Chapter Two

"Skypaw! Breezepaw!"

Skypaw fluffed up his fur and basked in the pride of his Clanmates before leaping down from the Tall Stump and trotting over to his friends and family. Tigerfang purred and touched noses with him while Cloudpelt brushed his tail over his and Breezepaw's backs in approval.

"I know you'll be great warriors someday," Tigerfang mewed, nuzzling Breezepaw so fiercely that she nearly knocked him over.

"I hope you don't snore anymore," Silverpaw teased, prodding Skypaw's shoulder.

"I wouldn't know, but I'll be sure to make my nest right next to yours just in case," Skypaw laughed. Silverpaw and Duskpaw had been made apprentices the previous moon, and Skypaw had missed sleeping next to them. They had played in the nursery together all their lives, and while Skypaw understood that kits weren't allowed to train as warriors before their sixth moon for a reason, it hadn't made the loss of time with his friends any easier to bear.

"You'll have time to catch up later," Brownclaw said, looking quite pleased to have been given an apprentice after seasons of waiting. He'd spent most of the past moon's evenings showing Skypaw and Breezepaw the hunting crouch. Mousestar probably hadn't hesitated in choosing him to mentor Breezepaw. "It's time for both of you to see our territory."

"LightClan territory is usually safe, but you'll need to stay alert just in case," Dognose warned.

Silverpaw flicked Skypaw's ear with his tail before he walked away, but Skypaw hardly noticed. Even though it was against the rules, most kits did sneak out of camp at least once before they reached six moons, but Skypaw and Breezepaw hadn't had that chance for mischief under Tigerfang's close watch. Not that he could blame her for her caution. Skypaw's litter had been her first, and two of his littermates had wandered away and been killed by foxes while their mother slept. All of LightClan had tracked down the fox, but they had found it too late to save the kits.

I wish Gustkit and Tempestkit could be here today, Skypaw thought. He glanced up at the bright morning sky. Are they watching from StarClan right now? As he climbed out of the hollow that sheltered LightClan's camp with Breezepaw, Brownclaw, and Dognose, he whispered a cheer of, "Gustpaw! Tempestpaw!"

LightClan's territory stretched out before them from the top of the hollow, which was located at the highest point of the territory so the guards could easily survey the land for danger. The ground sloped downward toward the direction of the sunset, where a river divided the hills from the denser forest. Rainwater flowing down from the hill created several gullies.

Skypaw understood what Dognose meant about being alert now; some of the trenches were deep, and if a cat could get seriously hurt if they fell in on accident. The black tom spoke as if he had read Skypaw's mind, "The gullies can be a danger when you don't know where they are, but they also help protect LightClan from invaders. However, we must check them daily for foxes or badgers trying to settle in them, and for rogues and loners that might have fallen in and need help. Be careful when you approach—the sandy ground around them can give way and make you slip."

The group headed downhill toward the river along the gullies. Breezepaw and Skypaw placed their paws carefully behind Dognose, watching him closely to learn how they should walk near the gashes in the ground. They shifted their weight onto the side that was further away from the edge so they could recover quickly if they slipped. Behind them, Brownclaw meowed his approval. "Very good, both of you. The more you patrol, the more it will become second nature. In the future you'll be comfortable enough to look into the gullies when you pass, but for now let's focus on getting to the border."

Skypaw couldn't help but peek into the crevice. "I think I can see something!"

Dognose leaned over and glanced down. "A lizard, too small to be worth stopping. We'll show you how to hunt in the gullies another day. Just pay attention to where you're putting your paws for now."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Breezepaw's hind foot slipped on the loose ground. He yowled in alarm, but his weight was still shifted to his other side so he didn't fall in. Brownclaw nudged him to help him regain his balance and the group continued toward the rushing water.

Despite the greenleaf heat, the river was flowing rapidly. Skypaw took a swipe at it, shaking when his paw touched the cold water.

Breezepaw wrinkled his nose in disgusts. "What is that smell?" Skypaw looked up. The wind was blowing from the direction of the woods, carrying a heavy, musty stench with it. He winced and took a few steps back from the water's edge.

"That is NightClan," Brownclaw said. "The river marks where their territory begins—but you'll find that they feel the need to mark every inch of the border anyway."

Skypaw looked across the water at the thickly wooded area and the deep shadows between the tree trunks. Poor NightClan, he thought. Their territory was so crowded and dark and cold. How did they live without sunlight to warm their pelts and wind to smooth their fur? How did they hunt when they couldn't see where they were going? And worst of all—how could they be close to StarClan with so many trees blocking them out at night? He felt sorry for their rivals. If they ever trespassed onto LightClan territory to hunt and sun themselves, he'd understand why, but he'd still chase them off for breaking the warrior code.

