Sign Of The Moon

Chapter 20

“Mouse dung! Which cat thought night training would be a good idea?” Thornclaw muttered, pulling away from a trailing bramble tendril and leaving a tuft of tabby fur behind. “I can’t see my own paws!”

Lionblaze suppressed a mrrow of amusement. “That would be Firestar,” he meowed. “You know he wants us to keep all our skills sharp.”

Thornclaw let out a snort of disgust as he headed after the rest of the patrol. Lionblaze brought up the rear with his ears pricked, but all he could hear was the faint pad of his Clanmates’ paw steps and the rustle of branches in the breeze. The forest was cool and quiet, with only a thin sliver of moon to light the cats’ path.

Brackenfur, who was leading the patrol, halted in the next clearing. “Right, this is the exercise,” he began. “We split into two patrols. I’ll lead one, with Thornclaw, Bumblestripe, and Birchfall. Sorreltail, you can lead the other, with Ivypool, Lionblaze, and Berrynose.”

“So what are we supposed to be doing?” Berrynose asked, scuffling his paws through the dead leaves.

“Each patrol has to approach and seize control of the old Twoleg nest,” Brackenfur explained. “And stop the other patrol from taking it, of course. Even better if we can track down and capture some of the opposing patrol.”

“Sounds like fun!” Bumblestripe exclaimed.

Sorreltail raised her tail. “Brackenfur, we don’t want to get into serious fights, do we? If one of us jumps on your patrol, then we’ve won, right?”

“In your dreams!” Brackenfur blinked at his mate with warm amber eyes. “But yes, good point. If you’re jumped on, you surrender. This is an exercise in night tracking, not fighting.”

When there were no more questions, Brackenfur waved his tail as a signal to his own patrol to move off. Sorreltail watched them go, her eyes narrowed; Lionblaze guessed she was trying to work out which route they would take. Then she summoned her own patrol with a flick of her ears and led the way into the trees.

The undergrowth was thicker here; it was hard to move quietly and harder still to see the other cats. The thin claw-scratch of moon and the weak starlight were hardly any use at all. Trying to creep down a slope covered with bracken, Lionblaze crashed into Sorreltail’s rump and realized that she had halted.

“Sorry!”

Sorreltail gave him a brief nod, then twitched her tail to summon the others. “Any suggestions?” she whispered. “Ivypool?”

Ivypool’s eyes were shining in the dim light. “We need to stick to the shadows,” she meowed, “and try not to brush against the undergrowth. We should think how we find prey while we’re hunting.”

Sorreltail gave an approving nod. “Very good.”

Lionblaze had felt a chill of unease as Ivypool spoke. Training in the Dark Forest had given her an edge on stalking by night.

“Why are we sitting here?” Berrynose demanded. “The others could be at the Twoleg nest by now.”

“I don’t think so,” Sorreltail murmured. “I know how Brackenfur thinks. They’ll make a wide circle and try to come at the nest from the other side, so that we can’t track them down.” Her eyes gleamed. “At least, that’s what he hopes will happen. Let’s go!”

The patrol headed down the slope and through a hazel thicket. Lionblaze watched how sure-footed Ivypool was, winding her way through the undergrowth like a passing shadow, seeming to know instinctively when to duck low beneath overhanging branches and when to slip almost unseen from one patch of darkness to the next. Admiration battled inside him with apprehension. Were the tactics of the Dark Forest becoming part of ThunderClan’s skills? Was that what Tigerstar thought would happen?

Or will Ivypool be in trouble on her next visit to the Dark Forest, for giving away their secrets? Lionblaze sighed. At least she’s here now, and not training with our enemies in her dreams.

“Hey! Mouse-brain! Are you asleep?”

Lionblaze jumped at Berrynose’s irritated hiss, and spotted the cream-colored tom a few paces ahead, glaring back over his shoulder.

“Okay, I’m coming,” he whispered back, hurrying to catch up.

Sorreltail halted again on the edge of the old Thunderpath; the Twoleg nest was on the other side, several fox-lengths farther down but still out of sight. “We’re going to win this, no question.” Her voice was a soft murmur, barely audible. “Berrynose, you’ll come with me, and we’ll take the nest.” The young tom puffed his chest out. “Lionblaze, you and Ivypool are going to capture one of Brackenfur’s patrol. If I’m right, they’ll be somewhere over there.” Sorreltail pointed across the Thunderpath with her tail.

