Firestar’s Quest

Scratch and Firestar padded side by side across the rocky spur to the trees and undergrowth downstream. Firestar hadn’t visited this part of the territory since his meeting with Cherry and Boris, and his pelt prickled at the memory of being watched. Then he drew to a halt, his heart beginning to thump. This wasn’t just memory! The same sensations poured over him, and icy fear trickled through him from ears to tail tip.

“What’s the matter?” Scratch, some way ahead, glanced over his shoulder.

“Nothing.” Firestar’s voice shook, and he forced it to be steady. “I just thought we might stop and hunt. I haven’t had so much as the sniff of a mouse since this morning.”

“Okay.” Scratch retraced his steps and stood tasting the air.

“Do you smell anything… odd?” Firestar asked. He had picked up the same prey scent as before, masked by the sharp aroma of crushed leaves.

Scratch paused, drew in more air, then shrugged. “Prey.

Grass and leaves. Why?”

“Nothing.” Firestar wanted Scratch to respect him, not think he was a coward looking for danger under every bush.

“Let’s hunt.”

Scratch stalked away into the bushes, and Firestar padded off in another direction. While he tried to find prey, his senses stayed alert for whatever hostile creature was watching him.

Is it something to do with why SkyClan left the gorge? he wondered.

Sky had been reluctant to answer any questions, but Firestar was certain that the old cat knew more than he was telling. I’ll have to question him again, he decided. The future of the new Clan might be at risk if Sky insisted on keeping secrets about possible danger.

Firestar stood in the shadows under a thornbush, looking out across a clear space in the midst of the undergrowth.

Nothing stirred among the ferns and grasses.

“Who are you?” he whispered. “What do you want?”

There was no reply, only vicious hatred hurled at him with such force that it almost carried him off his paws. In the twilight he thought he could make out dark, glinting eyes. His pelt crawled.

A rustling in a nearby bush made him jump, but it was only a vole, dashing out into the open space. Firestar leaped after it and snapped its neck. As he picked it up the scent masked everything else, and the sense of a hostile presence around him faded a little. Still, he pushed his way to the edge of the thicket and out into the open by the river before he crouched to eat his fresh-kill.

Scratch was sitting a few tail-lengths farther downstream, cleaning his face and whiskers. “Are you ready?” he asked, drawing his paw over one ear. “It’ll be dark soon.”

Firestar gulped down the rest of the vole. “Okay, lead on.”

The tabby rogue bounded alongside the river until he reached the fallen tree that Sky had used to cross a few days before. Leading Firestar over to the far bank, Scratch started to climb another trail that led up the cliff face on the opposite side. Firestar panted after him, wishing he had the rogue’s powerful haunches. Scratch was a true SkyClan cat!

Firestar had never climbed the cliff on this side of the river before. At the top there was a wide stretch of grass that gave way to undergrowth and then trees. His spirits lifted as he padded with Scratch underneath the branches. This was more like his territory in the forest.

“When we set the borders, we’ll have to make this part of SkyClan territory.” Firestar sniffed appreciatively. “There’s plenty of prey. Moss, too,” he added, flicking his ears toward thick cushions of it growing on the gnarled roots of an oak tree.

Scratch gave him a sidelong glance. “Then you’d better convince the rogues who live here already.”

Firestar realized he had a point. He didn’t want to start the new Clan by throwing other cats out of dens they had occu-pied for moons.

Scratch wove his way through the trees until they came to a hollow tree trunk lying amid lush grass in the middle of a clearing. A pale, blurred shape was visible at the mouth of the tree trunk. As Firestar drew nearer he recognized the cream-and-brown tabby she-cat he had surprised in the scrubland near the Twolegplace.

“Scratch?” Her ears twitched warily as the two toms drew nearer. “Who’s this with you?”

“Hi,” Firestar meowed, slightly embarrassed, when Scratch had introduced him. “We met the other day…”

The she-cat emerged from the end of the trunk; her amber gaze traveled over him steadily. “I remember you,” she murmured. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. You gave me a fright, practically leaping on top of me.”

Firestar dipped his head. “It was my fault.”

“My name’s Leaf,” the she-cat continued, settling down in the long grass and waving her tail to invite Firestar to do the same. “What can I do for you?”