Эрин Хантер - Moth Flight’s Vision

As Micah turned his head, surveying the ranks of starry cats, Pebble Heart stretched his muzzle and sniffed at Half Moon.

Dappled Pelt tipped her head, curiosity flashing in her eyes.

“Stoneteller?”

“It is good to see you settled in your new home,” Half Moon purred.

Cloud Spots gazed into Half Moon’s dark green gaze. “Is it really you?”

“Of course.”

The ThunderClan tom’s gaze flitted to the other starry cats.

“Jackdaw’s Cry! Bright Stream!” He raced from one cat to another, touching muzzles excitedly.

“Rainswept Flower!” Dappled Pelt darted toward a brown she-cat. She greeted her, then jerked her muzzle toward an orange she-cat. “Hawk Swoop!”

Micah shifted his paws, staring blankly at the spirit-cats.

“Turtle Tail!” Pebble Heart’s eyes lit up as he saw his mother. He nosed his way between the spirit-cats toward her.

Turtle Tail was already hurrying to meet him. “Pebble Heart!” Her eyes glowed with joy as she touched her muzzle to his head.

Purring, he rubbed against her. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

“We’re always close by.” Gray Wing slid from the crowd.

Pebble Heart jerked his muzzle around, delighted. “You’re both here! Together! ”

Gray Wing purred loudly, his starry pelt shimmering. “It’s good to see you, Pebble Heart.”

Half Moon lifted her chin. “Let us gather and share news.”

At her words, the starry cats closed the circle around Half

Moon, Micah, and Moth Flight. Pebble Heart, Dappled Pelt, and Cloud Spots left their old friends and hurried to the center.

“You did well.” Half Moon’s green eyes glowed as she gazed at Moth Flight.

“Did I?” Moth Flight blinked at her anxiously.

“Yes.” As Half Moon dipped her head to Moth Flight, murmurs of appreciation rippled around the spirit-cats.

Moth Flight glanced at them shyly, pride surging beneath her pelt. “I just told the Clans, like you asked me to.” She remembered with a shudder Clear Sky’s scorn. And Tall Shadow’s disbelieving gaze. Even her Clanmates had thought she’d imagined the spirit-cats. “Thanks for sending the lightning.” Without it, the Clans might never have taken her seriously. “When you said you’d split the skies, I never guessed that’s what you meant.”

Half Moon gazed at her warmly. “You will get better at understanding us.”

Moth Flight hoped she was right. “What did you mean when you said later the stars would rise ?” She tipped her head, waiting for the white she-cat to explain.

“You will know when it happens.”

Frustration pricked Moth Flight’s paws. Why couldn’t Half

Moon just say what she meant? “When what happens?”

Half Moon narrowed her gaze. “This is your life. We cannot guide every paw step. If we did, you would only discover our path. You must discover your own.”

Moth Flight’s tail drooped. “I guess.” But it would be easier if you just told us what to do.

Half Moon seemed to read her thoughts. “It would be easier, but not better.” She turned to Micah. “Thank you for leaving your home to join us.”

“ Us? ” Micah’s ears twitched. He glanced uneasily around the spirit-cats. “I only joined SkyClan.”

“You joined the Clans,” Half Moon purred. “What are we, if not another Clan?”

Moth Flight’s breath caught in her throat. The spirit-cats saw themselves as a Clan. “You’re Star Clan,” she breathed, remembering when she’d looked up at the stars and first thought of the name.

Half Moon’s eyes shone. “Yes.” She lifted her chin, surveying her starry Clanmates. “That’s exactly what we are.”

“StarClan!”

“StarClan!”

The word rippled around the sprit cats, their eyes lighting up as they spoke their new name.

Half Moon swished her tail, her dark green gaze returning to Micah. “You bring fresh spirit to the Clans, Micah,” she purred.

Moth Flight sniffed. “He would, if Clear Sky let him. He’s told Acorn Fur to watch him.”

“Clear Sky is the leader,” Half Moon reminded her. “He will do what he thinks best for his Clan. But he will see Micah’s worth.” Her gaze darkened. “I just hope he sees it soon.”

“So do I!” Micah fluffed out his fur.

Gray Wing padded forward and stopped beside Half Moon.

“We are pleased to see the medicine cats learning skills from each other.”

Bright Stream lifted her tail. “We hope you will share more!”

“The Clans must pool their knowledge,” Rainswept Flower urged from among her Clanmates.

“But we know so little!” Moth Flight blurted.

Half Moon’s gaze flitted around the medicine cats. “You will learn more if you share.”

Excitement sparked in Moth Flight’s chest. Of course!

Micah had told her about catmint and she’d used it to cure

Rocky. If she knew everything Dappled Pelt, Cloud Spots, Pebble Heart, and Micah knew, she’d be able to help her whole

Clan. She blinked at Half Moon. “We will share! I promise.”

The StarClan cat’s pelt began to fade. Around her, the spirit-cats were growing pale.

Alarm flashed through Moth Flight. “Don’t go yet!”

“We will return next half-moon,” Gray Wing called as he shimmered out of sight.

The green meadows and distant forest grew hazy as Moth

Flight desperately tried to fix her gaze on them. She felt dizzy as they began to swirl. Blackness enfolded her and a chill swept her pelt.

She blinked open her eyes. She was in the cave once more, the Moonstone no more than a dull lump of rock.

Micah shivered beside her.

Pebble Heart pushed himself to his paws.

Dappled Pelt lifted her head, blinking. “Did you all see that?”

“We were on a hill!” Cloud Spots eyes gleamed in the weak starlight.

“Stoneteller!” Dappled Pelt jumped up, her pelt bristling.

“She wants us to share what we know about healing!”

“Who’s Stoneteller?” Moth Flight tipped her head. Why did the older cats keep calling Half Moon by that name?

“She was our healer in the mountains,” Cloud Spots explained. “We called her Stoneteller.”

Micah sniffed. “If she’s a healer, why doesn’t she share what she knows with us?”

Dappled Pelt padded around him, her pelt pricking excitedly.

“Healing was different in the mountains. There weren’t many herbs. She must want us to learn new skills.”

Pebble Heart’s eyes glazed, as though deep in thought. “We have the chance to become better healers than she ever could.

She knows that. She wants us to be better.”

Moth Flight’s paws tingled. “We must try our best. We have to share everything we know.” She wanted to make Half Moon proud. She’s put so much faith in me. “A few days ago, Micah told me how to stop cuts from getting infected.” She looked at him expectantly.

“I made a poultice of dock and horsetail by chewing up the leaves,” Micah told them eagerly. “Blossom had a scratch that was turning sour, so I licked the poultice deep into the wound and it was better by morning.”

Cloud Spots’s whiskers twitched excitedly. “Clover kept chewing at a wound on her paw, so I smeared some mouse bile on it. She didn’t put her nose near it again.”

“Shattered Ice got a bellyache from eating a stinking fish,” Dappled Pelt put in. “I gave him watermint. He felt a lot better.”

“I’ve been trying to work out if pinesap is good for anything,” Pebble Heart mewed thoughtfully. “So far it only seems useful for sticking leaves over wounds to keep dirt out.”

As the others looked expectantly at Moth Flight, guilt wormed beneath her pelt. I haven’t discovered anything! Except that too much catmint makes cats crazy! “I guess I could see if heather is good for anything,” she mewed tentatively. “But what if it’s poisonous?”