Tallstar’s Revenge

Chapter 33

Sunlight woke Talltail. He opened his eyes, squinting as rays sliced through the hedge. He slunk, stretching, from his makeshift den and shook out his fur. A sharp frost had hardened the earth and whitened the meadows. Ahead, the land sloped to a rugged hilltop where the sun squatted on the horizon, spilling light over the silver grass. The hedge rattled behind him.

“It looks like a good day for walking.” Jake’s mew was thick with sleep as he stumbled from beneath the branches. He yawned, then blinked at the hilltop. “Is that the way you’re heading?”

“I guess so.” The hilltop would be a good place to start. From there, he could decide which route the rogues might have taken. It looked rocky and exposed, the slope steeper and more rugged than WindClan territory. Anxiety pricked at his belly. Had any Clan cat traveled this far before?

“You don’t sound sure.” Talltail felt Jake’s pelt brush against his as the kittypet stood beside him.

“The rogues could have gone anywhere,” Talltail pointed out. He gazed across the open stretch of grassland that curved past Twolegplace. What if they’d decided to take the low path, keeping out of the cold wind?

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Jake meowed.

“But where?” Talltail frowned. This might have been strange country to him, but the rogues had probably walked this route for moons and knew all its secrets, all the best places to shelter and find food.

“Why don’t we climb the hill, like you said?” Jake mewed. “From up there, it might be obvious which way they’d choose.”

“We?” Talltail blinked. “I thought you were going home.”

“Eventually.” Jake held his gaze. “But there’s no harm in seeing what’s on the other side of the hill.”

Talltail paused, wondering why he didn’t feel irritated. This was his mission. He didn’t need help. Especially not from a kittypet. Yet suddenly the looming hill seemed less daunting. He shrugged. “Okay.”

The wind whipped his whiskers as he padded up the slope. Jake followed a few paces behind, his head switching back and forth as he scanned the landscape. When sharp, gray rocks began to jut from the grass and the slope steepened, Talltail paused and waited for him to catch up. “You’re shivering.”

Jake’s silky fur was rippling along his spine. “I’m okay,” he muttered tightly. “There’ll be shelter on the other side.”

“I hope so.” Talltail wasn’t convinced. Though he could hardly feel the wind through his short, thick fur, he knew it’d be fiercer once they’d reached the top; it was sweeping over the hilltop toward them. What if it makes Jake turn back? Talltail glanced anxiously over his shoulder. Twolegplace sprawled just beyond the hedge. It wouldn’t take long for Jake to reach the shelter of its stone walls and tiny, fenced-in meadows.

Jake leaped past him up the rocky slope, his paws slithering on the frosty rock.

“This way’s easier,” Talltail called. He veered around the outcrop, following a grassy trail, but Jake scrabbled stubbornly on.

“If I can climb up Twoleg walls, I can manage this,” he growled.

Talltail reached the hilltop first, and a cold blast of air snatched his breath away. He narrowed his eyes against the icy wind and tried to ignore the pang of disappointment digging in his belly. Jake would turn back now, surely?

Focusing, he surveyed the land sloping ahead. It was like being on Outlook Rock again. The view was different but he still had a hawk’s eye and took only a few moments to scan the valley. The land rose and fell gently on one side; the other was steep and barren, topped by craggy peaks. A river sparkled between, meandering along the valley bottom, and in the hollow between two low hills, a dense wood nestled like moss in a nest.

“That’s where they’d head.” Jake’s breathless mew took him by surprise. Talltail followed the kittypet’s gaze toward the wooded hollow.

“If they’re anything like me, they’ll be looking for shelter.” Jake flattened his ears against the wind.

Talltail sniffed. “If they were anything like you, they’d be snuggled up in a Twoleg den eating kittypet food.” He paused, pelt pricking as he realized how mean he sounded. “Sorry.” He caught Jake’s green gaze. “I just meant they’re not kittypets. They might have their own ideas about shelter.”

Jake shifted his paws. “I know I’m a kittypet. I’m happy with that.” He began to head down the slope that led into the valley. “It doesn’t mean I can’t walk a different path for a while.”

Talltail bounded after him. As he caught up, a screeching cry echoed across the valley. Jake froze. “Fox!” His eyes widened with fear. “Out here? I thought they only lived in Twolegplace.”

