Erin Hunter - Starlight

Ambition gripped Brambleclaw like an eagle’s talons.

Hard as it was to admit it, he knew that he wanted to be deputy, and then leader, of his Clan. Was this what Tigerstar had felt? he wondered. His father’s hunger for power had been so strong that he was prepared to lie and murder and betray to achieve it. I could never do that, Brambleclaw thought.

If he became deputy it would be through loyalty to his Clan, hard work, and respect for the warrior code.

But Tigerstar’s dark heritage would always be with him, overshadowing all he tried to do. They look at me and see Tigerstar.

He recovered himself in time to dip his head to Tallstar and murmur, “It wasn’t just me. It was all of us together.”

“You’re tiring yourself, Tallstar.” Firestar’s voice was gentle. “You need to rest.”

“Rest will do me no good now,” the WindClan leader meowed.

Firestar did not try to pretend that there was any hope he would get better. “You will be a noble addition to the ranks of StarClan,” he told him. He crouched down so he could press his muzzle to Tallstar’s.

“Before then… before then I must say…” Tallstar started to choke, and his paws scrabbled in the dried leaves.

“Brambleclaw, find Barkface,” Firestar ordered.

“No.” Tallstar managed to catch his breath again, and signaled with his tail for Brambleclaw to stay. “Nothing… any medicine cat can do for me now.” His eyes half closed and he took several gasping breaths before continuing. “There’s something important I have to say. Where’s Onewhisker?”

Firestar glanced at Brambleclaw, who shook his head.

“Barkface went to get him,” he meowed. “I’ll go and look too.”

“Quickly…” Tallstar rasped as Brambleclaw backed out.

“Tell them… that it is time…”

When Brambleclaw straightened up and looked around, the dawn light was strengthening, but he still couldn’t see any more than dark shapes and the occasional blur of a pale-colored pelt. Most cats were still sleeping in hastily flattened dens among the long grass, roughly divided among the four Clans. He was trying to work out which of the shadowy groups was WindClan when he spotted a solitary cat racing up from the direction of the lake. To his relief he recognized Onewhisker.

“Barkface said Tallstar’s dying.” The WindClan warrior gasped as he halted beside the bush, dropping his mouthful of dripping moss. “I only went to the lake to get him a drink.”

“He wants to see you,” Brambleclaw meowed.

Onewhisker slid under the branches into Tallstar’s den, and Brambleclaw followed him in time to see the warrior place the moss beside Tallstar’s head. The dying leader feebly licked up a few drops, then raised his head again.

“Before I go to StarClan, there is something I must do.”

His voice was stronger now. “Firestar, Onewhisker, listen.

Mudclaw is a brave warrior, but he is not the right cat to lead WindClan. In these last moons we have learned that the future of our Clans lies in friendship. I want no rivalry between WindClan and ThunderClan after I am gone. We must have no enemies. But this will not happen if Mudclaw rules the Clan.”

Brambleclaw saw Firestar exchange a glance with Onewhisker; both cats seemed uncomfortably aware that Tallstar’s ideal of lasting friendship wouldn’t happen, who-ever was in charge of the Clan. It was natural for Clans to be rivals—that was part of the warrior code.

“I can still choose the cat who will lead WindClan after me,” Tallstar rasped. “From this moment Mudclaw is no longer deputy of WindClan.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at him in astonishment.

“I say these words… before StarClan,” Tallstar gasped out. “WindClan must have… a new deputy. Onewhisker, you must lead the Clan when I am gone.”

Brambleclaw and Firestar exchanged a swift, startled glance. These were not the right words to choose a deputy, even though it was clearly what Tallstar intended.

Brambleclaw felt an icy tingle in his fur. Would StarClan accept Onewhisker as the leader of WindClan if he had not been appointed as deputy in the way demanded by the warrior code? He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again when he caught sight of the expression on his leader’s face. Firestar seemed even more shocked than Brambleclaw, his neck fur bristling and his claws digging into the ground, but he said nothing.

“Tallstar, no .” Onewhisker sounded horrified, but Tallstar took no notice. His glittering, star-filled gaze traveled from his new deputy to Firestar and then to Brambleclaw.

“I am grateful to have brought the Clan this far,” he murmured. “Onewhisker, treat our friends well when you lead our Clan. Remember everything ThunderClan has done for us.”

“Tallstar, I’ll do my best, but…” Onewhisker stretched out a paw to touch his leader’s shoulder, but Tallstar’s head had slipped down into the leaves. His eyes closed, and his breathing became quick and shallow.

Brambleclaw felt a faint breeze touch his fur and heard the murmur of pawsteps. Something brushed his pelt, and he thought he saw starlight reflected for a moment in Firestar’s eyes. It suddenly felt as if the tiny den was packed full, with sleek-furred flanks sweeping against him on every side.

Brambleclaw jumped at a scuffling sound behind him, and in a heartbeat the den was empty once more. He turned to see Barkface squeezing under the branches.

Dropping a packet of leaf-wrapped herbs beside Tallstar, he meowed, “Cinderpelt gave me these.”

He broke off, staring at his leader.

“It is too late for herbs,” Firestar mewed quietly.

Onewhisker crouched down and pushed his nose into Tallstar’s fur. The WindClan leader’s black-and-white flank had stopped rising and falling now, stilled forever with the departure of Tallstar’s spirit.

“He walks with StarClan now,” Barkface murmured.

Brambleclaw felt his throat swell with grief. Tallstar had not been his leader, but he had been a noble cat, and nothing would be the same now that he was dead.

After a few moments Firestar curled his tail to touch Onewhisker on the shoulder. “Onewhisker, you need to tell your Clan. Remember what Tallstar said: he… he appointed you deputy, and he wants you to be leader now.”

Onewhisker raised his head, his eyes filled with a chaos of grief and confusion. “Firestar, I can’t do this,” he pleaded. “I can’t take over as leader!” More hesitantly, he asked, “Do we have to tell them what he said? I… I know that wasn’t the right way to choose a new deputy. Tallstar was dying, he couldn’t think clearly…”

“Tallstar knew exactly what he wanted, whether he used the right words or not,” Firestar told him firmly, though his eyes were sympathetic. “He wanted you to be deputy instead of Mudclaw, and he wanted you to succeed him as Clan leader.

Would you betray his trust, and the honor he has given you?”

Brambleclaw saw Barkface’s eyes stretch wide, and he remembered that the medicine cat had not arrived until after Tallstar had finished speaking.

“He said what ?” Barkface demanded. When Firestar explained, the medicine cat looked troubled. “I can understand what he said was a shock,” he mewed to Onewhisker, “but you can’t do anything about it. If that’s what Tallstar wanted, it means that you’re Clan leader in the sight of StarClan. Do you think they would give nine lives to Mudclaw now, knowing that Tallstar changed his mind?”

“Mudclaw!” Onewhisker stared at the other cats in dismay.

“What am I going to say to him?”

Firestar pressed reassuringly against his side. “If you like, I’ll make the announcement to the Clans while you figure out what to say to individual cats.”