Chapter 10

Hedgepaw stared at the fox, his eyes wide. He gulped. The fox curled his lip in a sneer.

"Lunch, I see," he muttered to himself, sounding pleased. He leapt forward without hesitation, growling, "Gotcha!"

Hedgepaw sprang backward just in time, his heart hammering in terror. "Wait!" he cried out without thinking; it came out as a bark.

The fox looked taken aback. In tits few brief moments of hesitation, Hedgepaw weighed his choices. All his instincts were telling his to flee. He knew that staying and trying to reason with the fox would be an incredibly stupid thing to try. But he couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a hero.

"Wait," he repeated in fox. His heart was pounding, but Hedgepaw kept his voice steady as he went on, "You can't kill me."

"Oh?" The fox seemed completely recovered from the shock of meeting a talking cat, though there was a trace of wariness beneath the look of contempt on his face. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"The—the rest of my Clan will kill you if you do!" He knew it wasn't true; the most they were likely to do was drive him off, even if he did kill an apprentice. But the fox didn't know that.

"Is that a threat?" he snarled.

"No," Hedgepaw replied innocently. "It's just the truth. Is one meal really worth your life?"

The fox narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you aren't bluffing?"

"You don't. You'll find out tomorrow morning, though. The Clan leader has already organized a patrol to drive you off at dawn. He could easily have them kill you instead." He was speaking rapidly now out of fear. What was he doing, talking to a fox? It could kill him with one snap of its powerful jaws if it wanted to. Am I mad?

Yes, he decided.

"So why are you telling me this?" the fox demanded.

"Because you don't have to be driven out at all. If you leave out territory before tomorrow morning, the Clan will leave you alone."

"Are you trying to bargain with me?" he snarled.

"No. I'm just telling you so you can decide whether you'd rather stay and fight—and you can't take on the whole Clan—or just leave, and save everyone the trouble."

The fox eyed Hedgepaw warily. "And if I leave your territory, none of you will go after me?"

Hedgepaw shook his head. "We won't lay a claw on you if you're outside out borders."

He turned to leave, but hesitated for a moment and finally turned back to face Hedgepaw. "One more question. How are you talking to me right now?"

"It's just something I can do," he said in a rush. He'd just scented Finchfeather approaching, quickly, and he really didn't want his mentor to find him conversing with a fox.

The fox had scented Finchfeather approaching as well, and seemed to sense that she was unlikely to be friendly. He gave a last nod to Hedgepaw and turned away, his bushy tail rustling the bushes as he disappeared.

"Do I smell fox?" Finchfeather's eyes were wide as she came crashing through the undergrowth to where the apprentice was standing.

Hedgepaw did his best to look terrified as he nodded, his eyes huge. "I think you must have scared it away. I thought I was fox food for sure!" Well, it was true a few minutes ago. I hope she doesn't notice that the only fear-scent here is stale.

"It must be the one the dawn patrol reported seeing; at least I hope there aren't more than one. I wouldn't have expected it this far from the WindClan border. I'm just so glad you're okay!"

There goes any freedom for the rest of my apprenticeship. She's as bad as my mother!

"Come on; let's get you back to camp. Maybe Poppytail can give you something for the shock."

Hedgepaw didn't protest. He certainly was in shock, anyway. I just drove a fox out on my own!

The tabby apprentice circled drowsily in his nest. Poppytail had offered him poppy seeds to help him sleep, but he was tired enough this evening to sleep with no trouble at all. The sun was just beginning to set, casting the first pale pink streaks on the horizon below it.

He wanted to wait until Hazelpaw came back from training so he could brag about the fox—he hated not being able to include the part about him driving it off—but eventually his eyes grew too heavy for him to keep open, and he drifted into a heavy sleep.

After sleeping dreamlessly for a while, Hedgepaw found himself somewhere in the forest. The trees shivered as the dream-forest solidified around him.

A noise behind him made Hedgepaw look around. A tomcat with stars in his fur, a dark tabby like himself, was standing there, watching him.

