and their tails lashing.

“You’re trespassing,” Petal snarled. “What should we do with them, Leaf?”

“Slash their noses to start with,” Leaf growled. “And then rip their pelts off.”

Shattered Ice slid his claws out defiantly. “I’d like to see you try!” Hissing, he added, “We’re not thieves or trespassers. We’re just cats like you, trying to survive.”

Petal’s eyes narrowed and she shoved her face up close to Shattered Ice. Thunder’s belly clenched and he winced as he wondered how his denmate would react.

To Thunder’s surprise, the gray-and-white tom didn’t attack, which made Thunder realize that this encounter was even more serious than he’d thought. Shattered Ice would never allow himself to be pushed around. Not unless he had no choice …

“You and your friend here can go back where you came from,” Petal hissed. “Pass on the message that you’re not welcome in the forest anymore. If you dare to hunt here, there will be consequences.”

The expression on Shattered Ice’s face hardened. “What sort of consequences, dungface?” he demanded.

There! Shattered Ice had finally reacted, throwing one of the worst insults Thunder knew.

Petal’s fur bristled and she drew back a paw to slash her claws across Shattered Ice’s muzzle.

“No!” Thunder yowled before he could stop himself.

But suddenly there was a movement at one side of the clearing. A clump of ferns parted and two other cats strode into the open.

Relief flooded through Thunder as he recognized them: Falling Feather and Moon Shadow. Both of them had made the journey from the mountains; Thunder had met them when they had come to visit the camp on the moor.

“Petal, what are you doing?” Falling Feather asked, bounding forward. “Shattered Ice saved my life!”

“What?” Petal drew back grudgingly. “When?”

“When we were traveling from the mountains,” Falling Feather replied. “He saved me from a bright red monster.”

“Is that true?” Leaf asked.

Shattered Ice gave a curt nod. “Yes.”

Leaf took a pace back, looking uncomfortable. “You know we’re not supposed to let cats trespass on our territory,” he protested to Falling Feather. “These cats were trying to hunt.”

“We were only defending ourselves,” Petal added.

“Don’t worry.” Moon Shadow puffed out his chest importantly. “I can escort these cats away.”

Shattered Ice rolled his eyes. “You haven’t changed then, Moon Shadow,” he mewed. “Still showing off. We don’t need escorting, thank you very much.”

Thunder cringed as Moon Shadow flexed his claws and drew his lips back in a snarl. He hoped that Shattered Ice hadn’t gone too far. “Would you prefer a fight, flea-pelt?”

Falling Feather pushed her way between the two toms before either of them could strike a blow. “Stop this!” she ordered. “I’ll never turn my back on a cat who once saved my life. Still,” she added, turning to Shattered Ice, “you have to understand that things have changed now. It’s best that you don’t come here to hunt. Clear Sky wouldn’t be happy.”

A pang struck Thunder like claws around his heart at the mention of his father. “Would Clear Sky really be so angry?” he asked. “He wouldn’t deny his own son, would he?”

The other cats all looked at one another uneasily, and a nasty silence dragged out until Thunder wanted to yowl to break it. His heart sank as low as his paws.

At last Falling Feather turned to him. “Clear Sky is only concerned about helping every cat survive,” she explained gently. “He can’t have favorites. And so that all cats know where they can hunt, he’s making sure that the boundaries are respected. That’s all we’re asking for—a little respect.”

Thunder’s pelt felt hot with shame as he listened to Falling Feather. Shattered Ice and I shouldn’t have entered the forest, but they didn’t need to be so hostile. We haven’t done anything wrong ! He exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Shattered Ice. “What should we do?” he asked.

Before Shattered Ice could reply, a loud barking split the quiet air, coming from the direction of their camp. Thunder’s heart began to pound. “Dogs!” he exclaimed.

“We have to go to the others!” Shattered Ice meowed.

Without another word he and Shattered Ice broke away from the forest cats, who were already disappearing farther into the forest. They pelted through the trees, heading for the moor. Thunder could only hope they wouldn’t be too late.

Thunder exploded from the trees, hard on Shattered Ice’s paws, and raced up the slope, his paws pounding over the wiry moorland grass. He could still hear the dogs barking, but he couldn’t see anything until he reached the ridge.

Pausing to catch his breath, Thunder looked down the hill. Now he could see the dogs in the distance, and hear their yelping and growling more clearly. Beyond them he spotted the small figure of a cat, hobbling and totally exposed as he tried to reach the camp. He kept glancing back over his shoulder as the dogs’ powerful legs ate up the distance between them.

“That’s Jagged Peak!” Thunder exclaimed, pointing with his tail. “What’s he doing out here?”

“Never mind that. Come on!” Shattered Ice mewed. “We have to head off the dogs before they catch him.”

Together the two cats rushed into the valley. But before they reached the dogs another cat appeared from the direction of the hollow. He was much closer to Jagged Peak, racing toward him with his belly fur brushing the grass and his tail streaming out behind him.

“Gray Wing!” Thunder gasped. “Oh, no! What’s he doing?”