Ravenpaw's Farewell (7 page)

They slept in the long grass
beside the waterfall, lulled by the soft splash of water, and woke as the first rays of sun crested the trees. Barley caught a squirrel, and Ravenpaw was relieved to see Bella eating as eagerly as her brother once more.

The river grew steadily narrower and shallower beside them until it was tumbling between steep sandy banks, with barely enough room for the cats to squeeze through beside the water. They walked in single file, Ravenpaw in the lead and Barley bringing up the rear. Riley and Bella were full of chatter, competing to spot minnows beneath the glittering surface. Ravenpaw only listened with half an ear; he knew they were approaching the end of the river, and that meant they could cross SkyClan's boundary at any moment.

“I'm as hot as a fox on fire!” Barley panted. “Can we find somewhere shady to stop?”

Ravenpaw narrowed his eyes. There seemed to be nothing but the stream and its sandy banks ahead of them. There were trees at the top of the banks, but he doubted they could scramble up the sheer slope. Then Riley squeezed past him.

“I'll take a look!” The gray tom ran a short distance along
the bank to some gorse bushes. He paused to sniff them, then vanished from sight.

When the others caught up to him, Riley was peeking smugly from a small cave sheltered by the gorse. It was cozy but shallow, with just enough room for the four cats to lie down.

“I'm hungry,” Bella mewed.

“We'll rest here for a moment, then find somewhere to hunt,” Ravenpaw promised. His paws were sore from the scorching sand, and his belly was aching. As the others settled around him, he closed his eyes.

Suddenly his nose filled with powerfully familiar scents. He heard soft whispers, not from his companions but from two other cats. These were voices he hadn't heard in a long time, and Ravenpaw's heart leaped. Although he couldn't make out the words, he knew he was listening to Firestar and Sandstorm. He could feel them all around him, nervous and excited. They had sheltered here too, knowing that their journey was close to its end.

I've done it!
Ravenpaw thought.
I have followed their paw steps to SkyClan!

He opened his eyes to see Bella standing at the entrance to the little cave, gazing out.

“I think I heard something!” she mewed. “Another cat!”

Ravenpaw took a deep breath. “We are close to SkyClan territory now,” he meowed. Three pairs of eyes stared at him in the dim light. “I don't think we've crossed their border, but we must tread carefully from now on. No Clan welcomes
trespassers.”

Riley licked his chest. “What if they don't like us?” he muttered.

“What if they think we're just dumb kittypets?” Bella added.

Barley rested his tail on her flank. “If you're not welcome, we'll take you home. We won't abandon you, I promise.”

Ravenpaw met his friend's gaze over the heads of the young cats and nodded.

They crept out of the cave and padded quietly along the stream. There was no sign of the cat that Bella thought she had seen, but Ravenpaw kept his mouth open to taste the air. The gorge widened, and the banks sloped downward until they were walking through trees beside the sparkling stream. Barley caught a young rabbit, and they ate quickly, with the older cats keeping a wary eye out for signs of the Clan.

The sky had filled with clouds, bringing an early dusk. Ravenpaw decided that they should spend the night here and enter SkyClan in the morning. Barley found a heap of dry leaves under a hazel tree, which would make a decent enough nest. Riley and Bella settled down obediently; they were much quieter than usual, as if they knew that the real adventure was about to begin. Ravenpaw asked Barley to stay with them while he scouted around the immediate area.

“We don't want SkyClan to find us sleeping a mouse-length from their border!” he pointed out, and Barley nodded.

Ravenpaw left the stream and slipped through the trees, pausing every few steps to sniff bushes and taste the air. There
was a strong smell of cats here, though he hadn't found any border marks yet. There were tangs of kittypet scent too, sometimes almost hidden beneath the wild-cat traces, at other times clear and sharp and unexpected so far from any Twoleg dens. Ravenpaw hadn't been anticipating such a mix of scents, even knowing that SkyClan had some warriors who lived as kittypets part of the time.

