Eclipse

Chapter 11

A warm breeze circled the hollow, drawing the night scents of the forest into the camp. The moon was high; Jaypaw could feel its light wash his pelt. He shifted his paws, stiff from waiting.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” he whispered to Leafpool through the brambles covering the entrance of the medicine cats’ den. She’d sent him outside when his pacing had knocked the poppy seeds flying across the floor. She was gathering them up now.

“I could help you clean up,” he offered.

“No, thanks,” Leafpool called back. “You just keep your ears pricked for any noise from the nursery.”

Millie had been circling her den restlessly since sunhigh, and, though her pains had not started properly, Leafpool had warned her the kittens might come anytime. The rest of the camp was asleep, except for Graystripe, who kept his own vigil outside the nursery. Jaypaw tried not to let the fear drifting from the gray warrior taint his own thoughts.

Millie will be fine.

The nursery brambles shivered, and paws pattered over the clearing.

“The kits are coming!” Daisy called, keeping her voice low.

Leafpool darted out of her den. “Follow me,” she hissed to Jaypaw.

Jaypaw hurried after her, his heart racing as Leafpool and Daisy squeezed into the nursery.

“Look after Millie.” Graystripe’s anxious growl made him jump. The warrior was so close their pelts touched. “If you have to choose which life to save, save hers.”

Before Jaypaw could answer, he was swept into Graystripe’s memory. A silver tabby she-cat lay in a pool of blood at the bottom of a ravine. Grief wrenched Jaypaw’s heart, and he fought to escape the vision, relieved when he blinked and found the world black once more.

“Leafpool won’t let anything bad happen,” he promised as he scrabbled inside the nursery. He was scared of sensing any more of Graystripe’s pain. He must have loved the silver she-cat very much.

Millie was panting hard. She yowled low and long as Jaypaw slid in beside his mentor. “Is she okay?” he whispered.

He had missed the birth of Daisy’s kits and was excited to be witnessing Millie bringing new life into the Clan.

“She’s doing fine,” Leafpool soothed.

“If this is what fine feels like,” Millie croaked, “StarClan save me from—” Another spasm silenced her.

Rosekit and Toadkit were wriggling in the corner of the den, their paws scrabbling on the moss.

“Stay back!” Daisy mewed sternly, her fur brushing theirs as she held them.

“I want to see the kits!” Rosekit complained.

“Is there any blood?” Toadkit squeaked.

“Shh!” Leafpool hissed.

Millie was panting again, hard.

“You’re doing well,” Leafpool assured her.

“Where’s Graystripe?” Millie begged.

“He’s just outside,” Jaypaw told her.

“Good.” Millie sighed as the spasm left her. “Don’t let him come in, not yet.”

Leafpool wrapped her tail over Jaypaw, drawing him closer.

“Here,” she mewed, grasping his paw gently between her jaws and resting it on Millie’s swollen flank. “Another spasm is coming. They come like waves lapping the shore, one after another, growing faster and stronger.” Jaypaw felt a thrill of anticipation as Millie’s flank tensed and rolled beneath his paw.

“Her muscles are working to push the kits out,” Leafpool explained. “In a moment she’s going to have to help by pushing too.”

“Now?” Millie asked.

“Not yet.” Leafpool rested her paw beside Jaypaw’s as the spasm subsided. Calm radiated from the medicine cat like moonbeams. Jaypaw was impressed. His own heart was pounding so hard he was sure the others must be able to hear it.

“Now!” A new spasm gripped Millie, and Jaypaw felt the queen tense and tremble as she pushed with all her might.

“The first one’s coming,” Leafpool encouraged. “I can see it.”

Millie pushed again, and Jaypaw smelled a new scent, warm, both musky and fresh at the same time.

Leafpool shuffled along until she was crouched at Millie’s tail. “Look,” she whispered to Jaypaw. He leaned over and sniffed the damp bundle wriggling under his nose.

Leafpool’s cheek brushed his as she lapped at the newborn kit. “I’ve opened the sac so it can breathe air for the first time.”

Millie gasped.

