Chapter 2
A twilight that was misty and seemed perpetual lay in silvery gray layers over the green lushness of Green-Trees as the FieldClan cats slipped into the forest. One set of three large patrols split off and proceeded to circle about through a vast, murky swamp that spread through one side of ForestClan's territory.
Some distance away from the closest patrol, Sunpaw's head broke the swamp's still waters. A quick breath, and he was gone again. He surfaced once more, farther away, and this time took a moment to look back at the invasion force. Rank upon rank of cats were moving through the trees, swarming like rats as they moved with a single purpose in mind.
Far to his left, he caught sight of a shadowy form running through the mist and the trees. Moonlight. Sunpaw took another breath, submerged swiftly, and began to swim.
Moonlight slipped wraithlike through the swamp, listening to the sounds of heavy rustling and snapping branches behind him as the FieldClan cats began to advance. Various prey of all shapes and sizes began to scatter from their places of concealment, racing past him in search of safety. Even larger animals were hurrying away from the mass of cats. Dodging the frightened creatures stampeding around him, he cast about for Sunpaw, then picked up his pace as the dark shadow of the invaders appeared out of the mist behind him.
He was running out of firm ground and searching for a way past a large lake when he saw a strange cat before him. It was crouched near the water, its long damp body hovering over a shell it had just pried open, licking out the insides with quick movements. Shoving aside the empty shell, it rose to face Moonlight, its ears pricked as it worked to clean its whiskers of the remains of whatever food it had removed from the shell. Large eyes blinked in confusion, taking in Moonlight and the animals around him, then seeing clearly for the first time the massive shadow from which they fled.
"Oh, oh," the cat meowed, stepping back.
Moonlight broke left past the cat, anxious to get out of the path of the approaching FieldClan cats. The cat tripped over the shell, eyes wide and frantic, and bolted after Moonlight.
"Help me, help me!" he cried plaintively, ears flattened in shock and desperation.
"Go away!" Moonlight snarled, trying in vain to not stumble.
The FieldClan cats thundered towards them, hurrying through the swamp, flattening plants and kicking up water as they passed. Their shadows began to bear down on Moonlight as he fought to race clear of the cat that ran too close, repeatedly tripping him in a futile effort to escape.
Finally, with the FieldClan cats only foxlengths away and almost close enough to smell him even through the swamp's foul scent, the LightClan sage pushed the cat into the shallow water and mud and dove on top of him. Miraculously, the invaders didn't notice them hiding in the reeds and mud as they raced past, the ground vibrating beneath their paws as the pair flattened themselves into the mire.
When they were safely past, Moonlight raised himself out of the mud and took a deep, welcoming breath. The strange cat clambered out with him, cloudy water dripping from his fur. He gave a quick glance after the departing cats, then flung himself at Moonlight, hopping around him enthusiastically.
"Oh yay, oh yay!" he gasped with a kittenish, warbled meow. "Me love you, love you forever!"
The cat began rubbing his muzzle against him.
"Get off!" Moonlight huffed. "Are you mouse-brained? You almost got us killed!"
The cat looked offended. "Mouse-brained? Me speak!"
"The ability to communicate does not make you intelligent!" Moonlight was having none of it. "Now leave me be and get out of here!"
He pulled himself away from the cat and began to move off, glancing around uneasily as the movement of more FieldClan cats sounded in the distance.
The other cat hesitated, then began trailing after him. "No, no, me stay with you! Me stay! Frog be loyal, humble Tribe of Deep Waters follower. Be your friend, me."
The LightClan sage barely glanced at him, watching the shadows, searching now for Sunpaw. "Thanks, but that won't be necessary. Better be off with you."
Frog the Tribe of Deep Waters cat splashed after him, ears flapping, tail waving. "Oh, but it's necessary! It's demanded by the Ancestors. It's life debt. Me know this, sure as my name be Frog That Leaps From Stone!"
The swamp echoed the sounds of many paws, and now two FieldClan cats burst from the mist, bearing down on a fleeing Sunpaw, pursuers moving to the attack.
Moonlight unsheathed his claws, motioning Frog away with his tail. "I have no time for this now –"
"But must take me with you, keep me –" Frog stopped, hearing the enemy cats, turning to see them bearing down, eyes going wide all over again. "Oh, oh, we going to –"
Moonlight grabbed the Tribe cat by the scruff and threw him into the swamp water once more. "Stay put." He activated the Force-Crystal, bracing himself as Sunpaw and the pursuing cats approached.
Frog's head popped up. "We going to die!" he wailed.