"Who are you?" he asked the tom. For some reason, despite the grave hushed air of the dream and the foreboding expression in the tabby's eyes, Hedgepaw wasn't frightened. There was something about this strange cat that made Hedgepaw trust him immediately.

"My name is Hawktail. You wouldn't remember me—I joined StarClan before you'd opened your eyes." Pain showed in the starry tom's eyes at the sour memory.

Understanding dawned on Hedgepaw as he realized who this was: his father. He'd heard about his death, gone to join StarClan after a heroic fight with a badger when Hedgepaw and his brother were just a few days old. Although he was disappointed that he'd never gotten to know him, he admired the way that his father had given up his life for his Clan. Hedgepaw always wanted to die a hero, too.

"Listen," Hawktail meowed seriously. "I've come because you need to know something important, that will change your life. But you must still be prepared for the responsibility it brings."

It's a prophecy, Hedgepaw realized. He'd come to tell me what I'm supposed to do with my power.

"You've always been aware that you were different. I think you may have even guessed that there was a prophecy, did you not?"

Yes . . . yes . . . Hedgepaw listened eagerly in mounting excitement.

"There is. You and four other cats will need to work together and save the forest. Each of you will have a unique power."

Wait, what? Hedgepaw was jolted out of his fantasy as if it had been burst like a bubble on the lake. He wouldn't be leader? Even worse, he wouldn't be alone? "B—but I thought I was going to lead ThunderClan!" he sputtered.

"Oh, Hedgepaw, Hedgepaw, Hedgepaw," his father sighed in exasperation, though the young apprentice thought that there was a hint of amusement there, too. "Ambition is a virtue in a great warrior, but it can be overdone. Be careful not to let it cloud your judgment."

"Fine. So what do I do?" Being leader would have been so much simpler than helping some cats save the forest from something that I don't even know what it is, he thought resentfully.

"You'll know what to do when the time comes," Hawktail replied. His voice lowered. "I trust you, Hedgepaw. Defending all four Clans is no small task, and I can think of no better cat to do it than you."

But I don't want to save all the Clans. I want to lead ThunderClan! Maybe he could do both, he thought hopefully.

But there was still the issue of the others who were supposedly involved in this prophecy. He didn't want to share his part in it! "Who are these other cats, anyway?" he wondered aloud.

Hawktail shook his head. "I wish I knew. I do know that they are one apprentice from each Clan."

"Hold on. Didn't you say there were four others?"

"I did. I don't have time to explain it; it's nearly dawn. In fact, yes . . ."

Right on cue, Hedgepaw was jolted from sleep with a start. How did he know that? he wondered. It took him a moment to realize what had woken him: a paw prodding him in the side. He looked up to see Finchfeather standing over him.

"Coming," he muttered, sitting up and twisting around to start licking his back fur. Finchfeather nodded and turned around in the cramped space, leaving the den built from a dead yew bush.

Hazelpaw was gone, thought the scent in his nest suggested he hadn't been out for too long. Hedgepaw's thoughts strayed to the last time he'd caused a disruption in the camp; he'd imitated a starling, and his brother had been just as eager to find the nonexistent bird as any of the warriors, getting under every cat's paws. Hedgepaw's whiskers twitched at the memory.

I haven't done that in a while. The thought vaguely crossed his mind, and on any other day he might have trotted out into the clearing calling out in sparrow language. But this morning he wasn't in the mood. The prophecy weighed on his mind, the truth dampening his spirits. He'd been so sure it would promise that he would be leader.

He wouldn't even mind so much if he were saving the forest alone. But instead, he would be sharing the duty with four other cats—from the other Clans, no less. He still had yet to figure out where the fifth cat would come from.

Hedgepaw sighed, scanning the clearing for Finchfeather. It wasn't the end of the world. He would get used to it. That doesn't mean I'm going to like it, but I'll do it.

The Clan will respect me then, he thought with mild satisfaction.