Fading Echoes

by Erin Hunter

  CHAPTER 6

  Jayfeather jerked awake. The air was still damp with night, yet voices were whispering in the clearing. Stones shifted as paws descended the rockfall.

  Firestar’s awake.

  Jayfeather sat up.

  He tasted the air.

  WindClan.

  Jayfeather leaped from his nest and nosed his way through the brambles as Lionblaze and Cinderheart slid from the warriors’ den.

  “What’s going on?” Lionblaze circled his apprentice.

  Dovepaw didn’t answer, but fidgeted beside her sister as they stood as uncomfortable as owlets caught in daylight.

  Briarpaw pushed her way out of the apprentices’ den, whiskers twitching with curiosity. “Come and see this,” she hissed over her shoulder to her denmates as Brambleclaw joined Firestar in the clearing. Nests rustled behind him, while Whitewing and Birchfall watched from their den, their tails gently stirring the branches.

  Dustpelt pushed past them. “What are they doing here?” The dark tabby tom’s mew rang around the rock walls of the camp, anger aimed like a thorn at the WindClan warriors.

  Breezepelt and Heathertail didn’t flinch.

  “Keep your voice down, Dustpelt,” Firestar ordered. “We don’t want to wake every cat.”

  “Why not?” Daisy marched out of the nursery, her fur bristling. “There are WindClan cats in the camp!”

  “It’s not an attack,” Whitewing reassured the anxious queen.

  “Are you sure?” Dustpelt circled the edge of the clearing, distrust crackling with every pawstep.

  Heathertail’s tail brushed the ground. “You seem to have lost two apprentices,” she meowed. “We’re returning them.”

  Jayfeather felt guilt pulse like a flame from Dovepaw and Ivypaw.

  “I’ll handle this.” Firestar’s gaze flashed around his Clanmates. “Any cat not directly involved can go back to their nest.”

  Dustpelt halted. The yew bush swished as the other apprentices scooted inside. Whitewing and Birchfall backed into their den.

  “Lionblaze and Cinderheart, I want you to stay,” Firestar went on. “You too, Jayfeather.”

  “What about me?” Brambleclaw meowed.

  “Make sure everyone is settled and reassure the queens.” Firestar padded toward the thorn barrier. “Follow me,” he called over his shoulder. “I don’t want any more disturbances in camp.”

  Jayfeather tagged behind Dovepaw, Ivypaw, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, and the WindClan warriors as they followed the ThunderClan leader through the thorn tunnel. The night air felt heavy on his pelt, and his mind was ablaze with the tensions flashing among the cats.

  Outside the camp, Firestar sat down. Lionblaze’s paws scuffed the fallen leaves. An owl hooted overhead, then flapped away through the trees. Breezepelt and Heathertail stood stiffly beside each other, while Dovepaw and Ivypaw shifted on their paws. Cinderheart was tense and unhappy; Jayfeather could sense the knot in her belly. He shivered in the cold breeze.

  Firestar cleared his throat. “Now, what’s going on?”

  Breezepelt answered. “We found these two outside our camp.”

  Dovepaw and Ivypaw shuffled closer together.

  “Ivypaw?” Firestar’s attention focused on the apprentice. “Is that what happened?”

  “We…” Ivypaw hesitated. “We were just exploring.”

  “In the middle of WindClan territory?” Firestar’s mew was ominously soft.

  “It was my fault!” Dovepaw broke in. “I…I heard a dog on the moor while we were tree training and I was worried….”

  Jayfeather curled his claws. Oh no! Dovepaw! You mouse-brain! He felt Lionblaze stiffen.

  A growl rumbled in Breezepelt’s throat. “You were worried?” His tail swished the leaves. “About WindClan? Firestar, don’t you teach your apprentices the warrior code?”

  Firestar paused, then addressed the WindClan warriors calmly. “Thank you for bringing them back. I am sorry they disturbed you and your Clanmates. Nothing like this will ever happen again.”

  Jayfeather sensed irritation itching beneath Dovepaw’s pelt, but she had the good sense to hold her tongue.

  “We do live by the warrior code,” Firestar assured Breezepelt, his mew tight. “And we will make sure these young cats understand how important that is.” The ThunderClan leader was seething, embarrassed by his apprentices, but Jayfeather could also sense questions fizzing in his mind. What had these apprentices really been doing in WindClan territory?

