Tallstar’s Revenge

The wind pulled at Tallpaw as though it wanted to whisk him after them. He dug his claws into the grass. This is my home. He focused on the rogues again. Sparrow’s fur was a dark smudge against the grass. Rage surged in Tallpaw’s belly. How can you just leave? Sparrow would carry on with his life, unremorseful and unpunished while Tallpaw was left alone. Tallpaw fought to stop his pelt from bristling. Because of you, Heatherstar closed the tunnels. I can never follow in my father’s paw steps or live the life he wanted me to live. You killed him; then you destroyed his dream and mine.

“Tallpaw?” Doespring’s gentle mew jerked him back.

“What?” He shook out his pelt, suddenly realizing the grass at his feet was shredded. He sheathed his claws quickly.

“We’re leaving.” Doespring tipped her head toward their Clanmates. They were moving steadily across the moor like birds crossing the sky. Heatherstar headed the flock, Reedfeather at her side. Woollytail kept close to Palebird, their pelts brushing from time to time as they padded over the grass. Tallpaw narrowed his eyes. His father’s old tunnel-mate never seemed to leave Palebird alone now. He’d have to make sure that his mother didn’t mind.

“Come on!” Doespring bounded away.

Tallpaw plunged after her, his paws thrumming the earth. He slowed as he neared his Clanmates, not quite catching up while Doespring weaved among them and fell in beside Stagleap and Ryestalk.

He’d be a warrior soon, then a senior warrior like Hareflight. One day he’d be an elder, limping like Whiteberry and sharing stories from moons ago with his denmates. Above the vast sky stretched toward distant horizon. The Clan looked small and fragile beneath it. Was this it? His life laid out before him like an old story, told again and again through countless moons?

Tallpaw’s chest tightened. Suddenly he felt trapped, as though he were in the tunnels once again.

“Tallpaw!” Dawnstripe called from ahead. “Let’s hunt!” She veered away from her Clanmates, doubling back upslope. “I’ll race you to Outlook Rock!”

Tallpaw hared after her, running faster than the wind, desperate to escape the anxiety that beat inside him on frantic wings.

Tallpaw plunged through the gap in the heather and skidded to a halt in the clearing. Flanks heaving, he glanced over his shoulder as Shrewpaw burst through after him. Tallpaw flicked his tail. I beat you.

“I stumbled on a rabbit hole,” Shrewpaw panted.

“Shame.” Tallpaw headed for the prey heap. He’d been training all day and his belly was growling.

Lilywhisker and Flailfoot lay outside the elders’ den, basking in the dying sun. With leaf-fall coming, its warmth was fading. Lilywhisker sighed wistfully. “I wonder where Bess and Algernon are now?”

“The den’s too quiet without Mole’s snoring,” Flailfoot commented.

“I hope they’ve found a warm place to shelter,” Lilywhisker fretted.

The rogues had been gone for days, but the Clan kept chattering like birds, worrying where they were and how they’d find enough prey now that the weather was turning.

“I miss Reena,” Shrewpaw declared, stopping beside Lilywhisker.

Lilywhisker looked up at the apprentice. “She’d make a good warrior with the right training.”

Shrewpaw gazed at the moor that loomed up beyond the heather walls. “But she’d never give up traveling.”

Frowning, Tallpaw hopped over the tussocks. Reena would never give up eating other cats’ prey, or sleeping in nests that other paws had woven. That would be too much like hard work. He dragged a rabbit from the prey heap and carried it to a soft tussock beside the bracken patch. He liked to eat here. Sandgorse’s nest still carried his scent—stale now, but familiar.

As he took a mouthful, he saw Dawnstripe and Hareflight pad into camp. They nodded to each other as they parted at the entrance.

“Tallpaw.” Dawnstripe headed toward him. “Your battle moves were lazy today. What’s up?”

Tallpaw stared at her, his mouth full. “Nothing.”

“Really?” Dawnstripe narrowed her eyes. “You seemed to be thinking about something else. You have been for days. With your assessment coming up, you really should be concentrating on your warrior skills.”

Tallpaw swallowed. “I’ll try harder,” he promised. What did it matter? His Clan would go on with or without him, just as it had done with Sandgorse.

A thought flashed in his mind. We’re just visitors, like the rogues. We arrive, we eat, we sleep, and then we move on to StarClan. The only difference was that Clan cats stayed in one place their whole life. I’ll only ever see heather and grass and sky. Tallpaw felt WindClan’s borders pressing closer.

“Well?”