|
_______________________________________________________________________
Excerpt From Warriors: The New Prophecy: DAWN
“Spottedleaf!” Leafpaw called into the
forest. There was no reply. The wise medicine cat had guided her many
times before in dreams; if ever Leafpaw had needed Spottedleaf’s help,
it was now.
“Spottedleaf, where are you?” she called again.
The trees, did not tremble in the breeze. No prey-sound whispered in the
shadows. The silence tore at Leafpaw’s heart like a claw.
Suddenly an unfamiliar yowl echoed in her ears, forcing its way into her
dream. Leafpaw opened her eyes with a jolt. For a moment she couldn’t
think where she was. Her fur was ruffled by a cold draught and instead
of a soft mossy nest there was strange, cold, shiny web beneath her
paws. She stood up in panic and more shiny web grazed her ears. Wherever
she was, it was a very small space, hardly taller than her. Taking a
deep breath, Leafpaw forced herself to look around, and everything came
rushing back to her.
She was trapped in a tiny den, with walls, floor and roof made entirely
from cold hard web. There was just enough space to stand and stretch,
but no more. It was packed among other dens, lining every wall of a
small wooden Twoleg nest.
Leafpaw longed to see the stars, to breathe in the comforting presence
of StarClan and know they were watching her, but when she looked up she
saw nothing but the nest’s steeply pitched roof. The only light came
from a shaft of moonlight that streamed through a small hole in the wall
at one end of the nest. Her den was on top of others; the one directly
below was empty but beneath that she could just make out a bundle of
dark fur. Another cat? Not a forest cat, since its scent was unfamiliar.
The shape was so still, it must have been sleeping. If it was alive at
all, Leafpaw thought grimly.
She listened again for the yowl, but the cat that had cried out was
silent now and Leafpaw could only hear the soft mewling and shuffling of
cats trapped in the other dens. She sniffed the air but recognized no
scents. An acrid Twoleg stench filled the nest, tinged with fear.
Leafpaw unsheathed her claws, feeling them catch on the shiny web.
StarClan, where are you? The thought fleetingly crossed her mind
that she was already dead, but she thrust it away with a shudder that
made her claws scrape against the floor of the den.
“I see you’re awake at last,” whispered a voice.
Leafpaw jumped and craned her neck to look over her shoulder. A heap of
tabby fur stirred in the den beside hers and she smelled the
unmistakeable Twoleg-tainted scent of a kittypet. There had been
kindness in the she-cat’s voice but Leafpaw felt too wretched to reply.
Her mind flooded with bitter memories of how the Twolegs had trapped her
while she was hunting with Sorreltail and brought her to this awful
place. She had been separated from her Clan and locked in darkness.
Overwhelmed by despair, she buried her nose in her paws and closed her
eyes.
Another voice sounded from a den further along. It was too quiet to make
out the words, but there was something familiar about it. Leafpaw lifted
her muzzle to taste the air, but all she could smell was a sour tang
that reminded her of the herbs Cinderpelt used for cleaning wounds. The
voice spoke again, and Leafpaw strained her ears to listen.
“We must get out of here,” the cat was mewing.
Another cat answered from the far side of the nest. “How? There’s no way
out.”
“We can’t just sit here waiting to die!” the first voice insisted.
“There have been other cats here -- I can smell them, and their
fear-scent. I don’t know what happened to them but whatever it was must
have scared their fur off. We’ve got to get out before we become nothing
but stale fear-scent!”
“There’s no way out, you mouse-brain,” came a rough mew. “Shut up and
let us sleep.”
The words made Leafpaw feel sick with fear and sadness. She didn’t want
to die here! She flattened her ears and closed her eyes, clawing for the
safety of sleep.
“Wake up!” A voice hissed in Leafpaw’s ear, jolting her out of troubled
dreams.
She lifted her head and looked around. Watery sunlight filtered in
through the hole in the wall, though it did nothing to lift the chill
from her fur. In the weak dawn light she could see the tabby she-cat in
the den next to her more clearly. It was soft and well groomed, and
Leafpaw was conscious of her own matted pelt as she stared at her. She
was definitely a kittypet, plump and soft-muscled beneath her tabby
pelt.
“Are you all right?” asked the kittypet, her eyes wide with worry. “You
sounded as if you were in pain.”
“I was dreaming,” Leafpaw replied hoarsely. Her voice felt strange, as
if she hadn’t spoken for several days, and as she spoke memories of her
nightmare came flooding back: images of water -- swollen rivers scarlet
with blood -- and great birds swooping out of the sky with thorn-sharp
claws. For a heartbeat, Leafpaw saw Feathertail hidden in darkness and
then swathed in starlight, and without understanding why, her paws
trembled.
Outside a Twoleg monster roared into wakefulness, bringing her back to
the wooden nest and the den that pressed around her.
“You don’t look well,” the kittypet commented. “Try eating some
breakfast. There’s some in the corner of your cage.”
Cage? Leafpaw wondered at the strange word. Is that what this den
is called? The kittypet was nodding through the web that separated the
two ‘cages’ toward a half-empty holder of stinking pellets.
Leafpaw looked at the Twoleg food in disgust. “I’m not eating that!”
“Then at least sit up and give yourself a wash,” the kittypet urged.
“You’ve been hunched up like a wounded mouse since the workfolk brought
you here.”
Leafpaw twitched her shoulders but didn’t move.
“They didn’t hurt you when they caught you, did they?” the kittypet
asked. There was concern in her voice.
“No,” Leafpaw mumbled.
“Then get up and wash yourself,” she went on more briskly. “You’re no
use to yourself or any cat moping around like that.”
Leafpaw did not want to get up and wash herself. The web floor scratched
against her paws, and blood oozed from beneath one of her claws. Her
eyes stung with the filthy air that filtered into the nest, fouled by
the monsters outside. And StarClan had sent no comfort to ease the
desperate fear that gripped her heart.
“Get up!” repeated the kittypet, more firmly this time.
Leafpaw twisted her head around to glare at her but the kittypet held
her gaze.
“We’re going to find some way to escape,” she mewed. “Unless you get up,
stretch your muscles and have something to eat and drink, you’re going
to be left behind. And I’m not leaving any cat here if I can help it!”
Leafpaw blinked. “Do you know a way out of here?”
“Not yet,” admitted the kittypet. “But you might be able to help me find
one if only you’d stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
Leafpaw knew she was right. She wouldn’t solve anything by curling up
and waiting to die. Besides, she wasn’t ready to join StarClan. She was
an apprentice medicine cat -- her Clan needed her here, in the forest.
Whatever was left of it.
Pushing away the misery that had sapped her strength, she pulled herself
up onto her paws. Her cramped muscles screamed in protest as she
uncurled her tail and flexed her legs.
“That’s better,” purred the kittypet. “Now turn around. There’s more
room to stretch if you face the other way.”
Leafpaw obediently wriggled around and reached her paws to the corner of
the cage, gripping the web to brace herself. As she stretched, pressing
her chest down and flexing her shoulders, she felt her stiff muscles
soften. Feeling a little better, she began to wash herself, swiping her
tongue over her flank.
The kittypet huddled closer to the mesh and watched her with bright blue
eyes. “I’m Cody,” she mewed. “What are you called?”
“Leafpaw.”
Excerpted from Dawn. Copyright © 2006
by Working Partners Limited. Series created by Working Partners Limited.
All rights reserved. HarperCollins Children's Books.
_______________________________________________________________________
|