He returned to the hazel bush and lay down. Barley was fast asleep, snoring, but Riley and Bella were still awake.

“We're not sleepy!” Bella whispered.

“Tell us some more about the warrior code!” Riley begged.

Ravenpaw sighed. “Okay, but after that you must go to sleep. Who can remember the rules we've talked about so far?”

“You must be ready to die for your Clan,” Riley began. “And you can't be friends with cats from other Clans.”

“Don't trespass on another Clan's territory,” Bella mewed. She put her head to one side. “But if SkyClan is the only Clan around here, that doesn't matter, does it?”

Ravenpaw flicked his ears. “There could be loners in the woods who won't welcome visitors. Go on.”

“Elders and kits must eat first,” Riley meowed. “And you only kill something if you're going to eat it.”

“That's two rules!” Bella protested.

“You're both doing very well,” Ravenpaw told them. “Right, here are some more.” For a moment he was back in the training hollow, listening to Whitestorm addressing all the new apprentices. Kind, patient Whitestorm, who had tried so hard to make Ravenpaw's apprenticeship bearable. “A new
warrior keeps vigil for the whole Clan on their first night. A warrior must mentor at least one apprentice before they can become deputy.” Ravenpaw paused, racking his brain. “When the Clan leader dies, the deputy takes over.”

He stopped. Riley and Bella were very quiet, and their flanks rose and fell steadily. They had drifted off already. Ravenpaw curled up and tucked his chin into Barley's belly fur. Riley and Bella were trying so hard to learn about the life of a warrior; he just hoped SkyClan would give them a chance to try it for real.

“Ooh, what do we have here? Four little warriors lost in the woods?”

A shrill voice and a blast of hot breath jolted Ravenpaw awake. In a heartbeat he sprang to his feet, growling. Five cats circled the nest, eyes narrowed and ears flat back. These weren't warriors, though; they had the stench of kittypet about them, cloying and unwelcome among the leaves. Their fur was sleek and glossy, and they looked plump and overfed rather than well muscled. But their eyes were mean, and there was no mistaking the challenge in the first cat's voice.

“Swallowed your tongue?” he jeered. He was a dark tabby, almost black, with piercing green eyes. “I didn't think patrols were allowed to go to sleep!”

Ravenpaw heard the other cats stir beside him. “Leave us alone,” he snarled. “We're doing no harm.” He was confident that these weren't SkyClan warriors. They were too scornful of patrols, for a start. He took a step forward and let his fur
rise along his spine.

“You're so scary,” gasped the tabby, pretending to fall back. Then he leaned forward. “I'm joking. I don't like the look of you. You don't smell like those SkyClan fools, but you're scrawny enough to be wild. Go back to where you came from!”

“You'll have to make us,” rumbled Barley, stepping up alongside Ravenpaw.

For a moment the tabby looked less certain. Barley was broad-shouldered and tall, and there was menace in his growl.

“You heard what Pasha said,” meowed another kittypet. Her pelt was ginger and white. “Go away.” The other three cats took a pace forward so that they were looming over the nest.

Bella squeezed in between Barley and Ravenpaw. “And you heard what we said. We're not going unless you make us! We're warriors, so we know how to fight!”

“Warriors?” spat Pasha. “Ha, they don't scare us.” He twitched his ears at Ravenpaw. “Run along, squirrel-breath.”

Slam!

Quick as lightning, Ravenpaw raised his front leg and clouted the tabby between his ears. The kittypet staggered backward with a yowl.

“You'll regret that!” he hissed. He stalked toward Ravenpaw, his thick tail lashing.

One of his companions, a she-cat with silver and black patches, interrupted. “This is boring, Pasha. I'm getting cold. Can't we run through the gorge like we did last night? That was way more fun.”

“This bunch of weasels will be too easy to fight,” agreed the ginger-and-white she-cat.

Pasha glared once more at Ravenpaw. “If I see you again, you'll regret it,” he snarled. Then he whirled around and bounded into the trees. “Come on! Let's give SkyClan another surprise!”

