CHAPTER 1
Leaves brushed Jaykit’s pelt2 like fallingsnow. More crackled underpaw, stiff with frost and so deep that he struggled with every step. An icy wind pierced his fur—still nursery soft—and made him shiver.
“Wait for me!” he wailed3. He could hear his mother’s voice ahead, her warm body always a few steps out of reach.
“You’ll never catch it!”
A high-pitched mew sliced into his dream, and Jaykit woke with a start. He pricked4 his ears, listening to the familiar sounds of the bramble nursery. His sister and brother scrabbling in play. Ferncloud lapping her dozing5 kits6. There was no snow now; he was in the camp, safe and warm. He could smell his mother’s nest, empty but still fresh with her scent7.
“Oof!” He let out a gasp8 of surprise as his sister, Hollykit, landed heavily on top of him. “Watch out!”
“You’re awake at last!” She rolled off him and pushed her hind9 paws into his flank. With a leap, she twisted away and grasped for something just out of reach.
Mouse! Jaykit could smell it. His brother and sister must be playing catch with fresh-kill newly brought into camp. He sprang to his paws and gave a quick stretch that sent a shiver through his small body.
“Catch this, Jaykit!” Hollykit mewed. The mouse whistled past his ear.
“Slow slug!” she teased as he turned too late to grab it.
“I’ve got it!” Lionkit called. He pounced10 on the fresh-kill, his paws thudding on the nursery’s packed earth floor.
Jaykit wasn’t going to let his brother steal the prize from him so easily. He might be the smallest in the litter, but he was fast. He leaped toward Lionkit, knocking him out of the way and stretching his forepaw to reach for the mouse.
He landed in a clumsy skid11 and rolled over, feeling a jolt12 of alarm as he realized it wasn’t moss13 underneath14 him, but the squirming warmth of Ferncloud’s two tiny kits. Ferncloud gave him a shove, pushing him away with her hind paws.
“Of course not,” Ferncloud snapped. “You’re too small to squash a flea16!” Foxkit and Icekit mewled as she tucked them closer into her belly17. “But you three are getting too rough for the nursery!”
“Sorry, Ferncloud,” Hollykit mewed.
“Sorry,” Jaykit echoed, apologetic even though Ferncloud’s comment on his size had stung him. At least the queen’s anger would not last. She would easily forgive kits she had suckled—when Squirrelflight’s milk had not come, it was Ferncloud who had fed Jaykit, Hollykit, and Lionkit in the moons before Foxkit and Icekit were born.
“It’s about time Firestar made you apprentices19 and moved you to the apprentice18 den20,” Ferncloud meowed.
“If only.” Lionkit sighed.
Jaykit felt the familiar surge of excitement as he imagined becoming an apprentice warrior22. He couldn’t wait to begin his training. But without even seeing Ferncloud’s face, he could sense the flicker23 of doubt that prickled through the queen’s pelt and knew that she was looking at him with pity in her eyes. His fur bristled24 with frustration25—he was just as ready to become an apprentice as Hollykit and Lionkit!
Ferncloud answered Hollykit, unaware26 that Jaykit had sensed her moment of unease. “Well, you’re not six moons yet! And until you are, you can do your playing outside!” she ordered.
“Come on, Jaykit,” Hollykit called. “Bring the mouse with you.” The branches of the bramble bush rustled29 as she slid out through the nursery entrance.
Jaykit picked up the mouse delicately in his teeth. It was newly killed and soft, and he didn’t want to make it bleed—they could have a good, clean game with it yet. With Lionkit close behind him, he scrabbled out after his sister. The barbs30 of the entrance tunnel clawed satisfyingly at his fur, sharp enough to tug31 at his pelt but not so sharp that they hurt.
Outside, the air smelled crisp and frosty. Firestar was sharing tongues with Sandstorm below Highledge. Dustpelt sat with them.
“We should be thinking about expanding the warriors32’ den,” the dark tabby advised his leader. “It’s crowded already, and Daisy and Sorreltail’s kits won’t be apprentices forever.”
