Эрин Хантер - Legends of the Clans

DEDICATION

Special thanks to Victoria Holmes

THUNDERCLANLEADER SUNSTAR—bright ginger tom with yellow eyes DEPUTY TAWNYSPOTS—light gray tabby tom with amber eyes MEDICINE CATS GOOSEFEATHER—speckled gray tom with pale blue eyes FEATHERWHISKER—pale silvery tom with bright amber eyes WARRIORS (toms and she-cats without kits) STORMTAIL—blue-gray tom with blue eyes ADDERFANG—mottled brown tabby tom with yellow eyes HALFTAIL—big dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes and part of his tail missing SMALLEAR—gray tom with very small ears and amber eyes FUZZYPELT—black tom with yellow eyes WINDFLIGHT—gray tabby tom with pale green eyes WHITE-EYE—pale gray she-cat, blind in one eye POPPYDAWN—long-haired dark red she-cat with an extremely bushy tail and amber eyes SPECKLETAIL—pale tabby she-cat with amber eyes PATCHPELT—small black-and-white tom with amber eyes APPRENTICE, WHITEPAW THRUSHPELT—sandy-gray tom with white flash on his chest and bright green eyes DAPPLETAIL—tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat BLUEFUR—thick-furred blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes THISTLECLAW—gray-and-white tom with amber eyes APPRENTICE, TIGERPAW ROSETAIL—gray tabby she-cat with a bushy reddish tail LIONHEART—golden tabby tom, green eyes GOLDENFLOWER—pale ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes LEOPARDFOOT—black she-cat with green eyes QUEENS (she-cats expecting or nursing kits) ROBINWING—small brown she-cat with a ginger patch on her chest and amber eyes (mother to Brindlekit, a pale gray tabby she-kit, and Frostkit, a white she-kit with blue eyes) SWIFTBREEZE—tabby-and-white she-cat with yellow eyes (mother to Spottedkit, a dark tortoiseshell she-kit; Willowkit, a pale gray she-kit with blue eyes; and Redkit, a small tortoiseshell tom with a ginger tail) APPRENTICES (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors) TIGERPAW—big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws WHITEPAW—pure white tom with yellow eyes ELDERS (former warriors and queens, now retired) WEEDWHISKER—pale orange tom with yellow eyes MUMBLEFOOT—brown tom with amber eyes LARKSONG—tortoiseshell she-cat with pale green eyes

“At my signal, unleash the force of ThunderClan upon these rogues!” Spottedkit sank her claws into the tree stump and looked down at her loyal warriors. They stared up at her, huge-eyed, bristle-furred, ready to strike. Beyond them crouched the rogues, their tails flicking hungrily.

“ThunderClan forever!” Spottedkit yowled.

Below her, a dark tortoiseshell tom whirled around and sprang at the closest rogue.

“No, Redkit! That wasn’t my signal!” Spottedkit jumped down from the stump and marched over to her littermate, who was trying to sink his teeth into the scruff of a pale tabby she-kit. “Leave Brindlekit alone!”

The she-kit shrugged Redkit onto the ground. He landed with an “oof!”, then scrambled to his paws and glared at Spottedkit. “It sounded like a signal!”

“You didn’t tell us what the signal would be,” pointed out a white she-kit with eyes the color of the sky.

Spottedkit lashed her tail. “You’ve spoiled the game, Redkit! You can’t be my deputy anymore.”

“Can I be the deputy?” mewed a pale gray kit who had been sitting in the shade of the tree stump.

“No, Willowkit, you’re my medicine cat,” Spottedkit told her.

“But I want to fight in the battle!” Willowkit protested.

A thick-furred white tom stood up from where he had been sitting on the other side of Brindlekit. “I’ll be the medicine cat, if you like.”

“It’s not up to you, Whitepaw,” Spottedkit mewed. “I’m the leader, I decide who does what.”

Whitepaw scowled. “Well, I don’t want to be a rogue. I’m a ThunderClan cat! You’re so bossy, Spottedkit!” He padded over to Frostkit. “I’m going to be a warrior.”

“But now we only have one rogue!” Spottedkit wailed. “That’s not a proper battle!”

“I don’t want to be a rogue either,” mewed Brindlekit.

Redkit scored the dust with one tiny claw. “We don’t want to play with you, Spottedkit. You’re always telling us what to do!”

Spottedkit watched miserably as her denmates trotted across the clearing to a sun-warmed patch of sand, where they started batting around an old clump of moss.

“Is everything all right?”

Spottedkit turned to see her mother’s tabby-and-white face. “Redkit says I’m too bossy.”

Swiftbreeze bent her head and licked the fur on Spottedkit’s neck. Spottedkit snuggled a little closer, purring.

“Maybe you should let one of the others be in charge,” Swiftbreeze suggested.

“But they said I could be Clan leader!” Spottedkit mewed. “That means I have to look after every cat, doesn’t it?”

“Well, the medicine cat has some responsibility, too,” Swiftbreeze purred. “And no leader could do without their deputy. Think how Sunstar relies on Tawnyspots to organize the patrols.”

“When I’m the leader of ThunderClan, I’ll be in charge of all the patrols,” Spottedkit announced. She curled up against her mother’s belly and rested her chin on Swiftbreeze’s hind paw. “I’m going to make Whitepaw my deputy. He’s kind and smart, and he tells Tigerpaw to stop showing off whenever Thistleclaw teaches him a new way to fight.”

Spottedkit felt her mother tense. “Thistleclaw shouldn’t be teaching Tigerpaw so many battle moves, not when he’s only been an apprentice for two moons. I’ll ask Leopardfoot to have a word with him. She’s Tigerpaw’s mother; she won’t want him getting hurt before he has a chance to do his final assessment.”

“Leopardfoot doesn’t mind, she said so. She says that Tigerpaw is Pinestar’s son, so he has to be the best warrior in all the Clan.” Spottedkit sometimes wondered how Tigerpaw felt, knowing that his father had left ThunderClan to become a kittypet. Sunstar was leader now, and he never let any cat tease Tigerpaw about his father. But cats still talked when Sunstar was out of earshot, and Spottedkit saw the dark brown tabby apprentice glaring at his Clanmates sometimes as if he blamed them for Pinestar abandoning him.

Spottedkit started following the scent of milk through her mother’s belly fur. “Tigerpaw had better watch out. I’m going to be the best warrior ever, so there!”

Swiftbreeze shifted position so that she was lying more comfortably on the earth. “I don’t doubt that for a moment, little one,” she purred. “But before that happens, you must learn to play nicely with your denmates!”