Tigerstar's Goals

Chapter 10

The white cat let out a pained yowl, pressing his paw against his wound. "What was that for?" He wailed, his eyes wide.

"Are you asking to be killed?" Tigerstar snapped, shaking the blood off his claws. "Again!"

Cloudpaw glared at his leader before getting up and facing him. He crouched down, breathing hard, and narrowed his eyes.

Tigerstar hissed in response, trying to act like an enemy warrior.

Cloudpaw leaped and flew at Tigerstar, twisting as he landed so that he could kick Tigerstar with his hind legs.

Tigerstar stayed firm on his paws and lashed out, sending Cloudpaw flying with one swipe. The white apprentice landed on the floor a few fox-lengths with a grunt.

He licked his paw. "Not bad," he concluded, "for a kittypet."

Cloudpaw lay unmoving in the sand.

Tigerstar pricked his ears, seeing a small pool of blood gathering beneath Cloudpaw's head. Surely his blow hadn't been that bad? He padded over cautiously, peering down at the motionless apprentice.

He pinned his ears angrily when he saw his blue eyes were wide open.

"Get up!" Tigerstar spat, grasping Cloudpaw's scruff and dragging him to his paws.

The large apprentice staggered unsteadily, twitching his bloody ear and flicking blood onto the floor. "Fireheart always uses sheathed claws!" Cloudpaw wailed.

Tigerstar narrowed his eyes. "Then Fireheart is weak!" He spat.

The white cat narrowed his eyes. "Can we hunt now?" He meowed loudly. "I'm hungry!"

Tigerstar closed his eyes, sighting. "Fine," he snapped, beginning to leave the hollow. "Come on!"

As they trekked along the bottom of the ravine into the forest, Cloudpaw stopped and sniffed the air. “I smell rabbit,” he mewed. Tigerstar lifted his nose. The apprentice was right.

“Over there,” whispered Cloudpaw.

A bright flicker in the bushes betrayed the white tail of a young rabbit. Tigerstar dropped low against the ground. He tensed his muscles, ready to give chase. Beside him Cloudpaw dropped too, his belly bulging out sideways as he crouched. Don't mess this up, kittypet! The rabbit’s tail flickered again and Cloudpaw dashed toward it, his paws thudding heavily on the dry forest floor. The rabbit heard the noise at once and shot away into the undergrowth. Cloudpaw crashed after it and Tigerstar striaghtened, growling. The ferns trembled where Cloudpaw had charged through them, and Tigerstar felt a rush of anger as Cloudpaw skidded, panting, to a halt ahead of him. The rabbit had disappeared.

“Great StarClan, my kits hunt better than you do!” Tigerstar snapped, lashing his tail. The fluffy white apprentice was starting to turn into a kittypet! “Only StarClan knows how you got so fat with a hunting technique like that. Even a fit cat can’t outrun a rabbit. You need to be much lighter on your paws if you want to catch one!”

For once Cloudpaw didn’t argue. “Sorry,” he muttered, lowering his blood covered head. Tigerstar scoffed scornfully. Fireheart had obviously been paying too much attention to Sandstorm rather than training his kin to attempt to be a good warrior.

“Why don’t I just go hunting by myself?” Cloudpaw suggested, looking down at his paws. “I promise I’ll bring something back for the fresh-kill pile.”

Tigerstar narrowed his eyes and studied him for a moment. Cloudpaw couldn’t be such a poor hunter all the time, because he was looking more well fed than any of the cats in the Clan. Perhaps he fared better when he wasn’t being watched. In a flash, Tigerstar decided to follow the fat apprentice without him knowing and watch him hunt. “That’s a good idea,” he meowed carefully. “Just make sure you’re back by mealtime.”

Cloudpaw brightened instantly. “Of course,” he meowed. “I won’t be late; I promise.” Tigerstar heard the apprentice’s belly growl with hunger. He'd best not scare off any prey, he thought.

Tigerstar listened to the apprentice's retreating pawsteps, waiting for a few moments before following him. He was already thinking of a punishment for him, satisfaction rising inside him as he imagined the plump apprentice returning with no prey.

He watched as Cloudpaw raced towards the Twolegplace, halting with shock as the snowy cat clambered up a birch tree and leaped onto a fence, swaying from his large belly. Tigerstar remembered overhearing something Dustpelt had said to Fireheart a few days after he became leader. I expect he was looking for birds in one of the Twoleg gardens. They’re probably more to his taste. Tigerstar pinned his ears. Clan cats didn't need to hunt in Twolegplace, they had the whole forest to hunt in!

Cloudpaw jumped down to the other side of the fence. Tigerstar quickly scrambled up the birch, thankful that it was in full leaf as he sheltered behind its fluttering leaves. Below he could see Cloudpaw trotting across the carefully clipped grass, his tail and chin high. A sense of foreboding flowed through Tigerstar as Cloudpaw ran straight past a small gang of starlings. The birds scattered upward in a flurry of wings, but Cloudpaw didn’t even turn his head. Tigerstar felt the blood begin to pound in his ears. If Cloudpaw hadn’t come to hunt garden birds, what was he doing here? Then he froze with horror as he watched Cloudpaw sit down outside the Twoleg nest and let out a shrill, pitiful wail.