Эрин Хантер - Code of the Clans

Splashheart narrowed his eyes. There was a cat creeping along the far riverbank, head and tail low. The cat was half hidden by the shadow from the rocks, but it was a leaner, sleeker-furred shape than RiverClan cats, who grew plump and thick-pelted thanks to their watery prey. ThunderClan!

“ThunderClan intruders on Sunningrocks!” he yowled.

“I’ll fetch help!” Reedshine told him. “Stay on this side of the river until I get back.” She plunged into the reeds, her orange pelt quickly vanishing among the rattling brown stalks.

Splashheart’s fur stood on end and his paws tingled. His first battle as a warrior!

“This is our territory now, fish-fur!” snarled a cat from the other side of the river.

“Never!” Splashheart hissed. He sank his claws into the edge of the bank, ready to leap into the water and start the battle on his own.

“Splashheart, wait!” Darkstar burst out from the reeds behind him.

Splashheart whirled around to face his leader. “We can’t let them get away with this!” he protested.

The small brown she-cat met his gaze. “We won’t,” she promised grimly. Dry stalks rattled behind her and suddenly the bank was thronging with cats, warriors and apprentices, their fur fluffed up and their claws gleaming in the sun.

“RiverClan, attack!” yowled Darkstar, plunging into the river.

Splashheart scanned the rocks. Thank StarClan, they didn’t seem to be outnumbered. Blackbee and Eeltail were chasing after a

ThunderClan she-cat who was streaking for the cover of the ferns at the bottom of the rocks; Reedshine held another warrior in a paw lock, hissing a warning into his face. Darkstar had satisfied herself with a quick slash of claws across a dark brown cat’s ears before standing back to let him run away, yowling.

As the warrior’s screeches faded among quivering ferns, Splashheart heard a scraping noise from behind a tumble of boulders. He gathered his haunches beneath him and sprang onto the top of the nearest boulder. A pair of terrified amber eyes

stared up at him from the other side.

“Don’t hurt me!” bleated the small black-and-white cat—an apprentice, by the look of him.

“Then stay off our territory!” hissed Splashheart.

The ThunderClan cat didn’t move. Instead, he curled his lip in a snarl. “Are you sure you want to threaten me, fish-fur?” he challenged.

Too late, Splashheart heard the scrape of claws on the rocks above him and felt a rush of air as two sleek-furred shapes landed, one at each flank. In a heartbeat, his face was thrust down against the rock. “Care to threaten us as well?” growled a voice in his ear, and the massive paw pressed harder on his neck.

“Get off him and fight a cat your own size!” screeched a voice from the riverbank. Splashheart caught a glimpse of dark orange fur leaping toward the boulders. Reedshine! She crashed straight into the warrior holding Splashheart down, and both cats plummeted into the narrow gap where the ThunderClan apprentice was crouching. The young cat jumped on top of Reedshine and began pummeling her belly with his forepaws; as Splashheart scrambled to his feet, he saw bright red streaks blossom in Reedshine’s soft fur. He tried to jump down after her but the other ThunderClan warrior swiped his hind paws from underneath him and rolled him over.

The warrior loomed over him, her green eyes blazing. “StarClan changed the course of the river!” she hissed. “Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan now!”

“Never!” Splashheart spat, but the warrior pressed her paw against his throat and the sky began to go dark and fuzzy.

Suddenly there was a thud as two heavy bodies collided above Splashheart, and the weight on his throat lifted. He gulped down air, almost stopping when it felt like swallowing thorns.

“Don’t just lie there, Splashheart,” hissed Darkstar, who crouched on the rock beside him. “Get down to the shore with the others, quick.” Splashheart sprang down to the stones at the edge of the water. The rest of the RiverClan warriors were huddled together, some of them belly-deep in water.

There was a scuffle behind him and Splashheart turned to see Darkstar half carrying Reedshine down the bank. The dark orange warrior left a trail of dark red smears behind her, and her eyes were half-closed. Splashheart raced over.

“Reedshine, wake up!” He looked at Darkstar. “We have to get her back to camp, now!”

Darkstar opened her mouth to let Reedshine sink gracelessly onto the stones. The leader’s eyes were black with rage. “We will take her back,” she promised. “But first, we will reclaim what is rightfully ours!” She raised her voice at the end so every RiverClan cat heard. They lifted their heads and stared at Darkstar in astonishment.

“But the battle is lost!” Eeltail spat. He jerked his muzzle toward the top of the rocks, where several ThunderClan warriors stood in triumph, their tails kinked high above their backs as they jeered at the defeated cats.

“It is only lost when we stop fighting!” replied Darkstar. She jumped onto the riverbank so all the cats could see her. “Our elders, and our elders’ kin, and their kin before them, fought to keep Sunningrocks in our territory. Many of them lost their lives, giving up their last breath for stones that belong to us. Can we give up where they did not, turn tail and flee when they kept fighting so that their kits could hunt and play and bask on these rocks?

Will you fight with me now, in honor of all our elders and all our unborn kits?”

“We will fight!” roared the RiverClan cats. In that moment, Splashheart saw the rocks swarming with starry shapes of cats who had gone before him, his Clanmates from long ago battling over and over to keep Sunningrocks as their own. Now he would join them, set his paws where their paws once stood, and feel their battles echo around him as he proved himself worthy to walk among them.

With a single yowl, the RiverClan cats surged up the riverbank and onto the boulders. The ThunderClan warriors stood in a line on the far side of the summit, staring at them in astonishment.

“The battle is over,” snarled one of them, a broad-shouldered tabby with amber eyes.

Darkstar faced him boldly, the fur standing up along her spine.

“How can that be, when we are not beaten?” she challenged.

With a screech, the tabby sprang at her, but Darkstar sidestepped, spun around, and sank her claws into his back as he crashed to the floor. The RiverClan warriors leaped forward to meet the other ThunderClan cats, and Splashheart felt his teeth sink into short white fur. He didn’t let go until he dragged the cat to the edge of the rocks.

“Go!” he ordered, releasing the cat’s scruff at last. Without looking back, the warrior scrambled down the boulders and disappeared into the ferns at the edge of ThunderClan’s territory.

“Good work,” murmured a voice beside Splashheart. He had plunged back into the throng of cats, and for a moment he couldn’t tell which cat was speaking to him.

“Watch out for that black-and-white tom over there,” the voice continued, and Splashheart saw a ThunderClan warrior stalking toward Eeltail, who was holding down a spitting she-cat.

“Thanks!” he gasped and crossed the open ground in three quick strides, landing squarely on the black-and-white cat. Eeltail turned at the noise and lifted his paw so that the she-cat could flee; then he joined Splashheart and together they chased the black-and-white tom after his frightened Clanmate.

When the two cats had gone, Splashheart realized that the sounds of battle had grown quieter, muffled as if he were underwater.