CHAPTER 25

“Fierce!” Mittens’s yowl woke Tigerheart. He jerked up his head as the tabby tom jumped down from the entrance.

Dovewing opened her eyes and blinked anxiously at Tigerheart. “What is it?”

“I’ll find out.” Tigerheart slid gently from beneath Shadowkit and Pouncekit, who were sleeping on his flank. They murmured but didn’t wake as Dovewing scooped them close to her belly. He climbed quietly out of his nest, fluffing out his fur as he stepped into the chilly air. Most of the guardian cats were still sleeping. Soft dawn light filtered thought the clear stretches of wall. Fierce sat up sleepily in her nest as Mittens reached it.

The tabby glanced over his shoulder as Rascal squeezed through the entrance. “Did you find any more?” he called.

“Three.” Rascal hurried to Fierce’s nest.

“Find more what?” Fierce gazed blearily at the two toms.

“Traps,” Rascal meowed.

Tigerheart hurried to join them.

“The Twolegs have been back,” Mittens reported. “Their scent is so fresh they must have only just left.”

“They’ve taken all the traps we closed.” Rascal’s pelt prickled nervously.

“They’ve left new ones,” Mittens told her.

“Bigger ones this time,” Rascal chimed.

“Big enough to trap a fox.” Mittens’s eyes were dark with worry.

Tigerheart reached Fierce’s nest and glanced around the three cats. “Could we close them all again?”

Mittens flicked his tail. “What good would that do? They’d only bring more.”

Fierce gazed anxiously around the den. “Perhaps it’s time we moved on.”

“Where to?” Mittens demanded. “This is the quietest part of the city.”

Fierce’s pelt was still ruffled by sleep. It prickled along her spine. “I don’t know,” she mewed irritably. “I thought this place was safe.”

“It was, until Fog and her gang arrived,” Rascal growled. “The Twolegs didn’t know we were here.”

“We need to get rid of her,” Mittens grunted.

Fierce looked at Tigerheart. “What about your plan to get her cats to help us fight the foxes?”

Tigerheart shifted his paws. He hadn’t told the guardian cats about his conversation with Fog yet. “I asked her,” he confessed. “She said no. She said she’d go back to her old home if we drove off the foxes, but her cats won’t help us.”

“Did you find out how many foxes there are?” Fierce asked.

“Five,” Tigerheart told her.

Mitten’s tail twitched angrily. “We can’t drive off five foxes alone!”

Rascal looked up at a clear stretch of wall, narrowing his eyes against the light outside. “Perhaps we should fight Fog and her friends,” he grunted.

“We should shove them into those traps and let the Twolegs take them away,” Mittens growled.

Tigerheart twitched as a thought sparked in his mind. He wouldn’t drive any cat into the paws of Twolegs, but perhaps there was another way to use the traps. “We don’t have to give cats to the Twolegs,” he ventured. “But what if we gave them something else?”

Fierce’s sleepy gaze sharpened suddenly. “Like what?”

Tigerheart hesitated. This would be a dangerous plan, but if it worked, it could solve all the guardian cats’ problems.

Fierce stepped out her nest and pricked her ears. “Well?”

“If we can trick the foxes into the traps—”

Mittens cut him off with a snort. “How could we do that?”

Fierce flicked her tail at the tabby irritably. “Let him finish.” Her green eyes sparkled with interest.

Tigerheart’s mind quickened as he traced out the plan. “We’d need to get Fog to show us where they are.” He hesitated, remembering Fog’s hostility yesterday. “Or Tuna. Yes. Tuna would show us.” The brown tom had wanted to go back to his old home. “Then we’d just need a small patrol to get the foxes to chase it. It could lead them here, and the rest of us could lead them into the traps.”

Mitten’s pelt bristled. “They’d kill us.”

“Cats are fast,” Tigerheart argued. “And we’d know where we were running. We could choose a route that would be hard for a fox’s clumsy paws.”

Rascal looked unconvinced. “And what if we get them here and they don’t go into the traps? We’d have led foxes right to our home for nothing!”

“We have enough cats here for two cats to take on each fox once they reach the gathering place.” Tigerheart pictured the stretch of grass around the den. “There are plenty of stone slabs to dodge around. Cats are nimble; foxes aren’t. We could easily confuse them until they don’t know where to run. Then we’d guide them to the traps. Even if we can’t drive them right inside, the scent of food might draw them in.”

