Path Of A Warrior

Redtail glanced back at Tigerclaw, who was watching him with narrowed eyes, and sprang. Easily tumbling Sorrelpaw over, he slammed her against the ground. The apprentice gasped, the breath knocked out of her, but a moment later she was fighting hard. Her claws raked across Redtail’s belly, stinging sharply. Hot with rage at the pain, he pinned her, holding her down, and sank his teeth into her shoulder.

Warm blood burst in his mouth, and Sorrelpaw shrieked in agony.

“Tear her apart, Redtail,” Tigerclaw hissed. There was something nastily pleased about his voice.

Shocked, Redtail released Sorrelpaw and staggered backward. Tear her apart? He felt suddenly queasy, his mouth full of the taste of blood.

“Hey!” The voice came from the border. Redtail looked up. A stocky brown tom—much larger than most of underfed, fast-running WindClan—was pushing his broad shoulders through the undergrowth, staring at the scene before him with round, shocked amber eyes. “Get away from her!”

“Stagleap, I—I—” Redtail stammered, imagining how the scene must look through the other cat’s eyes. The apprentice, trembling, her fur wet with blood. Redtail and Tigerclaw looming over her ominously, so much larger and older. Full-grown warriors attacking a lone apprentice. He felt hot with shame.

The WindClan tom ran to his apprentice’s side and gently nosed her wounds. “Sorrelpaw, can you get up?” He helped the wincing apprentice to her paws and let her lean against his side, then turned to the ThunderClan warriors, his expression turning from concern to anger. “Which of you did this?”

Redtail swallowed hard and stared at the ground. What have I done?

“Does it matter?” Tigerclaw hissed, puffing out his chest. “The real question is, why did you let her go racing onto ThunderClan land after our prey? Is WindClan so pathetic they can’t catch rabbits on their own territory?”

“Pathetic?” Stagleap echoed, bristling. “The two of you beating up an apprentice—that’s pathetic.” Nudging Sorrelpaw gently to stand on her own, he paced toward Tigerclaw, stopping less than a whisker’s length from the other cat. “Why don’t you pick on a cat your own size?” he growled.

Tigerclaw looked almost pleased, his tail curling above his back as he unsheathed his claws.

“It was me,” Redtail broke in hurriedly, before they could start fighting. He couldn’t let Tigerclaw take all the blame. “I attacked Sorrelpaw because she was hunting on our territory.” He hung his head. “I didn’t mean to be so rough. And I’m sorry we didn’t wait for you before—”

“We’ve got nothing to apologize for,” Tigerclaw interrupted, his eyes cold. “The apprentice trespassed on our territory and needed to be taught a lesson.”

The end of Stagleap’s tail twitched and he hunkered down, ready to spring. “I think maybe it’s you two who need to be taught a lesson,” he muttered. He moved forward until they were nearly nose to nose. The two toms looked evenly matched, Redtail saw, both huge and muscular. But Stagleap was older and an experienced warrior; he might be more than a match for Tigerclaw.

“Go ahead and try,” Tigerclaw taunted. He looked excited, almost eager.

I’ll have to fight, too, Redtail realized, his stomach sinking. I can’t abandon Tigerclaw. But Stagleap is so huge!

The big toms glared at each other for a long moment, muscles tensed and teeth bared. Then, just behind Stagleap, Sorrelpaw wobbled on her paws, giving a small whimper. Fresh blood from her wound was running down her side, Redtail noticed with a pang of guilt.

Stagleap broke eye contact with Tigerclaw to look down at his apprentice, his glare softening. “You’ll be okay, Sorrelpaw,” he told her. Shifting his eyes back to Tigerclaw and Redtail, he said, “I’d love to tear your fur off, but it’ll have to wait for another day. I’m taking Sorrelpaw back to WindClan.”

Tigerclaw hissed, but Redtail said quickly, “Okay, of course.”

Stagleap looked sternly at him. “I’m sure Sunstar doesn’t know anything about this,” he meowed. “He’s an honorable leader. Out of respect for him, I’m going to report this so Heatherstar can give him a chance to make it right. But if Sunstar doesn’t get his warriors under control, you can be sure that WindClan will be back to settle this.”

“Spitting threats while you run away does sound like WindClan,” Tigerclaw retorted smoothly. “But if you do come back, I’ll be waiting.”

“Me too,” Redtail added, and winced at his own words. I have to support Tigerclaw, don’t I?

With a sigh, Stagleap turned his back on them and coaxed Sorrelpaw into motion, heading back toward Fourtrees. The little apprentice was limping and leaning heavily against Stagleap, clearly in pain.

“You did well, Redtail,” Tigerclaw murmured as they watched them go. “We can’t let WindClan cats think they can get away with crossing our borders.”