“The next one’s coming,” Leafpool announced. Daisy pushed past Jaypaw and dragged the first kit out of the way. Jaypaw could hear her tongue scraping the kit’s soggy pelt. “Are you washing it?” From the sound of it she was licking the fur the wrong way.

“This will warm it and help it start breathing,” Daisy told him. Jaypaw leaned in close and heard a tiny gasp as the kit drew in its first mouthful of air.

Millie gave a low moan, and another damp bundle fell onto the moss. “Here.” Leafpool nosed Jaypaw toward it. “Nip open the sac to release it.”

Suddenly feeling nervous, Jaypaw licked at the wriggling mass, feeling the membrane slimy on his tongue. Careful to avoid the soft flesh beneath, he nipped at the delicate sac. It split between his teeth and tore open so that the kit tumbled out, squeaking and struggling. “This one’s breathing already,” he told Leafpool.

“Good,” she mewed. “Now lick it like Daisy is doing.”

Sniffing first to find the kit’s head, he began licking it from tail to ear. Soaked to the skin, it had grown cold quickly, but it soon began to grow warm and dry beneath his tongue.

Millie shifted behind him, and her nose pushed past to sniff at her kits. Then she fell back again with a groan.

“Another one’s coming,” Leafpool announced.

Millie yowled, softer this time, as though the pain were easing.

“There we go,” Leafpool murmured as a new bundle plopped out. “That’s the last one.” Millie turned and released it from the sac. She started to purr, lapping at its wet body.

“One male and two females,” Leafpool told her.

Millie sank back into her nest, still purring, and Leafpool lifted the two female kits and laid them at the queen’s belly.

“They need milk,” she explained to Jaypaw.

Jaypaw picked up the kit he’d been washing and laid it beside the others; it immediately wriggled toward the warmth of its mother, scrabbling to latch on. He sat back and listened to them suckling, their tiny purrs drowned by their mother’s, and a wave of wistfulness swept over him as he smelled the warm, milky scent.

“You’re lucky to be born in ThunderClan,” he whispered to them, thinking of the prophecy for the first time that night.

The brambles rustled as Graystripe pushed his way in.

Leafpool must have called him. He crouched beside Millie, and Jaypaw heard him snuffling the queen’s fur, relief flooding from his pelt.

“You have two daughters and one son,” Millie told him, sounding tired.

“They’re perfect,” Graystripe replied softly.

Millie struggled to prop herself up so that she could look down at her suckling babies. “The tom looks just like you,” she commented. “Big and strong already, though he has more black stripes than you.”

“He looks like a bumblebee,” purred Graystripe. “How about we call him Bumblekit? And the dark brown she-cat could be Briarkit.”

“That sounds good,” Millie agreed. “I’d like to call the littlest one Blossomkit. The white patches on her tortoiseshell fur look just like fallen petals.”

“Bumblekit, Briarkit, and Blossomkit,” Graystripe murmured. “Welcome to ThunderClan, my precious children.”

“They’ll be all right now,” Leafpool mewed to Jaypaw.

“Daisy will keep an eye on them and call us if they need anything.”

She wriggled out of the den, and Jaypaw followed her into the moonlight. As they padded back to their den, he felt a surge of pride—for Millie, for himself, and for Leafpool.

“You did well.” Leafpool brushed her muzzle against his cheek as if she could tell how he felt inside.

“Thanks.” Jaypaw licked her ear. Their quarrel was a long way from his mind right now. “That was the most amazing thing ever!”

“Yes, it was,” Leafpool murmured.

Was that sadness in her mew? Jaypaw wondered. She certainly didn’t seem as elated as he was; his paws felt lighter than the breeze, as if he could fly right out of the hollow and over the trees. Perhaps Leafpool had helped so many cats give birth that it didn’t stir her anymore. Or perhaps she was envious of the way the tiny kits knew instantly who their mother was, and loved her fiercely from their very first breath. Jaypaw’s paw steps slowed as he tried to imagine how Leafpool really felt watching new lives being born. Did she feel sorry that she would never have kits of her own?

