Эрин Хантер - Hawkwing’s Journey

He bounded over to join his Clanmates, noticing that Leafstar’s amber eyes were glowing and her whiskers quivering.

She’s excited about something, he thought, and she’s doing a poor job of hiding it .

When the entire Clan had assembled, Leafstar let her gaze travel over her cats. “Echosong has had another vision,” she announced.

Raising her voice to carry over the eager exclamations from the rest of the Clan, she added, “Echosong, please tell us about it.”

The medicine cat stepped up to Leafstar’s side and raised her head; her beautiful green eyes were full of joy and gratitude. “I was tempted to lose hope, after we had been traveling for so long,” she began. “But last night, under the light of the full moon, I begged StarClan to send me a sign that we were still on the right track—that SkyClan had a future to share, and not merely a past.”

“And they answered you?” Tinycloud asked.

“Yes, I had a vision,” Echosong replied. “I saw Skystar, the pale gray tom who first appeared to me in the Whispering Cave, and told me to find the spark that remains.”

“What did he say this time?” Sparrowpelt asked eagerly.

“He told me, ‘Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky,’” Echosong announced to the Clan.

“Well, that’s really helpful!” Sagenose exclaimed with a disgusted twitch of his whiskers.

“Yes, why does StarClan have to be so vague ?” Plumwillow demanded. “Would it hurt them to tell us clearly so we can understand?”

M ore cats jumped in with their comments and suggestions, and as the arguments rose Echosong had to wave her tail vigorously for silence. “Skystar showed me a five-pointed maple leaf,” Echosong told the Clan, “and said that now SkyClan is scattered like leaves, blown by the wind.”

“We know that,” Sagenose muttered.

Echosong ignored the interruption. “But then he told me to look at the leaf.”

Hawkwing’s pads prickled with irritation at this incomprehensible message. Glancing around, he realized that his Clanmates were just as bewildered as he was. Confused murmuring arose from them as they exchanged puzzled glances. Hawkwing felt as though he was wandering in a fog, and that StarClan’s sign had made it even harder to decide what path they should take.

Then Hawkwing noticed that a look of understanding was spreading over Leafstar’s face, her amber eyes glowing with sudden excitement. “I see!” she exclaimed. “A leaf with five points—and including SkyClan, there are five Clans! We are on the right track.

StarClan wants us to find the other Clans.”

Cats turned to each other, eagerly discussing what they had just heard. Then Blossomheart spoke up. “That’s all very well, but that’s what we already thought they meant. And it doesn’t exactly tell us what to do .”

Echosong dipped her head. “True. StarClan never makes it easy for us. But I asked for a sign that we were on the right track—and we are! StarClan hasn’t forgotten us.”

Her Clanmates nodded in agreement. Hawkwing’s gaze fell on the tender new fern fronds uncurling in the midst of the dead brown growth of previous seasons. Beside them was a single yellow flower of coltsfoot, glowing like a tiny sun. Maybe new hope is coming after all. Maybe SkyClan will be rewarded for surviving this miserable leaf-bare.

All morning a stiff breeze had been blowing, driving gray clouds across the sky. Now rain fell in a sharp, freezing shower, sending the SkyClan cats diving for shelter in the bushes. Hawkwing crouched underneath some thickly growing holly branches, licking the icy drops from his fur and struggling to hold on to his earlier optimism.

StarClan has chosen to speak to us again. I must hold on to that.

When at last the rain had passed, Leafstar called the cats back into the middle of the camp.

“There is one more thing to do,” she announced, “and one of the most important duties of a Clan leader. Dewkit, Finkit, Reedkit, come here.”

Exchanging wondering glances, the three kits padded up to stand in front of Leafstar, while Plumwillow let out a soft wail.

“Just look at them! It’s as if they’d been pulled through the bushes backward! Why does Leafstar never give us any notice?”

“Today it is my task to make three new apprentices,” Leafstar went on. “And I can think of no better way to commit ourselves to the future under the guidance of StarClan.” Beckoning Dewkit with her tail, she continued, “From this day forward, this apprentice will be known as Dewpaw. M acgyver, you gave up your life as a kittypet to follow SkyClan. I trust you will pass on your commitment to Dewpaw as his mentor.”

A look of pleased surprise gathered on M acgyver’s face as Dewpaw trotted up to him and stretched up to touch his nose.

“Dewpaw! Dewpaw!”

Hawkwing joined in as his Clanmates chanted the new apprentice’s name, then watched proudly as Leafstar apprenticed Finkit to Blossomheart and Reedkit to Bellaleaf.

“Finpaw! Reedpaw! Finpaw! Reedpaw!” the Clan called out, while the new apprentices glowed with excitement.

Hawkwing felt a moment’s pang that he wasn’t to mentor one of his beloved kits, then reflected that if he had been the mentor for one of them, the other two would have felt left out, and discontented with their own mentors.

Leafstar has chosen well.

He thought back over all the moons of their journey, remembering the effort it had taken to keep the kits safe and together—not to mention keeping the rest of SkyClan safe, too, so that they would see this day. Dogs, Twolegs, sickness… we have survived them all. Now he felt that SkyClan was waking from a bad dream, and these eager young cats were its future.

He spotted Plumwillow casting him a grateful look, and dipped his head in acknowledgment. He could see in her eyes that she recognized how hard this was for him. Since Sandynose’s return, Hawkwing hadn’t tried to speak to her alone, not wanting to get into the middle of their happiness. But he felt a warm glow inside at the thought that Plumwillow remembered what he had done for her family.

All three apprentices were crowding around Plumwillow and Sandynose, eagerly discussing their ceremony. “Wasn’t it amazing when the whole Clan called out our names?” Reedpaw meowed.

“It felt great!” Dewpaw puffed out his chest. “I’m going to be the best apprentice ever.”

“No, you’re not! I am!” Finpaw insisted, swiping at his brother’s ear.

Sandynose separated the two young cats with a gentle paw before they could start tussling. “That’s enough of that,” he told them. “You have to behave yourselves and listen to your mentors.

Then you’ll all be great warriors one day.”

“We will!” the new apprentices promised him fervently.

Hawkwing could see that they were well on the way to accepting Sandynose, and he determinedly crushed down a small pang of regret.

Then the kits broke away from their parents and came scampering across to him.

“We’re apprentices now!” Finpaw announced. “Isn’t it great?”

“I’m very proud of all of you,” Hawkwing told them. “You’ve survived incredibly difficult times to become apprentices. And I truly believe that you will see SkyClan flourish again.”

“I believe that, too!” Dewpaw assured him.

At last the kits left, scurrying off excitedly to join their mentors.

“I want to catch a mouse!” Reedpaw squealed, flinging herself at Bellaleaf. “Show me how!”

“Stop squealing like that, for a start,” Bellaleaf responded, wryly amused. “Come on, I’ll teach you the hunter’s crouch.”