Chapter Twenty-Three

This is the hunter's crouch."

Echoshine demonstrated the position and watched as Dusk carefully copied her pose. She inspected his crouch. "That's pretty good! Just lean forward a bit more… There! Yes. That's perfect!"

Dusk smiled.

"Now stalk slowly forward."

He did as he was told.

"Nice! Come on, let's see what we can catch."

Dusk sniffed the air. "I smell a pheasant."

Echoshine nodded. "Me too. You climb that tulip tree, and I'll sneak around it and scare it up into the branches toward you and you can catch it."

"Alright."

Echoshine stalked forward, careful not to crackle leaves underneath her paws. She could see the large bird now. It stood a fox-length ahead, cracking a snail shell on a rock. She quietly padded up behind it, then leapt out from behind the greenbrier she was hiding behind, sending the startled bird shooting up into the branches of the trees above.

A squawk and a rustle of feathers told Echoshine that the hunt had been successful.

Dusk scrambled down from the tree and plopped the pheasant down on the ground. "Got it."

Echoshine smiled. "When we catch prey, we have to thank StarClan." She looked to the sky, which had turned a pleasant shade of blue. Fuzzy grey clouds bobbed gently on the breeze. "Thank you, StarClan, for this prey."

Dusk pawed at the ground awkwardly. "Do warriors… always have to do that?"

Echoshine smiled, "yes, but you can say it in your head if you like."

The blue-grey tom looked relieved. "Okay."

"And now we bury the prey, and come back to take it to camp later."

She scraped the still-damp earth over the bird and looked to Dusk. "So… did any cat tell you what happened to Oakstar?"

"No."

"Oh. Well…" She didn't know what to say. "My father, Beetlewhisker, is the leader now."

He ducked his head. "Oh."

She nodded.

"Will your father allow me to join ThunderClan?"

Echoshine considered it. "I think so. But we must get on with hunting. What border do you want to head toward?"

He looked thoughtful, then asked, "Which border has the most voles?" He ducked his head. "They're my favorite."

"That would be ShadowClan. Our shared border is marked by a stream, and water voles like to live in marshy areas."

"Okay, then let's head that way. You'll have to be careful, though. I think that Talon's rogues are camped near the border."

"Oh, yes. Hmm… We'll have to stay alert. Follow me, then." Echoshine didn't wait for a response. She bounded ahead, ducking around bushes, and leaping over fallen logs. Finally, she could hear the sounds of the stream. She skidded to a halt and waited for Dusk. When he sprinted into the clearing, she jumped in front of him. "Stop here," she mewed, "we don't want to scare the prey away."

He nodded, gasping for breath. Then he stiffened. "Shh."

She cocked her head.

He gestured with his tail toward a bunch of bracken that was about a tree-length away. "Talon's rogues."

Echoshine stifled a gasp. He was right. Three figures were crouched behind the brambles. She couldn't quite see the cats, but she caught glimpses of fur between the tangled undergrowth. One cat was ginger, another honey-colored. The last had a dark grey, black, and white splotched pelt.

Echoshine flicked her tail at Dusk to follow her, and crept slowly up to them.

"…crush those mange-pelts! They won't know what hit them until it's too late. Nightshade's plan will work, I'm sure of it! Their stupid Clan won't stand a chance," the honey-colored one was saying.

Echoshine's eyes widened in alarm. The Thorn Tribe was going to attack! But when? She signaled for Dusk to stay silent, and listened.

"Yeah, Talon says that if we are successful in spying on those bird-brains, then we'll be able to lead the battle alongside Nighthawk and Puddle!"

"When is she planning on attacking again?"

Echoshine stiffened. This was it! She leaned a bit closer.

"The battle is- wait, what is that?" The ginger cat stood up suddenly.

Echoshine froze, but it was too late.

"Ambush!" The patchy one hissed.

The rogues sprang to their feet.

Echoshine hissed. Her instincts were telling her to fight, but she wasn't sure if Dusk would join her, especially against his old friends.

But Dusk sprang up, ducked into the bramble den, and bowled into the rogues with ferocity that sent the honey-pelted rogue barreling off into the forest in moments.

Echoshine could have sighed in relief, but she was faced with the ginger rogue. He looked just like Shadow, save for a black patch over his ears. She snarled and ducked under his yellow belly, thrusting her legs up and throwing him backwards. He landed on his side, but she didn't give him time to recover. She bit into his scruff and flung him into a small maple tree. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

A hiss made Echoshine look over to where Dusk had been standing earlier. The patchy black, white, and grey rogue stood over him, and Dusk's ears were drawn back in defiance.

Echoshine leapt over, reared, and swiped at the rogue, throwing him off of Dusk. The large tom hissed and raised a massive forepaw. He swiped at Echoshine, throwing her off balance and tumbling her to the ground.

Dusk clawed at the cat's muzzle, driving him off with a hard bite to the tail, then turned to Echoshine. "Are you alright?"

She ducked her head and nodded. "You?"

He limped over. "Reopened that nasty nick in my ear, but that's it."

"That's it?" She gave him an incredulous look. "Your whole foreleg is bleeding!"

He sighed. "Well, sure, but I can handle it."

Echoshine looked closely at him. "That patchy rogue had the same color fur as you, just different markings."

He didn't seem to hear her.

"Dusk?"

Still no response.

"Were you-"

"Just drop it, okay?" Dusk snapped. He lashed his tail from side to side, his cobalt blue gaze clouded.

Echoshine closed her mouth, surprised by the fierceness in his mew.

Without a word, Dusk turned and headed back in the direction that they had come from.

Echoshine hurried after him, careful to keep her distance. She didn't want to upset him any more than she already had.

The trees loomed over her, their branches reaching down, their clawed tips grabbing at her. She hurried back to camp, glancing around every few moments.

When the camp was in view, she ran to Beetlewhisker's new den, hoping to tell him the news.

"Beetlestar?"

No response.

She ducked inside.

The den was empty. He still hadn't come back from the Place of Starfire.

Once outside the den, her claws kneaded nervously into the ground. She had to tell some cat! But there was no deputy named yet, and no leader to tell!

Echoshine raced over to Dusk's den.

"Dusk?" She asked hesitantly, "can I come in?"

He didn't answer.

"Dusk? Please?"

She poked her nose into the den, then stiffened.

Dusk wasn't there.

His scent was stale.

Echoshine ducked out and swept her gaze over the camp, just to make sure that Dusk wasn't in the sheltered clearing.

When she didn't see him, she ran back into the forest.

"Dusk?" She padded along the faint path that twisted around the roots of the trees, calling out hesitantly for the tom. "Dusk, where are you?"

She cocked her hear, ears pricked, listening, but heard nothing.

She continued along the trail. "Dusk?"

The sun had sunk low in the sky, its rays grazing the tips of the trees far away in the distance. Echoshine had begun to give up hope when she heard a faint yowl. Her ears pricked up and she raced toward the sound.

She heard it again, closer this time.

Echoshine burst through the undergrowth into a large clearing, which was easily two tree-lengths in each direction. She skidded to a halt, and her heart thudded at what she saw.