Jaypaw slept late. When he finally padded out into the clearing, his thoughts bleary with sleep, hot sunshine warmed his back. The fresh-kill pile smelled delicious, and, hungry after his night’s work, he dragged a mouse from the top and began to eat.

“I heard you delivered your first kits!” Hollypaw hurried up to him and rubbed his cheek with her muzzle. “I wish I could have been there.”

“It was great,” Jaypaw mewed between mouthfuls.

Graystripe squeezed out of the nursery. Happiness shone from him warmer than the sun as he padded across the clearing.

“Congratulations, Graystripe!” Longtail called.

Cinderpaw paused from her washing as Graystripe passed the apprentice den. “Is Millie all right?”

“She’s perfect,” Graystripe answered. “And so are the kits.”

“I can’t wait to see them!” Icepaw was bouncing around the clearing.

“We’ve seen them already!” Toadkit boasted. “Bumblekit is going to play with me when he’s a bit bigger.”

“They’re really cute!” Rosekit added. “Especially Blossomkit. She’s so tiny!”

Jaypaw could hear Graystripe nosing through the fresh-kill pile.

“Millie will be hungry,” Mousefur called from outside the elders’ den.

“And she’s going to eat the best piece of prey I can find,” Graystripe called back.

Sorreltail kneaded the ground. “What do the kits look like?”

“Briarkit is dark brown, Blossomkit is tortoiseshell and white,” Graystripe reported, “and the tom, Bumblekit, is gray with black stripes.”

Dustpelt was washing beside the halfrock. “At least they’ll have proper warrior names,” he muttered. He had clearly not forgotten that Millie had refused a Clan name.

Graystripe took no notice of the striped warrior. He returned to rummaging through the fresh-kill pile until Firestar bounded down from Highledge.

“You chose fine Clan names.” The ThunderClan leader sounded excited for his old friend, though Jaypaw detected sorrow running like a spider’s web between the two warriors, as though they shared a sad memory. Was it connected with the silver tabby Jaypaw had seen in his dream?

“You should have called Blossomkit Squealkit, because that’s all she does!” Toadkit mewed.

“Don’t be mean!” Rosekit gasped. Fur brushed the dusty ground as the two kits tumbled into a fight.

“Stop it, you two!” Spiderleg’s stern mew echoed around the hollow as he separated his kits.

“We were just playing,” Toadkit complained.

“Well, play something quieter!” Spiderleg snapped. “I don’t envy you, Graystripe. Two kits are hard enough.” Then he yelped in pain. “When I told you to play something else, Toadkit, I didn’t mean attacking my tail!”

The thorn barrier rattled. Jaypaw swallowed the last of his mouse and tasted the air. Brambleclaw, Ashfur, and Lionpaw were padding into the camp. They headed to the fresh-kill pile and dropped their prey.

“Where’s the dawn patrol?” Brambleclaw called. “They should be back by now.”

“Who was on it?” Spiderleg asked.

“Thornclaw, Poppyfrost, and Birchfall.” Guilt was prickling Firestar’s pelt. He should have noticed they were missing.

Jaypaw concentrated on the camp, scanning it for signs or smells of the three missing warriors.

“Perhaps they decided to hunt,” Graystripe suggested.

“They’re supposed to report straight back,” Brambleclaw pointed out.

“It must be quiet in the forest,” Spiderleg guessed.

Jaypaw could smell only stale scents of the three warriors.

He cast his mind farther, beyond the walls of the camp. If they were close to the hollow he might be able to pick up a stray thought or feeling. He could picture trees and bushes, a landscape built of images glimpsed in his dreams. But no sign of his Clanmates.

Suddenly his mind emptied and blackness crowded in, smothering his thoughts. Coldness gripped him, seeping into his flesh, chilling his bones. He tried to breathe, but the emptiness choked him, crushing him like water, drowning him in its terrible darkness.

Then it vanished, and he could picture the forest again, green and quiet.

Jaypaw gasped for breath, his flanks heaving as he sucked in clean, bright air.

“Are you all right?” Leafpool was crouching beside him.

Hollypaw pressed against his pelt. “What’s wrong with him?” she wailed.

