by Erin Hunter
“And what about apprentice tasks?” Sagepaw chipped in with a mutinous look on his face. “We all have to do them!”
Leafstar raised her tail for silence. She was furious with Harveymoon for breaking into the ceremony, and disturbed that other cats were backing him up, when they had kept their opinions to themselves until now. But with a pang of guilt she had to admit that there was some truth in what they said.
“There’s no need for fur to be ruffled over this,” she meowed. “Sharpclaw and I believe that this is the best way to acknowledge all that the visitors have done for SkyClan. They have learned our skills, and taught us skills we never knew before. How could we treat them as apprentices? However,” she added, forestalling another protest from Harveymoon, “I’m sure they won’t mind helping with the apprentice tasks so that they experience every part of Clan life.”
The visitors glanced at one another, as if they weren’t so sure about that.
“If it’s all too much trouble…” Cora murmured.
“This is my decision!” Leafstar raised her head and stared out across her Clan. No cat was going to bully her out of finishing the ceremony. She felt Sharpclaw’s green gaze fixed on her, and saw him give her a tiny nod of approval.
“Stick, StarClan honors your courage and skill,” she went on, “and we welcome you as a full member of SkyClan.” She rested her muzzle on Stick’s head, and after a moment’s hesitation Stick licked her shoulder and moved back to stand beside Sparrowpelt.
In the same way Leafstar made the other three Twolegplace cats full members of SkyClan. She felt flustered; the ceremony didn’t seem right without giving the cats warrior names.
“Stick! Cora! Coal! Shorty!”
At the end of the ceremony some of the SkyClan cats called out the names of the new warriors, but others, Leafstar noticed, kept silent. Harveymoon, of course, who had turned his back and refused to watch the ceremony. Ebonyclaw and Frecklepaw, Macgyver and Sagepaw… I’ll need to keep an eye on them, and make sure they don’t create trouble. Tinycloud was quiet, too, Leafstar noticed with a sinking feeling in her belly. And Lichenfur, Waspwhisker, and Clovertail. Great StarClan! Please don’t let this split the Clan.
When the voices had died away, Stick stepped forward again and inclined his head formally to Leafstar. “I thank you on behalf of all four of us,” he meowed. “I’m sure we have much to learn from one another.”
“Yes, I’m sure we do,” Leafstar responded.
But she still felt uneasy. It hadn’t been a proper ceremony, and she was sure there were things about the Clan’s four newest warriors that were being hidden from her.
And I have to say something to Harveymoon about the way he disrupted the ceremony, she thought, anger still tingling through her pelt. But what?
The kittypet was already on his way out of the gorge, followed by Macgyver, Ebonyclaw, and Frecklepaw. They hadn’t even waited to say good-bye.
The rest of the Clan gathered around the fresh-kill pile to feast and celebrate the newest warriors.
“Don’t forget you have to keep vigil tonight and guard the camp,” Sharpclaw reminded them.
“Don’t worry,” Shorty replied. “If any rats come, they won’t get a whisker past us!”
Leafstar didn’t feel comfortable joining in. She chose a sparrow from the pile, picked at it moodily for a few heartbeats, then headed for her den.
“Are you okay?” Echosong asked as Leafstar padded past her.
“Fine,” Leafstar replied shortly, unable to forget the frost that had formed between them over Frecklepaw’s apprenticeship. As she stalked on toward her den she was aware of the medicine cat’s gaze still following her.
Leafstar was troubled as she lay down in her den. Was it really the destiny of these cats to join SkyClan? Surely we need as many members as possible, to grow strong?
She remembered the prophecy from the brown tabby tom she had seen in her dream. “Greenleaf will come, but it will bring even greater storms than these. SkyClan will need deeper roots if it is to survive.” And she remembered her other dream, of the terrifying flood that had uprooted the trees in the gorge and swept her cats away to drown helplessly in the torrent.
Have I created roots? she asked herself. Or is this just another storm?
Worn out with worrying, she closed her eyes, and instantly found herself in the flat, grassy area on top of the gorge. The stars of Silverpelt blazed down on her, but barely a twinkle came from the Twolegplace; it seemed to be much farther away than usual. Everything was still; there wasn’t even a breeze to stir the grass.