Ravenpaw watched them vanish into the shadows. His heart was pounding, and his paw throbbed where he had struck the tabby.

“Well, they weren't very nice!” Bella exclaimed.

“It sounds like they're not that nice to SkyClan, either,” Barley commented. He arched an eyebrow at Ravenpaw. “Do you think they're going to invade the camp?”

Ravenpaw shrugged. “I think they're more hot air than action,” he meowed. “Otherwise they'd have shredded us while we were asleep. But I don't think they'll trouble us again tonight. Their Twolegs will expect them home before dawn.”

He lay down again and licked his sore paw. The others settled around him.

“I'll stay awake to make sure they don't come back,” Barley murmured in Ravenpaw's ear.

Ravenpaw nodded his thanks. They must be close to the border with SkyClan, judging by what those cats had said. Tomorrow Riley and Bella would see their new home for the first time.

If SkyClan will have them.

Ravenpaw didn't expect to go back
to sleep after the excitement of their night visitors, but he woke to find himself alone in the nest with sunbeams reaching under the edge of the branches.

“Barley?” he meowed.

“Right here,” came the reply, and Barley's black-and-white rump appeared, dragging a squirrel through the leaves. “We caught you something to eat,” he announced.

Riley and Bella's faces appeared at the edge of the bush. “We climbed a tree and chased it down to Barley!” Riley meowed.

“Wow,” mewed Ravenpaw, impressed. He recalled Firestar telling him about SkyClan's unusual skill in hunting above the ground. Perhaps Riley and Bella would fit in even better than he had imagined.

They shared the squirrel and buried the remains a little way from the bush. Then Riley found the way back to the stream, and they carried on, all of them alert to noises and scents from the trees around them.

Even so, Ravenpaw jumped when there was a blur of movement from behind a holly tree and three cats leaped out to
block their path. All were she-cats: A long-legged ginger warrior was flanked by a gray warrior and a smaller white cat who looked like an apprentice, judging by her trembling paws and huge eyes.

“What are you doing here?” growled the ginger cat. “This is SkyClan territory!”

Ravenpaw caught a strong scent from the holly bush, and he realized they were less than a fox-length from a border mark.

“You're not welcome here!” hissed the gray warrior.

“Yeah! You should make like a tree and
leave
!” chimed the little white cat. The gray cat looked down at her in surprise.

“But we've come a long way,” Riley began.

“Then you'll have a long walk home,” snarled the ginger cat.

“Wait,” Ravenpaw pleaded, stepping forward alongside Riley. “We come in peace. I am a friend of Firestar, who saved your Clan. Do you know him?”

The three cats looked blankly at him. Ravenpaw felt his heart sink. He hadn't anticipated that SkyClan might have forgotten all about the ThunderClan cats who helped them moons ago.

Then the ginger cat stirred. “My mother has talked about a cat of that name. What do you want? Is he here?”

Ravenpaw shook his head. “No, but he was once my closest friend, and I hoped that his friends in SkyClan would be prepared to speak to me.”

The ginger she-cat looked him up and down. “You don't smell like a Clan cat,” she commented. “You smell of cows.”

“I'm not a Clan cat,” Ravenpaw admitted. “At least, not
anymore. Look, is Leafstar still your leader? Please, may we speak with her? Tell her . . . tell her that Firestar's friend Ravenpaw is here.”

The warrior studied him for another heartbeat, then turned to the small white cat. “Cloudpaw, fetch my mother.” Cloudpaw nodded and scampered off.

Barley came up to join Ravenpaw. “I'm Barley,” he announced, dipping his head. “And these are Riley and Bella.”

The ginger she-cat twitched her tail. “I'm Firefern, and this is Plumwillow.”

“Er . . . nice territory,” Ravenpaw stammered, trying to break the strained silence.

“How would you know? You haven't seen it,” Plumwillow pointed out.

Barley caught Ravenpaw's eye and shook his head. It looked as if they weren't going to make friends with these warriors today.

