The Fourth Apprentice

Chapter 9

Lionblaze gazed up at the full moon hanging above the empty bowl of the lake. It outlined the WindClan cats in silver as they headed around the shore on their way to the Gathering. They looked thinner than ever, and they trudged along with their heads down and their tails drooping as if they were too tired to go on putting one paw in front of another.

Lionblaze looked around at his Clanmates and realized they were just as exhausted. Only Dovepaw seemed to have any energy. Her fur was fluffed up with excitement, and every so often she would run on a few paces, then wait for Cinderheart and Lionblaze to catch up. Her ears were pricked and her whiskers quivering. Lionblaze wondered what she could sense, whether she was already listening to murmurs from the island.

There was no need to use the fallen tree to cross the lake to the island. There was no water left in this narrow channel; the lake bottom was exposed to the stars, tumbled with pebbles and bits of wood. Firestar led the way down, jumping gracefully through the scattered debris, his paws silent on the stones.

“I don’t know why we came all this way around,” Foxleap muttered. “We could have just walked straight across the lake from our own territory.

“I suppose so,” Cinderheart agreed. “But we’ve always done it this way. Somehow it doesn’t seem respectful to change.”

Foxleap shrugged with a tired sigh.

Moonlight showed the lake robbed of all its old magnificence, reduced to a bowl of dust and stones. It felt strange to Lionblaze to be padding over an arid waste of pebbles where deep water had once rippled. Above him, the fallen tree didn’t seem so high, either, as when he had to balance carefully on it with the dark lake lapping hungrily below.

The undergrowth on the island was brown and brittle all the way down to the shore. ThunderClan and WindClan mingled together as they padded quietly through it toward the clearing. Lionblaze spotted the WindClan deputy, Ashfoot, pacing beside Crowfeather; the deputy was Crowfeather’s mother, Lionblaze remembered, with a sudden shock at the realization that he had more kin in WindClan.

He dropped back, hoping that Ashfoot and Crowfeather hadn’t noticed him, and found himself walking just behind Squirrelflight and Thornclaw. Cinderheart was beside him, with Birchfall on his other side and Ivypaw and Dovepaw following. Together they pushed through the bushes that surrounded the clearing and emerged in the cold starlight, circled by pine trees. ShadowClan had already arrived. They greeted ThunderClan and WindClan with subdued nods. The shadows that flitted over the ground were as light and frail as fallen leaves; was it Lionblaze’s imagination, or were the cats really making less noise with their half-starved paws?

While Firestar and Onestar were climbing the tree to join Blackstar, Lionblaze spotted Jayfeather padding over to touch noses with Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat. Nearby, Littlecloud’s apprentice, Flametail, was sitting with his littermates Tigerheart and Dawnpelt.

Tigerheart sprang to his paws as soon as he saw Lionblaze. “Hi!” he called. “How are you doing?”

“Fine, thanks,” Lionblaze replied curtly. As he turned away, he tried to ignore the hurt in the younger cat’s eyes.

Moons ago, when Tigerheart and his littermates were newly apprenticed, their mother, Tawnypelt, had brought them to ThunderClan because a loner named Sol had taken over ShadowClan. Tawnypelt had been born and raised in ThunderClan; she and her kits had been welcomed, though cautiously, but had gone back to ShadowClan as soon as Sol had been driven out.

I thought they were my kin then, Lionblaze reflected sadly. Brambleclaw is Tawnypelt’s brother… I liked them, especially Tigerheart. But now…

“I wish they would leave me alone,” he muttered aloud to Cinderheart. “They know I’m not their kin.”

Cinderheart’s blue eyes softened. “You can be friends without being kin,” she pointed out. “And isn’t it a good thing to have friends in another Clan instead of enemies?”

How could Cinderheart understand? She hasn’t been betrayed by her parents. Lionblaze’s gaze rested on Tigerheart and Dawnpelt. I wonder if Tigerstar has visited them in their dreams, like he used to visit me in mine? Tigerstar was Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt’s father. He had been a warrior and deputy of ThunderClan, but he had been banished by Bluestar for plotting her death and became leader of ShadowClan. He had dreamed of ruling over all four Clans when he was alive, and he nursed that dream still, even though he now walked in the Dark Forest, with other cats who were denied entry to StarClan. He had come to Lionblaze at night, preying on their shared blood, to train him in the art of merciless fighting and brutal ambition. Lionblaze had learned everything eagerly, but as soon as he found out that Tigerstar was not his kin, he realized that the dead warrior had been using him for his own dark purposes.

Lionblaze forced his paws to carry him toward the young ShadowClan warriors, knowing that he ought to try making up for his unfriendliness, but before he could take more than a couple of steps he heard Onestar calling from the Great Oak.

“Has any cat seen Leopardstar and her Clan?” When nothing but shrugs and shaking heads answered his question, he added, “Weaselfur, go take a look, will you?”

The WindClan warrior pushed his way back through the bushes and returned a moment later. “There’s a patrol on its way,” he reported to his leader. “They’re coming straight across the lake.”