The FieldClan cats lunged to strike just as Sunpaw reached his friend. Moonlight dodged the enemies' initial attacks and lashed out with glowing claws. The cats dropped, pelts burning, and their bodies fell into the swamp.
An exhausted Sunpaw groomed his muddy fur, gasping for breath. "Sorry, Mentor. The swamp damaged my Force-Crystal."
He extended his paw. The crystal was blackened and burned where the material was curled around it. Moonlight gave it a cursory inspection. Behind him, Frog clambered out of the muddy swamp water and blinked curiously at the newly arrived LightClan cat.
"You forgot to deactivate it again, didn't you, Sunpaw?" his friend asked pointedly.
Sunpaw ducked his head embarrassedly. "It appears so, Mentor."
"It won't take long to recover, but it will take some time to clean it up. I trust you have finally learned your lesson, my young apprentice."
"Yes, Mentor." Sunpaw lowered his paw with a chagrined look.
Frog pushed forward, tripping over his long legs and large paws. "You save me again, hey?" he asked Moonlight rhetorically.
Sunpaw stared. "What's this?"
"One of the locals. His name's Frog That Leaps From Stone of the Tribe of Deep Waters." Moonlight's attention was directed out at the swamp. "Let's go, before more of FieldClan shows up."
"More?" Frog gasped worriedly. "You say more?"
Moonlight was already moving, shifting into a steady trot through the mire. Sunpaw was only a step behind, and it took a moment for Frog to catch up to them, his long legs working frantically, his eyes darting around.
"Excuse me, but the most grand safest place is in the Tribe's camp," he gasped at them, trying to catch their attention. All about, lost somewhere in the mists, FieldClan cats were heard moving through the swamp. "The Tribe of Deep Waters camp," Frog repeated. "It's where me grew. It's safe place!"
Moonlight brought them to a halt, staring fixedly now at the Tribe cat. "What did you say? Your Tribe's camp?" Frog bobbed his head eagerly. "Can you take us there?"
The Tribe-cat seemed suddenly distraught. "Ah, oh, oh … maybe me not really take you … not really, no."
Moonlight leaned close, his eyes narrow. "No?"
Frog looked as if he wished he could disappear into the swamp completely. His throat worked and his jaw opened and closed like a fish's. "It's embarrassment, but … me afraid me be banished. Sent out. Me forget Mud Where Toads Gather do terrible hurt to me if go back there. Terrible bad hurt."
The sound of many cats began to rise up through the mist and gloom, growing steadily louder. Frog glanced around uneasily. "Oh, oh."
"You hear that?" Moonlight asked softly, lifting a paw towards the Tribe cat. Frog dipped his head reluctantly. "There's a thousand terrible things heading this way, my Tribe-cat friend …"
"And when they find you, they will shred you, rip you into little pieces, and then fling you into oblivion," Sunpaw added with more than a little glee.
Frog's eyes darted around and whimpered. "Oh, oh. Your point very good one." He gestured with his tail frantically. "This way! This way! Hurry quick!"
In a rush, they raced away into the twilight mist.
Sometime later, the LightClan and Tribe cats emerged from a deep stand of swamp grass and thick rushes at the edge of a lake so murky that it was impossible to see anything in the reflection of twilight off the surface. Frog crouched down as he fought to catch his breath. His skinny form whipped this way and that as he looked back in the direction from which they had come, ears flapping with the movement. Sunpaw flicked his tail at Moonlight in faint reproval. He was not happy with the Lightclan sage's decision to link up with this mouse-brained cat.
Somewhere in the distance they could hear the steady, deep drumming of many paws.
"How much farther?" Moonlight pressed their reluctant guide.
The Tribe cat pointed with his tail across the lake. "We swim across the water, okay?"
The LightClan cats looked at each other, then padded toward the water with grim expressions.
"Me warning you." Frog's eyes shifted from one to the other. "Tribe of Deep Waters no like you outsiders. You not going to get a warm welcome."
Sunpaw twitched his ear. "Don't worry. This hasn't been our day for warm welcomes."
"Get going," Moonlight motioned with a paw.
The Tribe cat flicked his tail, as if to disclaim all responsibility for what would follow, turned back to the lake, made a running leap, and disappeared into the gloom.
The LightClan cats waded after him.
Onward through the murkiness they swam, the LightClan cats following the slender form of the Tribe cat, who seemed far more at home in the water than on land. He swam smoothly and gracefully, sliding through with barely a ripple. They swam for a long time, going deeper into the swamp. As they went further, the number of fireflies grew steadily as the sunlight began to disappear behind the dense plants. The minutes slipped away, and Sunpaw began to have second thoughts about what they were doing.
