Эрин Хантер - Legends of the Clans

The young cats blinked up at him, a faint spark of hope in their eyes. Moonpaw’s silver-gray pelt hung loosely over her ribs, and her tail was dirty and matted.

“No chores for the rest of the day,” Pineheart announced. “Stay here and clean yourselves up. We are warriors of ThunderClan, not homeless rogues.”

As he turned away, he saw Cloudberry watching him. The medicine cat was so frail that Pineheart could hardly believe she had survived the hunger. Somehow she had clung to life, eating bark and dry leaves with the rest of the Clan when prey had vanished altogether. And here she was, still caring for them all, still fussing over her Clanmates as if they were her kits.

Pineheart stopped alongside the medicine cat. “Is Doestar all right?” he asked quietly.

Cloudberry blinked. “She is weak, like all of us.”

“That’s not an answer,” Pineheart meowed. “I’m her deputy. I need to know if she is going to lose a life.”

Cloudberry sighed. “This is her last life, and she knows it. She refuses to tell me how she is feeling, but I think she is more ill than any cat realizes. Prepare to say good-bye, Pineheart. StarClan will gather her to them soon.”

Pineheart stared at the cat in alarm. “Her last life already? I… I had lost count.” He shook his head miserably. “She can’t leave us! I still have so much to learn before I become leader.”

“You’ll be fine,” Cloudberry meowed. “You are a brave and skillful warrior, just like your father was. ThunderClan deserves to be led by a cat like you.” She touched Pineheart’s flank with the tip of her tail. “Have faith.”

She limped away, her tail dragging in the mud. Pineheart headed back to the den below Highrock. Grief weighed in his belly like a stone, and he fought down the wave of panic that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn’t become leader yet! It was too soon!

Doestar was dozing, but she stirred when Pineheart settled down beside her. “Pineheart?” she whispered. “Is that you?”

“Yes,” Pineheart replied. “Is there anything I can get you?”

“Ah, no,” sighed Doestar. She wriggled deeper into her nest, which was lined with glossy black rook feathers. “Deerpaw was here just now. Did you see her?”

Pineheart froze. Deerpaw was Doestar’s littermate, who had died during her apprenticeship. Had she come to take her sister to StarClan? “I don’t see her now,” he mewed carefully.

“Good,” Doestar grunted. “She was bugging me to go somewhere, but I don’t feel like leaving my nest today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll go with her.”

Please don’t! Pineheart thought. I’m not ready to become leader! Stay until the Clan is fit and strong again!

“The apprentices hunted well today,” he meowed, changing the subject. “Heronpaw caught a pigeon all by himself.”

Doestar let out a creaky purr. “He was always fast, even as a kit.”

Pineheart felt a flash of relief that his leader had returned to the present.

“I shall make them all warriors tomorrow,” Doestar announced abruptly. “They have served their Clan well through the hungry moons, and we all deserve to celebrate our survival.” She sat up, her eyes clearer now, looking more like her old self.

Pineheart dipped his head. “That’s an excellent idea,” he purred.

The she-cat reached out and rested her paw on Pineheart’s foreleg. “I am so pleased that you will take care of ThunderClan after me,” she mewed. “It was an honor to serve your father, and I am only sorry that I won’t be here to watch you lead the Clan as well.”

“But that won’t be for a long time…” Pineheart started to object, but Doestar silenced him by gently pricking his leg with her claws.

“We’ve known each other too long to tell lies now,” she meowed. “I have reached my ninth life sooner than I expected, but ThunderClan will be safe with you. All of the Clans suffered this leaf-bare, but this only means they will want to prove their strength as soon as the warm weather returns. You must guard the borders fiercely, do you understand? Especially Sunningrocks. Your father never trusted RiverClan, remember.” Her eyes blazed in the dusky light.

“I promise we will not lose Sunningrocks,” Pineheart told her. “ThunderClan will be as strong as it ever was, even if we have to fight all of our enemies in turn to prove it.” His heart started to pound and he unsheathed his claws into the hard earth floor of the den as he imagined leading his Clanmates into battle to defend their territory and their honor.

Suddenly he realized that Doestar had slumped down into her nest, and her breath was coming in ragged gasps. “Doestar? Doestar, are you okay?” The she-cat stirred but didn’t sit up.

Cloudberry entered the den behind Pineheart. She was carrying a bundle of soaked moss, which she set down beside the leader’s nest. “She’s okay, just tired,” the medicine cat mewed. “Leave her be, now.”

Pineheart backed out of the den, unable to take his eyes from Doestar. Please don’t leave me yet! ThunderClan still needs you!

Pineheart stared at Doestar’s body, slumped in the middle of the clearing. Cloudberry lay beside her, almost as still and silent as the dead leader. She had forbidden any other cat to come close, frightened that the sickness that had taken Doestar so swiftly at the end might be infectious. Pineheart thought back to the last conversation he had had with Doestar, two sunrises ago. Had she known Deerpaw would come for her again so soon? At least she had been strong enough to hold naming ceremonies for Moonflower, Poppydawn, Heronwing, and Rabbitleap yesterday. ThunderClan’s newest warriors crouched at the edge of the clearing now, their heads bowed in sorrow.

Cloudberry was speaking quietly to Goosefeather. Pineheart padded over to them, his paws feeling like stone. It was clear from Cloudberry’s hunched shoulders and dull, glazed expression that Goosefeather would be taking him to the Moonstone. “Shall we go?” Pineheart mewed. He looked back at Doestar again. “I never thought this would happen so soon. I don’t know if I’ll be half the leader she was.”

“Doestar will watch over you from StarClan,” meowed Goosefeather. “You’ll be fine.”

Pineheart felt a flare of hope in his chest. He had had little to do with Goosefeather, never imagining they would be leading the Clan together so soon. “Really? Have you had a vision?”

Goosefeather nodded, but didn’t say anything more. “Come, we have a long journey ahead of us,” he meowed, and headed for the gorse tunnel.

Pineheart had traveled to the Moonstone before, but this time it felt very different. The cavern beneath the ground was as cold as ice, and the Moonstone glittered so brightly that it hurt his eyes. He screwed them up, and when he opened them he was standing in a sunlit forest, his fur lifted by a prey-scented breeze and the sound of birdsong in his ears. Goosefeather stood a little way off, his gray pelt dappled with shade.

“You came!” cried Doestar, trotting over the grass to meet him. The white patches on her pelt gleamed, and she looked strong and full-fed once more.

Pineheart dipped his head. “Of course,” he murmured. Hardly daring to move, he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw more cats stepping from the trees. This is it! he thought. I am becoming the leader of ThunderClan!

“I give you a life for survival, for rebuilding your strength after great hardship,” Doestar announced, resting her chin on his bowed head. A great force flowed through him, dazzled with sunlight, bursting with green leaves and rustling prey and the deafening noise of forest life.