The Fourth Apprentice Read online

  More caterwauling broke out behind Jayfeather as he ran toward the hazel bush. He scented Brackenfur racing beside him and snapped, “Get the elders out of their den!”

  The ginger warrior veered away to the entrance; Jayfeather raced on past the den, guided by the scent of smoke. As he drew closer to the rock wall he could hear the crackle of flames. A wave of heat rolled out to meet him and he halted. Frustration at his blindness swept over him, fierce as the fire. I don’t know where to attack it!

  Then another cat shouldered him out of the way; Jayfeather picked up Graystripe’s scent, with Firestar and Squirrelflight just behind him.

  “We need water,” the Clan leader mewed crisply. “Jayfeather, find some cats to go down to the lake.”

  “That’ll take too long,” Graystripe yelped. “Kick dust on the fire, quick!”

  Jayfeather heard the sound of vigorous scraping, but the smoke and flames didn’t die down. He turned away, about to obey Firestar’s order, when he heard the sound of several cats racing over toward the fire.

  “Cloudtail! Lionblaze!” Firestar exclaimed. “Thank StarClan!”

  Jayfeather picked up the scent of wet moss as his brother and several other cats brushed past him. There was a loud hissing sound, and the acrid smell of smoke suddenly became much stronger. It caught in his throat and he retreated, coughing.

  Moments later, Lionblaze joined him. “That was close!” he panted. “If we hadn’t come just then, the whole camp could have caught fire.”

  “You’re sure the fire’s out?” Jayfeather asked, blinking eyes that stung from the smoke.

  “Firestar is checking.” Lionblaze let out a long sigh. “And now I suppose we’ll have to go get more water. I just hope the RiverClan cats have gone.”

  “RiverClan?” Jayfeather felt his neck fur begin to bristle.

  “There was a patrol out there when we arrived,” Lionblaze explained. “We nearly had to fight for a few mouthfuls of water. If the RiverClan cats are still there, they certainly won’t welcome us back.” His voice grew heavy with anger. “They looked as if they were counting every drop!”

  Jayfeather’s tail drooped as he stood beside his brother among the sooty remnants of the fire. Around him, cats were beginning to carry the burnt debris out of the camp; the sharp scent made him cough again.

  Will the end of the Clans be like this? he wondered. Just like the lake is shrinking? So ordinary, and frustrating, and so bitterly, painfully slow?

  Lionblaze touched his nose to Jayfeather’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort. “Remember, we will be Three again,” he murmured. “Whitewing’s kits are Firestar’s kin, too.”

  Jayfeather shrugged. “How can we be sure? Why hasn’t StarClan sent us a sign?”

  “We don’t know that the prophecy came from them in the first place,” his brother pointed out.

  “But they—”

  A loud yowl from across the clearing interrupted what Jayfeather was about to say. “Hey, Jayfeather!”

  Jayfeather’s whiskers twitched as he recognized the voice of the most annoying cat in the Clan. “What is it now, Berrynose?” he asked with a sigh, heading in his direction.

  Berrynose padded up to meet him; Jayfeather detected the scent of Poppyfrost just behind him.

  “Poppyfrost is having kits,” the young warrior announced importantly. “My kits.”

  “Congratulations,” Jayfeather murmured.

  “I want you to tell her she’s got to rest and take care of herself,” Berrynose went on. “Having kits can be dangerous, right?”

  “Well…sometimes,” Jayfeather admitted.

  “Yeah, I heard that the kits can come too soon, or they can be weak, or—”

  “Berrynose,” Poppyfrost interrupted; Jayfeather could pick up her distress as clearly as if she had caterwauled it to the whole camp. “I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

  “Or the kits take too long in coming,” Berrynose finished, as if his mate hadn’t spoken.

  “There can be problems, but…” Jayfeather padded forward until he could give Poppyfrost a good sniff. “She’s a healthy she-cat,” he went on. “There’s no reason she can’t carry on with her normal duties for now.”

  “What?” Berrynose sounded outraged. “That’s not good enough! Poppyfrost, you go into the nursery right now, and let Ferncloud and Daisy take care of you.”

  “Really, there’s no need—” Poppyfrost began, but Berrynose was already nudging her across the clearing toward the entrance to the nursery.

