Chapter 5

Sunhigh brought warmth to the camp that it hadn't seen since Moonpaw joined two twilights ago. For now, she could forget that leaf-fall was drawing near and focus on her task.

Tail swinging, Moonpaw scooped brittle moss and brown leaves out of the nursery

Faint kit-scent wreathed around her, but it was overwhelmingly Suefall's. The tired queen was curled in the shadows of the nettle enclosure.

"I'll help with that," she croaked, lurching to her paws. "It's a hassle carrying everything out of camp, and until your brother is healed, there are no other apprentices to help you." She took a wad of dirty bedding in her jaws.

Moonpaw purred. "Thank you, Suefall."

She turned and bounded across the camp, pushing through the undergrowth blocking the slope. Struggling to keep the bedding from falling, Moonpaw pressed onwards up the steep rise. She crested it just as a blast of cool wind rolled across the moors.

Suefall soon caught up with her and led her towards a small pile of dead foliage. She paused, staring at it with clouded eyes, unmoving except for her shaking chest.

Moonpaw sniffed, trying to act as if she didn't notice the pangs of sorrow radiating off of the dappled she-cat. In the buffeting wind, the bedding escaped from Suefall and flitted into the air, but she paid no attention to it. "This is… this is the bedding that I helped Rockpaw carry," she breathed, beginning to quiver. "And he kept pestering me, asking when my kits could become apprentices like — like him." Grief flashed across the queen's face.

"Suefall… I don't —"

"Oh! I'm sorry, Moonpaw. I-I was talking to myself." Suefall shook out her coat, forcing a smile. "Come on, I'll help you refill the nests." She sprinted back into camp.

Moonpaw lingered by the pile of bedding, which gave off the stale smell of a young tom. Then she shook her head and took off after Suefall.

She relocated the queen scraping moss off of the elders' den. Moonpaw ripped a few leaves off the surrounding ferns, and together they took everything to the nursery and padded it into fresh nests.

As Moonpaw murmured her thanks and turned to leave, she saw Peachnose bounding towards her across the camp.

"Good job, Moonpaw," she meowed in her silky voice. "If you aren't too tired, I'd like to show you a few fighting moves at Flatstones."

Moonpaw's heart sped up. "Fighting moves?"

Peachnose nodded. "Of course. Every warrior needs to know them."

"Could I say goodbye to Bootpaw first?" His new name still felt strange on her tongue, but Moonpaw liked the sound of it.

"Say goodbye? I suppose…" Peachnose shrugged and backed away. Moonpaw hurried to the medicine den. Inside, she found Canarypelt rubbing a sticky poultice across Bootpaw's leg.

"Ow!" cried the smoke-colored tom, thrashing in his nest.

"Settle down, Bootpaw. This will soothe your pain."

"It's making it worse," he whimpered.

Moonpaw sighed, padding forward to rasp her tongue between Bootpaw's ears. "You'll get through it," she assured him. "Peachnose is going to take me out of camp. Will you be okay without me?"

Since Bootpaw had sustained his injury, Moonpaw had tried to stay by his side as much as possible. Worry lumped in her throat at the thought of leaving him with near-strangers.

"You have to go? How long will you be gone?" His eyes swam with fear.

"I'll make it as quick as possible," Moonpaw promised. She backed out of the medicine den, then whirled around and caught up with Peachnose, who was already waiting outside of camp.

Silently, Moonpaw's mentor began to bound across the moors. She headed through a thick bed of wildflowers, nose twitching, and burst out the other end. "This is the Heatherfield," Peachnose explained as her apprentice hurried up to her. "There's usually mice or shrews hiding by the stems, but not today."

Moonpaw gazed at the swaying purple stretch, reveling in its sweet scent. "Will it die when leaf-fall comes?"

Peachnose's shoulders heaved. "Yes, thank you for reminding me." She trudged on with her pelt prickling.

