Into The Wild

Firepaw dipped his head respectfully and let out a silent sigh of relief.

“I spoke to Yellowfang earlier,” meowed Bluestar in a lighter tone. “She thinks a lot of you. She’s a wise old she-cat, you know. And I suspect she wasn’t always bad-tempered. Indeed, I think that I could grow to like her.”

Firepaw felt an unexpected glow of pleasure at these words. Maybe, in caring for Yellowfang, his admiration for her had grown into affection, despite the she-cat’s ill temper. Whatever the reason, he was glad Bluestar liked her too.

“But there is something about her that I don’t trust,” Bluestar went on quietly. “She will stay with ThunderClan for now, but remain as a prisoner. The queens will care for her. You must concentrate on your training.”

Firepaw nodded and waited to be dismissed, but Bluestar hadn’t finished. “Firepaw, although you showed bad judgment today in talking to a house cat, Tigerclaw was impressed by your hunting skills. In fact, he reported that you all did well. I am pleased with your progress. You will come to the Gathering-all three of you.”

Firepaw could hardly stand still. His body tingled with excitement. The Gathering! “What about Sandpaw and Dustpaw?” he mewed.

“They will remain behind and guard the camp,” replied Bluestar. “Now you may go.” She flicked her long tail to show he was dismissed, and returned to her grooming.

Graypaw and Ravenpaw looked stunned to see Firepaw bounding happily toward them. They had been waiting nervously for him beside the tree stump. Firepaw sat down and looked at his friends.

“Well?” Graypaw demanded. “What did she say?”

“Tigerclaw told us you’d been sharing tongues with a kittypet this morning,” burst out Ravenpaw. “Are you in trouble?”

“No. Although Bluestar wasn’t pleased,” Firepaw admitted ruefully. “She thought I might want to leave ThunderClan.”

“You don’t, do you?” asked Ravenpaw.

“Of course he doesn’t!” mewed Graypaw.

Firepaw gave his gray friend an affectionate swipe. “Yeah, you’d hate that. You need me to catch mice for you! All you can catch these days are hairy old squirrels!”

Graypaw dodged out of the way of Firepaw’s blow, and reared up on his back legs to retaliate.

“You’ll never guess what else she said!” Firepaw went on. He was too excited to waste time play-fighting.

Graypaw immediately dropped back onto all four paws. “What?” he asked.

“We’re going to the Gathering!”

Graypaw let out a yowl of delight and bounded up onto the tree stump. One of his back paws knocked the adder flying. It hit Ravenpaw on the head and wrapped itself around his neck.

Ravenpaw spat with alarm and surprise, and then turned on Graypaw. “Watch it!” he hissed crossly. He shook the adder onto the ground.

“Scared it might try to bite you?” Firepaw teased. He crouched down, hissing, and sidled up to Ravenpaw.

Ravenpaw twitched his whiskers and retorted, “Some snake you’d make!” He leaped onto Firepaw and rolled him easily onto his back.

Graypaw reached down from the tree stump and gave Ravenpaw’s tail a tug. As Ravenpaw turned to thump Graypaw with a soft forepaw, Firepaw jumped to his feet and leaped into them both, sending Graypaw flying from the stump. All three cats tumbled into the dirt and tussled on the ground. Finally they fell apart and settled themselves, panting, beside the tree stump.

“Are Sandpaw and Dustpaw coming too?” puffed Graypaw.

“Nope!” Firepaw replied, unable to disguise the note of triumph in his voice. “They have to stay behind and guard the camp.”

“Oh, let me tell them!” begged Graypaw. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces!”

“Me neither!” Firepaw agreed. “I can’t believe we’re going instead of them! Especially after Tigerclaw saw me with Smudge today!”

“That was just bad luck,” answered Graypaw. “We all caught a load of prey in the assessment. That must be what decided it.”

“I wonder what the Gathering will be like,” mewed Ravenpaw.

“It’ll be fantastic,” Graypaw replied confidently. “I bet all the great warriors will be there. Clawface, Stonefur…”

But Firepaw wasn’t listening anymore. Instead, he found himself thinking about Tigerclaw and Smudge. Graypaw was right-it was bad luck that the great warrior had been observing him when he had met his old friend. Why couldn’t he have been watching Graypaw or Ravenpaw instead? In fact, it was bad luck that Tigerclaw had sent him so near the Twolegplace at all.

Suddenly a dark thought entered Firepaw’s mind: Why had Tigerclaw sent him so near his old haunts? Had he wanted to test him? Could it be the great dark warrior didn’t trust his loyalty to ThunderClan?

CHAPTER 12

Firepaw peered over the brow of a bush-covered slope. Graypaw and Ravenpaw crouched beside him. Next to them a group of ThunderClan elders, queens, and warriors waited in the undergrowth for Bluestar to give the signal.