Skyclan’s Destiny

Chapter 17

Paw steps on the rock outside her den woke Leafstar. Blinking in the sunlight, she made out Billystorm’s head and shoulders as he looked in. Anxiety flooded through her as she realized how late she had slept.

“I’m sorry, Leafstar!” Billystorm exclaimed, his forepaws scrabbling at the floor of the den in embarrassment. “I didn’t realize you were still asleep.”

“It’s okay,” Leafstar mumbled around a huge yawn. She sat up, wincing at the ache in her muscles. Any cat would think I had been racing through the forest all last night! “Come in.”

She felt as embarrassed as Billystorm as she shook moss out of her pelt and tried to give herself a quick grooming. “What can I do for you?” she asked.

“I’m worried about Snookpaw,” Billystorm meowed, sitting in the entrance to the den. “He’s still shut up in his housefolk’s nest. I’d like to make sure that he’s okay, and that they’re not keeping him there against his will.”

Every hair on Leafstar’s pelt prickled, and she stopped washing to face the daylight-warrior. “That’s not good,” she commented. “You’re right, you should do everything you can to find out what’s going on.”

Billystorm looked down, examining his paws. “Actually, I was hoping you would come with me.”

Leafstar’s heart began to beat faster with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. “I don’t belong in the Twolegplace!”

“I’d look after you,” Billystorm assured her. “And I know exactly where we’re going.”

Leafstar, you’re being a fox-heart! Leafstar told herself, remembering her dream of the night before. The joy she had felt then in being a cat, the energy that had flowed through her body as she hunted with the warriors of StarClan, gave courage to her heart and paws.

“All right,” she mewed. “I’ll come. I’ll just let Sharpclaw know.”

Down in the gorge, Sharpclaw was organizing the hunting patrols. “Shorty, you lead this one, with Patchfoot, Petalnose, and Sagepaw,” he ordered. “Stick, you can lead the other; take Ebonyclaw, Frecklepaw, and Cherrytail.”

Leafstar couldn’t help noticing that Ebonyclaw flicked her tail with annoyance as she fell in behind Stick, while Sagepaw padded up to his mother and muttered into her ear, “I don’t want to take orders from him!” with a glare at Shorty.

StarClan, please let them get used to it in a few days.

Sharpclaw blinked in surprise when Leafstar told him she was going to the Twolegplace with Billystorm. “You’ll need to take care,” he meowed. “And listen, about Billystorm—”

“What?” Leafstar interrupted sharply.

Sharpclaw hesitated, then gave his fur a shake. “Nothing. Don’t worry, Leafstar. I’ll look after everything here.”

Leafstar watched him closely to see if he gave any flicker of knowing more about Twolegplace than he should—she hadn’t forgotten about Billystorm’s accusation of Sharpclaw’s secret night patrols—but her deputy’s gaze showed nothing but concern for her, and confidence that he could take care of the Clan while she was gone. With a sigh, Leafstar pushed Billystorm’s report to the back of her mind. He was the very last cat she could imagine lying to her, but she couldn’t believe that Sharpclaw would keep anything from her that threatened the safety of their Clan.

A stiff breeze was blowing, flattening the grass, as Leafstar rejoined Billystorm and they climbed to the top of the gorge. The sun shone brightly from a clear blue sky with only a few wisps of cloud. Leafstar was cast back into her dream, and the starlit cats who had surrounded her the night before seemed to be there once more, scenting the air with the history of countless moons; the memory was so vivid that she was surprised to realize that only Billystorm was running beside her.

He slowed down as they crossed the border and drew closer to Twolegplace. “We’ll have to cross a Thunderpath soon,” he told her. “They can be pretty scary, but it should be quiet at this time of day. And just beyond that there’s a Twoleg nest with a dog that barks its stupid head off every time I go past. But you don’t need to worry; it can’t get at us. Then there’s another Thunderpath, and after that we have to crawl underneath some really thick shrubs—”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, Billystorm,” Leafstar interrupted.

But her confidence began to ebb away as they crossed the Thunderpath, with anxious glances at a sleeping monster a few fox-lengths away. What if it wakes up? she wondered, ready to flee if it let out a roar and leaped toward her.

Billystorm led her along a fence; she could smell the dog on the other side and her heart thumped at the sound of its high-pitched yapping, but Billystorm was right; the dog scrabbled frantically against the fence, but it couldn’t get through to attack them. They crossed the second Thunderpath; the black surface felt sticky under Leafstar’s paws, and she wrinkled her nose at the acrid scent. Then she followed Billystorm through a gap in a fence and emerged in a tangle of thick bushes. They squirmed underneath the lowest branches, their belly fur brushing the soft, moist earth.

