Эрин Хантер - Eclipse

Jaypaw weaved through the trees, feeling his way with his whiskers, keeping low. His pelt bristled as he remained alert for any sound other than the distant cries of battle.

“Stupid brambles!”

A sudden unfamiliar mew sent Jaypaw scooting backward into a clump of ferns. They swallowed him and he froze, relieved to be hidden.

“Did you hear that?” The mew was only a few tail-lengths away.

Jaypaw tasted the air. RiverClan again!

“Hear what?”

“That rustling.”

“Everything rustles in this dumb place.”

Four RiverClan cats were making clumsy progress through the woods. One of them tripped, setting a whole bramble bush rattling.

“Could you make any more noise, Reedwhisker?”

“Shut up, Mosspelt! You’re the one that yelped like a kit when you fell down that rabbit hole!”

Jaypaw’s whiskers twitched. Like fish out of water. He waited for them to pass. They’re heading for the WindClan border.

Firestar’s patrol!

He had to get there first. He backed out from the ferns as quietly as he could and darted along a fox trail. He knew it led directly to the border stream. For once he was grateful for the stench of fox; it made it easy to follow the trail and would hide his own scent. The sound of battle grew louder. Jaypaw smelled blood and sensed fear and pain flooding the forest.

He slowed as he heard scuffling ahead and tasted the air.

Lionpaw.

The scent of his brother was strong.

He pricked his ears. Lionpaw was fighting two WindClan warriors single-pawed. Jaypaw unsheathed his claws, wishing he could help. But Lionpaw sounded as though he was doing okay by himself. One of the WindClan warriors was already hopping on three legs, and the other was scrabbling on the ground, backing away in a hurry.

“Run home, cowards!” Lionpaw sneered as the bushes beside Jaypaw exploded and the two WindClan warriors pelted past him.

“Lionpaw?” Jaypaw hissed.

“Jaypaw? Is that you?” Lionpaw darted toward him. “Are you okay?” He was breathing hard, and his pelt smelled of blood. Energy was pulsing from him as though a fire raged in his belly, and Jaypaw could sense that his mind was caught in a whirl of exhilaration.

“Four RiverClan cats are heading this way to help WindClan,” Jaypaw warned.

“RiverClan?” Lionpaw sounded shocked for a moment.

Then his mew hardened. “I’ll sort them out.” He hurried away, leaving Jaypaw blinking in surprise.

“You can’t tackle them on your own!” Jaypaw called after him.

But Lionpaw had vanished among the trees.

“Jaypaw?” Firestar’s mew sounded close to his ear. “What are you doing here?”

“RiverClan have joined WindClan in the battle.”

Firestar drew in a sharp breath. Fear flickered from his pelt for an instant. “Go tell Brambleclaw.” The ThunderClan leader’s mew was grim. “Can you find the way?”

Jaypaw nodded.

“We’re outnumbered here,” Firestar went on. “We may need to retreat to the hollow and defend ourselves there.”

Jaypaw’s heart lurched. That would give WindClan control of the rest of the territory. It would no longer be a question of protecting their borders. They would be fighting for their lives. He longed for Firestar to tell him it would be all right, but the ThunderClan leader had plunged away, back into battle.

Jaypaw lifted his muzzle, finding his bearings. The lake breeze was blowing from behind him. The sound of Brambleclaw’s patrol screeched somewhere ahead. He pushed on through the undergrowth, heading for the noise, whiskers twitching, paws feeling gingerly ahead with each step. He couldn’t risk tripping and hurting himself. He had to warn the Clan deputy about WindClan’s RiverClan allies.

Birds were stirring in the trees, chattering anxiously as the sound of battle unsettled the forest. The air began to taste warm. Dawn must be on its way.

Jaypaw’s forepaws slipped as the ground dipped down steeply in front of him. Unsheathing his claws, he skittered down the slope, half running, half falling into a soft swath of ferns at the bottom. Only tail-lengths ahead, claws scraped against stone. Cats hissed and yowled, and the air smelled of blood.

And of fish. RiverClan were here already.

He’d found Brambleclaw’s patrol too late!

Jaypaw trembled as he sensed exhaustion flooding from his Clanmates. They couldn’t hold out much longer.

“Jaypaw?” Hollypaw was backing through the ferns toward him. “I thought I smelled you.” Her words were slurred, and her pelt was sticky with blood. She was as close to being beaten as he’d ever known. And yet determination still stiffened her battered body.

I should have brought traveling herbs to give her strength.

“What are you doing here?” she panted.

“I came to warn you that RiverClan have come to help WindClan.”

“Thanks, but we know,” she mewed grimly. Suddenly she pushed him back. “Stay out of the way!” Paws were padding toward them. Jaypaw smelled a RiverClan tom advancing.

A growl rumbled in Hollypaw’s throat. Jaypaw sensed the power and energy rippling beneath the RiverClan warrior’s pelt. It was an unfair match! Hollypaw was exhausted. He had to help her. Crouching beside her, he faced the tom and ripped at the ground with his claws.

Then he froze. Another scent was tainting the air.

ShadowClan!

Tawnypelt was fighting close to Brambleclaw. Was ShadowClan battling them too?

Paws pounded up the Twoleg path. More ShadowClan!

Jaypaw felt a wave of despair break over him. How could they possibly fight three Clans? Had StarClan given up on them entirely? He stumbled back into the ferns. There was nothing he could do now to save his Clan.

Fur brushed his pelt. Tawnypelt was beside him. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

Jaypaw lashed out with a forepaw, aiming for her muzzle, rage burning in his belly. “How can you attack your own kin?”

She blocked his blow with her paw. “We’ve come to help,” she hissed. “Hollypaw fetched us!” She shoved him farther back into the ferns. “Get back to the hollow and stay out of trouble!”

“What about Hollypaw?”

“Snaketail and Scorchpaw will help her.”

Jaypaw tasted the air. Two ShadowClan warriors were fighting alongside Hollypaw now, their scents mingling with the tang of fish-foul blood spraying from her RiverClan attacker. Her paws scrabbled against the path as she leaped forward and, with a yowl of rage and pain, the RiverClan cat pounded away into the forest.

“Go now!” Tawnypelt urged. She turned to head back into the fight, but Jaypaw pressed his paw to her flank.

“Firestar’s outnumbered by the WindClan border, and Dustpelt’s struggling beside the lake.”

“I’ll send warriors to help them,” Tawnypelt promised.

The ferns rustled as she hesitated. “Wait,” she hissed. “Take Mousewhisker with you. His eye’s hurt.” She leaped away and returned a moment later with the young warrior.

“I want to stay and fight,” Mousewhisker was protesting.

“Not with that eye,” Tawnypelt told him.

“I can see out of the other.”

“That’s not good enough.”

Jaypaw smelled blood. “You can come back when I’ve cleaned it up, and fight even better,” he promised.

Mousewhisker hesitated. “Okay,” he agreed. “But we have to be quick.”

Tawnypelt plunged back into battle.

“Come on,” Mousewhisker prompted.

Side by side, they ran along the edge of the Twoleg path, back toward camp. Mousewhisker pressed against him, steering him through the undergrowth spilling from the edge of the forest. Jaypaw’s head was full of the sounds of horror and spilling blood. The whole forest seemed alive with wailing and clawing and the ripping of fur.