Lionblaze nodded to show that he understood; Ivypool was quivering with impatience to be off. Sorreltail flicked her ears to send them on their way, then jerked her head for Berrynose to follow her. They headed down the Thunderpath, keeping close to the edge where they were hidden by overhanging ferns; after a few moments Lionblaze couldn’t see them anymore. He tasted the air, but he couldn’t pick up any trace of the other patrol. Good. That means they can’t scent us, either. Signaling with his ears to Ivypool, he slunk across the exposed stone of the Thunderpath, crouching low with his belly fur brushing the ground.

He crawled into the dense undergrowth on the other side, heading toward the back of the old Twoleg den. Pushing his way through thick stems, he became conscious of his own bulk, and once more admired Ivypool’s slinky, deft movements, confident and swift in spite of the darkness.

Lionblaze tasted the air again, and this time picked up a definite trace of cat. Sorreltail was right about where Brackenfur would approach the nest! Angling his ears toward Ivypool, he veered in a slightly different direction to home in on the scent. Moving faster than he could manage in the shadows, Ivypool drew ahead, then raised her tail, warning him to stop. The cat scent was stronger now. Lionblaze strained his ears for signs of movement. At first there was nothing. Then he heard a faint crunching, as if some cat had stepped on a dry leaf.

Ivypool had heard it, too. She gestured with her tail, directing Lionblaze to circle around so that they could attack the other patrol from both sides. Lionblaze slid into the new position and waited under a holly bush at the edge of a bramble thicket. Though he couldn’t see Brackenfur’s patrol, he had a pretty good idea of where they were, and he couldn’t understand why Ivypool was still signaling to him to wait.

He twitched his tail in frustration. What is she playing at?

There was a faint rustling and the first of the patrol—Thornclaw—emerged from a clump of ferns. He was heading for the bramble thicket, and Lionblaze noticed for the first time a narrow path leading through the thorns, in the direction of the Twoleg nest. Thornclaw slid along the path, followed by Birchfall and Bumblestripe. Brackenfur brought up the rear, glancing over his shoulder from time to time as if he was checking that Sorreltail’s patrol wasn’t following them.

No, we’re not, mouse-brain! Lionblaze thought gleefully. We’re already here!

Now he understood Ivypool’s strategy. Glancing at where she crouched in the shelter of a rock, he saw her poised to pounce, and gathered his own muscles, ready for a leap.

The first three cats had entered the thicket, strung out along the narrow path that would only let them pass in single file. Brackenfur paused at the edge for a last glance around. He opened his jaws to taste the air, his eyes suddenly narrowing in suspicion.

Now!

Leaping in the same heartbeat, Lionblaze and Ivypool crashed into Brackenfur and brought him down in a tangle of flailing legs and tails. The ginger tom let out a screech of surprise.

“Got you!” Lionblaze declared. “You’re our prisoner now, right?”

“Right,” Brackenfur admitted ruefully, with Ivypool’s paws planted on his chest.

Yowls came from the bramble thicket. Lionblaze heard Thornclaw’s voice raised in exasperation. “Turn around, for StarClan’s sake. Go back!”

“I can’t!” That was Bumblestripe. “There isn’t room!”

“Fox dung! I’m stuck!” Birchfall snarled. “We’ll have to go forward.”

Amusement bubbling inside him, Lionblaze waved his tail for Ivypool to let Brackenfur stand up. “We don’t need to worry about them for a bit,” he meowed. “Let’s head for the den.”

Now they could race through the forest without worrying about being seen or heard. Lionblaze took the lead as they burst out of the undergrowth, across the stand of pine trees at the back of the Twoleg den, and through a gap in the stone wall.

“Get out—oh, it’s you.” Berrynose stopped himself just in time from leaping on Lionblaze as he slid through the gap, followed by Brackenfur and Ivypool. Sorreltail, who was circling the walls trying to keep an eye on all the possible ways in at once, halted. Her tail shot up in surprise and approval.

