by Erin Hunter
“And yours,” Lionblaze replied.
He and Dovepaw stood close together for a few heartbeats, watching the two WindClan cats trek wearily along the edge of the lake. Then the ThunderClan cats scrambled up the shore and headed into the dripping trees. Before they had taken more than a couple of paw steps, Dovepaw heard a yowl behind them and spotted Sandstorm racing across the lakebed, with Foxleap, Icecloud, and Toadstep following her. All four cats carried bundles of soaked moss in their jaws.
“Hey, it’s Lionblaze and Dovepaw!” Foxleap exclaimed, dropping his moss and putting on a spurt to pass Sandstorm and reach his Clanmates first. “You’re back! You brought the water!”
Icecloud raced alongside her brother. “What happened?” she mumbled around her mouthful of moss. “Did you find the animals?”
“Was it scary?” asked Toadstep, his eyes shining as he crowded around with the others.
“Give them some space,” Sandstorm meowed. “There’ll be plenty of time to hear their story back in the hollow. Foxleap, run ahead and tell Firestar that they’re back.”
Foxleap took off through the trees with a joyful flick of his tail, while Lionblaze and Dovepaw followed more slowly, escorted by the water patrol. By the time the thorn barrier across the entrance to the hollow came in sight, cats were spilling out through the thorn tunnel. Just like the floodwater breaking through the dam, Dovepaw thought. Briarpaw, Bumblepaw, and Blossompaw were scampering around, play fighting with one another in their excitement. The older warriors followed more slowly, their tails erect and their eyes shining. Poppyfrost emerged, heavy with her kits, escorted by Ferncloud and Daisy. Even the elders appeared, Mousefur guiding Longtail with her tail across his shoulders, and Purdy lumbering along behind.
As Firestar pushed his way through the thorns, the other cats drew back to each side to let him pass. The ThunderClan leader padded forward until he stood in front of Lionblaze and Dovepaw, and he reached out to touch each of them on the shoulder with the tip of his tail.
“Congratulations,” he mewed, his green eyes shining with pride. “You have saved the lives of all the Clans.”
Gesturing with his tail, he invited Lionblaze and Dovepaw to enter the camp ahead of him. The rest of the Clan poured in behind. Cloudtail dragged an enormous rabbit from the fresh-kill pile and dropped it at Lionblaze’s feet.
“Here, eat,” he meowed. “You both must be starving.”
“Later, thanks.” Lionblaze dipped his head to the white warrior. “We’ve got to report to Firestar first.”
But it was impossible to move because more and more cats pressed around them.
“What was blocking the stream?”
“Were there really brown animals?”
“Did you have any trouble with the Twolegs?”
Trying to ignore the excited questions, Dovepaw strained upward on the tips of her paws, peering over the heads of the cats who surrounded her.
Where is she?
At last she spotted Ivypaw hanging back from the crowd, casting a shy glance at her sister and then gazing down at her paws. Dovepaw shouldered her way through the cats until she reached her sister.
“Ivypaw!” she mewed. “I’ve missed you so much!”
Ivypaw looked up at her with sad eyes. “I was afraid you wouldn’t!” she confessed.
“Don’t be such a mouse-brain,” Dovepaw murmured affectionately. “We’re best friends, aren’t we? I thought of you all the time!” Well, lots of the time at least.
“Hey, Dovepaw!”
At the sound of her mentor’s voice, Dovepaw turned. Lionblaze was standing with Firestar and Brambleclaw near the bottom of the tumbled rocks.
“We need to make our report,” he called. “Firestar wants us to tell the whole Clan what happened.”
“Coming,” Dovepaw replied.
As she padded toward him, she saw Lionblaze’s gaze shift to focus on something behind her. “Jayfeather,” he mewed with a nod.
Glancing back, Dovepaw saw Jayfeather approaching from the direction of his den. She swallowed a gasp of shock: The medicine cat looked seasons older than when she and Lionblaze had left the camp. His eyes were haunted, his body had the gaunt look of an elder, and he had a fresh scar down one side. He put one paw slowly in front of another, as if he wasn’t sure his legs would hold him upright.
“Welcome back,” he rasped.
“Thanks, Jayfeather.” Dovepaw couldn’t take her eyes off him. What had happened while they were away to make him look like that?
