“It’s a lot higher.” Anxiety wormed beneath Moth Flight’s pelt. She’d never climbed a tree. On the moor, prey lived among the gorse and heather.
“Once I get to the first branch, I’ll be okay.” Micah reached up with his forepaws and hooked his claws into the bark. Shards flaked away and showered around him.
“I’m coming with you.” Moth Flight was not letting him try this alone.
“No. I need to concentrate. If you climb up, I’ll be distracted because I’ll be worrying about you.” Micah looked at her. “You stay here and I’ll drop the bark down to you.”
Moth Flight blinked at him uncertainly. “Are you sure we can’t just scrape the bark away here?” She nodded toward the peeling wood.
“It’s as dry as a bone.” He leaped up, digging his hind claws in and scooting toward a branch jutting a few tail-lengths above his head.
“Be careful!” Moth Flight called, her breath quickening as she watched him scramble higher.
Grunting, he hauled himself onto the lowest branch. “This is easy!” he called down.
Moth Flight screwed up her eyes as crumbs of bark drifted down like snowflakes. “Don’t forget you’re not a squirrel!”
“I won’t.” Micah craned his neck, peering up toward the next branch. Reaching up, he clung to the trunk and hauled himself higher.
Moth Flight paced the bottom of the tree. Be careful!
Ferns swished behind her. She glanced over her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” Clear Sky stalked into the glade, his broad shoulders rippling. An angry snarl curled his lip.
“We need medicine for Rocky,” Moth Flight explained.
“He’s really sick.”
“Don’t you have herbs on the moor?” Clear Sky stopped a whisker from her nose.
She backed away, shocked by the menace in his mew.
“We need sap from this tree.” She glanced toward Micah.
Leaves shivered around him, high among the branches.
Clear Sky jerked his muzzle up. “Is that my medicine cat?”
Yellow fur showed between the leaves as Micah climbed higher.
“He’s helping me,” Moth Flight explained.
“Get off my land,” Clear Sky hissed at her.
Moth Flight stiffened. “I’m not hunting!”
“WindClan seem to think that borders only work one way!”
“That’s not true.” Moth Flight’s hackles rose. “It’s SkyClan who’s been stealing moor prey!”
Clear Sky’s blue gaze turned to ice. His pelt lifted along his spine.
Moth Flight froze, wishing she hadn’t spoken. She backed away feeling suddenly vulnerable. “I’m just a medicine cat,” she mewed. “I only want to get sap to cure Rocky! As soon as Micah finds some bark, I’ll take it and leave.”
“You’re not taking anything from SkyClan territory,” Clear Sky snarled.
“But Rocky might die without it!”
“That’s not my problem!”
Moth Flight couldn’t believe her ears. How could any cat be so cruel?
“Moth Flight?” Micah’s mew sounded from high among the branches. “Are you okay?”
Clear Sky glanced upward. “She will be. If she goes home.”
Leaves shivered on a branch and Micah stuck out his head.
“Clear Sky? What are you doing here?”
“It’s my territory!” Clear Sky yowled. “Or had you forgotten?”
Micah blinked at him. “Of course not, but we need to get some sap for R—”
Clear Sky cut him off. “Stop playing the hero for your little
WindClan friend. Your loyalty is to me. Get down from there!”
“I’m a medicine cat,” Micah called back. “It’s my duty to cure cats.”
“It’s your duty to cure your Clanmates,” Clear Sky hissed.
“Not every cat you meet.”
Anger flared in Moth Flight’s belly. “We can’t let cats die, just because they belong to a different Clan!”
Clear Sky narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me how to lead my Clan?”
“Someone needs to!” Moth Flight snapped. “You’re a fox-heart!”
Eyes flashing with rage, Clear Sky lashed out and raked her muzzle.
Shocked, she recoiled.
“Leave her alone!” Micah began to climb down.
“I will if she gets out of here,” Clear Sky snarled.
“Stay where you are, Micah!” Moth Flight dug her claws into the earth. She forced her mew not to tremble. “Rocky needs the sap. I can’t let him die.”
Brown fur showed at the top of the glade. Red Claw! Moth
Flight spotted him with a spark of relief. Perhaps he could talk some sense into his leader.
The SkyClan tom padded down the slope and stopped beside
Clear Sky. “Is WindClan trying to start another fight?” His gaze swept Moth Flight, cold with disdain. The hope Moth Flight had felt at his arrival dimmed.
Above, a branch shook. “I’m coming down!” Micah called.
“No!” Moth Flight ignored the fear sparking beneath her pelt. “Rocky needs the bark.” She narrowed her eyes, glaring defiantly at Clear Sky. “You can do what you like to me. I’m not leaving.”
Red Claw glanced uneasily at Clear Sky. “She’s hardly more than a kit.”
“There’s no need to hurt her.” Clear Sky lifted his gaze to Micah. “Stop him from getting the bark. She can return to her camp, but she’ll go with empty paws.”
Red Claw nodded and raced for the tree. Leaping, he clung to the bark and pulled himself onto the first branch.
“Watch out, Micah!” Moth Flight wailed. “Red Claw’s coming!”
A growl rumbled ominously in Clear Sky’s throat. “I knew I should never have taken him in.”
Moth Flight blinked at him. “But he cured your kit!”
“Acorn Fur could have cured Tiny Branch.”
“No she couldn’t!” Moth Flight spat back. “She knew nothing about healing until Micah came and taught her.”
Clear Sky’s gaze didn’t move from the tree. He was watching Red Claw scramble through the branches. Micah was still climbing, close to the top now.
Moth Flight’s chest swelled with rage. “You’re lucky to have a cat like Micah in your Clan!” she growled. “He’s the bravest and cleverest cat I’ve ever met.”
“You’re the clever one,” Clear Sky snarled. “You’re here, with your paws safely on the ground. He thinks he’s got wings.”
Moth Flight lifted her chin. “You’ve never given him a fair chance!” she growled. “He left his friends to help your Clan, and you treat him like a prisoner! You’ve made Acorn Fur spy on him! I wish he’d leave you and join WindClan!”
Clear Sky turned on her. “No one leaves my Clan without permission!”
Brambles trembled at the top of the slope. Willow Tail burst out, her pelt bushed. “What’s going on here?” She bounded down the slope, pushing herself between Moth Flight and Clear Sky.
Clear Sky stared at her. “Another WindClan cat! Can’t you smell boundaries?”
Willow Tail nudged Moth Flight away and faced the SkyClan leader. “I was worried about Moth Flight when I smelled her trail cross the border. I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“I’m fine,” Moth Flight told her. “It’s Micah who’s in trouble.” She nodded toward Red Claw, who was only a few tail-lengths behind Micah. “He’s trying to stop Micah from getting the bark we need to cure Rocky!”
Willow Tail’s eyes blazed with anger. “Red Claw! I might have known. He was trouble when we were rogues together and he’s still trouble now.” Pelt bushing, she raced for the tree and scooted up it, as nimble as a squirrel. Leaves showered down as she scrambled up the trunk.
As she disappeared among the leaves, a lower branch trembled and Micah stuck his head out. A long strip of bark hung from his jaws. Scrambling onto the next branch down, he leaped for the trunk and dropped tail-first toward the ground.