  Heathertail breathed out slowly. “Make sure you do.” As she turned and began to head away from the ThunderClan camp, Jayfeather felt tension crackle like lightning between her and Lionblaze, and she aimed her final barb at the golden warrior. “You should keep a closer eye on your apprentice from now on.”

  Breezepelt swished after her through the undergrowth. “WindClan can take care of itself without your help!” he called before the ferns swallowed him.

  Firestar waited until their pawsteps had faded. “What in the name of StarClan did you think you were doing?” he demanded, turning on Dovepaw and Ivypaw.

  “It was my idea!” Dovepaw insisted.

  “Ivypaw isn’t stuck to you like a piece of cobweb!” Firestar pointed out. “She could have changed her mind at any time.”

  “I wasn’t going to let Dovepaw go alone!” Ivypaw objected.

  “That doesn’t explain what you were doing in WindClan territory!” Firestar snorted. “What’s this nonsense about hearing a dog?”

  When neither apprentice answered, he sighed. “Very well. Whatever the reason, it was a dumb thing to do!”

  Was he really going to leave it at that? Jayfeather tipped his head to one side as Firestar went on.

  “I’ll leave your punishment up to your mentors, but I hope they will make sure you improve your understanding of the warrior code. Your training so far seems to have left little impression.” Leaves rustled beneath his paws. “If you’re going to behave like kits, then you should be treated like kits. Now go!”

  Dovepaw and Ivypaw began to pad away.

  “Dovepaw,” Firestar called. “I want an extra word with you.”

  Ivypaw halted, puzzled. “Why not me?”

  “Never you mind.” Cinderheart nudged her forward. “Just do as you’re told!”

  Ivypaw’s feet scuffed the ground as she was marched away by her mentor.

  Jayfeather made to leave too, but Firestar called him back. “I want you and Lionblaze to stay.”

  He was circling Dovepaw, his mind sharp as a thorn. “How did you know about this dog?” he quizzed the apprentice.

  “W-what do you mean?” Dovepaw stammered.

  Firestar’s attention flashed toward Jayfeather, crackling with suspicion. “What about you? Did StarClan send you a sign or a dream about the dog?”

  Jayfeather shook his head. He wished he could lie to hide Dovepaw’s stupid mistake, but Firestar wouldn’t fall for it. “I’ve dreamed about dogs on the moors before,” he mumbled. “But not recently.”

  Firestar’s attention shot back to Dovepaw.

  “So, how did you know about it? Did you dream it?”

  “I told you,” Dovepaw answered. “I heard it!”

  A frustrated growl rumbled in Firestar’s throat. “What about you, Lionblaze? You were tree training with her. Did you hear this dog?”

  Lionblaze shifted his paws. “I was on the ground,” he mumbled. “There was a breeze. It was impossible to tell.”

  Firestar cut him off. “Then it was just Dovepaw.”

  Jayfeather shifted his paws, his belly tightening. What was the ThunderClan leader getting at?

  “Have you heard anything else other cats don’t hear?” Firestar’s question came out of the blue. “Like beavers blocking a stream, for example? That wasn’t a dream, was it?”

  Jayfeather froze. The shock from Lionblaze’s pelt swept over him like an icy wind.

  The Clan leader sighed. “Dovepaw, I’ve worked out that you know thi
ngs other cats don’t, and I don’t think you’re having dreams about them. So how do you know?” His tail-tip was tapping the ground. “I need to know. It’s important. It helped save the lake, but it also just got you into serious trouble. Even worse, it could have caused a battle with WindClan, and that makes it my responsibility.”

  Confusion was flooding from Dovepaw, her mind whirling as she searched for something to say.

  Firestar snorted and flicked his attention back to Jayfeather and Lionblaze. “It looks like I’m going to have to be the one who says it, doesn’t it?”

  Lionblaze was holding his breath as Firestar went on.

  “I think the three of you have something in common. Something we maybe should have discussed before.”

  The fur on Jayfeather’s spine lifted.

  “Haven’t you wondered why you can slip so easily into other cats’ dreams, Jayfeather? That’s not something every medicine cat can do. And Lionblaze, do you think I haven’t noticed the way you fight? You’re not just brave; you’re completely without fear. You must know that you’re safe. That no mortal cat can hurt you. And then we have Dovepaw, who knows what’s going on farther away than any of us can hear or see.” Firestar paused to take a breath.

