The Secret Clan - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Oh, Blacktail!” Duskflower charged at the rogue deputy with a look of great euphoria. Hailcloud gaped. Is this Blacktail? When Hailcloud was an apprentice, Blacktail had been her mentor. He had been swept away down a river, never to be seen again. Since then, the image Hailcloud had of her old mentor in her head had slowly worn away, like a stone becomes smoother after water running over it. But studying the tom, she saw that Duskflower was right. The black rump spots were really the identifier. Although, ‘Black’, as he was known to the rogues, looked utterly confused.

“I’m sorry but, I don’t know any of you. My name is Black!” he growled cautiously. Hailcloud could predict his feeling of confusion heating into anger and suspicion. Duskflower shook her head, which was still in the sky. “Sweet, you’re just confused. You were a part of MeadowClan. You got swept down the river,” the grey once-widow coaxed. She advanced ever so slightly on her old mate. Black recoiled, baring his teeth in a snarl. “Leave me alone!” he hissed. As if the rogues were a single mind, they all started to stand and growl at the nearest Clan cats. The white tom was bristling and muttering dark words under his breath, glaring at Hailcloud. Raintail shrank into her fur. Hailcloud understood, as she was a very young warrior, and most of the Clan weren’t used to fighting for survival. She grew hot under her fur. She glanced quickly over at Riverfur, who had a paw raised in a silent promise to shred anyone who moved.

“Stop! Stop this!”

Most of the cats turned to face Night, who was standing powerfully in the middle of the circle of leaders. A few rogues and Cricketsong held their poise of menace, spitting.

Black was snarling at the Clan cats, especially Duskflower. “Night, tell them I’m one of you!” he glanced across at the leader. Tuifeather gently drew Duskflower back with her tail. The grey deputy looked betrayed and heart-broken. Dark did the same for Black. For seconds that seemed like hours, everything was still. Hailcloud felt soft breath on her ear.

“Don’t turn around,” Raintail whispered, almost inaudibly. “But there’s a dog behind us.” Before Hailcloud could taste the air or freeze, a screech sounded from the front of the temporary camp.

“Dog!” Tuifeather shrieked. The silence now seemed sacred with everybody, all at once, scattering in different directions. Hailcloud turned around to see a very large, black and brown dog ten cat-lengths away, teeth dripping with spit. It barked once and the cats frenzied, clawing even each other to reach the safety of the trees. She was bumped on all sides by frightened cats, fear-stench overwhelming her. The leaders had all gone and now only a few frozen cats remained. The wild dog was sprinting around the clearing now, chasing any fleeing cats in sight. Every inch of Hailcloud wanted to run, but she knew the dog would see her.

“Hailcloud, run!”

A lithe silver shape head butted Hailcloud hurriedly, moving her along from behind. Hailcloud’s legs were numb but she forced herself along, thoughts racing around her head at such a pace that the thoughts bumped into each other. She relied only on the she-cat hurrying her along. She could feel hot, stinky breath on her heels, and the cries of cats in distress. The dog was so close, driven on by the terror-scent and feel of warm blood pumping. It barked wildly, driven by mad blood-lust. A towering pine came into her vision from the vague grey dawn.

“Up the tree!” the cat cried.

Hailcloud knew she had to take matters into her own paws now. She heaved herself up the first leap, and scurried, possum-style up the tree to the first strong branch she could find. She curled into a ball and prayed to StarClan she would be safe. Pine scent wreathed around her, an almost sweet smell. Hailcloud shivered, shuffled on her branch and risked a look down. Relief washed over her like tepid water. The dog looked the size of a hare, scraping uselessly at the bark of the pine, whining. A pair of green eyes glowed from next to her. It was her sister, Lightfoot. It occurred to Hailcloud that Lightfoot must’ve been the one who saved her.

“Are you okay?” Lightfoot murmured. Hailcloud could tell from the air between her and her sister that Lightfoot was shivering. She guessed she was shivering, too.

“Yeah, just great!” Hailcloud whispered sarcastically, voice breaking. Blotting out the dogs angry whines, Hailcloud could spot more pairs of eyes from further up the tree, rogue and Clan. The pine scent infatuated her and she felt the bark running against her fur. Teeth fixed in her scruff and dragged her back. Hailcloud felt very dizzy.

“Hailcloud! Are you ok?” Lightfoot mewed anxiously. Hailcloud blinked. She wouldn’t look up again, not while the dog was still down there.

“Where’s Dewfrost?” Hailcloud asked, fluffing out her long, silky fur. Lightfoot’s eyes narrowed and starlight bounced off of them. “I don’t know!” Lightfoot whispered, worry clawing at her throat. Hailcloud knew that her sisters were some of the only things Lightfoot truly cared about. Since the three sisters had been kits, their personalities had been evident. Dewfrost was dedicated and kind, Hailcloud has slightly air-brained and bubbly and Lightfoot was smart and dramatic. Seeing Lightfoot this serious made Hailcloud serious as well. Lightfoot shuffled in her position, glancing down at the ground where the dog was alternating between trees, pacing.

