Эрин Хантер - Dark River

“Calm down, Gorsetail.” Onestar was bristling but his mew was steady. “You can’t be sure. No hawk’s ever taken more than a single kit before. We must send out a search party.”

Suddenly, paws pounded through the entrance tunnel.

“Onestar!” Ashfoot pelted into the clearing. Jaypaw scented Breezepaw and Heatherpaw behind the WindClan deputy. “We’ve just seen a RiverClan patrol heading back into their territory.”

“They’ve been on our land!” Breezepaw spat.

“And there was rabbit blood where they’d been,” Heatherpaw added.

Terror flared from Gorsetail. “Are you sure it was rabbit blood?”

“What?” Confusion clouded Heatherpaw’s mind.

“My kits have disappeared!” Gorsetail wailed.

“You think the RiverClan patrol might have taken them?”

Heatherpaw sounded horrified. Her thoughts began whirling like leaves caught in a wind. Jaypaw tried to read them but they were moving too fast. He only knew that at their center something dark hovered, a sense of blackness that made his blood turn to ice. She knew more than she was letting on.

“You must leave.” Onestar had turned back toward Leafpool.

“You’re not going to attack RiverClan, are you?” Leafpool gasped.

“We’ll do what we must to get our kits back!” Onestar hissed.

“But you don’t know they’ve taken them,” Jaypaw objected. “A moment ago you thought it was a hawk.”

“That was before RiverClan crossed the border.”

“But they may have had good reason!”

Ashfoot growled. “To steal our kits!”

“But why—”

Onestar cut Leafpool off with a snarl. “Go home!” Jaypaw flinched as the WindClan leader leaned in close. “You can tell Firestar that it’s too late. You’ve wasted your time trying to protect RiverClan. We’ll attack at once!”

Lionpaw shivered. The rain had reached right to his skin. He dropped his vole on the fresh-kill pile and shook the water from his pelt.

“Good hunting,” Ashfur congratulated him. “You’ve improved a lot these past days. It seems like your mind is on your training again.”

Lionpaw blinked at his mentor. It had been a good hunting patrol. He, Ashfur, Stormfur, and Brook had caught nearly enough to feed the whole Clan and it was great to feel energetic again, a little faster, a little sharper than his Clanmates, as though StarClan guided his paws. But his heart still ached when he thought of Heatherpaw. He missed being a DarkClan warrior.

Stormfur tossed a wet blackbird onto the pile. “Something’s wrong.” The gray warrior glanced anxiously around the clearing. Beside him, Brook narrowed her eyes.

Cinderpaw was tugging twigs toward the thorn barrier where Cloudtail was stuffing them into gaps. Poppypaw and Mousepaw were hurriedly patching the nursery with fresh brambles. Their rain-soaked pelts were spiked, their tails bushed out. Thornclaw and Spiderleg were circling the edge of the camp, staring up through the rain at the walls.

Thornclaw flicked his tail toward a rift in the cliff face where the rocks jutted out. “We should reinforce the top there. It’s too easy for cats to climb down.”

Lionpaw’s belly tightened. He scanned the clearing. Had Jaypaw returned safely from his mission? He felt relief wash his pelt as he saw Jaypaw emerge from the dirtplace tunnel.

Leafpool was calling to him from the medicine den entrance. “We need more dock.”

“I’ll find some,” Jaypaw answered at once.

“Not by yourself,” Leafpool meowed.

Jaypaw nodded. “I’ll take Hollypaw with me.”

Lionpaw’s paws throbbed with unease. His brother normally bristled with rage at any suggestion that he couldn’t manage by himself. Now he accepted it without a murmur.

“Don’t go far from camp,” Leafpool warned.

“Lionpaw! Have you heard?” Honeypaw was charging toward him, her eyes stretched wide. “There’s going to be a battle!”

Lionpaw hurried to meet her. “When?”

“WindClan is going to attack RiverClan right now,” Honeypaw panted.

Lionpaw flattened his ears. “Has RiverClan invaded WindClan territory?”

Honeypaw shook her head. “RiverClan stole three WindClan kits,” she mewed. “WindClan are going to get them back. We have to be ready to fight!”

Lionpaw tensed. There weren’t many kits in WindClan right now. Could they be the same three who had followed Heatherpaw? “Are you sure RiverClan took them?”

“RiverClan was hunting in WindClan territory when the kits went missing,” Honeypaw told him.

“But it doesn’t make sense.” Lionpaw’s mind was whirling.

“Who cares if it makes sense?” Honeypaw trotted around him. “There’s going to be a huge battle anyway.

Leafpool said so.”

Sorreltail was heading toward them, eyes clouded with worry. “You’re jumping ahead of yourself, Honeypaw,” she meowed.

“We have to be ready,” Honeypaw argued. “Who knows what WindClan will do next?”

Lionpaw backed away from the two cats, his heart pounding. Had RiverClan really stolen the kits? There was another way off the moor, one their Clanmates didn’t know about.

What if the kits had found the tunnels?

He jumped as a voice sounded behind him. “You should eat,” Spiderleg was stretching, flexing his muscles. “You must be ready for battle at any moment.”

“But WindClan is fighting RiverClan, not us!”

“Anything could happen,” Spiderleg growled. “RiverClan might chase WindClan off the moor. They might decide to accuse us of taking the kits instead. Leafpool told Firestar that WindClan is desperate enough to do anything.”

Lionpaw froze. I must find the kits! I must stop this! But what about his Clan? He ought to be thinking about defending them. He should be helping fortify the camp like Cloudtail and Cinderpaw, or joining a patrol to check the border. He couldn’t go off and search for kits. What if WindClan attacked while he was gone?

This battle will be a chance to prove yourself a true warrior! Tigerstar’s voice murmured in his ear. The kits mean nothing! Think of your Clan .

But I am thinking of my Clan! Lionpaw shook his head, clearing Tigerstar’s voice from his mind. Cats would be injured.

Some might die! He shuddered as he thought of Heatherpaw caught in the midst of the fighting. If the kits were only lost in the tunnels, the battle would be over nothing.

“Lionpaw!” Brambleclaw was padding toward him. “Get something to eat and help with the preparations. Firestar’s organizing extra patrols and the barrier needs to be strengthened.”

Lionpaw blinked at the ThunderClan deputy. His belly was churning. “I’m not hungry.”

Brambleclaw shifted his paws. “Are you scared?”

Lionpaw opened his mouth, searching for the words to explain.

“It’s natural.” Brambleclaw’s mew softened. “I used to worry about seeing my Clanmates wounded. But defending the Clan is part of the warrior code; it’s what we’ve all trained for. I know it’s tough but we’re doing the right thing in the eyes of StarClan.” He ran his tail along Lionpaw’s flank. “You have the makings of a great warrior, Lionpaw, and I’m proud of you. Just remember what you’ve been taught and stay sharp.”

“Do we really need to fight?”

“If your leader tells you to, then yes,” Brambleclaw murmured. “Firestar won’t lead any cat into battle unless he believes it’s the right thing to do.”

But Firestar doesn’t know everything . Lionpaw suddenly felt weary. If only he didn’t know about the tunnels. Then he could just do as he was ordered without question. Miserably, he nodded at Brambleclaw. “Okay.” He padded to the fresh-kill pile, sick at the sight of the prey piled there as though it were any ordinary day.