Movement at the edge of the forest caught Leafstar’s eye as a cat emerged from the trees: a pale gray tom with patches of white. Stars twinkled like frost in his fur and around his paws as he paced toward Leafstar.
“Cloudstar!” she whispered.
The former SkyClan leader gazed at her from pale blue eyes that shone like tiny moons. “Leafstar,” he acknowledged her, dipping his head. “It’s good to see you here.”
“I’m glad to be here, Cloudstar,” Leafstar replied. “Do you have a message for me?”
The starry cat did not reply. Leafstar caught her breath as she saw more cats approaching from every side. She recognized Spottedleaf and padded up to meet her, drinking in her sweet scent.
“Greetings, Spottedleaf,” she meowed. The she-cat blinked at her.
Leafstar felt strangely calm as the star-furred warriors thronged around her. Except for Spottedleaf and Cloudstar, none of them seemed to realize that she was there; instead they wove among themselves, greeting one another—sometimes warily, sometimes with friendly warmth—and occasionally paused to dole out a lick on another cat’s ear, or to trail their tail-tip along a sleek flank. Leafstar watched Cloudstar’s mate, Birdflight, touching noses with her two children, and her heart jumped when she spotted Rainfur, the gray tom who had died in the first battle against the rats, on the far side of the crowd.
Spottedleaf stood beside her, so close that their pelts were brushing, and waved her tail toward three cats just padding up to join their Clanmates in StarClan. In the lead was a dignified she-cat, her dense blue-gray fur shimmering with starlight. Her eyes were the brilliant blue of a clear greenleaf sky. Behind her came a graceful white she-cat with gray tips to her ears, and a powerful white tom.
“This is Bluestar,” Spottedleaf meowed, angling her ears toward the first cat. “She was the leader of ThunderClan when Firestar first came to the forest.”
Leafstar bowed her head in respect. So this is the cat who made Firestar a warrior! “Firestar told me she was a great leader,” she murmured.
“And this is Bluestar’s sister, Snowfur,” Spottedleaf continued, “and Snowfur’s son, Whitestorm. He was once Firestar’s deputy.”
Leafstar blinked, humbled that these warriors would make their way to see her from such distant skies. “You are all welcome here,” she meowed.
A stir in the air behind her made her look around. She felt a shiver run through her pelt, light as a mouse’s paws, when she spotted the brown tom who had spoken the prophecy in her dream. The bigger cat, the dark brown tabby tom who had been with him, was beside him, the two cats standing a little way apart as they watched the others assembling.
Leafstar wondered if she dared go across and speak to them, when she heard a voice behind her.
“Greetings, Leafstar.”
She turned to see a handsome gray tom with piercing blue eyes standing in front of her, and recognized Skywatcher. Leafstar felt warmed from ears to tail-tip to see him looking tall, strong, thick-pelted once more.
“It’s good to see you, Skywatcher,” she purred. “Why are you all here? I’ve seen StarClan warriors in dreams before, but never so many of you.”
“It’s been a long time since StarClan came together like this,” Skywatcher replied. “And it’s because of you. You and your Clanmates, who have forged a new Clan with the courage and the honor that would make any warrior proud to be a part of it.
All five Clans have gathered to celebrate SkyClan’s survival.”
Amazement and disbelief flooded through Leafstar as she gazed at the starlit warriors. We did this? My Clan?
“We won’t always be in the same place like this,” Skywatcher warned, as if he guessed she was about to question what was happening. “Our Clans are in different places, and the skies are not always open to us. So let us enjoy the moment while we can.”
“Yes—oh, yes!” Leafstar breathed out, feeling that happiness was about to well up inside her and spill over like rain from an upturned leaf. She felt as if she could stand there forever, basking in the whispering, starlit warmth.
“Let’s hunt!” one cat yowled.
Immediately the cats of StarClan gathered and shifted like a shoal of glittering fish before flowing smoothly toward the forest, their belly fur brushing the grass and their tails streaming out behind them. Leafstar was swept along with them. Energy crackled through her like a bolt of lightning.
