Tallstar’s Revenge

Talltail felt a prickle of unease. He couldn’t refuse his friend after everything they’d been through. “We’ll just look,” he muttered. “Then go somewhere else.”

Jake didn’t reply, but followed Talltail around the rocks to the smooth grass beyond. They skirted the hedge, staying outside Twolegplace until a row of dens jutted into their path.

Talltail halted at the bottom of a wooden fence. “You lead.” He flicked the tip of his tail. “This is your territory, not mine.”

Jake hopped easily onto the fence, balancing as Talltail scrambled up behind him. A maze of fence-tops zigzagged ahead. Jake began to pad along them, turning one way, then another, as they bypassed row after row of gardens. Talltail followed, concentrating as he tried to keep his balance on the narrow strip of wood despite the buffeting wind.

His paws ached with the effort by the time they’d crossed Twolegplace. As he spotted trees crowding beyond the fences, he hurried forward, sliding past Jake and taking the lead. There were faint ThunderClan scents as he neared.

Talltail dropped onto the forest floor and began sniffing the roots of an elm. No ThunderClan warrior had brushed past this bark. He padded on, heading deeper into the forest.

Leaves crunched behind him as Jake caught up. “I can smell Thunderpath!”

Talltail stiffened. They must be near the Thunderpath that cut between ThunderClan territory and ShadowClan’s forest as it headed close to Fourtrees. The claws that had been sunk into his belly ever since his dream suddenly tugged harder.

Jake paced around him, tail flicking excitedly. “The moor’s close?”

“Close enough.” Above, the branches clattered as wind stirred the forest.

“Let’s take a look,” Jake suggested.

“It’s dangerous,” Talltail told him. “We’d have to follow the Thunderpath along the ThunderClan border.”

“We’ve done dangerous things before.” Jake began to head toward the rumble of the Thunderpath. “Let’s go a little farther. I want to see WindClan territory.”

Talltail wondered if he should argue. But the tugging in his belly silenced him. Perhaps a glimpse of his old home would remind him why he’d left. Perhaps he could keep going: past WindClan territory, past Highstones. He could finally see the mountains for himself.

He followed Jake. His thoughts were as jumbled as the familiar scents that wreathed around him as he headed closer to Clan territory. Memories crowded at the edges of his mind: chasing rabbits across the moor; sitting vigil on Outlook Rock; plunging through the heather with Doespring; the first time he’d outrun Stagpaw. Then he pictured Wrenkit and Hopkit scrambling clumsily over the tussocks to beg him for a badger ride. His heart twisted with a sudden and terrible ache.

“Which way now?” Jake’s call jolted him from his thoughts.

Talltail tasted the air. They were close to the Thunderpath. He glanced along the line of thick bushes at the forest’s edge, which crowded for light where it cut through the trees. “Let’s head along there.” The bushes would give them shelter from the Thunderpath, and somewhere to hide if a ThunderClan patrol passed.

He led Jake over the leaf-strewn forest floor, pushing through frost-withered bracken until he reached a long swathe of brambles. Ears straining for the sound of ThunderClan warriors, mouth open for scents, Talltail pushed on. The clouds began to clear, driven toward the horizon by the brisk wind. Before long, the sun was shining weakly through the branches. As it slid behind them, Talltail detected more familiar scents. Above the tang of ThunderClan and the stink of ShadowClan, he could smell the sweet scent of heather. Even in leaf-bare it seemed to drench the air. And the earthy musk of peat and rabbit rolled toward him. Without thinking, Talltail quickened his pace. Suddenly the Thunderpath veered away, leaving the cats trekking through thick forest. The ground steepened beneath Talltail’s paws and he was soon out of breath, climbing blindly through bracken until light showed between the trees at the top of the slope.

He wrinkled his nose as he picked up ThunderClan’s border scent. “We’re nearly there.” At last they broke from the trees. A deep hollow yawned ahead of them and Talltail stared at the four tall oaks growing at the center.

“Fourtrees!” His heart soared. “Come on!” Talltail streaked down the slope. “This territory belongs to all the Clans!” He suddenly felt more at ease than he had for moons, the ground familiar beneath his paws as he raced into the clearing between the oaks. He circled it, staring in delight at the towering trees. The claws in his belly seemed to uncurl and release him. His paws felt light.

“Those trees are gigantic!” Jake stood in the center of the hollow, staring wide-eyed into the branches. Then he looked around. “Which way is WindClan’s territory?” Talltail nodded at the far slope. Jake bounded toward it. “Come on.”

Talltail raced after him, leaping up past shriveled clumps of fern.