“That Twoleg mush does smell tempting,” Mittens conceded.

“If my plan doesn’t work,” Tigerheart went on, “we could just hide in the den. The entrance is too small for the foxes, and they won’t stay here. There’s not much for them to scavenge. They’d probably go back to their den. But if it does work, we’ll get rid of the foxes, and Fog’s cats. And with Fog’s cats gone, if we keep a low profile for a while, the Twolegs will think they’ve gotten rid of us and stop leaving traps.”

Fierce looked from Rascal to Mittens. Her gaze was thoughtful. “There is a lot to gain.”

“It’s dangerous,” Mittens murmured.

“I can lead the foxes here,” Tigerheart offered. “But I’ll need some help.”

“I’m fast, even if I run a little wonkily,” Fierce meowed, stretching out the leg that was shorter than the others. “I’ll help.”

A mew sounded across the floor. Tigerheart turned. Ant was sitting up in his nest, his ears pricked. “I’ll come.”

Cobweb padded from the shadow of Twoleg clutter. “Me too.”

Mittens and Rascal exchanged glances.

“Okay.” Mittens sounded suddenly determined. “If you four lead the foxes here, Rascal and I will organize the rest of the group to lead them to the traps.”

Excitement pricked in Tigerheart’s paws. The guardian cats were talking like warriors! “We can do this.” He whisked his tail encouragingly. All he had to do now was persuade Tuna to show them where his old camp was.

“Tuna.” Tigerheart crouched in the long grass beside Fog’s camp. He glanced up at the sky. Dark clouds were swallowing the blue, and he smelled rain as the cold wind pierced his fur. He pricked his ears, hoping Tuna would hear him before any of the other cats. “Tuna,” he hissed again.

“What do you want?” Growler nosed his way from the bushes.

“I have a message for Tuna,” Tigerheart mewed.

Growler narrowed his eyes. “You’re up to something,” he meowed. “I’m going to fetch Fog. You can talk to her.”

Tigerheart’s belly tightened. Fog might get in the way of his plan. “No,” he meowed quickly. “I just came to tell Tuna about the new traps. I wanted to show him where they were.”

“You can show me.” As Growler glanced at the sky and shivered, Tuna peered from the bushes.

He blinked at Tigerheart. “I thought I smelled you.”

Tigerheart tried to hide his eagerness at seeing the brown tom. “I wanted to show you where the new traps were.”

Growler glanced at Tuna. “For some reason, you’re the only cat who’s allowed to know.”

“You can come too if you like.” Tigerheart forced his shoulders to loosen. He wanted to look relaxed. “You’d better hurry, though. It looks like rain.”

Growler flicked his tail. “Let Tuna get wet. I’ve got scraps to finish.”

As the black-and-white tom disappeared into the bushes, Tigerheart beckoned Tuna closer with a flick of his muzzle. “I have to talk to you,” he whispered.

Tuna frowned but followed him to the closest slab. “Is something wrong?”

“You want to go back to your old camp, right?”

Tuna eyed Tigerheart warily. “If there are no foxes.”

“I’ve got a plan to get rid of them,” Tigerheart told him. “But I need you to show me where to go.”

Tuna narrowed his eyes. “Why should I do that?”

“Because, surely, you can’t be so mouse-brained as to not realize that this would be good for every cat?” Tigerheart stared at him pleadingly. “If you don’t help, the Twolegs and their traps are going to drive us all away from here.”

“Okay.” Tuna hunched tighter against the cold wind. “Tell me your plan.”

The next morning, before dawn, Tigerheart crept out of the guardian cats’ den. The night sky was swathed in cloud. He narrowed his eyes against the rain that was gently misting the city. Fierce, Cobweb, and Ant followed as he padded across the grass. Shivering in the cold, he fluffed out his fur. Orange Twoleg light reflected eerily off the wet stone. The towering dens slept in shadow except for occasional patches of light, which showed in their walls where Twolegs were beginning to stir for the day. Tigerheart quickened his step. The foxes would have spent the night scavenging and would be heading back to their den before Twolegs took over the city. The walkways and Thunderpaths were empty now. There would be no better time to lead the foxes to the traps.

