Hickorynose glanced at the nursery. “I don’t want my kits to die like Sandgorse.” He dropped his gaze. “Or Leafshine,” he added, remembering the tunneler who’d died in the same accident that had crippled Lilywhisker. “But I’ll tell them of my days in the tunnels and make sure that WindClan will always remember what we achieved.”
Mistmouse nodded. “Stagleap, Doespring, and Ryestalk are happy as moor runners. Our young deserve to run with the wind in their tails.”
“Our days of hiding are over,” Cloudrunner declared.
“Hiding?” Disbelief flooded Woollytail’s gaze.
“Cloudrunner only meant that it’s time we faced the world with our heads held high.” Larksplash paced around him. “Once every cat in WindClan has battle skills, we’ll be the strongest Clan of all.” She glanced up at the sky. The thick bank of cloud had reached the sun. Rays spilled over the edge for a moment before the cloud swallowed them. “We live closest to StarClan. We will make our ancestors proud!”
“WindClan!” Shrewpaw began to cheer.
“WindClan!” Aspenfall joined in.
“WindClan!”
“WindClan!”
Tallpaw stared in shock as his Clanmates cheered for the end of the tunnels. Woollytail backed away from them. From the rim of the hollow, the rogues watched, their pelts pricking in surprise. Sparrow’s eyes were thin, yellow slits. Tallpaw showed his teeth.
“Tallpaw.” Palebird’s mew startled him. He jerked around and met her gaze, a muzzle-length from his. “I’m glad you can’t become a tunneler.”
“But it’s what Sandgorse would have wanted!”
“He wouldn’t have wanted you to die as he did.” Palebird reached forward and touched her nose to his cheek. “And I couldn’t bear to lose another cat I love.”
Tallpaw stared at his mother in confusion. He couldn’t remember the last time Palebird had told him that she loved him. He should have been ecstatic. But Heatherstar had snatched away his dream. And all around him his Clan were cheering. Had
Tallpaw stopped at the first rabbit hole he reached and stared into the darkness. A worm of fear stirred in his belly, and his breath quickened as he remembered the suffocating closeness of the walls and the roar of the river chasing him. Every hair on his pelt bristled.
“Oh no, you don’t!”
Teeth clamped around his tail and hauled him backward. Dawnstripe dragged him from the rabbit hole, her eyes blazing. “Those tunnels are out of bounds!” she spat. “Didn’t you hear Heatherstar?”
“I don’t care!” Rain battered his ears.
“You’re going to be a moor runner!” Dawnstripe yowled over the rising wind. “And I’m going to be your mentor until you get your warrior name.”
Tallpaw glimpsed two pelts streaking toward them. “Is he okay?” Hareflight called through the rain. Shrewpaw raced past his mentor and skidded to a stop on the grass in front of Tallpaw.
“Poor Tallpaw,” he snorted. “Won’t Heatherstar let you become a wormpaw?” He nodded toward the entrance. “Why not go down there anyway? You know you were born to live underground.”
“Shrewpaw!” Dawnstripe glared at the apprentice. “Show some respect to your Clanmate.”
Hareflight joined them. “Stop teasing him, Shrewpaw!”
“This has gone beyond teasing!” Dawnstripe snapped. “If Shrewpaw were my apprentice, I’d claw his ears.”
Shrewpaw flung a scorching look at Dawnstripe. “Why are you siding with a tunneler?”
Hareflight paced around Tallpaw. “You shouldn’t have run out in the middle of a Clan meeting,” he fretted. “You worried everyone.”
Tallpaw flattened his ears. “No one’s worried about me. I killed Brackenwing.” He thrust his nose toward Shrewpaw. “Remember?”
A growl rumbled in Shrewpaw’s throat.
“The visitors will think we can’t control our apprentices,” Hareflight went on.
Tallpaw turned on him. “Who cares what that bunch of rogues thinks?” he hissed. “If they had any sense of honor, they’d have left after they killed Sandgorse.”
Dawnstripe lashed her tail. “No one killed Sandgorse!”
