Эрин Хантер - Tallstar’s Revenge

“Deadpaw!”

“Sorrelpaw!”

“Pigeonpaw!”

The Clan lifted their voices, calling the names of the new apprentices.

“I’ll teach you to be a great warrior,” Talltail whispered in Deadpaw’s ear. I’m a mentor! Only a few moons ago he’d been living a rogue’s life far beyond the borders of the Clan. Now he was helping to make WindClan strong. Deadpaw depended on him to learn how to hunt and fight. We’ll show them. Even on three paws, you’ll be able to outfight a ShadowClan warrior! Deadpaw’s purr rumbled beside him.

Talltail looked up, across the top of the heather and beyond the rolling green moor. I wish you could see this, Jake. His old friend would be proud to see how much he had changed. You always said I was a warrior. His heart swelled. Now I truly am.

“Are you ready?” Barkface’s eyes glowed in starlight as he paused at the entrance to the tunnel. Mothermouth loomed ahead, gaping black in the silver cliff.

Talltail nodded. “I’m ready.”

The journey across the valley had been filled with memories. As he walked the same fields he’d walked so many moons before, Talltail had been swept back to the troubled curiosity of his youth. But now the boundaries that had once made him feel trapped and restless were his to protect and honor. If StarClan accepted him, he would be WindClan’s leader by dawn.

Grief wrenched at his heart with sharp claws. Heatherstar’s last moments had been cruel. Greencough had wracked her body, choking her savagely into an agonizing death.

“Talltail.” She had beckoned him closer as she lay in her nest, heat pulsing from her flanks, her pelt clumped and stinking. Swallowing back sorrow, Talltail had crouched over her.

“Have courage, Talltail,” Heatherstar had croaked. “You followed your heart once and it made you stronger. It forged a bond between you and WindClan that nothing can ever break.” A cough shook her body. She didn’t fight it, too weak to do anything but submit. As it released her, she dragged in a shuddering breath. “Always follow your heart, Talltail, as you did then. Let it guide you in everything you do.” Her chest rattled as she struggled to breathe. “WindClan is yours now.” With a rasp, she stiffened and fell still.

Barkface squeezed past Talltail and nudged Heatherstar gently with his muzzle, straightening her twisted body and curling her tail around her paws so that she looked as though she were comfortably asleep. “Mudclaw!” he called through the entrance. “Tell the Clan it’s time for them to sit in vigil for their leader.” He nosed Talltail to his paws and guided him from the den.

Outside, the dying sun streaked the grass red. A cold wind whistled across the heather. “We should go to the Moonstone so you can receive your lives,” Barkface told him.

Talltail nodded. He could feel strength seeping back into him as he watched his Clanmates padding slowly toward Heatherstar’s den. He was responsible for them now.

Onekit scampered behind Wrenflight. “Is she really dead?”

“Hush,” his mother scolded. “Show some respect.”

“But she’ll be in StarClan!” Onekit squeaked. He gazed up at the sky as stars began to show. “Do you think she’s watching us yet?”

“Come on, Talltail.” Barkface flicked his tail toward the camp entrance. “If we leave now, we’ll be back in time to join the vigil.”

Now, at Highstones, Talltail shivered—half with cold, half with fear—as Mothermouth yawned before him. All his life, it had seemed as if tunnels shaped his destiny. Now this one would guide him to becoming WindClan’s leader. He glanced at the sky, wondering if Sandgorse was watching. Or Palebird, who’d died moons before. Squaring his shoulders, he padded into the darkness. Barkface followed, his breath billowing in the cold before the shadows swallowed it. Talltail’s paws seemed to guide him without thinking, leading him along the twists and turns, as though the Moonstone drew him on.

Light glowed ahead. The moon was already shining on the Great Rock. As Talltail turned the corner, the light blinded him. Fear flashed through him. Last time he’d been here, StarClan hadn’t shared anything with him. He’d been an apprentice, confused about where his path would lead, doubtful that he truly belonged in WindClan. What would his ancestors say to him now?

As he hesitated, Barkface padded past, no more than a dark shape against the dazzling rock. “It’s time,” he meowed, and his voice echoed around the unseen walls of the cave.

Talltail padded forward and settled beside the sparkling stone. Closing his eyes, he stretched his muzzle forward and touched the Moonstone. He twitched as the stone floor lurched beneath him, then blinked open his eyes. He was on the moor. Stars spiraled down until they sparked among the heather like silver flames becoming cats. Talltail stared, openmouthed, as countless starry pelts lined the hillside.

Mole stepped forward from the glittering ranks. “Welcome, Talltail.”

Talltail gaped at him in disbelief. “You’re in StarClan! But… but you weren’t a warrior.”

“I believed in StarClan.” Mole looked over his shoulder at the rows of glittering cats. “And they believed in me.”

“You never said anything while you were alive.” Talltail didn’t understand. “Why didn’t you join WindClan if you believed the same as us?”

“How could I abandon my companions?” Mole asked him. “They were like kin to me.” He leaned forward and touched his nose to Talltail’s.

Energy surged through Talltail at once, more powerful than a gust of wind. He rocked on his paws like heather.

“With this life, I give you courage, Talltail.” Mole’s mew sounded through the fury. “The courage to do what you believe to be right.”

Stillness enfolded him like the shadow from a bird’s wings. Talltail opened his eyes. Mole was gone. “Where is he?” Talltail cried.

“He is where he belongs.”

Talltail recognized his mother’s voice as Palebird stepped from among her starry Clanmates. Her pelt glowed with a warm light that made Talltail’s eyes ache. He narrowed them as she leaned close and touched his muzzle.

“I give you the love of a mother for her kits,” she whispered.

Talltail’s heart swelled, warmth surging through it. Suddenly he felt Palebird’s love for him more strongly than he’d ever known before—a burning certainty that he’d never doubt again. He felt weak as she stepped away, swaying on his paws. Palebird began to fade in front of him. Don’t go! He felt like a kit again.

“Talltail?” A young cat padded forward, her pelt shining brighter than any star.

“Who are you?” Talltail stared at her, wondering how any kit so small could be in StarClan. Then he realized. “Finchkit!” It was his sister, as young as the day she died.

“I have watched you,” she mewed. “And envied you so much for having the chance to live in WindClan.”

Shame washed over Talltail. Had he really wished he had died in her place, believing that Palebird would have loved her more than she loved him? How foolish he’d been. And how wrong to be so ungrateful for the life he’d been given. “I am lucky,” he agreed. “I will never waste another moment.” He gazed at her. “I’m sorry that I never had a chance to know you.”

“You will know me one day,” she purred softly. She reached up and Talltail had to stoop to touch her nose. “I give you this life so that you may seize every opportunity that comes before you, like a rabbit waiting to be hunted. I give you the strength to act without fear or hesitation.”