Outcast

“Right, time to get ready.” Brambleclaw’s voice was brisk and confident. “We must strike at once, before the intruders have the chance to attack first. There’s a full moon tonight, so that will help.”

Hollypaw flinched, every hair on her pelt rising in protest.

The full moon was a time of peace! Back beside the lake, the Clans would be Gathering on the island. Though she knew it was impossible, her paws wanted to carry her out of the cave and back down the mountain to be with them. But the full moon’s not special for the Tribe, she reminded herself.

“Any cats who would like more battle training, go to Squirrelflight and Hollypaw,” Brambleclaw continued. “Crag and Talon, I want you to help me plan our strategy. Jaypaw, see whether you can find some healing herbs for when we get back.”

“Sure,” Jaypaw muttered. “We’ll get no help from Stoneteller.”

“Remember,” Brambleclaw meowed, glancing solemnly around the cave. “This isn’t about the warrior code or the Tribe’s code. It’s about life or death, just like the trespassers said. And you—the Tribe—you will be the ones who live!”

He stood motionless, amber eyes glowing, as the Tribe cats yowled their approval.

Moonlight shimmered through the falling water, shedding silver light across the cave. The cats who were heading into battle gathered near the cave mouth, waiting for their turn to walk the Path of Rushing Water. Standing beside Lionpaw, Hollypaw sensed her brother’s quivering excitement at the thought of fighting in a real battle. His tail was fluffed up to twice its size and his amber eyes glittered.

“Here.” Hollypaw jumped as a tail touched her shoulder; she spun around to see Jaypaw. “Come over here,” he repeated, beckoning with his tail. “There’s something I want to say.” There was a suppressed tension about him, too, as if he was facing a battle of his own.

“What is it?” Lionpaw asked, glancing back at where the cats were vanishing along the path. “We have to go.”

“This won’t take a heartbeat,” Jaypaw promised, as he drew them into a quiet corner of the cave, sheltered by a boulder. “You have to take care,” he went on, when both his littermates were crouched beside him. “Remember that you don’t have StarClan to watch over you here.”

“We have the Tribe of Endless Hunting,” Hollypaw reminded him.

“Oh, no.” Jaypaw flicked his ears. “The Tribe of Endless Hunting has given up. They won’t lift a claw to help you.”

How can he possibly know that? Hollypaw wondered. But there was no time to question him. In any case, she had learned not to ask how Jaypaw discovered the things he knew.

“Look, there’s no need to worry about us—” Lionpaw began.

“I’m not worried.” Jaypaw’s sightless blue eyes were oddly serious. “You must come back, whatever happens. It’s more important than you realize.”

“We’re not going to run away, you know,” Lionpaw meowed.

Jaypaw let out a furious hiss. “Will you listen…”

His intensity scared Hollypaw. She wanted to know whatever it was that he wasn’t telling them. But just then she heard her name called from the direction of the waterfall.

“Hollypaw! Lionpaw!” Brambleclaw was waiting, his tail twitching.

“Coming!” she called.

She and Lionpaw scrambled to their paws and shot across the cave floor to head out along the path. As she padded underneath the arch of thundering water, she thought she heard Jaypaw’s voice raised in one last yowl.

“You must come back!”

Chapter 28

Beneath the full moon the mountains were washed with silver, patched with the deep shadows of jutting rocks. Lionpaw padded at his father’s shoulder.

“Remember,” Brambleclaw mewed, glancing back at him and Hollypaw, “you’re not trying to prove anything. Don’t try to take on a cat you can’t handle. Not if you can help it.”

“We don’t want to get our ears clawed off,” Hollypaw pointed out, with a whisk of her tail.

“Be careful you don’t, then.” Brambleclaw’s amber gaze was warm. “How would I face Firestar if I didn’t bring you all home safe?”

Anticipation shivered through Lionpaw from ears to tail tip. Every paw step was bringing him closer to his first real battle. He longed with every hair on his pelt to make his father and his Clan proud of him. Yet he wasn’t just fighting for his Clan and the warrior code. He was fighting for the Tribe, too, alongside Tribe cats who had become his friends. Their enemies had become his enemies, because the intruders had shown that they had no code of honor; they couldn’t admit the justice of dividing the mountains into separate territories.

A few tail-lengths away he spotted Breezepaw. The WindClan apprentice was ready for battle too, with bristling fur and his lips already drawn back in a fierce snarl. He was padding just behind Crowfeather, yet his father didn’t offer him any encouragement. Lionpaw felt a pang of sympathy.

Maybe Breezepaw wouldn’t be such an annoying furball if he had Brambleclaw for a father instead of Crowfeather.