“We’ll search for her,” Lightfoot mewed pitifully. It seemed she was convincing herself more than Hailcloud.

Hailcloud twitched an ear to some rustling in the bushes on the other side of the clearing. The dog had stopped and swung its head around, tongue lolling.

“No,” Lightfoot whispered. From the bushes sprung five cats: two rogue cats, Riverfur, and much to Hailcloud’s delight and dismay, Dewfrost, all led by Sunlight. The dog let out a low growl and started to charge for the group of cats. Hailcloud started to cry out a warning, but Lightfoot’s tail barred her mouth. She shot Hailcloud a look that said ‘be quiet’.

StarClan, help them.

Sunlight’s authoritative call reached even the cats in the pine trees.

“Now!”

Immediately, Riverfur and a dark brown rogue cat veered off right. The dog raced after it without a thought. The remaining cats chased after the dog silently. Riverfur and the rogue disappeared with a sly leap behind a manuka bush. The dog stopped, limbs quivering, the scent he was chasing gone. Before it had a chance, Sunlight jumped onto the dog’s back. The beast stretched around, bucking and rearing to remove the cat that stuck like a burr to its back. Sunlight raked his claws down its spine. The dog yelped in frustration. Hailcloud’s heart lurched as she watched Dewfrost wriggle under the dog’s legs.

Dewfrost pushed as hard as she could at one of the dog’s legs. The dog yelped in pain and wobbled precariously. Dewfrost zipped out from under its legs as it collapsed. The other rogue, a she-cat with grey fur, had been waiting patiently, hackles rising, waiting for the dog to falter. He bit the end of the dog’s scrawny tail. The dumb beast whipped around and Sunlight dealt it two more lashes. It yelped in pain.

Riverfur emerged slowly from the manuka bushes, tail lashing ferociously. The dog, disorientated, backed away from the cats. The five of them advanced slowly, spitting. With a series of furious barks, the dog turned tail and fled in the direction of a two-leg house off in the distance. The five cats watched the dog run away, and after the small, lean shape had vanished, they turned to face the pine trees.

A flood of cats came scrambling down the trunk, their pelts fluid in the grey light of dawn. Sunlight let out a caterwaul of triumph, which some brave others joined in with. When Hailcloud had ambled down, she ran to meet her sister. Lightfoot scurried past her and started to weave herself around Dewfrost.

“You were brilliant, Dewfrost!” Lightfoot licked her sister’s ear. Hailcloud nodded, eyes wide with admiration. Dewfrost puffed out her chest.

“We just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” she meowed, breathless and eyes shining with excited exertion.

“When the dog came, Sunlight was five paw-steps ahead of us. He told us to go hide with him in the bushes. He told us we should take some action, and Sea over there,” Dewfrost gestured with her tail to the grey rogue. “She came up with the plan. She’s the one who was brilliant!” Hailcloud brushed her cheek and pushed against her sister.

“I’m just glad you’re safe,” Hailcloud sighed. Lightfoot opened her mouth, perhaps for some sarcastic comment, when Fallenstar emerged from the bushes. His tail was lashing and eyes blazing.

“Mouse-brains!” he spat. The chivalry faded away and everyone turned to look at him. Night and Dark slid out of the bushes, as silent as shadows, to flank Fallenstar.

“You could’ve died!” he raged, eyes burning across the audience. Sunlight was licking his tail, purring. Starlingflight was watching him with pride and something warm in her eyes.

“But we didn’t,” he mewed ecstatically. “These rogues have some serious brains. They came up with the plan!” The rogue Dewfrost had called Sea dipped her head in modesty.

“But why was the plan necessary?” Fallenstar continued.

“Because I forgot to set sentries at night, that’s why. It’s my fault we were in that situation!” he roared. Hailcloud stared at her leader and felt her sisters all press into one another.

“It has been sheer luck that we’ve managed to travel this far from home without wounds. Sheer luck!” he repeated. “This was a sign from StarClan.” He moaned. Tuifeather trotted from the crowd. The black and white medicine cat whispered something in his ear. The air suddenly turned cold and awkward. Hailcloud tipped her head to the side. Tuifeather seemed almost like another leg for Fallenstar. He was always getting a crazy cold fire in his eye, cursing StarClan and blaming himself. Fallenstar seemed to rely on Tuifeather for common sense, as if he had used up all of his own.

Fallenstar stepped back, frowning thoughtfully. Tuifeather appealed to the rogues and Clan cats.

“It was not luck that we survived,” she swept her tail in a graceful arc. “It was skill. Your cats have dexterity and power.” Tuifeather nodded to Dark and Night.

“Though the ordeal with the dog was a frightening one, both of us pulled through very well.” All the cats could see the compliments were a build up to something. They leaned forward, breath bated.

“I suggest that we combine forces, for safety and strength.” She quoted Fallenstar. Discord rippled through the cats, with several disdainful calls. Tuifeather remained composed. While the cats discussed the decision, Hailcloud turned to her sisters.

“Yes!” Dewfrost whispered, eyes shining. Lightfoot’s tail flicked and she looked sideways at Hailcloud, as if to say what do you think? Hailcloud frowned and wrinkled her nose.

