Tigerheart’s Shadow

Fierce glanced into a shaft of sunlight. “If we learn fighting skills, we can drive the foxes away and gather all the herbs we want. But it’s your choice. Learn to fight or don’t. It’s up to you.”

Dotty narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to let this warrior teach you how to fight, Fierce?”

“Of course.” Fierce stopped in front of Tigerheart. “I think he has a lot of useful knowledge. It seems foolish not to learn from him.”

He blinked at her gratefully. She was going to convince them!

Ant padded forward. “I want to learn how to fight too.”

“And me.” Cinnamon joined him.

Rascal and Mittens looked at each other.

“There are foxes everywhere in this city,” Rascal meowed.

“And dogs.” Mittens whisked his tail. “We’d be pigeon-brained not to learn some fighting skills from a warrior.”

Tigerheart blinked at Pipsqueak and Dotty. Were they going to agree too?

“I guess there’s no harm in learning,” Pipsqueak conceded.

“So long as this outsider doesn’t start thinking of himself as our leader,” Dotty mewed.

“We’re equals here,” Pipsqueak reminded Tigerheart.

“I only want to help.” As Tigerheart dipped his head modestly, his thoughts flitted back to ShadowClan. Scorchfur and Snowbird had practically begged him to lead them. Here the cats didn’t want anyone to lead them, especially not him. His frustration with the guardian cats melted away. It felt good not to be weighed down by responsibility. These cats only wanted to learn a few battle moves that would help them save their herb patch. Their simplicity warmed him, and he purred. “Let’s start.” He padded to the center of the cavern and dropped into the first battle crouch Oakfur had ever taught him. He looked around at the watching cats. “This is the easiest position to launch most battle moves from.”

Before long, the guardian cats were practicing moves on one another while Tigerheart wove among them, adjusting crouches and advising which paw was the best to lead with or to push back on. As he moved from one cat to another, he remembered training Sleekpaw. He had spent long days in the forest with his apprentice, going over moves that could defeat ThunderClan, or confuse a RiverClan cat, or unbalance a lithe WindClan warrior. That was before the apprentices had turned on their own Clan, before the rogues had come and trouble had torn ShadowClan apart. The memory pierced his heart like a thorn, and he jerked his thoughts back to the present. These cats were learning how to defeat foxes, not warriors. There were no rogues here, or Clans to betray.

Tigerheart looked toward the nest where Dovewing was sleeping, her chin hooked over the side. She looked so peaceful and content, her eyes closed, her ears twitching as she dreamed. She and their kits were all he needed to worry about now.

Fierce’s mew surprised him. “I think we’ve learned enough basic moves. We need to come up with a plan.”

Dovewing opened her eyes and gazed sleepily at the cats. Tigerheart blinked at her reassuringly and turned to Fierce. “A plan to deal with the foxes?”

Fierce nodded.

“We need to remember that we are not fighting alone, but together.” Tigerheart remembered the skirmish on the slope. The cats had fought bravely but had been uncoordinated. He looked seriously around the guardian cats, who had turned to face him. “Be aware of the cats around you. Fit your moves with theirs. Let your attacks fill gaps they have left. See openings you can use, and always distract your enemy if you see your Clanmate in trouble.” He corrected himself as he saw confusion flutter in their gazes. “If you see your friend in trouble.” He hesitated. Did these cats see one another as friends, or merely as cats they lived beside?

Gray fur moved at the edge of his vision. Dovewing was padding toward them. “I’ve been thinking about how to start the attack on the foxes.” She stopped beside Tigerheart and sat down heavily, clearly still sleepy. “If the patrol can take up positions around the slope, one cat can wait in the middle as bait.”

“Bait?” Tigerheart looked at her, unease rippling through his fur.

“To make the foxes think there’s no threat, so we can catch them off guard.” she explained. “A cat who looks harmless.” She shifted her swollen belly as though it was uncomfortable. “Like me.”

“No!” Fierce cried out before Tigerheart could open his mouth.

“How could you put your kits in danger?” Dotty looked at her in shock.

“You’re too fat to run away,” Ant pointed out.

Tigerheart stared at Dovewing sternly. “You’re not going anywhere near the herb patch.”

“But I want to help,” Dovewing objected. “And I’ll worry about you if I’m not there.”

“I could be the bait.” Spire padded forward. For once, his gaze was fixed on the other cats. He looked from Fierce to Tigerheart, his yellow eyes glittering. “I’m skinny and small, and I look harmless and half-crazy most of the time.”

“You don’t look half—”