Chapter 9

“So this is our camp,” Golden meowed again. “And this is where we’ll form our new Clan. And”—he glanced back and forth between Moonshine, Silverfur, and Shadow— “you’re saying you and Moonshine are going to train me and Shadow?”

“Yes,” Silverfur confirmed matter-of-factly. “Of course. You’re going to be warriors.”

“This is happening too fast!” Shadow exclaimed. “I’m going to be an actual warrior?!”

“After you complete your training,” Moonshine pointed out, but Golden and Shadow were already dashing off to run around camp and scream to the sky.

Silverfur sighed. “Toms,” she muttered, shaking her head.

“Not all toms are like that,” Moonshine purred, amused. “They’re one of a kind.”

“And perfect for each other,” Silverfur added. She raised her voice to call Shadow and Golden. “Get over here, you two! Your training is about to start! I’ll take Shadow, and you take Golden,” she told Moonshine.

Shadow raced back toward the two she-cats, followed by Golden. His long golden fur shimmered in the sunlight and his amber eyes glowed with excitement. Moonshine felt equally excited. An apprentice! A real apprentice to train!

Silverfur took off with Shadow to hunt near the way they had come, so Moonshine and Golden were left to explore the new territory. Before leaving, Silverfur had told them to memorize it as well as possible, report back to her, and the next day they would put up the borders.

“Let’s go!” Golden yowled enthusiastically. “This is going to be so fun! I love exploring!”

“Great,” Moonshine meowed as they started padding through the forest. “And I don’t. Go ahead and do it! I’ll sit here and wait.”

“Oh…really?” Golden turned to her with a hurt look on his face. “But I—oh!” His expression changed. “You’re joking! Hey! I actually bought it!”

Moonshine bopped him on the nose with her tail. “Of course I’ll go with you, mouse-brain! I’m your mentor, for StarClan’s sake!”

Golden blinked at her, which nearly caused him to trip over a rock. “What’s StarClan?” he asked when he was upright again. “Is it another Clan?”

Oh. Moonshine gulped. She had never once in her life expected any cat to ask her that question before. But that’s because I never expected…all this. Rogues driving us out. Having to form a new Clan with a cat from a different Clan and two rogues. Well, other rogues. Not evil ones.

“Well,” she began, “StarClan is…where we go when we die, I guess. They watch over us and guide our paws and give us prophecies and visions—” She stopped at the word visions. Should she tell Golden about what she’d seen, too? No, I’ll wait, she decided. Maybe when he’s more experienced. Will it even matter then, though?

Golden bumped her side, and then he suddenly stumbled and fell into a bush. Moonshine giggled as he pulled himself out, leaves clinging to his pelt. “Sorry,” he grunted. “I was going to say, why did you look so thoughtful all of a sudden?”

“Nothing,” Moonshine replied, trying to hide a smile. All she needed to do today was have fun with Golden and teach him about being a warrior. No worrying allowed.

 

 

Golden pounced on the ball of gray fur and killed the squirrel with a swift bite. “Yes!” he exclaimed, his mouth full of fur.

“Great catch!” Moonshine purred. “You’re a natural.” That’s because you’ve been living in the wild already, she thought delightedly. I only have to guide you through your training! Underneath her joy, though, she also felt nervousness squirming in her belly. I’m barely a warrior myself. How am I supposed to know what’s best to teach him first? Or last?

“Thanks,” Golden mumbled around the squirrel. “I’ve hunted before, but I’ve never caught a squirrel.” He nudged her. “Or done it a warrior’s way.”

Moonshine nudged him back affectionately. “Shut up!”

“Hey!” The squirrel accidentally dropped from his mouth. “You are a warrior! You can do this impossible trick!” He ran toward a tree and tried to claw his way up the trunk, but after barely a step he slipped and fell onto the ground again. “Oops. I haven’t done that in a while. Hey! Where’s my squirrel—oh.” Scrambling to his paws, he stalked back to Moonshine’s side and picked his catch up.

“We can leave it somewhere here,” Moonshine meowed, trying to focus on the training and hide her amusement. “Dig a hole and bury the squirrel. We’ll walk a little farther and then go back. I’ll teach you how to track scent trails.”

After Golden buried his squirrel, they continued through the trees. Moonshine couldn’t stop thinking of what had just happened, so she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Silly mouse-brain! Thinking you could climb that tree!”

“Well, I tried!” Golden retorted.

“You’ll have to wait till I teach you how to climb properly, then!”

Golden let out a gasp. “You’re going to teach me how to climb a TREE—”

Moonshine cut him off with a sharp hiss. “Shh!” A disturbing scent touched her nose. She crouched down and crept through the undergrowth, keeping her belly close to the ground. Rogue scent.

She could feel Golden’s breath on her tail. Good—he was following. She inched forward, trying to be as quiet as she could, afraid to make a sound. The scent was getting stronger—they must be close.

Moonshine squeezed into a bush and peered through the leaves. Golden slipped in beside her. In front of them was a small clearing with barely any grass, trees on every side, and a small den made from stone in the corner. Boulders surrounded every side of it except the entrance, which was a dark gaping hole in the stone.

That looks naturally made, Moonshine observed. A cat couldn’t have done that. Did something else make it?

Movement from the den entrance interrupted her thoughts. Two rogues, both gray-furred, slowly padded out as if they were super old and needed extra support, but their pelts were glossy and well-groomed and muscles rippled beneath their fur.

The larger one, slightly darker than the other one, had his ears pricked, his eyes darting around the clearing, and his nose was twitching. The other one, who was noticeably smaller, looked more tired and his eyes were clouded as if he wasn’t paying attention to anything but his own thoughts.

“Rock,” the bigger one barked, his ears straight up. “Do you scent something?”

The other rogue raised his head and slowly, slowly, met his eyes. “No,” he replied. Even his voice was a bit slurred. “Nothing, Boulder.”

Boulder thrust his muzzle against Rock’s, and glared at him with icy blue eyes. “Nothing?” he growled. “Stupid Rock! Does your nose even work? Can’t you scent me? Or the trees? Or the dirt?”

Rock blinked at him slowly. “I…ssssssscent…”

“Oh shut up!” Boulder spat, turning away from him. “Forget it! I scent intruders, and they’re going to pay! This is our territory!”

Moonshine’s heart skipped a beat. Maybe we shouldn’t be here. We’ll tell Silverfur. She opened her mouth to tell Golden, but he was already speaking to her.

“He’s coming for our bush!”

In the next heartbeat Golden was exploding out from the bush, letting out a snarl and unsheathing his claws. Boulder hissed at him, his eyes glinting. Rock stared at the two cats as if he still couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Moonshine instinctively started forward to help Golden. But the golden tom shrieked to her, “Go get Silverfur! I’ll hold them off! Go! Hurry! Now!”

Can you really do that? Moonshine thought, but her paws were already carrying her away from them.

As she ran toward camp, her heart pounding in her chest, her only worry was Golden. What happened to him? Will he make it out? Did I make a mistake of running away?