Chapter 9

"You'd better rest here for tonight," Yellowfang rasped. "You'll heal soon enough but too much movement will reopen that wound of yours."

Cinderpaw nodded, too weak to protest. Brackenpaw was settled beside her nest, prodding and poking at the stems worriedly, making sure the nest was perfect for his injured sister.

"It'll be fine," he told her. "You'll see."

Cinderpaw purred and settled herself down to rest. Tinyclaw blinked admiringly at Brackenpaw – the young cat showed no bitterness towards his sister – her injuries would heal. His would not.

"Where's Cloudkit?" rasped Yellowfang.

"Don't know," Tinyclaw replied. "Probably in the nursery, with how worried Brindleface had been." The poor kit had gotten her paws wrong trying to follow her foster mother and nearly lost her life for it. She was probably terrified.

"Go check on her," Yellowfang implored. The old she-cat licked one paw and drew it over her ear. "She'll probably want some reassuring. This was a very traumatic experience."

Tinyclaw nodded. The thought flashed in his mind as he looked at Yellowfang – You would have done the same for Brokentail, if you could have. Perhaps Brokentail might have turned out differently if Yellowfang had been able to care for him like a proper queen?

Turning away from the medicine cat, Tinyclaw thought, I understand why medicine cats shouldn't have kits – but they shouldn't be forced away from them if they do. The poor kits… growing up without a mother or father must be awful…

Tinyclaw padded out of the medicine cat's den, thinking briefly of his own mother. He'd only known her for around five moons but those were happy times – playing with his littermates, romping around his Twolegs' backyard, looking for adventures… he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if he'd never had those experiences.

He was halfway to the nursery when a flash of white caught his eye in the elder's den. Tinyclaw glanced over to find, to his surprise, Cloudkit. She was huddled amongst the elders, her back to the camp. Whatever was happening, from the sound of the meowing it seemed like everything was all right.

Tinyclaw headed for the elder's den, keeping his pawsteps light so as to not interrupt Cloudkit. His ears pricked as he picked up her voice – she was telling the elders about the badger attack!

" … and then Tinyclaw leaped and grabbed the big thing's leg!" Cloudkit purred. "It was amazing!"

"Go on!" purred Smallear.

"He and Sandstorm wrestled with the badger's legs, and then…" Cloudkit paused, recollecting. "Then… then it shook them both off! It was so powerful!"

Halftail was nodding, his stumpy tail twitching. Tinyclaw recalled that Halftail had lost his tail to a badger before moving into the elder's den.

"It charged at Brackenpaw," Cloudkit went on. "He was trying to protect me! But with Tinyclaw and Sandstorm stunned, I thought we were done for! That's when Cinderpaw burst in and clawed at the badger's eyes! I've never seen anything like it!"

The elders purred communally. Dappletail flicked her tail around Cloudkit and asked, "And how do you feel? Were you hurt?"

Cloudkit shook her head. "No, but Cinderpaw was. I hope she'll be OK…"

"She'll be fine," Tinyclaw reported.

Cloudkit gave a start, and she turned around. Her blue eyes were wide with shock. "Tinyclaw!" she meowed.

"I just came from the medicine cat's den," Tinyclaw told her. "Yellowfang says Cinderpaw will be fine with a few days' rest."

"That's good," rasped Patchpelt. "Poor thing."

"I came to check on you," Tinyclaw offered. He bent down to look at Cloudkit. "Are you all right?"

Cloudkit pulled away from his searching nose. "I'm fine!" she insisted. "Brindleface says I had some bark in my fur but she pulled it out. No scratches."

"That's good," Tinyclaw purred. He sat up and then asked, "You were very brave, Cloudkit."

Cloudkit's fur fluffed. "I didn't do anything but hide and screech," she snorted. "That's not brave."

Tinyclaw rolled his eyes. "You did the best you could," he assured her. "When you have proper training, you'll be able to handle situations like that a lot better."

"Like, when I'm an apprentice?" Cloudkit wondered. "Brindleface says that it'll be soon."

Tinyclaw nodded. "When you're an apprentice, you'll learn how to run through the undergrowth faster than any blundering badger… and you'll learn how to defend yourself until help can come."

Her eyes sparkled. "Will I be your apprentice?" she wondered.

"I don't know," Tinyclaw admitted.

