Erin Hunter - Starlight

Mudclaw snarled, curling his lip to reveal sharp yellow teeth, and Leafpaw had to sink her claws into the ground to stop herself from shrinking away. One or two of the other warriors were looking uneasy, too, including Crowfeather.

She waited for him to back Mudclaw up, and say that she shouldn’t have come, but the lean gray warrior said nothing.

“I don’t want to hear of any fighting over the border with ThunderClan,” Onewhisker growled. “That stretch of woodland isn’t much use to us. Since when has WindClan hunted among trees?”

“There’s more than prey among trees.” Webfoot stepped forward to stand beside Mudclaw. “Herbs, for one thing. I know Barkface needs plants that we’d never find on open moorland.”

“That’s enough!” Onewhisker snapped. “There’s plenty of territory left, and Barkface never had trouble finding supplies before.”

His warriors dipped their heads, but none of them looked happy about their leader’s orders. Mudclaw turned away, muttering, “Traitor!” in a voice just loud enough to be overheard.

Leafpaw’s belly clenched with anxiety. She guessed several of the WindClan warriors would agree with Mudclaw, that Onewhisker was not putting the good of his own Clan first by harking back to their old alliance with ThunderClan. She wondered what would happen if Mudclaw were to challenge him for the leadership. How many cats would support him with tooth and claw?

“You’ll want to be getting back,” Onewhisker meowed.

“Crowfeather, please go with Leafpaw as far as her camp and tell Firestar my decision.”

Crowfeather looked up, his eyes wide. “Me?”

Oh, no, Leafpaw thought. Aloud she hissed, “You don’t have to. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself. Just because I’m a medicine cat doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use my claws.”

Onewhisker flicked his ears at her. “Crowfeather, that was an order.”

Crowfeather still looked appalled, but he heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Come on. I’ll only get into trouble if I don’t go with you.”

Leafpaw could see she would have to give in. As Crowfeather whisked around and headed up the slope to the edge of the camp, she nodded a hasty farewell to Onewhisker and bounded after the dark gray warrior. He set a fast pace, not asking Leafpaw if she could keep up. He was so rude, she couldn’t be bothered trying to make conversation, but even in the silence the air between them crackled like greenleaf lightning. He obviously hated the idea that a ThunderClan cat had done his Clan a favor.

As a medicine cat, Leafpaw lived outside the Clan-based rivalries held by other cats. If this was what it felt like, she was glad she didn’t have to treat cats like enemies just because they came from different Clans. Although Crowfeather had been one of the journeying cats, he had fallen back quicker than any cat into the old ways. With his bristling fur and awkward sidelong glances, he seemed only too ready to rekindle the old rivalries.

Leafpaw heaved a sigh of relief when they came to the stream. They were higher up than the place where ThunderClan had crossed the night before, and Crowfeather led her nimbly across some stepping-stones back into ThunderClan territory. Not long after she recognized the bushes that surrounded the top of the stone hollow. Leafpaw took the lead and followed the slope of the land down to the gap in the cliffs. When they reached the entrance she saw that a thorn barrier was partly in place, and inside, a fresh-kill pile had appeared on a cleared space among the brambles.

Firestar was standing by the thicket where Ferncloud and Birchkit had spent the night. Squirrelflight was helping Ferncloud drag out long tendrils of bramble.

“We could make a good nursery in here,” Ferncloud panted, reaching up with her hindpaw to unhook a thorn from her flank. “It’s right up against the rock wall, so it’ll be sheltered in bad weather. We need to make more space inside, though.”

“That won’t take long,” Squirrelflight assured her, energetically dragging away a bramble twice as long as she was, while Birchkit pounced playfully on the other end.

Brambleclaw appeared with a ball of moss and carried it through the entrance of the new nursery. Leafpaw was impressed that a warrior was prepared to help with apprentice tasks; Brambleclaw was obviously determined to settle his Clanmates into the home he had found for them.

Ferncloud followed him inside to help him arrange it.

Birchkit gave up hunting the end of Squirrelflight’s bramble, and bundled after his mother.

“Firestar, Crowfeather’s here.” Leafpaw dipped her head to her Clan leader. “He came back with me from WindClan.”

“Thanks.” Firestar padded over to the young WindClan warrior. “Is everything okay?”

“Leafpaw helped Morningflower.” Crowfeather sounded distinctly ungrateful. “And Onewhisker asked me to tell you that ThunderClan can be the first to set scent markers in the woodland across the stream. He’s happy for WindClan’s boundary to be set at the edge of the trees.”

Firestar’s eyes stretched wide in surprise; he clearly hadn’t expected to win that territory so easily. “That’s very good of Onewhisker,” he replied. “Thank him for me.”

“And thanks for bringing me back,” Leafpaw added. Just because Crowfeather had behaved like a fox with a thorn in its paw didn’t mean she had to be rude too.

Crowfeather gave her a long look, hostility and something else in his eyes. He seemed about to say something, then just nodded and headed out of the camp.

“Hey!” Squirrelflight called after him. “Ignore your old friends, why don’t you?”

The WindClan warrior didn’t look back, and vanished among the ferns.

Firestar stared at the quivering green fronds that had swallowed Crowfeather up. “Onewhisker’s being very generous,” he remarked, though he didn’t sound quite as pleased as Leafpaw would have expected. “Quite different from ShadowClan,” he added.

“ShadowClan?” Leafpaw echoed, wondering what had made her father think of them.

“There was nearly a fight!” Squirrelflight told her excitedly. “Brambleclaw crossed ShadowClan scent markers, and a ShadowClan patrol tried to chase him off.”

“We could have dealt with them,” Brambleclaw mewed, reappearing from the nursery without his burden of moss. “I suppose they were only putting their Clan’s interests first. I wonder if Onewhisker could say the same. I mean, he’s just given away a fair chunk of good hunting territory.”

He sounded curious rather than hostile, but Squirrelflight rounded on him with her tail fluffed up.

“At least he’s loyal to his old friends!” she flashed.

“Something you seem to have forgotten about.”

Anger flared in Brambleclaw’s eyes. Instead of speaking, he clamped his jaws shut and stalked off. Firestar shook his head worriedly, followed him for a few paces, then veered off and went to talk to Thornclaw by the fresh-kill pile.

“What was all that about?” Leafpaw asked her sister in dismay. “Why has everything gone wrong between you and Brambleclaw?”

Squirrelflight shrugged. “Don’t ask me. He’s been in a foul mood ever since we came here.” She gave up trying to pretend she didn’t care, and gazed at Leafpaw with eyes that were green pools of hurt and bewilderment. “I don’t think he likes me anymore.”

Leafpaw couldn’t think of anything to say to comfort her.

She could heal wounds and knew the right herbs for bellyache, but the breach between her sister and Brambleclaw was totally beyond her. That was a part of life that a medicine cat would never know. She thought she should probably feel relieved that she would never have to suffer such pain. Then she saw the hunger in Squirrelflight’s gaze as it followed Brambleclaw out of the camp, and remembered how deeply the two cats cared for each other. A tiny empty space appeared inside her when she realized no cat would ever feel that way about her.