“As long as they’re not trying to kill us, I’m happy about it.” She mewed conclusively. Dewfrost nodded, millions of possibilities zooming around her mind so vividly that Hailcloud could nearly see the thoughts. Lightfoot shrugged, tail resting across her paws. While other cats hissed and purred, the trio watched the expressions on the leaders’ faces. Fallenstar looked blank, not here nor there. Dark was nodding, ears flat, at Night, who was flexing his claws. The Clan apprentices were wide-eyed and confused. Beestripe and Cricketsong were talking in hushed voices. Hailcloud shivered to think what the aggressive toms were planning. Cuckoonose was completely ignoring the ongoing discussion; instead she was licking her paws and making suggestive glances to a particularly disgusted Volewhisker.

Hailcloud settled onto her paws. Whatever the verdict would be, it’d take a long time to reach it.

“I don’t get it,” Beetlepaw whispered to Keapaw. “Why don’t they just join us? We’re way better than them; it’s a favour to invite them in.” The brown apprentice nodded. Keapaw rolled his eyes and shoved him slightly.

Poppy-seed brain.

Keapaw didn’t like the rogues. He thought Fallenstar would have to be insane to invite wild cats into the Clan, and have a death sentence to invite ten of them in. His father had slightly lost his way. MeadowClan had been pure bred for moons. But since they weren’t MeadowClan anymore, maybe it was time things changed. The leaders of the rogues, Night and Dark, were clever. The two of them were like shadows and their voices were like honey: they only had to speak for cats to follow their instructions. He especially liked Dark; the cat looked quite like himself. It seemed that Keapaw’s father, Fallenstar, also took a liking to him. He was constantly talking to him.

“The rogues have pride, Beetlepaw,” Keapaw explained slowly. “Of course they won’t immediately accept the offer – it’ll make them look like they can’t fend for themselves. Who can blame them?” Keapaw twitched his whiskers in humour. “It looks like they could barely fight an apprentice!”

Suddenly a looming shadow rested on Keapaw, bringing him into night. Keapaw froze and Beetlepaw looked with white hot fright behind his denmate.

“Barely fight an apprentice, eh?” a low, gravelly voice breathed in Keapaw’s ear. He heard a cat snicker. Keapaw stiffly turned his head around to see the biggest rogue in the pack snarling in his face. He was a large, dark brown tom whose teeth seemed like stalactites and stalagmites. His breath smelled sickly, like grass and sweat.

“You think you’re better than me, strangecat?” the rogue spat. Keapaw shook his head briskly, slowly edging backwards. The rogue lunged at him and Keapaw tumbled to the cold ground.

“Cedar,” One of the rogues warned from behind him. Suddenly the world was enveloped by the rough, dark brown fur of Cedar the rogue. Keapaw felt claws prick down his back and he let out a pitiful mew of pain.

He’s just playing with me like a piece of extra prey!

Cedar stepped on Keapaw’s chest. Keapaw’s organs ballooned and suffocated beneath it. Bile rose in his throat.

This can’t be how I die.

Keapaw heard a distant cackle from his attacker. “Easier than a mouse. Doesn’t even fight back.” Cedar leaned in close to Keapaw’s ear. “Still think you’re better than me?”

Fiery confidence blazed through Keapaw. Or was it just the lack of oxygen? Keapaw’s voice gurgled and he spat in Cedar’s face. The rogue roared in frustration, and for a moment reared up in disgust. Keapaw struggled and with a burst of energy zipped from beneath Cedar’s paws. The rogue smelled of bloodlust and fury. But before the hulking great tom could raise a paw, a tortoiseshell blur knocked him to the ground.

Dark was standing, lithe and well-muscled, over the collapsed Cedar.

“You dare attack one of our hosts? And a young one, at that?” Dark hissed menacingly. Cedar narrowed his eyes and tried to speak but Dark pressed his paw onto Cedar’s throat.

“You disgust me.” Dark lifted his paw off the brown rogue and nosed over the breathless body of Keapaw. “Are you alright?” he murmured. Keapaw groaned and rolled over on the ground. There was a hammering inside his head and a small amount of blood on his back. He looked up into the face of his saviour, only to see his reflection. Dark looked exactly the same as Keapaw, down to the black tipped ears! The only thing to differentiate the toms was Dark’s glowing amber eyes and Keapaw’s swimming grey eyes.

Keapaw felt another cat next to him.

“I’ll get him to Tuifeather,” Keapaw heard the soft voice of Lightfoot. His mentor leaned in and looked into his eyes. “Are you okay to walk?”

Keapaw grunted and heaved himself up. His scratches felt raw and they stung. His paws were numb from the freezing floor. Cedar and another rogue were conversing in scathing tones. Keapaw glanced their way and Cedar shot him a look through narrowed eyes. Keapaw leaned on Lightfoot’s shoulder. The rest of the cats were looking at him sideways and chatting in hushed voices.

When he got to Tuifeather she ushered him to a spot covered with loose earth and dead leaves.