Looking back at Lionblaze, Dovepaw saw her own shock reflected in his eyes. She followed Jayfeather as he headed over toward the Clan leader and the other cats, with a quick glance over her shoulder at Ivypaw.
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised.
“That’s very bad news about Rippletail,” Firestar meowed when Lionblaze and Dovepaw had finished their report. “We are all Clanmates in this. We have lost a brave warrior.”
All the Clan bowed their heads in silence.
Spiderleg was the first to break it. “You mean you actually asked kittypets for help?”
“And you fought these…what did you call them, beavers?” Dustpelt meowed. “You’ll have to teach us the right battle moves in case they come here.”
“They’d better not, or I’ll give them somethin’ to think about,” Purdy grunted.
Firestar raised his tail for silence. “That’s enough for now,” he meowed. “There’ll be plenty of time to talk to Lionblaze and Dovepaw later. Let them eat and rest first.”
Lionblaze retreated to the fresh-kill pile, where he tucked into Cloudtail’s rabbit with Jayfeather and a few of the other warriors. Even though she couldn’t remember when she had last eaten, Dovepaw felt too exhausted to join them. She tottered across the clearing and pushed through the ferns into the apprentices’ den.
Briarpaw followed her in. “Look!” she mewed proudly, pointing with her tail toward Dovepaw’s nest. “We made it especially comfortable for you.”
Dovepaw saw that her nest was lined with soft gray feathers. “Thank you,” she purred, warmed by the friendship of the older apprentices. “That looks great. It must have taken you ages.”
“You deserve it!” Bumblepaw added, poking his head through the entrance.
“Yes, you’re a hero!” Blossompaw chirped, popping up beside him. “The Clans won’t ever forget what you did.”
The three apprentices left Dovepaw alone to settle down and rest. It felt strange to curl up in her own nest again. Now that I’m back, I’m just an ordinary apprentice, aren’t I? Shouldn’t I be out on a patrol or something?
Her nest had never felt so warm and comfortable, but Dovepaw kept shifting around in the feathers, unable to sleep.
What’s wrong with me? I’m so tired my fur’s dropping off!
She opened her eyes at a rustling sound to see that Ivypaw had pushed her head through the ferns.
“I thought you’d be asleep,” she mewed.
“I can’t,” Dovepaw confessed. “I feel as if I’ve got ants in my pelt.”
“Want to go for a walk?”
Maybe she needed to do something to make her even more tired. Dovepaw scrambled out of her nest and followed her sister through the thorns and into the forest. This was better than trying to sleep, alone with her thoughts. Her paws tugged her toward the lake and the water that she had freed. The sun had set, leaving the forest shrouded in twilight. The rain had stopped and the wind had died down; the air was damp and fresh, moving softly against her pelt. The grass already felt lush and juicy under her paws.
The drought is over. The Clans will survive! Dovepaw paused briefly, blinking in surprise. I did that, she realized. If it wasn’t for my senses, the Clans would still be dying of thirst. Pride flooded over her with the force of the freed water surging down into the lake. Maybe it won’t be so bad, having these powers, if I can use them to help my Clan.
Reaching the lake, the two she-cats leaped down from the bank to stand
on the very edge of the mud, looking out toward the distant ripple of water.
“Am I imagining it, or does it look closer?” Dovepaw whispered.
“I think it does,” Ivypaw replied. She gave an excited little skip. “I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s really full, with the water all the way up here.”
Dovepaw took a pace forward and halted as something sharp dug into her pad. “Ow! I’ve trodden on something.” Looking down, she saw two parts of a stick marked with scratches, the broken ends splintered. With an annoyed flick of her tail, she pushed the scraps away and examined her pad.
“Are you okay?” Ivypaw mewed.
“Yes, fine.” Dovepaw swiped her tongue over her pad. “The skin’s not even broken.”
She stood close to her sister again, their pelts brushing. Ivypaw twined her tail with Dovepaw’s, letting out a soft purr. “I’m so glad you’re back, Dovepaw.”
“So am I.” Dovepaw buried her muzzle in her sister’s soft pelt. “I’ll never leave you behind again,” she promised.
CHAPTER 26
“What’s happening?” Berrynose poked his head into the entrance of the nursery. “Why aren’t the kits born yet?”