"I can't wait!" Cloudkit squealed. She hopped onto her paws and turned to the elders. "And when I'm an apprentice, I'll come and tell all of you everything I do! All my adventures!"

"We can't wait," purred Dappletail.

"You won't have a lot of time for fun and games," Tinyclaw told her. "You'll have to take care of the elders, not tell them stories."

Cloudkit tipped her head questioningly.

"You'll have to clean their bedding, search them for ticks, give them fresh-kill…"

"I'll do that!" Cloudkit insisted. "I'll do that all the time!" She turned around and meowed, "I'll do it now, too!"

The elders purred again. Halftail's whiskers twitched and he meowed, "Some other time, little one. Go back to the nursery and get some rest – you've have a busy day."

Cloudkit's ears fell. "Oh," she murmured.

"Come on," Tinyclaw told her. He herded her out of the elder's den with one paw. "I'll take you back to Brindleface."

Together they padded towards the nursery. The brambles swished, and Darkstripe left the nursery before the two arrived. Tinyclaw saw Darkstripe's eyes shift to and fro before he headed out of camp. A little chill ran up Tinyclaw's spine.

"He visits a lot," Cloudkit commented. "Oakheart is Bluefur's mate, but Darkstripe's in a lot more than Oakheart is."

Really…? Tinyclaw found that interesting, but it confirmed what he already knew. "Oakheart's been busy, being one of our replacement deputies and all," he told Cloudkit.

She shrugged. "I dunno," she meowed, "I just hear 'em mumbling to each other a lot. They get all mean and quiet if anyone gets near them."

"Well… be careful," Tinyclaw told her. He licked her between the ears. "Don't get on Bluefur's bad side – she's deputy, you know."

"I know," Cloudkit mewed. "I'll see ya, Tinyclaw."

"Take care," Tinyclaw offered.

Cloudkit trotted into the nursery, her white, fluffy tail disappearing into the darkness. Tinyclaw made sure she was gone before turning his paws towards the camp entrance.

They must be plotting in the nursery, Tinyclaw thought as he went, following Darkstripe's scent through the thorn tunnel. It would be mostly private there and Bluefur wouldn't have to leave her kits. But what are they plotting? Where is Darkstripe going?

Tinyclaw exited the camp and followed Darkstripe's scent up the ravine. The dark tom was far enough ahead that Tinyclaw couldn't see him – which meant Darkstripe couldn't see he was being followed.

Bushes rustled, and Tinyclaw paused to look for the source. A blackbird was tottering around, picking at the slush. Tinyclaw dropped into a crouch. I might be following Darkstripe, but feeding the Clan is a bigger priority. Hunting would be a good excuse should Darkstripe catch him, too – ranging across the territory was typical for a one-cat hunting patrol.

Tinyclaw stalked the bird and made the catch quick and clean. He shook slush from the blackbird and turned his paws back onto Darkstripe's trail, pausing now and then to drop the blackbird and catch his scent.

Darkstripe's scent led him through Tallpines in the most direct way – Darkstripe was clearly on a mission, and didn't care what he blundered into to get where he was going. Tinyclaw buried his blackbird against the roots of one of the pines, tired of having to drop it again and again.

With his jaws free, Tinyclaw picked up his pace and stalked through the sparse undergrowth of Tallpies, his pawsteps softened by slush and pine needles. Darkstripe's scent was growing stronger and stronger…

"What in StarClan's name do you think you're doing?"

Tinyclaw shot up, ears pricked. Darkstripe was there in the distance, his yellow eyes narrowed as he glared at Tinyclaw from the top of a stump.

Blinking, Tinyclaw thought, He's back already. He can't have stopped much further on than this… He definitely didn't make it to Twolegplace.

"Well?" hissed Darkstripe.

"I was hunting," Tinyclaw growled, "and last I checked, I don't have to answer you immediately. You're not the deputy."

Darkstripe's tail lashed. Tinyclaw's muscles tensed instinctively, recalling that he and Darkstripe had shared Bluefur as a mentor – which made Darkstripe dangerous in a fight despite his blustering. If the dark tom had picked up anything at all he could be on Tinyclaw in a blink.

"I don't see any prey," Darkstripe growled.

"I wouldn't just carry all my prey through the forest. Anything with a nose could smell the blood!" Tinyclaw snapped. "What do you take me for, a kit?"

