Warriors: Battles of the Clans Read online

  “Stay away from the forest,” I hissed. “The prey is ours, and we can fight harder than this if we have to.”

  “Keep looking over your shoulder, fox-breath, because one day you might have to,” the tabby grunted between clenched teeth.

  I rested one paw on his throat and let my claws sink through his fur until I felt his skin flex beneath the thorn-sharp tips. “I could finish this now if you like,” I offered.

  The tabby winced, but to his credit, he didn’t take his gaze from mine. “Those scrawny birds aren’t worth fighting for,” he growled. “You’re welcome to them.”

  I lowered my paw and stepped back. The tabby sat up and blinked. “Is that it?” he mewed hoarsely.

  I shook my head. “Only for you. Your thieving friends will be getting the same warning, wherever they are.”

  I spun around, racing for the gap at the side of the Twoleg nest that would lead me farther into kittypet territory. All around, I heard yowls of triumph from my Clanmates, and kittypet snarls abruptly cut off as the SkyClan warriors showed just how far we would go to keep our borders safe. When I burst onto the Thunderpath on the other side of the Twoleg nest, Birdflight and Buzzardpaw joined me, panting but bright-eyed with victory. I nodded to the ugly red nests across the hard black path. Side by side, we leaped forward to search out the next thief who would learn to leave the forest alone.

  We won the battle, of course. Fired with hunger and fury after spending moons watching pampered kitties steal our prey, we dropped like hawks from trees and walls onto our startled enemies. We had the advantage of battle training as well as surprise; most of the time we barely needed to unsheathe our claws before the kittypets fled, or cowered in corners, begging for mercy. We stormed through Twolegplace, leaving no kittypet under the illusion that they would be welcome in the forest again. Some even pathetically offered to bring us their own food—as if we wouldn’t rather starve than eat kittypet slop.

  When Flystar returned from the Moonstone, he was relieved that we had secured our territory and made our prey our own once more. He summoned the Clan to thank the warriors who had taken the battle beyond our boundaries, and to order extra patrols for the next moon to make sure the kittypets stayed away. He said nothing about what StarClan had told him. Had they offered a different solution that was no longer needed? Or had they reminded Flystar that his Clan’s strength lay in his living warriors, with sharp claws and hard-learned battle skills?

  When Petalfall met my gaze across the camp, I lifted my chin, acknowledging what I had believed all along: that SkyClan’s survival lay in our power, in the strength and swiftness of our paws, the thrust of our hind legs as we leaped higher than any other cat, and not in any dreams of warriors past.

  PART TWO:

  TOUR OF THE BATTLEFIELDS

  THE LAKE TERRITORIES

  Hello! My name is Tawnypelt. I’m a ShadowClan warrior. Did you sleep well? Your fur seems a little ruffled. I expect the sound of the wind might have disturbed you during the night. Onestar has asked me to show you the places where battles have been fought since we moved to the lake. We’ll start here, on the moor. Did Onestar tell you that he had to fight for his own leadership as soon as Tallstar died? Every cat expected Mudclaw to take Tallstar’s place because he was the WindClan deputy, but on the night Tallstar lost his ninth life, he changed his mind. No cat knows why—only Firestar and Brambleclaw were with him at the time—but he appointed Onewhisker deputy instead. Which meant that by dawn, he was leader of WindClan.

  Mudclaw was furious—and can you blame him, really? He’d done nothing wrong. But as a warrior, he should have respected his leader’s decision and supported Onestar. Instead, he plotted to take over WindClan by force, and visited all the other Clans in secret, gaining allies. They struck one night, Mudclaw and a RiverClan warrior named Hawkfrost leading the attack. The rest of us fought on Onestar’s behalf, and Onestar won—helped by StarClan. Do you see that island down there? With the tall trees? If you look closely, you can make out a fallen tree joining the island to the shore, with its roots on the island side. StarClan sent a bolt of lightning to strike that tree and make it fall on top of Mudclaw, killing him instantly, and showing that Onestar was the true leader of WindClan.

