Эрин Хантер - Battles of the Clans

I looked up at the trees, wondering where the squirrel had gone. If it had a nest close by, it would be worth coming back to this place to catch it on the ground, foraging. Just then, I heard a faint noise, like a twig snapping, and whirled around. A flash of dark fur closely followed by a splash of white; the outline of pricked ears; what looked like the tip of a tail flickering above the ferns.

“Have you grown roots, Dustpaw? Bluestar is expecting us back this side of moonhigh, you know.” Tigerclaw was watching me from the end of the path, his tail twitching impatiently.

“I think we’re being invaded!” I hissed, angling my ears toward the place where I’d seen the passing shapes.

Tigerclaw followed my gaze, stiffening when he saw the line of cats padding stealthily between the slender gray tree trunks.

“ShadowClan!” he snarled. The fur along his spine bristled. “Patrol! Come here!” he called softly. The ferns trembled as Ravenpaw, Longtail, and Darkstripe trotted back to us. They stared through the trees in horror at the ShadowClan warriors heading for the center of ThunderClan’s territory.

“Those mangy crow-food eaters!” growled Darkstripe, unsheathing his claws.

Longtail bunched his hindquarters underneath him. “Should I go and get help?” he offered.

Tigerclaw shook his head. “There’s no time. We must try to head them off ourselves.”

Darkstripe gulped. “But there are only five of us. It looks like they’ve brought the whole Clan to invade!”

“They’ll rip us to shreds!” Ravenpaw whimpered.

“Not if we rip them first,” Tigerclaw vowed. “We’ll use the Lightning Strike: Hit them hard and fast, retreat, then attack again from the same direction.”

Squirrels , I thought. Squirrels running in circles .

“Squirrels!” I said out loud.

Tigerclaw looked at me as if I’d gone mad. “No, ShadowClan invaders,” he growled. “Great

StarClan, if you can’t catch a single piece of prey, how am I supposed to lead you into battle?”

“No, we have to think like squirrels,” I insisted. “At least, the squirrel that I lost up that tree. He circled me, making me think there were two of him. It…it was confusing.”

Darkstripe snorted. “Okay, you go back and persuade your fluffy-tailed friend to help us, and we’ll take care of the fighting,” he suggested with a meaningful look at Tigerclaw.

But the dark tabby warrior was staring thoughtfully at me. “Go on,” he prompted.

My fur felt hot and prickly. “I… I haven’t exactly thought it out,” I stammered, “but I thought if we did a Lightning Strike on one side, then regrouped on the other side and…er…pretended to be different cats, ShadowClan might think there were more of us. It would be like a…a double Lightning Strike.”

“Oh, yes, because ShadowClan warriors are blind and have no sense of smell, so they think every ThunderClan cat looks like us,” sneered Longtail. He flicked his tail.

Tigerclaw raised one front paw. “Wait. This might work.” He turned to face the other cats. “If we attack fast enough and cause enough confusion, the invaders won’t have a chance to recognize us. You three, follow my orders, and don’t lose sight of the rest of the patrol.”

Whoa! Tigerclaw was actually going to listen to my idea?

“Ravenpaw, go to the ravine and tell Bluestar what is happening,” he ordered. “If the plan doesn’t work, we’ll need backup fast.”

Ravenpaw vanished into the ferns like a snake.

Tigerclaw spun around and leaped through the trees in the direction of the invaders. Longtail and Darkstripe sprang after him, and I followed. My first real battle! The blood roared in my ears, and I opened my mouth wide to inhale the scents of the strangers that tainted the fresh, green-tasting air.

“Keep still!” Tigerclaw hissed over his shoulder. “Enemy dead ahead.”

I peered over the heads of the other cats to see the line of ShadowClan warriors slinking along a fox path. They were moving slower now, as if they were unsure exactly where the ThunderClan camp was.

“Ready?” Tigerclaw demanded. “Attack!”

Without checking to see if we were following, he plunged out of the undergrowth and leaped with a roar onto the cat at the back of the ShadowClan line. The short-tailed brown tom didn’t have time to let out a yowl before he was knocked to the ground. Tigerclaw used the tom’s face to push off with his hind paws as he launched himself toward the next cat. Darkstripe tore past and sank his outstretched front claws into another warrior, while Longtail and I tackled the brown tom at the back as he tried to struggle to his feet.

The cats at the head of the line came racing back, teeth bared and hackles raised. There was no time to think about battle moves, about balancing my weight evenly on my hind paws and landing each blow perfectly. Instead, I spun and slashed and snarled until the trees blurred around me. Delicate ear skin caught under one of my claws; with a wrench, I ripped my paw clear and felt a thin spray of blood land on my muzzle.

“ThunderClan, retreat!” Tigerclaw’s command cut through the pant and hiss of the fighting. I sheathed my claws and sprang into the nearest patch of ferns. Glancing back, I saw Longtail blink in satisfaction and raise one front paw to check his claws for trapped fur. Out in the open, the invaders began to talk.

“Did we beat them?” That was the short-tailed tom, who was bleeding heavily from one ear.

The white cat with black paws who had led the patrol looked around. I realized that it was Blackfoot, the ShadowClan deputy; I’d seen him and a couple of the other cats at a Gathering.

“We must have,” Blackfoot growled. “Mouse-hearted cowards. They can’t even defend their own territory!”

“Should we keep going?” asked a red-furred she-cat. Her eyes gleamed, and she seemed the least daunted by the attack out of all of them.

“In a moment, Russetfur,” said Blackfoot. “We’ll let Stumpytail get his breath back first.”

“This way,” Tigerclaw whispered. Turning with difficulty in the crowded space, he pushed his way out of the ferns on the other side from the fox path. He drew the tip of his tail across his mouth, warning us to keep silent, then padded softly in a circle around the ShadowClan warriors, leaping across the fox path when they were out of sight and plunging into the undergrowth on the far side.

There were more brambles than ferns here, and I bit my tongue to stop myself from yelping when thorns scratched my spine.

“Quick!” Tigerclaw hissed. “Before they start moving again.” He forced his way through the tangled prickles until we had drawn level with the invaders. “Remember to scuff up the sand with your paws so that they can’t see us clearly. Now!”

He hurled himself out of the branches with Darkstripe at his heels. Longtail followed, and I pushed out after them. My head was still ringing from the last skirmish, and my legs felt trembly from the race around to the other side of the path. But the plan seemed to have worked: The ShadowClan warriors reacted as if this were a completely new patrol come to attack them.

“Where did the others go?” panted Stumpytail, ducking out of the way of Longtail’s flailing front paws.

“Keep an eye behind you,” warned Blackfoot through clenched teeth. “In case they try to sneak up on us.”

“I’m sure I heard one of them call another one Longtail,” hissed Russetfur. “I’ll remember that name.”

I blinked. Are you sure about that, Russetfur? “Hey, Runningwind!” I yowled. “I need some help over here!”