Cold air pressed Moonpaw's long fur to her flanks. The sky overhead was pale blue, heaped with puffy gray clouds. Grass snapped underneath her paws. It seemed the brief heat of sunhigh was slipping away, replaced by the familiar winds of leaf-fall.

"We're almost at Flatstones," Peachnose said, speeding up. "Come on."

Moonpaw thundered over the rolling plains, flanks heaving as she struggled to keep up with the muscular wild cat. So far, Clan life had come easily to Moonpaw, but perhaps that was because she hadn't had a taste of the more physical aspects yet.

A dark shape rose on the horizon. As she neared it, she could make out a small cluster of long, smooth rocks.

A frightening sound made Moonpaw shriek.

Peachnose slid to a stop. "What?"

"What was that noise?"

Her mentor gazed around, hackles raised, before snorting. "Have you never heard the ocean before?"

Moonpaw tilted her head to one side, ears hot with embarrassment. She didn't know what an 'ocean' was, but apparently, her question was quite stupid.

"I'll take you on a complete tour of our territory soon," Peachnose said, "then you can see it." She sprang onto one of the sleek stones, towering above Moonpaw. "Can you make it?"

Moonpaw tensed her muscles, then launched herself up a tail-length and slammed her paws onto the slippery ground. She gazed proudly at Peachnose, panting.

"Good enough, for a kittypet, I suppose." She flicked her tail and sat down.

"Weren't you a kittypet?" challenged Moonpaw.

"Briefly, but most of my life I was a rogue. And that was seasons upon seasons ago, before the Rebellion even existed."

Moonpaw blinked, realizing she found it hard to imagine Peachnose as anything but a Clan cat. It seemed to come so naturally to her.

"Are you ready, Moonpaw?" Peachnose rose, muscles braced. "Watch me."

She crouched, pressing her forepaws hard against Flatstones, and lashed out with her hindlegs. Air blasted Moonpaw's face as Peachnose reared onto her haunches and launched herself onto an invisible enemy. She rained blows onto the ground with unsheathed claws before whipping around to face her stunned apprentice.

"Seeing as you've never fought more than a mouse, I won't be practicing these moves on you. I just want you to replicate them." She raised her chin, amber eyes glinting. "Go on."

Moonpaw sucked in a sharp breath. She dropped onto her forepaws; they quivered under her weight. As she flung out one back leg, her paw slipped out from underneath her and she crashed onto her flank.

Moonpaw's body flooded with heat.

Peachnose nudged her onto her upwards. "Good try, but not quite," she purred.

Moonpaw huffed and shook out her fur. "Can I try again?"

Peachnose nodded.

Moonpaw began again. She raised herself onto her forelegs, hindlegs flying into the air. She planted her paws back down, then sprang towards the sky, wind whipping at her face. Moonpaw landed nimbly.

She slumped down in exhaustion, too tired to complete the move. Peachnose gazed at her approvingly. "That was better, you're just a bit shaky. Don't worry about it though, you'll get better." She picked a blade of grass out from between her toes. "That's a great move to use if you're battling two dogs at once."

Moonpaw stiffened. "Dogs?"

"Er! I-I forgot you didn't know…" Peachnose mumbled. Then she flipped her ears back, sighing.

"I suppose I owe you an explanation now. Down by Bloodcliff lives FangPack, a group of wild dogs. That beast who attacked Bootpaw was their leader, Trance. She likes to torment us cats whenever she can get her paws on them."

Fear sparked through Moonpaw's limbs like electric shocks. "Y-you mean you've made enemies with those monsters?"

Peachnose drew her lips into a snarl. "They hate us because we moved onto their territory and drove them out of it. But it wasn't our fault — StarClan willed us to come here!" Her pelt rippled. "And we tried to share the land. They wouldn't listen." Peachnose's eyes grew round with fury. She tore at the earth. "But FangPack is the least of our problems." She turned away from Moonpaw.

