Эрин Хантер - Eclipse

“They’ll be scared of upsetting StarClan if they don’t,” Jaypaw mewed.

Lionpaw’s claws scratched the halfrock. “I hope WindClan are there.”

“Don’t forget the truce,” Hollypaw reminded him.

“Like I would.” Lionpaw snorted. “I just want WindClan to see that we’re as strong as we ever were, and ready to fight them again if we have to.”

ThunderClan’s warriors and apprentices were steadily recovering from their battle wounds. Even Spiderleg was taking walks around the clearing. Squirrelflight was still in her nest in the medicine cats’ den, though increasingly impatient at being confined there. But Leafpool wouldn’t let her move, fearful the wound would reopen before it had a chance to heal properly.

Jaypaw suspected that his mother’s injury was the reason Leafpool wasn’t coming with him to the Gathering. She didn’t trust any other cat to keep Squirrelflight in her nest.

She hadn’t even been to the Moonpool to share with StarClan yet.

“If StarClan have something to share with me, they’ll share it,” she had told Firestar.

Jaypaw lifted his head as Graystripe padded out of the nursery. The gray warrior’s pelt was prickling with worry.

“Leafpool!” Graystripe called through the brambles at the entrance to the medicine cats’ den. “She’s coughing again.”

“I’m coming.” Leafpool hurried out, smelling of tansy.

Millie had whitecough. Daisy had moved herself and her kits into the apprentices’ den to avoid catching the sickness, and Rosekit and Toadkit had been strutting around the camp as if they were already apprentices.

Millie was eating well, but her endless coughing was keeping the kits awake and making it hard for them to feed.

Hopefully the tansy would help.

Jaypaw laid his head back down and closed his eyes. He must have dozed, because a moment later Hollypaw was shaking him awake.

“The moon’s up,” she mewed. “Everyone’s getting ready to leave.”

“Not everyone !” Foxpaw’s cross mew sounded behind him.

“How come you three get to go while me and Icepaw and Cinderpaw get left behind?”

Jaypaw scrambled to his paws. “You’ll go next time, I’m sure.”

“Maybe.” Foxpaw’s feet scuffed the ground as he padded away.

While the warriors gathered at the entrance, Graystripe paced around the nursery. Jaypaw could sense that his emotions were torn like fresh-kill. The gray warrior longed to join his Clanmates at the Gathering, but the thought of leaving Millie while she was sick pierced his heart. Jaypaw blinked.

An old grief was fanning the flames of Graystripe’s unease, lit by the memory of the silver cat on the huge gray rock.

“Graystripe!” Firestar was heading toward his old friend.

“Stay here and guard the camp for me. We’ve a good show of warriors. WindClan won’t think they’ve weakened us.”

“Thanks.” Graystripe sounded relieved.

Firestar headed for the barrier, where Poppyfrost and Honeyfern could hardly keep their paws still.

“Looking forward to it?” Dustpelt asked them.

“Oh, yes,” Poppyfrost meowed. This would be their first Gathering as warriors.

Sandstorm paced restlessly around Brackenfur. “I wonder what WindClan will have to say for themselves?”

“They’ll come up with some excuse,” Brackenfur muttered.

“Hurry up.” Hollypaw nudged Jaypaw. Lionpaw was already waiting beside Ashfur.

Firestar stood at the camp entrance. “We must show WindClan and RiverClan that we are as strong as ever,” he reminded his Clanmates. “The moon is bright tonight, and that means StarClan is no longer angry.”

“I bet they’re still angry with WindClan,” Spiderleg called from outside the medicine cats’ den.

“ We were only defending our borders. StarClan would not punish us for that,” Firestar answered.

“I should hope not.” Sorreltail was sitting outside the warriors’ den, her tail swishing over the ground.

“The vanishing sun frightened us all,” Firestar went on.

“But we must take it as a sign that the battle was wrong. The sun came back when the battle ended. We should have learned by now that the Clans need one another to survive.”

Jaypaw tipped his head. The ThunderClan leader’s confident words hadn’t come from anything Leafpool had said to him. The medicine cat was still baffled and frightened by the vanishing sun, and the silence from StarClan had made her more nervous. But she kept her worries to herself, carrying on as usual, and only Jaypaw could detect the anxiety fluttering beneath her pelt.

“Let’s go!” Firestar led his Clanmates out of the hollow.

Leaves crunched beneath their paws. Jaypaw shivered, feeling the first chill of leaf-fall. He pressed closer to Hollypaw as they headed for WindClan territory, following the familiar route down to the lake. They had to cross WindClan’s part of the shore to reach the island. If they kept within two tail-lengths of the water, WindClan had no right to challenge them. Yet the warriors fell silent as they crossed the border and hurried over the shingle.

“Any sign of WindClan?” Jaypaw whispered.

“Not yet.” Hollypaw’s pelt felt spiky against his.

Water suddenly lapped Jaypaw’s legs. He stumbled in surprise. They didn’t usually skirt the lake this closely.

“Don’t worry,” Hollypaw soothed. “Firestar’s just being careful that no cat can accuse us of straying onto WindClan land.”

The warriors splashed through the shallows, and Jaypaw gritted his teeth, hating the feel of the water on his paws. He tasted the air. Fresh WindClan scents were blowing down from the moorland.

“They’re coming,” Hollypaw warned.

Jaypaw tensed. “Toward us?”

“No. They’re far up the hillside and heading toward the island.”

At the tree-bridge, Hollypaw jumped onto the fallen trunk first and let her tail dangle down. Jaypaw reached up with his paws, feeling for it. He felt the soft tip brush his pads and knew instantly where to jump.

“Thanks,” he puffed, scrambling through the leaf less fallen branches.

The trunk was slippery, its bark shredded and peeling away.

Jaypaw padded after Hollypaw, putting one paw carefully in front of the other until his nose brushed his sister’s tail.

She had stopped where the trunk splayed out in tangled roots. The shingle crunched as she jumped down onto the shore.

This was the hardest part. Jaypaw took a breath and leaped after her. As always the shingle hit his paws suddenly, but this time he didn’t need to stumble to regain his balance.

“Nice landing,” Hollypaw purred.

Their Clanmates were streaming through the undergrowth, making it swish as they disappeared into the trees.

Jaypaw nosed his way through and followed Hollypaw through the soft swaths of fern. As they emerged on the other side, a barrage of scents hit his nose. WindClan and RiverClan were already here. He wrinkled his nose. No sign of ShadowClan.

The ThunderClan cats padded to one side of the clearing, keeping close together.

“Everyone’s keeping to themselves,” Hollypaw observed.

Jaypaw tasted the air. She was right: There was no mingling of scents. RiverClan sat upwind in a tight group. WindClan paced restlessly near them, but didn’t break ranks.

“I’m surprised RiverClan and WindClan aren’t sharing tongues,” Lionpaw muttered. His muscles were tight as though ready for battle.

“Where are ShadowClan?” Poppyfrost mewed anxiously.

“I hope they come soon,” fretted Honeyfern.

A growl suddenly rumbled in Lionpaw’s throat.

“Quiet!” Ashfur snapped.

Lionpaw fell silent, but Jaypaw could sense rage pulsing from his brother’s pelt, hot as the sun.