Billystorm raised a paw to halt Leafstar as they emerged from the shrubs. A stretch of smooth Twoleg grass separated them from the nest. On the far side a couple of Twoleg kits were tossing something round and brightly colored between them, squealing happily as they jumped up to catch it.

“What are they doing?” Leafstar whispered.

Billystorm shrugged. “They call that thing a ball. I think it’s for some sort of apprentice training exercise. Sometimes my housefolk throw one for me to chase.”

“And do you chase it?” Leafstar asked.

Billystorm gave his chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. “It’s good fun, actually. And it’s practice for hunting.”

Leafstar purred, amused.

Billystorm led her across the grass at a swift trot, in the shade of the bushes so that the Twoleg kits didn’t spot them. “We have to be careful now,” he warned Leafstar as they approached the next fence. “There’s a dog through here, and the Twolegs let it roam loose.”

Leafstar felt her pelt prickle and her neck fur begin to rise. She wanted to ask, Do we have to go this way? But she was afraid that Billystorm would think she was a coward. I’m his Clan leader! He has to respect me.

“Right, lead on,” she mewed tensely.

Billystorm crept along the fence until he came to a spot where the wooden boards had rotted away at the bottom. He squeezed underneath, then poked his head back through the hole. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “But keep quiet.”

Leafstar pushed herself through the gap, feeling the bottom of the rotting wood scrape her back. She rose to her paws among more shrubs with dark leaves and huge, sweet-smelling flowers.

“The scent should hide us from the dog,” Billystorm explained.

As she followed him through the bushes Leafstar caught glimpses of the dog between the branches: a huge creature with shaggy black-and-brown hair and floppy ears. It was lying on a stretch of stone near the door of the Twoleg nest, separated from the cats by a stretch of grass; its nose lay on its paws and it looked as if it was asleep.

As she and Billystorm started along the second side of the enclosure, Leafstar began to relax, though she kept casting cautious glances at the dog. But the heavy scent of the flowers was tickling her nostrils, and before she and her Clanmate could reach the safety of the far fence, she let out an enormous sneeze.

Instantly the dog sprang to its paws and hurled itself across the grass with a series of deep-throated barks.

“Run!” Billystorm yowled, shoving Leafstar in front of him.

Leafstar raced through the bushes, imagining she could hear the dog panting behind her, and feel its hot breath on her fur. Its rank smell swamped everything, even the heavy scent of the flowers.

With Billystorm hard on her paws she crashed between two shrubs at the foot of the fence and clawed her way to the top. Billystorm sprang up beside her as she crouched there, shivering. Below them, the dog was standing on its hind paws with its forepaws halfway up the fence, and its tongue lolled as it barked.

“Shove off, flea-pelt,” Billystorm hissed. “Go and chase beetles.” He didn’t seem frightened, just annoyed. Turning his back on the dog, he led the way along the top of the fence. Leafstar began to follow him, only to freeze again as another flurry of barking broke out from the next Twoleg den.

“It’s okay,” Billystorm meowed, glancing back. “This dog is usually shut in the house.”

“‘Usually’ isn’t ‘always,’” Leafstar muttered as she forced her paws to move again.

They had crept several fox-lengths along the fence when Leafstar heard a rattling noise. Her belly fluttered as a small door in the big Twoleg door swung open. But no dog appeared; instead a dark tabby tom slid through the opening. He brought with him a waft of familiar scent, and there was a distinctive shape to his pricked ears.

“Shortwhisker!” Leafstar gasped. “No—sorry—I mean Hutch.” She leaped down from the fence and bounded across the garden to touch noses with the dark tabby.

Billystorm followed more slowly. “You two know each other?” he asked, looking stunned.

“Oh, yes,” Leafstar replied. “Hutch used to belong to SkyClan, back in the early days when Firestar was with us. But he decided that being a kittypet suited him better.”

“The life of a warrior wasn’t for me,” Hutch declared quite cheerfully. “It’s good to see you again, Leafstar. The Clan must be doing well—you look almost as well fed as me.” He paused, looking Billystorm over from ears to tail-tip. “What do you want, trespassing on my territory?”

“He’s with me,” Leafstar meowed. “He’s my Clanmate.”

Hutch looked puzzled. “But I’ve seen him around here before. Isn’t he a kittypet?”

“Er… I’m sort of both,” Billystorm admitted, giving his shoulder a couple of embarrassed licks.