Jayfeather paused with his paw resting gently on Poppyfrost’s belly and let out an exasperated sigh. “Because it’s not quite time, Berrynose,” he meowed, forcing his voice to remain calm. “You don’t need to worry.”
He could feel powerful ripples passing through Poppyfrost’s body as her kits prepared themselves to be born. The young she-cat lay on her side on the soft moss of the nursery; Daisy was crouched beside her head, licking her ears, while Ferncloud stroked her pelt with a calming paw.
“Yes, Berrynose, why don’t you go catch a shrew or something?” Daisy suggested. “We’re getting on just fine.”
“Then why is it taking so long?” Berrynose demanded.
Jayfeather rolled his eyes. When Daisy had first roused him to come to the nursery, Berrynose had insisted on staying with his mate. But he had been such a nuisance, getting in the way and questioning everything the medicine cat did, that Jayfeather had sent him outside. But it annoyed Jayfeather almost as much to hear him pacing up and down, and sticking his head in every few heartbeats to ask stupid questions.
Any cat would think no queen had ever kitted before!
Berrynose withdrew, and Jayfeather could hear his nervous pacing start up again. Outside the nursery, night lay over the stone hollow, with a gentle breeze stirring the trees and the scent of leaf-fall in the air. Two nights before, Jayfeather had traveled to the Moonpool to meet with the other medicine cats. He had hoped to learn more about Yellowfang’s warning, but none of the other medicine cats spoke about messages from StarClan, or dreams of the Dark Forest. When Jayfeather settled down to sleep by the lake, he had found himself padding through the sunlit territory of the Clans’ ancestors, but no starry warriors had answered his calls.
A grunt of pain from Poppyfrost distracted Jayfeather, and another powerful ripple passed through her belly.
“It won’t be long now,” he promised.
Daisy stopped licking to give Poppyfrost a drink from a clump of soaked moss, and the she-cat relaxed with a long sigh. “No cat told me it would be such hard work,” she murmured.
“What happened? I heard something! Are they here yet?” It was Berrynose again, thrusting his head and shoulders into the nursery.
“Berrynose, you’re blocking all the light,” Ferncloud pointed out gently. “It really isn’t helping.”
“These are my kits, you know,” Berrynose protested.
“Yes, and I’m the one having them!” Poppyfrost meowed sharply. “Honestly, Berrynose, I’m fine.”
At that moment, Jayfeather heard his brother’s voice calling from outside the nursery. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes,” Jayfeather called back. “Keep Berrynose out of my fur!”
Berrynose drew back with an offended snort, and Jayfeather heard Lionblaze talking quietly to him. The paw steps started up again, but this time there were two sets, drawing a little farther away from the nursery.
“Right,” Jayfeather mewed. “Now we can get on with it.”
Poppyfrost grunted as she strained to bring her kits into the world. “I don’t think they’re ever coming,” she panted as the spasm passed.
“They will,” Jayfeather told her calmly. “This first kit is a big one; that’s why it’s taking longer. But it’ll be here soon.”
The she-cat gasped for breath; Jayfeather felt her belly convulse, and a kit slithered out onto the moss.
“Oh, look!” Ferncloud exclaimed in a delighted purr. “A tom—and he’s beautiful, Poppyfrost.”
Poppyfrost gave a grunt of acknowledgment as another spasm passed through her. Jayfeather carefully felt her belly. “Just one more to come,” he told her.
She’s getting tired, he thought. Come on, kit, get a move on. Your mother needs to rest.
Daisy gave Poppyfrost another drink, while Ferncloud bent over her, murmuring encouragingly. But Poppyfrost was barely conscious by the time the second kit, a little she-cat, slipped out to join her brother.
“Oh, they’re just beautiful!” Daisy whispered; she and Ferncloud bent their heads to lick the kits into wakefulness. “Look, Poppyfrost. Aren’t they lovely?”
Poppyfrost let out an exhausted murmur and gathered the two kits toward her belly. Jayfeather could hear their tiny squeaks that faded into silence as they began to suckle.
“All done,” he stated with satisfaction. “Here, Poppyfrost, eat these borage leaves. They’ll help your milk to come.”