He smelled fear-scent on the guardian cats and wanted to reassure them. But he couldn’t make any promises. They’d traced out two routes yesterday with the help of Tuna. With any luck, they could split the fox pack and lead them to the gathering place in two groups. The fewer foxes each patrol had to manage, the better.

“Tigerheart!” A whispered mew sounded through the rain. A dark shape bounded toward them. It was Tuna. “I’m coming with you.”

Tigerheart felt a surge of gratitude. Not all city cats were rogues after all. “You don’t have to risk your pelt.”

“I want to help.” Tuna stopped in front of him, his eyes shimmering in the strange Twoleg light.

Ant shrugged. “It can’t do any harm.”

Tigerheart saw doubt in Fierce’s gaze.

“Can we trust him? What if he tries to confuse the foxes?” she demanded.

“Why would he do that?” Tigerheart countered. “We’re going to get his old home back.”

“And he knows the routes even better than we do,” Cobweb pointed out.

Fierce stared at Tuna for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

Tigerheart hesitated, unsure which cat should take the lead. It was his plan, and Fierce claimed that the guardian cats had no leader, but he knew the others respected her authority and he didn’t want to challenge it. Suddenly he felt like a deputy again. With a pang he thought of Rowanstar. Had his father finally found his paws and taken firm leadership of ShadowClan?

“Come on.” Tuna surprised him by heading first into the yellow light pooling beneath a pole at the side of the Thunderpath. As the brown tom passed through the light and into the shadow beyond, the others followed, glancing nervously at one another. Tigerheart fell in behind.

No cat pushed ahead of Tuna as he led the winding way through alleys and streets to the dilapidated part of the city where his camp had been. He picked his way along a crumbling wall, which edged an open space between two broken Twoleg dens. Twoleg clutter littered the site.

“My nest was in there.” Tuna nodded to gap beneath a slab of wood. “There’s a fox nest inside now.”

Tigerheart padded softly along the wall, weaving past Cobweb, Ant, and Fierce. He stopped beside Tuna and tasted the air. The fox scent was strong, but stale after the night’s rain. “They’re not back yet.” He scanned the dark camp. No Twoleg light flickered here, and he strained to see through the gloom.

Overhead, the pale clouds were showing the first signs of dawn. “Let’s stay out of sight until they come.” Tigerheart hopped off the wall and crouched behind it. Silently, Cobweb, Ant, Fierce, and Tuna followed. “You remember the plan?” he whispered.

They nodded.

“Which group will Tuna be in?” Ant asked.

“He’ll come with me and Cobweb.” He glanced at Cobweb. The gray tom dipped his head in agreement. He looked small, his long fur slicked against his body by the rain.

They crouched in the shelter of the wall. Fear fluttered like a trapped bird in Tigerheart’s belly. The stone beneath his pads was slippery. What if one of the cats lost their footing while leading the foxes through the twisting route they’d picked out? “Keep your eye on your partner,” he warned Fierce, Ant, and Cobweb. “If you fall, call for help. Leave no cat behind to face the foxes alone.” He blinked at Tuna. “Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Tuna’s tail twitched nervously.

Ant and Cobweb eyed each other doubtfully.

“What?” Tigerheart glared at them. This was no time to start questioning orders.

“Aren’t you scared?” Cobweb ventured.

“Of course I’m scared,” Tigerheart told him. “But this needs to be done.”

“Maybe it would just be easier to find a new home after all,” Ant murmured.

Tigerheart stiffened. “Not after—”

Fierce cut him off. “We’re not leaving.” She looked sternly from Cobweb to Ant. “A cat can spend her whole life running, or she can make a stand and defend her home.”

Warmth washed Tigerheart’s pelt. Fierce was sounding like a leader.

Ant blinked in surprise. “You’re starting to sound like Tigerheart.”

Fierce sniffed. “I like our den, that’s all. Do you really think we could find a better place to spend the rest of ice-chill?”

“I guess not,” Ant conceded.

Cobweb shifted his paws. “Is this what it’s like to be a warrior?” he asked Tigerheart.

“Not all the time,” Tigerheart told him. “But we’re prepared to take risks to defend what’s ours, when we have to.”

Tuna’s whiskers twitched wryly. “I’m guessing warriors aren’t used to change.”

Tigerheart frowned. “What do you mean?”