  Jayfeather stood still as the sound of their paw steps retreated. Why consult a medicine cat if you’re not going to listen, mouse-brain?

  Defeat suddenly flooded over Jayfeather like a huge wave. What was the point of having the power of the stars in his paws if even his own Clanmates didn’t listen to him? “I don’t know if we can do this on our own,” he murmured to himself. “Two or three of us…”

  CHAPTER 3

  Dovekit wriggled with excitement as Whitewing’s tongue rasped around her ears and down her neck.

  “Keep still,” her mother scolded. “You can’t go to your apprentice ceremony looking as if you’ve been pulled through the thorn barrier backward!”

  Ivykit glanced over her shoulder from where she was crouched at the entrance to the nursery. “The cats are gathering out there already,” she reported, her voice quivering with anticipation. “I think the whole Clan will come to see us become apprentices!”

  Dovekit twisted away from her mother’s tongue and scampered over the mossy floor of the nursery to join her sister. “Let’s go!” she urged.

  “It’s not time yet,” her mother told her. “We have to wait until Firestar calls the Clan together.”

  “It won’t be long.” The gentle mew came from Daisy, the cat from the horseplace. Dovekit understood that Daisy would never be a warrior; she and Ferncloud both stayed in the nursery to help each new queen with her kits.

  Now Daisy was curled up beside Poppyfrost, who had moved into the nursery two sunrises before, her belly gently rounded with Berrynose’s kits. Berrynose was Daisy’s son, so these kits would be Daisy’s kin too.

  “Are you coming to see us made apprentices?” she asked the she-cats.

  “Of course.” Poppyfrost heaved herself to her paws and gave herself a quick grooming to get rid of the scraps of moss that clung to her pelt. “We wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

  Dovekit gave her shoulders another wriggle; she felt as if she couldn’t keep her paws still for another heartbeat. She was so excited that she could almost forget how thirsty she was. “I wonder who our mentors will be,” she meowed.

  Before Ivykit could reply, Firestar’s flame-colored figure appeared on the Highledge and his voice rang out across the camp. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting.”

  Dovekit sprang up, ready to bounce out into the clearing, but her mother’s tail reached out to hold her back. “Not yet,” Whitewing murmured. “And you will walk out there like a sensible apprentice, not a little kit who doesn’t know how to behave.”

  “Okay, okay,” Dovekit muttered, trying to force down her impatience.

  Ivykit echoed her sister, then added, “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “Oh, no!” Dovekit let out a wail. What will the Clan think of us if Ivykit is sick at her apprentice ceremony?

  “No, you’re not,” Whitewing mewed calmly. “You’ll both behave yourselves and make me proud of you. Look, your father’s come to get you.”

  Birchfall had appeared at the entrance to the nursery, looking down at his daughters with glowing eyes. “Come along, the Clan is waiting for you,” he told them.

  Ivykit sprang to her paws, and Dovekit flexed her claws while Whitewing gave her own pelt a quick grooming and came to join them. By this time the whole of ThunderClan had gathered in the clearing, beneath the Highledge. Dovekit felt the gaze of many eyes on her as she padded out of the nursery beside Ivykit, th
eir mother and father following behind. Daisy, Ferncloud, and Poppyfrost brought up the rear, and sat down just outside the entrance.

  Dovekit’s heart was thumping so hard that she thought it was going to burst out of her chest, but she kept her head and her tail held high.

  “I just know I’ll forget what to do,” Ivykit muttered into her ear.

  Dovekit brushed herself against her sister’s pelt. “You’ll be fine.”

  Whitewing guided them toward the circle of waiting cats, who parted to let them in. Dovekit found herself standing between her sister and Squirrelflight, who gave her an encouraging nod.

  “I’ve called you together for one of the most important moments in the life of a Clan,” Firestar began. “Dovekit and Ivykit have reached their sixth moon, and it’s time for them to become apprentices.” He beckoned with his tail. “Come forward.”

  Dovekit wanted to do a big jump right into the middle of the circle, but at the last moment she remembered what her mother had told her and made herself walk slowly forward beside her sister.

  “Dovekit,” Firestar meowed, “from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Dovepaw.”

