Эрин Хантер: Outcast

Besides, the prophecy said that he and the others would have the power of the stars in their paws as soon as they were born. It didn’t say that they had to be warriors first.

Firestar’s voice rang out from the Highledge. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!”

The clearing flooded with different scents as the Clan began to emerge. Jaypaw could make out Mousefur and Longtail, the elders, as they left the shelter of their den under the hazel bush. Leafpool came out of the medicine cats’ den and sat in front of the screen of brambles.

Then the other scents were overwhelmed by Daisy’s, as she bounded over to the group of apprentices.

“Berrypaw, just look at you!” she exclaimed. “Your fur is sticking out all over the place. And Hazelpaw—have you collected every single burr between here and the lake?”

Jaypaw heard the sound of fierce licking.

“It’s okay, I can do it,” Berrypaw protested.

“Nonsense,” Daisy scolded. “You can’t go to your warrior ceremony looking like some scruffy band of rogue kits. Any cat would think I hadn’t brought you up properly.” She began licking Berrypaw again, then broke off to add, “Mousepaw, you’re just as bad! Have you seen the state of your tail?”

“I hope Firestar has forgotten about my tail,” Berrypaw mewed anxiously. “He might use it to give me my warrior name.”

Berrypaw’s tail was just a short stump. When he was a kit he had snuck out of the camp to go hunting and caught his tail in a fox trap.

“What, Berrystumpytail?” Poppypaw suggested. “That would be a mouthful!”

“Oh, no!” Berrypaw wailed. “Firestar wouldn’t, would he?”

“Don’t be silly,” Daisy mewed.

“I’m sure you don’t have to worry.” Brightheart’s voice joined the conversation. Among all the different scents, Jaypaw hadn’t noticed her approach. “When the dog pack attacked me, Bluestar gave me Lostface as my warrior name.

But when Firestar became leader, he changed it. I’m sure he wouldn’t give any cat a cruel name.”

“I hope not!” Berrypaw still sounded doubtful.

Suddenly alarmed, Jaypaw thought over what Brightheart had said. “You don’t think Leafpool might mention that I’m blind when she gives me my full medicine cat name?” he muttered into Hollypaw’s ear.

“Like, Jayno-eyes? That’s just as stupid as Berrystumpytail,” his sister replied.

“ You think it’s stupid, but will Leafpool—”

“Be quiet, all of you,” Graystripe interrupted. “The ceremony is about to start.”

Lionpaw gave Jaypaw a nudge. “Come on. Let’s get a good place at the front. I want to see everything that happens.”

“Yes, it’ll be our turn soon,” Hollypaw meowed enthusiastically.

Jaypaw followed his littermates and the other apprentices to the front of the crowd that had gathered around Firestar.

He could sense fizzing pride in the three who were to be made warriors. He pictured them sleek-furred and shiny after their mother’s frantic licking. Daisy felt just as proud, though Jaypaw picked up anxiety, too, for the two tiny kits she had left in the nursery.

Then he located Ferncloud, sitting just outside the nursery with Icekit and Foxkit. The gentle queen would make sure no harm came to the two newborns while their mother watched her first litter become warriors.

“This is a good day for ThunderClan.” The excited murmuring of the Clan cats died into silence as Firestar began to speak. “No Clan can survive without new warriors.

Brambleclaw, is your apprentice Berrypaw ready for his warrior ceremony?”

“He has trained well,” Brambleclaw replied.

Jaypaw could feel the excitement of the three apprentices building as Firestar addressed the other two mentors, Dustpelt and Spiderleg. Then he heard their paw steps as they padded forward to stand in front of Firestar.

“I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these three apprentices.” The Clan leader’s voice rang out above the rustle of trees at the top of the hollow. “They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, Mousepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?”

“I do!” the three young cats replied, Berrypaw loudest of all.

For a few heartbeats Jaypaw felt his fur prickle with envy.

One day he would have his own naming ceremony as a medicine cat, but he would never stand before his Clan and make the promise to defend it with his life.

“Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names,” Firestar went on. “Berrypaw, from this moment you will be known as Berrynose.”

“Oh, thank you!” the new warrior exclaimed, interrupting his Clan leader.

A ripple of amusement passed through the Clan, though Jaypaw caught a hiss of annoyance from Berrynose’s former mentor, Brambleclaw.

Firestar waited for the noise to die down before continuing. “StarClan honors your bravery and your enthusiasm, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.”

There was a pause; Jaypaw knew that Firestar would rest his muzzle on the top of Berrynose’s head, and Berrynose would lick his leader’s shoulder. Then Firestar went on to give Hazelpaw the name of Hazeltail, and Mousepaw became Mousewhisker.

“ThunderClan is proud of you all,” Firestar finished. “May you serve your Clan faithfully.”

“Mousewhisker! Hazeltail! Berrynose!” The Clan welcomed the three new warriors with enthusiastic yowls.

Jaypaw sensed their pride in their new responsibilities, and a renewed confidence in every cat that the Clan was growing in strength and numbers, the hardships of the Great Journey now a fading memory.

But there was something more lingering in the hollow like mist—traditions that stretched back beyond ThunderClan to the ancient cats who had walked the forest long ago. If Fallen Leaves had made it alive out of the tunnels, would he have been greeted like this?

What happened to those cats? Jaypaw wondered. Where did they go?

Lionpaw pushed his way through clumps of long grass wet with dew; he shivered as the moisture soaked his fur, and blinked sleep from his eyes. Clouds lay low over the forest, though a growing brightness above the trees showed where the sun was rising.

The dawn patrol was heading toward WindClan territory.

Ashfur and Berrynose had drawn slightly ahead, discussing something in voices too low for Lionpaw to catch. After a few moments Berrynose glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t lag behind, Lionpaw,” he meowed loudly. “And watch out for fox traps.”

“Watch out yourself,” Lionpaw muttered. The cream-colored tom had been a warrior for three whole days, and already he was acting like a mentor. But he needn’t think I’m going to obey his orders!

Lionpaw let himself drop even farther behind. His paws were tingling with memory as he rounded a bramble thicket and saw the entrance to the tunnels. It looked like a disused rabbit hole, half-hidden by bracken, but once it had led down to a cave with an underground river and then up again into WindClan territory. Pain stabbed Lionpaw’s heart as he remembered how he used to plunge into the tunnels at night and meet Heatherpaw in the cave. He wished they could go back to the time when she had been Heatherstar, leader of DarkClan, and he was her loyal deputy.