Mercy's Time
Fallowwind: I was only doing my duty according to the Messenger Code; that's all, Pounceheart. But you're right; a lot of us forgot about compassion that day. We came to support LightClan, believing they had been treated unfairly over their last border dispute with SunClan. The battle was like a roaring lion by the time we reached the shore below SunClan's camp; we could hear it echoing through the trees and followed the trails of blood where cats from the other five Clans wrestled, sliced, and spat. I wasn't afraid. I was a Warrior. This is what I had been trained for.
The Past
SunClan Territory
Fallowwind didn't know SunClan's territory well, but his Clanmate, Winterclaw, had visited the hollow once with Glowwing, their Medicine Cat. Winterclaw told them about an abandoned Human house that would give them the advantage of height as well as a place to lie in wait for other cats passing along the old dirtroad.
The cats creep through the bracken, skirting the hollow, fighting not to get tangled. The sound of fighting comes from behind them through the trees as their Clanmates leap bravely to help LightClan against a patrol of angry SunClan cats. Ahead, the stone track is quiet – too quiet. The scent of LeafClan hangs on the breeze, growing stronger as they creep forward. Winterclaw stops in the shelter of some ferns that are straying onto the path.
"The Human house is just beyond here," whispered Winterclaw.
"I don't like this silence. I can smell LeafClan close by," growled Nightwing. Flowerwind nods her head.
"They can be using the house for an ambush of their own."
"Then we'll attack as if we expect them to be there. If the house turns out to be empty, so much the better, Flowerwind. Fallowwind, you and Nightwhisker go around the back." Winterclaw points with his tail towards the back of the house. "If I remember correctly, there's a hole halfway up the wall that you should be able to jump through. Flowerwind and I will take the front entrance."
Beside Fallowwind, Nightwhisker is breathing hard, his claws sinking into the leafy dirt between the cracked stone. Fallowwind keeps his claws sheathed and stares into the undergrowth that blocks his view of the Human house. Perhaps he can see a tiny path leading through, possibly made by a rabbit or a mouse trundling for food.
"Go!" growled Winterclaw. Fallowwind springs into the bracken, aiming for the almost invisible trail, with Nightwhisker at his paws. Picking up the scent of mouse, he weaves through the stalks where tiny paws had walked ahead of him, trying not to shudder as fronds clutch his pelt. Suddenly the air ahead dazzles him with light and he stops just before he bursts into the open. Peering cautiously out, he sees the Human house, which looks more like a pile of stones crumbling to the ground. There is no sign of any cat, but LeafClan scent clings to the warm breeze amid the sickly smell of dusty leaves and churned-up bracken. The two cats pad over to the Human house and wait under the hole in the wall that Winterclaw had described. Faint murmurs come from inside the house.
"Can you see anything?" asked Blizzardstone.
"No, but I'm sure that I heard a WaterfallClan cat yowl just now," answered Breezetail.
"Have they come to help LightClan, do you think?" asked Hollowpelt.
"They wouldn't have had to come all this way to help SunClan, would they, mouse-brain? They'd have attacked LightClan from the other side!" shouted Blizzardstone.
"No point in ruffling our fur about WaterfallClan. That bunch of fatties wouldn't take on a mouse even if it lay down under their paws," said Hollowpelt. Fallowwind uses his tail to tell Nightwhisker to get ready. When he flicks the tip, they both spring up to the hole, scrabbling against the rough stone with their hindlegs to push themselves up. Fallowwind balances on the narrow wall, blinking to let his eyes adjust to the darkness inside the house. Three pairs of eyes stare at him in surprise. Before they have a chance to react, Fallowwind howls.
"Attack!" shouted Fallowwind as he jumps down into the house. He stumbles as he lands on the pitted earthen floor and a LeafClan Warrior flings himself onto his back. Fallowwind lets himself keep falling until he is rolling sideways, sending the Warrior right over him. Fallowwind jumps to his paws and spins around to face the small white she-cat; the name Blizzardstone flashes through his mind, but this isn't a Gathering. Individual Warriors don't matter in battle. Only winning is what matters. Fallowwind waits for Blizzardstone to launch herself at him, and then he dodges away and flicks his left paw into her face. It's kind of like catching a fish – but with a much easier target. LeafClan cats are like great, hairy boulders compared with a swift flash of a trout! Blizzardstone screeches and staggers back, bleeding from her nose. Winterclaw is waiting for her and he bites her flank so hard that she left a clump of fur in his teeth as she wrenches herself free and flees. Nightwhisker is wrestling with a LeafClan tom in a corner –
Present Time
"It was you Breezetail, wasn't it? You fought well, my old friend, and I'll admit that Nightwhisker got lucky when you hit your head on that stone and gave him a chance to pin you down," asked the now old warrior.
