CHAPTER21
Lionpaw’s muscles still hurt from therace through the tunnels and the long swim to the shore, but he couldn’t rest in the den¹ any longer. He had slept till midday and Ashfur had refused to take him training until he’d had another good night’s sleep. But Lionpaw’s heart ached to the point of making him fidget and shuffle² his paws in the dried-up moss³ in his nest. Finally, he gave up trying to get comfortable and pushed his way through the barrier of thorns, into the forest.
“You need to stretch your legs?” Brook⁴’s mew surprised him. Lionpaw had been lost in thought as he padded out of the camp entrance. The evening sun was glittering through the trees as it sank toward the horizon.
“I’m bored with resting,” Lionpaw told her.
“You look better,” she commented. “Last night you looked like you’d been as far as the mountains and back.”
Lionpaw looked at his paws. “The kits⁵ were hard to find.”
“But you found them,” Brook reminded him.
“Yes,” Lionpaw murmured. He began to pad up the slope, treeward.
“I’ll watch for you!” Brook called after him.
“I won’t be long,” Lionpaw promised.
He headed for the tunnel entrance, weaving slowly through the trees. As he saw the brambles that guarded the tunnel entrance, the pang⁶ in his belly⁷ grew stronger. He wriggled⁸ beneath the prickly branches and climbed the slope, pausing in front of the small burrow⁹ where Heatherpaw had once called to him. He imagined her now, her blue eyes shining with excitement.
He would never see her again in that way. As a friend. As a fellow member of DarkClan with their own hidden territory. He couldn’t have all that and still be a loyal ThunderClan

分享到：