“Rest,” she had told him through a mouthful of odd looking herbs. “Rest and a bit of chamomile should do it.” Tuifeather inspected Keapaw’s scratches with a frown.

“Maybe a light covering of dock… if I can spare it.” Tuifeather mewed. Tuifeather had carried a small morsel of herbs with her on the journey under her chin and so in her mouth. There were few left, and they were partially shrivelled.

Keapaw wiggled in his poor nest of fern and grass. He was cold and damp. The towering pines above him dropped raindrops the size of acorns on him and the overhanging fern didn’t do much to help. But at least if was peaceful. The grey sky now had a yellow tint and streaks of red and pink in it. Dawn was approaching fast. Tuifeather sent Vinepaw to go search for some chamomile with Yarrowleaf and Duskflower. Duskflower had seemed erratic and distracted ever since the Blacktail ordeal. Keapaw could tell that Duskflower would bring it up again – the moons she had spent without her mate had made her into a ball of anger. Now that her mate had returned, and didn’t remember her, Duskflower was removed and unfocused.

“It’s a good idea to keep her busy,” Tuifeather mused, waiting with Keapaw for the herb patrol to return. “If we left her to writhe in her sadness she might as well retire.” She joked. Keapaw nodded soberly and began to count raindrops.

Is it really a wise idea to invite rogues into our Clan when they could attack any of us, even an apprentice?

The Secret Clan - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was a chilly night. Cats from both groups were huddled against each other for warmth. Tuifeather didn’t yet believe the rogues were friendly. There was something about Dark’s flicking tail, something about the gleam in Night’s eye. Though she kept up her best face and didn’t let her doubts slip.

Dark was recounting an encounter with a stoat.

“It really was a dumb thing,” he purred. “You see White, over there?” Fallenstar, Duskflower and Tuifeather all turned their heads to spot the rogue named White.

“White came from an area with scores of stoats – so many that they nearly outnumbered the two-legs. So he knew how to deal with these animals. He just ducked, weaved, slashed a few times and it was over.” Dark purred before tucking into a sparrow. Fallenstar flexed his claws and let out a rumbling purr. “Will you not consider staying with us for longer? There is so much we could learn from each other.” He drawled. Tuifeather’s eyes widened.

“But I’m sure you’d want to be getting on your way?” she stammered. These cats live outside the warrior code. Why is Fallenstar so comfortable around them?

Fallenstar shot her a look with the beginnings of a snarl of contempt. “We share a common goal, why not stay with us? Join our Clan!” he yowled in a booming voice. All cats rogue and Clan froze. Suddenly a wall slammed down between the separate groups. Tuifeather couldn’t believe her leader. This was a possibly hostile group of cats! They had different beliefs and backgrounds – surely they wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice everything for the Clan? Tuifeather remembered Fallenstar many moons ago, back when she was an apprentice under Mintfur. He was the wisest tom in the area, and he certainly wouldn’t invite, let alone talk to a rogue. He had been confident and witty. Now he was discombobulating and unsure.

Night blinked furiously and stared at his paws. Dark didn’t know where to look. Night then nodded and looked up with narrowed eyes. “That is an extremely… generous offer, Fallenstar.” He stood, and a second later so did the rest of the rogues, apart from Dark. “But I’m afraid we must decline. Thank you for your hospitality.” The cats began to pick their way through the crowd of Clan cats, who were gossiping in hushed voices. Fallenstar looked extremely distressed. Dark shuffled his paws. The two exchanged some awkward glances. What’s going on there? Tuifeather pondered. Then the rogue tortoiseshell turned to his band. “I think we should stay. Until dawn, at least. There have been reports of a stray dog pack.” Night looked at Dark suspiciously.

“For safety, Night.” He mewed. Night shrugged and signalled with a dejected tail for his cats to settle. Seizing the moment of uneasy murmuring and distraction, Tuifeather slid across to a contented Fallenstar. “Fallenstar, why are you so attached to these cats? They’re shifty and no more trustworthy than vermin.” She said harshly. The only way she could get through to Fallenstar was to be extremely blunt. The pale tortoiseshell stared at her with wide eyes, and then gestured for her to follow him. Tuifeather felt the sounds of collective mewing trail away until it was replaced by the sound of night birds and insects. A great moon stared down at the prowling cats. At one point Tuifeather lost sight of her leader, his multicoloured pelt blending in to the surroundings. The only telltale was a glint of moonlight in his eyes. Tuifeather crouched and sat to listen.

Dewfrost sat with Sea. Though thoroughly spooked by the rogue’s ways, Sea was kind and intelligent.

“We’re lucky we didn’t have to leave,” Sea meowed awkwardly. Dewfrost noticed with a pang that she didn’t use phrases like ‘Thank StarClan’. Dewfrost swallowed her negativities and hunched her shoulders. It was a cold winter night, the cat of wind yowling miserably.

“You’ve told me about your ways,” she mewed to change the subject. “Tell me about your fellow cats.” Sea put on an amused face. Before she could begin, Dewfrost interrupted. “Who’s that big tom?” she gestured to the tom who had ignored her on the journey today, who was sitting with some other rogues.

