Ravenpaw’s Farewell

Chapter Eight

Ravenpaw didn’t expect to go back to sleep after the excitement of their night visitors, but he woke to find himself alone in the nest with sunbeams reaching under the edge of the branches.

“Barley?” he meowed.

“Right here,” came the reply, and Barley’s black-and-white rump appeared, dragging a squirrel through the leaves.

“We caught you something to eat,” he announced.

Riley and Bella’s faces appeared at the edge of the bush.

“We climbed a tree and chased it down to Barley!” Riley meowed.

“Wow,” mewed Ravenpaw, impressed. He recalled Firestar telling him about SkyClan’s unusual skill in hunting above the ground. Perhaps Riley and Bella would fit in even better than he had imagined.

They shared the squirrel and buried the remains a little way from the bush. Then Riley found the way back to the stream, and they carried on, all of them alert to noises and scents from the trees around them.

Even so, Ravenpaw jumped when there was a blur of movement from behind a holly tree and three cats leaped out to block their path. All were she-cats: A long-legged ginger warrior was flanked by a gray warrior and a smaller white cat who looked like an apprentice, judging by her trembling paws and huge eyes.

“What are you doing here?” growled the ginger cat.

“This is SkyClan territory!”

Ravenpaw caught a strong scent from the holly bush, and he realized they were less than a fox-length from a border mark.

“You’re not welcome here!” hissed the gray warrior.

“Yeah! You should make like a tree and leave!” chimed the little white cat. The gray cat looked down at her in surprise.

“But we’ve come a long way,” Riley began.

“Then you’ll have a long walk home,” snarled the ginger cat.

“Wait,” Ravenpaw pleaded, stepping forward alongside

Riley. “We come in peace. I am a friend of Firestar, who saved your Clan. Do you know him?”

The three cats looked blankly at him. Ravenpaw felt his heart sink. He hadn’t anticipated that SkyClan might have forgotten all about the ThunderClan cats who helped them moons ago.

Then the ginger cat stirred. “My mother has talked about a cat of that name. What do you want? Is he here?”

Ravenpaw shook his head. “No, but he was once my closest friend, and I hoped that his friends in SkyClan would be prepared to speak to me.”

The ginger she-cat looked him up and down. “You don’t smell like a Clan cat,” she commented. “You smell of cows.”

“I’m not a Clan cat,” Ravenpaw admitted. “At least, not anymore. Look, is Leafstar still your leader? Please, may we speak with her? Tell her… tell her that Firestar’s friend

Ravenpaw is here.”

The warrior studied him for another heartbeat, then turned to the small white cat. “Cloudpaw, fetch my mother.”

Cloudpaw nodded and scampered off.

Barley came up to join Ravenpaw. “I’m Barley,” he announced, dipping his head. “And these are Riley and Bella.”

The ginger she-cat twitched her tail. “I’m Firefern, and this is Plumwillow.”

“Er… nice territory,” Ravenpaw stammered, trying to break the strained silence.

“How would you know? You haven’t seen it,” Plumwillow pointed out.

Barley caught Ravenpaw’s eye and shook his head. It looked as if they weren’t going to make friends with these warriors today.

Riley and Bella were just starting to fidget when Ravenpaw heard the sound of paw steps. Cloudpaw raced back along the stream, followed by a brown-and-cream tabby. She was not young, but she moved gracefully and her amber eyes were bright. She stood beside Firefern and studied the visitors.

“I am Leafstar, leader of SkyClan.” Her gaze met Ravenpaw’s. “I remember Firestar talking about you. You left ThunderClan, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did,” Ravenpaw admitted. “I live with Barley now”—the black-and-white cat bowed—“and we have come here with Barley’s kin Riley and Bella.”

“Do you still live near the Clans?” Leafstar asked.

Ravenpaw nodded and was about to explain that the Clans had moved away when Leafstar went on. “Then you have come a long way. It must be important, whatever it is.”

Ravenpaw felt suddenly unprepared. How could he ask this cool, powerful leader if two complete strangers could join her Clan?

He hesitated for too long. Barley lifted his head and blurted out, “My sister Violet’s kits want to become warriors.

Please, could they join SkyClan? They’ve already started their training, and they’re really good.”