How much time had passed?

Graystripe was still standing at the fresh-kill pile with a vole dangling from his jaws. Spiderleg was still chasing Toadkit away from his tail. The vision had only overtaken him for a heartbeat or two.

“Something’s coming,” Jaypaw croaked. “Something”—he broke off as terror seized him again—“something dark!”

Leafpool didn’t comment. Her attention had been snatched away by the rustling of the barrier.

“Poppyfrost!” Firestar greeted the young warrior as she padded out of the thorns. Then the ThunderClan leader’s mew sharpened. “Are you okay?”

Poppyfrost was ruff led and nervous. Birchfall followed her, his paw steps hesitant. Jaypaw leaned forward, every hair on his pelt tingling. Unfamiliar paw steps were padding through the tunnel. A new scent filled his nose as a strange tom entered the hollow.

“Who is it?” Jaypaw demanded under his breath.

“I don’t know,” Hollypaw whispered back.

“What does he look like?”

Hollypaw didn’t answer, her thoughts drawn to the stranger.

Jaypaw tasted the air. The tom carried the scent of heather on his pelt, and the clean smell of wind and water, but nothing else familiar. He tried searching the tom’s mind but found himself dazzled by countless thoughts and images: trees, sky, lightning, roaring monsters, and vast stretches of rolling green water, but none of them stayed still long enough for Jaypaw to see them clearly. It was like trying to gaze at broken water flashing with sunlight.

He nudged Hollypaw. “Well?”

“H-he’s tall,” she mewed distractedly. “Taller than Firestar.

His head narrows toward his chin, and his ears are large and wide spaced. His fur is longer than ours—dark brown and white with splashes of bright tortoiseshell—and his tail…”

Her mew trailed away. “I’ve seen him before! It’s the lion.”

Jaypaw stiffened in alarm. “What?”

Her voice dropped even more. “On the moor, with the sun rising behind him. He looked like a lion.”

Jaypaw wanted to know everything, but Firestar was padding toward the stranger. The air in the hollow crackled with tension.

“Thornclaw.” Firestar’s voice was sharp as he addressed the senior warrior. “Why have you brought this cat here, into our camp?”

“I-I…” Thornclaw seemed lost for words, and Jaypaw sensed confusion clouding the warrior’s thoughts. He was no longer sure why he had led a perfect stranger to the heart of ThunderClan territory. It had just seemed like the right thing to do.

“Firestar.” Unexpectedly, the stranger broke in. “I am honored to meet you. I have long looked forward to seeing ThunderClan.” His mew was deep but his tone light, as though promising honesty.

“How does he know us?” Spiderleg hissed.

“Where’s he from?” Leafpool breathed.

“You’ve looked forward to seeing ThunderClan?” Disbelief edged Firestar’s meow as he echoed the stranger’s words.

“What do you want with us?”

“What do we want with him?” Mousefur growled. “Send him away!”

“I want nothing from you.” The stranger’s mew echoed around the hollow.

Wariness flashed from Firestar. “Then why are you here?”

“I came because it was time.”

“Time for what?” Spiderleg called.

“Time to come,” the stranger replied. Jaypaw shivered. How did this cat make such simple words sound so powerful?

Firestar shifted his paws.

“He’s talking nonsense,” Mousefur muttered. “Tell him to leave.”

“But he just got here!” Toadkit skipped excitedly across the clearing. “Who are you?” he asked, stopping in front of the stranger.

A purr of amusement rumbled in the stranger’s throat. “I am Sol.”

Brambleclaw padded quickly forward. “You and Rosekit should be resting in the nursery,” he told Toadkit. “You couldn’t have gotten much sleep last night.”

“There was trouble?” Sol meowed.

“No.” The ThunderClan deputy followed Rosekit and Toadkit as they padded, grumbling, to their den. He waited while they scrambled inside, then called to Thornclaw, “Where did you find this stranger?”

“On the WindClan border,” Thornclaw explained. “He wasn’t stealing prey, or even trying to cross into our territory.

He was just… waiting.”

“I was waiting for a patrol,” Sol told them.

