Squirrelflight thanked him with a brisk lick between his ears. “That was thoughtful.”
“It’s nothing,” he muttered. He turned away before she could do anything else embarrassing, though he couldn’t ignore the small glimmer of happiness that flickered in his chest.
Suddenly pawsteps drummed through the entrance and skidded to a halt. It was Lionpaw and Hollypaw; their excitement howled into the camp like a rush of wind, rippling Jaypaw’s fur.
“They’re here!” Lionpaw panted.
Hollypaw trotted in circles, unable to keep still.
“WindClan are heading down toward the lake!”
Foxkit’s and Icekit’s tiny paws pattered from the nursery.
“Are they really here?” Foxkit demanded.
“Any sign of ShadowClan?” Icekit’s mew was tinged with nervousness.
“Not yet,” Lionpaw told him. “But it looks like just about the whole of WindClan have come.”
“I wish we were going!” Foxkit mewed.
“We’ll have fun here,” Ferncloud called from the nursery entrance.
“Why do we have to stay in camp?” Icekit wailed. “It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Jaypaw growled, and padded mutinously back to the medicine den.
Birchfall and Thornclaw pounded through the thorn tunnel, their patrols crowding after them. Jaypaw smelled the delicious flavors of fresh-kill. Every cat must have caught a piece of prey.
“Well done!” Firestar told them. “No cat will go hungry today.”
A yowl rang through the forest above the hollow.
“That’s Leopardstar!” Lionpaw mewed. “RiverClan have arrived!”
“It must be time to go,” Hollypaw put in. “The Gathering starts at sunhigh.”
Hollypaw was taking part in one of the first contests, a match to see which apprentice had the best fighting skills. At the same time, Lionpaw would be set against a WindClan apprentice in a hunting contest. Jealousy seared Jaypaw’s fur.
Rocks clattered from Highledge as Firestar bounded down into the clearing, but Jaypaw nosed his way into the medicine den, away from the eager mews of the warriors and apprentices as they paced impatiently around the entrance. He tried to block his ears as Firestar called “Good luck!” to the Clan.
But he still heard the drumming of paws as ThunderClan raced away through the thorn tunnel.
An eerie silence gripped the camp.
“Jaypaw.” Leafpool’s mew sounded from the herb store.
“Will you help me make up some poultices?”
Jaypaw forced away his black thoughts and padded to Leafpool’s side to begin chewing up some of the dock he had brought back earlier. As they worked, Icekit and Foxkit charged noisily around the clearing.
“Don’t forget,” Ferncloud was calling, “you each have to bring me a beetle, some moss, and a fly.”
“I’m going to win!” Icekit mewed.
“No, you won’t,” Foxkit replied. “I’ll find them first and I’ll be champion!”
Their mews echoed around the deserted camp, and Jaypaw was aware of the emptiness like hunger in the pit of his belly.
“That’s enough for now.” Leafpool’s mew took him by surprise. “There’s enough there for scratches on every cat in all four Clans.”
Jaypaw spat out the last mouthful of dock and sat back on his haunches, licking his paws to clear the taste from his tongue.
“I should be at the Gathering, in case there are injuries,”
the medicine cat announced. “Besides, I want to go and watch Hollypaw fight. Why don’t you come with me?”
Jaypaw shook his head. There was no way he was going if
he wasn’t allowed to take part.
“Very well.” Leafpool didn’t try to persuade him. Instead she padded quietly out of the den.
Left alone, Jaypaw suddenly felt lost. Far in the distance he could hear the excited cries of warriors and their apprentices drifting through the trees. He wanted to wail to StarClan that it wasn’t fair. But he would not behave like a kit, however much he was treated like one. Instead, he began to tidy up the herbs, pushing all the leaves into neat piles and lining up the poultices, ready for any cats who might return injured.
Suddenly a strange sensation began to prick his tail. It crawled along his spine, setting his pelt tingling. Images flooded his mind, swelling behind his eyes.
He was buried, unable to breathe, choking on dry earth soaked in the stench of fox and badger. His mind swirled in terror. Where was the fox? The badger? He expected to feel their teeth rip his flesh at any moment. He stared wildly around, but all he could see was crumbling brown soil. Above him light flickered, then dimmed as more soil tumbled down on him, stinging his eyes, filling his ears and nostrils. He was drowning—not in water this time, but
“Help!” Dirt filled his mouth as he tried to scream.
He scrabbled desperately, trying to fight his way out. Was StarClan so disappointed that they had ordered the earth to swallow him up? He kicked out with his hind legs, trying to fight his way up. His lungs were screaming for air. He could see his paws churning in front of his muzzle. But they were not his own mottled paws; they were pale and wide, their fur
thick and bunched at the claws.
He was seeing through Lionpaw’s eyes!
Jaypaw drove the images out of his head and knew he was back in the medicine den, surrounded by the scent of leaves and with the hollow empty and silent outside.
Where was Lionpaw right now?
The hunting contest!
He would be scouring the ShadowClan border for prey.
Like lightning, Jaypaw shot out of the medicine den and pelted into the forest, every sense alive as he wove through the undergrowth like a snake. He had to get to Lionpaw before this
Hollypaw watched as Lionpaw and Breezepaw scampered up the slope and disappeared among the trees to hunt. The fur along Lionpaw’s spine was spiked with excitement.
“Hollypaw, are you ready?” Onestar called.
Hollypaw spun around. Heatherpaw was already waiting on the patch of smooth grass, circled by warriors and apprentices, her shoulders squared, ready for the match.
“Come on, Hollypaw,” Brambleclaw urged. He stood beside Brackenfur, his eyes shining.
Hollypaw could hear the excited murmuring of the Clan cats. She felt as though fish were wriggling in her belly, but she wasn’t going to show any cat she was nervous. She crouched opposite Heatherpaw, narrowing her eyes.
“Keep your claws sheathed,” Onestar ordered. He swept
his tail over the grass, and Hollypaw tensed. The WindClan apprentice was small, but Hollypaw knew that Heatherpaw had two moons’ more experience than she did, and that her sleek pelt hid hard muscle.
“Begin!” Onestar called.
Heatherpaw leaped. She crashed into Hollypaw, bowling her over. Hollypaw felt teeth grip her scruff, not hard enough to break the skin, but firm enough to make her freeze with alarm. She couldn’t be beaten this easily! Heatherpaw had caught her like a rabbit.
Thinking quickly, Hollypaw tucked her head and kicked out with her hind legs. She somersaulted forward, taking Heatherpaw with her and sending the WindClan apprentice sprawling onto her back. Free of her grip, Hollypaw leaped up, spun around, and flew at Heatherpaw. But her rival had rolled out of the way. Seething, Hollypaw landed on bare grass.
She glanced sideways. Heatherpaw was darting toward her. Energy flashed in her paws, and she leaped high