All the cats settled down to wait, their talk dying into silence. Lionblaze sat beside Cinderheart, with a guilty glance across the clearing at the ShadowClan cats. Maybe I’ll talk to them before we leave.

Not many heartbeats had passed before Lionblaze heard more rustling in the bushes and Leopardstar emerged at the head of the RiverClan patrol. He felt his pelt bristle with shock when he saw how frail the RiverClan leader was, every bone visible beneath her spotted pelt and her eyes as dull as the mud left in the lake.

As soon as Leopardstar appeared, Dovepaw sat straight up, her eyes stretched wide with astonishment. Wriggling around to face Lionblaze, she leaned across to him and whispered in his ear, “That’s the sick cat from the RiverClan camp!”

“Are you sure?” Lionblaze was taken aback. That means Leopardstar has been sick for nearly a moon!

Dovepaw nodded, and Lionblaze didn’t ask her any more questions. He didn’t want any other cat to overhear their conversation.

Leopardstar held her head high as she padded across the clearing with Mistyfoot behind her. She paused at the foot of the tree, gazing upward but making no attempt to leap; Mistyfoot murmured something to her.

“I think Mistyfoot is offering to help her,” Cinderheart whispered into Lionblaze’s ear. “Leopardstar must be really ill if she can’t even jump into the tree.”

But as Cinderheart spoke Leopardstar gave her head a decisive shake, gathered her haunches under her, and sprang. Her forepaws just scraped the lowest branch; she dug her claws in and after an undignified scramble managed to pull herself up. She crouched on the branch and glared at the cats below with fierce yellow eyes, as if daring any of them to comment on her awkward jump.

Lionblaze exchanged a glance with Foxleap, who sat next to him. Leopardstar looks as if she’ll fall off that branch at any moment! Then his gaze flicked to his brother, who was sitting at the foot of the tree with the other medicine cats, and he wondered if Jayfeather knew how weak Leopardstar was.

Firestar rose to his paws and let out a yowl to indicate that the Gathering had begun. Even though he was much thinner than usual, he still looked a lot healthier than Leopardstar. “Cats of all Clans,” he began. “We are all suffering from the heat and the lack of water.”

“What else is new?” Crowfeather called from a group of WindClan warriors.

Firestar ignored him. “The problem is getting worse. The stream between our territory and ShadowClan’s has dried up. We think there’s a possibility that there’s a blockage up the stream. Some of the cats from my Clan want to explore and see if that’s true.”

As he spoke, his green gaze rested on Lionblaze, as if to reassure him that he didn’t intend to name Dovepaw, or reveal that the cat who had the idea was only an apprentice. Let’s hope the other cats who heard her by the fresh-kill pile have the sense to keep their mouths shut.

Lionblaze responded to his leader with a tiny nod; glancing at Dovepaw, he was relieved to see that she was listening as attentively as any other cat, but she didn’t look as if she knew more than Firestar was telling.

“Your patrol will be trespassing on ShadowClan territory if they travel upstream,” Blackstar growled in reply to Firestar’s suggestion. “I will not allow it.”

“I think we should send a patrol made up of cats from all four Clans,” Firestar explained. He raised his tail for silence as a ripple of surprise passed through the clearing. “Remember what happened when Twolegs destroyed our home in the old forest?” he went on. “A patrol of six cats, representing all the Clans, went on a quest to find new territories. That was how we survived then; this could be the way to survive now.”

Lionblaze felt a thrill of excitement pass through the clearing. Cats were springing to their paws, their pelts fluffing up and their tails waving.

“I’ll go!” Tigerheart called out.

“So will I!” added Dawnpelt, her eyes shining. “It’ll be a real warriors’ quest!”

“I wasn’t born when the Clans made the Great Journey,” Lionblaze heard Foxleap meowing to Rosepetal. “But I bet it was exciting.”

“I wonder what we’ll find.” Rosepetal’s whiskers were quivering. “I bet a moon of dawn patrols it’s Twolegs again.”

“Or badgers,” replied Foxleap. “I wouldn’t put anything past badgers.”

“I want to go,” Dovepaw whispered to Lionblaze. “Do you think Firestar will choose an apprentice?”

“Don’t worry,” Lionblaze murmured in reply. “You’re the one cat in all the Clans who has to go.”

“You really think we could bring the water back?” It was Onestar who spoke; his voice was cautious, but hope was waking in his eyes.

“I think it’s worth a try,” Firestar responded.

“And who would be in charge of this joint patrol?” Blackstar asked, still sounding belligerent. “You?”

Firestar shook his head. “I don’t think any Clan leader should go,” he meowed. “Our Clans need us here. Besides, when we made the Great Journey, no cat was in charge. We learned to cooperate then, and there’s no reason why we can’t do that again. What do you think?”

Blackstar kept silent, apart from the sound of his claws scraping the bark on his branch. Onestar exchanged a glance with his deputy, Ashfoot, who was sitting on a root below, then gave a decisive nod. “I agree. It makes sense to involve all the Clans. WindClan is with you, Firestar.”

