Эрин Хантер - Tigerheart’s Shadow

Tigerheart frowned. “Really?” Had the kit been exploring?

“I dreamed it,” Shadowkit explained. “I dreamed about the Twolegplace Spiresight said was at the end of the Thunderpath, and then I saw beyond. There was a valley with birch trees edging a small stretch of water and then a hill rising to moorland.”

Moorland? Tigerheart stiffened. Was Shadowkit talking about WindClan territory? “Did you see beyond the moor?” He leaned closer to Shadowkit.

“The moor stretched over a hilltop, then down to a lake.”

Tigerheart’s throat tightened with excitement. Were they that close to home? “What did the lake look like?”

“There was pine forest on one side, and oak forest, and near a marshy stretch of reeds at the far end, there was an island.”

Tigerheart lifted his gaze to stare at Dovewing. “Our lake,” he breathed. “He saw our lake in a dream.”

This one will see into the shadows. Tigerheart remembered Spiresight staring at Shadowkit on the day he was born. This dream must be a vision. How else could Shadowkit describe the lake so exactly? Pelt prickling along his spine, he stared at Dovewing. “Have you ever described the lake to him?”

“Not in that much detail,” she told him. “I said that there was forest beside it, but I don’t think I said what kind, and I didn’t mention the reed marshes or the island.”

Tigerheart’s gaze flitted eagerly back to Shadowkit. “Do you think you could lead us there?”

“I dreamed the whole route,” Shadowkit told him. “As though I were a hawk flying over it.”

“But could you recognize it from the ground?” Tigerheart pressed. Asking such a young cat to lead the patrol home was a big responsibility to place on small shoulders. He wanted to make sure Shadowkit could do it. “Could you tell us which paths to follow?”

“Yes.” Shadowkit nodded eagerly. “That’s why I had the dream. I knew it while I was dreaming. It was to show you the way home.”

Tigerheart’s belly tightened. Shadowkit’s bond with StarClan must be strong. He wondered whether it would last, or if their ancestors were just using the kit to guide their paws now. He blinked fondly at his son. “Thank you, Shadowkit. We’ll discuss what you’ve told us with the others.”

Shadowkit’s pelt prickled uneasily. “We will go, won’t we?”

“Of course,” Tigerheart promised. “We just need to decide when.”

“Soon.” Urgency shone in Shadowkit’s eyes.

“As soon as we can.” As Shadowkit searched his gaze, Tigerheart waved him away with a flick of his tail. He had to talk about it with Dovewing and then the other cats. “Lightkit’s stripping a mouse for Spirekit. She promised to save you some. Go and eat. You must be hungry.”

Shadowkit gazed at him for another moment, then turned toward the camp. As he padded away, Tigerheart looked at Dovewing. “Do you think StarClan is really sharing dreams with him?”

“I don’t see how else he could have described the lake so precisely.”

“It seems too good to be true.”

“You saw him,” Dovewing mewed. “How sincere he was. He believes his dream is true, and so do I. Perhaps he is connected to StarClan. Perhaps I dreamed I should travel to the city because I was carrying him in my belly.”

Tigerheart shifted his paws. Spiresight had said that Shadowkit would be special. “Do you think he’ll be a medicine cat?”

“Let’s worry about that when we get home.” Happiness suddenly sparked in Dovewing’s green gaze. “I never imagined we were so close.”

Tigerheart could see over the camp wall from here. Spirekit had wandered away from Lightkit as she pulled the mouse apart and was watching his father’s tail twitch as Sparrowtail worked on the camp wall. Excitement sparked in the tiny kit’s gaze as the tail flashed back and forth in front of him. With a squeak, he pounced and fell onto his side. Wrapping his paws around the tail, he began churning it with his hind claws. Sparrowtail hardly seemed to notice.

Tigerheart turned back to Dovewing. “Do you think Berryheart’s kits are ready to travel?”

“They’re still very small,” Dovewing murmured. “Even walking for two days would be hard on them. Especially in cold weather. They only have kit fur.”

“Let’s ask the others.” Tigerheart headed back to the camp, Dovewing at his heels. When he reached the small clearing, he lifted his chin. “I must speak with you.” He looked around the camp, meeting the gazes of Ant, Cinnamon, Cloverfoot, and Blaze as they turned to look. “Shadowkit has had a dream.”

Rippletail left his work at the camp wall.

Sparrowtail shook Spirekit from his tail and licked him between the ears. “Go and play with the other kits,” he mewed.

“You too.” Berryheart got to her paws, nudging Sunkit away.

Dovewing nodded at Pouncekit. “Will you keep the young kits busy while we talk?”

“Can’t we listen too?” Pouncekit asked as Sunkit, Hollowkit, and Spirekit hurried toward her.

“You can listen,” Dovewing meowed. “But you can’t interrupt.”

As the kits clustered together, Berryheart padded closer. Ant and Cinnamon sat beside Cloverfoot and blinked at Tigerheart.

“Shadowkit dreamed of the lake,” Tigerheart began.

Rippletail pricked his ears. “Are you sure it was the lake?”

“He described it exactly,” Tigerheart told him. “He saw the route we must take to get there and says he can lead us to it.”

Shadowkit huddled closer to his sisters as the warriors turned to look at him.

“Does he have visions like Spire?” Ant asked.

“I guess he does.” Tigerheart felt a rush of pride.

Cloverfoot tipped her head questioningly. “Do you really think a kit can lead us home?”

“I think StarClan has chosen to share with us through him,” Tigerheart meowed. “We need to know how to get home. Now we have been shown a way. It isn’t far. Only a day or two.” He looked at Berryheart. “Do you think your kits are ready to make the journey?” Hope rose in his chest as Berryheart’s gaze flicked toward her kits. I’m coming, ShadowClan. I’ll be there soon.

Berryheart shifted her paws uneasily. “Not yet,” she meowed. “They’re barely weaned.”

Shadowkit stiffened, his pelt pricking. “But—”

Tigerheart spoke over him. “The journey is not long.” His Clan was so near; and in need of his help. The tug of home felt like a thorn in his heart. “We can carry them most of the way.”

“If you must go now, you can leave without us,” Berryheart offered.

“No,” Tigerheart meowed firmly. “We leave together or not at all.”

Dovewing blinked softly at Berryheart. “Will they be ready in a quarter moon?”

Shadowkit flicked his tail. “We must leave before that!”

Dovewing silenced him with a look. “I said no interrupting.”

“But it was my dream—”

Dovewing cut him off. “You are too young to be telling warriors what to do.”

Shadowkit tucked his tail around his paws and stared at the ground.

Dovewing turned back to Berryheart. “A quarter moon?”

“Yes.” Berryheart gazed anxiously at her kits. “But only if the weather is fine.”

Tigerheart flicked his tail eagerly. “Then it’s settled. In a quarter moon, we’ll go home.”

Dusk turned the thin clouds above the forest pink. A fresh wind stirred the branches. Tigerheart gazed at the moon as the sky darkened around it. The quarter moon had passed. They would leave at dawn. Anxiety fluttered in his belly. What would he find when he reached the lake? The shadows are fading. He can’t keep them together. He couldn’t believe Rowanstar had let ShadowClan fall apart. They must be waiting for him. A forest without ShadowClan would be like a forest without trees.