The Sight wpot-1 Page 7

  “You’ve behaved well and not left the nursery without permission,” he meowed as she took prey from the fresh-kill pile.

  Hollykit glanced over to her brothers, who were already eating by the half-buried rock. “What about Jaykit?”

  “Don’t worry,” Brambleclaw had reassured her. “Firestar hasn’t forgotten about Jaykit.”

  Hollykit rolled over in her nest and stretched. By sunhigh she would know if she was to become Leafpool’s apprentice.

  She pictured herself working in the medicine den, soothing bellyaches with herbs, rubbing salves onto bruises, going out into the forest with Leafpool to gather herbs—herbs that she’d know the names of, what they smelled like, how to prepare them. Her pelt bristled at the thought of all the knowledge that would be inside her head. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine how StarClan would appear in her dreams, but instead she saw only herself, a full-fledged medicine cat, leading her own apprentice through the wood, showing one plant after another, demonstrating all the skills and tech-niques Leafpool had taught her, wandering farther and farther into the darkening forest. . . .

  Hollykit blinked open her eyes. Dawn was creeping through the knotted bramble walls. Lionkit and Jaykit were still asleep beside her. Squirrelflight’s nest smelled stale and cold. She must have returned late from patrol again and chosen to sleep in the warriors’ den.

  Hollykit sat up and stretched.

  “Awake already?” Ferncloud meowed. The queen was feeding her kits, her pale gray pelt glowing softly in the half-light.

  “I’m too excited to sleep!” Hollykit mewed.

  “You may go outside if you like,” Ferncloud allowed. “The dawn patrol will be back before long. They might bring warm prey.”

  Icekit wriggled around and stared at Hollykit with round blue eyes. “You won’t be sleeping in the nursery tonight,” she mewed.

  Hollykit blinked at her. “No. Hopefully I’ll be in Leafpool’s den.”

  Foxkit pushed away from his mother. “I’d rather be in the apprentices’ den with Lionkit!”

  “You will be soon,” Hollykit promised.

  “Not soon enough!” Foxkit mewed. He reached out and caught Icekit’s twitching tail between his auburn paws. “I can’t wait to be a warrior.”

  Icekit flicked her tail away from him. “Will you come back and tell us what it’s like being an apprentice?”

  “Of course,” Hollykit purred. She dipped her head to their mother. “Bye, Ferncloud.”

  Foxkit and Icekit scrambled out of Ferncloud’s nest.

  “Bye, Hollykit,” Icekit mewed, reaching up to push her white muzzle against Hollykit’s cheek.

  “Bye, Icekit.” Hollykit bent down and licked Foxkit between the ears. “Don’t get into trouble.”

  With a twinge of sadness she turned and squeezed out of the nursery.

  The clearing sparkled with dew. Mist clouded in the bushes and clefts that ringed the base of the enclosing rock wall. Hollykit stretched, first her forepaws, then her hind, arching her back and enjoying the fresh scents of the forest.

  “Good morning!” Squirrelflight called. She was sitting in

  front of the warriors’ den, a paw raised, ready to wash behind her ears. Brambleclaw sat next to her.

  “Hi!” Hollykit mewed, trotting over to greet them.

  Brambleclaw purred loudly. “It’s your big day!” He touched Hollykit’s head with his muzzle.

  “It sure is,” Hollykit agreed, trying not to think how close she had come to ruining her chance of being made an apprentice.

  The thorn barrier trembled; the dawn patrol was returning. Cloudtail emerged from the entrance with his apprentice, Cinderpaw, and Stormfur trotting behind. They each carried prey in their jaws.

  Brambleclaw padded away to meet them as they dropped their catch, his dark tabby pelt glistening where it had brushed dew from the branches overhanging the warriors’

  den. “All clear?”

  “No cat has crossed the boundaries,” Cloudtail reported.

  “Although WindClan and ShadowClan are keeping their markers fresh.”

  Hollykit noticed Squirrelflight’s ears prick warily.

  “Do you think that’s a problem?” Brambleclaw asked.

  Cloudtail looked thoughtful. “No, but it feels as if they’re both making an effort to remind us that they’re there.”

  “You think they’re showing signs of aggression?”