Darkstripe lashed his tail. "Show me, then!" he demanded.

Tinyclaw rolled his eyes and made a show of turning his back on Darkstripe. I have all my senses trained on you, he thought as Darkstripe began to follow. Cross me and you won't know what hit you.

He led Darkstripe to the place where he'd buried his blackbird. Uncovering it, he growled, "Satisfied?"

Darkstripe snorted. "Get on with it, then."

Tinyclaw watched with satisfaction as Darkstripe stalked away, down through Tallpines. Tinyclaw waited until the dark tom had disappeared before Tinyclaw turned back and followed Darksrtipe's trail back to the stump.

It's strong here, he thought. A few more sniffs and he'd caught on to the direction Darkstripe had come from. Got cha!

The trail came to an end in a small clearing not far from the outskirts of Twolegplace. The snow here was churned and chewed up by many paws, and the scents here were muddled and Clanless. Crow-food smell permeated the air, and Darkstripe's scent was the only one Tinyclaw recognized.

What was going on here? Tinyclaw thought. Darkstripe obviously came out to meet someone… and from the smell of things, he met them all right. Judging by the fact that Darkstripe was unharmed, the meeting must have been with friends.

Tinyclaw stepped away from the nasty smells. Why would Darkstripe be meeting with a group of rogues unless it was for Bluefur? He wondered. Resolutely he decided that even if Tigerstar didn't believe him about Bluefur he had to be worried about these rogues in ThunderClan territory. I'll tell him when I get back.

Turning around, Tinyclaw retraced his steps back into Tallpines, following the ThunderClan-Twolegplace border. Twoleg nests were within sight, but there didn't seem to be any prey or kittypets around. Tinyclaw frowned as he couldn't see to scent anything worthwhile – no sign of rogues or prey.

Snow rustled behind him suddenly, and a voice mewed, "Tinyclaw!"

Tinyclaw turned and spotted a white shape sitting starkly on one of the Twoleg fences. Fiona looked down at Tinyclaw with big blue eyes, her whiskers twitched in amusement.

"I snuck up on you!" she purred. "I didn't think you could sneak up on a wildcat!"

Tinyclaw looked up at her and blinked. He'd been so intent on searching for prey or those rogues he didn't think of Fiona being anywhere near him. He swallowed. "Hey, Fiona."

Fiona tipped her head. Her voice was concerned when she asked, "Aren't you eating enough? I've food in my nest, if you'd like."

Tinyclaw shook his head. "No one in the Clan is eating well, Fiona – it's leaf-bare. Prey is scarce… and you know I can't eat kittypet food."

Fiona flicked her plumed tail. "Of course," she sighed. "I know." She yawned, then asked, "How is Cloudkit? I haven't heard anything in a while."

Tinyclaw flicked his tail. Of course Fiona would want to know about her firstborn daughter, especially in this cold.

"She's doing fine," Tinyclaw assured her. "We make sure queens and kits are well fed, even in cold like this."

Fiona was nodding. "As you should," she agreed.

"Cloudkit will make a fine warrior," Tinyclaw went on. "She's smart, strong, and quite brave." The last thing Tinyclaw wanted to tell Fiona was that her daughter was almost killed by a badger.

"With you to teach her, I'm sure she'll do just fine," Fiona purred.

Tinyclaw smiled at her. Fiona knew the hardships Clans faced, though perhaps she didn't understand as well as she could. Being a kittypet sheltered her from the rough life of hunting for every meal, struggling through leaf-bare cold, or the pains of battle and loss. Tinyclaw was sure she worried to noo end about her little kit living in the woods.

"I should get going," Tinyclaw told her. "I need to hunt more before I head in."

"Of course," Fiona agreed. "Take care, Tinyclaw – and next time, bring Cloudkit."

"I'll try," Tinyclaw promised.

They parted. Tinyclaw headed into Tallpines, keeping his pace brisk and his nose open for prey. He'd have to come back with more than a blackbird if Darkstripe was going to believe he was out hunting.

As he went he realized he was hearing something unfamiliar – a sound he'd not heard in some time:

Drip.

Drop.

Drip.

Drop.

Tinyclaw paused as a warm wind blustered at his fur. He looked up into the trees, only to have a drop of water land square on his muzzle. His eyes widened in realization.

The thaw had begun!