Nor will we!thought Jaykit.
Brightheart and Cloudtail were grooming33 each other in a pool of sunlight on the other side of the clearing. Jaykit could hear the steady lapping of their tongues like water dripping from a rain-soaked leaf. Like all the ThunderClan cats, their pelts35 were leaf-bare thick, but the muscles beneath had grown lean with scarce prey36 and hard hunting.
Hunger was not the only hardship leaf-bare had brought. Molepaw, one of Sorreltail’s kits, had died of a cough that had not responded to Leafpool’s herbs, and Rainwhisker had been killed during a storm, struck by a falling branch.
Brightheart paused from her washing. “How are you today, Jaykit?”
Jaykit placed the mouse between his paws, safe from Hollykit’s grasp. “I’m fine, of course,” he meowed. Why did Brightheart have to make such a fuss over him? He’d only been sleeping in the nursery, not out raiding ShadowClan territory! It was like she was always keeping her one good eye on him. Eager to prove he was just as strong as his brother and sister, Jaykit flung the mouse high over Hollykit’s head.
As Lionkit thundered past him and grappled with Hollykit to be the first to catch it, Squirrelflight’s voice sounded from the side of the nursery. “You should show more respect for your prey!” Their mother was busy pressing leaves into gaps in the prickly walls that surrounded the queens’ den.
Jaykit’s nostrils38 flared39 at Daisy’s strange scent. It was different from the Clanborn cats’, and some of the warriors still referred to her as a kittypet because she had once lived in the horseplace and eaten Twoleg food. Daisy wasn’t a warrior, because she showed no sign that she ever wished to leave the nursery, but her kits Mousepaw, Hazelpaw, and Berrypaw were apprentices, and it seemed to Jaykit that they were as Clanborn as any of his Clanmates.
“They won’t be kits much longer,” Squirrelflight told Daisy, sweeping40 more leaves to her side with her long tail. The brittle41 rustling42 noise reminded Jaykit of his dream.
“All the more reason to let them enjoy themselves now,” Daisy replied.
Jaykit felt a wave of affection for the cream-colored she-cat. Though Squirrelflight was his mother, it had been Daisy who had warmed and washed him alongside Ferncloud when Clan34 duties had kept his mother away from the nursery. Squirrelflight had returned to her warrior duties soon after her kits had been born. Though she still had a nest in the nursery, she used it less and less, preferring to sleep in the warriors’ den, where she wouldn’t disturb the kits and nursing queens when she left on early patrols.
“Can you feel the draft now, Ferncloud?” Squirrelflight called through the nursery wall.
“No.” Ferncloud’s voice drifted out through the tangle43 of branches. “We’re warm as fox cubs44 in here.”
“Good,” Squirrelflight meowed. “Can you clear up here, Daisy? I promised Brambleclaw I’d help him check for loose rocks around the hollow.”
“Loose rocks?” Daisy gasped.
“It’s good to have such solid defenses.” Squirrelflight’s voice echoed a little as she gazed at the sheer stone cliffs that enclosed the camp on almost every side. “But the frost might have loosened stones, and we don’t want them falling into the camp.”
Jaykit’s attention was distracted by the bitter stench of mouse bile that came from the elders’ den. Leafpool must be removing a tick from Longtail or Mousefur. A much nicer odor heralded45 the return of two of Daisy’s kits—Mousepaw and Hazelpaw were bringing fresh-kill back from a hunting expedition. They hurried excitedly into the camp, Mousepaw carrying two mice and Hazelpaw with a large thrush in her jaws46. They dropped them at the fresh-kill pile.
Dustpelt padded over to greet them. “Looks like you did well, Hazelpaw!” he praised his apprentice. “You both did.” The apprentices purred, and Jaykit noticed how much they sounded like their mother, as though their purrs were muffled47 by their thick, soft pelts.
A sudden rush of wind and fur knocked Jaykit off his paws.
