Tallstar’s Revenge

Sun-up way. Talltail plunged down the hillside. That’s past ShadowClan territory. He scrambled past a hawthorn, skidding as the slope steepened. Bracken slowed him down, dragging at his paws. He pushed through it, relieved that the slope was flattening out, and paused at the bottom to taste the air. Ahead of him the trees were thinning and light showed beyond them. Talltail hurried on, relaxing as he reached the edge of the woods and padded out onto grass. The drizzle had turned to rain and he narrowed his eyes. He’d patrolled the moor many times in worse rain than this. Keeping low, he crossed the grass, ignoring the water dripping from his whiskers. A familiar scent touched his nose. He had reached the Thunderpath.

He slowed, pelt pricking. He knew he had to cross the Thunderpath, but that would put him directly into ShadowClan territory, which might be more dangerous than anything that lay beyond. He shook the rain from his pelt and approached the Thunderpath. It was empty. Sniffing the stone, he smelled the stale scent of monsters. Nothing had passed for a while. He glanced both ways to make sure there were no monsters lying in wait, then raced across.

The stench of the ShadowClan border hit him before he was halfway across. Brambles, nettles, and ferns spilled from the thick wall of pine trees in front of him. The shadow beyond them was so dark that he couldn’t see in. Heart quickening, Talltail scanned the gloom for flashing eyes. Was a ShadowClan patrol watching? He ducked down and crept into the grass at the edge of the Thunderpath. There was no way he could go straight across the territory. ShadowClan warriors wouldn’t let him escape with his fur intact. He’d have to follow the scent line, being careful not to cross it and praying that he didn’t bump into any patrols that objected to him straying so close.

He turned and started to push his way through the grass under the trees. Several monsters roared past in a herd, spraying him with muddy water. Talltail hissed and pressed closer to the tree trunks, swerving away again when the reek of ShadowClan scent marks stung his nose. He trekked on, soaked right through his fur by the dripping grass stems. Eventually the pines began to thin beside him, replaced by rough scrub, shriveled bushes that rattled their bare branches in the wind. A smaller Thunderpath appeared ahead of him, leading away from the moor and curving around the top of ShadowClan territory. Talltail followed the new Thunderpath, hoping the grass was enough to hide him as the scrubby bushes gave way to an open stretch of marsh.

He walked faster, feeling vulnerable and cold. The scent of ShadowClan was overlaid with something stronger here: a sour, unfamiliar smell that made Talltail’s belly churn. He shook rain from his whiskers and opened his mouth. He shut it quickly as a putrid stench swamped his tongue. It smelled like death and rot and stagnant water. Peering through the rain, he saw a wall of woven silver vines surrounding several huge, stinking lumps, like the backs of hunched beasts lying down. Queasy at the stink rolling from the heap, Talltail padded closer. Could this be the Carrionplace? He’d heard ShadowClan apprentices boasting about catching rats where Twolegs dumped their waste. His nose wrinkled. Who would want to eat fresh-kill from such a foul-smelling place?

The grass vanished as he drew level with the silver vines, and Talltail ran across the stretch of hard, gray stone until he reached the safety of a ditch. He scrambled down into the thick-stemmed plants, ignoring the greasy, black water that clung to his belly fur and pushing his way through until the stench of Carrionplace faded behind him. Talltail climbed out, shaking filthy droplets from his pelt. The rain hardened into hail. It stung his ears and his nose, bouncing off the Thunderpath and bombarding him until he could hardly see. Through narrowed eyes, he looked for shelter. Pine trees clustered ahead, right on the edge of the Thunderpath. Talltail broke into a run, nostrils twitching. He was still close to the ShadowClan border.

He ducked in among the pines, eyes lighting up when he spotted a hole in a gnarled trunk. He dug his claws into the cracked bark and hauled himself up until he was high enough to stick his head into the hole. Inside, leaf litter lined a crooked scoop in the wood. Talltail scrambled inside, scenting the stale smell of prey. What creature had sheltered here?

He didn’t care. He was just glad to be out of the hail. He shook out his pelt and sat down. Hailstones cracked outside. The wind roared above. Talltail looked up and saw a small circle of sky where the trunk opened at the top. A hailstone bounced down and landed on his nose. He flinched and curled into the dry leaves. Flattening his ears against the spattering hail, he tucked his nose under his paw.