  Come this way, along the shore toward ThunderClan’s territory. Every cat has the right to walk within three tail-lengths of the water all the way around the lake. If you look through the trees, you might just catch a glimpse of a Twoleg nest. It’s falling down now, but there’s an old Thunderpath that leads to it, and beyond to the hollow where ThunderClan cats live. The biggest battle since we came to the lake took place here. It started with a border dispute between WindClan and ThunderClan; then the other Clans got involved, and we fought for three days. ShadowClan fought on the side of ThunderClan—that’s an alliance that hasn’t happened very often!

  It was terrible, fighting cats who I’d shared tongues with at Gatherings, or fought alongside in other battles. But that’s what being a warrior is all about—being ready to fight for your Clan whenever you have to. You just have to focus on your battle skills, think about what will be achieved or saved by winning, and get on with it. Some cats enjoy it; others see it as their duty.

  We’re getting close to the ShadowClan border now. Before we cross it, follow me down to the edge of the lake. There isn’t a path, but we can walk along this gully. If you duck under that fern, you’ll be able to stand on a strip of pebbles right beside the water. It’s a great view of the lake, but that’s not why I’ve brought you to this part of the shore. One cat who enjoyed battles too much, in my opinion, died here. So much blood flowed out of him that the lake turned red. The prophecy came true: “Before all is peaceful, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.” It’s okay; you don’t need to look so horrified that your paws got a bit wet from that wave. The blood’s all washed away now.

  The dead cat’s name was Hawkfrost, and if you must know, my brother Brambleclaw killed him, to save Firestar’s life.

  Now, hurry up and we’ll go to ShadowClan’s territory. Can you walk a bit faster than that? We don’t want to get spotted by Twolegs while we’re crossing this stretch of grass. ShadowClan and ThunderClan fought over this not long ago; sometimes I think I can still smell blood in the air. Firestar gave us this strip of territory soon after we came to the lake, then changed his mind and demanded it back. As if we’d give it up without a fight! The battle ended when Lionblaze killed Russetfur, our deputy. Warriors should never kill one another for the sake of victory. Neither side won that day.

  Most battles are settled more easily, thank StarClan. There were some kittypets living here when we arrived who learned to respect us the hard way. They kept stealing our prey, invading our camp, even lying in wait for our apprentices. Stupid mouse-brains, did they really think they could take on the whole of ShadowClan? We took the battle to their own territory, a Twoleg nest in the middle of the trees, just beyond that rise. They fought well, for pampered kittypets, but they were never going to win.

  The kittypets keep out of our way now, but we don’t trust them, and our hunting patrols stay away from the Twoleg nest. There are plenty of other places to find prey. No, not here, there’s no cover. See how the trees finish and hard black stone covers the ground? This is where Twolegs come in greenleaf to float on the lake. On the far side, where those bushes are, is the start of RiverClan’s territory. They’ve fought their own battle there, against young Twolegs who tried to take over their camp. I heard the warriors made the river wider to protect their dens! Only RiverClan would fight back with water.

  It was the same in the old territories, before we came to the lake. You’ve heard the Clans used to live somewhere else, right? Back then, RiverClan’s camp was on the bank of a river, too broad to jump across except in the driest greenleaf. All the fighting was done on the other side of the river, where the rest of the Clans lived. Our territories there weren’t so different from the ones we have now—WindClan lived on a moor, T
hunderClan among the thickest trees, and ShadowClan in a copse of pines, surrounded by marshland. It’s all gone now, crushed and splintered into the mud by Twolegs. All those battles that were fought, the borders we once defended with our lives, the dens where warriors were born and trained, have been lost forever. Good memories as well as bad, fading in the sunlight like dew. I’m sorry you won’t get a chance to see those territories, too.

  Great StarClan, where did all this mist come from? I’d better get you back to WindClan’s camp before we get lost. Come on, follow me.

  THE FOREST TERRITORIES

  Hello, kittypets. You’re a long way from home, aren’t you? Do you know who I am? I’m sure that you’ve heard my name, even though no cat would expect you to meet me. I am Tigerstar, once warrior of ThunderClan, then leader of ShadowClan. Now I walk in the Place of No Stars, the Dark Forest where cats with courage and ambition and cunning are sent, denied entry to StarClan by cats who see no farther than the end of their own noses.

