Moonrise

Chapter 21

Sorreltail glared up at Hawkfrost. Twisting under his paw, she raked her claws over his leg, but days of hunger had taken the edge off her fighting skills. The warrior didn’t flinch as he cuffed her over the ear with his other forepaw.

“You’re coming with me to Leopardstar,” he snarled. “Let her decide what to do. ThunderClan have no right to ignore our borders.”

“Let her go!” Leafpaw meowed. “She’s only a couple of tail-lengths inside your border.”

Hawkfrost gave her an unfriendly stare. “Oh, it’s you again.”

“Yes, me again.” Leafpaw drew herself up and met Hawkfrost’s icy blue eyes, summoning all her courage. “You were glad enough that I was there when Reedpaw had his accident.” Persuasively, she added, “You owe ThunderClan a favor. Let Sorreltail go.”

Hawkfrost’s lip curled in a sneer. “Clans do not owe each other favors. The warrior code says we should respect boundaries, which she”—he gave Sorreltail a contemptuous flick with his tail—“clearly does not.”

Leafpaw felt her fur bristle and her muscles tense, as if her body were telling her to fight with Hawkfrost. Together she and Sorreltail had a chance of beating him… But she forced herself to stay calm and not move from where she stood on the border. She could just imagine what Firestar would say if he found out she had attacked a cat from another Clan on his own territory.

It was hard to beg such an obnoxious cat, but she had to make one more effort. “Please—it’s not as if she was doing any harm.”

Hawkfrost’s blue eyes were chips of ice. “She was stealing prey.”

“She was not!” Leafpaw’s eyes flew wide. “That was a ThunderClan squirrel.”

Sorreltail, who had been lying limp under Hawkfrost’s paw, suddenly heaved herself upward. Hawkfrost let out a screech as her teeth met in his leg. For a moment they writhed together on the ground, but for all her bravery Sorreltail was no match for Hawkfrost’s size and strength.

Soon she lay panting under his paws again.

“Okay, take me to Leopardstar,” she spat. “But I’ll fight you every step of the way.”

Hawkfrost looked bored. “Fine. You do that.”

Desperately Leafpaw looked around; why wasn’t Firestar or Cinderpelt here? They might be able to persuade Hawkfrost.

There were no cats at all on her own side of the border, but she caught sight of a flash of gold in the reeds on the other side of the river, and a heartbeat later saw Mothwing running across the Twoleg bridge. The RiverClan apprentice bounded up the slope and halted beside her brother.

“What’s going on?”

“You can see for yourself.” Hawkfrost tapped Sorreltail with his tail. “I’ve caught a trespasser. I’m going to take her to Leopardstar.”

“She didn’t mean it,” Leafpaw pleaded, feeling more hopeful now that Mothwing had turned up. “She was chasing a squirrel—one of ours—and she didn’t realize that she’d crossed the border.”

Mothwing looked from her brother to Leafpaw and back again. “Let her go,” she meowed. “It’s not important. She didn’t catch anything. If you take her to Leopardstar you could start a war between our Clans.”

Hawkfrost fixed his cold blue stare on his sister. “And why is that such a bad thing? Every cat knows that ThunderClan is in trouble. This could be our chance to move in and take their territory.”

Leafpaw gasped. Was that what Hawkfrost really wanted?

Mothwing returned her brother’s stare. “Don’t be mouse-brained,” she mewed frostily. “Remember what Leopardstar owes Firestar. He gave the Clan back to her when Tigerstar tried to take over. She’ll never go to war against him.”

“She will for a good enough reason,” Hawkfrost argued.

“This isn’t about old favors; it’s about the warrior code. The borders between the Clans have to count for something!” His voice was becoming high-pitched with desperation, and he took a deep breath before growling, “And you watch your tongue, Mothwing. Remember you could be talking to the next Clan deputy.”

“What?” Leafpaw blurted out. “What about Mistyfoot?”

“Mistyfoot is a coward,” Hawkfrost snarled. “She couldn’t face what’s happening in the forest, so she ran away.”

“No cat has seen her for a whole day,” Mothwing explained to Leafpaw, her eyes wide and anxious. “Not since she went to patrol the border near Fourtrees. We don’t know what has happened to her.”

“Even if she comes back, she won’t be deputy anymore,” Hawkfrost growled. “Clan deputies can’t just go wandering off when they feel like it.”