“And so is ShadowClan.” Blackstar fixed Firestar with a hard stare. “You’ll be trekking through our territory, and you’re not doing that without ShadowClan cats to keep an eye on you.”

“Thank you, both of you.” Lionblaze thought Firestar was trying to hide his surprise that he had gained the two leaders’ consent so easily. “Leopardstar, what do you think?”

The RiverClan leader was gazing across the clearing as if she hadn’t heard any of the discussion above her.

After a few heartbeats of awkward silence, Littlecloud rose to his paws. “If I may speak,” he began, with a courteous nod to the leaders, “the situation now isn’t quite the same as it was last time. The cats who went on the first quest were summoned by a prophecy.” His gaze swept across the Clans until he found Brambleclaw, Crowfeather, and Tawnypelt. All three cats nodded; Lionblaze thought he could see memories flickering in their eyes.

Squirrelflight glanced across at Brambleclaw, and there was deep regret in the look she gave him. Lionblaze knew she hadn’t been chosen by StarClan, but she had insisted on going with the others; she must be longing for that time before the lies and betrayals had come between her and her mate.

“StarClan deliberately chose those cats, one from each Clan,” Littlecloud went on. “Who will choose these cats?” He paused to glance around at the other medicine cats, then added, “Has StarClan given you any hints about who should go?”

The other medicine cats, even Jayfeather, shook their heads. Lionblaze felt his belly tighten. Dovepaw knew that the big brown animals had blocked the stream. StarClan hadn’t told them anything. We can’t wait for our warrior ancestors to save us! They know less about this than we do!

For a moment, Lionblaze was afraid that Firestar would agree to wait for signs. Then the ThunderClan leader dipped his head to Littlecloud. “That’s an important point,” he meowed. “But if StarClan were going to send us signs this time, I think they would have sent them already. Each Clan leader is capable of choosing which cats should go to represent their Clans. StarClan trusts the four of us to do our best for our cats; that’s why we received nine lives.”

Murmurs of agreement rose from the clearing; Lionblaze saw that Onestar and Blackstar were nodding, too.

“The cats who go on the journey must be brave and strong,” Firestar continued. “They must be capable of seeking out something they know little about, and willing to set aside Clan rivalry for the sake of every cat. I trust that all the leaders will make the right choice.”

Lionblaze heaved a sigh of relief. That had gone much more smoothly than he had expected. The stream wouldn’t be blocked for much longer! Then Leopardstar raised her head.

“Just like you, Firestar,” she rasped. “Always coming up with a plan. Do you think I don’t know what you really have in mind?”

Firestar looked down at her with bewilderment in his green eyes. “I’m not hiding anything,” he assured her.

“Fox dung!” Leopardstar spat. Her thin, patchy pelt bristled along her bony spine. “This is a trick! You’re just trying to cheat RiverClan out of our fish. You want to get rid of some of our warriors so that we can’t keep up the patrols anymore.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Firestar didn’t sound angry, just sympathetic. “Leopardstar, I can see you’re not well—”

“I’m not a fool, Firestar.” Leopardstar rejected the ThunderClan leader’s pity with a snarl. Struggling to her paws, she swayed on the branch as if she was about to lose her balance and fall off. “I know you’d let RiverClan starve to save your precious Clan!”

“No, he wants to help,” Onestar protested. “We all do.”

“You all want our fish,” Leopardstar snarled. “But you won’t get it. RiverClan will not join this patrol.”

The other three leaders glanced at one another in dismay, but before any of them could speak, Mistyfoot leaped up to her leader’s branch. She crouched next to Leopardstar and spoke quietly into her ear.

Lionblaze strained to hear what she was saying and managed to pick up a few phrases. “They’ll weaken themselves if they send their strongest warriors away… We benefit more than the others if the lake is refilled.”

Tension rose in the clearing as the other cats waited; Lionblaze could feel his pelt prickling as if a storm was coming. Leopardstar snapped at her deputy once or twice, but Mistyfoot persisted, her tail-tip resting gently on her leader’s shoulder.

At length Mistyfoot rose to her paws, still keeping her tail on Leopardstar. “RiverClan will send cats with this patrol,” she announced.

A few yowls of protest rose from the RiverClan warriors. “That’s for Leopardstar to say, not you!” the elder Blackclaw spat.

“She already made her decision,” Mallownose added. “Now you’ve made her look weak!”

Birchfall, sitting a couple of tail-lengths away from Lionblaze, let out a disdainful sniff. “Leopardstar couldn’t look much weaker if she was dead,” he commented.

Mistyfoot didn’t try to argue; she just waited for the noise to die down. Then she dipped her head to Leopardstar and the other leaders and leaped to the ground again.

“Thank you, Leopardstar,” Firestar mewed, stepping forward once more. “I promise, you won’t regret this decision.” He paused to give his chest fur a couple of thoughtful licks, then went on, “Each Clan must send two cats to the mouth of the dried-up stream on the second sunrise from now. The Clan deputies can escort them.” His green eyes glowed in the moonlight and his voice rang through the clearing. “We will find the water! The Clans must survive!”