Night Whispers

Ivypaw shifted her paw, wincing as pain shot up her leg. “Well, yes. But as long as they don’t cross our markings…”

“They’d better not,” Blossomfall muttered as she headed toward the warriors’ den, which was misshapen by a half-woven bulge at one side. “Are you coming to help finish the den?”

Dovepaw was already there, working with Leafpool to bend one branch beneath another.

“Later,” Ivypaw called.

“Where have you been?” Cinderheart’s mew made her jump, and Ivypaw spun around. Was that suspicion in her mentor’s eyes? “Dovepaw’s been back for ages.”

“I wanted to practice my stalking till I got it right.” Ivypaw wasn’t going to admit she’d been sitting by the lake silently fuming. I’m as loyal as any ThunderClan warrior. More loyal! I’m the only one who trains to fight for my Clan even in my dreams.

“You must be hungry,” Cinderheart meowed. “Get something to eat. Then you can help Dovepaw and Leafpool with the warriors’ den.”

Ivypaw looked at her paws. “Isn’t there something else I can do?”

Cinderheart leaned forward. “Have you been quarreling with your sister again?” Her whiskers brushed Ivypaw’s cheek. “You shouldn’t be jealous of her, you know. You’re just as good at hunting and fighting as she is.”

Of course I am! I’ve been trained by the best!

“I was proud of you yesterday,” Cinderheart went on. “You fought like a warrior.”

“Thanks,” Ivypaw grunted. Hawkfrost hadn’t wasted time with flattery. He’d watched her fight in the battle, and when they’d met in the Dark Forest afterward, he’d shown her how she could fight better next time. So what if she’d sprained her paw; she’d learned so much!

“Get some fresh-kill.” Cinderheart nudged her toward the pile of prey. It smelled fragrant, and Ivypaw’s belly growled.

“Take what you want.” Birchfall was flinging the kill from the top of the pile into a shallow hole beside it. “What you don’t eat will get buried for later.”

Ivypaw plucked out a fat shrew and gulped it down. As she licked her lips, she noticed Leafpool heading toward her with Foxleap.

“Cinderheart said you’d help finish the new section of the den,” Leafpool meowed.

Foxleap could hardly keep his paws still. “It’s going to be great once we’ve finished,” he mewed. “There’ll be room for Blossomfall and Bumblestripe.”

“Okay, I’ll help,” Ivypaw sighed. She couldn’t avoid her sister forever. Twigs were heaped beside the fresh-kill pile, and she grabbed a bunch in her jaws.

“I’ll help too!” Rosepetal bounded across the clearing.

“I’m just fixing that patch.” Foxleap nodded toward a gap in the den wall where long stems of beech had already been bent and planted into the earth. “You can hardly tell it’s a fallen tree anymore.”

Rosepetal nodded. “It’s become part of the camp now.”

“Mind you, there’s hardly any hollow left,” Foxleap muttered, squeezing past a branch that was sticking out.

“There’s enough,” Rosepetal mewed. “And it’s much less drafty in camp now.”

Ivypaw dropped her mouthful of twigs beside Dovepaw. “Here you go.” Before Dovepaw could thank her, Ivypaw trotted around the bulging wall and began weaving twigs between the gaps.

“You’ve got nimble paws.” Blossomfall settled beside her and began to help. “Here.” She poked a long whip of willow through a hole in the branches. “You guide it, and I’ll pull.”

Ivypaw poked another twig into a gap in the wall. “Why isn’t any cat talking about the battle? It’s like they don’t remember it happened.”

“Why should they?” Blossomfall used her paws to squeeze the woven sticks tighter. “We won. What else should we be doing?”

“We should be learning how we could have fought better.”

Blossomfall stared at her. “But we won!”

“That doesn’t mean we’ll win next time,” Ivypaw pointed out. “And you can bet that ShadowClan warriors are training harder than ever to make sure that next time they win.”

“How do you know?”

Ivypaw looked away. “They’re ShadowClan.”

Blossomfall snorted. “Well, we’re ThunderClan, and leaf-bare is here, and there’s more to worry about than just fighting.”

Ivypaw sniffed. No wonder Hawkfrost doesn’t visit your dreams.

Ivypaw huffed wearily as she circled in her nest. She’d eaten fresh-kill with Blossomfall and had crept into her nest instead of washing, hoping she’d be asleep before Dovepaw followed her in. Now that Bumblestripe and Blossomfall had moved to the warriors’ den, it would be hard to ignore her only denmate.

Ivypaw shoved her nose under her paw and closed her eyes.

“Ivypaw?” Dovepaw nosed her way through the ferns and settled in her nest. “Ivypaw?”

Ivypaw slowed her breathing, pretending to be asleep. It had been a long day, and not even the niggling ache in her heart could keep her awake. Soon sleep dragged her deeper into her nest and wrapped her in its warmth.