Erin Hunter - Sunset

“The whole of StarClan knows. Mothwing has proved her skills and her loyalty many times over. It is StarClan’s will for her to stay where she is and teach Willowpaw all she knows.”

“But she doesn’t know about StarClan,” Leafpool protested.

“How can Willowpaw learn to understand signs if Mothwing can’t tell her?”

“That will be your task.” Feathertail touched Leafpool’s shoulder with the tip of her tail. “You have no apprentice yet—and no need for one,” she added. “You will be here to serve your Clan for many seasons more. So will you sometimes visit Willowpaw in RiverClan and speak to her at the Moonpool? You can teach her everything she needs to know, without having to walk in her dreams again.”

“Yes, of course.” Leafpool felt her paws tremble with relief.

StarClan wanted Mothwing to stay as RiverClan’s medicine cat. That meant she was safe from her brother’s threats to reveal the truth. All of Willowpaw’s medicine cat training would be taken care of: Mothwing would pass on her healing skills, while Leafpool could teach her to interpret the signs from StarClan.

“But what about Hawkfrost?” she asked.

“His fate is in the paws of StarClan too,” Feathertail replied. “Spottedleaf led the kits to the butterfly because she felt it was time for you to know the truth. She believed she could trust you to use your knowledge wisely and accept the responsibility of helping Willowpaw.”

Leafpool bowed her head. “I’ll try.”

Feathertail led her through the forest toward the stone hollow. The moon still rode high, washing every fern and blade of grass with silver. The trees rustled in a faint breeze, setting light and shadow dancing around Leafpool’s paws.

She had no idea how much time had passed, though she guessed that in the waking world the sky would be paling toward dawn.

Outside the thorn tunnel, Feathertail stopped. “I must leave you here,” she murmured, touching noses with Leafpool. “Dear friend, there are great changes ahead, but you can trust me to be with you always.”

“Great changes?” Leafpool echoed in dismay. “What do you mean?”

But Feathertail had already slipped away. For a heartbeat her pelt gleamed silver in the shadows, and then she was gone.

Uneasy once again, Leafpool gazed up through the trees to the frosty glitter of Silverpelt, as though her faraway warrior ancestors could give her an answer. No words came to her, but through the branches overhead she spotted the three stars she had seen in her earlier dream. Tiny though they were, they glowed more strongly than any other star in Silverpelt, throbbing with pure white light. Leafpool still didn’t know what they meant, but somehow she knew they were shining directly on her, and she felt safe again, sure that whatever happened, StarClan were watching over her.

Leafpool woke with a start to feel tiny paws pummeling her fur. Her eyes flew open to meet Berrykit’s excited gaze, no more than a mouse-length away.

“We’re back!” he announced. “Cloudtail and Brambleclaw came to fetch us.”

Leafpool scrambled up from the nest of bracken. She had overslept; already the sun was climbing toward sunhigh.

Warm yellow rays poured down into the hollow, soaking into her fur.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she meowed. “Did you have a good journey back? Is your mother okay?”

“She’s fine,” Berrykit told her. “Hazelkit and Mousekit and I looked after her all the way, so she wasn’t scared.”

“She must be tired, though,” Leafpool commented, “going all that way twice in two days.” The kits ought to be tired too, though Berrykit looked as if he was bursting with energy. “I’ll bring her something to help her get her strength back.”

Slipping inside her den, she snagged a couple of juniper berries on her claws, then rejoined Berrykit, who immediately dashed out into the main clearing. Leafpool followed just in time to see Daisy and the other two kits disappearing into the nursery. Berrykit pelted across to join them, while Leafpool followed more slowly.

She had almost reached the entrance to the nursery when she heard Brightheart exclaim, “No! Cinderkit, come back here!”

A heartbeat later the fluffy gray kit tottered out into the open, blinking blue eyes in the sunlight. Brightheart emerged after her, swooped down, and seized her gently by the scruff.

She carried the adventurous kit back into the nursery without noticing Leafpool.

The medicine cat’s pelt pricked. It was bad luck that Brightheart had chosen to visit Sorreltail at the very moment that Daisy returned. It couldn’t be easy for the ginger-and-white she-cat to encounter the cat she thought of as her rival, especially when she might have been hoping that Daisy had gone for good.

Leafpool hovered at the entrance to the nursery, wondering whether to go straight in, or come back another time.

Before she could decide, she heard Daisy’s voice just inside the thicket of brambles.

“Brightheart, I’m glad you’re here. There’s something I wanted to say to you.”

“What?” Brightheart sounded wary.

“The reason I left… well, it was only partly because of the danger out here. I’ve been worried about the kits since the badger attack, but I’m their mother—I’d worry about them wherever we were. Mostly it was because I—I don’t have any cat in the Clan that I’m close to. Not like you and Cloudtail.”

There was a heartbeat’s tense silence. Leafpool started to back away, and Brightheart’s reply, when it came, was too low and indistinct for her to hear it.

“No,” Daisy responded more clearly. “Cloudtail is very kind to me, but he would be kind to any cat in trouble. He’s a good warrior and he loves you very much.”

Another pause, until at last Brightheart mewed softly, “I know.” Her voice shook as she added, “Thank you, Daisy. I’m really glad you decided to come back. ThunderClan needs more young cats, and your three will make excellent warriors.”

Daisy replied something in a low voice and a moment later Brightheart left the nursery, passing Leafpool with a nod.

Leafpool tried to look as if she had only just arrived. She couldn’t miss the joyful look in Brightheart’s good eye, and prayed to StarClan that she and Cloudtail would become as close as they had once been, and that Daisy would turn out to be a friend to them both.

When Leafpool left the nursery after giving Daisy the juniper berries, Brightheart was crouched beside the fresh-kill pile, nibbling a vole. Cloudtail was in the center of the clearing, calling Thornclaw and Rainwhisker for a hunting patrol.

Leafpool beckoned him with her tail. When he padded across to her, she suggested, “Why don’t you ask Brightheart to go with you? You haven’t hunted together for a long time.”

Cloudtail looked puzzled.

Mousebrain! Leafpool thought. “You remember Brightheart?” she prompted him. “Your mate? Whitepaw’s mother?”

The white warrior’s expression cleared. “Oh, I see what you mean! Right, I’ll do that,” he meowed. “Good idea, Leafpool.”

He swung around and bounded toward his mate. Leafpool saw him speak to Brightheart; then the she-cat rose to her paws and their tails twined together. Pelts brushing, they headed for the thorn tunnel, leaving Thornclaw and Rainwhisker to dash after them.

“I think some cat interfered.” An amused voice spoke behind Leafpool.

Leafpool whirled around to see her sister watching her.

“Squirrelflight, you frightened me out of my fur! What do you mean ‘interfered’?”

Squirrelflight rested her tail on her sister’s shoulder. “In a good way, I mean. It’s about time some cat opened Cloudtail’s eyes to what Brightheart needs from him.” She glanced around the clearing, where some cats were dozing in the warm sunlight, while others put the finishing touches to the newly repaired dens. “Life’s good,” she mewed with satisfaction. “Maybe now we can have a bit of peace.”