Эрин Хантер - Fading Echoes

Jayfeather shifted his paws, his belly tightening. What was the ThunderClan leader getting at?

“Have you heard anything else other cats don’t hear?” Firestar’s question came out of the blue. “Like beavers blocking a stream, for example? That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Jayfeather froze. The shock from Lionblaze’s pelt swept over him like an icy wind.

The Clan leader sighed. “Dovepaw, I’ve worked out that you know things other cats don’t, and I don’t think you’re having dreams about them. So how do you know?” His tail-tip was tapping the ground. “I need to know. It’s important. It helped save the lake, but it also just got you into serious trouble. Even worse, it could have caused a battle with WindClan, and that makes it my responsibility.”

Confusion was flooding from Dovepaw, her mind whirling as she searched for something to say.

Firestar snorted and flicked his attention back to Jayfeather and Lionblaze. “It looks like I’m going to have to be the one who says it, doesn’t it?”

Lionblaze was holding his breath as Firestar went on.

“I think the three of you have something in common. Something we maybe should have discussed before.”

The fur on Jayfeather’s spine lifted.

“Haven’t you wondered why you can slip so easily into other cats’ dreams, Jayfeather? That’s not something every medicine cat can do. And Lionblaze, do you think I haven’t noticed the way you fight? You’re not just brave; you’re completely without fear. You must know that you’re safe. That no mortal cat can hurt you. And then we have Dovepaw, who knows what’s going on farther away than any of us can hear or see.” Firestar paused to take a breath.

He knows! Jayfeather’s heart beat faster. He knows we’re the Three!

“Long ago, I was told of a prophecy—” the ThunderClan leader began.

“We know!” Jayfeather interrupted. He had walked through this memory in one of Firestar’s dreams. “We’re the Three. Kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in our paws.”

Shock flashed from Firestar’s pelt, then ebbed into weary acceptance. “So you know already.” He sighed. “I’ve been waiting for you a long time, since before Leafpool and Squirrel flight were born.”

Jayfeather wasn’t interested in Firestar’s memories. “But what does the prophecy mean ?”

“Mean?” Firestar sounded surprised.

Doesn’t he know?

Before Jayfeather could speak, Dovepaw found her voice. “Did you think it would be Leafpool and Squirrelflight?”

“For a while,” Firestar answered slowly. “I thought it might be them and Cloudtail. But nothing happened. Then Jaykit, Lionkit, and Hollykit were born.” He stopped, and when he spoke again his tone was curious. “How long have you known about the prophecy?”

Jayfeather shrugged. “Since we were apprentices.”

“Did StarClan tell you?”

“Not exactly.” Jayfeather wanted to delve into Firestar’s mind, find out everything the ThunderClan leader knew about the prophecy. But he was only one of the Three. Lionblaze and Dovepaw needed to know too. The whole thing would have to be teased out in words. “But it didn’t need to come from StarClan, did it? This is not their prophecy.”

“No.” Firestar sounded perplexed. His paws shifted on the night-damp earth. “Do you know what your destiny is?”

“Don’t you ?” Dovepaw gasped. “I mean, if you know about the prophecy, how come you don’t know what it means?”

“Didn’t the old cat tell you?” Lionblaze meowed.

There was a moment of silence as Firestar digested the fact that the three cats knew who had given the prophecy to him. “I don’t think even he understood what it meant,” Firestar admitted. “He was just passing on a message.”

Ice-cold fear spread along Jayfeather’s spine. No cat knows! They were floundering in shadow, heading for what?

He felt Firestar’s muzzle touch his head. “Skywatcher promised that you would come, and you have. We must have faith. There’s nothing we can do but wait,” the ThunderClan leader murmured.

Rage clawed Jayfeather’s belly. Didn’t he care what dangers could be lying in wait for his Clan?

“Tell me.” Firestar turned his attention back to Dovepaw. “What exactly is your power?”

Jayfeather sensed her stiffen, like a hunted mouse. They’d always told her to keep her power secret.

“It’s okay,” Lionblaze mewed. “You can tell him.”

“Okay.” Dovepaw hesitated for a moment. “I can sense things,” she began tentatively. “Faraway things.”

“How do you sense them?” Firestar urged.

“I—I hear them, and smell them, and sort of get glimpses.”

“Do you hear everything all the time?”

“It’s all kind of there—around me, in the background.” Dovepaw fidgeted. “I’m used to it. Like…” Another pause, then, “Like you don’t see every tree around you all the time but you know they are there; you know what they look like; you can remember which is which. You can focus on one tree or, if something’s out of place or unusual, it’ll catch your eye—it’ll make you look harder.”

“I see.” There was warmth in Firestar’s mew. “Now I know why you’re so good at hunting.” The ThunderClan leader’s tail swished. “The Three have come at last.” He sounded satisfied. “I will sleep a little easier from now on. Just be careful—your powers set you apart from other cats, but you are still members of this Clan. You are still bound by the warrior code, for as long as that stands.”

Jayfeather leaned forward, heart pounding. “But we don’t know what we’re here for!”

“And there’s nothing we can do until we find out.” Firestar began to pad toward the hollow. “ThunderClan is lucky that you have come. Let’s not ask for the stars as well. Tell me if anything changes,” he meowed over his shoulder. “You will have my full support.”

The thorns rustled as the ThunderClan leader disappeared into camp.

Lionblaze breathed out slowly. “How come he never said anything before?”

Jayfeather sat down. “I guess he was just waiting until he was sure.”

“I gave us away.” Dovepaw’s mew was contrite. “I shouldn’t have gone to WindClan.”

“It might be for the best,” Jayfeather reassured her.

“Yes,” Lionblaze agreed. “And now it’ll be easier to ask for more training time away from the other apprentices.”

“But we still don’t know what we’re training for,” Dovepaw pointed out. A yawn overtook her. Jayfeather was suddenly aware of the tiredness dragging at the young cat’s paws.

He blinked at Lionblaze, but the golden warrior was already padding over to his apprentice. “Come on,” he meowed, his fur brushing hers. “Let’s get you back to your den. You’ll need some rest before tomorrow’s training.” Lionblaze paused. “Are you staying here, Jayfeather?”

“I need to think.”

Lionblaze yawned. “Can’t you think in your nest?”

“I won’t stay out long,” Jayfeather promised.

“Okay.” Lionblaze sounded too tired to argue. He followed Dovepaw through the thorn barrier, leaving Jayfeather alone under the trees.

Firestar doesn’t know any more than we do. Jayfeather sighed. He walked down to the lake, following the scent of water and wind. As he emerged from the trees, the breeze whipped his whiskers back against his cheeks.

Jayfeather pictured the lake, wide, black, and silent, hiding the stick in its depths. Why did I destroy it?