River Of Fire

“Hi, Jayfeather,” he meowed. “Can I do anything to help?”

Jayfeather’s only reply was a slight shake of his head. He straightened up from examining Rosepetal. “It’s only a sore throat,” he told her. “I’ll give you some tansy for it, but you can go back to your warrior duties.” Then his glance fell on Alderheart and Velvet. “On second thought,” he added to Rosepetal, “maybe you’d better spend the night here.”

“Oh, come on, Jayfeather!” Rosepetal meowed. “It’s not that bad.”

“I still don’t want you passing the sickness on to other cats,” Jayfeather retorted. “We had enough of that with the bellyache. Velvet, how’s your leg doing?”

“It’s much better, thanks,” Velvet replied, clearly confused by the abrupt change of subject.

Jayfeather bent his head and gave the injury—barely visible now among Velvet’s long gray fur—a good sniff. “You’re right, it is,” he mewed. “Now that Rosepetal’s here, you’d better move into the apprentices’ den with Fuzzball. We need the space, and I don’t want to send you back to the Twolegplace sick.”

So that’s what it’s all about! Alderheart felt his shoulder fur beginning to bristle. He sensed that Jayfeather felt threatened because he and Velvet were so close, but he didn’t have to make her feel so unwelcome. He’s only fussing over Rosepetal because he wants Velvet out of our den.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to go back to the Twolegplace,” Velvet responded sadly. “I don’t know whether my housefolk will ever come home. But you’re right, Jayfeather. I shouldn’t take up space in the medicine-cat den now that I’m better.”

With a huge effort Alderheart made his pelt lie flat again. I don’t like this, but I have to admit that Jayfeather has a point. Velvet doesn’t need to be here anymore.

While Jayfeather was fetching the honey for Rosepetal, the bramble screen swayed back, and Twigpaw barreled into the den. “Guess what, Alderheart!” she exclaimed. “Sparkpelt and Bramblestar say that I’m ready for my warrior assessment.”

“That’s great news!” Alderheart told her.

“Larksong’s going to assess Finpaw, too,” Twigpaw continued, her eyes sparkling. “And I’m finally going to be a ThunderClan warrior!”

“I’m glad you’ve finally decided to settle down,” Jayfeather mewed waspishly.

“Pay no attention to him,” Rosepetal put in, with a flick of her tail at Jayfeather. “We’re all really pleased for you, Twigpaw.”

“Yes, congratulations,” Velvet added.

Alderheart could feel a purr surging through his whole body. He thought that he would burst with pride. I can’t believe that the tiny little kit Needletail and I found will be a warrior tomorrow!

“Come on,” he meowed to Velvet. “I’ll help you get settled into the apprentices’ den.”

“Oh, are you joining us, Velvet?” Twigpaw asked. “I’ll help you make a nest. It’s pretty crowded in there just now: there’s me and Finpaw, Eaglepaw, Shellpaw, Stempaw, and Plumpaw, as well as Fuzzball. But there’ll be two less after tomorrow!”

Still fizzing with excitement, she headed out of the den again.

Alderheart and Velvet followed more slowly. “I’ll miss having you around all the time,” Alderheart murmured as they padded across the camp. “You’ll still come and help in the medicine-cat den during the day, won’t you?”

Velvet’s reply was cut off by a disturbance at the mouth of the thorn tunnel. Poppyfrost, Shellpaw, and Bumblestripe were returning from a border patrol, but they weren’t alone. A strange cat was with them: a powerful tom who, for all his size and strength, looked very nervous to be entering a Clan camp. More of the ThunderClan cats were gathering around to find out who the stranger was.

“That’s Ajax!” Velvet exclaimed. “He’s a kittypet like me. He lives with his housefolk just a few dens away from mine.”

She veered aside to greet her friend, but before she reached him, Squirrelflight raced past and confronted the newcomer. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“We found this kittypet on ThunderClan territory,” Poppyfrost reported.

“We were going to chase him off,” Bumblestripe added, “but he said he was looking for Velvet and Fuzzball, so we thought we should bring him to camp.”

“And why are you looking for them?” Bramblestar asked, padding up to stand beside his deputy.

“I hope we’re not planning to take in more kittypets,” Sparkpelt put in, with an unfriendly look at Ajax.

“Right,” Thornclaw meowed. “We have too many as it is.”

Several other cats were murmuring agreement.

Squirrelflight whirled around, her gaze raking over them. “We’ll respect Bramblestar’s decision, whatever it is,” she snapped.

“But I don’t want to stay with you,” Ajax protested. “I like my housefolk just fine, thanks. I only want to talk to Velvet and Fuzzball.”