“That’s Cedar,” Sea answered. “He wants to be leader. But everyone agrees he’s too brutish, too positively mean.” Dewfrost could understand that even from the briefest of times she had encountered him.

“The she-cat with him is Grass,” Dewfrost looked at the muscular tabby. “I know,” Sea purred. “It’s hard to believe she’s a she. But in her defence, she’s the toughest cat ever. She’s one of the few who can fight. Some of us joke that she has claws for whiskers,” Sea mewed awkwardly. Dewfrost didn’t mind the inside joke. She inched closer to Sea, her eyes, an invitation to carry on.

“Grass and Cedar are mates. The two small cats beside Grass are hers. The brown tabby is Twig. The light grey with dark bits is Pebble. Both toms are about seven moons old.” Dewfrost felt herself relax at the common term of ‘moon’.

“In my Clan they’d be called apprentices, and would be trained for hunting and fighting.” Dewfrost blinked. Sea nodded, evidently uninterested. “Pebble has been chosen to be taught to fight, because he’s the larger of the toms.”

“What will happen to Twig?” Dewfrost felt herself grope for the name of the lean tabby.

“Twig will hunt, like the majority of our group, and like me.” Sea retorted, mildly offended. Dewfrost quickly decided better of asking who would teach them. Sea seemed touchy on the subject, and she could easily tell that they were a vulnerable, though intimidating, group of rogues.

“Well, you already know Night and Dark.” Sea continued.

“A bit mysterious, aren’t they?” Dewfrost ventured. Sea purred with laughter. “Not really. They’re good-natured, and cunning. Night makes the Clan laugh, and Dark makes you feel safe, understood.” While Sea was animatedly retelling a time that Dark had thought that she was a rabbit, Dewfrost let her gaze sweep the crowds. She came to rest on the leader, Night. His pelt was slightly messy, but had an air of aloofness and mystery to it. His eyes were meltingly warm amber. He was nodding at Dark. The tortoiseshell was looking distressed and torn. Dewfrost briefly thought about why he was upset, before returning her gaze to Night. He jerked her head back to see Night staring straight back at her, his eyes carrying the same depth of a sun at dawn, beaming brilliantly against a sooty sky. Her mind blank, Dewfrost couldn’t help but stare back. She only barely noticed Sea stop talking and become silent. Night abruptly looked away, blinking furiously. Dark looked amused and twitched an ear in Dewfrost’s direction. Dewfrost swung her head around to see Sea staring knowingly at her.

“You’re mooning over Night, aren’t you?” Before Dewfrost could hastily and unbelievably deny it, Sea continued.

“You’re not the first,” she mewed, picking out a scrap of greenery from between her claws. “Everybody falls for either Night or Dark. I mean, who can blame them? They’re both handsome and powerful; all a she-cat could want.” Sea sighed wistfully. Dewfrost disagreed intensely. “What about kindness,” the Clan cat began. “humour, skill, the ability to love and care for kits, to care for you!” Dewfrost was not aware of how desperate her rant sounded. Sea didn’t reply, just kept picking around her claws, her tail tip twitching in aggravation.

“My mate died,” Sea mewed, not raising her head from her cleaning. Dewfrost stifled a gasp. “So did my kit. It was from bad prey.” Sea stared at Dewfrost with a mixture of grief, anger and longing. It was all mixed in a blue-grey storm in her eyes.

“Both of them were handsome, powerful, kind, funny, skilled, and loving and caring to everyone. You can never find more than one of them in this world, and mine has gone.”

“I am certain,” Fallenstar said definitively. Tuifeather stared at her leader. She now understood why Fallenstar was so determined to keep the rogues with them, but the reason frightened her. There were still many questions left unanswered.

“Let me explain, please!” Fallenstar cried, seeing Tuifeather’s disillusioned look. Tuifeather fluffed out her fur in order to protect her from the poignant cold of the night. Fallenstar looked so heartbroken that the medicine cat had no choice but to agree.

“Back when your father was still leader,” Fallenstar began. Tuifeather noticed with a stab that he didn’t use her father’s name, Crowstar. Tuifeather subtly agreed. Crowstar had been evil, not a father but a shadow in her life. She had proved herself many times over to have gained her own name in MeadowClan, so she held no shame in being called his daughter. His actions obviously did not get passed into his two virtuous daughters, herself and Starlingflight. Fallenstar continued, his voice becoming thick and tearful with nostalgia. “I wasn’t deputy then. Not yet. One day, patrolling by myself, I found a rogue on our territory. She was weak, frail and starving; a whisker-length from StarClan, or wherever she was supposed to go. It wasn’t right… I made a temporary nest for her on the edge of the territory. I made her promise to leave once she was fit and healthy but, things changed.” Fallenstar closed his eyes, sifting through his memories. He shrugged, smiling. “I fell in love with her. Eventually, I saw her belly swollen with a kit. I was so happy… it seemed like my Clan didn’t matter anymore. And when the kit was born, it was a beautiful tom. She said it looked like me but it had her eyes.” Tuifeather looked at Fallenstar’s sparkling grey eyes, which were usually so sad and dull. The mother must’ve had amber eyes, because the kit he was speaking of had them, too.

