Firestar’s Quest

Firestar scarcely recognized the cat who had joined the Clan for protection and easy shelter. Her eyes were narrowed with rage and her teeth bared in a snarl.

A heartbeat later she relaxed. “Oh, it’s you, Firestar. I thought you were more of those rats.”

“The kits?” Firestar asked anxiously.

“The kits are fine.” It was Petal who replied, appearing out of the darkness inside the nursery. Rainfur pushed forward to meet her and the two cats touched noses. “Clovertail blocked the entrance and wouldn’t let any of them in,” Petal added.

Firestar rested his tail on Clovertail’s shoulder. “Well done.”

The she-cat rose painfully to her paws, revealing the marks of rat bites on her chest and shoulders.

“You should go see Echosong,” Petalnose told her. “I can look after the kits.”

Clovertail muttered something in agreement; she was obviously exhausted, and staggered as she joined Firestar and the others on their way down the trail. Firestar let her lean on his shoulder until they reached the medicine cat’s den.

To his relief, Sandstorm was with Echosong in the outer cave; Echosong was already pulling out her store of herbs.

“We’ll need a lot of burdock root,” she mewed. “It’s a good thing Petal and I found a good supply the other day.”

“And cobwebs,” Sandstorm added. Her gaze traveled over the cats who had just arrived, and locked for a heartbeat with Firestar’s eyes before she asked, “Which of you is hurt worst?”

Firestar pushed Clovertail forward. “Where’s Patchfoot?”

“He went out to fight,” Sandstorm replied. “We realized there were rats coming up the river only when a couple of them tried to get in here. Patchfoot and I attacked them, but there were swarms of them outside. We got separated in the darkness and I haven’t seen him since.”

Firestar tried not to let the alarm show in his eyes.

Patchfoot would have been in more danger than the other warriors because he didn’t have his full strength yet. And what about the two apprentices?

Bracing himself against his bone-numbing weariness, he headed out of the cave to look for them. But when he reached the entrance, he spotted movement among the rocks, and a moment later all three cats appeared, Patchfoot and Sparrowpaw supporting Cherrypaw between them. Blood was flowing from a wound in her neck.

“What happened?” Firestar asked.

“The rats trapped us in our den,” Sparrowpaw explained.

“We didn’t have room to use our fighting moves properly. I think we’d have been in real trouble if Patchfoot hadn’t come to help.”

“We killed lots of them, though,” Cherrypaw rasped, raising her head.

Her Clanmates helped her into Echosong’s cave, where she flopped to the ground and closed her eyes. Sandstorm hurried over and started to lick the wound clean. After a moment, glancing up at Firestar, she meowed, “I don’t think it’s too bad. She’ll live.”

“Course I’ll live,” Cherrypaw muttered without opening her eyes. “I’m going to kill more rats.”

“That leaves only Shortwhisker unaccounted for,” Firestar mewed. “Did any cat see him?”

“Not after the battle started,” Sharpclaw replied.

“I’ll go and look, if you like,” Leafdapple offered. “Though it might be better to wait until dawn. It can’t be far off.”

“I think you’re right,” Firestar began, reluctant to let any cat go wandering about in the darkness. They couldn’t be sure that the danger from the rats was over. “We’ll both go when—”

He was interrupted by a plaintive cry from outside. “Hi! Is any cat there?”

“Shortwhisker!” Sandstorm exclaimed.

Full of relief, Firestar went to the cave entrance again. The first pale trace of dawn had begun to appear in the sky. By its light, he could see Shortwhisker hauling himself up from the river, looking as if he was almost too exhausted to put one paw in front of the other.

“Over here!” Firestar called.

Shortwhisker raised his head and quickened his pace a little. Firestar studied him as he drew closer. He had clumps of fur torn off both shoulders, and the marks of rats’ claws stretched along one flank, but apart from that he seemed okay.

“It’s good to see you.” Firestar touched noses with him as he reached the cave. “That’s every cat. And none of us is seriously hurt, thank StarClan.”

“I thought I was crow-food for sure.” Shortwhisker’s eyes were wide with fear. “Three of them drove me into a tiny cave. All I could do was try to keep them off. Then suddenly they turned and vanished.”

Firestar nodded. Trapping the cats in confined spaces where they couldn’t defend themselves had obviously been part of the rats’ strategy. Even if the rats’ leader hadn’t joined in the attack himself, his clever, controlling mind was behind it.

Gesturing with his tail for Shortwhisker to enter the cave ahead of him, Firestar gazed around at the Clan. Echosong had finished with Clovertail and was examining Patchfoot’s old wound, while Sandstorm tended to Cherrypaw. The rest of the cats were lying close together, licking one another’s scratches. All of them looked exhausted.