  “Dovepaw!” The voices of her Clanmates rang out around her, making her pelt tingle as she heard her new name for the first time. “Dovepaw!”

  “StarClan, I ask you to guide this new apprentice,” Firestar went on, gazing up at the hot blue sky above the hollow. “Set her paws on the path she must follow to become a warrior.”

  Dovepaw suppressed a shiver as she thought of all the starry cats, her warrior ancestors, looking down on her as Firestar spoke to them.

  “Lionblaze.” Firestar flicked his tail toward the golden tabby warrior who stood close to the tumbled rocks that led up to the Highledge. “You will be mentor to Dovepaw. You are a loyal warrior and your battle skills are outstanding. I know that you will pass these qualities on to Dovepaw.”

  Lionblaze! Dovepaw’s heart lurched as she gazed across the clearing at the golden-furred tom. He’s a great cat—but what if he doesn’t like me?

  She bounded over to him, anxiously looking up into his amber eyes. She was astonished and delighted to see how pleased he looked as he bent his head to touch noses with her.

  “I’ll work really hard,” she promised him in a whisper.

  “So will I,” Lionblaze replied. “We’ll make a great team.”

  Dovepaw stood proudly beside him and listened as Firestar repeated the ceremony for her sister. Ivykit looked lonely and nervous all by herself in the middle of the circle of cats, but she kept her head up bravely, her gaze fixed on Firestar.

  “Ivykit,” Firestar meowed, “from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Ivypaw. May StarClan watch over you and guide you in your journey to become a warrior.” He paused for a heartbeat for the rest of the Clan to call Ivypaw by her new name, then swept his tail toward Cinderheart. “Cinderheart, you have shown courage and endurance in your apprenticeship, and I trust now that you will teach Ivypaw to follow in your path.”

  A murmur of approval rose up from the surrounding cats as Ivypaw scampered across the clearing to touch noses with Cinderheart. The gray warrior’s blue eyes shone with joy as she welcomed her new apprentice.

  “Dovepaw! Ivypaw!” the Clan called out.

  Dovepaw felt as if she were about to burst with pride and happiness as her Clanmates crowded around to congratulate them both.

  “What do we do now?” she asked Lionblaze eagerly.

  “Nothing exciting, I’m afraid,” he replied with a twitch of his ears. “The Clan needs water. We have to collect some moss, and then go down to the lake to soak it.”

  Dovepaw gave a little skip of excitement. “That’s great! I’ll get to see more of the territory.” Glancing around for her sister, she added, “Can Ivypaw and Cinderheart come with us?”

  “Of course.” It was Cinderheart who replied, padding toward them with Ivypaw bouncing at her side. “But we have to watch out for RiverClan. They might try to cause trouble.”

  “I thought RiverClan was on the other side of the lake?” Ivypaw asked, tipping her head on one side.

  “Not anymore,” Lionblaze growled. “Let’s get going, and I’ll explain on the way.”

  He led them through the thorn tunnel and headed in the direction of the lake. Dovepaw had never been more than a few fox-lengths outside the camp, but her excitement at seeing somewhere new was mixed with indignation at what Lionblaze and Cinderheart were telling them.

  “But RiverClan can’t just take the lake like that!” she protested. “Can they?”

  “Why doesn’t Firestar fight them?” Ivypaw mewed.

  “Firestar doesn’t like to cause trouble,” Cinderheart explained. “He always tries to look for a solution that doesn’t involve fighting. That’s part of what makes him such a great leader.”

  Dovepaw wasn’t sure that she understood. Even though she was only a new apprentice, she knew that Clans didn’t trespass on one another’s territory. That was part of the warrior code!

  “Stick close to me and Cinderheart,” Lionblaze warned them. “And whatever happens, don’t mess with RiverClan.”

  Just so long as they don’t mess with me or Ivypaw, Dovepaw thought.

  Their mentors took them to the foot of a huge oak tree, where they collected balls of moss from the roots, and then onward to the lake. As they emerged from the trees onto the bank, Dovepaw’s mouth dropped open, letting her moss fall.

  “I thought the lake was huge!” she gasped. “Not just that little bit of water right over there.” She felt a stab of disappointment. Why did the warriors make such a fuss about something that was not much bigger than a puddle?

