The Last Hope

“Wait for me!” Cloudtail trotted after her.

“That could have been us,” Lionblaze muttered to Cinderheart. “We could have been happy together.”

“I don’t think happiness is part of our destinies,” Cinderheart spat. Then her expression changed and she looked sadly at Lionblaze. “Let’s not torture ourselves by wishing.” She stood and stretched, arching her back. “Who do you want to hunt with?”

Lionblaze scanned the camp. Blossomfall had finished eating and was play fighting with Thornclaw beside the nursery. She spun around, steadying herself with her tail and dodging a well-aimed swipe. There was something relaxed and comfortable in the way they matched each other’s moves. “What about them? Thornclaw!”

The golden tabby looked over his shoulder. “What is it?”

“We’re hunting by the lake and we need extra paws.”

Thornclaw lifted his tail happily. “Can Blossomfall come, too?”

When Lionblaze nodded, the two cats ran toward the thorn barrier. Cinderheart bounded after them. Lionblaze shoved his half-eaten mouse beside Hollyleaf’s thrush and followed his Clanmates out of camp.

By the time he caught up, Thornclaw and Blossomfall were already climbing the slope, zigzagging through the brambles as though they were playing catch-the-squirrel with each other’s tails. Another season or two and Blossomfall would be nursing Thornclaw’s kits. His tail drooped.

“Ow!” Blossomfall let out a squeal.

Lionblaze broke into a run, skidding to a halt beside the tortoiseshell warrior. “What happened?”

Blossomfall writhed on the ground, her foreleg tangled in a bramble and her face twisted with pain. Thornclaw crouched beside her, holding the bramble between his jaws as he gingerly unwrapped it from around her paw. “Hold still,” he whispered. “Tugging will make last night’s battle wound worse.”

“Shhh!” Blossomfall hushed Thornclaw, her gaze glittering with guilt as it caught Lionblaze’s.

Lionblaze froze. These cats weren’t mates! They’d been training together in their dreams. Lionblaze felt the trees close around him. He struggled to take a deep breath. They don’t know what they’re doing.

Trembling, he watched Thornclaw pull the bramble away and help Blossomfall to her paws. If he couldn’t trust his Clanmates, who could he trust? He glanced over his shoulder at Cinderheart as she hurried to check on her Clanmate. Was she training in the Dark Forest, too? Lionblaze’s thoughts darted from one Clanmate to another. The familiar faces seemed suddenly strange and cold.

“Check her,” he ordered Cinderheart, but Cinderheart was already sniffing Blossomfall’s shoulder, then pressing gently with her paws.

“Does that hurt?”

Blossomfall let out a groan but shook her head. “Just a little.”

“Can you put weight on it?” Cinderheart asked.

Blossomfall tested it, her face tensing, then relaxing as her pad pressed against the earth. “Yes,” she breathed. “It’s sore, but I can walk.”

Cinderheart turned to Lionblaze. “There’s no heat in her shoulder,” she told him. “It’s just a light sprain. She’ll need to go easy—”

Lionblaze interrupted her. “Are you sure?”

Cinderheart’s eyes flashed. “Of course I’m sure!”

Lionblaze narrowed his eyes. Did she resent having her skills questioned? Or did she object to being asked to act like a medicine cat? Before he could decide, Cinderheart started nudging Blossomfall up the slope.

Thornclaw followed anxiously. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“It’ll be fine by the time we reach the lake,” Blossomfall promised.

Cinderheart glanced over her shoulder, catching Lionblaze’s eye. “Our apprentices have suffered worse injuries,” she told him. “So long as she doesn’t run or jump for a couple of days, she’ll be fine.”

“Should she go back to camp?” Lionblaze asked.

“No, I’ll stay with you. Even if I can’t chase prey I can help carry home the catch,” Blossomfall called. She began to walk a little faster, as if to prove she was okay. With a sigh, Lionblaze trudged after them.

In the end, there was little fresh-kill to carry home. Thornclaw hunted clumsily, making so much noise that birds set up alarm calls all along the shoreline the first time he stumbled on the slippery pebbles. Lionblaze was distracted, tracking his Clanmates closely, listening for clues about their Dark Forest training. Cinderheart’s thoughts seemed elsewhere and she let a mouse escape beneath her muzzle.

Lionblaze led them back into camp, a sparrow between his jaws. Firestar was dozing on Highledge beside Squirrelflight. Graystripe and Millie lay outside the nursery while Daisy and Ferncloud spread pawfuls of moss to dry in the sun.

At the entrance to the elders’ den, Mousefur sat staring into space with Purdy beside her. The old tom’s rumbling mew droned like distant honeybees.

Lionblaze headed for the fresh-kill pile with Cinderheart on his heels. Blossomfall limped after them, holding a shrew.

“Is that all you caught?” Bumblestripe bounced up to her. “It’s not leaf-bare yet!”