There’s nothing better than this! Being among warriors, running through the trees, searching for prey…
She basked in the strength and speed and skill she could feel sparking in her legs. She had lost sight of the cat who had made the prophecy, and his Clanmate, but Spottedleaf raced briefly at her side. “Seize the moment!” she urged. The glow in her eyes told Leafstar that the words had special meaning for her. “Destiny will arrive, whether we seek for it or not.”
Leafstar felt comforted, the worries of her waking life melting away like icicles in the sun. These cats seemed to be telling her to celebrate being part of the Clan as it was now, that the future was hidden and they must live in the present.
But she wished she had been able to talk to the cat she had dreamed of at the bottom of the gorge.
Skywatcher and Spottedleaf said nothing about storms lying ahead. Does that mean the storm will never come?
Leafstar wasn’t ready to discount the prophecy, yet the visit tonight had reassured her. She knew that her Clan had to be prepared, with training and battle practice, but that was all they could do. As her paws flew over the shining grass of the dream forest, Leafstar knew she must not try to see the future that was hidden from her.
CHAPTER 17
Paw steps on the rock outside her den woke Leafstar. Blinking in the sunlight, she made out Billystorm’s head and shoulders as he looked in. Anxiety flooded through her as she realized how late she had slept.
“I’m sorry, Leafstar!” Billystorm exclaimed, his forepaws scrabbling at the floor of the den in embarrassment. “I didn’t realize you were still asleep.”
“It’s okay,” Leafstar mumbled around a huge yawn. She sat up, wincing at the ache in her muscles. Any cat would think I had been racing through the forest all last night! “Come in.”
She felt as embarrassed as Billystorm as she shook moss out of her pelt and tried to give herself a quick grooming. “What can I do for you?” she asked.
“I’m worried about Snookpaw,” Billystorm meowed, sitting in the entrance to the den. “He’s still shut up in his housefolk’s nest. I’d like to make sure that he’s okay, and that they’re not keeping him there against his will.”
Every hair on Leafstar’s pelt prickled, and she stopped washing to face the daylight-warrior. “That’s not good,” she commented. “You’re right, you should do everything you can to find out what’s going on.”
Billystorm looked down, examining his paws. “Actually, I was hoping you would come with me.”
Leafstar’s heart began to beat faster with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. “I don’t belong in the Twolegplace!”
“I’d look after you,” Billystorm assured her. “And I know exactly where we’re going.”
Leafstar, you’re being a fox-heart! Leafstar told herself, remembering her dream of the night before. The joy she had felt then in being a cat, the energy that had flowed through her body as she hunted with the warriors of StarClan, gave courage to her heart and paws.
“All right,” she mewed. “I’ll come. I’ll just let Sharpclaw know.”
Down in the gorge, Sharpclaw was organizing the hunting patrols. “Shorty, you lead this one, with Patchfoot, Petalnose, and Sagepaw,” he ordered. “Stick, you can lead the other; take Ebonyclaw, Frecklepaw, and Cherrytail.”
Leafstar couldn’t help noticing that Ebonyclaw flicked her tail with annoyance as she fell in behind Stick, while Sagepaw padded up to his mother and muttered into her ear, “I don’t want to take orders from him!” with a glare at Shorty.
StarClan, please let them get used to it in a few days.
Sharpclaw blinked in surprise when Leafstar told him she was going to the Twolegplace with Billystorm. “You’ll need to take care,” he meowed. “And listen, about Billystorm—”
“What?” Leafstar interrupted sharply.
Sharpclaw hesitated, then gave his fur a shake. “Nothing. Don’t worry, Leafstar. I’ll look after everything here.”
Leafstar watched him closely to see if he gave any flicker of knowing more about Twolegplace than he should—she hadn’t forgotten about Billystorm’s accusation of Sharpclaw’s secret night patrols—but her deputy’s gaze showed nothing but concern for her, and confidence that he could take care of the Clan while she was gone. With a sigh, Leafstar pushed Billystorm’s report to the back of her mind. He was the very last cat she could imagine lying to her, but she couldn’t believe that Sharpclaw would keep anything from her that threatened the safety of their Clan.