“In the city, it’s rare to have anything long enough to need to defend it.” He nodded toward his old camp. “This was swarming with Twolegs before I was born. Now it’s swarming with foxes. Fog was raised beside the trash field. Then she lived under a bridge. Growler moved here when his Twolegs abandoned him.”

Tigerheart felt a twinge of pity for these strays, but they didn’t seem downhearted. They were watching him with interest, as though trying to make sense of him.

“Don’t you get bored of fighting for the same territory?” Tuna asked. “Don’t you ever just want to move on and find a new way to live?”

Fierce answered for him. “He’s here, isn’t he? He left one life to make a new life here.”

“Then why does he act like he’s still a warrior?” Tuna asked.

“Because I am!” Tigerheart bristled. Did these cats think he’d left the Clans because he was tired of Clan life? Did they think he wanted to be like them? To stay here forever?

Fierce tipped her head sympathetically. “You’ll need to learn to be more flexible if you want to survive in the cit—”

The crunch of shifting rubble made her stop. Tigerheart pricked his ears.

Tuna opened his mouth to taste the air. “They’re back.”

Tigerheart listened to the brush of fur and scrabble of paws beyond the wall. “Do you remember your routes?”

Cobweb, Ant, and Fierce nodded.

“Tuna,” Tigerheart blinked at the brown tabby. “Stay with me.”

“Okay.”

Tigerheart leaped onto the wall. His pelt prickled with fear as he saw five shapes moving in the half-light. Three of the foxes were large and well-muscled. The two smaller foxes looked lithe. The stench of them made Tigerheart’s nose wrinkle. As Fierce, Cobweb, Ant, and Tuna jumped up beside him, he nodded toward the biggest fox. “Tuna and Cobweb will surround that one while Fierce and Ant try to corner the other.” He pointed his muzzle toward the second largest fox. “If we can separate them now, hopefully the others will split up when they follow. Fierce, lead yours back the way we came. Cobweb, we’ll lead ours through the big stone clearing.”

The cats nodded.

“Let’s go.” Tigerheart jumped softly onto broken stone and picked his way down the pile. Tuna and Cobweb followed, while Fierce and Ant approached the sleek dog fox Tigerheart had directed them toward.

Tigerheart kept low as they moved through shadow to where the biggest fox was snuffling beside a heap of Twoleg clutter. The smaller foxes were snarling softy at each other, arguing over scraps they’d dropped at the edge of the camp. Tigerheart signaled to Cobweb and Tuna with a flick of his tail, ordering them to circle around the far side of their target. He paused and waited for them to get into position. As they surrounded the fox, Fierce’s yowl wailed eerily through the dawn air. Tigerheart saw the foxes freeze. Their beady eyes flashed toward Fierce. The orange flecks in her tortoiseshell pelt glowed in the dawn light. A moment before they lunged for her, Tigerheart lifted his head and screeched. The large dog fox, which he’d been stalking, jerked its muzzle toward him. Tigerheart leaped for it, raked his claws across its muzzle, and ran.

Blood roared in his ears as fear shrilled through every hair on his pelt. He streaked from the camp onto the deserted Thunderpath. Leaping scattered rubble, he glanced over his shoulder. Rain sprayed his face. Cobweb and Tuna were behind him. The dog fox followed, two vixens at its tail. Triumph surged in Tigerheart’s chest. They’d split the pack as they’d planned. All they had to do now was keep ahead of it. “Take the lead!” he called to Tuna. The stray had traveled these streets more often than Tigerheart, and Tigerheart wanted to stay between the foxes and the city cats. His fighting skills were better. If they hit trouble, he wanted to face the foxes first.

A deserted white dwelling loomed ahead. An alley opened beside it. This would be the first of their turns. Tuna had picked the alley especially because it led to a maze of passageways that cut one way, then the other. The cats could negotiate the turns more nimbly than the foxes, which would let them put some distance between themselves and their pursuers. They had to pull ahead as far as they could here, because once they hit the stone clearing, the foxes would have the advantage of speed. Alarm gripped Tigerheart’s belly. What if the foxes gave up chasing?

Tuna was almost at the head of the alley. Cobweb was at his heels. As Tigerheart reached the entrance, he stopped, twisted, and reared. The fox behind him bristled in surprise. Behind it, the two other foxes blinked in confusion as the lead fox slowed and showed its teeth.

