Outcast

“They know we can’t stop them,” Night added bitterly.

“What does Stoneteller think?” Brook asked.

Talon shrugged. “He says we shouldn’t challenge them, for our own safety.”

What good is that? Hollypaw wondered. Stoneteller is the Tribe’s leader. He should do something!

Brook shook her head, dropping back a few paces so that she could brush pelts with Stormfur as they continued up the valley. The gray warrior had been silent through the encounter with the intruders. His eyes were full of sorrow; Hollypaw guessed he was remembering the battle he had led the Tribe into, and the cats who had lost their lives.

Scarlet streaked the sky as the sun went down. The jutting mountain peaks cast deep shadows; in the open the rocks looked as if they were bathed with blood. Hollypaw shivered, imagining she could hear the shrieks of cats dying in battle.

A ridge of broken rock blocked the entrance to the valley.

Hollypaw reached the top after a hard scramble and stood looking out across a range of bare rock and plunging precipices, as far as she could see in all directions. A stiff breeze ruffled her fur, and she tried to dig her claws into the rock to keep her balance. She couldn’t imagine where cats might live in this stony wilderness.

Talon padded toward one end of the ridge, overlooking a shelf of flat rock. “This way,” he called.

The other cats began to follow him, except for Breezepaw, who bounded off to one side. “This way looks quicker!”

Hollypaw rolled her eyes. You don’t know where you’re going, mouse-brain!

Almost at once a terrified yowl burst from the WindClan apprentice. He was sliding forward, scrabbling frantically to stop himself. Hollypaw saw that a chasm split the top of the ridge, hidden from sight in the shadows.

She darted across to help Breezepaw, but Crowfeather raced past her. He fastened his teeth in Breezepaw’s tail and dragged him backward until he could stand safely on the flat top of the ridge.

Breezepaw let out a screech of pain. “My sore tail!”

“Tough,” Crowfeather snarled. “Next time, think before you start showing off, and do what the Tribe cats tell you.”

Breezepaw glared at his father, then padded after the others with his head and tail drooping.

“Pity,” Lionpaw commented as the WindClan apprentice caught up to him. “I was looking forward to seeing you bounce all the way to the bottom of the mountain.”

“Shut up, stupid furball!”

“That’s enough.” Tawnypelt thrust her way between the two apprentices. “For StarClan’s sake, stop bickering.”

Lionpaw muttered, “Sorry,” and gave his chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks, while Breezepaw just ignored her. They were all tired and hungry, Hollypaw thought, and more tempers were likely to snap if they didn’t reach the Tribe’s home soon.

Talon led the cats to the far end of the ridge where a narrow trail led downward, only wide enough for one cat to follow at a time. As Hollypaw waited for her turn she heard the beating of wings overhead. A black shadow passed over her.

With a startled yowl she flattened herself against the rock.

She saw her mother throw herself on top of Jaypaw.

Daring to lift her head, Hollypaw saw an enormous brown bird with its wings spread wide as it skimmed the ridge and headed for the rocks below. Cruel, hooked talons stretched to seize the body of a mouse that lay a few tail-lengths farther down. Hollypaw’s belly rumbled. Though Clan cats didn’t eat crow-food, she was so hungry that she wouldn’t have said no to that mouse.

As the eagle’s talons closed around the limp body, four cats erupted from the shadows among the rocks. Hollypaw’s jaws gaped and her eyes stretched wide with amazement as they seized the huge bird. It let out a harsh screech and its wings beat frantically as it tried to take off. It managed to rise a tail-length above the ground, but the weight of cats dragging it down was too much. It flopped back onto the rock in a flurry of wings. The thin, gray-brown cats swarmed all over it. One of them pounced on its neck and bit down. There was a last spasm of struggling and then the eagle went limp.

“Great catch!” Talon yowled.

All four cats froze, looking upward. One of them called out, “Talon!” They sounded astonished, staring at one another and the group of cats on the ridge.

Stormfur came to stand beside Hollypaw. “Welcome to the Tribe of Rushing Water,” he meowed.

Chapter 20

Lionpaw followed Talon as he picked his way down the trail to the rocks below. The cats who had killed the eagle were waiting for them, their eyes guarded and their tails twitching.

A pale gray tom stepped forward to touch noses with Talon. “It’s good to see you again,” he mewed. There was warmth in his voice. “And you, Night,” he added, as the black she-cat padded up to join them.

“Thank you, Gray,” Talon replied.