  He knows! Jayfeather’s heart beat faster. He knows we’re the Three!

  CHAPTER 7

  “Long ago, I was told of a prophecy—” the ThunderClan leader began.

  “We know!” Jayfeather interrupted. He had walked through this memory in one of Firestar’s dreams. “We’re the Three. Kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in our paws.”

  Shock flashed from Firestar’s pelt, then ebbed into weary acceptance. “So you know already.” He sighed. “I’ve been waiting for you a long time, since before Leafpool and Squirrel flight were born.”

  Jayfeather wasn’t interested in Firestar’s memories. “But what does the prophecy mean?”

  “Mean?” Firestar sounded surprised.

  Doesn’t he know?

  Before Jayfeather could speak, Dovepaw found her voice. “Did you think it would be Leafpool and Squirrelflight?”

  “For a while,” Firestar answered slowly. “I thought it might be them and Cloudtail. But nothing happened. Then Jaykit, Lionkit, and Hollykit were born.” He stopped, and when he spoke again his tone was curious. “How long have you known about the prophecy?”

  Jayfeather shrugged. “Since we were apprentices.”

  “Did StarClan tell you?”

  “Not exactly.” Jayfeather wanted to delve into Firestar’s mind, find out everything the ThunderClan leader knew about the prophecy. But he was only one of the Three. Lionblaze and Dovepaw needed to know too. The whole thing would have to be teased out in words. “But it didn’t need to come from StarClan, did it? This is not their prophecy.”

  “No.” Firestar sounded perplexed. His paws shifted on the night-damp earth. “Do you know what your destiny is?”

  “Don’t you?” Dovepaw gasped. “I mean, if you know about the prophecy, how come you don’t know what it means?”

  “Didn’t the old cat tell you?” Lionblaze meowed.

  There was a moment of silence as Firestar digested the fact that the three cats knew who had given the prophecy to him. “I don’t think even he understood what it meant,” Firestar admitted. “He was just passing on a message.”

  Ice-cold fear spread along Jayfeather’s spine. No cat knows! They were floundering in shadow, heading for what?

  He felt Firestar’s muzzle touch his head. “Skywatcher promised that you would come, and you have. We must have faith. There’s nothing we can do but wait,” the ThunderClan leader murmured.

  Rage clawed Jayfeather’s belly. Didn’t he care what dangers could be lying in wait for his Clan?

  “Tell me.” Firestar turned his attention back to Dovepaw. “What exactly is your power?”

  Jayfeather sensed her stiffen, like a hunted mouse. They’d always told her to keep her power secret.

  “It’s okay,” Lionblaze mewed. “You can tell him.”

  “Okay.” Dovepaw hesitated for a moment. “I can sense things,” she began tentatively. “Faraway things.”

  “How do you sense them?” Firestar urged.

  “I—I hear them, and smell them, and sort of get glimpses.”

  “Do you hear everything all the time?”

  “It’s all kind of there—around me, in the background.” Dovepaw fidgeted. “I’m used to it. Like…” Another pause, then, “Like you don’t see every tree around you all the time but you know they are there; you know what they look like; you can remember which is which. You can focus on one tree or, if something’s out of place or unusual, it’ll catch your eye—it’ll make you look harder.”

  “I see.” There was warmth in Firestar’s mew. “Now I know why you’re so good at hunting.” The ThunderClan leader’s tail swished. “The Three have come at last.” He sounded satisfied. “I will sleep a little easier from now on. Just be careful—your powers set you apart from other cats, but you are still members of this Clan. You are still bound by the warrior code, for as long as that stands.”

  Jayfeather leaned forward, heart pounding. “But we don’t know what we’re here for!”

  “And there’s nothing we can do until we find out.” Firestar began to pad toward the hollow. “ThunderClan is lucky that you have come. Let’s not ask for the stars as well. Tell me if anything changes,” he meowed over his shoulder. “You will have my full support.”

  The thorns rustled as the ThunderClan leader disappeared into camp.

  Lionblaze breathed out slowly. “How come he never said anything before?”

  Jayfeather sat down. “I guess he was just waiting until he was sure.”