Slowly the Tribe of Deep Waters' camp came into view. The camp was situated on a patch of solid ground surrounded by mud and murky water and comprised of dens of various sizes clustered throughout and supported by large rock pillars. One by one, the dens grew more distinct, and it became possible to make out the particulars of the dens' materials and the features of the Tribe cats as they moved about their business.
Frog swam directly to the nearest patch of land, the LightClan cats close on his tail. When he reached the patch, he clambered up onto it and started shaking the muck from his pelt. Amazed at the camp's vastness, the LightClan cats followed, climbing out of the water and moving behind the Tribe cat. As they moved toward the main area of the camp, cats began to catch sight of them and to scatter with small yowls of alarm.
In short order, a group of fierce-looking cats appeared, fur bristling with alarm. These, Moonlight realized, must be their warriors or camp guards. The warriors waved back the distraught Tribe cats with their tails at the same time they advanced on the intruders.
"Heyday ho, Tar," Frog greeted the leader of the group cheerfully. "Me back!"
"Not again, Frog That Leaps From Stone!" the other snarled, clearly irritated. "You going to Mud Where Toads Gather. See what he say. You maybe in big trouble this time."
Ignoring the LightClan cats, he prodded Frog with a claw, causing the hapless cat to trip over his paws as he jumped away. Frog groomed his chest-fur ruefully.
The Tribe warriors took them past the dens to a stone cave, down a winding tunnel, and into what, Frog told his companions, was the Elders' Meeting Den. The cavern had many tall, thin stones that stood out along the ground and hung from above like fangs. A surprisingly clear stream ran through the center of the cave, and small glowing fish could be seen swimming about. A series of stone ledges dominated one end of the cavern with one set higher than the rest. All of the ledges were occupied by Tribe elders, and a way was quickly made for the newcomers through Tribe cats already present to conduct other business.
The cat sitting on the highest ledge was a large, heavyset tom so rounded by age that it was impossible to imagine he had ever been as slender as Frog. His long fur was thick along his body, his neck was compressed into his shoulders, and his face bore such a sour look that even Frog seemed more than a little cowed as they were motioned forward.
The Tribe elders stared, looking around at each other as the Lightclan cats approached. "What you want, outsiders?" Mud rumbled at them, after identifying himself.
Moonlight told him, relating what had brought the LightClan cats to Green-Trees, warning of the invasion taking place outside, asking the Tribe of Deep Waters to give them help. The Tribe elders listened patiently, saying nothing until Moonlight was finished.
Mud flicked his tail. "You can't be here. This army of field-cats outside it's not our problem."
Moonlight held his ground. "That army of FieldClan cats is about to attack ForestClan. We must warn them."
"We no like the forest-cats!" Mud growled irritably. "And they no like the Tribe of Deep Waters. The forest-cats think they more smart than us. They think they minds so big. They have nothing to do with us cause we live in the swamp and they live out there. Long time no have nothing to do with each other. This not going to change because of field-cats."
"After that army takes control of ForestClan, they will come here and take control of you," Sunpaw mewed quietly.
Mud purred. "No, me think not. Me speak maybe one, two times with forest-cats in whole life, and no talk ever with field-cats. Field-cats no come here! They not even know Tribe of Deep Waters exist!"
The remaining elders indicated agreement, voicing their approval of Mud's wisdom.
"You and ForestClan are connected," Sunpaw insisted, his young face intent, not ready to concede the matter. "What happens to one will affect the other. You must understand this."
Mud dismissed him with a wave of his thick tail. "We know nothing of you, outlander, and we no care about the forest-cats."
Before Sunpaw could continue his argument, Moonlight stepped forward. "Then speed us on our way," he demanded, bringing up his tail in a casual motion, waving it smoothly before the Tribe leader's eyes in a quick invocation of LightClan mind power.
Mud stared at him, then dipped his head. "We speed you far away."
Moonlight held his gaze. "We need directions to the ForestClan camp."
"Okay." Mud dipped his head again. "We give you directions. The speediest way to the forest-cats is going through the swamp-heart. You go now."
Moonlight stepped back. "Thank you for your help. We go in peace."
As the LightClan cats turned to leave, Sunpaw hissed, "Mentor, what is the swamp-heart?"
Moonlight glanced at him, and tilted his head thoughtfully. "A shortcut of some sort, I hope."
