Warriors AU: Sandstar's Quest

Chapter 27

Sandstar sat at the edge of the sandy training area, watching Fireheart working with Patchfoot. Several days had passed since the black ad white she-cat had agreed to join the sessions. She was still anxious, still unsure about her place within the Clan, but she was trying her best.

She crouched with her tail lashing back and forth, her gaze fixed on Fireheart. When the flame-colored she-cat sprang, Patchfoot grabbed her and flipped her over to hold her down on the sand. Her three kits, watching beside Sandstar, bounced up and down, letting out gleeful meows.

"Yes!" Rockkit yowled. "Go, Patchfoot!"

"Bite her throat!" Bouncekit urged.

Fireheart pushed Patchfoot off and glared at the three kits as she spat out a mouthful of sand. "Do you mind?" she meowed. "You just wait until you're apprentices. I'll teach you about throat biting."

All three kits collapsed in mrrows of laughter, their tiny tails waving in the air.

"It's no use." Sandstar twitched his ears at his mate. "They know you're not as fierce as you sound."

Fireheart ignored him. "You're coming along very well," she told Patchfoot. "You might want to watch out for—"

She broke off at the sound of yowling coming from farther down the gorge. Sandstar sprang to his paws. He flicked his tail at Fireheart. "Come on. Patchfoot, keep the kits here."

Not waiting to see if Patchfoot obeyed, he raced down the gorge. Fireheart bounded at his heels. A heartbeat before they reached the Rockpile, the yowling stopped. The silence was almost as frightening as the sound.

Skidding around the lowest rocks of the Rockpile, Sandstar came to a slippery halt. A couple of tail-lengths in front of him stood Petalnose, the pale gray rogue who had refused to join the Clan. His sides heaved as he fought for breath.

Clovertail was facing him, his pelt bristling and his lips drawn back in a snarl. Poppystorm and Cherrytail stood close by with their apprentices, looking ready to fight the intruder if they had to.

"Get out," Clovertail rasped. "You had the chance to stay and you turned it down. Now go, unless you want your fur clawed off."

"Wait," Sandstar meowed, padding forward to push himself between Clovertail and Petalnose. "What's the problem?"

"Petalnose knows he's not supposed to come here now," Clovertail began.

Sandstar touched the pale brown tom's shoulder with his tail. "Let Petalnose speak for himself."

By this time the pale gray rogue had gotten his breath back. "I need your help," he meowed. "Please, Sandstar. It's not for me; it's for my mate and her kits."

Until then Sandstar hadn't even known that Petalnose had a mate. "What's the matter with them?"

"Rain is a kittypet," Petalnose explained. "She lives downriver" —he waved his tail toward the opposite side of the gorge— "with an old Twoleg who hardly ever feeds her. She used to sneak out to meet me, and I used to catch prey for her. I tried to persuade her to come and live with me, but she was scared, especially when she found out she had kits coming. She thought the Twoleg would care for them."

"When he didn't care for her?" Fireheart asked, shocked.

Petalnose shook his head helplessly. "I couldn't persuade her. But now that the kits are born the Twoleg is just as bad, if not worse. Rain is getting weaker and weaker, and she hasn't enough milk to keep the kits alive. You've got to help us!"

Poppystorm glanced at Sandstar. "I think we should go."

"Just a moment." Without waiting for Sandstar to answer, Cherrytail stepped forward, giving Petalnose a suspicious look. "If your mate could sneak out to see you, why can't she sneak out now, and bring the kits with her?" To Sandstar he added, "I think he might be setting a trap for us."