Riley and Bella were just starting to fidget when Ravenpaw heard the sound of paw steps. Cloudpaw raced back along the stream, followed by a brown-and-cream tabby. She was not young, but she moved gracefully and her amber eyes were bright. She stood beside Firefern and studied the visitors.

“I am Leafstar, leader of SkyClan.” Her gaze met Ravenpaw's. “I remember Firestar talking about you. You left ThunderClan, didn't you?”

“Yes, I did,” Ravenpaw admitted. “I live with Barley now”—the black-and-white cat bowed—“and we have come here with Barley's kin Riley and Bella.”

“Do you still live near the Clans?” Leafstar asked. Ravenpaw nodded and was about to explain that the Clans had moved away when Leafstar went on. “Then you have come a long way. It must be important, whatever it is.”

Ravenpaw felt suddenly unprepared. How could he ask this cool, powerful leader if two complete strangers could join her Clan?

He hesitated for too long. Barley lifted his head and blurted out, “My sister Violet's kits want to become warriors. Please, could they join SkyClan? They've already started their training, and they're really good.”

Leafstar's eyes opened very wide. Beside her, Firefern and Plumwillow bristled. Cloudpaw leaned forward and sniffed Bella's fur. “That one smells funny,” she mewed, recoiling. “She can't be a warrior!”

“Do we look like we take in strays?” Firefern growled.

“I'm not a stray!” puffed Riley.

“Hush!” Leafstar ordered, raising her tail. “SkyClan is honored by your request. I appreciate that you have traveled a long way. But it's not that simple. SkyClan is strong and thriving as it is. We don't need to recruit warriors from outside, as we have done in the past. We have enough loyal warriors already.”

Ravenpaw felt as if the ground were opening under his paws.
She didn't even give Riley and Bella a chance!
He had imagined Leafstar being reluctant, of course, but he had hoped he'd be able to persuade her when she saw how determined the young cats were, and how much they had learned so far.

“Is it because we used to be kittypets?” Bella meowed.
“Because Ravenpaw told us that some of your warriors are still kittypets. We'd be warriors all the time, I promise!”

Leafstar blinked. “It's true that SkyClan has daylight warriors, but they have trained with us for many seasons, and I trust their loyalty to their Clanmates.”

“We could train too!” Riley argued; Barley hushed him with a sweep of his tail across the young cat's muzzle.

“I cannot fault their enthusiasm,” Leafstar commented to Ravenpaw. She tipped her head to one side. “But why have you come all this way to ask if they can join SkyClan? Why couldn't Firestar take Riley and Bella into ThunderClan?”

Ravenpaw blinked. “Because ThunderClan has gone,” he managed to say, feeling grief choke him afresh. “All the Clans have left the forest. The forest was torn up to make room for a Thunderpath, and there was nowhere for the warriors to stay. I watched them leave, but I . . . I don't know where they are now.”

Leafstar's eyes clouded. “Poor Firestar and Sandstorm, having to leave their home! I hope that they are safe, wherever they are.”

“I believe that they are,” Ravenpaw meowed. “StarClan would have told me if something terrible had happened, I think.” He noticed Barley shoot a sideways glance at him, and Ravenpaw felt a twinge of guilt. He rarely spoke of StarClan to his friend, and perhaps Barley had assumed that his warrior ancestors no longer meant anything to him.

Leafstar sighed. “I have tried to keep the memory of Firestar and Sandstorm alive in my Clan,” she murmured. “SkyClan
owes everything to them. But many seasons have passed, and not all my warriors were there in the beginning.” She drew herself up again. “Any friend of Firestar's is welcome to visit my Clan, but only as our guest. We will always be grateful for what Firestar and Sandstorm did. But we cannot accept unknown cats to train as warriors. I am sorry.”

She turned to leave, making it clear that her welcome to Firestar's friends began and ended at the border to her Clan. The other cats followed, except for Plumwillow, who paused to hiss, “Don't steal any of our prey!” before trotting after her Clanmates.

