Эрин Хантер - Outcast

“And what about me?” Hollypaw asked, trying to push down a pang of jealousy. Aren’t I special too?

Brambleclaw leaned over to give her ear a comforting lick.

“You’re my little thinker,” he purred. “I rely on you to make the best decisions—and to keep your brothers in line!”

Hollypaw brightened. That was a skill she would need if she was ever to be Clan leader.

“Good,” Brambleclaw mewed. “Now, what about this hunting patrol?”

“But why can’t Berrynose come?” Honeypaw complained.

“Because he’s the most annoying furball in the forest,” Hollypaw muttered through gritted teeth, though not loud enough for her friend to hear her.

Sandstorm and Honeypaw had joined Brambleclaw and Hollypaw on the hunting patrol. Honeypaw hadn’t arrived at the training session until it was almost over, and she had kept trying to tell every cat how much better Berrynose could perform the fighting techniques. Now Hollypaw was finding it hard to sense prey, because her fellow apprentice was still meowing on about the cream-colored warrior.

“Berrynose was on the dawn patrol,” Sandstorm explained, with more patience than Hollypaw could have mustered. “He deserves a rest.”

“But we’d catch much more if he was with us,” Honeypaw insisted. “He’s a brilliant hunter.”

“Well, we’ll just have to do the best we can without him,” Sandstorm mewed.

Hollypaw thought that Honeypaw must have missed the sarcastic edge to the ginger she-cat’s tone. She just kept on babbling about Berrynose until Hollypaw wanted to wrap her tail around her friend’s muzzle to keep it shut. Exasperated, she ran ahead a little way, trying to get out of range of Honeypaw’s voice.

Sunhigh was just past. Golden rays warmed Hollypaw’s fur, while her paws padded through cool, lush grass. The trees were thick with birdsong and the air was laden with fresh green scents. She bounded forward until the sound of the patrol had faded behind her. At the top of a rise, she halted.

Ahead of her, trees grew closer together, the spaces between them choked by bracken and briar, and for a few heartbeats she wasn’t sure where she was. She was a long way past the entrance to the tunnels, and she couldn’t spot any other familiar landmarks. Then she picked up the faint sound of running water and realized that she stood at the very edge of ThunderClan’s hunting territory, not far from the WindClan border.

Everything around her was peaceful, but something made Hollypaw’s fur prickle with apprehension. Her paws were tugging her to run back and find the rest of the patrol. You’re not a kit! she scolded herself. This is ThunderClan territory. There’s nothing to be afraid of.

She would go back, she decided, but she would catch a piece of prey first, just to prove to herself that she wasn’t a coward who ran away from nothing. She raised her head and opened her jaws to draw in a long breath.

Cat scent! Hollypaw tasted it carefully, wondering if WindClan was trespassing on ThunderClan territory again.

But it wasn’t WindClan scent. It wasn’t any cat scent Hollypaw had encountered before. Had a group of rogues invaded the territory?

“Are you okay?”

Hollypaw let out a long breath of relief at the sound of her father’s voice. She turned to see Brambleclaw padding up to her, his powerful shoulders brushing through the bracken.

Sandstorm and Honeypaw followed a little way behind.

“I’m fine,” Hollypaw replied, trying to hide how the strange scent had spooked her. “I can scent cats, but it’s not any scent I know.”

Brambleclaw tasted the air, then glanced sharply at Sandstorm, who was doing the same. The ginger she-cat took a pace toward him and murmured something in his ear; Brambleclaw nodded. His amber eyes looked troubled.

“Run back to camp, as fast as you can,” he meowed to both apprentices. “Tell Firestar to send more warriors.”

“But not Stormfur or Brook,” Sandstorm added.

Hollypaw couldn’t understand the urgency in the warriors’ voices. The tension in their fur crackled like greenleaf lightning.

“What is it?” Honeypaw asked. “What’s the matter?”

“We can’t leave you here if there’s danger,” Hollypaw protested.

“Just do as you’re told!” Sandstorm snapped.

“There’s no danger,” Brambleclaw added quietly. “But we need more warriors. Go now .”

Hollypaw and Honeypaw exchanged one scared glance and pelted back through the forest toward the camp. Fear made Hollypaw’s fur stand on end, and her heart thudded with more than the speed of her running.

“Firestar!” she yowled as she thrust her way through the thorn tunnel. “Firestar, come quickly!”

As Hollypaw skidded to a stop beneath the Highledge, she spotted Mousefur jerk awake from her place outside the elders’ den and leap to her paws, tail lashing. Cloudtail erupted from the warriors’ den, his fur bristling and his claws scraping the ground. Behind him, Brightheart and Sorreltail popped their heads through the branches, eyes wide with alarm. Daisy swept her tail protectively around her two tiny kits, who were playing in a patch of sunlight near the nursery, and herded them back inside.

Firestar emerged from his den on the Highledge. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

“Strange cats…” Hollypaw gasped, still trying to catch her breath.

“Near the WindClan border,” Honeypaw added.

“Brambleclaw said—” Hollypaw whirled around as yowling broke out behind her. More cats were tumbling through the thorn tunnel into the camp: Graystripe was in the lead, with Birchfall and Whitewing just behind.

But that wasn’t what made Hollypaw arch her back while every hair on her pelt rose and tingled. With the three ThunderClan cats were two others that she didn’t recognize: a massive dark brown tabby tom and a pure black she-cat, who was smaller and skinnier than the cats of ThunderClan.

Graystripe and the two younger warriors stood close around them, not allowing them any farther into the camp. As the she-cat opened her jaws to speak, Graystripe silenced her with a threatening hiss.

Hollypaw flexed her claws and let her tail tip flick to and fro. The scent coming from the two strange cats was the same one she had picked up near the WindClan border. The scent of intruders!

Jaypaw stiffened at the sound of screeching from the entrance to the camp. He paused with one paw raised, a stem of watermint still snagged in his claws. “What’s that?” he meowed.

Leafpool didn’t reply. Thornclaw had come to see her, complaining about bellyache, and Jaypaw guessed she wouldn’t notice a whole herd of badgers trampling through the stone hollow until she had finished treating her patient.

“Jaypaw, where’s that watermint?” she called.

“Here.” Jaypaw grabbed up more of the stems and thrust them at his mentor as he darted past the bramble screen and into the main clearing. He could hear the rustling of leaves as warriors came out of their den and the swift pattering of paws as apprentices bounded up to see what was going on.

Whispers of alarm came from every corner of the clearing, and from beneath the Highledge, Jaypaw detected powerful fear-scent from Hollypaw and Honeypaw.

Graystripe was speaking, his voice raised in a fierce growl.

“Not another paw step, until you tell us what you’re doing on our territory.”

Jaypaw’s fur began to bristle as he picked up the scent of two strange cats. It seemed as if Graystripe and his patrol had caught a couple of rogues trespassing on ThunderClan territory. Jaypaw tasted the air carefully. The scent was strong, but with a bitter tinge that seemed familiar, though he couldn’t remember where he had smelled it before.