How does a loner know about borders and patrols?

“Why?” Firestar sounded baffled.

“So that they could escort me here.”

Jaypaw focused on Sol, groping for a reason why he had come. But he still couldn’t make any sense of the glittering shoal of thoughts.

His Clanmates seemed to have been lulled into a bewildered, ruff led silence.

When no one spoke, Sol meowed again. “I have intruded.”

The tip of his tail brushed the earth. “I thought that ThunderClan above all would welcome me.” His attention fixed on Firestar like a shaft of light. “You like to help cats less fortunate, don’t you?”

Firestar bristled. “We don’t turn away cats who are in need,” he meowed carefully. “But you say you need nothing.”

“You want me to go,” Sol concluded. But he made no move to leave. Instead, he sniffed as though tasting the air for more information. “May I meet your Clan first? I have traveled far, and alone, and I would be grateful to brush pelts with other cats for a few moments.”

“Very well.” Firestar padded across the clearing. “This is Brambleclaw, my deputy.” His tail swished the air. “And that is Leafpool, our medicine cat.”

“So you are the medicine cat.” Sol sounded pleased.

“Y-yes,” Leafpool meowed, shifting her paws.

“This is Thornclaw, Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Dustpelt,” Firestar meowed quickly.

“And I’m Icepaw!” The young apprentice bounded forward. “And that’s my brother, Foxpaw.”

“Ah, ’paws,” Sol meowed thoughtfully. “You are learning to be warriors, yes?”

“That’s right,” Brambleclaw answered for her. “In fact, they should be training now.” He addressed the apprentices.

“Shouldn’t your mentors have you out in the forest?”

Whitewing darted forward. “Yes, come on, Icepaw, let’s go do some battle training. Foxpaw, you can train with us until Squirrelflight gets back from hunting.”

“Can’t we stay here?” Foxpaw whined. But Whitewing was already shooing them out of the camp.

With a squeak, Rosekit and Toadkit tumbled out of the nursery.

“I thought I told you—” Brambleclaw began, then stopped as Daisy followed them out, scolding.

“I told you, Millie’s kits are too young to play! Even if you were just tickling them with a feather!” The queen’s angry mew trailed off abruptly. She must have spotted Sol.

“Away with you!” she whispered to her babies, her mew brittle with embarrassment. She hurried Rosekit and Toadkit toward the apprentice den. “Play over here, and don’t make any noise. Firestar is busy.”

“She isn’t Clanborn, is she?” Sol commented.

Spiderleg growled. “She’s part of ThunderClan now!”

“Of course,” Sol meowed smoothly.

Spiderleg shuffled his paws. “I meant she’s one of us, that’s all.”

Jaypaw smelled fresh prey as the barrier rustled. Squirrelflight and Sandstorm were returning from their hunt. They slowed when they spotted Sol, surprise pulsing from them.

“More prey?” Sol queried as they dropped their catch self-consciously on the fresh-kill pile. “Do you ever run out?”

Brambleclaw crossed the clearing to join Squirrelflight.

Jaypaw didn’t catch what he whispered in his mate’s ear before turning back to Sol. “Prey is scarce in leaf-bare, but we survive,” he meowed.

“I can see,” Sol meowed approvingly.

“Perhaps we can offer you a meal before you continue your journey,” Firestar offered.

Sol sat down. “I catch my own prey.”

“Can’t he take a hint?” Hollypaw whispered.

Jaypaw felt Sol’s gaze hot on his pelt.

“You have blind cats in the Clan?”

Leafpool stepped in front of Jaypaw. “Jaypaw’s my apprentice,” she meowed protectively.

“Two medicine cats,” Sol observed. “Even better. I have something to share that I think a medicine cat will appreciate more than a warrior.”

“So you have come for a reason!” Firestar challenged.

“I am just passing through,” Sol meowed lightly. “But while I’m here I may as well share.” He paused. “Would you rather I left immediately?”

“No!” Leafpool darted forward. “Let him share what he knows with me,” she begged to Firestar.

“It is not for all ears,” Sol warned.

“We can go into the forest,” Leafpool suggested.