“Great! You got one!” She padded up to Brackenfur and touched noses with him. “Welcome to our den.”

Brackenfur purred and brushed his muzzle against her shoulder. “Well done!”

A few heartbeats later, the rest of Brackenfur’s patrol came panting up and pushed their way through the gap. All of them were missing tufts of fur, and Birchfall had a scratch across his nose. The bramble thicket had done the hard work for the winning patrol!

“Okay, you beat us.” Thornclaw flopped down on his side. “That was a clever move.”

“We ought to discuss what we’ve learned,” Brackenfur meowed, sitting down beside his mate. “What would we do differently if we did this exercise again?”

“Stay out of brambles,” Birchfall replied in a heartfelt tone, licking one paw and dabbing it on his nose.

“It was a good idea to split up,” Bumblestripe commented. “Why didn’t we think of that?”

“Yes, it was an excellent idea,” Brackenfur agreed, giving Lionblaze an approving nod. “You and Ivypool distracted us while Sorreltail and Berrynose captured the nest.”

“I had nothing to do with it,” Lionblaze corrected him. “Sorreltail thought of splitting up, and it was Ivypool’s idea to wait for you beside those brambles.”

The rest of the cats looked impressed, while Sorreltail and Ivypool both purred with satisfaction.

“We can learn from what we did wrong, too,” Brackenfur went on, brushing at a scrap of fern that was caught up in his pelt. “I should have kept two cats on watch at the end of that narrow path through the brambles.”

“Or found a different route,” Thornclaw added. “We were far too vulnerable on a narrow path like that. When Lionblaze and Ivypool attacked, we couldn’t get back in time to help you.”

“We didn’t get it all right, either,” Sorreltail meowed. “I’d forgotten just how many ways there are to get into this nest. When Berrynose and I got here, we practically ran our paws off trying to keep an eye on all the entrances at once. We’d have been in trouble if your patrol had arrived first,” she added to Brackenfur.

Brackenfur flicked her ear with this tail. “Then we’ve all learned something. Firestar will be pleased when I report to him in the morning.” Waving his tail for the rest to follow him, the warrior rose to his paws and headed out of the nest, with Sorreltail beside him.

Lionblaze found himself padding at the back of the patrol, matching his paw steps with Ivypool’s. “Good work!” he mewed, briefly touching her shoulder with his tail.

Ivypool gave her chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. “Thanks.”

“You…you learned most of those skills in the Dark Forest, didn’t you?” Lionblaze ventured.

Ivypool’s head lifted sharply; there was a defensive look in her eyes. “Yes, but I would never use them against my own Clanmates.”

“Of course not,” Lionblaze reassured her. “I just meant that you’re getting good, that’s all.”

“I…I do feel bad about using my Dark Forest skills as a ThunderClan warrior,” Ivypool admitted, leaping over a fallen tree branch. “It’s as if I’m betraying the training I’ve received from the Clan.”

Lionblaze blinked, remembering his own nights of training with Tigerstar, and how he still used moves and tactics that he had learned from the murderous Dark Forest warrior. “Any source of training is a good one,” he mewed aloud. “A battle is a battle, and winning is everything.”

Ivypool nodded, though she still seemed uncertain. Thinking over what he had just said, Lionblaze began to wonder if any other cats were being trained by hidden sources. “Have you ever seen any other ThunderClan cats in the Dark Forest?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

He was aware of Ivypool tensing beside him, and a few heartbeats passed before she answered. “We’re kept separate,” she replied. “I’ve seen a WindClan cat—the one who was injured, Antpelt—but mostly I train with other Dark Forest cats. I think they keep us apart deliberately.”

It was obvious to Lionblaze that she didn’t feel comfortable talking about the Dark Forest. Seeing the hollow not far away among the trees, he gave Ivypool a nod and a wave of his tail, releasing her to run ahead of him. Padding more slowly after her, he thought over what she had said. Suddenly he halted, a chill running through his pelt.

She didn’t answer my question! She never said she hadn’t seen any other ThunderClan cats in the Place of No Stars.

Lionblaze’s chill grew stronger.

Who else among my Clanmates is being trained by the cats who want to destroy all the Clans?