Leafstar’s eyes opened very wide. Beside her, Firefern and Plumwillow bristled. Cloudpaw leaned forward and sniffed Bella’s fur. “That one smells funny,” she mewed, recoiling. “She can’t be a warrior!”

“Do we look like we take in strays?” Firefern growled.

“I’m not a stray!” puffed Riley.

“Hush!” Leafstar ordered, raising her tail. “SkyClan is honored by your request. I appreciate that you have traveled a long way. But it’s not that simple. SkyClan is strong and thriving as it is. We don’t need to recruit warriors from outside, as we have done in the past. We have enough loyal warriors already.”

Ravenpaw felt as if the ground were opening under his paws. She didn’t even give Riley and Bella a chance! He had imagined Leafstar being reluctant, of course, but he had hoped he’d be able to persuade her when she saw how determined the young cats were, and how much they had learned so far.

“Is it because we used to be kittypets?” Bella meowed.

“Because Ravenpaw told us that some of your warriors are still kittypets. We’d be warriors all the time, I promise!”

Leafstar blinked. “It’s true that SkyClan has daylight warriors, but they have trained with us for many seasons, and I trust their loyalty to their Clanmates.”

“We could train too!” Riley argued; Barley hushed him with a sweep of his tail across the young cat’s muzzle.

“I cannot fault their enthusiasm,” Leafstar commented to Ravenpaw. She tipped her head to one side. “But why have you come all this way to ask if they can join SkyClan? Why couldn’t Firestar take Riley and Bella into ThunderClan?”

Ravenpaw blinked. “Because ThunderClan has gone,” he managed to say, feeling grief choke him afresh. “All the Clans have left the forest. The forest was torn up to make room for a Thunderpath, and there was nowhere for the warriors to stay. I watched them leave, but I… I don’t know where they are now.”

Leafstar’s eyes clouded. “Poor Firestar and Sandstorm, having to leave their home! I hope that they are safe, wherever they are.”

“I believe that they are,” Ravenpaw meowed. “StarClan would have told me if something terrible had happened, I think.” He noticed Barley shoot a sideways glance at him, and Ravenpaw felt a twinge of guilt. He rarely spoke of StarClan to his friend, and perhaps Barley had assumed that his warrior ancestors no longer meant anything to him.

Leafstar sighed. “I have tried to keep the memory of Firestar and Sandstorm alive in my Clan,” she murmured.

“SkyClan owes everything to them. But many seasons have passed, and not all my warriors were there in the beginning.”

She drew herself up again. “Any friend of Firestar’s is welcome to visit my Clan, but only as our guest. We will always be grateful for what Firestar and Sandstorm did. But we cannot accept unknown cats to train as warriors. I am sorry.”

She turned to leave, making it clear that her welcome to Firestar’s friends began and ended at the border to her Clan.

The other cats followed, except for Plumwillow, who paused to hiss, “Don’t steal any of our prey!” before trotting after her Clanmates.

Ravenpaw stared at the disappearing warriors in dismay.

“They were mean!” Bella growled.

“They didn’t even give us a chance to show off our battle moves!” Riley muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Ravenpaw mewed. “I didn’t think she’d be like that.”

“Let’s go back to that cave in the gorge,” Barley suggested. “I don’t think we should hang around too close to the border.” He padded over to Bella, whose tail was drooping. “I’m still very proud of you,” he told her. “And you, Riley. You’ve learned so much on this journey! You’re brave and strong and smart. You’d be great warriors.

Wouldn’t they, Ravenpaw?”

“Yes, of course.” Ravenpaw started to walk back down the stream. His pelt burned. Why had he raised the hopes of these young cats, all for nothing but sore paws and travel-stained fur? A sharp pain jabbed in his belly, and he stumbled.

In a heartbeat Barley was beside him, propping him up.

“Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” Ravenpaw rasped. “I’ll be okay once we get to the cave.”

Barley stayed beside him, fussing, until he was settled on the dusty orange floor. Riley and Bella slumped down beside him with their chins on their paws.

“I’ll go hunt,” Barley meowed. “You stay here and rest.”

Ravenpaw slept deeply until something prodded him in his side, sending a spasm through his belly. Riley and Bella were standing in the cave beside him, their eyes huge. It was dark—Ravenpaw had slept for longer than he thought—and

Barley was curled at his back.

“Something’s happening!” Bella squeaked.

Ravenpaw pricked his ears. Faint yowls and shrieks echoed along the banks of the gorge.

