Erin Hunter - Sunset

Brambleclaw relaxed; in spite of her teasing words, there was a warm gleam of affection in Squirrelflight’s green eyes.

But would Squirrelflight still want to be near him, would her eyes still glow as she gazed at him, if she knew that he had arranged to meet Hawkfrost tomorrow?

He knew what the answer was. He would lose Squirrelflight forever if she found out. What else might he lose as well? Tigerstar had been stripped of his deputyship and sent into exile when Firestar uncovered his plot to kill Bluestar.

Would the same thing happen to Brambleclaw if his meetings with Hawkfrost and Tigerstar were revealed?

Brambleclaw tried to tell himself that no cat could ever uncover his secret, but he shivered in the warm sunlight of greenleaf. I’m not planning to kill any cat , he told himself. All he wanted was to make ThunderClan strong again. His Clanmates had been without a deputy for too long; now they had one, and Brambleclaw knew he would do anything to justify StarClan’s faith in him.

As Leafpool set out for her meeting at the Moonpool, her pelt still prickled with uneasiness. Brambleclaw’s first day as deputy had gone well; he gave orders with quiet authority and he worked harder than any cat on his own patrols. But she couldn’t forget her vision of Tigerstar shadowing him as Firestar announced that he would be deputy. Somehow, she knew, Brambleclaw was still in contact with his murderous father. And that meant the whole Clan could be in danger.

Hoping for a sign when she shared tongues with StarClan at the Moonpool, she padded through the forest and emerged from the trees near the stream where it gurgled around the stepping-stones. Barkface and Mothwing were waiting for her, and in the twilight Leafpool could just make out the shape of another, smaller cat—Willowpaw! Leafpool had forgotten that this was the night when the young gray she-cat would be officially received by StarClan as Mothwing’s apprentice.

“Hi,” she meowed, bounding up to them. “Willowpaw, it’s great to see you.”

Willowpaw ducked her head shyly. Her eyes shone; she looked almost too excited to speak. “Hi, Leafpool,” she mewed. “It’s great to be here.”

To Leafpool’s relief the apprentice didn’t mention the dream they had shared about finding the catmint. Barkface might overhear, and he would think it very strange that another Clan’s medicine cat had to guide Mothwing’s apprentice.

“Where’s Littlecloud?” Leafpool asked. “He isn’t usually late.”

Barkface shrugged. “No idea. He may have gone ahead.”

“We’d better get on. The moon will be up soon,” Mothwing added.

Leafpool could see tension in every hair of her friend’s pelt. She could understand why. Mothwing was about to present her apprentice to StarClan when she herself didn’t believe in them. She must be terrified of what would happen.

Perhaps StarClan wouldn’t even accept Willowpaw when her mentor couldn’t reach them.

No , Leafpool comforted herself. Feathertail came to Willowpaw in my dream, and promised her she would have lots more dreams of StarClan .

She wished she could comfort Mothwing, but in front of Barkface she couldn’t even admit that the problem existed.

The four cats had just crossed the ThunderClan border when a yowl sounded behind them and Littlecloud raced up to them.

“Sorry,” he panted. “Cedarheart turned up with a thorn in his paw just as I was about to leave. Welcome,” he added, dipping his head to Willowpaw. “Don’t be nervous about tonight. You’ll be fine; you’ve got a great mentor.”

Mothwing said nothing, but Leafpool didn’t miss the flash of panic in her eyes.

The moon floated high in the sky by the time the medicine cats pushed their way through the barrier of bushes and stood at the top of the hollow. Willowpaw stared in delight at the silver stream pouring down the rock in front of her, and the bubbling Moonpool that seemed to be full of starlight.

“It’s so beautiful!” she whispered.

Barkface took the lead down the dimpled path to the waterside. Mothwing followed with Willowpaw just behind her, while Leafpool and Littlecloud went last.

Beside the pool, Mothwing turned and faced her apprentice. “Willowpaw,” she meowed, “is it your wish to enter into the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?” Whatever she believed privately, she knew the words for this ritual well enough—and sounded as if she meant every one of them, too.

Willowpaw’s gray fur, turned to silver in the moonlight, was fluffed out in excitement and she held her tail high. Her eyes were filled with awe as she replied solemnly, “It is.”

“Then come forward.”

Willowpaw padded up to her until both cats stood on the very edge of the Moonpool. Mothwing raised her head to gaze at Silverpelt; Leafpool wondered what she saw there.

Her voice was high-pitched and almost shaking as she went on with the ceremony; she looked more nervous than her apprentice.

“Warriors of StarClan, I present to you this apprentice.

She has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her Clan in accordance with your will.”

Leafpool’s heart twisted with pity for her friend, recognizing what each word was costing her. Every day she lived a lie, but this was worse than anything else, to call on starry spirits she did not believe in where all the other medicine cats could hear her.

Mothwing waved her tail at Willowpaw. “Crouch down and drink from the pool.”

Blinking, Willowpaw obeyed her. Her mentor and the rest of the medicine cats took their own places around the edge of the pool, and stretched out to lap up a few drops of the silvery water.

To Leafpool it tasted like liquid starshine, icy cold, piercing her to the bone. As the drops touched her tongue she sank into darkness; for a few heartbeats she seemed to float in nothingness.

Then her eyes opened and she found herself crouched on the edge of a pool whose waters glimmered with the reflection of Silverpelt. But it was not the Moonpool. It lay in a forest clearing; ferns and flowers grew around the edge and studded the grass, shining with a pale light.

Leafpool gazed upward, tasting the cold night air with the wild scent of wind and stars. She felt as if only the tiniest leap would carry her into the sky, to share tongues with StarClan in their own territory.

Then above her head she saw the three tiny stars that she had seen twice before. They seemed to shine more brightly than ever.

Beside Leafpool, Willowpaw was curled up asleep, and on the opposite side of the pool sat a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat, her eyes glowing softly as she gazed at the apprentice.

“Spottedleaf!” Leafpool exclaimed.

She raced up to the starry spirit, drinking in the familiar sweet scent, and pressed herself against Spottedleaf’s soft tortoiseshell flank. “I’m so glad to see you. Can you tell me about those three stars?” She pointed upward with her tail. “I would think they’d mean that three warriors have died, but I can’t figure out who it would be!”

Spottedleaf shook her head. “The stars are a sign, dear one.

But this is not the time for you to discover their meaning.”

Leafpool opened her mouth to protest. But she knew that StarClan were wiser than she was, and they would tell her what she needed to know at the proper time. Swallowing her disappointment, she mewed instead, “At least you shared Mothwing’s secret with me, about the moth’s wing sign.