  “Not aggression,” Cloudtail corrected. “But they never used to be so thorough about marking their boundaries.”

  “Should we be stepping up patrols?” Ashfur slid out of the

  warriors’ den, making Hollykit jump. He padded toward Cloudtail and Brambleclaw, and Squirrelflight followed him, leaving Hollykit alone.

  “We’ll ignore it for now,” Brambleclaw decided.

  “Isn’t that a decision for Firestar to make?” Ashfur meowed.

  Brambleclaw looked sharply at the gray warrior, but Ashfur’s eyes showed no disrespect, only concern.

  Brambleclaw nodded. “I’ll speak to him about it, of course,” he meowed. “But there’s no point overreacting if ShadowClan and WindClan are just trying to provoke us.”

  Squirrelflight looked at Cloudtail. “Did you refresh our boundary markers?”

  Cloudtail nodded.

  Hollykit felt another pelt brush her side. Lionkit had joined her, and Jaykit was scrambling out of the nursery after him.

  “What’s going on?” Lionkit mewed.

  “The dawn patrol’s reporting back,” Hollykit told him.

  The idea that ShadowClan and WindClan were pressing on their borders worried her. But if she was going to be a medicine cat, she must learn not to be so bothered by warrior concerns and concentrate instead on the needs of her Clanmates.

  She glanced around the clearing. Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Thornclaw shared a pigeon beside the halfrock.

  Honeypaw and Poppypaw were play fighting on the grass patch outside their den. As she watched, the apprentices

  stopped and looked up at Highledge. Hollykit followed their gaze, her paws pricking with anticipation.

  Firestar was leaping down the tumble of rocks that led from his den. Sandstorm nimbly picked her way after him.

  Hollykit’s heart felt as if it flipped right over when Firestar called to the Clan: “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge. It is time to fulfill a promise I made to three of our kits.”

  Hollykit glanced at her brothers. This was it! The moment when they would begin serving their Clan!

  Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight hurried toward them.

  Squirrelflight quickly smoothed the fur between Lionkit’s ears.

  “Are you ready?” Brambleclaw’s eyes were shining.

  “Totally!” Hollykit mewed.

  “Good.” Brambleclaw padded away and sat beside

  Birchfall.

  Does that mean Birchfall’s going to be a mentor? Hollykit wondered.

  Squirrelflight licked Jaykit’s cheek. “Good luck, all of you.”

  She went to join Brambleclaw.

  Mousefur emerged stiffly from the elders’ den, guiding her blind denmate, Longtail, with her tail. Honeypaw, Poppypaw, and Berrypaw clustered together, whispering. Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Thornclaw padded over from the halfrock, leaving the remains of their meal behind. Within moments, the whole Clan stood gazing at Firestar. For the first time

  that morning, Hollykit’s excitement felt closer to anxiety.

  The expectations of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight, of Firestar, of the whole Clan, pressed down on her shoulders like a badger’s paws.

  She felt a soft muzzle nudging her from behind. She turned to see Leafpool ushering her toward the circle. She searched Leafpool’s eyes, but they gave no clue about what would happen next, only encouraged her forward with a gentle blink.

  Hollykit pushed her way between Ferncloud and Daisy and halted. Lionkit and Jaykit squirmed into place beside h
er, and she felt herself trembling against Daisy’s flank. The cream-colored queen glanced fondly at her and ran a smoothing tail over her black pelt.

  “I gather you all for one of my favorite duties,” Firestar announced. “Hollykit, Lionkit, and Jaykit have reached their sixth moon.”

  So Jaykit was going to be included in the apprentice-naming ceremony after all.

  “They have had an adventurous kithood,” Firestar went on with a hint of amusement in his voice, “but I hope they have learned valuable lessons, and I believe they are ready to become apprentices.”

  The Clan meowed in approval. Firestar waited for the noise to die away before going on. “Lionkit!”

  The golden brown tabby kit bounced forward, quivering with excitement.

  “From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Lionpaw.”

  Berrypaw called his name and the other apprentices joined in. Firestar looked at the cloud-darkened sky. “I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior.”

  Lionpaw’s eyes sparkled as he gazed up at his leader.

