Tallstar’s Revenge

Talltail narrowed his eyes. Nests were small and woven out of sticks and lined with moss. They weren’t bright red and the size of a half a den.

Jake purred as he climbed into it and began pummeling the bottom. “You can sleep here too, if you like. There’s plenty of room, and it’s really soft.”

Talltail looked up at the vet-basket on the ledge. He didn’t want to sleep in the tiny tunnel, but he didn’t want to sleep beside a kittypet either. He’d never get the flowery stench out of his pelt. “I’m not tired,” he lied.

“You must be,” Jake told him. “I’m always tired after I’ve been to the vet.” He curled down into his nest. Talltail tried to catch a glimpse of Silverpelt in the night sky. Could StarClan see him here? But the clear square gaps just reflected the bright walls of the room. Anger surged through Talltail. He couldn’t even see outside now. “I have to get out of here!”

“You will,” Jake promised. “When you’re better.”

I didn’t leave the Clan just to get trapped somewhere else! Talltail scowled at Jake. “Your Twoleg is cruel.”

“No, he’s not.” Jake stared at him, and the tip of his tail flicked. “He’s been nothing but kind to you.”

“How can you stand being a kittypet?” Talltail wasn’t listening. “Eating weird food. Purring at a Twoleg like you’re kin.” He snorted with disgust.

“He is like kin,” Jake snapped back. “I’ve known him my whole life. He makes sure I’m warm and fed. And I sit with him and keep him company when he’s alone. We talk to each other.”

“Talk?” Jake was clearly a rabbit-brain.

Jake shrugged. “I don’t understand exactly what he’s saying, but I know what he means. I just say yes to everything. He seems to like that. And I’ve taught him the word for food. He tries to repeat it sometimes, but his accent is terrible.”

Talltail could hardly believe what he was hearing. “You sound like you enjoy being a kittypet!”

“Of course.” Jake went back to kneading his bed.

“Then why do you spend so much time staring into the woods thinking about Clan cats?” Talltail shifted his paws. They were growing numb with cold on the shiny floor.

Jake paused. “I guess I’m interested in how you live without housefolk, that’s all.” He tipped his head. “You said there was more than one Clan. How many?”

“Three more.”

“What’s yours called?”

Talltail hardly heard him. His gaze had slid toward Jake’s nest. It looked soft. Far softer than the freezing stone. Warm, too. Shivering, he padded toward it. Jake shifted to give him room. “What’s your Clan called?” he repeated.

Talltail stepped into the nest. “WindClan.” It felt fluffier beneath his paws than sheepswool. He sat down, secretly relishing the comfort.

“Where do you live?”

“On the moor.” Talltail crouched down and tucked his paws under him. “Below the moor is RiverClan. They live by a river and catch fish.”

“How?”

Talltail glanced at him. Jake was really dumb. “They swim.”

“What’s the fourth Clan?” Jake started licking a paw and washing his face.

“ShadowClan. They live in the pine trees beside ThunderClan. No one likes ShadowClan except ShadowClan.”

Jake ran a paw over his ear. “So the rest of you like one another.”

“No!” Talltail’s tail twitched. “If any other Clan crosses our border, we shred them.” Jake’s eyes widened. Talltail thought of Nightsky and Piketooth. “Okay, we don’t always shred them,” he relented. “But we’re supposed to stay on our own territory all the time.” He decided not to mention the Gatherings in case Jake got even more confused.

“Why are you here, then?” Jake dropped his paw and stared at Talltail. His green eyes glowed in the moonlight streaming through the clear patches of wall.

Talltail looked down at the nest. “There’s something I have to do.” He didn’t say that he’d felt trapped living on the moor with his Clan, that he’d been burning with curiosity to find out what lay beyond the borders. From Jake’s point of view, his curiosity had led him to nothing but trouble.

“Is it a warrior mission?” Jake dropped his mew to a whisper.

Talltail pricked his ears. A mission. He liked that idea. “Yes.” It was a warrior mission, wasn’t it? Or was it just his mission, and nothing to do with being a warrior at all? The thought unsettled him and he pushed it away quickly. He tucked his paws in tighter and closed his eyes.

“I can’t believe I’m sleeping next to a warrior.” Jake’s soft mew was filled with awe.

“I can’t believe I’m sleeping next to a kittypet,” Talltail grunted. What kind of warrior settled down to sleep in a kittypet nest? In a Twoleg den! A tired warrior. His head began to droop.

“Talltail.” He seemed to hear Sandgorse’s mew far away. “You are a warrior. You always will be.”

Am I? Talltail drifted into dreams.

Chapter 31