“Foxes are like rats. They live everywhere.” Talltail studied the hillside. The bark had sounded close. A red pelt scurried across the grass below them.

“Where can we hide?” Jake’s pelt bristled, his gaze darting across the wide stretch of grass in front of them. He nodded toward a smooth, gray boulder. “It won’t see us if we crouch behind that.”

“Just stand still,” Talltail ordered.

“But it’ll see us.” Jake’s mew was edged with panic. “There’s nowhere to hide out here.”

Talltail guessed that Jake was missing his shadowy alleys and dens. “There are plenty of places to hide.” He nodded toward the long grass sprouting beyond the boulder. It stretched all the way to the bottom of the valley. They could cross the entire hillside hidden among the rippling stems. Trees and bushes lined the river where it ended. “Just imagine that the grass and bushes are walls and fences. Besides, the wind will protect us.”

“The wind?” Jake blinked at him. “How?”

“It’s blowing this way,” Talltail explained. “We can smell the fox, but it can’t smell us.” He opened his mouth and let the musky scent wash his tongue as the fox slunk toward a swathe of bracken and disappeared. “See?” He flicked his tail as the fox’s pelt melted among the russet fronds. “It never even noticed us.”

Jake was already heading for the long grass. Talltail bounded after him, pushing through the stems a tail-length behind. He could smell Jake’s fear-scent, stronger than his normal aroma, and knew he had to calm Jake down before the fox detected it. “We could beat a fox easily,” Talltail called. “If we fought together.”

Jake slowed. “I guess we drove off that dog.”

Talltail fell in beside him. “I can teach you some battle moves if you’d like.” The ground sloped more steeply as they neared the river.

“Battle moves?” Jake let out a tiny yelp as his paws slithered beneath him.

Talltail dug in his claws to get a better grip. “We’re called warriors for a reason.”

“Who do you fight?” Jake bounded down a sharp drop, scrambling to a halt as the land began to flatten out.

“ShadowClan and RiverClan mostly,” Talltail replied, negotiating the drop more smoothly. “We share borders with them.”

“Like fighting over fences.”

Talltail’s pelt ruffled. “It’s more important than that,” he huffed. “We’re not just being selfish over a patch of ground. We’re fighting for our Clan’s survival! A true warrior would die to save his Clan.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “Is that why you’re out here, risking your life?” he asked. “To save your Clan?”

Talltail hurried ahead, grass brushing his pelt. “I’m avenging my father.”

“How will that help your Clan?”

Talltail turned on Jake, hissing. “My Clan has nothing to do with this!”

“It has to! You’re a warrior.” Confusion clouded Jake’s gaze.

Talltail’s thoughts whirled and tangled. A warrior avenges the death of a Clanmate, doesn’t he? I’m doing this for Sandgorse! He stiffened. My father wants me to avenge his death. Sandgorse’s amber gaze glowed in his mind. Then he pictured it disappearing under a deluge of mud. Blood roared in his ears.

“Talltail?” Jake was circling him. “Are you okay?”

Talltail padded past him, forcing his pelt to flatten. “I’m fine.” He slid from the long grass at a point where scrubby, cow-trodden pasture sloped gently toward the river.

Jake popped out beside him. As he gazed across the valley to the wooded hollow, his belly rumbled.

“There’ll be prey in those bushes.” Talltail nodded toward the hawthorn that crowded the riverbank. Beyond the bare, prickly branches, sun sparkled on the rippling water. Overhead cold, blue sky stretched between the hilltops. Talltail tasted the air. The scent of fox was growing stale. The stone tang of frost was tinged with the smell of sheep, refreshing after the jumble of acrid Twoleg scents. Talltail bounded across the grass. Jake raced beside him, taking the lead and skidding to a halt by the bushes. Talltail stopped beside him, surprised to find himself breathless.

“Are you okay?” Jake leaned closer.

“Fine,” Talltail panted.

“You look ruffled.”

“I guess I’m still weak from the poison.”

“Do you want to rest while I hunt?” Jake offered.

A purr caught in Talltail’s throat. “Do you know how to hunt?”

“I caught a bird once.” Jake puffed out his chest. Talltail tipped his head, impressed. “It was a bit injured when I found it,” Jake admitted. “But it flapped a lot before I killed it.”