  There’s no use calling to Tawnypelt. She can’t see me; I’ve come only for you. There’s something I need to show you. Tawnypelt was wrong when she said you would never be able to visit the old territories of the Clans. Come this way, through the mist.

  That rustling noise? It’s the branches of the four Great Oaks, one for each of the Clans. Look up; can you see them? Yes, we are in the forest, as it once was. This is the hollow where the Clans gathered every full moon—and it’s the place where I lost every one of my nine lives, ripped from my belly by that traitor Scourge. Not long after, the Clans fought their greatest battle against Scourge and his followers, who called themselves BloodClan. I should have fought alongside my Clanmates! Instead I could do nothing but watch as the cat who had promised to help me take over the forest waged war against the Clans. They lined up at sunrise here, under the trees looking down into the hollow. Firestar led out the Clans from the other side of the hollow. Can you imagine how puny they looked? If you’d been standing here beside Scourge, you would have had dog claws fitted over your own, and the scent of blood and victory in your throat. You’d just seen your leader kill me, the greatest warrior of all the forest Clans; the other warriors must have looked like easy prey.

  Just by this rock is where Whitestorm, the ThunderClan deputy, was killed by the BloodClan cat Bone. ThunderClan apprentices avenged his death, jumping onto Bone and dragging him down, clawing the life out of him. Even in the Place of No Stars I could hear his screams, and their shrieks of victory. StarClan never would have let Scourge win that battle. And Firestar showed great courage; I’ll grant him that. He’ll need every last whisker of it when we meet again.

  Are you shivering from cold or are you scared? Stand close to me—it’s all right, I bite only my enemies. It’s colder now because we’re on the open moorland, where WindClan used to live. Looks like their territory by the lake, doesn’t it? You can see why they’re so skinny and fast, when they have to chase rabbits all the time. Foolish cats, they should learn to stalk and pounce; then they could find fresh-kill under cover of trees. Come to the edge of the camp, in this shallow dip. Can you believe they chose to make their dens here? No wonder ShadowClan forced them out. Brokenstar defeated them with a single patrol, rushing down into the hollow and trapping the WindClan warriors in their nests before they realized what was happening. It was a classic ShadowClan ambush—but in the enemy’s own den. Tallstar didn’t bring WindClan back to the moor until Firestar and Graystripe fetched him. Firestar has been criticized a lot for constantly interfering in WindClan’s affairs, but if Tallstar hadn’t shown such weakness against Brokenstar, his Clan never would have gotten so reliant on ThunderClan’s help.

  Jump! Come on, just one more leap and you’ll be on top of Sunningrocks. Look at the view! You can see the whole forest from here; those dark trees in the distance are where ShadowClan lived, and the harsh orange lights over there come from Twolegplace.

  Feels peaceful up here, doesn’t it? But these rocks have been the site of more battles than anywhere else in the forest. RiverClan would never accept that Sunningrocks belonged to ThunderClan. As if those fat, lazy fox-hearts didn’t have enough places to lie in the sun. It’s not like they could catch prey on the rocks, since they wouldn’t know what to do with a mouse if one sat on their paws. Battles here were boring. Whichever cats had the highest place on the rock would win, simple as that. You can’t escape when warriors are dropping like rain on your shoulders.

  But there was one battle, not long before Firestar joined the Clan, where these rocks served me well. See that gully down there? Ah, that’s better; now we can walk through it. Squeeze past the rock shaped like a cat’s muzzle. Here, in this space so narrow that it’s almost like a cave, I watched my deputy, Redtail, kill Oakheart, the RiverClan deputy. It was a quick fight—Oakheart tried to use his weight to knock Redtail against the stone wall, but Redtail sprang right over him, reaching down to slice Oakheart’s flanks with his claws. Oakheart staggered and crashed onto his knees; he tried to lash out at Redtail, who just stepped backward, knowing the fight was over as Oakheart’s life spilled out onto the sand. In that moment, I saw the best opportunity I’d had to make deputy. I was a good warrior; I deserved to be deputy. Only Redtail stood in my way.