  “It usually comes right up to where we are now,” Lionblaze told her. He angled his ears forward to where a narrow strip of pebbles gave way to dried mud. “It’s only because of the drought that it’s shrunk so much.”

  “The drought also means there haven’t been so many Twolegs around this greenleaf,” Cinderheart meowed. “So it isn’t all bad.” It sounded as if she was trying to convince herself as much as the apprentices.

  “What if the lake shrinks away altogether?” Ivypaw asked.

  “It won’t,” Cinderheart stated, though the look she exchanged with Lionblaze told Dovepaw that she wasn’t completely certain. “It’s bound to rain soon.”

  “Now that we’re here, you might as well learn something about the territories,” Lionblaze meowed. “This is ThunderClan territory, of course, and over there”—he swept his tail around in an arc—“is WindClan.”

  Dovepaw’s gaze followed his pointing tail to where smooth grassy moorland swelled up to meet the sky. “There aren’t many trees for hunting in,” she remarked.

  “No, WindClan cats like open spaces, so their territory’s perfect for them,” Cinderheart told her. “ShadowClan cats like pine trees, so they chose the territory over on that side.”

  Dovepaw and Ivypaw both examined the dark line of trees that bordered the lake on the other side of ThunderClan. “I’m glad I’m not a ShadowClan cat,” Ivypaw mewed.

  Dovepaw concentrated for a moment, trying to memorize everything that the scene in front of her could tell her. She could see a group of cats on the ShadowClan side, trekking across the barren ground toward the distant lake, and she drew in a long breath to taste their scent. On the WindClan side, cats were returning to the shore, and Dovepaw breathed in their scent, too.

  “Ivypaw,” she whispered, flicking her sister over one ear with her tail, “you should be picking up the scents of those cats over there. It’s all stuff we need to know.”

  “What?” Ivypaw gave her a puzzled look, but before Dovepaw could say any more, she was interrupted by a loud exclamation from Lionblaze.

  “Now what’s happening?”

  Dovepaw looked across the brittle brown mud and spotted a patrol of ThunderClan cats close to the water’s edge. They seemed to be struggling, their backs arch
ed and tails thrashing in the air. A couple of heartbeats later one of the warriors began racing back to the shore; as he drew closer she recognized Thornclaw.

  “Trouble?” Lionblaze called.

  “Berrynose and Spiderleg are stuck in the mud,” Thornclaw panted, pausing briefly. “I need a branch or something to get them out.”

  “We’ll come and help,” Cinderheart told him, with a whisk of her tail to beckon the two apprentices. “Come on, you two. Bring your moss, and watch where you’re putting your paws.”

  As she led them out onto the mud, Dovepaw glanced back to see Thornclaw pull a long stick out from under the roots of an elder bush at the edge of the bank. Before he could carry it off, Jayfeather erupted from the undergrowth, a bundle of herbs in his jaws.

  “Hey, that’s mine!” he protested, spitting leaves everywhere. “Put it back!”

  “Are you mouse-brained?” Thornclaw mumbled around the stick. “I need it. It’s only a stick.”

  “It’s my stick.” Dovepaw was startled to see how worked up Jayfeather was, his eyes blazing and his neck fur bristling as if he was facing an enemy. “If you don’t bring it back in one piece, I’ll…I’ll…”

  “Okay, I’ll bring back your stupid stick,” Thornclaw snarled. “Keep your fur on.”

  He raced back across the mud with the stick in his jaws. Dovepaw and Ivypaw followed more slowly behind their mentors. Dovepaw was trying to lift each paw almost as soon as it touched the scorching ground. Her pads would be shriveled by the time she reached the water.

  “Do you think the heat is getting to Jayfeather?” Ivypaw whispered. “Thornclaw’s right. It’s only a stick.”

  Dovepaw shrugged. “Maybe it’s medicine cat stuff.”

  “Yes, but what happens to us if our medicine cat gets bees in his brain?”

  Dovepaw didn’t reply. They were drawing closer to the edge of the lake, and she could see the glistening bodies of dead fish lying here and there; she almost choked as the smell rolled out to meet her. Suddenly the hard ground vanished, replaced with glossy warm mud that sucked at her paws. Her feet sank deeper with every step, and the surface shivered, as if it were waiting hungrily for her next paw step.