Path Of A Warrior

Thunderstar looked as if he wanted to speak again, but seemed to change his mind as Windstar and Riverstar joined them on top of the Great Rock.

“I notice you don’t have a new deputy yet,” Windstar remarked briskly to Shadowstar. “A leader needs a deputy to bear some of the weight of running a Clan.”

Shadowstar’s tail twitched with irritation, but Skystar broke in, addressing all the cats in the clearing. “Now that we’re all finally here, I need to speak. I don’t have time to tell you how our prey is running or to listen to a list of new apprentices in another Clan,” he yowled. “We have a serious problem.”

“What’s the matter?” Riverstar asked.

“I warned you all about the Twolegs,” Skystar went on. “I tried to tell you at the last Gathering, but you said not to worry, that there was nothing Twolegs wanted in the forest.”

“Oh, this again,” Windstar broke in with an irritable flick of her tail. “A few Twolegs walk across your territory, and you get all worked up.”

“It’s not ‘a few Twolegs,’” Skystar mewed indignantly. “More and more of them are coming, more often now. Sometimes they come in groups, with big Twoleg monsters. They’ve been patrolling, looking very carefully at SkyClan’s territory. I think they’re hoping to take it over as their own. If they do, what will happen to SkyClan?”

“But why would they want your territory?” Riverstar asked reasonably. “Twolegs live in those big dens like mountains. The forest isn’t their kind of place at all.”

“No, Skystar’s right,” Thunderstar broke in. “I’ve seen them, and they’re acting like the forest is theirs. Maybe they want to build some of their dens on forest land.”

“Even if that’s true,” Windstar replied, “this sounds like SkyClan’s problem, not WindClan’s.”

There was an outbreak of angry yowling from the cats gathered in the clearing below.

“So WindClan would be happy enough for SkyClan to be destroyed?” Quick Water, one of Skystar’s cats, snarled, rearing back onto her hind legs.

“We can’t turn our backs on other Clans!” Pink Eyes, a white-furred ThunderClan warrior, looked shocked.

Even Moth Flight, Windstar’s own daughter and her Clan’s medicine cat, was staring at her mother, hissing: “There must be five Clans! We have to protect one another!”

Windstar flicked her tail again, her yellow eyes darkening resentfully.

“If SkyClan lost territory, it would be every Clan’s problem,” Thunderstar meowed firmly. “We should discuss where SkyClan could go if the worst happened. Maybe we should talk about redrawing our borders.”

There was an outcry from the clearing below—cats yowling over one another—and the ginger tom hissed at them for silence.

Riverstar’s eyes narrowed, but his voice remained calm. “Are you suggesting sharing some of ThunderClan’s territory with SkyClan? It is the closest.”

Thunderstar drew back. “We’re all in this together,” he protested. “ThunderClan will change its borders only if every Clan does.”

From the base of the Great Rock, WindClan’s deputy, Gorse Fur, hissed, “WindClan will fight for the moor. We need our territory.”

“Gorse Fur is right,” Windstar agreed. “Changing our borders would mean less prey for every Clan. And prey on the moors is hard to catch—do ThunderClan and SkyClan really think they can survive by hunting rabbits like we do?”

Shadowstar could see cats in the clearing exchanging dubious looks. The warriors who had joined WindClan were the fastest in the forest—long-legged hunters who ran like the wind their leader was named after. ThunderClan and SkyClan cats were better suited to climbing trees or pouncing on smaller prey. And ShadowClan cats are better at stalking through the shadows of the pine forest, she thought, looking at her stealthy warriors. As for RiverClan …

“RiverClan cats swim for their prey,” Riverstar added, echoing Shadowstar’s thoughts. “Does any other Clan really plan to share our hunting grounds?”

Skystar’s fur bristled. “We have always been able to adapt,” he said fiercely. “When I came from the mountains, I learned to hunt on the moor and in the forest. SkyClan cats will hunt wherever they need to.”

Windstar rounded on him, showing her teeth. “So many cats fought and died to establish our boundaries,” she hissed. “Do you think changing them wouldn’t lead to new conflict?”

“So would SkyClan being made homeless!” Skystar growled. He turned to Shadowstar. “You said you’d support me with the other Clans if the Twolegs kept patrolling my land,” he reminded her. “Will you speak for me now?”

Shadowstar felt as if she’d missed her footing in the dark. Every cat’s eye was on her. Did Skystar really expect her to agree to redraw ShadowClan’s borders? “I want SkyClan to be safe,” she mewed defensively, “but I never agreed to give up territory.”

Skystar growled at her, a thick, guttural sound, his eyes flashing. “I knew ShadowClan could not be trusted,” he snarled.