Dovewing glanced back the way they had come as Squirrelflight set out again along the hedge. Sunlight had broken through a gap in the clouds, bathing the field in scarlet as it went down. Dovewing could still see the range of hills they had crossed, and she tried to picture the lake and the Clans on the far side. Her Clanmates would be returning from the evening patrols and settling down in their dens for the night.
She sent out her senses and felt a shudder deep within her as she discovered that for the first time she couldn’t connect with the world she had left behind. There were too many sounds, too many impressions in between.
I’m a long, long way from home.
Chapter 10
Ivypool blinked open her eyes to see the pale light of the Dark Forest all around her. She was curled up in the shade of an elder bush, its leaves casting dark patterns on her silver-white fur. Yawning, she scrambled to her paws and slid out. The trees clustered close together here, their branches entwined over Ivypool’s head. It was a relief not to be able to see the starless sky, always the most frightening reminder that she wasn’t in ThunderClan.
“But it still feels a long, long way from home,” she muttered.
Tasting the air, she picked up the scent of many cats, and heard voices coming faintly from among the trees several fox-lengths away. Ivypool padded in that direction and found herself on the edge of a clearing. Halting, she peered out from the shelter of a clump of bracken. Hawkfrost stood in the center with a ragged circle of younger cats around him. Ivypool recognized Tigerheart and Breezepelt, and a white RiverClan she-cat whose name she couldn’t remember. Others weren’t familiar at all.
Hawkfrost’s ice-blue eyes shone in the pallid light. “In a battle, you won’t be fighting one-on-one,” he meowed. “Cats will come at you from all directions, and you have to be ready. Now, I want all of you to attack me at once.”
“All of us?” Breezepelt sounded disbelieving.
“That’s what I said.” Hawkfrost’s voice had an edge. “I’ll take you on by myself later, if you want.”
“No, that’s fine, Hawkfrost,” Breezepelt answered hastily.
Mouse-brain! Ivypool thought.
“Okay.” Hawkfrost’s icy gaze traveled over the group of younger cats. “Attack—now!”
For a moment Ivypool lost sight of the dark tabby warrior as he was buried under a squirming heap of screeching, yowling cats. Then his head reappeared, as if he was trying to swim in a lake of fur. In spite of her dislike of Hawkfrost, Ivypool drew in a breath of admiration as he recovered his paws, lashing out at his attackers. His legs were a blur of motion. His jaws seemed to be everywhere, snapping and tearing. First one, then another of the attacking cats reared back, until Hawkfrost stood alone once again, ruffled and panting but with no injuries that Ivypool could see.
That was awesome, she admitted reluctantly. Almost against her will, her paws were itching to learn how Hawkfrost had managed that.
“Now,” the tabby warrior went on when he had caught his breath, “who can tell me what you’ve learned today?”
“Stay away from your claws,” Tigerheart muttered, licking one bleeding paw.
A murmur of amusement rose from the young cats, but Hawkfrost didn’t share it. “Anything useful?” he prompted.
The white RiverClan warrior raised her tail. “It looked as if you were fighting with all four paws,” she mewed.
“Good, Icewing.” Hawkfrost gave her an approving nod. “That’s exactly what I was doing.”
“But how?” another cat demanded.
“Watch, and I’ll show you. I’ll do it slowly.” Hawkfrost balanced on his hind paws and reached out with his forepaws, claws extended. Then with a swift movement he raked them downward. The moment his forepaws touched the ground, he struck out with his hind paws; any cat unlucky enough to be behind him would have received a blow hard enough to knock them to the ground. “Like that,” he finished. He repeated the move, faster this time. “Now you try.”
Watching the Clan cats practice, Ivypool realized that there were more of them than she had ever seen at one time in the Dark Forest. So many! she thought, her belly tight with apprehension. As well as Tigerheart, his Clanmates Redwillow and Ratscar were there, Sunstrike from WindClan, and a RiverClan apprentice with the white warrior Icewing.
“I always thought Ratscar looked a bit shifty,” Ivypool muttered under her breath. “I’m not surprised he’s here. And Breezepelt has always been an annoying lump of fur. But I sort of liked Sunstrike when I met her at Gatherings, and Icewing looks friendly. What are they doing here?”
What am I doing here? she reminded herself. I’m a spy. So maybe some of these cats are spies for their Clans as well.
But judging by the eagerness with which they were practicing Hawkfrost’s moves, all the young cats wanted to be there for the same reasons as Ivypool first had: to train to be better warriors than their Clans could make them, to be the best they could at fighting and defending their home.
Ivypool knew that if she stayed much longer hiding in the bracken, some cat would scent her. She didn’t want to be accused of skulking around. Even if that’s what I’m doing! Emerging from the bracken clump, she skirted the training cats and padded up to Hawkfrost, giving him a polite nod as she halted in front of him. “Greetings,” she mewed.
Hawkfrost’s eyes were chips of ice. “You’re late,” he snapped.
“Sorry. I found it hard to get to sleep.”
The dark tabby twitched his ears. “Is your Clan not working you hard enough?” he inquired, his voice a menacing purr. “We can soon take care of that.” He raised his voice. “Cats of the Dark Forest!”
At once the cats stopped what they were doing and gathered around him again. Hawkfrost surveyed them approvingly. “Well done,” he meowed. “Now you need a chance to practice your new skill in battle. Ivypool is ready to help you. Strike!”
He leaped out of the circle as the Dark Forest cats converged on Ivypool. She hardly had time for a protesting screech before Breezepelt was on her. He tried the balance-and-slash part of Hawkfrost’s move, but Ivypool sprang backward and he missed, losing his balance and striking the ground so hard that he staggered.
“Tough, mange-pelt!” Ivypool snarled.
Claws raked down her back; she tried to spin around but another cat landed on top of her and she fell to the ground, the breath driven out of her body as the other cat pressed her down. She saw Tigerheart’s amber eyes a mouse-length from her own.
“I’ll teach you to attack my brother!” he growled.
Ivypool lashed out with her hind paws, battering at Tigerheart’s belly. He rolled away, catching her blow over the ear as he did so. Another cat replaced him, and yet another had teeth fixed in her tail. Ivypool could scarcely move. The vicious yowls and caterwauls were so loud they hurt her ears.
I’m fighting for my life!
Suddenly a shadow fell across the battling cats. The screeching was abruptly cut off. Ivypool felt the weight that was pinning her down vanish. She scrambled to her paws, briefly blinded by blood that trickled down from a scratch above her eye. Swiping at it with a paw, she looked up to see Brokenstar standing at the edge of the clearing. Another cat stood behind him in the shadows.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” Brokenstar meowed.
Hawkfrost took a pace toward him, dipping his head respectfully. “Welcome, Brokenstar. Can we do anything for you?”
“The question should be, what can I do for you?” the former ShadowClan leader replied. “I have a new apprentice for you to meet.” He paced forward into the center of the clearing, and the cat behind him followed. As the brown tabby emerged into the light, Ivypool drew in a horrified breath.