The Fourth Apprentice

Dovepaw flicked her sister’s nose with the tip of her tail. “You can try.”

Brambleclaw gathered his patrol together with a sweep of his tail and led the way out of the thorn tunnel. As soon as they set off into the forest, Lionblaze realized that they were heading for ShadowClan territory.

“Wouldn’t it be safer to go the other way, past WindClan?” he suggested.

Brambleclaw gave him a brief glance from thoughtful amber eyes. “We’ve had just as much trouble with WindClan lately,” he replied. “Besides, it’s farther that way, and I’m not sure how long Rainstorm will be able to keep going. I think that if we cut straight across the mud, staying between what’s left of the lake and ShadowClan’s territory, we shouldn’t have any problems.”

“I hope you’re right,” Lionblaze muttered.

They emerged from the trees not far from the stream that marked the border with ShadowClan. Lionblaze shot a dismayed glance at the exposed mud at the bottom. “This stream used to be full to the brim,” he told Dovepaw as she padded up to stand beside him and peered down curiously at the empty stream. “Water flowed constantly into the lake, but now most of it is gone.”

“Is that why the lake has shrunk?” Dovepaw asked, tipping her head to one side.

“Partly,” Lionblaze replied.

“So why did the stream go away?”

“No cat knows. I suppose it must be the heat.”

Dovepaw stared upstream to where the channel curved away, hidden beneath wilting clumps of fern. Her whiskers were quivering and her claws flexed in and out.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Lionblaze told her. “Let’s keep going.”

Dovepaw jumped as if he had startled her, though he couldn’t see what had sent her into such deep concentration.

“What—” he began, but at that moment a yowl interrupted him. “Lionblaze! Are you with this patrol or not?”

Brambleclaw had led the rest of the cats out onto the dried-up lake and paused, glancing back over his shoulder as he called out to Lionblaze.

“Sorry!” Lionblaze called back. With Dovepaw scampering behind him, he raced onto the hard brown mud and fell in at the back of the patrol. “Stay beside me,” he warned Dovepaw. “And if we see any ShadowClan warriors, let Brambleclaw handle it.”

“What if they attack us?” Dovepaw mewed; she looked excited rather than afraid.

“I don’t think they will. But if they do,” Lionblaze warned her, “stay out of it if you possibly can. You’re not trained; a ShadowClan warrior could turn you into crow-food with one paw.”

“Couldn’t,” Dovepaw muttered under her breath, just loud enough for her mentor to hear.

Lionblaze didn’t scold her. He remembered what it had felt like to be an apprentice, desperate to prove himself and learn all the skills of a warrior. He liked this little she-cat; she was brave and curious, and he guessed she would learn quickly.

Are you the One? he wondered as he watched her padding purposefully across the mud, her gaze flicking from side to side as if she was checking for the approach of ShadowClan cats. Or is it your sister? I wish StarClan would send us a sign.

To his relief, there was no trace of ShadowClan patrols as the ThunderClan cats trekked across the mud. Lionblaze couldn’t help feeling as if hostile eyes were gazing at him from the undergrowth on the bank, but no cats appeared.

The last of the sunlight was fading and the moon had risen above the trees by the time the patrol reached the edge of RiverClan territory.

“You go ahead now,” Brambleclaw meowed to Rainstorm. “Lead us to your camp.”

“There’s no need for you to go anywhere near our camp,” Rainstorm retorted, sounding a bit more belligerent now that he was back on his own territory. “I’ll be fine on my own from now on.”

“I want Leopardstar to hear our side of what happened,” Brambleclaw replied; only a tiny flick of the tip of his tail told Lionblaze that he was irritated. “And if she offers us some fish in return for looking after you, we won’t say no.”

“We don’t have any prey to share with other Clans,” Rainstorm snapped as he turned and led the way up the bank and onto RiverClan territory.

The RiverClan cats had made their camp on a wedge of land between two streams. Usually the waters ran high, but now the land was completely dry. The lush growth of plants that normally edged the stream had wilted and shriveled, exposing soil baked hard by the sun. The smell of rotting weed and dead fish hung in the air like smoke.

Lionblaze’s fur prickled. They were trespassing on another Clan’s territory, and even though they had good reason, the RiverClan cats might not see it that way.

“Will they drive us off?” Dovepaw asked in a whisper.

Lionblaze jumped; he had done his best to hide his worries from his apprentice, and he hadn’t expected her to be so perceptive. “It’s possible,” he whispered back. “If there’s any trouble, stay close to me. And keep your eyes and ears open.”