Erin Hunter - Twilight

“I’ve thought about what you said,” she mewed. “About leaving.”

“You have?”

“I’ve been so scared, Crowfeather—scared about leaving my Clan and my kin. But I went to the Moonpool, and Spottedleaf came to speak to me.” Seeing Crowfeather look puzzled, she added, “She was ThunderClan’s medicine cat once, but now she walks with StarClan. She often visits me in dreams.”

Crowfeather still seemed bewildered; Leafpool wasn’t sure if he believed her, or if he thought that her encounters with Spottedleaf were nothing more than dreams.

“What did she say?” he asked.

“She told me to follow my heart.”

Crowfeather’s eyes widened. “You’re a medicine cat, Leafpool. Isn’t that where your heart has led you?”

“Once it was.” Leafpool’s heart thumped as she realized that Crowfeather thought she was about to reject him. “But ThunderClan has a medicine cat. Cinderpelt is young and strong, and she’ll serve the Clan for seasons yet. And Brightheart will help out for now. Cinderpelt can train another apprentice when I’ve gone.”

Crowfeather drew in a painful breath. “When you’ve gone? Leafpool, does that mean…?”

“Yes. I’ll come with you.”

Leafpool could hardly bear to look at the blaze of happiness in Crowfeather’s eyes. Did he really love her this much?

Her belly twisted with fear. She couldn’t let him down now.

She had to go through with this.

“I’ve been scared too,” Crowfeather admitted. “I don’t want to leave my Clan or my friends. I even hoped I might be leader one day. But more than that, I don’t want to lose you , Leafpool. And there’s no way for us to be together if we stay here.”

Leafpool pressed her side against his, the warmth of his pelt comforting her as she stared into a future that was suddenly dark and terrifying. “Where should we go?”

“Not back toward the forest,” Crowfeather decided. “We’d end up in the mountains, or places where there are too many Twolegs. There are hills beyond WindClan where we can look for a place to live. I’ll take care of you, Leafpool.” For a moment his gaze darkened and drifted away from her, filled with memories. “I promise I’ll take care of you,” he repeated more strongly. “Are you ready?”

“You mean, we’re leaving now?” Leafpool gasped.

“Don’t you think we should?”

But I want to say good-bye ! Leafpool almost wailed out loud, but she knew that it would be impossible. Saying good-bye would cause anger and pain and confusion, and maybe their Clans would prevent them from going at all.

“You’re right.” She tried to sound brave and optimistic.

“I’m ready.”

Crowfeather touched his nose to the top of her head.

“Thank you. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure you won’t regret this.”

They turned their backs on the lake and padded side by side up the hill. Ahead of them the rising sun filled the sky with streaks of flame, as they left their Clans and everything they had ever known.

Squirrelflight was on the dawn patrol with Ashfur and Thornclaw, checking the ShadowClan border. Everything was quiet. The ShadowClan scent markings at the foot of the dead tree were strong and fresh.

“Have you scented either of those kittypets?” she asked Ashfur as he came up to join her.

“Not a thing.” Ashfur’s blue eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “You must have scared them off for good.”

Squirrelflight twitched her ears. “I hope so. If I never see them again, it’ll be too soon.”

Ashfur waved his tail to summon Rainwhisker, who had been renewing the ThunderClan scent markers farther up the border, and the patrol set off back to camp. The sun was rising as they emerged from the thorn tunnel. Golden rays slanted down into the stone hollow and the ground was dappled with shadows of fresh leaves. Stopping just inside the entrance, Squirrelflight arched her back in a long stretch and let the warmth soak into her pelt.

“Squirrelflight!” Cinderpelt called to her from across the camp; the medicine cat was limping rapidly toward her.

“Have you seen Leafpool this morning?”

Alarm flared in Squirrelflight’s belly. “No,” she replied.

“We were over by the ShadowClan border.” She almost added, and Leafpool only ever goes toward WindClan , but stopped herself in time.

Cinderpelt nodded, and Squirrelflight realized the medicine cat already knew what she had not put into words. “I saw her last night—” Cinderpelt broke off, twitching her ears.

Squirrelflight stared at her. What was the medicine cat not telling her?

“When I woke up, her nest was cold,” Cinderpelt went on, “and her scent was stale. She hasn’t been here all night.”

“But she always comes back before dawn!” Squirrelflight blurted out.

Cinderpelt’s eyes narrowed and Squirrelflight flinched.

Would the medicine cat be angry that Squirrelflight had known her sister’s secret all along? “I’m sorry, Cinderpelt,” she began.

Cinderpelt stopped her with a dismissive flick of her tail.

“It’s all right. I know she’s been visiting Crowfeather.”

“ Crowfeather ?” Squirrelflight felt every hair on her pelt bristle. All she had known was that Leafpool had had some reason to sneak out of the camp at night. “That can’t be true!

Crowfeather is in love with Feathertail.”

“Feathertail is dead. And it’s possible to love more than one cat in a lifetime. Squirrelflight, have you never noticed how they looked at each other at Gatherings? Where did you think she was going all these nights?”

Squirrelflight stared at her, speechless with shock. Leafpool was a medicine cat ! Then she remembered sensing her sister’s chaotic feelings of guilt and excitement, and she knew Cinderpelt must be right. Guilt flooded over her; she had been so distracted by her new friendship with Ashfur that she hadn’t tried hard enough to find out what was troubling her sister.

“Do you think she’s gone to WindClan to be with Crowfeather?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

Cinderpelt’s whiskers twitched. “Perhaps.”

“Would WindClan accept her?”

“What do you think?” The medicine cat’s tone was dry.

“Leafpool is a valuable cat for any Clan. But we can’t be sure,” she added. “Last night, when Leafpool left the camp, I followed her. She saw me, and we quarreled. We both said things that should have been left unsaid. Perhaps she’s somewhere in ThunderClan territory, waiting until her temper has cooled before she comes back to camp.”

Cinderpelt spoke briskly, without betraying much feeling.

Squirrelflight wondered if her coldness came from anger and disappointment at Leafpool’s betrayal. But as Cinderpelt turned away, Squirrelflight heard her mutter, “StarClan be with her, and bring her back safe!” The anguish in her voice revealed how much she had been torn apart by Leafpool’s disappearance.

The camp was stirring around them. Daisy appeared at the entrance to the nursery, blinked lazily in the sunlight, then called her kits out. The three little scraps tumbled happily on the ground in front of her, squealing and batting each other with soft paws. On the other side of the clearing, Sandstorm slid out of the warriors’ den, calling to Cloudtail and Dustpelt for a hunting patrol; the three cats loped across the clearing and out through the tunnel, waving their tails at Squirrelflight and Cinderpelt as they passed. A few moments later Whitepaw and Birchpaw emerged from the apprentices’ den, arguing about whose turn it was to fetch mouse bile for the elders’ ticks.