Эрин Хантер - Fading Echoes

Why can’t I just be an ordinary cat?

Jayfeather jerked awake. The air was still damp with night, yet voices were whispering in the clearing. Stones shifted as paws descended the rockfall.

Firestar’s awake.

Jayfeather sat up.

He tasted the air.

WindClan .

Jayfeather leaped from his nest and nosed his way through the brambles as Lionblaze and Cinderheart slid from the warriors’ den.

“What’s going on?” Lionblaze circled his apprentice.

Dovepaw didn’t answer, but fidgeted beside her sister as they stood as uncomfortable as owlets caught in daylight.

Briarpaw pushed her way out of the apprentices’ den, whiskers twitching with curiosity. “Come and see this,” she hissed over her shoulder to her denmates as Brambleclaw joined Firestar in the clearing. Nests rustled behind him, while Whitewing and Birchfall watched from their den, their tails gently stirring the branches.

Dustpelt pushed past them. “What are they doing here?” The dark tabby tom’s mew rang around the rock walls of the camp, anger aimed like a thorn at the WindClan warriors.

Breezepelt and Heathertail didn’t flinch.

“Keep your voice down, Dustpelt,” Firestar ordered. “We don’t want to wake every cat.”

“Why not?” Daisy marched out of the nursery, her fur bristling. “There are WindClan cats in the camp!”

“It’s not an attack,” Whitewing reassured the anxious queen.

“Are you sure?” Dustpelt circled the edge of the clearing, distrust crackling with every pawstep.

Heathertail’s tail brushed the ground. “You seem to have lost two apprentices,” she meowed. “We’re returning them.”

Jayfeather felt guilt pulse like a flame from Dovepaw and Ivypaw.

“ I’ll handle this.” Firestar’s gaze flashed around his Clanmates. “Any cat not directly involved can go back to their nest.”

Dustpelt halted. The yew bush swished as the other apprentices scooted inside. Whitewing and Birchfall backed into their den.

“Lionblaze and Cinderheart, I want you to stay,” Firestar went on. “You too, Jayfeather.”

“What about me?” Brambleclaw meowed.

“Make sure everyone is settled and reassure the queens.” Firestar padded toward the thorn barrier. “Follow me,” he called over his shoulder. “I don’t want any more disturbances in camp.”

Jayfeather tagged behind Dovepaw, Ivypaw, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, and the WindClan warriors as they followed the ThunderClan leader through the thorn tunnel. The night air felt heavy on his pelt, and his mind was ablaze with the tensions flashing among the cats.

Outside the camp, Firestar sat down. Lionblaze’s paws scuffed the fallen leaves. An owl hooted overhead, then flapped away through the trees. Breezepelt and Heathertail stood stiffly beside each other, while Dovepaw and Ivypaw shifted on their paws. Cinderheart was tense and unhappy; Jayfeather could sense the knot in her belly. He shivered in the cold breeze.

Firestar cleared his throat. “Now, what’s going on?”

Breezepelt answered. “We found these two outside our camp.”

Dovepaw and Ivypaw shuffled closer together.

“Ivypaw?” Firestar’s attention focused on the apprentice. “Is that what happened?”

“We…” Ivypaw hesitated. “We were just exploring.”

“In the middle of WindClan territory?” Firestar’s mew was ominously soft.

“It was my fault!” Dovepaw broke in. “I…I heard a dog on the moor while we were tree training and I was worried…”

Jayfeather curled his claws. Oh no! Dovepaw! You mouse-brain! He felt Lionblaze stiffen.

A growl rumbled in Breezepelt’s throat. “You were worried?” His tail swished the leaves. “About WindClan ? Firestar, don’t you teach your apprentices the warrior code?”

Firestar paused, then addressed the WindClan warriors calmly. “Thank you for bringing them back. I am sorry they disturbed you and your Clanmates. Nothing like this will ever happen again.”

Jayfeather sensed irritation itching beneath Dovepaw’s pelt, but she had the good sense to hold her tongue.

“We do live by the warrior code,” Firestar assured Breezepelt, his mew tight. “And we will make sure these young cats understand how important that is.” The ThunderClan leader was seething, embarrassed by his apprentices, but Jayfeather could also sense questions fizzing in his mind. What had these apprentices really been doing in WindClan territory?

Heathertail breathed out slowly. “Make sure you do.” As she turned and began to head away from the ThunderClan camp, Jayfeather felt tension crackle like lightning between her and Lionblaze, and she aimed her final barb at the golden warrior. “You should keep a closer eye on your apprentice from now on.”

Breezepelt swished after her through the undergrowth. “WindClan can take care of itself without your help!” he called before the ferns swallowed him.

Firestar waited until their pawsteps had faded. “What in the name of StarClan did you think you were doing?” he demanded, turning on Dovepaw and Ivypaw.

“It was my idea!” Dovepaw insisted.

“Ivypaw isn’t stuck to you like a piece of cobweb!” Firestar pointed out. “She could have changed her mind at any time.”

“I wasn’t going to let Dovepaw go alone!” Ivypaw objected.

“That doesn’t explain what you were doing in WindClan territory!” Firestar snorted. “What’s this nonsense about hearing a dog?”

When neither apprentice answered, he sighed. “Very well. Whatever the reason, it was a dumb thing to do!”

Was he really going to leave it at that? Jayfeather tipped his head to one side as Firestar went on.

“I’ll leave your punishment up to your mentors, but I hope they will make sure you improve your understanding of the warrior code. Your training so far seems to have left little impression.” Leaves rustled beneath his paws. “If you’re going to behave like kits, then you should be treated like kits. Now go!”

Dovepaw and Ivypaw began to pad away.

“Dovepaw,” Firestar called. “I want an extra word with you.”

Ivypaw halted, puzzled. “Why not me?”

“Never you mind.” Cinderheart nudged her forward. “Just do as you’re told!”

Ivypaw’s feet scuffed the ground as she was marched away by her mentor.

Jayfeather made to leave too, but Firestar called him back. “I want you and Lionblaze to stay.”

He was circling Dovepaw, his mind sharp as a thorn. “How did you know about this dog?” he quizzed the apprentice.

“W-what do you mean?” Dovepaw stammered.

Firestar’s attention flashed toward Jayfeather, crackling with suspicion. “What about you? Did StarClan send you a sign or a dream about the dog?”

Jayfeather shook his head. He wished he could lie to hide Dovepaw’s stupid mistake, but Firestar wouldn’t fall for it. “I’ve dreamed about dogs on the moors before,” he mumbled. “But not recently.”

Firestar’s attention shot back to Dovepaw.

“So, how did you know about it? Did you dream it?”

“I told you,” Dovepaw answered. “I heard it!”

A frustrated growl rumbled in Firestar’s throat. “What about you, Lionblaze? You were tree training with her. Did you hear this dog?”

Lionblaze shifted his paws. “I was on the ground,” he mumbled. “There was a breeze. It was impossible to tell.”

Firestar cut him off. “Then it was just Dovepaw.”