Moonpaw's legs went limp from fear. What could be worse than dogs?

She tasted the air, wondering if any pack members were lurking around at that moment, waiting to strike. "Peachnose?" Moonpaw meowed softly. "Can we return to camp?"

Her mentor tensed. "Already?"

"I — er, I don't want Bootpaw to be bored without me."

Peachnose's tail swished. She sprang off of Flatstones, gesturing for Moonpaw to follow. "Very well. Come along."

Bootpaw lapped at his exposed wound, tasting dry blood on the ripped flesh. He shivered and fell back into his nest. Sunlight slanted through the den mouth, shimmering with fur and dust. Where is Moonpaw? The sun was already slipping out of its highest point, sending crimson light weaving between the ferns.

Bootpaw breathed in the afternoon scent of dead leaves and cool grass. He pictured himself out on the moors by Moonpaw's side, and the ache in his leg never hurt more. What was she doing without him?

The leaf tendrils quivered. Moonpaw poked her head inside, eyes glittering.

"You're back!" Bootpaw rolled onto his flank and sat up. Moonpaw slipped past him and sat down at the end of the den. "Where is Canarypelt?"

Bootpaw blew a whirlwind of dust out of his face.

"He went out to find more herbs."

"Has he been gone long?" Moonpaw sniffed the air.

"You won't be able to scent him in here," Bootpaw chimed. "The herbs smell too strongly." Moonpaw huffed out a breath. "They certainly do."

She pawed at a clump of wrinkled leaves. "These don't look like they could be of any use."

"That's dock. Canarypelt puts it on my leg every day. It stings terribly." Bootpaw stuck out his tongue. After lapping it off of his wound as soon as Canarypelt left, the bitter taste of the poultice still lingered in his mouth. "What was it like outside of camp?"

Moonpaw slipped past him and sat down at the end of the den. "I-it was good," she stammered. "Peachnose taught me a fighting move. Want to see?"

Bootpaw brightened. "Sure."

Moonpaw swept her tail over the ground, positioning herself into a crouch. She thrashed her hindlegs towards the roof, then twisted around, thumping her head on the stone wall. Moonpaw crashed to the ground with a yelp.

"Are you okay?" Bootpaw struggled towards her.

"Fine." She rose, fur fluffed with embarrassment. "How was I?"

A purr swelled in Bootpaw's throat. "Fantastic. For the first part, at least."

Moonpaw nudged his head playfully with hers. Then, a serious glint came into her blue eyes.

Bootpaw blinked at her fretfully. "Moonpaw? What's wrong?"

"I… Peachnose told me that a pack of wild dogs lives nearby."

Bootpaw's pelt rose, a tingle crawling up his spine. Red and black flashed in his mind as he remembered the gnashing jaws, rank scent, and powerful claws of the beast that attacked him.

"Y-you mean there's m-more?" His voice was a hoarse whisper.

Moonpaw gazed at him comfortingly. "Don't worry," she mewed softly. "We have many warriors here to protect us."

Bootpaw blinked, and as he saw his sister's calm face, a breath of relief escaped his chest. "Yeah, you're right."

Silence lapsed over them, obstructed only by murmurs from the camp.

Bootpaw stared at the cold ground.

"But if the warriors can't protect us," Moonpaw began, making Bootpaw stiffen, "we need to know how to defend ourselves."

Bootpaw sniffed. "I won't be much good at that." He hunkered onto his belly, curling his tail over his leg.

His littermate blinked sympathetically. "I'll show you the moves that I learn, if you'd like," she meowed. "Just so you know how to do them once you're healed."

"... Sure, Moonpaw. Thank you."

She purred gently, rising to her paws. As Moonpaw left the medicine den, she paused briefly to rasp between Bootpaw's ears. "I'll come back soon."

"O-okay," he murmured, trying to curb his disappointment.

Moonpaw slinked through the den mouth, and Bootpaw was left alone again.