  “Ashfur,” Firestar called.

  The pale gray tom lifted his head. His eyes brightened, and excitement showed in the tiny twitch of his tail as he stepped forward.

  “You mentored Birchfall, and he is a credit to his Clan,”

  Firestar meowed. “Now ThunderClan asks you to prove yourself once more a great mentor.”

  Ashfur dipped his head as the Clan leader went on. “I trust you to pass on all you have learned to Lionpaw and help him become a warrior the Clan can be proud of.”

  “I won’t let ThunderClan down,” Ashfur promised.

  Lionpaw hurried forward and raised his muzzle to touch noses with his new mentor.

  “Hollykit,” Firestar announced.

  Hollykit suddenly forgot to be nervous, and she raced to the center of the clearing, skidding to a halt beside Firestar.

  His whiskers twitched. “From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Hollypaw.”

  “Hollypaw! Hollypaw!” Cinderpaw led the chant this time.

  Hollypaw stared at the apprentices as they called her new

  name. Berrypaw and Hazelpaw seemed so big and strong. In the nursery she had been older than Icekit and Foxkit. Now she would be one of the youngest of her denmates. Her heart drummed like paws racing over the forest floor. Then she remembered: I might not be sleeping in the apprentices’ den!

  “Leafpool,” Firestar called.

  Yes! Hollypaw felt so light on her paws she was afraid the breeze would carry her away over the trees. She was going to be a medicine cat apprentice!

  Leafpool padded forward and stopped beside Hollypaw.

  “I know that I am putting Hollypaw in safe paws,” Firestar meowed. “I pray that StarClan gives your apprentice all the strength and wisdom she will need.”

  “I will teach her everything I know,” Leafpool promised.

  She touched Hollypaw’s muzzle with hers, but she didn’t meet Hollypaw’s eyes; instead, she looked past her, her expression clouded.

  Surprised, Hollypaw turned and saw that Leafpool was staring at Squirrelflight. She wondered why there was sadness in both cats’ eyes.

  Jaykit marched into the clearing and stood in front of Firestar. “What about me?”

  “Surely he can’t become an apprentice?” Whitewing’s whispered comment hung in the still, damp air.

  “Longtail moved to the elders’ den when he went blind,”

  Thornclaw murmured, as if he agreed that blind cats couldn’t be warriors.

  “He wouldn’t be safe out in the forest,” Spiderleg put in.

  “Poor mite,” breathed Sorreltail.

  Hollypaw’s pelt bristled. Why shouldn’t her brother be given a chance like any other cat?

  “I want to be an apprentice like Lionpaw and Hollypaw,”

  Jaykit spat defiantly.

  “Of course you do,” Firestar agreed. “And your mentor will be Brightheart.”

  Chapter 8

  Brightheart?

  Jaykit felt a rush of anger so strong it almost knocked him off his paws. Why had Firestar chosen one-eyed Brightheart when there were so many other warriors to choose from? As if he couldn’t guess!

  He dug his claws into the earth, refusing to step forward to greet his mentor. He ignored her embarrassment, although he could sense it like holly leaves pricking his pelt. He ignored the encouraging murmurs of the other apprentices.

  He ignored Spiderleg’s angry, “Sshh!” which quieted them.

  And then he felt a muzzle gently but firmly pushing him forward.

  Leafpool’s voice murmured in his ear. “Go on.”

  Gritting his teeth, he padded toward Brightheart and Firestar.

  “I know it must be hard for you,” Brightheart greeted him sympathetically. “But I promise I will teach you how to protect your Clan even without sight.”

  She pitied him! He could hear it in her voice. His anger swelled up again, sending blood pounding through his ears.

  “Why bother if you think I’m so useless? Why don’t you just send me off to the elders’ den with Longtail?” he hissed.

  Brightheart stiffened. “No cat has said that you’re useless.

  And Longtail won’t thank you for being rude about him!” She stepped back from Jaypaw and lifted her chin. “I’ve asked him to help with some of your training.”

  Jaykit lashed his tail. Oh, great, he thought. Let’s lump all the useless cats together and hope a tree falls on them!

  Firestar stepped between Jaykit and Brightheart. “From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Jaypaw.”