“What are you doing?” Tuna’s panicked screech faded behind Tigerheart as the brown tom hared onward.

Making sure these sly-hearted scroungers never want to stop chasing us. Tigerheart threw himself, hissing, at the head of the lead fox. Lashing out with one paw, then another, he felt fur rip under his claws. He smelled the warm scent of blood and heard the fox screech. Jaws snapped beside his cheek. He saw white teeth flash. In an instant, he turned and ran again. Cobweb and Tuna had stopped, their pelts bushed, their backs arched. “Run!” Tigerheart shrieked, nudging them ahead of him.

Hot fox breath blasted his tail. He hared along the alley, picking up speed until he was pelting over the stone so fast, his pads burned.

Tuna signaled the upcoming turn with a flick of his tail so that Tigerheart would remember which way to run. Skidding around a sharp corner, he followed Cobweb and Tuna into a narrow passageway. It curved one way, then another, the dens towering high on each side. Shadow hid the end, but Tuna signaled again before they reached it, and Tigerheart was ready for the next turn. As he skidded around it, the thumping of fox paws receded behind them.

Tigerheart glanced back as the foxes scrambled around the corner in pursuit. They crashed clumsily into one another, bouncing off the wall of the passageway as they fought to keep their footing. Rage glittered in their eyes. The plan was working. With each turn, the patrol pulled farther ahead of the foxes, but each time he glanced back, Tigerheart could see determination in the eyes of their pursuers; the foxes weren’t about to give up.

The stone clearing was near. It would be deserted now and easy to cross. But the foxes would cover the ground faster. Tigerheart’s lungs were burning. He could hear Tuna panting. Cobweb’s breath was fast and rough. Fear flickered through his thoughts. What if Cobweb and Tuna lacked the stamina to keep up this pace as they crossed the wide stretch of open stone?

“Not far now!” Tigerheart yowled. He streaked past them as the passageway opened into the clearing, pushing harder against the ground, hardly seeing where he ran. But he knew where he was heading. The gap between the dens on the far side would lead though another short maze before it opened onto the green stretch of grass around the gathering place. Rascal, Mittens, and Pipsqueak would be waiting to take it from there. They would lead the foxes toward the traps, zigzagging around the slabs until each fox had stumbled into one of the mesh caves.

The clearing echoed with the screech of one of the foxes. Tigerheart glanced over his shoulder. The lead fox was yelping. Its eyes shone with excitement as it spotted the open ground. Cobweb was lagging. The foxes were closing the gap. Hurry up! Tigerheart pushed harder, willing Cobweb on. He felt Tuna’s breath on his tail. “Is Cobweb going to make it?” the stray panted.

Tigerheart saved his breath for the final push. The opening between the dens was close now. The next turn was only a few paces beyond it. They would have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the foxes once more. He dived into the alley and made the turn. A shriek sounded behind him. Had a fox caught Cobweb? He slowed, panic searing beneath his pelt. Turning, he saw Tuna streak past him.

Cobweb swerved around the corner a moment later, surprise lighting his gaze as he saw Tigerheart lagging behind. “Keep running!” Cobweb wailed as he shot past Tigerheart.

Tigerheart smelled the hot stench of fox breath. He turned and ran as paws pounded around the corner. Ahead, Tuna and Cobweb had reached the opening where a passageway cut across the alley. They ducked down the passage out of sight. Tigerheart chased after them. He heard the panting of the foxes behind him and unsheathed his claws. Hooking them against the rough stone, he propelled himself forward, running faster than he had in his whole life. He struggled for breath, his chest screaming for air as he reached the corner and veered along the passageway. Cobweb and Tuna raced ahead of him. Fox paws slithered behind on the wet stone.

He smelled the familiar scents of the gathering place ahead and hared after Cobweb and Tuna. One turn, then another. The final alley. He burst from between the dens and raced across the Thunderpath, onto the grass. Then a paw hooked him from behind a stone slab and he fell sprawling on the ground. He smelled Dovewing’s scent and saw gray fur as strong paws dragged him behind the shelter of the stone. “Hush!” Dovewing whispered in his ear. “Rascal, Mittens, and Pipsqueak will handle this.”

