Erin Hunter - Sunset

Right now, it did look as if ThunderClan’s troubles were over. Remembering her sense of security as she gazed at the three tiny stars in her dream, Leafpool opened her mouth to agree when a strange darkness clouded her sight. The reek of blood rose around her and she felt sticky scarlet waves wash over her paws. An unfamiliar voice rasped the words of the prophecy in her ear, low and sinister and insistent: Before all is peaceful, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red…

On the day after Daisy’s return, Brambleclaw emerged from the warriors’ den to see Berrykit wrestling with his brother and sister outside the nursery. He padded across to watch; Berrykit cuffed Mousekit over the head and sent the smaller kit sprawling in the dust.

“Well-done,” Brambleclaw mewed approvingly. “But if Mousekit were your enemy, would you stand there staring at him? Mousekit, what are you going to do?”

“Attack him!” Mousekit sprang up, shook rumpled fur, and lunged at his brother.

“Dodge!” Brambleclaw directed Berrykit. “Trip him as you go by.”

Berrykit flashed out a paw, but Mousekit sidestepped and landed a blow on his ear. Berrykit crouched, snarling, and pounced on Mousekit’s tail.

“Well-done, both of you,” Brambleclaw meowed. “You’ll both make good fighters one day.”

Leaving the kits to scuffle, Brambleclaw turned away and saw Firestar in the center of the clearing, listening to a report from the dawn patrol. A moment later the patrol separated in search of rest and fresh-kill, and Firestar beckoned with his tail for Brambleclaw to join him.

“Dustpelt reports Twolegs on our border,” he began.

Brambleclaw felt his neck fur begin to rise. “They’re not building another Thunderpath, are they?”

“No, nothing like that,” Firestar replied. “Dustpelt says there are some green pelt-things propped up on sticks, like little dens, in the clearing between us and ShadowClan.

Twolegs have been sleeping in them.”

Brambleclaw’s eyes widened. “That’s mousebrained! Why would Twolegs come and sleep here when they have perfectly good nests of their own?”

Firestar shrugged. “Why do Twolegs do anything? I’m not too worried about the green pelt-things,” he went on. “They don’t sound permanent. What bothers me is how ShadowClan are going to react. We all know they’re looking for an excuse to take some of our territory.”

Brambleclaw flexed his claws. “I’d like to see them try.”

“I’d rather settle this peacefully if we can,” Firestar told him. “Listen, I want you to see exactly what’s happening in the clearing, then go around the lake and find out what the Twolegs are up to on the border between RiverClan and ShadowClan. I want to know how serious the disturbance is, and how likely it is that Blackstar and Leopardstar will demand more territory at the next Gathering.”

Brambleclaw knew that made sense. As the weather grew warmer, more and more Twolegs had appeared, roaring across the lake in their water-monsters or bobbing around in the boats with white pelts. The air was filled with buzzing, and when the wind was in the right direction the cats could hear the yelps and yowls of Twolegs even in the stone hollow.

“Do you think the Twolegs will come here next?” he asked Firestar.

“They might,” Firestar replied seriously. “But I think the forest comes too close to the water’s edge in our territory for them to land their water-monsters. That might keep them away—but that’s part of what I want you to find out. Have a good sniff around, and don’t get caught. I don’t want ShadowClan or RiverClan to know you’ve set paw on their territory.”

“They won’t,” Brambleclaw promised, and set off with a wave of his tail. He felt his head swim with pride as he brushed through the thorn tunnel. Firestar must trust him a lot to have chosen him for such an important mission!

Tigerstar was right: he could achieve great things by following the warrior code and being loyal to his Clan.

He cut through ThunderClan territory until he came to the clearing. The stream bordered it on one side, then veered away into ShadowClan territory. The tabby tom crouched at the water’s edge, screened by a clump of bluebells, and peered across.

The green pelts Firestar had mentioned were dotted all across the clearing. Since at this point the stream marked the border, they were actually in ShadowClan territory.

“ShadowClan is welcome to them,” he muttered. But he wasn’t so sure; Blackstar might see the Twoleg invasion as another reason to extend his territory.

Dustpelt seemed to be right that the Twolegs were sleeping under the pelts. At least, as Brambleclaw watched, several Twolegs crawled in and out, and Twoleg kits were playing between the little dens, tossing something brightly colored from one to another, and yowling in delight when they caught it.

A shiver went through Brambleclaw when he spotted flame spurting up from the opposite side of the clearing.

Were the Twolegs really mousebrained enough to light a fire among the trees? Then he noticed that the fire was encased in some shiny Twoleg thing that seemed to stop it from spreading. He could smell the strange, acrid scent of Twoleg food drifting across, mixed with the tang of charred wood.

Brambleclaw watched the scene for a while longer, but nothing else seemed to be happening. At last he eased back from the water’s edge, being careful to tread silently and stay out of sight until he was well away from the clearing. He had learned all he could from these Twolegs; now it was time for the more dangerous part of his mission.

A mouse scuttled across open ground just in front of him; Brambleclaw flashed out a paw and pinned it down, killing it and devouring it quickly. He was about to leave his own territory, and he wouldn’t risk stealing prey from a rival Clan.

He followed the stream down toward the lake, tasting the air for the scent of ShadowClan patrols. The border markers were strong and fresh here, but the scent of cats was fading; he guessed that a patrol had been that way at dawn.

When he reached the edge of the trees, there were no ShadowClan cats visible along the lakeshore. Brambleclaw waded cautiously across the stream, his pelt prickling.

Blackstar had agreed only grudgingly to allow cats from other Clans to cross his territory; besides, Firestar had ordered Brambleclaw not to let ShadowClan know about this mission.

Though he kept well within two tail-lengths of the water’s edge, he felt as though every one of the dark pine trees con-cealed the piercing gaze of a ShadowClan warrior, waiting to leap out and challenge him. He crept along with his belly fur brushing the pebbles, taking advantage of every rock and hollow to hide and pausing every few paw steps to taste the air.

One Twoleg boat was already out on the lake, floating along quietly with a huge white pelt spread above it.

Brambleclaw could see a couple of Twolegs inside it, leaning over to trail their forepaws in the water. As he drew closer to the border with RiverClan another Twoleg thing—more like a monster than the boat with its pelt—roared away from the half bridge, leaving a scar of bubbling white foam on the surface of the lake. Brambleclaw sprang onto a rock to keep his paws dry as waves slopped up onto the shore.

The reek of Twoleg monsters was stronger here, drowning any scent of cats. Brambleclaw’s gaze flickered uneasily along the line of trees, alert for any movement, but he saw nothing.

Perhaps ShadowClan had withdrawn deeper into the forest to stay clear of the Twolegs. Or perhaps unseen eyes were watching him; he braced himself in case a patrol appeared.