  “I gave us away.” Dovepaw’s mew was contrite. “I shouldn’t have gone to WindClan.”

  “It might be for the best,” Jayfeather reassured her.

  “Yes,” Lionblaze agreed. “And now it’ll be easier to ask for more training time away from the other apprentices.”

  “But we still don’t know what we’re training for,” Dovepaw pointed out. A yawn overtook her. Jayfeather was suddenly aware of the tiredness dragging at the young cat’s paws.

  He blinked at Lionblaze, but the golden warrior was already padding over to his apprentice. “Come on,” he meowed, his fur brushing hers. “Let’s get you back to your den. You’ll need some rest before tomorrow’s training.” Lionblaze paused. “Are you staying here, Jayfeather?”

  “I need to think.”

  Lionblaze yawned. “Can’t you think in your nest?”

  “I won’t stay out long,” Jayfeather promised.

  “Okay.” Lionblaze sounded too tired to argue. He followed Dovepaw through the thorn barrier, leaving Jayfeather alone under the trees.

  Firestar doesn’t know any more than we do. Jayfeather sighed. He walked down to the lake, following the scent of water and wind. As he emerged from the trees, the breeze whipped his whiskers back against his cheeks.

  Jayfeather pictured the lake, wide, black, and silent, hiding the stick in its depths. Why did I destroy it?

  He felt pebbles beneath his paws as he neared the water’s edge. A yowl rose from his belly. “I’m sorry! Rock! I didn’t mean it!” He drew the dank night air over his tongue, trying to catch some hint of the ancient cat’s scent, but tasted nothing but dying leaves and water. Fear yawned like a dark pit in his belly. Rock knew about the prophecy long before StarClan crowded Silverpelt, and Jayfeather had broken the only link he’d had with the blind old cat.

  “Oh, Rock! Please! I need to know!”

  The wind blew Jayfeather’s pleas back into his face. But he knew Rock heard him, could reply if he wanted.

  Angrily, Jayfeather headed along the shore to where the stream tumbled out of the forest. He padded up the bank, picking his way carefully over the tangle of roots, heading upstream into the trees. When the stream narrowed, he leaped over it, careful not to let his tail fall into the cold, c
hattering water.

  The damp earth felt good underpaw and he broke into a trot. He focused his senses harder so that he could run among the trees, sharply aware of the space around him, his whiskers and nose mapping his course, his ear fur pricked for the muting of sound that signaled the thickening of the undergrowth ahead.

  Suddenly a leaf crackled. A bitter tang spiked his nostrils.

  ShadowClan!

  Was he that close to the border already? He slowed and padded forward cautiously, sniffing. Border markers dotted the trees ahead. They were fresh. Had ShadowClan started night patrols? He sniffed again. The scent belonged to a single tom. Why would one cat be out scent marking by himself?

  A yowl ripped the air. Unsheathed claws slammed into Jayfeather’s shoulders, thrusting him into the leafy soil. He spluttered and shoved himself upward, rage firing his muscles. He flung off his attacker, recognizing the scent.

  “Tigerheart!”

  It was Tawnypelt’s son.

  The young ShadowClan tom scrabbled to his paws. “S-sorry!”

  Jayfeather sensed shame flooding Tigerheart’s pelt as the young tom realized he’d attacked a medicine cat.

  “I didn’t realize it was you.” The earth whispered as Tigerheart sheathed his claws. “I thought you were trespassing.”

  “Medicine cats can go where they need to,” Jayfeather reminded him.

  “I—I know,” Tigerheart stammered. “What are you doing here? At night, I mean. Do you need something from Shadow Clan? I can take you to Blackstar. Were you on your way somewhere?”

  While Tigerheart gabbled, Jayfeather smoothed his ruffled fur and tasted the air, listening for waves on the shore and the tone of the wind in the trees, trying to figure out exactly where he was. Far from the shore, close to the ShadowClan border, close enough to be knocked onto the wrong side by a clumsy attack from a young warrior. Realizing the markers were behind him, Jayfeather carefully edged backward until he was sure his paws were back in his own territory. A medicine cat could roam where he pleased, but not without good reason.

  “What are you doing here at this time of night?” Jayfeather hid his own discomfort by questioning Tigerheart. “Are you on patrol?”