“Both? Can’t you make up your mind?” Hutch asked with a disdainful sniff.

“There are several cats like that in SkyClan now,” Leafstar put in. “They come to the gorge for training and hunting, and then go back to their housefolk at night.” She hesitated and then added, “You could do that if you want to, Hutch. You could be Shortwhisker again.”

For a heartbeat she thought that Hutch might agree. Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Leafstar. I like my life as it is. But it’s still great to see you,” he added warmly. “I’m glad SkyClan is still there.”

“Always,” Leafstar promised, hoping that it was true.

Hutch turned his head at the sound of a Twoleg voice calling from the nest. “I’d better go,” he went on with a touch of wistfulness. “Good-bye, Leafstar. Say hi to all my old Clanmates for me.”

“I will.” Leafstar touched noses with Hutch again before he bounded back across the garden and into the Twoleg den.

I wonder if I should have tried harder to persuade him to be a daylight-warrior, she wondered as she followed Billystorm back onto the fence. He has skills we could use, learned from Firestar and Sandstorm. Maybe Sagepaw and Ebonyclaw would be more willing to take orders from him than the other Twolegplace cats.

Billystorm led her down from the fence, across an alley, and through a half-open gate into yet another enclosed square of grass. “This is where Snookpaw lives,” he announced.

To Leafstar, the Twoleg nest looked exactly like all the others they had passed. “How do you know?” she asked.

“The blue pots over there,” Billystorm replied, pointing with his tail to some round shiny things near the nest door. “The scent of the herbs by the fence. And the little birch tree in the middle of the grass.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Leafstar narrowed her eyes. The tree was a spindly thing trapped in a circle of earth in the middle of a patch of grass. It’s not a proper forest tree.

She tasted the air for Snookpaw’s scent, but there was such a mingled smell of Twolegs and monsters that she couldn’t pick up any trace of it. He must still be shut in. He certainly hasn’t been out here recently.

She and Billystorm crept closer to the nest until they could hide behind a big green object with round paws. Leafstar wrinkled her nose at the rotting scent of Twoleg rubbish that came from it.

“Snookpaw!” Billystorm let out a low wail. “Snookpaw, we’re here! Come out!”

Leafstar joined her voice to his, but there was no sign of the apprentice. Every hair on her pelt prickled with fear. Have the Twolegs taken him away?

She was almost ready to give up, when she spotted a small black-and-white head pop up inside one of the windows.

“There he is!” Billystorm yowled.

Their pelts brushing, the two cats raced up to the window and jumped onto the narrow ledge outside it. Snookpaw pressed his nose against the shiny stuff that filled the window space. Leafstar thought he looked thin and sorry for himself.

“Snookpaw, are you okay?” she meowed.

“I’ll be fine,” Snookpaw replied, his voice faint because of the shiny stuff in the way. “Leafstar, I can’t believe you came here!”

I can’t believe it, either.

“We can’t talk to him like this,” Billystorm muttered with an annoyed flick of his tail. “Leafstar, do you think you could get in through there?” He angled his ears toward a tiny open window at the top of the big closed one.

Go inside a Twoleg nest? I didn’t plan on that. “What about the Twolegs?” she asked. “They won’t want strange cats inside their den.”

“They’ve gone out,” Snookpaw told her, stretching up to press his forepaws against the window. “Why don’t you come in? I’m lonely all on my own here.”

Leafstar was still reluctant, but she wouldn’t let her nervousness show in front of her Clanmates. “It’ll be a tight squeeze,” she replied, eyeing the gap doubtfully, “but I’ll give it a try.”

A vine was growing up the side of the window; Leafstar used the tough stem to claw her way up. Scrabbling with her hind paws she forced her way through the narrow gap and plopped down onto the floor of the Twoleg nest. Billystorm dropped down beside her a couple of heartbeats later.

The floor felt cold and unwelcoming underpaw, and the air was filled with unfamiliar scents. There was a faint buzzing noise in the air. Huge shiny objects lined the walls of the den; Leafstar thought they were gazing at her in the dim light, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Every hair on Leafstar’s pelt began to rise. There was too much to take in at once, and all her muscles were shrieking at her to flee. Taking a few deep breaths, she made herself stand her ground.

“What’s going on, Snookpaw?” she hissed.

Snookpaw didn’t reply right away. “Come this way,” he mewed, waving his tail. “It’s better through here.”

Keeping low, Billystorm and Leafstar crept through an open door into a different part of the den. Here the floor was covered with something like grass, but it was short and much softer, and made up of different bright colors.

