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Excerpt From Warriors: The New Prophecy:
STARLIGHT
Brambleclaw swallowed uncomfortably,
wondering where to start. He couldn’t say that choosing a new home was
not all he had hoped for. In spite of Midnight’s directions, the dying
warrior, the starlight reflected in the lake, he didn’t feel as if the
Clans truly belonged in this territory. It was too easy to imagine
Twoleg monsters tearing through the woods, turning the ground to mud and
shattering the walls of the stone hollow until the newly built
ThunderClan dens were exposed to the sky, and every cat was as helpless
as a newborn kit. . . .
But that wasn’t what the Clans wanted to hear, and none of the other
cats on the patrol had seemed to doubt that this was where they belonged
now. They could be right, Brambleclaw told himself firmly. They had
proved that the Clans could live here; what more could he expect?
“It’s good news,” he began, taking a deep breath. “We have found
territories that are suitable for all the Clans -- reeds and water for
RiverClan, pine forest for ShadowClan, leafy woods for ThunderClan, and
moorland for WindClan.”
As murmurs of excitement broke out, Leopardstar called. “What about
prey?”
“There seems to be plenty,” Brambleclaw replied, “given that it’s
leaf-bare. We didn’t go hungry, that’s for sure.”
“And Twolegs?” queried another cat -- Brambleclaw thought it was a
ShadowClan warrior, but he couldn’t be sure.
“We saw some evidence that they visit places around the lake, but there
are none there now,” he meowed. “Mistyfoot thinks there’ll be more of
them around in greenleaf. That’s when they used to bring their kits to
swim in the river, back in the forest.”
He noticed several of the cats glance anxiously at each other, and felt
the familiar tremor of fear at the thought of what Twolegs had brought
to the forest, apart from their kits. He was relieved when Mistyfoot
added, “We’ll be able to keep out of their way. They won’t be a big
problem.”
“Well . . . that’s all.” Brambleclaw wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Maybe each of us should tell our own Clans what we saw in more detail.”
“We need to decide where the boundaries will be,” Blackstar growled.
“Right,” meowed Firestar from where he was sitting at the base of the
stump, next to Leopardstar. “We can do that when we have a clearer idea
of each territory. Thanks, Bramble-claw.”
Brambleclaw dipped his head gratefully at his leader; he may have led
his friends to sun-drown-place and back again, and explored the
territory around the lake, but he felt as helpless as a kit among the
other Clan leaders. His fur prickled, and he noticed Hawkfrost staring
at him from the edge of the cats seated around the stump. Twitching his
ears uncomfortably, Brambleclaw jumped down. He winced as Hawkfrost came
over to meet him and braced himself for a hostile comment, perhaps a
challenge about where the new boundaries should be.
To his surprise, there was a friendly gleam in the RiverClan warrior’s
blue eyes.
“Thanks for finding the new territories, Brambleclaw,” he meowed. “I’m
almost sorry that we’ll be going our separate ways now. I’d have liked
to hunt with you.”
Brambleclaw blinked. Warriors of different Clans could not hunt together
-- but that wasn’t the real reason Hawkfrost’s suggestion startled him.
Did the RiverClan warrior feel something like kinship with him? If he
and Hawkfrost had been members of the same Clan, might they have been
friends like Firestar and Graystripe, who had risked their lives for
each other countless times?
“Well, we’ll meet at Gatherings,” he began.
“Brambleclaw, what are you doing?” Squirrelflight padded up with a glare
at Hawkfrost.
“Firestar is waiting for us.”
“Of course. And Leopardstar will be waiting for me.” Hawkfrost dipped
his head in farewell and padded away.
“Why are you talking to him?” Squirrelflight demanded crossly when
Hawkfrost was out of earshot. “You know he can’t be trusted.”
“I don’t know anything of the kind,” Brambleclaw retorted.
Squirrelflight snorted. “Yeah, right. That cat has too much ambition for
his own good.”
Brambleclaw felt his neck fur start to rise. “Really?”
“He wishes Mistyfoot had never come back, so that he could still be
deputy. I’ve heard him arguing with her more than once.”
“He wants the best for his Clan, that’s all,” Brambleclaw meowed. There
was something in him that understood exactly how Hawkfrost must have
felt when Mistyfoot had escaped from the Twolegs, and claimed back her
place as RiverClan deputy.
“That’s not all.” Squirrelflight paused, flicking her tail-tip back and
forth. “I can tell Leafpaw doesn’t trust Hawkfrost, and she knows him
better than we do. She was in the forest while he was RiverClan deputy.”
“Have you asked her why she feels that way?”
Squirrelflight shook her head. “I don’t need to ask her. I just know how
she feels.”
Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes. “So you don’t have anything against
Hawkfrost except for what Leafpaw feels about him? Because she’s your
sister, right? Well, Hawkfrost is my brother.”
“Are you telling me you feel loyal to him because of that?”
Squirrelflight exclaimed. “But you hardly know him!”
“Neither do you. But you think you know him well enough to say he can’t
be trusted.” Brambleclaw unsheathed his claws and let them sink into the
fallen leaves. “Or are you accusing him because of who his father was?”
Squirrelflight’s green eyes stretched wide. “If that’s what you think,
then you don’t know me at all!” she hissed. She whirled around and
stalked away with her tail in the air.
Brambleclaw stared after her in dismay. He and Squirrelflight had
quarreled ever since she became an apprentice. But he had never expected
to hear such cold dislike in her voice.
Icy claws pricked down Brambleclaw’s spine. If Squirrelflight distrusted
Hawkfrost because of who his father was, did that mean she didn’t trust
him?
Excerpted from Warriors: The New Prophecy #4: Starlight, Copyright ©
2006 by Working Partners Limited. All Rights Reserved. HarperCollins
Publishers.
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