Talltail rolled his eyes. “Let’s hunt together,” he suggested. He nosed his way between the hawthorn bushes. Beyond them, water lapped against the dark brown earth, deeply pitted by the hooves of animals. Talltail padded along the edge of the river, keeping a wary eye on the surface. Mouse scent touched his nose. “Wait.” He dropped to a crouch, beckoning for Jake to do the same with a flick of his tail. Something was scuttling beneath the branches up ahead. He crept forward, his paws as light as falling snow, and rounded the bush. Stopping, he peered through and caught sight of the mouse. It was sitting under a branch, grasping a berry in its paws. Talltail held still. He could see Jake creeping closer on the far side of the bush. Wait! He willed Jake not to scare away their prey.

The mouse scurried forward. Its scent washed Talltail’s nose. Another few paw steps and he’d reach it easily. He hesitated. Why not let Jake catch it? Every cat should learn how to hunt, even a kittypet.

The mouse moved again. Peering under the bush, Talltail saw it skitter sideways. He was going to have to drive it straight toward Jake or the kittypet would never catch it. He lunged beneath the branches, screwing up his eyes against the prickly twigs. Paws stretched, he skidded on his belly and burst out the other side.

Jake gasped as the mouse darted toward him, then fast as a weasel, he slammed his paws down on the tiny creature.

“Bite its spine!” Talltail called.

Jake clamped his jaws around the mouse’s neck and killed it with a sharp nip. Talltail wriggled out from beneath the bush, wincing as thorns jabbed his pelt. “Well done!”

Jake sat up, blinking, the mouse dangling from his mouth. He looked as surprised as the mouse. He dropped it onto the ground and purred. “I caught it!”

Talltail swallowed the urge to point out that the mouse had practically run into his teeth. “You reacted quickly.”

“Thanks.” Jake stared at the mouse uncertainly. “Now what?”

“You can eat it.”

“What about you?”

“It’s your catch.”

“You helped.” Jake nudged it toward Talltail with a paw. “Let’s share.”

“Is that okay?”

Jake cocked his head. “You share in the Clan, don’t you?”

“Only if it’s offered,” Talltail told him.

“I’m offering.” Jake nodded at the mouse. “You can have first bite.”

Talltail felt Jake’s gaze on him as he leaned down and bit into the warm flesh of the mouse. It tasted sweet. “Have some.” He pushed it back toward Jake.

Jake took a bite, sitting up to chew. Talltail watched his eyes soften. “Do you like it?”

“Yes,” Jake purred, and he took another bite, crunching through bone like a Clanborn cat. He nudged the carcass toward Talltail. “You finish it,” he ordered. “You still need to get your strength back.” Talltail didn’t argue. His legs felt shaky from the hunt. “Do you want to rest?” Jake asked as he finished the last scrap.

Talltail looked across the stretch of meadows toward the woods. “Let’s keep going.” He wanted to reach the trees before dark. Woodland was gloomy enough at sunhigh. It would be as suffocating as a tunnel when dusk approached. He stood up and shook out his fur. Jake licked his lips. Together they headed across the grass, which rippled around them like water in the cold breeze.

By the time they reached the trees, Talltail’s paws were trembling with tiredness. He fluffed out his fur, suddenly chilled to the bone.

Jake brushed against him. “You look exhausted.”

Talltail shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“Why don’t we find a place to rest?” Jake glanced up at the sun. It was beginning to slide toward the hilltop behind them. “We’ve traveled far enough.”

Talltail’s pelt twitched. “We need to catch the rogues.”

“They won’t be traveling fast,” Jake meowed confidently. “They’re rogues. They can travel where they like, when they like. What’s the hurry?” Talltail was too weary to argue. He let Jake lead him into the shelter of the trees. The kittypet stared up in wonder at the crisscrossing canopy of branches. “It’s like a huge den!”

Talltail didn’t look. It was bad enough listening to the branches rattle in the wind. Trunks crowded around him, bushes and shadow pressing between them, trapping his paws, shutting out the breeze. Jake bounded forward and padded around a tree, staring up. A scent had caught his attention. He darted over to sniff a bramble that tumbled out from between two trunks. “It’s busier than Twolegplace!” he meowed excitedly. “There are prey smells everywhere.”