They were moving away from Mud and the other Tribe elders when they caught sight of Frog standing forlornly to one side, heavily guarded and awaiting his fate. Moonlight slowed and made eye contact with the unfortunate cat.
"Mentor," Sunpaw mewed softly in warning. He knew Moonlight too well not to see what was coming.
The tall LightClan tom moved over to Frog and stood looking at him.
"They setting you up for bad fall!" the Tribe cat declared sullenly, glancing around to see if any other cat might be listening. "Going through the swamp-heart is bad danger."
Moonlight dipped his head. "Thank you, my friend."
Frog flicked his tail and looked sad. "Ah, it's okay." Then he let out a low, sheepish purr and gave the LightClan sage a hopeful look. "Hey, any help here would be nice."
Moonlight hesitated.
"We are short of time, Mentor," Sunpaw advised quietly, moving to his side.
The LightClan sage turned to face his apprentice, eyes distant. "Time spent here may help us later. Frog might be of some use."
Sunpaw lashed his tail in frustration. His mentor was too eager to involve himself when it was not necessary. He was too quick to adopt causes that were not his own. It had cost him time and time again with the LightClan Council. One day, it would be his undoing.
He leaned close. "I sense a loss of focus."
Moonlight's eyes fixed on him. "Be mindful, young Sunpaw," he chastised gently. "Your sensitivity to the Living Force is not your strength."
The younger LightClan cat held his gaze only a moment, then looked away, stung by the criticism. Moonlight turned from him and padded back to Mud. "What is to become of Frog That Leaps From Stone?" he asked.
Mud, who was engaged in conversation with another of the Tribe elders, turned to him in annoyance, his heavy frame heaving. "Frog breaks no-come-back law. Breaks exile. He be punished."
"Not too severely, I trust?" the LightClan sage pressed. "He has been of great help to us."
A slow purr rumbled out of Mud. "Clawed until death, this one."
Somewhere behind, Frog wailed loudly. There were mews about the cavern. Even Sunpaw, who was back at his mentor's side, looked shocked.
Moonlight was thinking fast. "We need a guide to lead us through the swamp-heart to ForestClan. I saved Frog's life outside. He owes me for that. I claim a life debt on him."
Mud stared at the LightClan tom in silence, ears tilted and tail flicking from side to side. His head seemed to sink deeper into his shoulders, into the mounds of long fur that obscured his neck.
Then his small eyes sought the unfortunate Frog, and he gestured with his tail. "Frog That Leaps From Stone?"
Frog moved forward obediently to stand beside the LightClan cats.
"You have life debt with this outsider?" Mud demanded darkly.
Frog dipped his head, ears and tail hanging, but a flicker of hope springing into his eyes.
"Your ancestors demand he satisfy that debt," Moonlight insisted, waving his tail in front of Mud's eyes, invoking his LightClan power once more. "His life belongs to me now."
The Tribe leader considered the matter only a moment before dipping his head in agreement. "His life is yours. Worthless, anywhat. Begone with him."
The guards moved back.
"Come, Frog," Moonlight advised, herding him away.
"Through the swamp-heart?" Frog rasped, realizing suddenly what had happened. "Count me out of this! Better dead here then dead in the swamp-heart! Me not go …"
But by then the LightClan cats were dragging him out of the cavern and all sight and sound of Mud.
Deep in the medicine cat's den, Newtstar and Hawkfur stood alone before an image of Darkshadow. Neither of the FieldClan cats was looking at the other, and both were hoping the DarkClan tom could not sense what they were thinking.
"The invasion is on schedule, Darkshadow," the FieldClan leader was informing him, struggling to hide the occasional twitch of his pelt as he faced the shadowed and unclear form before him. "Our army nears the Forestclan camp."
"Good. Very good." Darkshadow mewed in a soft, calm voice. "I have the Great Gathering swimming in procedures. By the time this incident comes up for a vote, they will have no choice but to accept that your blockade has been successful."
Newtstar glanced quickly at his deputy. "Forestspeaker has great faith that the Tribe of Gathering will side with her."
"This Forestspeaker is young and naïve. You will find controlling her will not be difficult." The image shimmered. "You have done well, Newtstar."
"Thank you, Darkshadow," the other acknowledged as the image faded away.
In the ensuing silence, the FieldClan cats turned to each other with knowing looks. "You didn't tell him," Hawkfur meowed accusingly.
"Of the missing LightClan cats?" Newtstar gave a dismissive wave of his tail. "No need to tell him that. No need to tell him anything until we know for certain what has happened."
Hawkfur studied him a long time before turning away. "No, no need," he mewed softly, and padded from the den.