Listening to the new mother licking up the herbs, Jayfeather suddenly had the sensation that the nursery had grown more crowded. “Okay, Berrynose, you can come and meet your kits,” he meowed.
He turned, expecting to pick up Berrynose’s scent. Instead he realized that he could see the branches of the nursery, intertwined with bramble tendrils to keep out the drafts.
Am I dreaming?
There was no sign of Berrynose, but three other cats were sitting beside the nursery wall. Horror stiffened every hair on Jayfeather’s pelt when he saw the muscular tabby shapes of Tigerstar and Hawkfrost, one with gleaming amber eyes, the other with ice blue. The third cat was a big brown tom with a crooked tail. Jayfeather had never seen him before, but he recognized the scent of the cat who had attacked him at the Moonpool during his fight with Breezepelt.
There was hunger in the eyes of the three spirit cats as they stared at the newborn kits.
Jayfeather was still frozen with shock when Lionblaze pushed his head into the den. “Can Berrynose come in yet?” he asked.
Then his eyes narrowed and he turned his head toward the three cats from the Dark Forest. “You will not have these kits!” he hissed.
Jayfeather’s heart began to pound. “You can see them?”
Lionblaze nodded. “Yes. I can see them.” He let out a snarl, baring his teeth.
“Lionblaze, what in the name of StarClan are you doing?” Daisy asked. “Go get Berrynose.”
At the sound of the she-cat’s voice the three cats vanished, and Jayfeather’s sight went dark once more. He crouched down, trembling, as Lionblaze withdrew, and forced himself to turn back to the kits. The sound of healthy suckling calmed him, and he managed to pull himself together as Berrynose came into the nursery.
The young warrior was quivering with excitement. “Oh, wow! A son and a daughter!” he exclaimed. He pressed himself close to Poppyfrost, covering her face with licks. “You’re so clever, so beautiful,” he kept repeating. “Our kits are going to be the best in the Clan!”
As Jayfeather listened, he became aware of Honeyfern’s scent wreathing around him, and a faint murmur reached his ears.
Thank you.
His head still spinning, Jayfeather slipped into the clearing. Lionblaze was waiting for him. “Do you know who that third cat is?” he demanded.
Jayfeather sho
ok his head. “I don’t know his name, but I’ve met him before. He attacked me at the Moonpool when I was fighting against Breezepelt.”
“What?” Lionblaze sounded horrified, and his claws scraped against the earth of the clearing.
Quickly Jayfeather told him what had happened when he had followed Poppyfrost to the Moonpool. “Breezepelt seems to want vengeance on every cat in ThunderClan,” he finished, “because of what Leafpool and Crowfeather did.”
“I can understand that…in a way,” Lionblaze meowed. “But where did the other cat come from?”
“Yellowfang spoke to me in a dream,” Jayfeather told his brother. “She seems to know this cat—he comes from the Dark Forest, like Tigerstar and Hawkfrost—but she didn’t tell me his name.” He let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t understand why cats from the Dark Forest are suddenly appearing among the Clans. Do they really want to get involved in new quarrels?”
But that’s what Rock told me, he suddenly remembered. He spoke about ancient grievances that will be answered. Is this what he meant?
“Jayfeather, there’s something I need to tell you.” Lionblaze led his brother out through the thorn barrier and into the forest, halting to face him on the mossy ground beneath an oak tree. The branches creaked peacefully above them in the breeze.
“I have a confession to make,” Lionblaze began.
Jayfeather listened, his mouth dropping open with horror, as Lionblaze told him how Tigerstar used to visit him at night, and how the vengeful cat had trained him to fight better and more strongly than his Clanmates. Not for the sake of his Clan—but to satisfy Tigerstar’s own hunger for power.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jayfeather croaked when Lionblaze had finished.
“Because I thought it was my destiny,” Lionblaze replied. “Tigerstar told me he was my kin, but he knew all along that he wasn’t. So he lied, he lied to get me on his side, as one of his warriors for a battle among the Clans.”
“It’s coming,” Jayfeather whispered. “A battle between StarClan and the Dark Forest, and every warrior will be called upon to fight.” Ice-cold fear raised every hair on his pelt. “Did the three cats come tonight in case one of Poppyfrost’s kits died, so they could take it to the Dark Forest?”