Chapter 18

Pinepaw crouched silently in the forest, his gaze fixed on the furry gray shape nibbling on its nuts at the roots of a pine tree. One step closer…and…now! He pushed off with his hind paws, praying that the squirrel hadn’t heard him, and flew through the air. He landed squarely on the squirrel and, before it could make a sound, gave its neck a swift killing bite. Yes! This will definitely make sure my Clan is well fed. He felt a pang of guilt at the thought of his Clan. Why can’t SkyClan get any help? They need it most right now, and I’m the only cat in ShadowClan who even knows. I wonder how they’re doing now. It took all his strength to stop him from thinking of a beautiful golden she-cat, her blue eyes sparkling pools of water in the bright sunlight…

“Great catch.” Mousetail squeezed out of a bush with two mice and a frog dangling from her jaws. The gray she-cat blinked at Pinepaw. “Let’s go pick up the shrew you caught earlier and head back to camp.”

Stifling a sigh, Pinepaw followed his mentor back to the tree marking the ThunderClan border and dug up his shrew. His fresh-kill dangling from his jaws, he headed back to camp.

 

“Hi, Pinepaw!” Snowypaw’s gray-and-white pelt flashed up to him as Pinepaw pushed his way into the camp. “How was the hunt?” She glanced hungrily at the squirrel he had caught. “I see you’ve caught a squirrel!”

Pinepaw kept walking toward the fresh-kill pile, his pelt growing hot with embarrassment. “We can share if you want,” he mumbled around his prey. “You can take my shrew to the elders’ den, and we can eat the squirrel.”

Snowypaw whisked past him and picked up the shrew right when he dropped it. “I bet Rootheart would love it,” she whispered to him, and bounded away.

Pinepaw sighed and sat down, his thoughts swirling. Snowypaw’s a really good friend, he thought. She might even be that cat one day. But how can she, when Nimblepaw’s gone? I was supposed to have Nimblepaw… Shaking himself, Pinepaw stood up again as Snowypaw raced back over to him.

“I gave it to them,” she panted, skidding to a halt beside him. “Said it was small, though.”

“I’ll catch something bigger next time,” Pinepaw promised.

“Don’t need to,” Snowypaw mewed brightly. “My assessment is coming up soon. I bet I’d catch loads of prey then.”

“That’s great.” Pinepaw waited for a burst of pride to shake him, but it didn’t. He almost felt relieved. Snowypaw was a great friend, but maybe he wasn’t ready for a mate yet. He picked up the squirrel he had caught and laid it down for him and Snowypaw to share.

 

“Try to stay on your hind paws a bit longer so your opponent would think you were actually going to leap away. Then do a quick twist.” Mousetail reared up on her hind paws and then twisted around. “Push them down hard.” She slammed all four paws down onto the ground as if she were pinning down an opponent.

Pinepaw reared up on his hind paws, wobbling a little, and then flipped around and landed onto an imaginary enemy. He didn’t even care to unsheathe his claws. His whole body ached with exhaustion. He had spent the whole afternoon battle training with Mousetail, and now the light was dimming, pale colors covering the sky with a touch of darkness. Panting, Pinepaw turned to his mentor. “Did I do alright?”

Mousetail nodded. “Better,” she replied. “I think we’ve had enough for the day.”

Pinepaw breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally! Now we can go home and I can sleep early so I can meet Glidepaw.

“Should we check the ThunderClan border?”

Pinepaw’s relief faded into disappointment. “Um, can we do that another time?” he stammered. “I’m worn out, and…Snowypaw’s probably waiting for me in camp. She’d want to how I did today.” He hated to say it, but it was the only excuse he could think of.

Mousetail flicked her tail, her eyes full of understanding. “Sure,” she meowed.

It took all Pinepaw’s strength to stop himself from collapsing onto the ground in relief.

“Let’s go home,” Mousetail mewed, beckoning him with her tail.

As Pinepaw entered the camp, it was Darkpaw who bounded up to him. “Pinepaw!” his brother mewed excitedly. “How was battle training? You know what happened at hunting practice? Shadowpaw caught a rabbit but then slipped and fell into the stream!”

Pinepaw blinked at him. “Is she all right? Did she still bring it back?”

“Yes.”

“Great. I caught a squirrel this morning.”

“So how was battle training?”

“Fine.”