“But my Clan began to notice how much time I spent outside the camp. They demanded to know what I was doing, but I couldn’t give up my mate or kit. I told her to run,” Fallenstar ducked his head and choked back a strangled sob. Tuifeather’s eyes widened to see how much pain his memories hurt the aged leader.

“She tried to run, but our kit slowed her down. I was confined to camp; I couldn’t help them, run away with them… the warriors guessed that I had a mate, so they hunted her down. They killed her.” Fallenstar was lying slumped on the ground in defeat, reliving the memories. Tuifeather was in awe of how much grief her strong, wise leader had gone through.

“The kit got away,” Fallenstar nodded, blinking, trying to come back to the present time. “And was adopted by a group of rogues. This kit is now Dark, leader of the rogues we are travelling with.” He concluded.

“Does he know?” she whispered. Fallenstar nodded slowly, as if each movement was torture. Tuifeather bowed her head, digesting the information, and without another word, she padded over silently and curled up next to her hurt leader. Time, Tuifeather thought grimly, does not heal wounds this grievous.

Hailcloud felt very anxious around the rogue cats. In her vision, all the rogues were distorted to having huge claws and pointed fangs and scars like chasms along their fur. The cream-coloured she-cat snuggled closer to those closest to her, Riverfur and Raintail. The young ginger she-cat spun around. “I thought you were a rogue cat trying to creep up on me,” she purred awkwardly. “My neck fur won’t lie flat around them – how do we know they won’t turn on us?” Raintail whispered anxiously. Hailcloud nodded, glancing around to see two rogue cats sleeping within three tail-lengths of the gossiping warriors.

“I do wish Tuifeather or Duskflower knock some sense into Fallenstar,” Hailcloud muttered mutinously. “I hope he really doesn’t expect for them to join our Clan. We’d have to train them. On the bright side, we’d gain ten more apprentices!” The two she-cats twitched whiskers and muffled purrs as they spotted Tuifeather lead Fallenstar back into the temporary camp clearing. Hailcloud’s humour faded as she saw Fallenstar’s tail dragging behind in the dust. Raintail scuffed her paws in the dust, all traces of light-heartedness drained. “I wonder what happened,” Raintail murmured.

Dark, the joint leader of the rogues stood, eyes blazing with a fierce amber care. Night, the other leader, was shooting the two tortoiseshell toms suspicious glances.

Raintail cocked her ear to the hushed conversation. “I think… I think Dark is asking Fallenstar if he’s okay. Fallenstar is saying he is… oh!” Raintail strained to hear. “It’s too quiet, I can’t hear.” She said dejectedly. Hailcloud sighed and looked, puzzled, at the two leaders. What’s going on there? Duskflower whispered something in Fallenstar’s ear and the old leader flicked his tail in response. Night shrugged himself off and leaned forward slightly. “I would like to introduce my deputy.” On cue, a tom picked his way through the crowd of cats. He had closely shaved white fur, small green eyes, and various sized black spots around his rump. His tail was all black. Fallenstar dipped his head kindly to the new tom. The white and black tom settled himself a position beside Night.

“This is Black. He will take over either mine or Dark’s position if one of us is killed.” Night mewed. Black puffed out his chest with pride. Hailcloud felt a need to be closer to the new cats, and listen to their discussions. She and Raintail leaned forward in anticipation. Riverfur groaned in his sleep and kicked out softly at Hailcloud. “Stop mooning over the rogues,” he grumbled light-heartedly. Hailcloud could see out of the corner of her eye Raintail tickling Riverfur with a strand of gorse, but she was too focused on the congregation of leaders and important cats at the front. As absent-minded chat began to rumble around the manuka-bush sheltered clearing, Hailcloud let her gaze travel around the other cats. She suspected most of these ferocious-looking cats weren’t as bad as she thought. There was a tabby she-cat who was playing with two similar looking small toms; Hailcloud guessed they were her kits. There was a handsome white tom with an odd tuft of her on his back. He was subtly play-fighting with another rogue with a blue-grey pelt; one Hailcloud had noticed when they first encountered. The mournful look she had worn had been completely replaced by one of cheekiness and energy. The white tom swiped while looking in the other direction and the blue she-cat trapped his paw under hers. Hailcloud nodded thoughtfully. Just as she was examining a grey cat chatting to Hailcloud’s sister, Dewfrost, a sharp yowl of shock echoed around the clearing. Hailcloud spun around, long, silky hair flying. Duskflower was standing at the corner of the clearing where the leaders were talking. She was bristling and Hailcloud guessed that if she was closer she would be able to see the whites of her eyes. The grey deputy was staring with a mixture of accusation and joy at Black, the rogue deputy. The whole clearing went deathly silent apart from belated gasp Tweetpaw, being herded in by his scolding mother, Tansypetal.

