Erin Hunter - Long Shadows

“It feels great, thanks.” Even though he knew that horsetail would have worked better, Jaypaw was still grateful for the cooling juices on his pads.

“You can rub your feet again later,” the she-cat went on, pushing the remaining dock leaves together into a pile. “But you’d better get some sleep now.”

“I’ll bring you something to eat,” Dove’s Wing promised.

Jaypaw’s jaws stretched in an enormous yawn. He was barely aware of Rising Moon scrambling out of the den. Closing his eyes, he let himself drift into sleep.

Scent tickled Jaypaw’s nose. Mouse! His belly growled, and his eyes flew open to see that dusk had fallen. Dove’s Wing’s pale gray shape stood on the edge of the den, peering down at him. A

mouse dangled from her jaws.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed, dropping the mouse at her paws. “Are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine,” Jaypaw meowed, hauling himself out from underneath the tree roots.

“Hey, Jay’s Wing!” A young brown tabby tom was standing just behind Dove’s Wing, his amber eyes alight with curiosity.

“What was it like, down in the tunnels?”

“Quiet, Fish Leap!” A white she-cat padded up on Dove’s Wing’s other side. “Don’t pester Jay’s Wing. He must be worn out already, without you asking questions.”

“And don’t tell me what to do, Half Moon,” Fish Leap retorted. “You want to know everything as much as I do.”

The white cat brushed her pelt against Jaypaw’s. Her green eyes shone up at him. “Of course I do,” she purred. “But I can wait while he eats.”

The scent of the mouse was making Jaypaw’s mouth water.

“Thanks,” he meowed to Dove’s Wing, and took a bite. He was aware of Fish Leap tearing impatiently at the grass beside him.

“I don’t know why Furled Bracken is making us wait to go into the tunnels,” he grumbled. “We’re all ready to become sharpclaws. I want to get on with my challenge.”

“Furled Bracken will let us go when he thinks we’re ready,” Dove’s Wing meowed.

So they’re all apprentices , Jaypaw figured as he gulped down the mouse. If they cal them apprentices here. It sounds as if Furled Bracken is their leader. But how can he have nine lives if they don’t know about StarClan?

“Well, come on.” Fish Leap sounded irritated. “Tell us.”

“I can’t,” Jaypaw mumbled around a mouthful of mouse, glad that he had an excuse for being mysterious. “You know sharpclaws can’t talk about what happens in the tunnels.”

Fish Leap grunted. “You think you’re better than us now you’re a sharpclaw.”

“He does not!” Half Moon exclaimed indignantly.

Jaypaw wasn’t sure how to defend himself. He didn’t know enough about what a sharpclaw was supposed to do. He guessed they were like warriors, but if he was wrong he might be in trouble again.

To his relief, Dove’s Wing nudged Fish Leap away. “Leave him alone,” she meowed. “He’s still tired; he needs to rest some more. We’ll all find out about the tunnels soon enough.

I’m just glad Jay’s Wing got out safely.”

Half Moon’s green eyes clouded. “Not like Fallen Leaves,” she murmured.

Fish Leap and Dove’s Wing exchanged a sorrowful glance.

Jaypaw felt hollow in his heart when he thought about how long Fallen Leaves was destined to wander through the tunnels, trying to find the way out. He wished there was a way to let these cats know that their friend was dead, drowned in a flood, and they would never see him again. It was clear that the waiting had already driven Broken Shadows mad.

Finishing the mouse, Jaypaw wriggled back into his den.

He was falling back to sleep when he heard Fish Leap’s voice, raised in protest.

“One lost cat doesn’t mean that all the rest of us have to leave!”

“It’s not just one, as you well know,” Half Moon retorted.

“How many cats have to die before we look for somewhere else to live? There must be other places with prey and shelter for all of us.”

Jaypaw pricked his ears, keeping his eyes shut so it would look as if he was asleep. These cats were debating whether to stay here by the lake, or to find a new home. Is that why we didn’t find any cats here when the Clans came to the lake? Fish Leap padded away, still muttering, with Half Moon arguing more and more heatedly. When he could no longer hear what they were saying, Jaypaw let the blackness of exhaustion fill his mind.

During the night he woke briefly to find Dove’s Wing curled up close beside him. He hadn’t slept so near another cat since he became Leafpool’s apprentice; her warmth was comforting, and her scent was already becoming familiar. He let out a faint purr as sleep washed over him again.

Gray light was filtering through the ivy tendrils when Jaypaw next opened his eyes. Dove’s Wing had disappeared, but two other cats were gazing down at him. One of them was Fish Leap; the other was an older tortoiseshell she-cat that Jaypaw remembered seeing when he came out of the tunnel the day before. Her amber eyes were the exact same shade as Fish Leap’s; Jaypaw guessed that she was his mother.

“Hey, Jay’s Wing! Come hunting!” Fish Leap exclaimed when he saw that Jaypaw was awake.

That seemed like a good chance to explore their—ThunderClan’s—territory. Jaypaw scrambled out of his nest and stretched. “Are we going on a patrol?” he asked.

To his dismay, Fish Leap and the tortoiseshell exchanged a baffled glance. “What’s a patrol?” the tortoiseshell meowed.

Mouse-dung! They don’t have patrols, either.

“Dawn River, I think Jay’s Wing banged his head when he was down in the tunnels.” Fish Leap shrugged. “He keeps talking nonsense.”

Jaypaw hid his awkwardness by licking a tufty piece of fur on his chest. “Never mind,” he mumbled.

“Let’s go,” Dawn River urged. “Remember to watch out for badgers.”

She took the lead as the three cats set off into the woods.

Jaypaw shivered from ears to tail-tip when he saw how different the forest was from the territory he knew in the time of the Clans. It wasn’t just that the trees were smaller and there was so little undergrowth. The biggest difference was that now he could see.

“Watch it!” Fish Leap warned him.

The exclamation came just too late. Jaypaw was so busy gazing around at the trees, their leaves taking on colors of scarlet and gold at the beginning of leaf-fall, that he hadn’t noticed the rabbit hole right in front of his paws. He stumbled into it, paws flailing.

“Fox dung!” he spat.

He heard Fish Leap let out a mrrow of laughter, and felt the tabby tom’s teeth sink into his scruff as he hauled him out.

“Are you okay?” Dawn River checked.

Jaypaw shook loose earth out of his pelt. “I’m fine.”

As they padded on he made a determined effort to watch where he was putting his paws, but it was difficult. Light dazzled him, and he was distracted by the flickering of leaves and trees looming up in front of him. The senses of smell and hearing, and his awareness of nearby objects, that were usually so acute had grown dull, so that he felt as if he was blundering through a fog.

I’m never as clumsy as this , he thought crossly as he tripped over a branch.

“You’ll scare all the prey away if you go on like that,” Fish

Leap pointed out. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he added. “Do you want to go back to your den?”

“I’m fine,” Jaypaw repeated through gritted teeth. But Fish