Sunset

Chapter 10

As Brambleclaw walked away from the fresh-kill pile, he spotted Ashfur limping away from Leafpool’s den. Fresh cobwebs were plastered on the gash in his foreleg. He was heading for the warriors’ den, but before he reached it Birchpaw came bounding over to him.

“Hi, Ashfur!” he meowed. “Brackenfur is taking Whitepaw for a training session. Can we go with them?”

“No.” His mentor’s voice was an ill-tempered growl. “I fell off a rock and opened this wound again. Leafpool says I can’t leave the camp today.”

Birchpaw’s tail drooped; he turned his head to watch mournfully as Brackenfur and his apprentice, Whitepaw, left through the thorn tunnel.

Brambleclaw strolled over to Ashfur and Birchpaw and flicked the disappointed apprentice with his tail. “Cheer up.”

To Ashfur he added, “I’m just leaving on patrol. I could take Birchpaw with me, if you like.”

Birchpaw’s tail shot straight up in the air again and his whiskers quivered with excitement. “Please, Ashfur!” he begged.

Ashfur opened his mouth; Brambleclaw was convinced he was about to refuse. Then a new voice spoke from behind Brambleclaw. “Good idea. Birchpaw missed a lot of training while he was hurt. He shouldn’t miss any more.”

Brambleclaw turned to see his Clan leader leaping down the rocks from the Highledge. “I thought we’d go up by the ShadowClan border,” he meowed. “We’ll renew the scent markers and check for fox traps.”

Firestar nodded, though Ashfur was staring at Brambleclaw through narrowed eyes. Without saying anything the gray warrior turned away and stalked off to the warriors’ den.

“Off you go, then,” Firestar meowed to Birchpaw. “Do as Brambleclaw tells you and watch out for those traps. You don’t want to lose your tail, like Berrykit.”

“I’ll be careful,” Birchpaw promised.

Brambleclaw stuck his head through the branches of the warriors’ den and called Sandstorm and Thornclaw to join the patrol. Ashfur, settling himself among the mossy bedding, ignored him.

The day was overcast, with a damp breeze that promised rain later. Prey-scent was muted, as if all the prey were hiding in their holes, and there was little sound except for the rustle of branches overhead.

Birchpaw was still trembling with excitement; Brambleclaw could see that he was struggling to control himself and pad along quietly beside the rest of the patrol.

“Why don’t you run ahead and see if you can spot the ShadowClan scent markers?” he suggested. “Come back and tell us when you find them.”

“Okay, Brambleclaw!” Birchpaw’s eyes gleamed, and he bounded off with his tail straight up.

Brambleclaw suppressed a pang of anxiety at the sight of his fuzzy haunches, where the fur was just beginning to grow back. Birchpaw had been lucky to survive the badger attack.

But he couldn’t be protected by his Clanmates forever. He had to learn the skills he needed to survive, and being out on patrol was a good way to put them into practice. “Be careful of fox traps!” he called after him.

“It’s time he ran the itch out of his paws,” Sandstorm commented when the apprentice had disappeared. “Between his injuries and Ashfur’s, he’s hardly been out of camp since the badger attack.”

“Maybe Firestar will let you take over his training until Ashfur’s fit again,” Thornclaw suggested.

“Maybe.” Brambleclaw nodded, trying to hide how much the idea pleased him. He was enjoying this taste of mentoring, and his paws tingled with eagerness to have an apprentice of his own.

He still hoped Firestar would choose him to mentor Berrykit. He admired the kit’s brave, inquisitive nature, even though it had led to trouble. He was the biggest and strongest of Daisy’s litter, too, with the potential to be a fine warrior.

Leaping over the gnarled roots of an oak tree, Brambleclaw spotted Birchpaw standing beside a bramble thicket a few tail-lengths ahead, his jaws open to draw in scent.

“I’ve found the scent markers, Brambleclaw,” he reported.

“What? You can’t have.” Hadn’t Ashfur given Birchpaw any training at all? “We’re nowhere near the ShadowClan border.”

Birchpaw looked hurt. “But I’m sure…” he began.

Sandstorm brushed through the ferns until she reached the spot where Birchpaw had stopped to taste the air. A moment later she came back, her green eyes gleaming with anger. “Birchpaw’s right,” she meowed. “ShadowClan have set their scent markers just beyond those brambles.”

Thornclaw let out a furious hiss. “That’s ThunderClan territory!”

Brambleclaw felt a growl rising in his throat. With his patrol behind him, he stalked across the clearing and skirted the brambles. The reek of the ShadowClan scent markers flooded over him after a couple of tail-lengths.

“Those are fresh,” he hissed. “If we follow them we should be able to catch up to the patrol and ask them what they think they’re playing at.” Whirling around, he added, “Birchpaw, run back to camp as fast as you can. Tell Firestar what’s going on, and fetch help.”

