Bluestar's Prophecy

“Adderfang, Thistlepaw, Smallear, and Robinwing.” The cats straightened as he called their names. “You will hunt.”

Thistlepaw circled his mentor, tail up.

“Bluefur will lead the patrol,” Sunfall added.

“What?” Thistlepaw stared at Bluefur.

“You heard me.” Sunfall padded away to join Poppydawn, leaving Bluefur to face the spiky apprentice’s disbelieving glare.

Thistlepaw cocked his head to one side. “So where are we going to hunt?”

“Snakerocks.” Bluefur blurted out the first place that came into her head.

Adderfang watched her coolly. “Risky,” he meowed. “But it might be worth it. No cat has hunted there for a moon.”

“Because it’s infested with adders and foxes,” Thistlepaw sneered.

Bluefur’s tail whisked the ground. “You’re not scared, are you?” She stared at him. She was not going to be intimidated by an apprentice, even if he was bigger than her now. She was a warrior, and she deserved his respect. She glanced at Robinwing and Smallear. “Ready?”

Smallear nodded and Robinwing plucked the ground as if she couldn’t wait to get moving.

“Good.” Bluefur headed for the gorse tunnel, praying her patrol was following. As she padded out of camp she heard, with relief, paw steps following behind. She led her Clanmates up the ravine and into the forest.

“Why are we taking the long route?” Thistlepaw called as Bluefur headed into a gully toward Snakerocks.

Bluefur hesitated, suddenly doubting her sense of direction.

“This way’s not so steep,” Robinwing meowed. “And it’s softer on the paws.”

“Yeah, right,” Thistlepaw muttered.

Bluefur pressed on.

“Why don’t we take this shortcut?” Thistlepaw scampered ahead of her and leaped onto a fallen log. He flicked his tail toward a thick bramble.

“We’d lose our pelts in there,” Bluefur snapped. Was he going to undermine her every paw step of the way?

“Just fall in behind, Thistlepaw,” Adderfang ordered. “Save your energy for hunting.”

Thistlepaw padded sulkily to the back of the patrol.

Ahead of them, a branch rustled with life. Bluefur halted and crouched, signaling for her patrol to copy her. There was no harm in bagging a bird or two on the way. She crept slowly forward, eyeing the leaves as they twitched to reveal a small song thrush.

“Are we hunting at Snakerocks or what?” Thistlepaw mewed loudly.

The thrush fluttered up into the higher branches calling an alarm.

He did that on purpose!

“Thistlepaw!” Smallear scolded. “Now every piece of prey will know we’re here.”

But Adderfang had already turned on his apprentice. “We’re hunting for the Clan!” he hissed.

Thistlepaw crouched apologetically as Adderfang bared his teeth, but managed to flash a sly look of triumph at Bluefur.

“Come on,” she growled. “Let’s get to Snakerocks.”

By the time they arrived at the rocky outcrop, she had already decided how to punish Thistlepaw. She sniffed the air, remembering the fox that had chased her and Snowfur last time they’d been there.

No fresh stench.

She padded to the clearing at the foot of the rocks. “You guard here,” she ordered Thistlepaw, thinking that the fox might return after all. “Tell us if you scent danger. We’ll look for prey up there.” She nodded toward the wall of boulders rising behind them. Glancing around the rest of the patrol, she added, “Don’t forget, there might be adders hiding in the crevices.”

Smallear and Robinwing nodded. Adderfang watched her, his expression impossible to read. Bluefur felt very uncomfortable giving instructions to senior warriors, but Sunfall had put her in charge of the patrol and she was determined to do things properly.

“Why do I have to be guard?” Thistlepaw complained. “It’s boring.”

Adderfang lashed his tail. “Because you proved back there that hunting is the last thing on your mind today.”

Thistlepaw sullenly flicked a leaf with his paw, but didn’t argue.

With a flash of satisfaction, Bluefur leaped up the rocks, her mouth open to taste the air for prey signs. Smallear disappeared into the undergrowth while Adderfang and Robinwing each took a different route up the boulders.

“Look out!” Thistlepaw yowled.

Bluefur tensed, glancing over her shoulder. “What?”

“Nothing,” he reported, studying something on the ground by his front paws. “Just a beetle.”

Scowling, Bluefur returned to the hunt.

Mouse.

She scented it a moment before she saw a shadow flicker in the crevice between two boulders. Pricking her ears to check for the slither of scales, she crouched. No sign of any snakes. She shot a forepaw down the fissure and hooked out the mouse. Killing it quickly, she tossed it down onto the ground beside Thistlepaw.

“Guard it, don’t eat it,” she told him.

Thistlepaw flashed her a look of fury, but she just turned and climbed to the top of the rocks.

“Snake!” Thistlepaw’s alarm call made Bluefur spin around and peer over the edge, clinging on with her claws as the ground spun far below.

Thistlepaw was looking up at her innocently. “Oops!” he mewed. “It was just Smallear’s tail sticking out of the ferns.”