Darkpaw flicked his tail. “Come on, tell me more! You didn’t used to be so–”

“He’s just tired, okay?” Mousetail snapped from a few steps in front of him. “Let him get some sleep, and he’ll tell you all you want in the morning!”

Giving his mentor a grateful blink, Pinepaw hurried over to the apprentices’ den. I just hope I’m in time to meet Glidepaw…

 

Pinepaw stood as still as stone beside the Twoleg path, the wind blowing his fur the wrong way until he felt he might burst. This is so uncomfortable, he thought grumpily. When’s Glidepaw here?

The bushes rustled on the other side of the path and a cat slid out. Pinepaw started took a step toward it, but then froze. That’s not Glidepaw! The cat was a she-cat, a cat he had never seen before. And she smells of…I can’t tell. SkyClan? Yes, but there’s another scent underneath it…

The cat began to pad across the Twoleg path and whirled around when the bushes rustled again and a pale gray tom burst out. “Bloodclaw!” he yowled. “What are you doing, sneaking out of camp like that? You’re going to go into ShadowClan territory!”

Glidepaw! Pinepaw felt weak with relief.

“Go back to camp, flea-pelt,” the SkyClan apprentice snarled. “I will never let you sneak out like this all by yourself again!”

The she-cat glared at him for a long moment. Pinepaw’s heart thumped loudly in his chest. Is she going to attack him? If she does…it’s two against one. It’d be alright.

She tore her gaze away. “Fine,” she spat. “But you can’t stop me.” She shot a last glare at Glidepaw and disappeared into the bushes.

Pinepaw slid out from the shadows, and Glidepaw stared at him in surprise. “Pinepaw!” he exclaimed. “Don’t worry. That was Bloodclaw. She recently joined SkyClan, and she chose the name herself. Don’t blame Breezestar.”

“Okay, so…how are things going in SkyClan?” Pinepaw asked.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Glidepaw mewed. “I’m almost ready for my assessment! I bet the next time we meet, I’ll come a warrior!”

“That’s great!” Almost guiltily, Pinepaw realized he felt more excitement for Glidepaw than Snowypaw. “What do you want your warrior name to be?”

“I’m not sure,” Glidepaw responded. “Breezestar will decide, of course. And Glidepaw is a really weird name, so I guess there isn’t as many names for me than there are for other cats…like you.”

“Glidepaw isn’t a weird name,” Pinepaw retorted. “In fact, I think Pinepaw’s a weird name. Your name’s great.”

“No,” Glidepaw disagreed, “you could make lots of names for Pinepaw. Pineclaw, Pineheart, Pinetail, Pinefall…Pinetree.”

Pinepaw snorted. “Terrible name!”

“No it’s not!”

“Yeah, it is!”

“Not.”

“Is!”

“Not!”

“IS!”

“NOT!”

“But seriously, Glidepaw, who in StarClan would want to be named Pinetree?”

Glidepaw snorted. “If I were named Pinepaw, I would be thankful for any name!”

Pinepaw’s tail curled with amusement. “Even, say, Pinebrain?”

Glidepaw’s eyes flashed. “Um, maybe, if I’m honored for my sharp mind!” he mewed, stifling a laugh.

“Let’s not get carried away,” Pinepaw meowed, pressing back a shudder as a wave of grief swept over him.

“Yeah…well, I think Bloodclaw’s…” Glidepaw trailed off.

“What?” Pinepaw asked, leaning forward eagerly.

“I think she’s a threat to SkyClan,” Glidepaw whispered. “I think she’s lying. She said she’d be the most loyal cat SkyClan has ever known, but she fought Cloudpaw for a squirrel yesterday and now she had just snuck out of camp. I don’t trust her. I don’t think Cloudpaw and Skypaw do, either. I’m scared of what she might do to our Clan.”

“I understand,” Pinepaw mewed softly, brushing his tail lightly across Glidepaw’s side reassuringly. “It must be surprising, seeing a stranger just strolling into your camp and deciding they’d be part of your Clan.”

“Thanks, Pinepaw,” Glidepaw murmured. “I appreciate you. I think I’d better go.” He turned and disappeared into the bushes.

Pinepaw stared after him for a few moments in silence, considering what the gray apprentice had told him. Who is this Bloodclaw, really? Why is her name so strange? He shivered. And why did she sneak out of camp?