  Look up; see how tight the gully is above our heads. I knew that no cats elsewhere on Sunningrocks would have seen what just happened. The truth about Oakheart’s death could die with Redtail. My Clanmate thought I was going to congratulate him. He never saw the strike that fell across his neck. He lay where you’re standing now with the light of victory still in his eyes. I carried his body back to the camp and told Bluestar that Oakheart had killed him, and I had taken Oakheart’s life in furious vengeance. I should have been made deputy! Not Lionheart! Bluestar knew nothing of justice and true courage!

  I had my revenge seasons later, when I became leader of ShadowClan. Dogs came to the forest, fierce and wild and ravenous, and I turned them on my former Clanmates to show they should never have doubted my loyalty. Look around—we’re not at Sunningrocks now. This is Snakerocks, a place where few hunting patrols come because of the adders that live here. But ThunderClan had far more to fear when the dogs made a den in a cave under that overhanging slab of rock. I kept the dogs here by bringing them fresh rabbits; it was easy to sneak into ThunderClan’s territory when my scent was not fully ShadowClan. The first victims were apprentices, Brightpaw and Swiftpaw, who were foolish enough to hunt too close. Swiftpaw was killed at once; Brightpaw survived, but she has probably wished more than once since then that she hadn’t. Did you see her in ThunderClan? The cat with half a face?

  If I’d had my way, the dogs would have invaded the ravine, lured there by my trail of rabbits, and destroyed ThunderClan forever. I misjudged the courage of my old Clanmates; I should have known they’d treat this as one more battle, protected by their faith in their precious StarClan. Firestar, who was deputy by then, arranged a line of cats to lead the dogs away from the camp.

  We’re at the top of the ravine now—look down there, where the bushes are thickest. Our dens were hidden around a clearing; if the dogs had made it that far, the cats would have been trapped by the brambles they had relied on for shelter and protection. Ashfur and Ferncloud ran first, because they had lost their mother, Brindleface, to the dogs. They raced through the trees with the dogs on their heels; then Sandstorm took over. One by one, ThunderClan warriors led the dogs through the trees to the gorge. Do you hear that sound like thunder? That’s the river churning along the foot of the cliffs at the edge of WindClan’s territory. Bluestar gave up her ninth life to lure the dogs over. In our final battle, she won. She saved her Clan and secured her place in StarClan.

  Stay away from the edge! You don’t want to follow Bluestar, do you? It’s time I took you back to Tawnypelt. I can hear her calling through the mist. Oh, I wouldn’t tell her that you saw me if I were you. She may be my daughter, but she’s like most of the other cats by the lake, who view courage in batt
le as something not to be trusted. Ha, if any of them had a whisker of my ambition, none of the leaders would sleep in peace! I have no regrets—everything is turning out as I planned—but I miss those days in the forest, when battles answered all the questions, and my allies would shed every last drop of blood fighting alongside me.

  PART THREE:

  FAMOUS BATTLES

  THE GATHERING

  What do we have here? Kittypets? At a Gathering? Ah, Onestar, they’re with you. That’s all right then, I suppose. Make yourselves comfortable—no, not there! That’s Pouncetail’s favorite spot. Come sit beside me on this log. My name’s Dapplenose; Pouncetail and I belong to RiverClan. Over there are Cedarheart, Tallpoppy, and Snaketail from ShadowClan. Don’t take any notice of them; they’re always making faces. I could outrun them when we were all warriors, so they don’t scare me. Yes, I could, Snaketail! The brown she-cat is Mousefur from ThunderClan. I haven’t seen her at Gatherings for many moons, poor old thing. Her denmate, Longtail, died last moon when a tree fell into their camp. Treat her gently, if you speak to her. The bitter scent that clings to her is grief.

  The last battle I fought in? It was when all four Clans met in ThunderClan’s territory. Not a proud time for any of us. Did you hear how StarClan stopped it? They made the sun disappear! Terrible, terrible. We thought the world was coming to an end. Even after the sun came back, we were scared for a long time that it would vanish again. If you can’t trust the sun to be in the sky, what can you trust?