She feels his power too! Why else would she be so eager to share with him?

Firestar hesitated.

“Very well,” the ThunderClan leader agreed cautiously.

“But take Jaypaw with you.”

Leafpool led Sol out of the camp, and Jaypaw followed, padding in their paw steps until they reached a mossy clearing not far from the camp entrance.

“What is it that you want to tell us?” Leafpool seemed determined not to be intimidated.

Sol crouched, energy surging from his pelt. “Darkness is coming,” he hissed.

Jaypaw held his breath. The choking blackness! He pushed the memory away. He had to hear everything that this cat said.

“What do you mean?” Leafpool’s mew was taut.

“A time of great emptiness lies ahead,” Sol warned. “Nothing will be the same again.”

Sol’s voice was hypnotic, and his words seemed to echo with the wisdom of the ancient Clans. Jaypaw leaned closer as Sol’s voice grew softer.

“The sun will go out.”

What does he mean? Jaypaw struggled to see beyond the words, into Sol’s thoughts, but it was like trying to catch fish too slippery to grip.

Leafpool shifted her paws. “StarClan haven’t given me any signs.”

“Dear Leafpool.” Sol sighed. “Your faith is noble, but can StarClan really know everything?”

“But—” Leafpool tried to object, but Sol pressed on.

“They are only the spirits of ordinary cats like you and me, aren’t they?”

That’s what I think! Jaypaw’s fur stood on end. But he’s brave enough to say it out loud. He wanted to ask Sol how he knew. Had he met StarClan? The Tribe of Endless Hunting? Rock? But Leafpool flicked the tip of her tail across his mouth to stop him from saying anything.

“We have been guided by StarClan in many things,” she meowed firmly. “They found us a new place to live after our forest was destroyed by Twolegs. We will continue to trust in them for all the moons to come.”

Sol sat up. “I was only thinking of the Clans,” he meowed.

Had Leafpool offended him? “But no doubt they can take care of themselves, as they always have.”

“Yes, they will.” Leafpool stood and began to head back toward the thorn barrier. Clearly she didn’t care whether she’d offended him or not.

Sol padded slowly after her. Was that satisfaction warming the stranger’s pelt?

Jaypaw began to follow.

“Hush!”

A hiss from the undergrowth made him stop in his tracks.

He sniffed the air.

Foxpaw and Icepaw!

“I thought you were training,” he mewed sternly.

Ferns swished as the apprentices slid out from where they’d been hiding.

“Whitewing sent us off to practice stalking,” Foxpaw mewed sheepishly.

Icepaw showed no sign of embarrassment. “Is it true?” she squeaked. “Is the sun really going to die?” She was quivering with a mixture of excitement and horror. “Why hasn’t StarClan warned us?”

“Be quiet!” Jaypaw pricked his ears, afraid Whitewing might be close. “None of the others must know!”

“But we should warn them!” Foxpaw mewed.

“Who do you trust more?” Jaypaw snapped. “This stranger?

Or StarClan? Spreading gossip like this will only cause panic.

You must think like warriors, not kits.” Praying this would be enough to keep them quiet, he shooed them toward camp and followed them as they scampered through the thorn barrier.

Lionpaw, with the scent of trees lingering on his pelt, hurried to greet Jaypaw. “What did you find out about him?

Hollypaw told me you’ve been into the forest to talk.”

“Leafpool and Sol did the talking.”

“What did they say?”

Jaypaw pricked his ears. Firestar was speaking to Sol.

“A patrol will escort you to the border,” the ThunderClan leader meowed.

“We’ll make sure he crosses it,” Dustpelt growled from the barrier, where he waited with Sandstorm and Spiderleg.

Jaypaw felt his paws grow hot as Sol began to pad toward them.

“Well?” Lionpaw pressed.

Sol’s faint, unfamiliar scent filled his nostrils.

“Don’t forget.” Sol leaned close as he passed. “Darkness is coming.”

“What did he say?” Lionpaw demanded as Sol headed out through the tunnel.

Jaypaw stifled a shiver. “It doesn’t matter,” he mewed.