Leafpaw’s head spun. She couldn’t believe it. Mistyfoot was no coward; besides, she had assumed that RiverClan wasn’t affected by what was happening to the other three Clans, because their territory was the only one the Twolegs hadn’t touched. But now Mistyfoot had disappeared.

How many more had gone? Had all the Clans lost cats? A chill crept bone-deep into Leafpaw; these disappearances couldn’t be related to the prophecy from StarClan. Even if the first cats had failed, StarClan wouldn’t send out more and more to a nameless fate. Somehow the Twolegs and their monsters must be responsible.

She said nothing of this to Mothwing and Hawkfrost, and to her relief Sorreltail did not tell them about the disappearance of Cloudtail and Brightheart. The less RiverClan knew about ThunderClan’s affairs the better, especially if Hawkfrost was spoiling for a fight because he thought ThunderClan was weak.

Instead, it was Mothwing who broke the silence. “You know, you’re a fool, Hawkfrost,” she mewed.

Her brother bristled. “What do you mean?”

“If you want to bring down ThunderClan, you’re going about it the wrong way.”

“And you know the right way, do you?” Hawkfrost sneered.

“Yes, I do.” Mothwing’s tone was cold. Leafpaw could hardly believe what she was hearing; she suddenly felt as if she didn’t know this cat at all.

“Go on, then, enlighten me.”

Mothwing turned her head to give her shoulder a couple of quick licks. “Be kind to them. Make them grateful to us. That should keep them quiet while they get weaker and weaker.

Why fight and risk injuries to our Clan? Let the Twolegs do the job for us. Then we move in and take their territory.”

Hawkfrost’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “You could have a point,” he grunted. “Okay.” He stepped back and let Sorreltail get up. “Leave, and don’t come back.”

Sorreltail shook herself and glared at him before taking the few steps that carried her back into her own territory.

Leafpaw studied her closely as she crossed the border, but apart from a couple of superficial scratches, Hawkfrost hadn’t hurt her.

“I’ll tell Firestar what you said,” she meowed to Mothwing, striving hard to keep her voice level. “He’ll take it up with Leopardstar at the next Gathering.”

Two pairs of eyes, ice blue and amber, turned their gaze on her.

“Sure, tell him,” Hawkfrost invited. “Even if he believes you, what can he do about it? Don’t you think Leopardstar will back me against a ThunderClan cat?”

Sorreltail nudged Leafpaw’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go back to camp.”

Leafpaw turned away, her tail drooping. She had liked Mothwing and trusted her, and now it seemed that her friend had betrayed her. Even if Mothwing’s first loyalty was to her Clan, Leafpaw hadn’t thought that she would be so coldly calculating.

She had not gone more than a few foxlengths when she heard Mothwing calling her name in a low voice. She stopped and looked back. Mothwing was standing on the border; Hawkfrost was nowhere to be seen.

“Leafpaw!” Mothwing beckoned with her tail.

“Ignore her,” Sorreltail muttered. “Who needs friends like that?”

“Leafpaw, please…” Mothwing’s voice was pleading now.

“Let me explain.”

Leafpaw hesitated, then took a few reluctant steps back toward the border. Sorreltail padded close beside her; Leafpaw sensed her tension and winced at the look of disgust she shot toward the RiverClan she-cat.

“I had to say that in front of Hawkfrost,” Mothwing explained urgently. “Don’t you see? He’d never have let your friend go otherwise.”

Leafpaw felt relief flood over her. She hadn’t wanted to think badly of Mothwing, not when they shared the bond of all medicine cats.

She could see her own relief reflected in the RiverClan cat’s eyes as Mothwing added, “You do believe me, don’t you?

We are still friends?”

“Of course we are.” Leafpaw stepped forward to touch noses with Mothwing. She ignored a skeptical snort from Sorreltail just behind her. “Thank you.”

Behind Mothwing, at the foot of the slope, she saw Hawkfrost emerge from the shelter of a bush and lope easily across the Twoleg bridge. She shivered when she remembered the cruel ambition in his eyes. Surely no other cat but Tigerstar had been so greedy for power?

“Mothwing,” she murmured, unable to bear the uncertainty any longer, “who was your father? Was it Tigerstar?”

Shock flared in Mothwing’s amber eyes. For a moment she hesitated, and then replied, “Yes.”