Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Firepaw returned with a chaffinch gripped firmly between his teeth. He dropped it in front of Tigerclaw, who stood waiting in the hollow. "You're the first one back," meowed the warrior. "Yeah, but I've got loads more prey to fetch," Firepaw mewed quickly. "I buried it back—" "I know exactly what you did," Tigerclaw growled. "I've been watching you." A swish of bushes announced Graypaw's return. He was carrying a small squirrel in his mouth, which he dropped beside Firepaw's chaffinch. "Yuck!" he spat. "Squirrels are too furry. I'll be picking hairs out of my teeth all evening." Tigerclaw paid no attention to Graypaw's grumbling. "Ravenpaw's late," he observed. "We'll give him a bit longer and then return to camp." "But what if he's been bitten by an adder?" Firepaw protested. "Then it's his own fault," Tigerclaw replied coldly. "There's no room for fools in ThunderClan."

They waited in silence. Graypaw and Firepaw exchanged glances, worried about Ravenpaw. Tigerclaw sat motionless, apparently lost in his own thoughts. Firepaw was the first to scent Ravenpaw's arrival. He jumped to his paws as the black cat leaped into the clearing, looking unusually pleased with himself. Dangling from his mouth was the long, diamond-patterned body of an adder. "Ravenpaw! Are you okay?" Firepaw called. "Hey!" meowed Graypaw, rushing forward to admire Ravenpaw's catch. "Did that bite you?" "I was too quick for it!" Ravenpaw purred loudly. Then he caught Tigerclaw's eye and fell silent. Tigerclaw fixed all three excited apprentices with a cold stare. "Come on," he said shortly. "Let's collect the rest of your prey and get back to camp." Firepaw, Graypaw, and Ravenpaw entered the camp, strolling behind Tigerclaw. Their impressive day's catch hung from their mouths, although Ravenpaw kept tripping over his dead

snake. As they emerged from the gorse into the camp, a group of young kits scrambled out of the nursery to watch them pass. "Look!" Firepaw heard one of them say. "Apprentices, just back from hunting!" He recognized the little tabby Yellowfang had hissed at the day before. Sitting next to him was a fluffy gray kit, no more than two moons old. A tiny black kit and a small tortoiseshell stood beside them. "Isn't that the kittypet, Firepaw?" squeaked the gray kit. "Yeah! Look at his orange fur!" mewed the black one. "They say he's a good hunter," the tortoiseshell added. "He looks a bit like Lionheart. Do you suppose he's as good as him?" "I can't wait to start my training," mewed the tabby. "I'm going to be the best warrior ThunderClan has ever seen!" Firepaw lifted his chin, feeling proud at the kits' admiring comments. He followed his two friends into the center of the clearing. "An adder!" Graypaw mewed again, as the

apprentices dropped their catch for the other cats to share. "What shall I do with it?" asked Ravenpaw, sniffing the snake's long body as it lay beside the heap. "Can you eat adders?" asked Graypaw. "Trust you to think of your stomach!" Firepaw joked, butting Graypaw with his head. "Well, I wouldn't want to eat it," murmured Ravenpaw. "I mean, my mouth tastes pretty foul after carrying it back." "Let's put it on the tree stump, then," suggested Graypaw, "so that Dustpaw and Sandpaw can see it when they get back." They each carried a piece of their fresh-kill, and the adder, back to their den. Graypaw carefully placed the adder on the stump, arranging the snake so that it could be seen clearly from all sides. Then they ate. When they had finished they sat close together to groom one another and talk. "I wonder who Bluestar will choose to go to the Gathering?" Firepaw meowed. "It'll be full moon tomorrow." "Sandpaw and Dustpaw have been twice

already," replied Graypaw. "Perhaps Bluestar will choose one of us this time," mewed Firepaw. "After all, we've been training for almost three moons now." "But Sandpaw and Dustpaw are still the eldest apprentices," Ravenpaw pointed out. Firepaw nodded. "And this Gathering will be an important one. It'll be the first time the Clans have met since WindClan disappeared. No cat knows what ShadowClan is going to say about it." Tigerclaw's low meow interrupted them. "You are right, youngster." The warrior had strolled up to them unnoticed. "By the way, Firepaw," he added smoothly, "Bluestar wants to see you." Firepaw looked up, startled. Why would Bluestar want to see him? "Now—if you can spare the time," Tigerclaw meowed. Firepaw jumped up immediately and bounded off across the clearing toward Bluestar's den. Bluestar was sitting outside, her tail flicking restlessly back and forth. When she saw Firepaw she stood up and looked steadily down at him. "Tigerclaw has told me that he saw you talking

with a cat from the Twolegplace today," she meowed quietly. "But—" Firepaw began. "He said that you began by fighting with this cat but ended up sharing tongues with it." "That's true," Firepaw admitted, feeling his fur prickle defensively. "But he was an old friend. We grew up together." He paused and swallowed. "When I was a kittypet." Bluestar looked at him for a long moment. "Do you miss your old life, Firepaw?" she asked. "Think carefully, now." "No." How can Bluestar think that? Firepaw wondered. His head was spinning. What was Bluestar trying to make him say? "Do you wish to leave the Clan?" "Of course not!" Firepaw was shocked by her question. Bluestar didn't seem to hear the passion in his answer. She shook her head, looking suddenly old and tired. "I won't judge you if you leave us, Firepaw. Perhaps I expected too much of you. Perhaps my judgment has been clouded by the Clan's need for new warriors."