  “Jaypaw! Jaypaw! Jaypaw!” Mousepaw’s and Berrypaw’s call rang around the hollow, and the other apprentices joined in loudly.

  Jaypaw clawed the ground. You don’t have to try so hard! You’re only doing it because you feel sorry for me!

  “Brightheart,” Firestar meowed, “you have never let what happened to you prevent you from being a fine warrior. I can think of no one better than you to teach Jaypaw how best to serve his Clan.”

  “I will share with him all I have learned,” Brightheart vowed.

  Big deal, Jaypaw thought.

  Reluctantly, he forced himself to touch muzzles with Brightheart, accepting her as his mentor. His whiskers brushed the side of her face that had been ravaged when she had been attacked by the dog pack. It felt strange to sense space where other cats had fur and flesh, and he had to suppress a shudder.

  The whole Clan raised their voices to cheer the new

  apprentices. Not me, Jaypaw thought bitterly. There’s not a cat here that thinks I’ll become a great warrior.

  When the calls died away Firestar spoke again. “ThunderClan is lucky to have so many apprentices. I hope they will train hard and serve their Clan well.”

  “We will!” Lionpaw mewed.

  “When can we start training?” Hollypaw asked.

  “That’s up to your mentors,” Firestar told her.

  “Come on, Lionpaw,” Ashfur meowed. “Let’s find you a nest in the apprentices’ den; then I’ll show you the forest.”

  “Right now?” Lionpaw mewed excitedly.

  “Why not?”

  Hollypaw’s paws pattered on the ground around Leafpool.

  “Can we go with Lionpaw when Ashfur shows him our territory?”

  “It’s a nice idea, Hollypaw,” Leafpool meowed. “But I need to show you the best herb-gathering places, and I’m sure Ashfur will want to show Lionpaw the boundary markers and the best places for hunting.”

  “Oh.” Hollypaw sounded disappointed.

  “But first, let’s look at the herb store,” Leafpool suggested,

  “so you get to know some of the leaves we’ll be looking at in the forest.”

  “Okay,” Hollypaw mewed, sounding more cheerful.

  As Lionpaw and Hollypaw padded after their mentors, Jaypa
w sat down crossly. How come they get real mentors? He felt Brightheart’s tail touch his shoulder. “Come with me,” she meowed.

  Sullenly he followed her to a clump of wilting grass that overflowed from a quiet alcove in the rocky camp wall.

  “I think it’s best if we start . . .” Brightheart began.

  Jaypaw did not listen to the rest. Instead he let his attention slip until her voice had blended with the sound of the wind swishing through the branches above the hollow. He could hear Lionpaw hurrying after Ashfur, eagerly following his mentor out of the camp and into the forest. Hollypaw’s scent was clear beyond the bramble-draped entrance to the medicine den; Jaypaw could taste the tang of the comfrey she was tearing and laying out to dry.

  At least I’m not a medicine cat apprentice. He felt a flicker of gratitude that Hollypaw had taken that role.

  He went on scanning the camp. With the sureness he had possessed since his first memory, he knew that Daisy was circling in her nest, preparing for a nap. Mousefur was guiding Longtail back to the elders’ den. He sensed the old she-cat’s longing to be out in the forest; she was in a hunting mood, though her movements were stiff with age. Longtail padded quietly beside her, his limbs still as supple as a warrior’s.

  It’s not fair he should live in the elders’ den, Jaypaw thought. He’s not old yet.

  Then, like a storm cloud shadowing the hollow, he sensed a darkness sweep over the camp. He pricked his ears, and heard claws scraping the rocky ledge outside Firestar’s den.

  He knew by the scent that it was not Firestar who sat up there, flexing his paws. It was Brambleclaw.

  Jaypaw knew his father sat up there often, a good deputy

  keeping watch over his Clan. But now he could sense something cold and uncomfortable, like a murky fog, in Brambleclaw’s mind. He struggled to understand it, groping for the right word.

  Suspicion!

  Brambleclaw was suspicious of his Clanmates! He was not watching over them, but searching for a cat he feared might betray him. Jaypaw shivered, the fur on his spine lifting. Why would any cat betray Brambleclaw? He was a great deputy.