"How do we visit their camp if we're separated by the river?" Breezepaw asked.

"There are stones a little further down that we can use to cross into NightClan territory, but we rarely have the need to do that since the Gathering place is on our side. Only Mousestar and Softflower have any need to cross." Dognose explained.

"Speaking of the Gathering place…" Brownclaw gestured with his tail, "It's in a hollow just over there. It is technically on LightClan territory, but it doesn't belong to us. We don't hunt there or mark the area out of respect. NightClan is already uneasy crossing our territory to get to the Gathering, so the last thing they need when they get there is to be reminded that they're in an unfamiliar place."

"Usually if NightClan warriors need to talk to us about something when it isn't a Gathering night, they wait there. Medicine cats also meet here before going to the Moonhill together," Dognose added.

Skypaw and Breezepaw kept their eyes open as they walked that way. Skypaw saw the hollow first, and Breezepaw saw the crossing stones, which were right across from the Gathering place. "Makes sense," Breezepaw commented.

The Gathering Place itself looked a lot like LightClan's camp; the sides sloped toward a pool of water and a few bushes grew near the bottom. The bushes at the top of the hollow helped keep the ground there in place, so edge of the hollow looked as if cats had scraped pawfuls from beneath the top to create cover in case it rained.

The group walked around the Gathering place once and continued on along the river.

"This area is a great for hunting," Brownclaw said, weaving through the tall grass. "There aren't any gullies to fall into and the ground is fairly flat, so you can build up enough speed to run down rabbits."

"If you're fast enough," Dognose replied, nudging the long, lean warrior with his shoulder. "You and Graystorm can race after all the rabbits you like, but I'll stick to stalking mice and groundhogs, thank you."

Skypaw looked at his mentor uneasily. Did that mean he wouldn't learn how to chase rabbits? He could see Breezepaw being good at rabbit hunting, and he didn't want to be left behind.

"There's not much more to LightClan territory than that, except for one thing. This next part is incredibly important, so I want you both to pay close attention." Dognose continued. He broke away from the group for a moment and Brownclaw signaled for Skypaw and Breezepaw to wait. Dognose returned in moments with a mouse between his jaws, but he didn't eat it or pause to give the new apprentices a hunting lesson.

The senior warrior led them back up the slope and away from NightClan territory. They walked for a while over the shallow hills and around gullies, even jumping over a few thinner ones, until they were standing before a long expanse of silver ivy that grew upward and wrapped around itself. Skypaw almost leaned closer to get a better look at the strange, inorganic-looking plant, but Breezepaw stopped him.

"Did Twolegs build this?" Breezepaw asked.

"Yes. It marks the end of LightClan territory, and for good reason," Brownclaw explained. "Stand back."

The two apprentices sat close together, staring at the woven ivy with curiosity. Dognose set down the mouse. "StarClan, we thank you for this prey. Though we know and acknowledge that prey being hunted only to be eaten is a part of your noble code, we hope that you will overlook our actions as necessary, in order to show our apprentices the dangers of Twoleg things and prevent unnecessary grief."

Then he flung the mouse at the ivy with a hooked swipe of his paw.

Sparks flew from the barrier and the acrid sting of burning flesh and fur filled the air. The mouse dropped and lay smoking on the ground, blackened where it had touched the Twoleg ivy.

Breezepaw and Skypaw jumped up with a unified hiss, their tails fluffed out in alarm.

"What happened?" Skypaw exclaimed.

"This is the Lightning Wall. You must never, ever, ever touch it, even with a whisker, or you'll share the same fate as that mouse. If you only remember one thing from today, remember that. Good cats have lost their lives because they were careless and forgot how dangerous the wall is." There was no hint of amusement or excitement in Brownclaw's mew, and Skypaw wondered if he might be related to one such cat.

The two young toms took a few steps back from the Lightning Wall. "Why would the Twolegs make such an evil thing?" Breezepaw asked.

"We don't know. Maybe they're protecting their territory," Dognose suggested.

"It doesn't matter why they built it. What matters is that we stay away from it, at least one fox length at all times," Brownclaw said. "Obviously we don't patrol the border closely here. Our main concern is the border with NightClan, and keeping a watch for rogues on the other side of the territory, but they're less likely to cross the river than NightClan and we don't usually have to worry about cats coming down from the mountains."

Skypaw looked across the hills, to the jagged peaks that rose into the sky where the sun rose, from which Tigerfang had gotten the inspiration for his name. It was hard to imagine that there were cats who lived on the other side. There were loners and rogues for sure, but what if there were other Clans, too? His mind buzzed with the possibilities like bees in a hive, but he knew that he would never know the answer for sure. He belonged in LightClan and nowhere else.