The apprentice took off, racing back along their trail with his belly close to the ground and his tail streaming out behind him.

Brambleclaw checked the scent markers to discover which way the ShadowClan patrol had gone, then bounded off in pursuit, with Sandstorm and Thornclaw a pace behind. The ShadowClan scent became stronger and stronger, until Brambleclaw reached the top of a gentle slope and spotted the patrol setting more markers in the hollow on the far side.

Bristling with fury, he paused for a couple of heartbeats to size up the enemy patrol. There were four ShadowClan cats: Russetfur, Oakfur, and Cedarheart—the same three who had watched Berrykit struggling in the fox trap—and Rowanclaw.

The ThunderClan cats were outnumbered, but Brambleclaw knew there wasn’t time to wait for reinforcements to arrive.

“Russetfur!” he called to the ShadowClan deputy. “What are you doing here?”

All four ShadowClan cats whipped around to face the ThunderClan patrol.

“What does it look like?” Russetfur mewed insolently.

“It looks like you’re trying to steal our territory,” Thornclaw hissed.

“The Clan boundaries were agreed on long ago,” Brambleclaw reminded them. “Every cat knows the extent of their territory.”

“That was then,” meowed Cedarheart.

“ShadowClan needs more space.” Russetfur narrowed her eyes at Brambleclaw. “And ThunderClan is too weak to defend it anyway, ever since the badgers attacked your camp.”

“What do you know about the badgers?” Sandstorm asked, taking a step forward.

“Enough,” Russetfur replied. The tip of her tail twitched.

“We know that you are all too badly injured to fight us right now. You’re too busy repairing your camp to watch over your borders. And you lost your medicine cat.”

For a heartbeat Brambleclaw was utterly bewildered. How could ShadowClan have found out about the badger attack?

Then he remembered that only three nights earlier Leafpool had paid her half-moon visit to the Moonpool. She must have revealed ThunderClan’s weakness to Littlecloud.

His claws sank into the ground; there was no time to think about that now. “Get out of our territory,” he snarled at Russetfur. “Or we’ll show you the same welcome we gave the badgers.”

Russetfur curled her lip. “I don’t think so.”

Letting out a fearsome screech, Brambleclaw hurled himself down into the hollow. His first rush landed him on top of Russetfur; his claws raked across her shoulder. She tried to fasten her teeth into his throat, but he pushed her off with one paw on her chest. She writhed under his weight, her eyes blazing with anger.

Brambleclaw caught a glimpse of Sandstorm locked in battle with Oakfur, her hind paws battering his belly, while Rowanclaw and Cedarheart had Thornclaw pinned down between them. Brambleclaw aimed one more blow at Russetfur and sprang to help his Clanmate, only to feel Russetfur’s claws score his haunches as he bounded away.

Birchpaw, get a move on!

He leaped on top of Cedarheart, gripping the dark gray tom’s neck fur in his teeth. Russetfur bit his tail; he lashed out with his hind legs to beat her off. He rolled on the ground in a tangle of fur and mingled scents, hardly knowing which cats were his enemies.

Then he heard a yowling in the distance that rapidly grew louder. Russetfur, her face pushed close to his as she clawed his neck, spat, “Fox dung!” and leaped away from him.

Cedarheart wriggled out of his grip. Brambleclaw staggered to his paws to see Firestar and a fresh patrol of ThunderClan warriors racing down into the hollow.

Firestar leaped on Russetfur, caterwauling a challenge, and fastened his teeth in her throat. Russetfur scored her claws across Firestar’s shoulder, but she couldn’t struggle free.

Squirrelflight rushed straight at Cedarheart, carrying him off his paws and pinning him to the ground. Just behind her, Dustpelt leaped on top of Rowanclaw, sinking his claws deep into the ShadowClan warrior’s fur. Oakfur let out a screech of terror as he saw Spiderleg and Rainwhisker surging through the bracken toward him; Sandstorm aimed a last blow at his haunches as he scrambled over roots and through brambles, heading for the ShadowClan border.

“Back off!” Russetfur yowled. She managed to stagger to her paws, leaving tufts of fur in Firestar’s teeth and claws. She was bleeding from her throat as she retreated.

Firestar flicked his tail, ordering his own warriors to let the ShadowClan cats go. Squirrelflight bit down hard on Cedarheart’s ear and sprang away from his flailing paws.

Dustpelt rolled away from Rowanclaw and came to his paws snarling. Both ShadowClan warriors turned and fled, but Russetfur stood her ground a few heartbeats longer.

“Don’t think you’ve won, Firestar,” she spat, her sides heaving. “ShadowClan will set a new border.”

“Not here in ThunderClan,” Firestar retorted. “Now get back to your own territory.”

