The Forgotten Warrior

Instantly Dovewing let out a yowl and hurled herself at the Clan deputy. Brambleclaw reared up on his hindpaws, his forepaws stretched out with claws sheathed. As Dovewing tried to duck under his guard and claw his exposed belly, he flipped backward, away from her. She lost her balance, and as she tried to recover Brambleclaw leaped on her and braced his forepaws on her belly.

“Like that,” he purred, stepping back to let her get up.

Dovewing rolled over and sprang up to see the Clan deputy watching her with a faint trace of pride in his amber eyes.

“That’s brilliant!” she panted. “Let’s try it.”

First Brambleclaw made them practice the backflip until they could do it and land squarely on their paws. When he was satisfied and let them work with their partners, Dovewing was surprised at how strong and agile Bumblestripe was.

It’s been a long time since I trained with him, one on one like this. He’s so bulky, I’d expect him to be slow…

As Bumblestripe flipped neatly away from her attack, Dovewing’s paws skidded out from under her. She flopped onto her side; while she was struggling to get up Bumblestripe sprang toward her and reached out with one forepaw to touch her gently.

“I win, I think,” he mewed, his eyes narrowed with amusement. “Paws belong on the ground, not in the air.”

Huh! Dovewing thought, stung. When Bumblestripe attacked her, she backflipped on the opposite side, catching him unawares. The gray tom missed his footing and landed hard among the ferns, his paws flailing.

“What was that about paws going on the ground?” Dove-wing teased as she pounced on him.

“Why don’t we watch each other?” Blossomfall suggested when all four cats had practiced the move several times. “We might pick up some helpful tips that way.”

Brambleclaw nodded. “Okay. You and Toadstep go first.”

Watching the other pair, Dovewing noticed how good Blossomfall was already, both in attacking and performing the new move. She had worked out how to stay balanced, and knocked her weight into Toadstep before he could recover from the backflip.

“Blossomfall, that’s really great!” she told her Clanmate. “You’ll have to be a bit faster, Toadstep.”

Toadstep nodded. “I’m working on it.”

When it was her turn to demonstrate with Bumblestripe, Dovewing felt that they had both done pretty well. She was surprised to see Blossomfall looking at her with a disdainful expression.

“Bumblestripe was fine, but Dovewing, you need to do a lot more work,” she meowed. “Your paws were all over the place. And you seem to have forgotten that you even have a tail. It’s there for balance, you know.”

Dovewing muttered something noncommittal, embarrassment flooding over her until every hair on her pelt burned. “Blossomfall wouldn’t have said that if you hadn’t chosen me as your partner,” she whispered to Bumblestripe. Trying to set her own hurt aside, she added, “I’m sorry if I’ve made things difficult between you.”

Bumblestripe rested his tail comfortingly on Dovewing’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s not you causing the problem,” he mewed, glaring across the clearing at his sister.

“I think that’s enough for one session,” Brambleclaw announced. “Back to camp, all of you, and take your pick of the fresh-kill pile. You’ve all worked hard.”

“You should walk with Blossomfall now,” Dovewing murmured as the group moved off. “Littermates are more important than friendship.”

Bumblestripe paused and gave her a long look. “I was kind of hoping that what we have is more than friendship,” he mewed at last.

Dovewing stared at him, not knowing what to say. To her relief, Bumblestripe didn’t press her. He just ducked his head and trotted off, catching up with Blossomfall and touching his nose to her ear.

Dovewing padded on; a moment later Toadstep bounded up to join her.

“What’s going on between you and Bumblestripe?” he asked with a little mrrow of amusement.

Dovewing felt her neck fur beginning to fluff up, and forced it to lie flat. “Bumblestripe is a great cat,” she replied calmly.

As she spoke, an image of Tigerheart popped into her head: the gleam of green eyes as he thrust his dark tabby head out of a clump of ferns. Resolutely she pushed it away. That was different. I can’t think about him anymore, she decided. Tigerheart can’t be part of my life… but Bumblestripe could be.

Chapter 17

Jayfeather pushed through the thorns into the camp just after sunhigh. The chill dawn wind had dropped as he journeyed back from the Moonpool, and warm light bathed the clearing. The stone hollow was deserted, and Jayfeather realized that all the warriors and apprentices would be out on patrol. He was heading for his den when he heard Mousefur’s voice.

“Jayfeather! Come here a moment.”