A stiff breeze was blowing, flattening the grass, as Leafstar rejoined Billystorm and they climbed to the top of the gorge. The sun shone brightly from a clear blue sky with only a few wisps of cloud. Leafstar was cast back into her dream, and the starlit cats who had surrounded her the night before seemed to be there once more, scenting the air with the history of countless moons; the memory was so vivid that she was surprised to realize that only Billystorm was running beside her.
He slowed down as they crossed the border and drew closer to Twolegplace. “We’ll have to cross a Thunderpath soon,” he told her. “They can be pretty scary, but it should be quiet at this time of day. And just beyond that there’s a Twoleg nest with a dog that barks its stupid head off every time I go past. But you don’t need to worry; it can’t get at us. Then there’s another Thunderpath, and after that we have to crawl underneath some really thick shrubs—”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine, Billystorm,” Leafstar interrupted.
But her confidence began to ebb away as they crossed the Thunderpath, with anxious glances at a sleeping monster a few fox-lengths away. What if it wakes up? she wondered, ready to flee if it let out a roar and leaped toward her.
Billystorm led her along a fence; she could smell the dog on the other side and her heart thumped at the sound of its high-pitched yapping, but Billystorm was right; the dog scrabbled frantically against the fence, but it couldn’t get through to attack them. They crossed the second Thunderpath; the black surface felt sticky under Leafstar’s paws, and she wrinkled her nose at the acrid scent. Then she followed Billystorm through a gap in a fence and emerged in a tangle of thick bushes. They squirmed underneath the lowest branches, their belly fur brushing the soft, moist earth.
Billystorm raised a paw to halt Leafstar as they emerged from the shrubs. A stretch of smooth Twoleg grass separated them from the nest. On the far side a couple of Twoleg kits were tossing something round and brightly colored between them, squealing happily as they jumped up to catch it.
“What are they doing?” Leafstar whispered.
Billystorm shrugged. “They call that thing a ball. I think it’s for some sort of apprentice training exercise. Sometimes my housefolk throw one for me to chase.”
“And do you chase it?” Leafstar asked.
Billystorm gave his chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. “It’s good fun, actually. And it’s practice for hunting.”
Leafstar purred, amused.
Billystorm led her across the g
rass at a swift trot, in the shade of the bushes so that the Twoleg kits didn’t spot them. “We have to be careful now,” he warned Leafstar as they approached the next fence. “There’s a dog through here, and the Twolegs let it roam loose.”
Leafstar felt her pelt prickle and her neck fur begin to rise. She wanted to ask, Do we have to go this way? But she was afraid that Billystorm would think she was a coward. I’m his Clan leader! He has to respect me.
“Right, lead on,” she mewed tensely.
Billystorm crept along the fence until he came to a spot where the wooden boards had rotted away at the bottom. He squeezed underneath, then poked his head back through the hole. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “But keep quiet.”
Leafstar pushed herself through the gap, feeling the bottom of the rotting wood scrape her back. She rose to her paws among more shrubs with dark leaves and huge, sweet-smelling flowers.
“The scent should hide us from the dog,” Billystorm explained.
As she followed him through the bushes Leafstar caught glimpses of the dog between the branches: a huge creature with shaggy black-and-brown hair and floppy ears. It was lying on a stretch of stone near the door of the Twoleg nest, separated from the cats by a stretch of grass; its nose lay on its paws and it looked as if it was asleep.
As she and Billystorm started along the second side of the enclosure, Leafstar began to relax, though she kept casting cautious glances at the dog. But the heavy scent of the flowers was tickling her nostrils, and before she and her Clanmate could reach the safety of the far fence, she let out an enormous sneeze.
Instantly the dog sprang to its paws and hurled itself across the grass with a series of deep-throated barks.
“Run!” Billystorm yowled, shoving Leafstar in front of him.
Leafstar raced through the bushes, imagining she could hear the dog panting behind her, and feel its hot breath on her fur. Its rank smell swamped everything, even the heavy scent of the flowers.
With Billystorm hard on her paws she crashed between two shrubs at the foot of the fence and clawed her way to the top. Billystorm sprang up beside her as she crouched there, shivering. Below them, the dog was standing on its hind paws with its forepaws halfway up the fence, and its tongue lolled as it barked.