He glimpsed Cobweb and Tuna. They were safe behind the next slab, crouching in the grass as they struggled for breath. As the sound of fox paws rang on the Thunderpath, Mittens, Rascal, and Pipsqueak leaped from behind a slab a few rows away and yowled at the foxes. Red fur streaked past Tigerheart, not even slowing. With a snarl of frustration, the foxes raced toward Mittens. The tabby zigzagged around the stones in one direction, drawing the lead fox away. Mittens doubled back around a slab, raked his claws across the vixen’s snout, and led her another way. Pipsqueak stopped in front of the third fox and, as it stumbled in surprise, veered toward the far side of the gathering place.

As the fox raced after him, Tigerheart saw Fierce and Ant explode from a passageway beyond the gathering place. Two foxes followed them onto the swath of grass as Dotty, Cinnamon, and Peanut ducked out from behind stone slabs. Deftly, they separated the pair. Peanut and Cinnamon led the larger fox one way; Dotty led the smaller fox another.

Tigerheart felt the world blur around him.

“Breathe,” Dovewing murmured into his ear. Like a half-drowned cat coming up for air, Tigerheart drew in a long, shuddering breath. Yowls and screeches filled the air around the gathering place. “Have they reached the traps?” he panted to Dovewing.

Dovewing was straining to see through the drizzle. “I don’t know yet.”

Paw steps sounded on the grass nearby. Fog appeared around the side of the stone slab. “What going on?” She looked from Tigerheart to Cobweb, her eyes widening as she saw Tuna. “Where have you been?”

Tuna sat up. “Catching foxes,” he panted.

As Fog stared at him wordlessly, Fierce crossed the grass to join them. Ant padded at her side, his paws trembling.

“I hope Pipsqueak and the others get them into the traps,” she puffed. “I don’t ever want to do that again.” She flicked her tail around to show Tigerheart. A tuft of fur was missing from the end. “One of the foxes got closer than I’d planned.”

Tigerheart blinked at her proudly. “But you made it.”

As he spoke, Pipsqueak bounded across the grass to meet them. “We got them!” he meowed triumphantly. “Every one of them. Blaze, Boots, Bracken, and Spire were waiting beside the traps. The foxes were so confused to see more cats, they practically fell inside!”

“What about the fifth fox?” Tigerheart asked anxiously.

“Mittens and Rascal rounded it up and chased it into the big trap over there.” He pointed across the grass with his muzzle. Red fur flashed inside the mesh cage. Angry screeches rose around the gathering place as the foxes howled in frustration.

Dovewing purred. “If they keep up that noise, it won’t be long before the Twolegs come to take them away.”

Tigerheart looked at Fog. The stray’s eyes were wide with amazement. “You led the foxes here?” she breathed. “Into the traps?”

Tuna purred breathlessly. “It was Tigerheart’s plan.”

Fog blinked at Tigerheart. “You’re even crazier than I thought.”

Tigerheart’s fur tingled with joy. “Now you have to keep your side of the agreement,” he meowed firmly. “You and your cats have to leave.”

Fog stared at him for a moment, then dipped her head. “Okay.”

“We can move back home,” Tuna meowed happily.

“It’ll smell of fox stench,” Fog grunted.

“Not for long,” Tuna promised. “It’s hardly changed apart from the smell. In fact I think the foxes have dug a few new nests in the rubble.”

“You have to go now,” Tigerheart told Fog. “Before the Twolegs come to get their traps.” He wanted the Twolegs to find the land around gathering place deserted. They’d probably believe the foxes had chased the cats away before being trapped.

Fierce stared at the Fog, her gaze hard. “Don’t come back,” she growled. “From now on, this is guardian-cat territory, and we’re ready to defend our borders.”

Fog blinked at her, surprise showing in her blue gaze. “Okay.” She dipped her head. She clearly didn’t want to argue with cats who could trap foxes.

Dovewing nuzzled Tigerheart’s ear. “Come on,” she murmured. “Let’s go and tell the kits.”

As he followed Dovewing across the grass, Fierce’s words rang in his mind: From now on, this is guardian-cat territory, and we’re ready to defend our borders. At last she was beginning to think like a warrior. Tigerheart’s chest swelled with pride. He suddenly felt hopeful that the guardian cats could survive anything. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad place to raise kits after all.