“Are you playing with us or not?” Hollykit demanded.
Jaykit leaped up, shaking himself. “Of course I am!”
“Well, Lionkit’s got the mouse, and he won’t let me have it!” Hollykit complained.
“Let’s get him then!” Jaykit hared across the clearing toward his brother. He bundled into Lionkit and pressed him to the frosty earth while Hollykit dragged the mouse from Lionkit’s claws.
“Unfair!” Lionkit protested.
“And you never willbe if you keep playing with food that way!” Stormfur had paused beside them on his way to the warriors’ den. His words were stern, though his voice was warm. “It’s leaf-bare. We should thank StarClan for every morsel50.”
“We have to practice,” Jaykit added, sitting up. “We’ll be apprentices soon.”
Stormfur was silent for a moment; then he stretched forward and gave Jaykit a quick lick between the ears. “Of course,” he murmured. “I was forgetting.”
Frustration flared in Jaykit’s belly. Why did the whole Clan treat him like a newborn kit1 when he was nearly six moons old? He shook his head crossly. Stormfur wasn’t even a proper ThunderClan cat! His father, Graystripe, had once been ThunderClan’s deputy, but Stormfur had grown up with his mother’s Clanmates in RiverClan, and his mate, Brook52, had come from far away in the mountains. What right did he have to act superior?
“You two share it,” Lionkit offered. “I’ll get something from the fresh-kill pile.”
Jaykit turned toward the heap of prey caught by the warriors that morning. A faint odor disturbed him. He took in a deeper breath, opening his jaws to draw the scents54 into his mouth: he could smell Hazelpaw’s freshly killed thrush and Mousepaw’s mice, their blood still warm. But below there was a sour smell that made his tongue curl. He padded past his brother, his tail held stiffly behind him.
“What are you doing?” Lionkit asked.
Jaykit didn’t answer. He nosed his way in among the small dead bodies, caught hold of a wren55, and pulled it free. “Look!” he mewed, rolling the bird over with his paw. The creature’s belly was alive with maggots.
Leafpool emerged from the elders’ den, a wad of moss in her jaws. Jaykit could smell the mouse bile on it even over the stench of the rotten wren. She paused by the three kits. “Well spotted,” she praised them, dropping the bile-soaked moss at her paws. “I know prey is scarce at the moment, but better to eat nothing than to eat something that will hurt your belly.”
“Jaykit found it,” Hollykit told her.
“Well, he’s saved me a patient,” Leafpool meowed. “I’m busy enough as it is. Brackenfur and Birchfall have whitecough.”
“Do you want help gathering57 herbs?” Jaykit offered. He had never been out of the camp, and he was desperate to explore the forest. He wanted to smell the boundary markers; up till now he had tasted only the weak scents of ShadowClan and WindClan carried from the borders on the pelts of ThunderClan patrols. He wanted to feel the breeze fresh off the lake, untainted by the scents of the forest. He wanted to learn where the markers were along each boundary so that he could defend every paw step of his Clan’s territory.
“You could gather far more herbs with us to carry them back to camp!” Lionkit put in.
“You know you’re not meant to leave the camp until you’re apprentices,” Leafpool reminded them.
“But you’ll need help if there are sick cats . . . ,” Jaykit insisted.
Leafpool silenced him by flicking58 the tip of her tail over his mouth. “I’m sorry, Jaykit,” she meowed. “It won’t be long until Firestar gives you your apprentice names. But until then, you’ll have to wait like any other kits.”
Jaykit understood her meaning. Their father was the Clan deputy, and their mother was Firestar’s daughter; Leafpool was reminding them yet again that it did not entitle them to special treatment. His tail twitched59 crossly. Sometimes it felt like the rest of the Clan went out of their way to make sure he and his littermates nevergot special treatment. It wasn’t fair!
“I’m sorry,” Leafpool meowed. “But that’s just the way it is.” She picked up the foul-smelling moss and padded back to the medicine den.
