Tallstar’s Revenge

“No one’s been brave enough to volunteer,” Tallkit muttered. He purred. “He’ll probably be impressed by your courage.”

“Hawkheart’s okay.” Barkkit’s anxious gaze slid toward the medicine den. “He just doesn’t like being asked rabbit-brained questions, that’s all.”

“Then how will you learn anything?” Tallkit pointed out.

“I’ll watch what he does and only ask questions when I’m sure I don’t understand.”

Tallkit blinked, surprised by how determined Barkkit sounded. He must have been planning this for ages. Sadness pricked his chest. “We’ll never train together.”

“You’re training as a tunneler anyway,” Barkkit reminded him.

“I’ll have to learn to hunt and fight, and you would have learned basic tunnel skills.” Tallkit glanced at Shrewkit, who was following Stagpaw from the prey heap. “Now I’m stuck with him.”

“Ignore his teasing,” Barkkit urged. “If you don’t react, he’ll get bored and back off.”

“I guess.” Tallkit wasn’t convinced. “Let’s go see if Lilywhisker needs help hunting fleas.” He turned toward the elders’ den.

“I’ll catch up,” Barkkit mewed. “I want to ask Heatherstar about becoming Hawkheart’s apprentice.”

As Barkkit headed for Heatherstar’s den, Tallkit padded toward the thick gorse at the far end of the clearing. Flamepelt was outside the den, propped against a low hummock while Lilywhisker sat beside him, carefully grooming her lifeless leg.

Doepaw and Ryepaw were crouching in the grass beside them, eyes fixed on Flamepelt. The elder was midstory. “I took a right fork in the tunnel,” he rasped. “It was darker than the inside of a rock but I could hear the rabbit a few tail-lengths ahead. It was running fast, leaving a trail of fear-scent so strong even a moor runner could follow it.”

“Isn’t tunnel hunting easy?” Doepaw interrupted. “There’s only one way for the prey to run.”

Flamepelt met her gaze. “You think it’s easy to run full pelt in stone-black darkness?”

As Doepaw’s eyes widened, Whiteberry padded from the gorse den. His snowy pelt glowed in the sunshine. “You’ve only got your ears, nose, and whiskers to guide you,” he explained. “One wrong paw step and you could hit a wall.”

Flamepelt leaned forward. “A dead end gives a different echo from a passage. An experienced tunneler can hear whether an underpath will open out or get narrower just by the way the air ruffles his ear-fur.”

Lilywhisker lifted her muzzle. “I used to be able to hear a cavern halfway across the moor, just by the echo of my paw steps,” she boasted.

Whiteberry lay beside her and stretched sleepily. “I could scent prey through a tail-length of soil.”

Tallkit blinked. One day he’d learn all of these skills. He knew he should feel excited, but he could only picture darkness and mud. He shivered as though he were already belowground.

Flamepelt returned to his story. “The rabbit was well under ShadowClan territory.”

“And you followed it?” Ryepaw gasped. “But it was ShadowClan prey once it’d crossed the border!”

“Tunnels belong to WindClan,” Flamepelt rasped.

Tallkit padded closer. “How did you know it was ShadowClan territory when you were underground?”

“The soil smells of pinesap,” Flamepelt told him briskly, then pressed on. “The rabbit kept running. I was closing on it fast. Then I heard paw steps on the forest floor above. I was close to the surface.”

Doepaw’s tail twitched. “Could they tell you were there?”

Whiteberry cut in with a snort. “No overgrounder can smell through earth.”

“But they might have heard my paw steps.” Flamepelt lowered his voice. “If they mistook me for a rabbit, they might start digging. I couldn’t risk them discovering the tunnels. So I froze.” Flamepelt paused. “I could hear the rabbit racing away, and there was fresh air wafting down the tunnel. The prey was heading for an opening. I just had to hope that the ShadowClan patrol wouldn’t spot it and chase it back underground.”

“Did they?” Ryepaw asked breathlessly.

“The ShadowClan paw steps suddenly broke into a run,” Flamepelt told her. “I heard their calls: Rabbit! Rabbit!” His gaze widened, flicking from Doepaw and Ryepaw to Tallkit.

The fur on Tallkit’s spine lifted. “What happened?”

“Earth showered around me as they pounded overhead. I had to think fast. If they found the opening and chased the rabbit back down, they’d find me and discover the tunnel. I had to block it.”

“Block it?” Ryepaw squeaked. “How?”

“I had to cause a cave-in!” Flamepelt announced. “The soil was light and soft. If I could loosen enough to block the tunnel without bringing the whole roof down, I’d be safe.”

Tallkit’s heart began to pound. “What if the whole roof had collapsed?” His chest tightened.

“I’d have drowned in soil,” Flamepelt breathed.

“No!” Ryepaw’s mew was barely a whisper.