“Weird…” Leafstar muttered, flexing her claws in it.

This area was filled with what looked like squashy boulders, in the same bright colors; remembering the pile of Twoleg waste, Leafstar recognized what Snookpaw had called a sofa. She watched as the apprentice sprang up onto it and settled down; it looked comfortable, but Leafstar decided not to join him, preferring to stay on her paws with one eye on her escape route.

“We’ve missed you, Snookpaw,” she meowed. Her voice sounded strange in the enclosed space, muffled by the fuzzy floor and the sofas. “Why haven’t you been back to the gorge?”

Snookpaw looked at his paws, and gave one of them a lick. “I had a pain in my chest. My housefolk took me to the medicine Twoleg, and he gave me some sort of weird food to eat—things like white seeds, and they taste foul.”

“You would be better off with herbs from Echosong,” Leafstar told him. “I’ll bring you some, if you like.”

“No, thanks, Leafstar.” Snookpaw shook his head. “I’m feeling better now. Besides, my housefolk hardly ever leave me alone. This is the first time I’ve been on my own since I came back from the gorge, so you probably won’t be able to get in here again.” He heaved a deep sigh. “I really miss being in the Clan.”

Gloomily he stared out of the window. Following his gaze, Leafstar could see nothing but a small patch of sky and a Twoleg fence. He can’t see any real trees, she realized, sharing his pain. She felt trapped and hot, and couldn’t figure how any cat could stand being inside here all day and all night, without even the chance to feel earth beneath their paws.

While Leafstar had been talking to Snookpaw, Billystorm had been padding around the den, poking his nose into corners and giving everything a good sniff. Leafstar wondered how he had the confidence; she had a hard time not freezing into a crouch with her eyes closed, trying to shut out the stifling sights and smells.

“This nest isn’t too bad,” Billystorm meowed, returning from his explorations. “I hope your housefolk gave you a comfortable place to sleep.”

“I’ll show you,” Snookpaw invited, jumping down from the sofa.

Waving his tail, he led them back into the first area and pointed to a small squashy boulder in one corner. Its bright surface was covered in Snookpaw’s fur, and heavy with his scent.

“That looks… nice,” Leafstar murmured politely, though privately she thought the moss and bracken of the dens in the gorge was much better for sleeping.

“And there’s my food bowl,” Snookpaw added, twitching his whiskers toward a brightly colored Twoleg thing half full of small brown pellets.

“They feed you rabbit droppings?” Leafstar gasped. “Do they want you to get sick?”

“No, that’s a special sort of Twoleg food for kittypets,” Billystorm explained. His eyes glimmered with amusement and he gave Leafstar an affectionate nudge with his shoulder. “Try one.”

Leafstar shot him a doubtful look. The last thing she wanted was to put one of the shriveled brown things into her mouth, but it would be cowardly to refuse. She padded up to the bowl and sniffed. Yuck! Delicately she picked up a single pellet and rolled it around on her tongue; the den was so full of harsh smells that she couldn’t really taste anything. Just as well, she thought, if it tastes anything like it looks!

Just then Leafstar heard the sound of a monster, growing rapidly louder and then cutting off abruptly. Alarm sprang into Snookpaw’s eyes and his fur bristled.

“My Twolegs! They’re back!”

Leafstar gulped down the pellet, almost choking. “We’ve got to get out of here!” she rasped.

Even while she was speaking she heard a harsh clicking sound, and footsteps just beyond the den wall. For a few heartbeats her terror paralyzed her.

“I’ll delay them! You climb out, quick,” Snookpaw mewed. With a whisk of his tail he vanished through another door.

Billystorm was already streaking across to the window and leaped up to the opening in one massive bound. “Come on,” he urged Leafstar, balancing precariously. “I’ll pull you up.”

Leafstar bunched her muscles and put all her strength into her jump. She felt her front paws land on the edge of the window, and slid out her claws to grip. Billystorm’s teeth met in her scruff.

At the same moment she heard Snookpaw, somewhere out of sight, his voice raised in loud mewing. “Oh, I’ve missed you! Where did you go? Stroke my ears! I’m feeling better now.”

Billystorm dragged Leafstar through the open window and both cats tumbled onto the stony path outside the nest in a tangle of legs and tails.

A last yowl came from Snookpaw. “Run!”

Leafstar didn’t need telling twice. With Billystorm beside her, she raced across the garden and out through the half-open gate.

“Just get us back to the gorge!” she panted to Billystorm, and added silently to herself, I’ll chew my own tail off before I come here again!