“Do you think SkyClan is being attacked?” whispered Riley.

“I don’t know. Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good.”

Ravenpaw stood up and walked to the mouth of the cave.

“Where are you going?” Barley rumbled, sitting up.

“To see what’s going on.”

“Not without me,” meowed Barley.

“Or us!” Riley and Bella put in.

Ravenpaw sighed. “Okay. But you’ll have to be quiet.”

“We’ll be quiet as mice,” Riley promised.

Bella put her head to one side. “Actually, mice are noisy.

Always squeaking and rustling around.”

“Quieter than dead mice, then!” her brother hissed.

They padded along the stream to where the banks flattened out among the trees. The sounds of cats in distress grew louder. Ravenpaw passed the holly bush with the border mark and glanced back at the others, nodding to show that they should follow. Now they were inside

SkyClan’s territory. Ravenpaw felt his fur stand on end, but he kept going, still treading quietly even though any noise they might make would be drowned out by the screeches coming from in front of them.

He reached the edge of the trees and paused. In the starlight, Ravenpaw made out a huge, dark shape looming over the stream. A rock, perhaps? Beyond it, cats flashed back and forth between sandy cliffs, shrieking in alarm and fury. Ravenpaw twitched his tail to get the others’ attention, then raced to the nearest cliff, which sloped up gently at first, then more steeply, to a huge expanse of scrubby grass.

On the far side, bright yellow lights twinkled; that must be a

Twolegplace, Ravenpaw guessed.

He padded to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He felt very exposed, but none of the cats in the gorge below noticed him. Barley, Riley, and Bella crept up beside him and stared in horror. Amid the crisscrossing paths that lined the valley, cats were charging back and forth, yowling in anger.

A heap of soft, dark shapes went flying; from the scents that drifted up to the top of the cliff, Ravenpaw guessed that the fresh-kill pile had been scattered.

As Ravenpaw’s eyes grew used to the starlight, he realized that five or six cats were chasing the others, rousting them with shrieks and hisses. More and more cats spilled from dens in the side of the cliff, including some tiny kits who looked barely able to walk.

“Get them back to the nursery!” screeched a she-cat.

“Poor little kits, too small to be away from their mother,” jeered a familiar voice.

Ravenpaw looked at Barley. That was Pasha! He peered into the gorge again and made out the shapes of the other cats who had terrorized them the previous night. Were they taking on the whole of SkyClan?

“Warriors, to me!” yowled Leafstar, her cream patches glowing in the half-light. At last a more or less orderly line of cats formed up, and they charged at the intruders, hissing and spitting. With a chorus of mocking screeches, the kittypets whirled around and scrambled back up the cliff.

“We’ll be back!” Pasha yowled, so close to Ravenpaw that he almost stepped on him.

Ravenpaw and his companions crouched in the grass without breathing until the kittypets had thundered away.

Below, the SkyClan camp fell silent apart from the whimpering of kits as they were ushered back to their nest, and the angry muttering from elders who had been disturbed from sleep.

“Three nights in a row!” hissed one of them.

Leafstar spoke soothingly. “We’ll find a way to stop them, I promise. Go back to your dens and get some rest.”

“Whoa!” breathed Bella. “Those kittypets are giving SkyClan a lot of trouble!”

Ravenpaw backed away from the edge of the cliff. His pelt smelled strongly of SkyClan, and he realized he had been lying on top of a border mark.

“Imagine having to put up with that every night!” Barley remarked.

They started to walk back down the slope to the stream.

“I don’t understand why they let those kittypets get into their camp,” Riley mewed. “SkyClan cats are warriors! They should be able to defend themselves!”

Ravenpaw shook his head. “I don’t think the kittypets were there for any real purpose. They just wanted to wake everyone up and cause trouble.”

“Thankfully, it’s their trouble, not ours,” meowed Barley.

“Look, here’s the cave. Come on, you two, get some sleep.

We’ll start for home tomorrow. Leafstar has made it clear that there’s nothing to keep us here.” He shooed Riley and Bella inside and curled around them.

Ravenpaw lay down near the entrance, his chin on his paws. Barley was right; if Leafstar wanted them to go, there was no reason to stay here any longer. But he couldn’t forget the image of the warriors shrieking in dismay as their camp was invaded. Surely there was something SkyClan could do to stop it?