"That about covers it. What do you think of our territory?" Dognose asked.

If they hadn't gone to see the Lightning Wall, Skypaw would have enthusiastically answered that he loved how the territory itself defended LightClan from invasion—though the Lightning Wall certainly did that as well—and that the constant breeze in his fur made him feel like he could run from sunrise to sunset. He wanted to say how eager he was to start learning how to hunt above ground and down in the gullies. But after seeing the way the Lightning Wall burned up the mouse, and imagining what it might do to a living creature, a living cat, he found it hard to say anything at all.

"It's home," Breezepaw answered for him. "It's our home, and we'll fight to the last breath to defend it."

Dognose twitched his whiskers in approval. "Very good. Thankfully we're at peace now, and have been for some time—but there are always dangers lurking in the wild, and we'll be glad to have two new strong, brave cats to help protect LightClan when you're done with your training."

The walk back to the hollow was a lot longer and more tiring, as most of it was uphill. Breezepaw didn't ask any more questions all the way back, but both of them lifted their heads and tails higher when they saw the familiar walls and bushes of their home. Skypaw bounded over the edge of the hollow and slid down, barreling into Silverpaw, who was talking to Graystorm while they shared a squirrel.

"Ow!" Silverpaw hissed before he saw who it was. "Oh, Skypaw—the tour went well, then?"

"It was interesting," Skypaw said, sitting down next to him. Silverpaw passed him the rest of the squirrel as Graystorm got up to leave the apprentices alone. While few cats would be able to tell that Silverpaw hadn't been born in LightClan, Graystorm had never quite lost the look of a loner, and he didn't like talking to more than one cat at a time. Even then he usually only spoke to Silverpaw, Blueheart, or Mousestar. There were still cats in LightClan that didn't like the fact that Mousestar had agreed to take the loner in, Skypaw's own father Cloudpelt being among the loudest of them. Despite that, Skypaw had always been close friends with Silverpaw and couldn't see that ever changing.

"I remember being a little shaken up the first time I saw the Lightning Wall," Silverpaw said, guessing at what was on Skypaw's mind. "Especially since it would have been really easy for Graystorm to try to climb over it when we were still wandering. But if you keep your distance, it's not a problem, and it makes sure that LightClan is safe on that side."

"I know," Skypaw mewed. "I think Breezepaw is probably more scared of it, since he wants to know why it was built and will start asking questions and work himself up—"

"I am not scared of it." Breezepaw sat down next to them and gave his chest a few licks. "I was surprised, that's all."

"Hey!" Duskpaw padded over and sat next to them, dropping the pigeon she'd been carrying between her and Breezepaw. She dipped her head to invite him to share as she mewed, "Anything interesting happen while you were checking out the territory?"

Skypaw didn't want to mention the Lightning Wall again. "We scented NightClan near the border."

"How could you not?" Silverpaw snorted.

"Have you ever seen a NightClan cat?" Breezepaw asked.

"Once or twice."

"They're polite," Duskpaw added. "Mousestar took me on an evening patrol the other day and we saw a few. Gullfeather, Windwhisker, and… Reedsplash, I think? They said hello and asked us how things are in LightClan, but we didn't say much. Even if we had big news we wouldn't tell them—that's what Gatherings are for. I can't wait to go and meet the NightClan apprentices!"

"We shouldn't get too friendly with them," Breezepaw said. "They are a potential enemy, after all."

"Not during greenleaf. There's plenty of prey, so we have no reason to fight," Duskpaw pointed out.

"Greenleaf ends," Breezepaw mumbled, turning his attention to picking through the pigeon's feathers to get to the meat.

"If you're going to be that ominous, you might want to talk to Softflower about being her apprentice instead of Brownclaw's," Silverpaw said, giving himself a quick wash before getting up. "I'm on evening patrol, so I'm going to get a nap in before it gets dark. See you later."

Silverpaw flicked one of Skypaw's ears with his tail as he passed by. Skypaw ran a paw over it worriedly. Was Breezepaw right to be so concerned? Should they be on alert for an attack from NightClan? Silverpaw and Duskpaw seemed unbothered by the idea, but Skypaw couldn't help but be a little nervous about it. If he were a NightClan cat, would he sacrifice peace to expand his territory and prove his strength?

I'll never know because I'm not a NightClan cat, he thought.

A shadow fell across him and he looked up at Dognose. "If you're done eating, we can go get some fresh bedding for the elders. I'm sure they'll tell you a story while you fix their new nests."

Skypaw jumped to his feet. He couldn't change what would happen in the future, but he could put his all into what he was doing right now, and that was learning to be the best LightClan warrior he could be. If trouble with NightClan ever did come, he'd be ready to fight for his Clanmates.