The Raging Storm

Bluestar looked across the lake. “Let’s hope they find the way. If they don’t, there will be nothing of us left, not even the warrior code.”

CHAPTER 1

“Why do we have to clear all this mess?” Flypaw sat back on her haunches. Her tabby pelt twitched as she stared at the twigs littering the clearing. “We’ve been working at it for days.”

Twigbranch let go of the stick she’d been dragging and blinked impatiently at her apprentice. “We have to clear the training ground if you want to practice battle moves here.”

“Why can’t Spotpaw and Stempaw help?” Flypaw complained. “They’ll be training here too. And Plumpaw’s stronger than me. She’d be better at dragging sticks.”

“Plumpaw’s hunting with Eaglepaw and Shellpaw, and their mentors, today,” Twigbranch said, fighting back irritation. Did I complain this much when I was an apprentice?

“Why can’t we hunt?” Flypaw grumbled.

“You don’t know enough hunting moves.”

Flypaw flicked her tail. “I’d know some if you let me train instead of making me clear sticks.”

If you spent less time arguing and more time working, we’d be finished by now. Twigbranch swallowed back the words. “Bramblestar wants the training ground cleared. The storm left a mess and he asked us to do it.” She glanced at Snappaw, who was helping Finleap haul a branch to the edge of the clearing. “Your littermate isn’t complaining.”

Snappaw dropped the stick. “Finleap told me that moving sticks would make me strong.” He puffed out his chest. “I want to be the strongest apprentice in ThunderClan.”

Flypaw scowled. “Don’t get too strong or Bramblestar will make you clear every branch from the forest.”

Finleap blinked at her sympathetically. “You’ve worked hard all morning.” He caught Twigbranch’s eye. “Why don’t we teach them a few battle moves?”

Snappaw pricked his ears. “Really?”

“Please!” Flypaw bounced past the sticks and crouched excitedly. Sticking her hindquarters in the air, she bared her teeth and lashed her tail. “Look! I’m ready to attack.”

With a purr, Snappaw rushed to join her.

Exasperated, Twigbranch closed her eyes. At this rate, they’d never clear the training ground. What would Bramblestar think if she couldn’t even make her apprentice do the simplest of tasks? Would he regret making her a mentor so soon?

Fur brushed her cheek. Finleap was weaving around her. “We can finish clearing the rest of the sticks later,” he meowed. “There’s no harm in taking some time out to go over some battle skills.” He looked so eager that she didn’t want to disappoint him. But she hadn’t planned to teach battle skills today. She hadn’t practiced.

“I don’t know.” She frowned.

“What are you worried about?” Finleap blinked at her. “We’re mentors! We’re not breaking any rules by training our apprentices.”

Twigbranch lowered her voice. “What if I do it wrong?”

Finleap’s eyes widened. “How could you do anything wrong? You were an apprentice for the longest time. You must know everything there is to know about training.” Admiration shone clearly in his wide yellow eyes.

Twigbranch purred softly, feeling comforted. It was hard not to love Finleap. He was clumsy and tactless at times, but his heart was always in the right place.

Everyone expected they would be mates soon, especially Finleap. He hardly left her side, he purred at all her jokes, and he brought her prey from the fresh-kill pile every evening. She was lucky to have him.

And yet she wasn’t sure she was ready to become mates. She had not been a warrior for very long, and she had an apprentice who needed training. Lots of training!

More than anything, she wanted to prove she was worthy of ThunderClan. She had changed her mind so many times as an apprentice, leaving for SkyClan and returning again. She wanted ThunderClan to know she was loyal. And she was determined to earn the Clan’s respect. She didn’t have time to worry about a mate yet.

“Come on!” Finleap padded toward Snappaw and Flypaw. Snappaw had flattened his belly to the earth and was enthusiastically hissing at Flypaw. Flypaw lashed her tail and pretended to hiss back. Finleap stepped between them and beckoned them to their paws with a flick of his tail. “You won’t win any battles by making faces,” he purred.

“We weren’t making faces,” Snappaw mewed indignantly. “We were being fierce.”

“I’ve seen fiercer hedgehogs.” Twigbranch stepped over the scattered sticks and joined them.

Flypaw blinked at her eagerly. “What are you going to teach us?”

“Follow me.” Twigbranch led her apprentice away from Finleap and Snappaw. She didn’t want anyone watching her first attempt at battle training. Stopping at the edge of the clearing, she brushed away twigs with her paws. “Let’s see how you react to an ambush.”

Flypaw’s ears twitched nervously. “An ambush?”