Эрин Хантер - Secrets Оf Тhe Clans

Finally, as the sun was rising over the distant hills, I came to a large Twoleg nest. It smelled of hay and mice and sunshine. I could tell after a short exploration that Twolegs came here often but didn’t stay long. Something about it felt safe and friendly. Nothing could have been more different from the dark alleys and cold puddles of Twolegplace.

I dug my way into a pile of hay and curled up, breathing in the sweet warmth.

I would be safe here. Safe and free to live my own life. Maybe one day I’d go back and look for Violet—or maybe she’d be happy living with Fuzz and his Twolegs. Maybe she’d get plump on tuna and sleep on the bed with the Twolegs, purring contentedly. The important thing was we’d escaped from BloodClan.

Scourge couldn’t hurt us anymore.

Tribe character:Smaller and leaner than forest cats. They smear their fur with mud for camouflage against the rocks. Tribe cats are born as either cave-guards or prey-hunters and are known as to-bes while training. Their warrior ancestors belong to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, cats who appear in whispers in the leaves and the pattern of water over stones. Their most sacred place is the Cave of Pointed Stones, where the Healer may interpret signs in the way rain drips from the roof and in the shadows of the stalagmites and stalactites cast by moonlight.

Habitat:The mountains.

Camp:A rocky path leads behind a waterfall into a huge cave, as broad as the waterfall and screened from the outside world by the rushing water. The cave burrows under the mountain. Narrow passages lead off on either side, one to the Cave of the Pointed Stones, one to the nursery. Cats sleep in hollows on the cave floor lined with moss and eagle or heron feathers. A trickle of water runs down a mossy rock into a small, clear pool, providing fresh drinking water.

Leader (known as Healer):Teller of the Pointed Stones, called Stoneteller , is a wise old brown tabby cat who serves as both leader and medicine cat. He is responsible for reading the signs in the Cave of Pointed Stones, and he guides his Tribe according to the messages from the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

There are strangers in our cave tonight.

They are returning to their home in the forest, but they must not linger there long. They say that a terrible danger is destroying their home. Soon all the forest cats must go on a journey to no cat knows where…

We are struggling with a terrible danger too. I cannot tell the strangers about it. I fear they would leave the mountains if they knew.

And yet one of them must save us from Sharptooth.

I have read the ripple of shadows on the rock wall, the drops of water in the moonlight. I have seen bright gray fur flash in the pool.

The signs are clear. A silver cat, not from this Tribe, will come to save us from Sharptooth—that is what the Tribe of Endless Hunting has promised.

The six cats arrived wet and shivering in our cave. They are scrawny, tired, and suspicious, and one of them is badly injured. I have heard them whispering about us—they don’t realize how good our hearing is. They can see that we are afraid of something.

I believe the silver cat must be the one called Stormfur. His fur gleams with the dark silver of the moon when it is just a claw in the sky.

The dark tabby, the one called Brambleclaw, is their leader, although the small black cat and the tortoiseshell don’t hesitate to challenge him. Nor does the ginger she-cat named Squirrelpaw, yet I can see her respect for him in every ripple of her fur. There is something about those two—a destiny longer, darker, and more fraught with danger than I care to look at. But it does not affect my Tribe.

Once the strangers dried off, I saw there was another silver cat in the group—Stormfur’s sister, Feathertail. Could the prophecy refer to her instead? No, it must be Stormfur. He has a proud courage about him, a strength in those shoulders that would defeat any of my cave-guards.

Whatever he is going to do to save us, I hope it will be soon. My Tribe has lost so many cats already. And it is not only the lives of the dead cats that Sharptooth has taken. He has taken the pride, the joy, the fierce will to live of all my Tribe. We are but a shadow of a Tribe now, haunted by the flashing claws and teeth of a mindless killer.

I beseech you, Tribe of Endless Hunting. Guide the silver cat’s paws to save us from Sharptooth, so that we may have peace again.

A rogue is a Clan cat who has been banished for crimes against the warrior code. These cats are usually hostile and live as out-laws on Clan territory or on the outskirts. Loners are cats who choose to live neither in Clans nor with Twolegs. They live and hunt alone. Loners can be friendly and even helpful to the Clan cats.

Barley:A black-and-white tom who left BloodClan to live as a loner in the forest. (See Barley Speaks: Flight from BloodClan .) His home is a warm barn north of WindClan territory. Warriors often pass through his farm on their way to Highstones, and so most of the Clans know of him. The Twolegs who run the farm don’t mind him living there, since he keeps down the rodent population.

Barley bravely came to the aid of Bluestar during a rat attack when she was leading four ThunderClan cats back to the forest from Mothermouth. Later, he offered his barn as shelter for WindClan while they journeyed home to their camp. When BloodClan came to the forest, he was able to give Firestar insight into their weaknesses, which helped LionClan win the battle.

Ravenpaw:A small black loner, originally a ThunderClan apprentice. His mentor was the ThunderClan deputy Tigerclaw. During a battle at Sunningrocks, Ravenpaw saw Tigerclaw kill the ThunderClan deputy, Redtail. This knowledge put Ravenpaw’s life at risk. With the help of Firepaw, he fled the ThunderClan camp to the safety of Barley’s barn. He is happy here; the loner lifestyle suits him better than Clan life.

Sasha:A tawny-colored rogue. She fell in love with Tigerstar while he was recruiting BloodClan. She bore him two kittens, Mothwing and Hawkfrost, and brought them to RiverClan for a better life, as she wasn’t interested in raising kits by herself.

Later, she tried unsuccessfully to convince them to rejoin her instead of traveling to the Clans’ new home.

Purdy:An elderly, mottled brown tabby tom who met the questing Clan cats on their way to the sun-drown-place.

Purdy did his best to help the cats find their way through the confusing tangle of Thunderpaths and Twoleg nests, although it might not have been by the shortest route! He tried to warn the young cats of the danger in the mountains, but it was their destiny to go that way, no matter what he said.

Smoky, Daisy, and Floss:These three cats live as loners in a barn near the horseplace. They do not hunt prey, since they are fed by the Twolegs. This, in the opinion of many Clan cats, makes them as useless as kittypets.

Smoky is a muscular gray-and-white tom, who is distant but not unfriendly. He met the Clan cats on their way to the first Gathering. He is the father of Daisy’s kits: Berrykit, Hazelkit, and Mousekit.

Daisy is a creamy brown she-cat with blue eyes. She brought her kits to join ThunderClan.