The Lake Camp
Hi! I'm Squirrelflight. I'm going to show you our new camp by the lake. It's perfect, and you know what? I found it!
I'll show you how I did it. Let's creep through these thornbushes here...okay, stop! Careful! You nearly did what I did, didn't you? Only I was running really fast after a vole. And suddenly-WHOMP! I took off through the air! And then I landed in a pile of brambles. Here, lie on your belly and peek over the edge of the cliff. See that bush down there? That's where Ianded. Ouch!
But actually, I was lucky. If I'd tripped over that side instead, I would have had much farther to fall. These walls around the camp are tall and stone and hard to climb. Here, slide along this wall. Completely smooth, right? Isn't that weird? We think Twolegs were here a long time ago, slicing stone off the walls with their monsters. Don't ask me why? Twolegs are so mouse-brained.
Luckily, they've gone away, and now there are lots of bushes and trees growing up over this hollow to protect us. The stone walls keep out the wind, although we have to watch our step near the edge. Brambleclaw keeps lecturing me about that. You'd think I was a newborn kit the way he talks to me!
All right, duck your head and squeeze through this thorn barrier. Intimidating, isn't it? If you were a ShadowClan cat, you'd probably rather turn tail than attack, wouldn't you?
Behold our beautiful camp! Isn't it amazing? Isn't it perfect? Did I mention that I found it? You've come at a good time-it's sunhigh, so lots of cats are sleeping. Look at grumpy old Mousefur over there, snoring away. The cat next to her with his nose in the air is Longtail. He's blind, but he can probably smell you; that's why he looks anxious. Don't be offended. Not every cat smells as great as ThunderClan.
Jump on these rocks here-watch your claws; the rocks can be slippery. Now we're standing on the Highledge. You can see the whole camp! Firestar makes his announcements from up here. He puffs out his chest like this, and he struts forward like this, and then he opens his mouth and yowls: "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join-"
Uh-oh. I think I did that a bit louder than I meant to. Here come Cloudtail, Dustpelt, and Brambleclaw. Quick, into Firestar's den! Oh, come on, move your fur, it's just a cave. In, in, in!
Isn't it cool in here? It's so dim and shady. Firestar sleeps back here on this bed of ferns and moss. It looks soft and springy. I don't know how he keeps it so neat all the time. Doesn't it make you want to jump on it and roll around? Oops! I thought it would hold up better than that. Do you think he'll notice? Maybe we should get out of here.
See the caves where the apprentices and the elders sleep? The warriors-like me!-sleep under that big thornbush over there. Under the biggest bramble thicket is the nursery. Want to visit my friend Sorreltail? She has the cutest kits in the world. Come on, let's go over and stick our noses in.
Hello, Sorreltail. Hi, kittens! Oh, Sorreltail does look sleepy. Sorry, we'll let you get back to napping.
Across the camp is the medicine cat's den. Hurry, Brambleclaw is coming with his extra-grumpy face on. What cute kits! I don't want any of my own yet, though. I want to do a lot more warrior stuff first. Although it does look comfortable in the nursery.
You can't see the den here because it's hidden behind this curtain of hanging bramble tendrils. But slip through it and-see? Look at this great cave! Hey, Leafpool, how’s it going? My sister is our medicine cat. The smell in here always makes me sneeze. Achoo! Oops, sorry, Leafpool… were those supposed to be stacked like that? Look, this is my friend. I wanted to show how nice it is in here. It almost makes you want to get sick. The sand is really soft, and there’s a little pool in the back for water. Leafpool stores her herbs in these cracks in the wall, or, I guess, out here in a pile where any cat can step on them. What? I didn’t do it on purpose!
Uh-oh, hear that yowling? That’s our bossy tabby friend looking for me. Perhaps you’d better go. Tell you what, I’ll jump on him, and you make a dash for the tunnel. Then you might want to keep running as far and as fast as you can. Brambleclaw can be very serious about scaring off trespassers. Okay, ready? All right, go! Run! Quick as you can!
