Thunder And Shadow

Rain’s eyes sparkled. “So you think I fight like a warrior?” He padded around Needletail, brushing against her.

“Better,” Needletail answered, purring.

Sleekwhisker rolled her eyes. “Can you two stop acting like a pair of m ouse-brains? I want to get this prey back to camp before it gets stiff.”

Violetpaw’s ears twitched. You want to get it back before Cloverfoot’s patrol so you can hide it at the bottom of the fresh-kill pile. It was a m eager catch, even for Sleekwhisker and Rain. Darktail had begun to notice and complain. At least Silt and Beenose wouldn’t want to eat. They were sick with som e illness that had stolen their appetite.

She saw Rain catch Needletail’s ey e. “Perhaps we should go hunting tom orrow,” he mewed silkily. “Just the two of us.”

Violetpaw frowned crossly. She wasn’t going to make it easy for Rain to steal her friend.

“Needletail prom ised to show m e how to stalk rabbits tom orrow.”

Needletail dragged her gaze from Rain’s. “She’s right.” Was that regret in her mew?

Sleekwhisker picked up her m ouse and headed for the camp. Rain grabbed his m ouse and followed, glancing over his shoulder at Needletail. Violetpaw hurried ahead of her m entor to block his view.

As they padded into camp, Cloverfoot turned her head. The gray tabby was standing beside a plum p rabbit and a thrush.

“You’re back.” Sleekwhisker sounded surprised as she dropped her m ouse onto the fresh-kill pile.

Cloverfoot sniffed. “Of course. Catching this didn’t take long.”

Juniperclaw was washing leaf litter from his pelt. He looked up. “Prey is running well.”

“We’ve been back for ages.” Roach y awned. The silver tom was lounging nearby.

Rain dropped his m ouse beside Sleekwhisker’s. “How are Silt and Beenose?” He glanced toward the drooping rowan bush where the sick cats were sheltering.

The branches trem bled and Nettle nosed his way out, looking worried. He answered Rain’s question. “They’re worse. Beenose keeps coughing, and Silt’s fever is rising.”

Nettle was the closest the rogues had to a medicine cat. But the brown tabby only knew a few herbs. He’d tried them all on the sick cats, but nothing had m ade them better.

Rain shrugged. “Oh, well.” He sniffed the rabbit hungrily. “More prey for us.”

“Wait!” A sharp growl sounded outside camp.

Violetpaw tensed as she recognized Darktail’s mew.

The rogue leader padded from the long grass edging the camp. His m enacing gaze fixed on Rain. “You’re getting nothing from the fresh-kill pile today.”

Rain’s hackles lifted. “No cat tells m e I can’t eat.”

“You want to eat?” Darktail padded slowly toward him. “Go catch som ething worth eating.”

He stopped beside the fresh-kill pile and hooked up a m ouse with his claw. “This is kit food.”

Violetpaw glanced nervously at Needletail. There was a threat in Darktail’s mew, and Rain was ey eing him challengingly. The gray tom had been standing up to the rogue leader more and more often. Yesterday he’d refused to go on patrol. “Are they going to fight?” she whispered.

“Hush.” Needletail didn’t look at Violetpaw. Her gaze was on Rain. Her eyes sparkled eagerly as the long-furred tom stepped closer to Darktail.

“The prey I catch isn’t good enough for y ou?” Rain growled.

The rogue leader lashed his tail. “You’ve been bringing less and less back to camp.” He dropped the m ouse. “This is the m ost pitiful offering y et.”

Rain’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Have you been counting what I catch?”

“Of course I have,” Darktail hissed. “I’m the leader of this group. I make sure every cat pulls his weight.”

“You sound like a Clan cat,” Rain sneered.

“So?” Darktail lifted his chin. “They live well.”

“If you like rules!” Rain flexed his claws.

“Rules will keep our bellies full.” Darktail spoke slowly, his vicious gaze not m oving from Rain.

“Is that why we cam e here?” Rain hissed. “To hide behind bushes and hunt prey no one else wants?” He flicked his tail toward ShadowClan’s pine forest, stretching far behind them. “We live on a tiny piece of land when there’s a whole territory right there for the taking.”

Cold fear ran along Violetpaw’s spine. Did Rain want the rogues to drive ShadowClan from their land? Why? There was enough prey here, and over the past four moons Darktail had seem ed happy to leave ShadowClan in peace. She thought of Pinenose and Rowanstar, Puddlepaw and Grassheart. Grassheart’s kits! Was he threatening them?

“We don’t need the pine forest y et!” Darktail snapped. “For now we’ve got every thing we need and we don’t have to fight for it. We won’t be taking over any one’s territory until I say so.”

Rain flattened his ears. “You’ve grown soft.” A growl sounded in his mew as he crouched threateningly.