Ravenpaw stared at the disappearing warriors in dismay.

“They were
mean
!” Bella growled.

“They didn't even give us a chance to show off our battle moves!” Riley muttered.

“I'm sorry,” Ravenpaw mewed. “I didn't think she'd be like that.”

“Let's go back to that cave in the gorge,” Barley suggested. “I don't think we should hang around too close to the border.” He padded over to Bella, whose tail was drooping. “I'm still very proud of you,” he told her. “And you, Riley. You've learned so much on this journey! You're brave and strong and smart. You'd be great warriors. Wouldn't they, Ravenpaw?”

“Yes, of course.” Ravenpaw started to walk back down the stream. His pelt burned. Why had he raised the hopes of these young cats, all for nothing but sore paws and travel-stained fur? A sharp pain jabbed in his belly, and he stumbled.

In a heartbeat Barley was beside him, propping him up.
“Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” Ravenpaw rasped. “I'll be okay once we get to the cave.”

Barley stayed beside him, fussing, until he was settled on the dusty orange floor. Riley and Bella slumped down beside him with their chins on their paws.

“I'll go hunt,” Barley meowed. “You stay here and rest.”

Ravenpaw slept deeply until something prodded him in his side, sending a spasm through his belly. Riley and Bella were standing in the cave beside him, their eyes huge. It was dark—Ravenpaw had slept for longer than he thought—and Barley was curled at his back.

“Something's happening!” Bella squeaked.

Ravenpaw pricked his ears. Faint yowls and shrieks echoed along the banks of the gorge.

“Do you think SkyClan is being attacked?” whispered Riley.

“I don't know. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good.” Ravenpaw stood up and walked to the mouth of the cave.

“Where are you going?” Barley rumbled, sitting up.

“To see what's going on.”

“Not without me,” meowed Barley.

“Or us!” Riley and Bella put in.

Ravenpaw sighed. “Okay. But you'll have to be quiet.”

“We'll be quiet as mice,” Riley promised.

Bella put her head to one side. “Actually, mice are noisy. Always squeaking and rustling around.”

“Quieter than dead mice, then!” her brother hissed.

They padded along the stream to where the banks flattened out among the trees. The sounds of cats in distress grew louder. Ravenpaw passed the holly bush with the border mark and glanced back at the others, nodding to show that they should follow. Now they were inside SkyClan's territory. Ravenpaw felt his fur stand on end, but he kept going, still treading quietly even though any noise they might make would be drowned out by the screeches coming from in front of them.

He reached the edge of the trees and paused. In the starlight, Ravenpaw made out a huge, dark shape looming over the stream. A rock, perhaps? Beyond it, cats flashed back and forth between sandy cliffs, shrieking in alarm and fury. Ravenpaw twitched his tail to get the others' attention, then raced to the nearest cliff, which sloped up gently at first, then more steeply, to a huge expanse of scrubby grass. On the far side, bright yellow lights twinkled; that must be a Twolegplace, Ravenpaw guessed.

He padded to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He felt very exposed, but none of the cats in the gorge below noticed him. Barley, Riley, and Bella crept up beside him and stared in horror. Amid the crisscrossing paths that lined the valley, cats were charging back and forth, yowling in anger. A heap of soft, dark shapes went flying; from the scents that drifted up to the top of the cliff, Ravenpaw guessed that the fresh-kill pile had been scattered.

As Ravenpaw's eyes grew used to the starlight, he realized
that five or six cats were chasing the others, rousting them with shrieks and hisses. More and more cats spilled from dens in the side of the cliff, including some tiny kits who looked barely able to walk.

“Get them back to the nursery!” screeched a she-cat.

“Poor little kits, too small to be away from their mother,” jeered a familiar voice.

Ravenpaw looked at Barley. That was Pasha! He peered into the gorge again and made out the shapes of the other cats who had terrorized them the previous night. Were they taking on the whole of SkyClan?