Talltail sat down. “Great,” he muttered.

Jake glanced over his shoulder. “Look for a hollow to rest in,” he mewed. He nodded toward a dip between the roots of an oak. “That might make a good nest.” He ducked away past a hawthorn.

Talltail felt a twinge of anxiety as Jake’s tail disappeared. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back,” Jake’s mew echoed from the trees. “You rest.”

Talltail padded heavily toward the oak roots. The hollow was deep, and moss grew on the damp earth inside. Talltail clambered over the edge and curled into it. The moss was wet but he was too tired to care. Closing his eyes, he must have dozed. The next thing he knew, paws were pattering across the forest floor toward him. He tensed and peeked over the rim of the nest.

Jake bounded from the trees with a wad of leaves and feathers clasped between his jaws. He stopped at the edge of the hollow and dropped them in. “You can line your nest with these.” Talltail ducked as leaves, twigs, and feathers showered his pelt. He stood up and shook out his fur. “Thanks.” Leaning down, he picked up a short stick between his teeth and tossed it out of the nest. “You might want to check for sharp bits next time.”

“Sorry.” Jake hopped down beside him and began picking twigs from the litter. He tossed them out, then paddled the soft moss with his paws. “That feels better!”

“In WindClan, we line our nests with sheepswool,” Talltail remarked.

“I’ll get some.” Jake jumped out.

“It’s okay; you don’t have to.” Bones aching with tiredness, Talltail sat down.

Jake was already heading toward the edge of the trees. “I won’t be long!”

Talltail curled back into the moss, ignoring the dampness. He rested his nose on his paws and closed his eyes. Just a few more moments’ sleep and he’d feel better. Darkness swirled through his thoughts and pulled him into tumbling dreams.

Talltail! His father’s voice echoed from the shadows. Talltail, dreaming, stared around. Shadows crowded against his pelt, turning the air thick until he struggled for breath. Then something started falling on him—cold, wet earth, heavy as stones, more and more until his mouth and nose were clogged. He was inside the gorge tunnel! Suddenly eyes blinked in the blackness. Sparrow! Talltail recognized the cold, amber gaze of the rogue flashing in the dark.

“Where’s Sandgorse? Have you left him behind?” Panic surged beneath Talltail’s pelt. “Sandgorse? Sandgorse?” He pushed past Sparrow, calling into the darkness. Water rumbled in the distance, its roar growing louder, and sticky mud dragged at Talltail’s legs. “You abandoned him!” Talltail turned on Sparrow, lashing his soaked tail.

But the flashing eyes had gone, and he was alone underground. More earth slid weightily onto Talltail’s flank. He struggled, trying to kick free of the mud as it flooded around his paws. It lapped against his belly and dragged at his fur. “Sandgorse!” he shrieked in panic.

“Talltail!” His father’s voice returned his call. “Talltail! Talltail!”

A paw shook his shoulder. Talltail jerked up his head. Jake was in the nest beside him, poking him. His eyes were wide with excitement. “You have to come and see this!”

Sheepswool surrounded Talltail, soft against his pelt. “Did you collect all that?” Talltail stared at it, still dazed from his dream.

“Yes!” Jake hopped out of the nest. “But I found something else. Come on!”

Talltail struggled to his paws, fighting the heaviness of sleep. “I’m coming.” He hauled himself out of the nest and followed Jake.

Jake padded briskly between the trees, weaving past brambles and bracken, and hopped a rotting log. Talltail scrambled over it, still drowsy. “What is it?” Irritation itched beneath his fur. Couldn’t Jake have let him sleep?

“Look!” Jake stopped beside a beech trunk and nodded toward the ground. “Smell that.” Talltail’s nose was already twitching. “Cat scent,” Jake announced proudly. “When I’d fetched the wool, I decided to have a sniff around. And I found this.”

A jumble of scents clung to the leaf-strewn soil between the tree roots. Talltail leaned closer, opening his mouth.

“Is it the rogues?” Jake demanded.

There was a familiar hint to the smell. “I think it might be!” Talltail straightened up and stared at Jake, feeling a worm of excitement stir in his belly. The scents were too frozen to tell for sure. But they were definitely cat scent and definitely familiar. “They’re stale.” He unsheathed his claws and sank them into the cold, damp earth. “But we’re on the right trail!”