Past Time
The third LeafClan cat is a brown tom called Hallowpelt, who'd threatened Fallowwind at the previous Gathering, just because he scolded his Apprentice for being rude to an Elder.
"I don't mind telling you that I relished the chance to get even with him," stated the old warrior. Winterclaw and Fallowwind force Hollowpelt through a gap in the wall into another room, this one smaller and darker than the first. It is hard to see his dark pelt in the shadows, but he gives himself away by squeaking like a Kit when something scrabbled in the corner – a rat, by the smell of it. Winterclaw and Fallowwind pounce on the LeafClan Warrior, and thump his ears until he dashes to the front entrance, still squealing. They have captured the Human house! A jagged wooden slope leads up to the rafters of the house and Fallowwind runs lightly up, disturbing the thick gray dust with his paws so that motes hang sparkling in the shafts of sunlight that pierce the broken roof. He paces along the nearest length of the wood and looks out of a gap beneath of the roof. He has a clear view of the dirtpath in both directions. Winterclaw was right: this place is perfect for an ambush! Suddenly there is a screech from below. Fallowwind looks down through the slats of wood and sees his Clanmates advancing on a cat that seems to be trying to bury himself in a corner of the house. It is a LeafClan Warrior, but so streaked with dirt and blood that Fallowwind can't tell which one. Flowerwind looks up at Fallowwind.
"This one was hiding in here like a coward. His Clanmates won't thank him for leaving them to face us alone. Shall we teach him a lesson?" asked Flowerwind. The cat stares at Fallowwind, his blue eyes huge and pale against his filthy pelt. His mouth opens, but only a tiny hoarse cough comes out. Nightwhisker raises his paw and holds it over the cat's neck.
"Shall I finish him? Alternatively, do you want to have that pleasure, Fallowwind?" offered Nightwhisker. There is a broken piece of wood slopes down to a heap of Stones at the side of the house below Fallowwind. He pads down the wood, sinking in his claws to stop himself from sliding onto the heads of his Clanmates. As he jumps onto the floor, they step back from the LeafClan cat, giving Fallowwind the honor of claiming this victory. He walks over to the quivering Warrior. He is young, perhaps only a moon, or two beyond his Apprentice days. Beneath the dirt, his fur is white and his paws are gray.
"You're Wolffoot, aren't you?" snarled Fallowwind. The tom nods slowly. "Stand up!" he ordered. Wolffoot hauls himself to his feet, stumbling on a piece of stone. Fallowwind nods to the sloping piece of wood. "Walk up there." Still looking terrified Wolffoot jumps over the fallen Stones and claws his way up the beam. Fallowwind follows. Winterclaw growls sounding satisfied.
"Ah, going to see if he has wings instead of the courage of a Warrior, are you? Good idea." Wolffoot reaches the gap beneath the roof and stares at Fallowwind.
"Are you really going to push me off?" whimpered Wolffoot. Feeling queasy at Wolffoot's sharp-scented fear, Fallowwind shakes his head.
"Not this time." Fallowwind twitches his ears towards the jagged slope of wood that leads down to the entrance of the house. "Go back to your Clanmates. Moreover, warn them not to underestimate WaterfallClan Warriors again." Wolffoot gazes at Fallowwind for a moment more, as if he can't believe that he was letting him go, just like that. Then he spins around and flees, leaving deep scores in the dust. Fallowwind follows him more slowly down to the floor of the house. Winterclaw, Flowerwind, and Nightwhisker are standing waiting for him with their mouths open.
"You just missed a great chance to show LeafClan just how fierce WaterfallClan can be," spit Winterclaw. Fallowwind looks steadily at Winterclaw.
"The Messenger Code says that we do not have to kill to achieve victory. Having mercy on your enemy and sparing him to fight another day, shows the greatest courage of all. Where is the honor in winning four against one?" Fallowwind pads toward the entrance. Already he can hear more cats approaching. "Come. One battle has been won, but the war is not yet over."