Fading Echoes

Firestar lashed his tail. “Let’s leave before StarClan calls a halt to this Gathering altogether.” He shot an angry look at Onestar and Blackstar. “ThunderClan is not making trouble and you know it.”

Dovepaw felt herself swept along by her Clanmates as they headed for the edge of the clearing. Blossompaw nudged her forward, while Millie, Brightheart, and Brackenfur jostled behind her.

Firestar held his ground a moment longer. “Think carefully,” he warned the WindClan and ShadowClan leaders, “before you accuse us of something we didn’t do!” He turned, curling his lip, and followed his Clan into the trees.

Chapter 10

Bright flowers nodded around the apprentice as she weaved, slender as a pine martin, through the grass. She sneezed as pollen dusted her soft muzzle. Then, relishing the sun on her back, she lifted her forepaws and peered over the curving stems. Wide-eyed, she gazed at the broad green pasture and breathed the soft scent of the shimmering grass.

A huge gray mare ambled past, its wide hooves thumping the earth and tearing trails through the grass. The she-cat scooted backward and sheltered beneath the lush leaves of a dock. Butterflies whirled up as the horse sauntered away. The apprentice scampered and leaped after them, swiping the air as they jerked on the breeze and scattered like windblown petals into the blue sky.

The air was heavy with greenleaf scent and, as the cat tasted the breeze, she caught the musky tang of prey. Nostrils flaring, she followed the scent, tail down, ears flat. She tracked it through dark green clover and around a clump of bobbing white flowers before catching sight of a tiny flicker of movement.

Mouse!

Nibbling at the juicy roots of a cowslip, it didn’t even flinch as she began to wiggle her hindquarters. Confident, she pounced, but as her front paws left the ground, her back brushed against a thick poppy stem. Red petals flashed and the mouse whisked into the clover, diving under cover so thick that the cat lost sight of its tiny brown body. She plunged in her paws, patting the ground crossly, claws plucking but finding nothing but earth and roots.

Mouse dung!

“Bad luck.”

The apprentice spun around as a deep mew sounded behind her. She blinked at the broad-shouldered tom gazing at her. His muzzle was scarred, and when he lifted a paw to flick away a fly, his long, hooked claws glinted in the sun.

“I-is this your field?” she mewed nervously.

“I visit here, just as you do,” the tom replied. He rested his paw on the ground and cocked his head.

“This is the first time I’ve been here,” she admitted.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve come,” purred the tom. “It gets lonely sometimes.”

“Do you live nearby?”

The tom didn’t answer, but nodded toward the patch of clover where the mouse had disappeared. “Too bad you lost it,” he commented. “I could show you how to pounce without arching your back, if you like.”

She nodded shyly. This tom didn’t smell like a Clan cat, though he was as smooth pelted and tightly muscled as any warrior. His scent was strange and reminded her of walking in the forest at night.

“Watch this.” Crouching, the tom leaped forward, skimming the ground, keeping his back smooth and straight as he landed so that only his flank grazed the overhanging stems without disturbing them.

The apprentice watched wide-eyed.

“You try it.” The tom nodded to a knot of moss. “Aim for that.”

The she-cat nodded and squatted down, ready to pounce. Wriggling her hindquarters, she bunched her muscles and sprang, but she skimmed the ground too closely and came to a skidding halt before her front paws reached the moss.

“Try again,” the tom coaxed.

Again the apprentice pounced, this time keeping farther off the ground, but when she tried to flatten her spine she lost her balance and landed clumsily, stumbling to one side and sending shivers through the grass.

“Again,” came the quiet encouragement.

Thinking hard this time, the apprentice backed up, stared at the moss, and let awareness of every muscle spread through her body. Then she jumped, raking the ground, curving her body to weave around the stems before landing perfectly, the ball of moss falling between her paws as naturally as if StarClan had placed it for her.

“Wow!” She sat up, pleased with herself. “I’ll show my sister that move.”

The tom looked around. “Is she here?”

The apprentice shook her head. “It’s just me.” She frowned, aware how strange it felt to be here alone, without the company of her littermate. “Maybe I can bring her next time.”

The tom looked quizzical. “Don’t you like to do things by yourself?”

The apprentice shook her head. “It’s much more fun with two.”

“Well, there are two of us.” His blue gaze reached intently into hers. “Is that okay?”

She nodded.

“I could show you a stalking technique, if you like,” the tom offered.

“I know all the basic ones,” the she-cat told him.