Her eyes glaring hatred, Russetfur let out a furious hiss before turning to flee after her Clanmates. Spiderleg and Rainwhisker followed hard on her paws, letting out fearsome screeches as they pursued the invaders out of sight.

“Thanks,” Brambleclaw gasped as Firestar shook his rumpled fur and padded up beside him. “And you, Birchpaw,” he added; the young apprentice, bright-eyed and panting, flanked his Clan leader. “That was well run. You brought help just in time.”

Rapidly he explained to Firestar how Birchpaw had found ShadowClan scent marks a long way inside the border, and how he and the rest of the patrol had come across the ShadowClan warriors stealing even more territory. “They thought we’d be too weak to stop them, after the badger attack,” he added.

“Are you hurt?” Squirrelflight asked, pushing forward to reach Brambleclaw. Her green eyes were full of concern, and she stood with her pelt brushing his as she examined him for wounds.

Brambleclaw took a moment to check their injuries. To his relief, his wounded shoulder was no worse, though he had lost several pawfuls of fur from his flank, and his tail stung as if Russetfur had done her best to bite it off. Sandstorm had a clawed shoulder, and blood was trickling from a scratch on Thornclaw’s throat.

“You’d better all come back to camp and let Leafpool see to you,” Firestar meowed.

“I’m fine,” Brambleclaw insisted. “We need to set our scent markers along the proper border, just in case ShadowClan feel like having another try.”

“I’m okay too,” Sandstorm added. “But Thornclaw, I think you should go back. That throat wound looks as if it could turn nasty.”

Thornclaw just nodded; he looked too battered to argue.

“Then I’ll come with you,” Squirrelflight mewed to Brambleclaw. Her eyes gleamed as she flexed her claws. “And if another ShadowClan cat dares to put one whisker across our border, I’ll show them they just made the biggest mistake of their life!”

When Brambleclaw and his patrol returned to camp after renewing the scent markers, his ears pricked at the wails of outrage coming from the stone hollow. He slipped through the thorn tunnel to find Firestar standing on the Highledge, with the rest of the Clan gathered below.

“We should attack their camp!” Mousefur yowled.

Firestar twitched his tail for silence. “We won’t attack them,” he meowed. “You know as well as I do that we’re not back to full strength yet. If we forced a battle and then lost, it would be a disaster.”

True enough, Brambleclaw thought. Too many ThunderClan cats still bore the marks of the badgers’ claws.

“But from now on,” Firestar continued, “all patrols should look for signs of ShadowClan warriors on our territory.”

Guessing he was about to bring the meeting to a close, Brambleclaw strode forward. “Firestar, there’s something I want to say.”

Firestar dipped his head, inviting him to speak.

Brambleclaw gazed around until he spotted Leafpool, sitting not far from the entrance to her den. “Leafpool, did you tell Littlecloud about the badger attack?” he demanded.

Leafpool looked confused. “Yes—I told him when we met at the Moonpool.”

“And it never occurred to you that he would tell Blackstar?

We wouldn’t have had this trouble if you had kept your mouth shut.”

The medicine cat sprang to her paws, her amber eyes flashing. “I had to tell Littlecloud how Cinderpelt died!” she exclaimed. “Did you think he wouldn’t want to know what happened to her?”

Brambleclaw knew he had been too harsh. But the fight against ShadowClan had shaken him; of all cats Leafpool should know when she was putting her Clan at risk!

“Did you tell the other medicine cats everything?”

“Barkface already knew,” Leafpool replied. “And Mothwing didn’t come to the Moonpool.” Eyes still gleaming angrily, she added, “Brambleclaw, it’s none of your business what I say to other medicine cats.”

“It is if you need to decide where your loyalties lie,” he retorted. “You’re a ThunderClan cat as well as a medicine cat.”

Leafpool opened her mouth to reply, but said nothing. She looked stricken, and Brambleclaw realized too late that he shouldn’t have accused her so openly of being disloyal.

“How can you say something like that?” Squirrelflight gave him a glare that was fierce enough to scorch his fur. “Of course Leafpool is going to share important news like that with the other medicine cats. Her mentor died, for StarClan’s sake! That matters to all medicine cats, not just ThunderClan.”

“I know, but—” Brambleclaw tried to interrupt, but Squirrelflight swept on.

“It’s not Leafpool’s fault, or Littlecloud’s, that Blackstar and his warriors were mousebrained enough to think they could invade ThunderClan. Besides, we’ve just shown them how wrong they were.”

Brambleclaw couldn’t meet her burning gaze. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Sorry, Leafpool.”

“Squirrelflight is right,” meowed Firestar from the Highledge. “Blackstar is to blame for allowing his warriors to break the agreement we made. You can be sure of this: I’ll take it up with him at the next Gathering.” His eyes darkened and he bared his teeth in the beginnings of a snarl. “If he forces a war between our Clans, he’ll find ThunderClan is ready and waiting for him.”