“Nice try,” Lionkit whispered in Jaykit’s ear. “But it looks like we’re stuck in the camp for a while longer.”
“Leafpool always thinks she can win us over just because she brings wool for our nests from the moorland,” Jaykit hissed60. “Or pieces of honeycomb to lick. Why can’t she just give us what we really want—a chance to explore outside the camp?”
Hollykit swished her tail over the frozen ground. Jaykit knew she wanted to explore beyond the camp walls as much as he and Lionkit did. “But she’s right,” she mewed grudgingly62. “We must stick to the warrior code.”
They ate, sharing the mouse and a vole between them. As Jaykit washed his face afterward63, drawing his paws over his ears to give them a thorough cleaning, he noticed Brook emerging from the warriors’ den to join Cloudtail and Brightheart in the sun. She carried a different scent from the other warriors, the scent of mountains and tumbling water. It seemed to make her the strangest of all the cats who were not Clanborn. Was it just her scent, Jaykit wondered, or was it something more he sensed in the mountain she-cat—some wariness64 that had never left her? He could not quite put his whisker on it, but he was sure that Brook felt out of place here in the forest.
A rustle28 in the thorn barrier that protected the entrance to the camp signaled Berrypaw’s return. Daisy’s third kit charged over to the fresh-kill pile and threw down his catch—a plump wood pigeon.
“Where’s Brambleclaw?” Berrypaw called out to the kits. Brambleclaw was Berrypaw’s mentor65, and Jaykit could not help but feel a small pang66 of jealousy67 that Berrypaw spent so much time training with Brambleclaw when his own paws ached to hunt in the forest with his father.
“He’s with Squirrelflight,” Jaykit replied. “They’re checking for loose stones.” He pricked his ears, listening for the sound of his mother’s and father’s voices. He could not hear them, but the breeze blowing down from the cliff behind the medicine den carried their scent.
“Up there,” he told Berrypaw, lifting his nose toward them.
“You’re sharp today, Jaykit!” Berrypaw meowed. “I wanted to show him my pigeon and ask him if we were doing battle training after sunhigh.”
“You must be really good at hunting.” Lionkit sighed, clearly thinking the same thing.
Lionkit’s belly swished against the ground as he tried to copy Berrypaw.
Lionkit’s tail slapped against the frozen earth.
“Now pull yourself forward, smooth as a snake,” Berrypaw commanded.
“You look like you’ve got wind!” Hollykit crowed.
Lionkit gave a playful hiss61 and leaped at her, rolling her onto the ground. She fought back, purring with amusement while Lionkit pummeled her belly with his hind paws.
They were so busy in their play fight that they did not notice the sudden noise outside the camp.
But Jaykit did.
Cats’ paws were pounding toward the camp entrance. Jaykit recognized the scents of Spiderleg and Thornclaw. The patrol was returning. But something was wrong. The warriors’ paws drummed the forest floor in a panicked rush, their scents bitter with fear.
Jaykit’s fur stood on end as Spiderleg and Thornclaw burst through the entrance.
Firestar and Sandstorm were on their paws in an instant.
“What is it?” Firestar meowed.
Spiderleg drew in a deep breath, then announced, “There’s a dead fox on our territory!”
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1
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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kits
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| 衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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skid
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| v.打滑 n.滑向一侧；滑道 ，滑轨 | |
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jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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apprentices
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| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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barbs
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| n.（箭头、鱼钩等的）倒钩( barb的名词复数 )；带刺的话；毕露的锋芒；钩状毛 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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grooming
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| n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发 | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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pelts
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| n. 皮毛，投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛，（连续）投掷 vi. 猛击，大步走 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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brittle
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| adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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53
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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54
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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wren
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| n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员 | |
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56
squealed
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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58
flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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60
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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61
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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62
grudgingly
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63
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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64
wariness
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| n. 注意,小心 | |
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65
mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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66
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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67
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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68
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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69
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
bluebell
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| n.风铃草 | |
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