“You,” Duskflower pointed a claw at Black. “You’re back!” she squealed. Tuifeather rose to her feet and tried to beckon Duskflower back. “Duskflower,” the black and white medicine cat warned quietly.

“No, no!” Duskflower denied Tuifeather and turned back to staring in complete awe at Black. “It’s Blacktail!” Hailcloud felt her blood turn to ice at the mention of Duskflower’s lost, presumed dead mate.

“Blacktail has returned!”

The Secret Clan - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Vinepaw padded along dedicatedly beside Dandelionfur. The pregnant queen was exhausted, with good reason. It had been a quarter moon since the Clan started the journey. So far, it had been uneventful. Tuifeather had pointed them all in the right direction with various signs. Tuifeather is the best medicine cat ever, Vinepaw thought happily.

“Do you want to rest, Dandelionfur?” Vinepaw pressed her nose into the queen’s fur. But the white and gold queen flexed her shoulders and gritted her teeth. “Not a chance. I can make it till tonight.” Swiftstream, who was beside his mate, looked worried.

“Dandelionfur,” he whispered. “We both know that you can’t make this whole journey. Who knows how long it’s going to be? We need to find a way for it to be less exhausting for you to walk.” Swiftstream glanced up at Vinepaw. The medicine cat apprentice nodded. Swiftstream was her brother, from a different litter. Therefore, Dandelionfur’s kits would be her kin.

I won’t let anything happen to my kin.

“Tonight,” Swiftstream whispered to Vinepaw. “We’ll think of some ideas.” Vinepaw nodded boldly and kept walking.

Leaving Swiftstream to tend to Dandelionfur, with the request of getting her if something happens, Vinepaw went up to talk to Tuifeather about Dandelionfur.

“She’s so tired…” Vinepaw mewed. Tuifeather glanced across at her small apprentice. “Yes. But if she’s anything, she’s strong. And when her kits come,” Tuifeather nudged Vinepaw with her shoulder. “We’ll be ready.” The black and white she-cat concluded confidently. Vinepaw wished she could share her mentor’s sureness. Dandelionfur’s kits would be the first kits that Vinepaw would help give birth to, and she wanted the conditions to be right. But, with the Clan following a trail set by StarClan with no visible ending point, the medicine cats would have to make the best of the situation.

Suddenly a sharp smell struck Vinepaw’s nostrils. Cautiously, glancing around her, Vinepaw drew in the scent. It smelled of earth, blood and grass. A badger? Vinepaw started to trembled, drawing in hurried breaths. The smell was moving, shifting. Vinepaw swung her head around violently. In her wild daze she stopped walking. Tuifeather, her eyes alight with worry, signalled to the Clan to be silent. All that could be heard was a frightened whimper from one of the apprentices. Vinepaw paused. She knew what the sound was. Eyes glazing over, she mouthed one word to her mentor. Tuifeather’s eyes widened momentarily.

“Come out. We know you’re there.” She called. There was a hesitation and a howl from the wind.

Then, from behind a pile of rotten wood, padded two huge, lanky tom cats. The word Vinepaw had mouthed was ‘rogues’. One was a well muscled tortoiseshell. The other was a dark grey with a black stripe down his spine. They stood perfectly still, showing no signs of hostility apart from their flickering eyes. Vinepaw could see Duskflower advancing silently from the head of her group, bristling. Tuifeather intercepted, not even for a moment taking her eyes off the two foreign cats. Fallenstar held a stone face. “State your business,” he meowed.

The grey tom looked amused for a moment and took a small pace forward. “We should be asking you to state yours, strangecat.” Vinepaw could imagine this rogue being a snake – sly, sleek and sneaky. The tortoiseshell’s gaze flicked to each cat in the Clan individually. He held his gaze on one of the cats; Vinepaw couldn’t see who it was.

“You’re on our territory.” The grey tom said, eyes narrowing. The tortoiseshell rolled his eyes. “That is a lie, Night.”

“Well they didn’t know that, did they Dark?” the grey tom hissed, his cover of secrecy blown.

“Now that your charade has ended,” Duskflower said, in a tone slightly less menacing than usual. “Night and Dark, is it? Don’t try anything. You’re outnumbered,” she glared at the two toms, who were bickering quietly up until she spoke. Night shot his accomplice a look and Dark shrugged.

“We have left our initial territory due to the blackwater. You’ve heard of it, I assume?” Fallenstar nodded, seeing that ‘blackwater’ was their way of talking about the black liquid in the stream. Vinepaw studied the two cats with awe. They were large – larger than most of the Clan cats – and were undeniably handsome cats, despite Vinepaw being able to count each of their ribs. They’re starving, Vinepaw thought with horror. Though starving, they certainly weren’t weak. They had large claws and looked skilled.

“We are travelling to find a new home,” Dark said. “A home that is comfortable and prey-rich. We have found no such place to stay.” Tuifeather cocked her head to the side. “There are only two of you. Can’t you just keep travelling; you don’t have many mouths to feed.” She inquired quizzically.

Night and Dark exchanged a knowing look. Vinepaw nodded to herself. Before the first two cats came out, she knew there were more. From over the top, underneath and to either side of the pile of sticks, eight more cats flooded out and came to stand beside Night and Dark.

