The Fourth Apprentice

Toadfoot looped around one den and started to lead the cats back toward the stream. Lionblaze caught a glimpse of Petalfur and Rippletail; the RiverClan cats were dropping back, and Petalfur was limping.

“Lionblaze, look!” Dovepaw gasped; she had seen them, too.

Before Lionblaze could make a move, a young male Twoleg, bigger than the other kits, swooped down and grabbed Petalfur. As the Twoleg swung her up into the air, the RiverClan cat let out a terrified squeal and struggled to get free.

“Help!” Rippletail yowled. “Don’t leave her!”

At the head of the patrol, Toadfoot turned and raced back toward the young Twoleg. “Make a circle!” he snapped. “If we want him to drop Petalfur, we’ll have to show him we’re not afraid to fight.”

Whitetail, Sedgewhisker, and Rippletail exchanged horrified glances, but they ran into place, trembling, until they surrounded the Twoleg. Lionblaze slipped in between Dovepaw and Tigerheart. Taking their lead from Toadfoot, the patrol began to close in on the young Twoleg, stalking through the grass and hissing.

“Let her go!” Lionblaze snarled.

From behind him, a full-grown Twoleg let out a bellow. The young Twoleg dropped Petalfur; the RiverClan cat plunged to the ground and stood shakily on her paws.

“Quick!” Toadfoot gathered the patrol with a whisk of his tail and led them at full pelt past the young Twoleg. Rippletail ran beside Petalfur, guiding her by pressing up against her shoulder. More Twolegs were pounding toward them; the patrol split into two at a nod from Toadfoot, and veered into a pair of pelt-dens.

Lionblaze hurtled into the weird blue-green light with Dovepaw and Tigerheart behind him. Glancing back, he saw Dovepaw crash into a pile of hard Twoleg stuff that clattered and rolled all around her, almost carrying her off her paws. Recovering, she raced across a soft pelt laid on the ground and ducked under another pelt that was hanging from the roof of the den; it fell with a soft flop, burying her under stifling folds.

Dovepaw let out a terrified screech, clawing wildly to free herself.

“Help her!” Lionblaze snapped at Tigerheart, while he scrabbled at the bottom of the outer pelt, trying to find a way out.

Tigerheart tugged at the pelt until Dovepaw managed to thrust her head out; she gulped in air and dragged herself the rest of the way, shaking the pelt off her hindquarters as she regained her paws.

Lionblaze found a loose fold in the outer pelt and held it up in his teeth to make a gap. It tasted foul, like licking the trail left by a monster on the Thunderpath. Tigerheart wriggled through and Dovepaw followed, popping out into the harsh sunlight of the clearing. As Lionblaze wriggled out behind them, something heavy whizzed past his head and landed with a thump in a bramble thicket that bordered the clearing.

Dovepaw jumped in alarm, then plunged off again when she spotted Toadfoot just ahead. Lionblaze followed, making sure Tigerheart was still with them. Toadfoot led the patrol past the outlying pelt-dens and into the bracken at the edge of the clearing. As he thrust his way through it, Lionblaze picked up the ThunderClan scent marks and realized that he had crossed into his own territory.

The rest of the patrol bundled into the ferns beside him, where they crouched, panting, while the Twolegs in the clearing went on baying. Toadfoot was the last to arrive; he stood glaring at the rest of the cats with his tail lashing furiously.

“This is hopeless!” he hissed. “We can’t even get out of our own territory without running into trouble. Thanks to that apprentice!” he added, turning his glare on Dovepaw.

Lionblaze saw Dovepaw stiffen, the fur on her neck and shoulders beginning to rise. Toadfoot, you mouse-brain, it was you who led us straight into the Twolegs! he thought. He stretched out his tail to give Dovepaw a calming touch on her shoulder. “Young cats are curious,” he replied, his voice level. “If the Twolegs weren’t crazy, this would never have happened.”

Toadfoot let out an angry snort. “This quest is over before it’s begun,” he growled. “We don’t even know what we’re going to find at the end of the stream. What makes us think we can refill the lake when we panic over a few Twolegs?”

“I think you’re wrong,” Whitetail stated; she was still trembling, but she stood squarely in front of the young ShadowClan warrior. “Okay, we had a narrow escape, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up. We’re not helping our Clans by staying in our own territories and watching the lake shrink even further.”

Rippletail, who was crouched beside the shivering Petalfur, trying to comfort her, looked up at that, his neck fur bristling. “Are you trying to blame RiverClan? None of you realizes how hard this is for us. We need the lake for food!”

“No, I’m not blaming you!” Whitetail replied indignantly. “What did I say that would make you think that?”

Lionblaze rose to his paws and stepped between Whitetail and the enraged RiverClan warrior. “We’re wasting time,” he meowed. “We need to keep going. Next time we’ll avoid the Twolegs.”

“If there is a next time, you-” Toadfoot began.

“Hey, we survived, didn’t we?” Tigerheart interrupted his Clanmate. Of all the cats, Lionblaze thought Tigerheart was the least affected by their danger; his eyes were gleaming, as if he had enjoyed the excitement. “We showed those dumb Twolegs! They were terrified! Who cares if we meet them again?” Turning to Dovepaw, he added, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Lionblaze felt faintly amused as he saw Dovepaw’s jaws drop open in outrage. “I can protect myself!”

“We can all look after ourselves.” Sedgewhisker unexpectedly backed Dovepaw up. “After all, that’s why we were chosen, right? Because our Clans thought we had the best chance of solving the problem with the stream?”

“That’s true,” Lionblaze meowed.

Petalfur raised her head; she was still shaking so much she could hardly speak, but she gazed bravely at the other cats. “I think we should go on,” she mewed. “I’ve watched my Clanmates starving around me, and I can’t do that anymore! Thinking of that gives me courage.”

“Well said, Petalfur,” Whitetail mewed quietly.

“Then we keep going.” Lionblaze spoke before Toadfoot had a chance to argue. With a glance at the ShadowClan warrior, he added, “And since we’re in ThunderClan territory now, I’ll take the lead.”

CHAPTER 13

Lionblaze cast sidelong glances at Dovepaw as she padded beside him along the narrow trails underneath the ferns. Her fur was still standing on end from the encounter with the Twolegs, and he could see a ring of white around her eyes.

Were we wrong to bring her? he wondered. She’s been apprenticed for only a moon. He shook his head. No, we need her, he told himself. Lionblaze thought of the time he had journeyed into the mountains with his littermates, to the Tribe of Rushing Water. They had only been apprentices then, and they’d managed fine. Dovepaw will be fine, too. She has to be.

The sun was rising higher in the sky when the cats approached the point where the stream veered off into ShadowClan territory. Lionblaze halted and gazed across the dried-up streambed into the pine forests, where brown needles covered the ground and the undergrowth was patchy.

Toadfoot padded up. “I think we should rest here for a while and eat,” he meowed. He nodded toward the two RiverClan cats. “They look ready to fall over.”

Lionblaze didn’t like his sneering tone, and he didn’t want to side with Toadfoot against the other Clans, but he had to admit that the ShadowClan warrior was right. All the cats were tired from fleeing the Twolegs, and from the increasing heat, but Rippletail and Petalfur looked exhausted. Petalfur had already flopped down on her side among the ferns, breathing heavily.

I’m not surprised the RiverClan cats are finding it hard, Lionblaze thought. They’re better at swimming than walking.