Эрин Хантер - Ravenpaw’s Farewell

Ravenpaw felt as if the ground were opening under his paws. She didn’t even give Riley and Bella a chance! He had imagined Leafstar being reluctant, of course, but he had hoped he’d be able to persuade her when she saw how determined the young cats were, and how much they had learned so far.

“Is it because we used to be kittypets?” Bella meowed.

“Because Ravenpaw told us that some of your warriors are still kittypets. We’d be warriors all the time, I promise!”

Leafstar blinked. “It’s true that SkyClan has daylight warriors, but they have trained with us for many seasons, and I trust their loyalty to their Clanmates.”

“We could train too!” Riley argued; Barley hushed him with a sweep of his tail across the young cat’s muzzle.

“I cannot fault their enthusiasm,” Leafstar commented to Ravenpaw. She tipped her head to one side. “But why have you come all this way to ask if they can join SkyClan? Why couldn’t Firestar take Riley and Bella into ThunderClan?”

Ravenpaw blinked. “Because ThunderClan has gone,” he managed to say, feeling grief choke him afresh. “All the Clans have left the forest. The forest was torn up to make room for a Thunderpath, and there was nowhere for the warriors to stay. I watched them leave, but I… I don’t know where they are now.”

Leafstar’s eyes clouded. “Poor Firestar and Sandstorm, having to leave their home! I hope that they are safe, wherever they are.”

“I believe that they are,” Ravenpaw meowed. “StarClan would have told me if something terrible had happened, I think.” He noticed Barley shoot a sideways glance at him, and Ravenpaw felt a twinge of guilt. He rarely spoke of StarClan to his friend, and perhaps Barley had assumed that his warrior ancestors no longer meant anything to him.

Leafstar sighed. “I have tried to keep the memory of Firestar and Sandstorm alive in my Clan,” she murmured.

“SkyClan owes everything to them. But many seasons have passed, and not all my warriors were there in the beginning.”

She drew herself up again. “Any friend of Firestar’s is welcome to visit my Clan, but only as our guest. We will always be grateful for what Firestar and Sandstorm did. But we cannot accept unknown cats to train as warriors. I am sorry.”

She turned to leave, making it clear that her welcome to Firestar’s friends began and ended at the border to her Clan.

The other cats followed, except for Plumwillow, who paused to hiss, “Don’t steal any of our prey!” before trotting after her Clanmates.

Ravenpaw stared at the disappearing warriors in dismay.

“They were mean !” Bella growled.

“They didn’t even give us a chance to show off our battle moves!” Riley muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Ravenpaw mewed. “I didn’t think she’d be like that.”

“Let’s go back to that cave in the gorge,” Barley suggested. “I don’t think we should hang around too close to the border.” He padded over to Bella, whose tail was drooping. “I’m still very proud of you,” he told her. “And you, Riley. You’ve learned so much on this journey! You’re brave and strong and smart. You’d be great warriors.

Wouldn’t they, Ravenpaw?”

“Yes, of course.” Ravenpaw started to walk back down the stream. His pelt burned. Why had he raised the hopes of these young cats, all for nothing but sore paws and travel-stained fur? A sharp pain jabbed in his belly, and he stumbled.

In a heartbeat Barley was beside him, propping him up.

“Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” Ravenpaw rasped. “I’ll be okay once we get to the cave.”

Barley stayed beside him, fussing, until he was settled on the dusty orange floor. Riley and Bella slumped down beside him with their chins on their paws.

“I’ll go hunt,” Barley meowed. “You stay here and rest.”

Ravenpaw slept deeply until something prodded him in his side, sending a spasm through his belly. Riley and Bella were standing in the cave beside him, their eyes huge. It was dark—Ravenpaw had slept for longer than he thought—and

Barley was curled at his back.

“Something’s happening!” Bella squeaked.

Ravenpaw pricked his ears. Faint yowls and shrieks echoed along the banks of the gorge.

“Do you think SkyClan is being attacked?” whispered Riley.

“I don’t know. Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good.”

Ravenpaw stood up and walked to the mouth of the cave.

“Where are you going?” Barley rumbled, sitting up.

“To see what’s going on.”

“Not without me,” meowed Barley.

“Or us!” Riley and Bella put in.

Ravenpaw sighed. “Okay. But you’ll have to be quiet.”

“We’ll be quiet as mice,” Riley promised.

Bella put her head to one side. “Actually, mice are noisy.

Always squeaking and rustling around.”

“Quieter than dead mice, then!” her brother hissed.

They padded along the stream to where the banks flattened out among the trees. The sounds of cats in distress grew louder. Ravenpaw passed the holly bush with the border mark and glanced back at the others, nodding to show that they should follow. Now they were inside

SkyClan’s territory. Ravenpaw felt his fur stand on end, but he kept going, still treading quietly even though any noise they might make would be drowned out by the screeches coming from in front of them.

He reached the edge of the trees and paused. In the starlight, Ravenpaw made out a huge, dark shape looming over the stream. A rock, perhaps? Beyond it, cats flashed back and forth between sandy cliffs, shrieking in alarm and fury. Ravenpaw twitched his tail to get the others’ attention, then raced to the nearest cliff, which sloped up gently at first, then more steeply, to a huge expanse of scrubby grass.

On the far side, bright yellow lights twinkled; that must be a

Twolegplace, Ravenpaw guessed.

He padded to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He felt very exposed, but none of the cats in the gorge below noticed him. Barley, Riley, and Bella crept up beside him and stared in horror. Amid the crisscrossing paths that lined the valley, cats were charging back and forth, yowling in anger.

A heap of soft, dark shapes went flying; from the scents that drifted up to the top of the cliff, Ravenpaw guessed that the fresh-kill pile had been scattered.

As Ravenpaw’s eyes grew used to the starlight, he realized that five or six cats were chasing the others, rousting them with shrieks and hisses. More and more cats spilled from dens in the side of the cliff, including some tiny kits who looked barely able to walk.

“Get them back to the nursery!” screeched a she-cat.

“Poor little kits, too small to be away from their mother,” jeered a familiar voice.

Ravenpaw looked at Barley. That was Pasha! He peered into the gorge again and made out the shapes of the other cats who had terrorized them the previous night. Were they taking on the whole of SkyClan?

“Warriors, to me!” yowled Leafstar, her cream patches glowing in the half-light. At last a more or less orderly line of cats formed up, and they charged at the intruders, hissing and spitting. With a chorus of mocking screeches, the kittypets whirled around and scrambled back up the cliff.

“We’ll be back!” Pasha yowled, so close to Ravenpaw that he almost stepped on him.

Ravenpaw and his companions crouched in the grass without breathing until the kittypets had thundered away.

Below, the SkyClan camp fell silent apart from the whimpering of kits as they were ushered back to their nest, and the angry muttering from elders who had been disturbed from sleep.

“Three nights in a row!” hissed one of them.

Leafstar spoke soothingly. “We’ll find a way to stop them, I promise. Go back to your dens and get some rest.”