“Not as many mouths as you, perhaps,” Dark chuckled light-heartedly. “But there are a half a score of us. We have lost some cats on the way –” A blue-tabby she-cat hid her head. “But we are strong.”

Fallenstar bowed his head, eyes glittering with possibility. “My name is Fallenstar, leader of this Clan. We too are travelling because of the ‘blackwater’ poisoning the stream we relied on for water.”

“Greetings, Fallenstar.” The two toms murmured in unison. “Although we do not wish to harm any of your cats, we will not hesitate to attack if we feel threatened.” The rogue cats yowled triumphant agreement. Vinepaw was haunted by their fierce cries. Tuifeather laid a reassuring tail tip on her shoulder.

“Nor do we mean any harm,” Tuifeather meowed loudly. “Would you care to travel with us for a while? I’m sure our Clan would find it interesting to learn of your ways.”

Dark flexed his claws and raised his head. “How can we trust you?” he hissed.

Tuifeather surveyed her awe-struck Clan.

“I swear on my own life that our cats will not harm yours. If they do, feel free to attack. The same goes for us,” she swept her tail towards the Clan. “If you attack, we retaliate.”

Dark and Night held a hushed conference before turning and nodding. “Very well,” Night mewed. “We will go our separate ways at dawn.”

Dewfrost watched the foreign cats with amazement. They moved, looked and stood differently. As the two leaders of the rogues, Black and Night, conversed with Fallenstar, Duskflower and the medicine cats, the rest of the rogues reluctantly mingled among the warriors. Not many words were said; the rogues looked decidedly uncomfortable. She locked eyes briefly with a hefty brown tom. He narrowed his eyes, not sure whether to be friendly or hostile, then turned his gaze back to walking. Dewfrost twitched her lip. Suit yourself, and ran up to walk beside Lightfoot.

“Isn’t this amazing?” Dewfrost gasped to her sister. Lightfoot just batted an ear. “More weird than amazing, I think. For all we know it, these cats know no morals and hold nothing precious. We wouldn’t know if they suddenly ambushed us from the inside. Personally, I’m glad they’re leaving at dawn.” She huffed. Dewfrost let her tail drag. She, if not anyone else, was excited about these new cats – the Clan could learn so much! Leaving her sister to mope, Dewfrost boldly padded over to a thin grey she-cat.

“Greetings,” she began formally. “My name is Dewfrost and I am a warrior of this Cla–” The she-cat she was talking to stared at her with a look of amusement. “Don’t talk to me like you would talk to a dog. My group know of the warrior way. We are cats like you just with different beliefs, don’t tie your tongue just to introduce yourself!” she drawled. Dewfrost gaped. Don’t be stupid, Dewfrost. Talk normally.

“Hi,” she began, not knowing what to say. The grey she-cat touched Dewfrost’s shoulder with her tail. “I’m known to these cats as Sea. Nice to meet you, Dewfrost.” She blinked. Dewfrost felt a small bud of happiness inside her.

“So what’s it like in your group… your band?” Dewfrost asked. Sea nodded, thinking of what to say. She turned to the Clan cat. “In our group; we hunt. We hunt by ourselves and give the prey to another cat. It’s like unspoken generosity, to prove we’re loyal to each other. If there are newborns or ragtails, then the best hunters bring back more than one piece of prey.” Sea explained. Dewfrost thought for a moment before realising that newborn meant a kit, and ragtail meant elder.

“That’s a lovely way of life, Sea.” Dewfrost purred.

“We rarely have to fight,” she continued. “So naturally, only a few of us are good fighters. I myself am not very competent with fighting…” Sea mewed, slightly embarrassed to admit her weaknesses. “But Dark and Night are. The whole band looks up to them. I guess that’s why they lead our group.”

Dewfrost looked up, alarmed. “You have two leaders?”

“Yes,” Sea said curtly. “Separate leaders don’t carry the same weaknesses as when they lead together.”

She looks younger than me and is already more wise and insightful. Dewfrost was thoroughly intrigued by the band of rogues. The group and the Clan shared some likeliness, but the differences they had made it all the more interesting to talk about. Dewfrost peered around the group. “Who’s your medicine cat?” she asked. Sea jerked her fuzzy grey head back in surprise. “Medicine what?” she mewed.

Dewfrost stopped. “You do have a medicine cat, right? You know, to communicate with StarClan?” Sea looked at her as if she sprouted ears.

“Dewfrost, our groups have very different beliefs. We do not have a ‘medicine cat’ and I don’t know what StarClan is.” Dewfrost felt her heart plummet, like she was falling and couldn’t stop. Not believe in StarClan? She thought all cats knew what StarClan was! What happened to the cats that passed on in this group? How did they heal the sick and wounded?

“What happens to the cats that become sick or injured?” Dewfrost asked monotonously.

“If they do not get better, then they leave the group to die.” Sea replied, as if her response was normal. Dewfrost was shaking.

What kind of a group is this that neglects poorly cats and doesn’t believe in StarClan?