Fading Echoes

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, chattering 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?”

“S-sort of.” Tigerheart shifted his paws. “Anyway, it’s none of your business.” His mew hardened.

He’s being very defensive. Jayfeather leaned closer. “ShadowClan doesn’t usually send out lone patrols in the middle of the night.”

“ThunderClan doesn’t send out lone medicine cats,” Tigerheart countered.

Cheeky cub! “You should go back to your den,” Jayfeather snapped. “You must have training tomorrow.”

To his surprise, Tigerheart backed off. “Okay.” Turning, the young tom scampered away into the trees.

As Jayfeather sniffed his fading scent, another touched his nose. It seemed oddly familiar as it wreathed around him but he couldn’t place it.

The fur on his shoulders prickled. Stiffening, Jayfeather felt himself being watched. He spun around, tasting the air, ears pricked, frustrated by his blindness. Was a cat observing him from the shadows? No sound. No scent, other than those Tigerheart had left.

Jayfeather shook out his fur. Don’t be mouse-brained! Tasting dawn, he ducked through a hazel bush and headed home.

Who’d be watching me at this time of night?